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LETTERS
<
TO
SE RE NA:
CONTAINING,
1. The Origin and Force of Prejudices.
II. The Hiſtory of the Soul's Immortality among the
Heathens.
III. The Origin of Idolatry, and Reaſons of Heatheniſm.
As alſo,
IV. A Letter to a Gentleman in Holland, ſhowing
SPINOS A's Syſtem of Philoſophy to be without
any Principle or Foundation.
V. Moriox eſential to Matter ; in Anſwer to fome
Remarks by a Noble Friend on the Confutation of
SPINOSA.
To all which is Prefix'd,
VI. A Preface; being a Letter to a Gentleman in Lon-
don, fent together with the foregoing Differtations,
and declaring the ſeveral Occaſions of writing them.
By Mr. TOLAND.
Vindtryk
Opinionim Commenta delec Dies,
Naturæ Judicia confirmat. Cic. de Nat. Deor. 1.3
20
LONDON;
Prinsed for Bernard Lintot at the Middle Temple Gare in Fleet-
Direct. M. DCC. IV.
Pilieterapi
Ho!
..
057W, A
Advertiſement concerning the Faults of
the Preſs.
1
Book, yet the Reader muſt with his Pen amend us follows.
In the Preface, to avoid Ambiguity, for Mennonite reed Menno-
niſt. Page 24. line 3. read Ionic before Philoſophers. The
Marginal Note in p. 41. market thus () ought to be refer'd to l. 9.
of p. 50. P. 75. 1. 16. for eighth read ſeventh. In p.go.l.
13. after the word Minds, add this Period : From the ſame Ori-
ginal, and in the ſame manner, the Poers did vaſtly increaſe
che Catalogue of the Gods, apoſtrophing as ſuch not only the
Winds, Meteors, Clouds, Rivers, Fountains, Hills, and all
Parts of the Univerſe ; but likewiſe Facultys, Paſſions,
Habits, Accidents, and every thing they cou'd expreſs by one
word, or which they cou'd addreſs as a Perſon ; and they pre-
ſently made it a God or a Goddeſs, as the Word happen'd to
be of the Maſculine or Feminine Gender, which was all the
Rule they obſerv'd in Deicys of fo little conſequence. Pag.
103. I. 1o. for on read over. P. 127.1. 23. read many before
Mediators. P. 174. for mer read mere. P. 184. 1. 2. after
Relations, read the Reſults of peculiar internal Diſpoſitions, or.
P. 199. 1. 20. blot out of before Action. P. 225. 1. 29. for
liccle read ſtinced. In the Notes, conſequati is put for conſe-
quuci in the laſt Line of p. 80, do is put for or in the firſt Line
of p. 49. and perhaps there may be found a few others like theſe, not
capable to perplex an intelligent and candid Reader. The Greek is
printed without Accents, which are a ulėleſs, troubleſom, and no
very antient Invention; nor Mou'd there have bin any Abbreviations
or Ligatures, had the Author's Directions bin obferu'd, there being
no more Reaſon or Authority for ſuch things in the Greeke than in
the Latin, to speak nothing of the Beauty of the Page.
THE
PR EF A CE;
1
Being a Letter to a Gentle-
man in London, ſent to-
gether with the following
Differtations, and contain-
ing the leveral Occaſions
of writing them
/
I.
N all your Letters, SIR,
you inſinuate that conſidera
ing the Place I am in, and
the Company I keep, I muſt
needs forget my Books as well as my Ac-
quaintance ;
I
a
The Preface.
re-
quaintance ; which you kindly endea-
vour to excuſe, the not wholly to
approve. As for obſerving no
gular Correſpondence, I believe you
receiv'il Satisfaction in my laſt, nor
are you to expect any thing more
from me on that Subjelt : where-
fore now, inſtead of the public News
or the private Intrigues of this part
of the World, ill ſend you ſome ac-
count of my own Studys, 'Iis, I
readily confeſs
, one of the barreneft
and leaſt entertaining Themes I cou'd
take ; but you may thank your ſelf
for tle Trouble, as I hope you'll ac-
quit me from the Choice. And, firſt
of all, I muſt frankly ſay, that you
are very unjuſt to this Country, and
that all your Compariſons between
foggy Air and cloudy Underſtandings,
between flow Motions and dull Con-
ceptions, between immenſe Wilds and
Marſhes and indigeſted Imaginations
or immethodiqal Common places, are
altogether
The Preface.
-
altogether groundleſs: nor needs there
any other Cenſure of your Partiality,
than to put you in mind of thoſe
great Names for War and Peace;
for Arts and Letters, which this
Country has in all times produc’d,
with which it is adorn'd at preſent,
and with many of whom you might
have agreeably convers’d at London,
were you lefs conceited of your own
Countrymen, or had you a greater
regard to Strangers. For there's but
too much reaſon for the Complaints,
which moſt Foreigners make of the
Coldneſs and Neglelt they commonly
meet in England, and very often
from thoſe to whom abroad they have
bin moſt friendly and obliging.
2. THIS Town, where I remain
at preſent, ſeems to be the Metropolis
of Politeneſs and Gallantry. As be-
ing the Seat of the Government, you
may be ſure the moſt refin'd Wits,
the
22
The Preface.
A
1
j
the most ſhining Beauty's, and the
moſt Splendid Equipages make a Figure
bere
beſides a perpetual Concourſe
of Strangers, Men of the firſt Di-
finition in their own Countrys, whoſe
Curioſity excited, and whole Fortunes
enabld 'em to ſee other Men and
Manners. Tho they abound with
true and uſeful Knowledg, yet I own
to you, that there's little to be found
of what the miſtaken World is apt to
honor with the name of Learning ;
and tho they have variety of excellent
Books, yet bookiſh Porers, for Wil-
dom are the moſt contemptible fort
of Animals among 'em.
To judg of
things bere by Appearance, there's but
one continu'd Scene of Love and Gay-
ety ammg the Young and the Fair,
temper’d indeed, but not interrupted
by the Men of Politics and Employ-
ment.
A hafty Paſſenger, or one
that cannot produce himſelf into all
Companys, fees no more and knows
leſs
j
The Preface.
i
1
leſs than he did at home, by giving
his Friends a wrong Account. Büt
believe me, SIR, I never met in
any Part with choicer or more nu-
merous Collections of Books in private
Librarys, with freer Inquirers into the
Series of Hiſtory and the Secrets of
Nature, nor with any" (in" a word)
12h0. better underſtood the Art of
making Study a help to Converſation,
of reading to good purpoſe by practiſing
the World, of diftinguiſhing Pedantry
from Learning, and Ceremony from
Civility.
A
.
3. IN ſuch a Place you may
imagine it muſt be my own fault, if
I negle&t. thoſe Studys, to which you
know me ſo much addikted, and which
I may rather improve than abandon by
ſuch variety of diverting Intervals.
1. affure you, that while I enjoy Health
and Liberty, no Conſideration Mall be
able to debar me from the uſe
a 3
of
The Preface.
i
of good Books, wherein 1 am per-
Juaded the only perfect Pleaſure is
to be found: for tho I love a great
many other Pleaſures natural to Man,
and that I temperately indulge my ſelf
in all that are lawful, yet I muſt
agree with common Experience, that
in every one of them there's always a
mixture of Pain, either in the Ex-
pectation, in the Enjoyment, or in the
Conſequences ; whereas in going over
an entertaining Book, the Reader
tafts an abſolute Satisfaction without
amy diſturbing Allay, unmindful of the
paſt, not ſollicitous for the futurr, and
wholly taken up with his preſent Hap-
pineſs. I have therefore the Power
and the Will to purſue my former
Studys, as well as many Occaſions to
increaſe that Knowledg, which is the
Ornament and Perfection of our :Na-
ture : but you are to impute the
Small Advances i make under ſuch
favourable Circumſtances,
not to
want
The Preface.
want of Inclination, but of Capa-
city.
1
4. THO I lave leſs Buſineſs
than fome People think, or at leaſt re-
port, yet when 1 firſt came hither, I
did reſolve to confine my ſelf to Read-
ing and Converſe, without ever yield-
ing to the Temptation of writing ſo much
as a familiar Letter : but I was quickly
oblig'd to take other Meaſures, by the
repeated Defires of a Correſpondent, to
whom it's not in my power to deny any
thing. The Perſon lives on this ſide
the Sea, tho not in this Town; and,
what will further mortify your Par-
tiality, it is a fair Lady, who was
pleas’d to ask my Opinion concerning the
Subjets of the three firſt Diſſerta-
tions in the Pacquet annext, and which
I ſend to convince you that I was not
quite ſo idle as you thought. She's
Wife to a Man of conſpicuous Dignity,
which is all that imports you to know
24
at
The Preface.
1
at preſent of ber Perſon.
!
of
5. NOW do I ſee the inmoſt
Thoughts of jour Soul, as well as if
I kad the managing of all its Weights
and Springs, or had the very forming
of your brain.
You may ri member
bow often I took the part of the other
Sex againſt your Prejudices ratber
than your Judgment. I was conſcious,
it's true, of the Goodneſs of my Cauſe;
but, without Vanity, I cou'd defend a
worſe againſt ſuch Arguments, as were
only drawn from the habitual Diſ-
courſe of your Companions, from the
ordinary bad Education of Women, or
from the famous Ladys of that place
where you kappen’d to be firſt bred, and
with whom you had a more intimate
Acquaintance, than with any of a better
Character, either ſince or before.
How often was I forcéd to deſcribe
to you what rude, unmannerly, igno-
Yant, and rough-hewn Monſters, those
of
1
The Preface.
+
1
of our Sex uſe to be, who are not
cultivated and poliſht by Converſation
or Letters; and that the Wives and
Daughters of ſuch. Peaſants have ge-
nerally more Wit and Cunning, a
greater ſhare of Breeding and Saga-
city? Whether the Excluſion of Women
from Learning be the Effeet of inve-
terate Cuſtain, :or proceeds from De-
Sign in the Men, ſhall be no Inquiry
of mine : but if a Woman once in
ber. Life happens to pry into Books,
and that upon this she grows trouble-
fom, affected, or ridiculous (as 'tis:
thouſand to one he does not what a
clutter do idė make about this matter,
how ready are we to improve it againſt
their natural Genius, and what Tri-
umphs are we decreeing to the Superi-
ority of our own Underſtandings?
Whereas, God knows, this is nothing
at all to the purpoſe, or at moſt but
the ſame thing with the Impertinence,
Pride, and Pedantry of thoſe Men,
who
$
The Preface.
who are only Smatterers in Learning,
ſuperficial Readers of Books; the
I worn Heralds of Authors and Edi-
tions, Collectors of hard or high-
founding Words and crabbed Phraſes,
eager Hunters after Rules and Ery-
mologys, or mere Scholars, and there-
fore mere Aſſes. I won't repeat what
1 demonſtrated to you" ( for I thought
it worth the Pains) about the Parity
of the intellectual Organs in both Sexes;
and that what puts 'em both on the
ſame foot in: Diſcourſe of ordinary
Buſineſs (which is dény’d by no body)
makes 'em equally capable of all Im-
provements, bad they but equally the
ſame Advantages of Education, Trá-
vel, Company, and the Management of
Affairs.
1
6. I MIGHT diſpenſe with the
Trorble of alledging Reaſons, where
Experience is ſo expreſs of my ſide ;
and 'tis not likely that you have for-
got
The Preface.
1
1
got some intire Volumes, which I re-
commended to your Library, containing
nothing but the Lives of ſuch Women,
among the Antients and the Moderns,
as became famous in their olon Time,
and deſerv’d to have their Names
tranſmitted to Pofterity, for their ad-
mirable Writings in Philoſophy, Divia
nity, Morality, and Hiſtory, in Verſe
and Profe, as well as for their ap-
prov'd Skill in Painting, in Muſick,
and in all the other Arts and Sciences,
in tbe Conduct of formidable Vars,
and the Adminiſtration of Civil Affairs,
no leſs than in private Oeconomy.
DIOGENES LA ERTIUS dedi.
cates to a Lady the Hiſtory of the Opi.
nions as well as the Lives of the antient
Philoſophers; and therefore we muſt
ſuppoſe that the underſtood their ſeveral
Syſtems, many of 'em extremely intri-
cate- and abſtruſe, eſpecially thoſe in
which the moſt delighted; the Philoſo-
phys of PLATO and E PIGUR US,
Monfieur
!
i
The Preface.
1
1
Monſieur MENAGE bus written a
whole Book of the Female Philoſophers,
infcrib’d to a Woman now alive, the
Celebrated Madam D ACIER, Daugh-
ter to the great Philologiſt TANA-
QUIL FABE R. All the Learned
World has done Juſtice to her excel-
lent Works, and no body queſtions but
The's one of the beſt Critics of our
Time in the Greek and Latin Authors,
of which the ample Penſion fetild on
ber by the French King is truly the
speakeft Argument, conſidering ſome
others that are in his Pay. I could
zrite a Volume 19 2014 iny Jelf of ſuch
1 known to be in ſeveral Parts of
Entrope, without recalling from the Dead
the Pythagoric Ladys of antient Italy.
And among divers others in England
(where nevertheleſs they are. ſcarce e-
nough) you may find a Lady not per-
fonally known to me, who is abſolute
Miſtriſs of the moſt abſtracted Specu-
lations in the Metaphyſics, and who
will
!
1
The Preface,
with an eaſy Turn of Stile and Arge.
ment bas defended Mr. Lock's Eſſay
of Human Underſtanding, againſt
the Letters of an Eminent Divine.
Her 'Book is intituld, A Defence of
the Eſſay of Human Underſtand-
ing, written by Mr. Lock,
In Anſwer to fome Remarks on
that Eliy.
BIA.
7. FOR Womens wiſely govern.
ing of States and their valiant Conduct
in War, I need not go back to the Baby-
lonian Se MIRAMIS, the Scythian
THO MYR IS, the Britiſh BOA-
DICE A, or the Palmyrean Z ENO
VVhat think you of MAR-
GARE T the famous Regent of the
Spaniſh Netherlands? And how often
have I knoion you tranſported in read-
ing the glorious Annals of our oldn
moſt learned Linguiſt, Queen ELIZA-
BET H, who choſe and directed her
incomparable Counſellors, and who wiſely
1
1
gave
The Preface.
.
gave hopes to the Papiſts of her Fa-
vor at the firſt, that ſhe might after-
wards (as ſhe did) with the greater
Security eſtabliſh the Proteſtanı Reli-
gion on an unſhaken Foundation? Thuis
The became in a ſmall time the Terror
of ber Enemys, the Darling of her
Subjects, the Support of her Allys,
and fill'd all Europe then with Envy
and Admiration, as ſhe has ſince done
the whole Vorld with her Name. A
this very inſtant, Queen ANNE, who
graces the ſame Throne, and who pro-
poſes ELIZABETH for her Pat-
tern, abundantly ſhows what a Lady is
capable to do.
For as the yields to
no Prince whatſoever for the Admi-
niſtration of common Fuſtice in ber Do-
minions, in maintaining moſt powerful
Fleets by Sea and numerous Armys by
Land, in heading the Grand Alliance
of ſo many different Nations and Per.
ſuaſions againſt the Tyranny of Fran
and providing fit Supplys for the
1
VVars
The Preface.
Wars in Germany, Flanders, Spain,
and the Indies : To what ſeems to be
yet a weightier. Task) ſhe keeps ſuch
an even Balance among the ſeveral
contending Partys at home, that they
are not able, according to their unna-
tural Diſpoſitions, to oppreſs or devour
one another, and even ſuch as oppoſe
ber juſt Title in favor of a pretended
Brother, find her as merciful in her
Lenity to their perſons, as prudent in
preventing their pernicious Deſigns.
She has given ſufficient Proofs that
The will not be influenc'd by the Clamors
of Bigots from any Quarter, as well
knowing 'em to be the reſtleſs Firebrands
of Society, and the Diſturbers of the
public Tranquillity, under pretence of
having greater Zeal than others for
Religion, while they only puſh forward
their own particular Piques and Dea
figns, tho under the falſe color of
advancing Gad's Cauſe or the Church.
Nevertheleſs. The generouſly endeavours
to
1
1
:
The Preface.
to quiet and ſatisfy the Minds of ali
forts of Men, without neglecting the moſt
unreaſonable ; which extraordinary Good
neſs (not duly underſtood at the begin-
ning) did animate the malignant Party
too haftily to ſhow their vindi&tive and ar-
bitrary Spirit, as it drew ſome peaceable
Murmurings from the Friends of Libert
out of Apprehenſions for her Majeſty's
Safety and the Preſervation of the cum-
monwealth. But her Enemys were
ſadly diſappointed, and her desitul Sub-
jeits ſeaſonably confirmd, when it
appear’d to all the VVorld (and to us
bere eſpecially) by her. Speech at the
opening of this Seſſion of Parliament,
that she wou'd not only govern the
Church and State according to the known
Laws of England, but likewiſe refo-
lutely maintain the Regal Succeſſion in
the Proteſtant Line, with a full and im-
partial Toleration to all Proteſtant Diſ-
(enters. Here's but a ſhort Character
of what's due to the Merits of a VVo-
man,
The Preface.
man, and this under the Diſadvantage
of ſucceeding ſo great a Man as King
WILLIAM. Or if there wanted
yet an Example, SIR, to reconcile
jou to Female Ability, I wou'd alledg
the Preſumptive Heir of our Crown,
her' Electoràl Highneſs the Princeſs
SOPHIA, who for the many Lan-
guages the ſpeaks ſo perfe£tly, for
hér vaft Knowledg in Hiſtory, ber
deep Inſight in State-Affairs, and nice
underſtanding of the principal Contro-
verfys 'in Religion and Philoſophy, is
highly applauded by moſt of the Learned
Men in Europe. Now, if after all
theſe Reaſons and Inſtances, you are
not yet become a fincere Co:rvert,
you ſhall not only be pronounc'd
an obſtinate Heretick, but be deli-
ver'd over to the Scorn of the Ladys,
as an adequate Puniſhment of your
Crime
8. BUT
1
S
The Prefage
}
+
8. BUT bunever you contin
nile. ctif pos din: as to this mattery get
the Length and Number.of the Dif-
courtes'i ſend lereby, are a ſufficient
Anſwer to what you wrote of my:ordi-
2,3 Occupations in this place. The
Ladz at: whale." Roqueft. I wrote ile
muft of 'embo wants no Qualifications
for comprehending their Contents; 126.
more than ſhe wanted Curioſityitor PLOT
24 the Queſtions, Sle underſtandsome
of the antrent Languages, filo dhe knows
pery well 14. Importanced
Auctarity,
and will believe po Matters af fact, with-
aug. it. But appellans for a person oupa, .
fake, as to obviate the Scruples o
thofe do pobom 394, max ornafjonally,
show theſe. Lettet fund, 204, a bave
leave to do fotogas, o many
many this wou
plegle). I have added 941. ika Originals
Words of the Quotations in the Marging
tho in my Diſcourſe to the Lady they
run ing the ſame conginu'd Thred and
Stile
The Preface.
!
Stile with the reſt. This has bin the
laudable Method of the Antients, not-
withſtanding the Moderns have so
ſtrangely perplex'd their Readers with
the odd manner of inſerting their Au-
thoritys : nor did ever any: Perfon pre-
tend that a Roman Lady of good.
Senſe cou'd nit, read CICERO of
Human Durys, or bis Dialogues au
bout Divinacion, becauſe he has artful-
ly wrought into his own Text and Wurds,
10 many Papages of the Greek Wrio
ters; whereas no Woman on Earth (and
very few Men) can make any thing
of. SEIDEN Or S ALMA SI U s,
without being tir’d and diſguſted, which
cou'd not fail, even had they writien
in the vulgar Languages. To ſay
that Ladys ought not to be troull'il
with Authority in Reaſoning, is not
only to ſay that they are unreaſonable
Creatures, but alſo that the Scripture
muſt never be quoted to 'em in Religion ;
becauſe the Men will not let them
b 2
learn
1
The Preface.
learn Hebrew, or that they are not
willing themſelves to ſpoil the Soft-
neſs of their Pronuntiation by ſo harſh
a Language.
9. TO U may depend upon it,
SIR, that my Correſpondent is one of
the moſt curious Perfonis jou ever
kuew, and Miſtriſs of a vaſt Compaſs
of Knowledg, having read all that's
worth the pains' in the Modern Tongues,
to ſpeak nothing of the beſt Tranſla-
tions froni the antient Originals: and
doubtleſs you'll allow a Lady to admire
thoje old Men that are long ſince dead,
provided the eſteems the young Men
That deſerve it among thé Living
Tho fome may think SERENA
an imaginary Lady, yet 1 aſſure you
in particular that ſhe's a very real
Perfon, which I the rather repeat,
both to create in you a better Opinion
of Women, having ſo frequently preſt
YOlt to marry; and in hopes that you'll
give
}
The Preface.
S
give ſuch an Education to your Daug!).
ters (if ever you have any) as to be
a leading Example to others: for the
Praćtice of one Man of Fortune,
Birth, and Reputation, has often gone
very far towards reforming a whole
Country. As for others, 'Tis 110 mat-
ter if they ſtill believe SEREN A
a Romantic Name, like the Marchioneſs
of Monſieur de FONTENELLES
in his Plurality of Worlds : for
they'll be ſo juſt however to acknow-
ledg, that if I had the making of a
Woman according to my own Fancy,
she ſhou'd be quite another thing from
thoſe vain, giddy, affe{ted, pratling,
and gawdy. things, who are as cheap as
they are common, and who, as they
are nothing but Outſide themſelves, va.
lue nothing but Outſide in others; being
Strangers to all good Qualitys, void
of ſolid Vertue and true Merit; fit
only for an hour's Diverſion or Amuze-
ment, but not for the principal De-
3
light
b 3
The Preface,
{
1
light and indiſſoluble Society of Life.
This is no more a Refletion on the
W’ornen, thari on the generality of the
Men, whoſe Foppery, Singularity,
Pride, Ignorance, and Intemperance,
muſt ſet 'emi at leaſt on an equal bot-
tion with the other Sex.' Nor ought
this Conſideration to beighten your A.
verſion, but jour Caution, fince be-
ing none of thoſe Men, you may rea-
Sonably expect your match among the
Women.
5
10. BUT leaving the Ladys for
this time, I muſt prepare you a little,
SIR, for reading the Letters annext,
by telling you the ſeveral Occaſions of
writing them. The Subject of the
firſt Letter is The Origin and force
of Prejudices, not from their phyſical,
but their moral Cauſes. The Occaſion
was my ſhowing to 'SER EN Å the
following Paſſage of CICERO.
Neither
The Preface.
1
1
* Neither Parents í fay's he ) op
Nurſe, or Schoolmaſter, or Poer, or
Playhouſe depraves our Senſes, nor
can the Conſent of the Multitude
miſlead them: buc all ſorts of
Traps are laid to ſeduce our Un.
derſtandings, either by thoſe whom
I juſt now mention'd, who when
they receive us tender and igno-
iant, infect and bend us as they
pleaſe ; or elle by that Pleaſure
which lies ſo deeply rooted in
every one of our Senſes, the pre-
tended Follower of Good, but
the real Mother of all Évils, cor-
rupted by whoſe Allurements, we
do noc ſufficiently diſtinguiſh thoſe
things
ܕܲ
b 4
* Senſus noftros non Parens, non Nutrix, nois
Magiſter,non Poera, non Scena depravat, non multitudinis
Conſenſus abducit : at vero Animis omnes tendusell
Infidiæ, vel ab iis quos modo enumeravi, qui tenctus
& rudes cum acceperunt,inficiunt & Hectunt ut volunt
vel ab ea, quæ penitus in omni ſenſu implicara iniidet,
imitatrix Boni voluptas, Malorum aurem mater omnium,
CHUS
The Preface.
1
things that are good by Nature,
becauſe they want this Softneſs
and Titillation. Admiring the mal-
terly Strength, and yet natural Eaſieſs
of theſe Words, the own’d to me, that
after diſcovering many Prejudices to be
really ſuch, yet ſhe did not find her Jelf
perfectly cur’d of their Influence and fre-
quent Returns. Therefore ſhe de-
manded my Opinion of this matter in
miriting, which I perform’d in as brief
a manner as I cou'd, taking that very
Paffage for my Text; ſhowing the fuc-
ceſjive Growth and Increaſe of Preju-
dices thro every ſtep of our lives, and
proving that all the Men in the World
are join’d in the ſame Conſpiracy to
deprave the Reaſon of every individual
Perſon. I have drawn as lively a
Pišture as I cou'd in little, of the Pre-
ز
cujus Blanditiis corrupti quæ natura bona funt, quia
dulcedinc hac & ſcabie carent, non cernimus facis. De
Leg. lib. I.
judices
The Preface.
judices in all Conditions of Men, nor
have I tax'd any thing but what is
blam'd by every one in others, however
they may indulge their own Miſtakes :
and he that will infer, that I am againſt
either Learning, or Religion, or Go-
vernment, from iphat I have cenſur'd
in Schools, Univerſitys, Churches
, or
Stateſmen, may with as good reaſon
pretend that I am againſt breeding up
or nurſing of Children, againſt all Pro-
feſſions and Trades, againſt ordinary
Converſation, or living in Society ;
ſince there's none of theſe without
their peculiar Abuſes, and that they
are only ſuch Abuſes which I diſ-
prove.
1. THE ſecond Letter contains
The Hiſtory of the Soul's Immor-
cality among the Heathens, and
was written at SERENA's Re-
queſt. After asking me one day, whe-
ther Juſtice was done to PLATO in
The Preface.
1
ز
a French Tranſlation of his PH.DO,
which I recommended to lcr, and my
anſwering that his Serife nas pretty well
repreſented, tho his Elégance far from
being expreft ; the wonder'd that the
reading of that Book cou'd add any
Force to C ATO's Reſolution of laying
violent, hands on himſelf, to avoid
falling under the Uſurpation of C#-
SARį and much more that it cou'd
jo tranſport CLEOMBROTUS of
Ambracia as to precipitate himſelf into
the Sea, the Jooner to arrive at that
happy Stare therein deſcrib'd : acknow-
ledging that ſhe found little cogent
Evidence, and a world of precarious Sup-
poſitions, throughout that whole tedious
Dialogue. 1 told her that Divine
Authority wis the fureſt Anchor of our
Hope, and the beſt if not the only De-
monſtration of the Soul's Immortality.
1 adiled, that it was not ſtrange to
find this Opinioit doubtèd or deny;d' by
many of the Hestbeits, and made a
matter
1
The Preface.
matter of ſuch Indifference by moſt of
Pem, conſidering bow it firſt came to
be known among them, and the feeble
Reaſons they had to believe it : conitu-
ding, that CA to wou'd not bave
Jurviv'd the Liberty of Rome, bad hé
never ſeen the Works of PLATO;
that the Story of CLEOMBROTUS
was far from being well atteſted; that
ſome of the Antients themſelves laid lit-
tle ſtreſs on the Arguments there put in
the mouth of SOCRATES; and that
Cicero, the profeſt Admirer of
PLATO, and particularly of this
Book, cou'd yet give his Cenfure of it
in theſe words: * But I know not
how it happens ( ſays he ) that
while I read I affent; but when I
have laid aſide the Book, and be-
gin to reaſon wich my ſelf about
the
1
* Sed nefcio quo modo, dum lego affentior: cum
pofui Librum, & mecum ipfe de Immortalitate Ani-
marum
The Preface.
the Soul's Immortality, all that
Allent is vaniſh'd. She was ſur
priz'd to hear me talk of a Time when
ilis Opinion begun among the Heathens,
as if like other Notions it had. its pro-
per authors, Favorers, or Oppoſers, all
which I roundly affirm’d to ber, and
that withal I wou'd show her the gra-
dual Progreſs of it thro all the Parts
of the Earth then known, together with
the true Original of the Poetical Fables
concerning the Elyſian Fields, the Ri-
vers, Judges, Gates, and Ferryman of
Hell, of Souls being diſquieted for
want of orderly Burial, and manifeſt
Proofs that the antient Egyptians upere
ihe genuine Fountains of all Learning
and Religion 10 the Heathen World.
All this I have endeavour'd to make out,
I will not ſay by the beſt Authoritys
hat ever were, but by the beſt in the
3:
mizcum cæpi cogitare, Aſſenſio omnis illa elabitur.
THIS huet, lib. I.
Pre 12/13 ss sieji
dimost
hiba .;.
OP
It's
.:1.
$
The Preface
noſt Antient Books. we have remain-
ing; for in theſe caſes Suppoſitions
ought to go for nothing, and there-
fore when we ſay that ſuch or ſuch
were the firſt that taught Aſtronomy,
that built Femples; that practis'd Ma-
gick, we do not mean' abſolutely the
firſt (for in ſo many Ages who cou'd
be certain of that?) but the firfbithat
can be provd ora Recordi fo to have
done ; and thus i wou'd be underſtood
whenever 1 expreſs my ſelf in that
manner. I have in this Letter like-
wife prov’d, that the Opinion of the Soul's
Immortality had not its beginning from
the Philoſophers, as making ſuch an
Inference from the Spontaneous Motions,
Reaſoning, or Speech of Men ; but, on
the contrary, I have ſhown this Notion
among the Heathens to have bin firſt
taken up by the Mob, popular Traditions
often becoming the Doctrins of Philo-
ſophers, who ſtrive to ſupport by good
Reaſons what the others begun with none
OY
The Preface.
or very bad ones. If what I have
alledg d be found to be true, it firſt
confutes, thoſe who commonly ſuppoſe
that the Heathens bad learnt the Soul's
Immortality from the Jews, and ſecond-
ly: the Opinion which Dr. COWARD
has ejpous d, * That the ſeparate
Exiſtence of Human Souls pro-
ceeded from the Heathen. Philo-
ſophers and no others; the when I
iprote that Letter I did not know there
was any ſuch Book in the world as the
Doétor's, which I have but lately ſeen,
and found nothing in it to my purpoſe.
12:51 N the third Letter written
likewiſe to SEREN A; and at her
own Deſire, you'll find. The Origin
of Idolatry, explain'd after a very
different manner from what is commonly
receividi : There alſo you may read the
firſt Cauſes of the Heathen Temples,
* Gratia Eflay, p. iog
Prieſts,
1
1
The Preface.
Prieſts, and Altars, their Feafts, and
Sacrifices ; of Images, Statues, and
Tutelary Powers'; of Ghoſts, Spe?ters,
Oracles, Magick, and Judiciary Aſtro-
logy; with the Reaſons how People
came to imagine that Heaven (or the
Palace of the Good) was over their
Heads,, and that Hell (or the Priſon
of the Wicked) was under their Feet ;
Bully they look up when they praj,
and ſeveral other things of this nature,
for which ii's. generally imagin'd no ac-
count can be: given befides Cuſtom, or
that in the Abyſs of time, and under
the Ruins of prope - Monuments, ſuch
Originals are irrecoverably bury'd.
Reaſons are likewiſe given ari this Letter
for the principal of the Heathen Rites,
the odd. Deſcriptions they have made of
their Deitys, the Tungodlike "Hiftorys
they relate of their. Aptions, and other
Particularitys ishich: kave bin long re-
garded as the Fictions of Poets, or the
Extravagancys of human Imagination,
but
The Preface.
1
but no way to be probably reduc'd to the
Exactnefs of Hiſtory. And laſt of all
is explain’d the threefold Diviſion of the
Heathen Theology into Natural, Civil,
and Poetical, with the Allegorical Inter-
pretation of their Myſterys, and a Pa-
rallel of their Practices with the Cor-
ruptions of Chriſtianity ; whereby it ap-
pears that in all Ages Superſtition is
actually the ſame, however the Names of
it may vary. This third is the longeſt
of all the Letters, but you'll think it
impoſſible that in ſo ſhort a one any
Satisfaction can be given concerning fo
many different Subječts as I have already
namd, not to inſiſt on what I have not
time to mention : and therefore you are
to ſuppoſe that I don't empty common
places here, and deliver all that may be
ſaid on each of theſe Heads (which I have
bin far from doing) but only all that's
ſtrictly neceſſary to makérem very cena
tain, eaſy, and intelligible to a Lady,
and conſequently to all Capacitys. This
is
The Preface.
Y
1
1
is: not an Argument therefore that I
have no more Reaſons or Authority's
left to defend what may be reckon'd
dangerous Paradoxes, by ſuch as are
mortally afraid if they are led but one
step cut of the common Road, the but to
make their way ſhorter and ſafer, or to
Walk upon Carpet Downs, inſtead of wan,
dring guideleſs thro a Wilderneſs, over
Lakes and Moraſſes, among dreadful
Rocks and Precipices.
13. TOU'll wonder, I believe, that
I fou'd differ ſo much both about the
Crigin and Progreſs of Idolatry, with one
whole Book on this very Subje&t I have
Jo lately recommended to you under an
advantageous Character ; I mean the
moſt faithful and laborious Antiquary
ANTONY VANDALE, principal
Phyſician to the City of Harlem. My
Opinion of that Book is ſtill the ſame,
only that (as I then told you) inſtead of
the Origin and Progreſs of Idolatry,
I think it ought to have been intituld,
A
The Preface.
1
1
A complear Collection of the moſt
antienė Heathen, Jewiſh, and
Chriſtian Superſticions : for theſe
things are in theit. Book very accurately
diferit?l, but litile ſaid of their Origin,
ör nothing contrary to my Authoi js,
except what I have confured about
the lt orſhip of the Coleftual Body's ;
and the Progreſs of ldolitry from Chalo
dea to Syria and other parts of Africa,
particularly to Ionia, thence to Greece,
and ſoon, barely ſuppos’il, but not of-
fer'din be prov’d, as may be ſeen in the
ſecond and third Chapters of the forft
Diſſertation, where the subject is indeed
but incidentally hinted. Nor do I guel-
tion but that learned Gentleman will pre-
fer gooit Authority, the not commonly
taken notice of, to“ a vulgar Error, the
generally approv'd. Mr. VANDALE's
Hiſtory of the Heathen Oracles you have
already perus’d with great Satisfaction.
He has lately publiſh'd eleven Diſſerta-
tions relating chiefly to the Sacred Func-
tions of the Heathens, iberèin from
Medals,
The Preface.
1
Medals, Inſcriptions, and Paſſages of
Authors, vaſt Diſcoverys are made in
Antiquity. He has it preſent in the
Preſs a Confutation of the pretended
ARISI E AS, and confequently the
Hiſtory of the Greek Tranſlation of the
Old Teſtament, falſly attributed to the
feventy Interpreters. In the ſame Vo-
lume be treats of the Antient Rites of
Purification and Regeneration, as Waſh-
ings, Sprinklings, Immerſions, by Wam
ter, by Blood, and the like; whence we
are to expect many curious' Circumſtances
relating to Chriſtian 'Baptiſm, deliver'd
not only with the greateſt Éreedom, but
alſó. with tlse at moſt Fairneſs: for tho
Mr. VANDAL E be by Profeſſion 4
Mennonift, or (as më tërm them) ar
Anabaptift, jet he's one of the moſt
paſſionate Lovers of Truth, as do? Il corso
of his Friends, that I ever knew ; of
a large: Soul notwithſtanding his narroxo
Fortune, and of nobler Thoughts than
to be a Bigot to any thing againſt
plain
2
C 2
:
The Preface.
plain Reaſon or Authority.
14. I HAVE written other Let-
ters to SERENA, and concerning
matters much more curious ; but not
having yet tranſcrib'd 'em fair
, I ſend
yók inſtead of them two Philoſophical
Letters, written to Gentlemen altoge-
ther unknown to you. The firſt, being
the fourth in the Pacquet, was ſent to
an exceſſive Admirer of SPINOSA,
one wholly addi&ted to his Principles,
and reputed the beſt of any to under-
ſtand his Syſtem. After having diſ-
puted together at ſeveral times on le-
veral Heads, I told him once, en paſ-
fant, that the whole Fabrick of that
Philoſophy was, without any folid Foun-
dation ; of which he laying immediate
hold, wou'd never let me be quiet, till,
getting leiſure enough in a lovely Coun-
try. Retirement, I wrote this Letter.
Being a Perſon of extraordinary Can-
dor, he freely acknowledgʻd SPINO-
S A
The Preface.
1
s A to be defective in that point, and
conſequently in all that depended on it ;
thó be had never obſerv’d ſo much be-
fore, and ſome other Spinoſifts powd
the ſame Ingenuity. But a Gentle-
man, no leſs illuſtrious for his excel-
lent Learning than his noble Family; hav.
ing got a ſight of what they ſtil'd the
Confutation of SPINOSA, and
Which they handed one to another, he
beſtow'd many Commendations (not fit
for me to repeat) on that part of the
Letter which dire{tly regarded that
Philoſopher : but expreft his Diſlike
of the latter part, wherein I declar'd
my own Opinion, that Motion is eſſen-
tial to Matter no leſs than Exten-
ſion, and that Matter neither ever
was nor ever can be a Nuggiſh, dead,
and inative Lump, or in a Stare of
abſolute Repoſe. To the ſeveral 06-
jections he was pleas’d to make, I re-
turn’d. diftint Anſwers in the ſecond
Letter, which is the fifth and laſt in
C 3
the
The Preface.
the Pacquet. For the Apologys: 1
make about maint aming a Notion :fo
Alatly oppoſite both to the Antients and
Moderns, I refer you to the Letter
it Self, where you'll likewiſe be con-
vinc'd that my Opinion is not charge-
able with any of thoſe ill Conſequences,
to which at firſt ſight it may Jeem ob-
noxious. 1: hall not anticipate your
own Obſervation bich relation to what
important Uſes it may /erve in Philo-
ſophy, ſince the Queſtion ought not to
be how convenient, but how true it is :
nor will I excuſe my writing of the
Myſterys of Philoſophy in jo plain a
Stile, being ſorry I had not time enough
to render thoſe things much more com-
mon and intelligible, it being a great
deal eaſier to deliver.'em in the ordinary
Terms of Art; but then fewer are left
Judges of the Controverſy, and the
Subječi made leſs uſeful or entertain-
ing. I hope, if Dr. COWARD
( whoſe laft Book I have lately perus’d)
happens
1
The Preface.
happens to ſee this Letter, that he
will not afert: it.* to be evidently
plain thac Motion is not Matter,
tho if we come to define it, ſays
ke, we can hardly find Words to
expreſs irs Quiddity by : for 1 fast-
cy I have made it very clear, that
Motion is but Matter under a certain
Conſideration, tho it does not imply or
exhauſt the whole Idea of Matter, -.10.
more than Extenſion does. One that
ſaid ( as he profefles to do to the
Poſſibility of God's endowing
Matter with ſelf-movent Princi-
ples, will no longer hold it to be philo-
ſophically impoſſible :' nor maintain
that it does not always exert it
ſelf from fome latent and un-
known Reaſons of the Divine
Wiſdom; and theſe Reaſons he gueſ-
* Grand Ellay, P. 74.
+ Ibid. Preface.
li Ibid. P. 153.
C4
fes
The Preface.
1
ſes may be * to preſerve the Order
and Frame of the Univerſe, which
(he thinks) ſhou'd all Matter ſtart
up into Self-motion, wou'd ne-
ceſſarily be deſtroy'd, and there-
fore God has thought fit to re-
ſtrain it. When he conſiders my Ar-
guments, he'll find no ſuch danger to
the Univerſe, as he apprebends, from
Matter's conſtant Exerciſe of its eſſen-
tial Axtion : and indeed it wou'd be a
Contradi&tion that Motion was eſſential
to Matter, and yet that only ſome
Parts of Matter, and on certain occa.
frons, were endow'd with a power of
moving themſelves ; whereas Matter
may as well be fometimes without Ex-
tenſion as without Motion, if there be
any weight in my Allegations ; the nei-
ther this, nor that,nor any other particular
Direction of its Motion be effential to
* Id. ib.
!
it,
The Preface.
mighty God.
it, but left to the ordinary Determina-
tions of the mutual Action of Bodys
ou one another, or to the immediate
Power and moſt wife Purpoſe of Al-
But to ſay that God
may take Motion from Matter, the it
were eſſential to it, is to ſay, that he
can deprive it of Extenſion or Soli-
dity; and this is to ſay, that he can
make it no Matter.
15. ACCORDING to the lio
berty I gave you before, you may in-
differently show theſe Letters to all
your Acquaintance that are, curious of
ſuch things, without inquiring whether
they be Friends or Foes to me, whether
they be Whigs or Torys, Latitudina-
rians or Preciſiạns, Occaſional Confor-
miſts or Nonjurant Schiſmatics : for
there's nothing in this Pacquet relating
to the Diſputes which divide 'em at pre-
ſent either in Religion or Politics, no-
thing but what may be read without
Paffion
1
1
1
The Preface.
Paffion by thoſe of all Partys, Seets,
and Factions. Theſe are only innocent
Roſearches into the venerable Ruins of
Anıiquity, or Thört Eiſays in Philo-
fophy, not calčulated to offend any, but
to pleaſe all ; and to divert, if they
are not capable to inftru£t. As for
thofe who are jealous of every thing,
they are ſufficiently puniſh'd in hiving
their Cenfures valud by no body ; and
(as we uſe to quiet froward Children)
to negle&t their Complaints, and not to
Litmour their Pettiſhneſs, is the moſt
certain way of ſilencing thoſe peevifh
Knights Errant, who are always in
Jearch of new Adventures, and make
every one they encounter a Giant or a
Dwarf. It were an effectual Method
indeed to diſcourage all Improvements in
Learning, all further Progreſs in
Knowledg or Politeneſs
, if Men cou'd
be deter'd from preſenting the World
with the Opinions, Manners, Religions,
or Governments of the Antients, left
any
The Preface.
any of the Moderns shou'd fancy their
Own Perſonages to be acted under this
Diſguize : nor will I deny but Appli-
Cations of this kind may ſometimes be
very naturally made, tho a Writer had
never. thought or intended ſuch a thing,
which I declare to be my preſent Dil-
poſition, except where I have dire&tly
expreft the Compariſon ; but ſuch Infe-
rences are much eaſier drawn by the Peo-
ple concern's, who muſt needs perceive
the beſt of any, what has the greateſt
Reſemblance with their own Doctrins or
Practices. Now in this caſe there
remains, in my judgment, but one of
theſe two things; either to reject what
they themſelves defend, if it be no better
grounded than what they condemn in the
Antients, and that perhaps it has from
thence its very Original: or elſe to get
a Law enaĉted, that People muſt not be
told what the Antients believ'd, and
that the Moderns never copy'd any thing
from them but what was abſolutely uſe-
ful
The Preface.
ful and good, omitting all that was
any way bad or erroneous.
16. AS for the Reflections you
may not be willing to bear againſt me
from any of your angry Friends, I
have often advis'd you not to trouble
your ſelf about ſuch Trifles no more
than Ido; at leaſt till you ſee that my
Betters in Church and State can be
able to ſecure themſelves from the Slan-
der and
Calumny of thoſe, who have an
Intereſt to decry their Perſons, or Dant
Ability to oppoſe their Performances.
Mankind is in all Ages the ſame.; the
ſame Artifices have bin ever us’d to
raiſe their Paſſions or to miſguide their
Zeal, and no apologys can ſatisfy ſuch
as are angry without a reaſon, or out of
perſonal Hatred : wherefore all wife
Men have ever deſpis’d the Outcrys of
this fort, and if they perform’d any
thing worthy of Notice or Praiſe, they
wou'd wonder more to hear they were
not
The Preface.
not blam'd (mbich feldom happen'd) than
that they were maliciouſly attack'd as they
expected, Juſpecting by the Silence of
others that their work was contemptible,
or fearing from the general Approba-
tion that they had not written the Truth.
But whatever might be their. Fortune in
their own Time, impartial Poſterity does
juſtice to their Memory, when that of
their Adverſarys is utterly forgot, or
rememberd only to their Diſgrace, for
their envious or ignorant Oppoſition of
what deferv’d their Thanks and Appro-
bation. Of all Weakneſſes Vanity is
certainly the most unbecoming ; and yet
when an Adverſary rails, a man is very
apt to think he cannot reaſon; that
when he's angry, 'tis becauſe he cannot
anſwer
. ; that he has little sto. Say .to the
Subject, when he rambles to things
which are' foreign to it; and that when
be raiſes a Duft, 'tis to blind bis Rea-
der's Eyes, or to eſcape under the favor
of his own. Cloud. There are fome, we
know,
1
The Preface.
ܪ
knowo, of that peculiar Temper, that
they cannot live, if they are not be
Spattering one or other; and if it be
neceſary for their Health, or that
their Conſtitution requires this Dil-
charge of their Choler, we ought no
more to blame them, than we find others
regard what they ſay. As for the
Character of a Low Churchman,
which you ſent me, and ſuch other Au-
thors, who notwithſtanding my Abſence,
or not interṁeddling in their Controver
fys, and conſidering the Satisfaétion I
gave in Vindicius Liberius concern-
ing the Exceptions taken at Chriſti.
anity not Myſterious, yet have
wire-drawn my Name into their irré.
ligious Invectives, and wou'd needs
honor me with their Abuſes in ſo good
Company, as that of our moſt vene-
rable Prelates ; who, in ſhort, have
asd the ſame Language ſince my Si-
lence and Compliance as before ; ?tis
plainly evident, that all their Pretences
were
1
The Preface.
narrow,
>
were as hypocritical as their Charity is
that they were never acted by
Zeal for my Soul, but Malice againſt my
Perfon, not out of Coricern for the
Church, but'tö gratify a Faction, and ſome
of 'em to be rewarded for petty Services,
who can never expect Preferment by
greater. Theſe are the men who oča
cafion'd that Scandal on the Clergy, that
they never forgive; but God forbid
that a great Body ſhould be chargeable
with the Offences of a few, who ſcrib-
ble without their Conſent. He ſhall at
any time have my Thanks, and not my
Diſpleaſure, who treats me with no more
Reſpect than our never to be forgot-
ten Deliverer from Slavery and the
inimitable Stator of our Liberty, King
WILLIAM ; ipho gives me 110 better
Quarter than to fo conſiderable a Body
of Proteſtants and good Subjects as
the Engliſh Diſſenters; and who ſhows
no more Tenderneſs to me, than to all
the moderate Members of the eftabliſh'd
Church
The Preface.
1
Church. But that perſon has pleas'd
so very few by his furious and intem-
perate way of writing, not to ſpeak of
his want of Knowledg as well as want
of Civility, and indeed the very Deſign
of his Libel was ſo extremely wicked,
to oppreſs Jome, and to divide us all,
that without regard to him or thoſe of
his Kidney, I may venture to declare
my ſelf a Low Churchman at home,
and an Occaſional Conformiſt with the
Proteſtants here abroad.
17. HAVING ſo well pre-
pard you before for reading the fol-
lowing Diſſertations without any Rub
or Obſtacle in your way, I ſhall re-
leaſe you and my ſelf from any fur-
ther Trouble at preſent, only aſſuring
you that. I long to ſee you (which I
hope to do very ſhortly) as much as
any Man. in England, and that I am
as much your humble Seryant.
LETTER
be
Letter
I.
1
LETTER I.
The Origin and Force
of Prejudices.
1.
Y
O U greatly complain,
MADAM, that you
are ſtill a Captive to
ſeveral Prejudices; and
I wonder more how
you came to get rid of ſo many. You'l
be eaſily comforted, and entertain a bet-
ter Opinion of your ſelf, when you ſe-
riouſly conſider in what a miſerable
Condition all men are born, and how
impoſſible it is for them not to be edu-
cated in Error ; how difficult to get
free from their Prepoſſeſſions in riper
Age, and how dangerous to do it, when
they become well-diſpos’d by the Dil
covery of Truth,
B 2. NOW,
2
The Origin and Force
t
Letter
I. 2. NOW, ſince you are pleas’d to
defire it, I ſhall briefly trace this Subject
from the beginning, ſhowing by what
degrees our Prejudices grow, and what
additional ſtrength they inceſſantly re-
ceive in their courſe. We all partake
but too much of the Inclinations of
thoſe that give us Life, and of the
Paffions that are predominant in the
Blood of the Family: and if our Fea-
tures and Actions were not infallible
Arguments, that we are ſubject to re-
ceive good or bad Impreſſions in the
Womb; yet the extraordinary Marks
which we ſometimes bear, occafion'd by
the Longing of our Mothers, or by ſome
other Accident (which they often re-
member) afford a ſufficient Proof that
the Fou ndation of our Prejudices is very
ſtrongly laid before we are born. The
Temperament we receive in the firſt
Formation, gives not only a Diſpoſition
to this or that particular Humor and
Habir; but alſo a vigible Biaſs to moſt
Adions of our future Lives, which is
pot to be cur'd but by the utmoſt Efforts
and Exerciſe of Reaſon.
3. WE no ſooner ſee the Light, but
the grand Cheat begins to delude us
from
of Prejudices.
3
W
from every Quarter. The very Mid- Letter
wife hands us into the World with ſuper I.
ftitious Ceremonys, and the good wo-
men alfiſting at the Labor have a thou-
ſand Spells to avert the Misfortune, or
to procure the Happineſs of the Infant;
making ſeveral ridiculous Obfervations,
to diſcover the Omen of his future State
of Life. Nor is the Prieſt in ſome pla-
ces behind-hand with theſe Goſſips, to
initiate him betimes into his Service,
by pronouncing certain Forms of Words
as ſo many powerful Charms, and uſing
the gentle Symbols of Sale or Oil, or
the leverer Applications of Iron or Fire,
or by marking him after ſome other
manner, as his own Right and Property
for the future. The Child, it's true,
not yet affected by any of theſe or the
like Foolerys, whatever Virtue he may
be afterwards perſuaded to allow them :
but this ſhows how early thoſe about
him begin to infect him (if they cou'd)
with their owo miſtakes, and how in-
duftriouſly every one with whom he has
afterwards to do, endeavours to deprave
his Reaſon from tbe very beginning;
ſo that not remembriog when, or where,
or how he came by many of his No-
tions, he's tempted to believe that they
Proceed from Nature it felf, and is alto
B2
milh'd
is
.
A
4
The Origin and Force
i
Letter piſh'd to find that any ſhou'd call the
I. Truth of 'em in queſtion; as it will
more evidently appear from the follow-
ing Reflections.
}
1
4. WE are preſently after our Birth
deliver'd to Nurſes, ignorant Women of
the meaneſt Vulgar, who infuſe into us
their Errors with their Milk, frightning
us into quiet with the menaces of
Rawhead and Bloody-bones, Buggle-
bows and Bullbeggars.
And left we
ſhou'd be loſt by wandring abroad, or
drop into Wells or Rivers, they terrify
us with ſtorys of Spirits and Hobgob-
lins, making us believe that all loneſome
places are haunted, and that the invi-
ſible Powers are principally active and
miſchievous in the night-time. What is
thus invented at the beginning to keep
Children under Government (a Go-
vernment that indeed makes 'em mife-
rable Slaves ever after) is believ'd by
them in good earneſt when they grow
older, whereby the whole Generation
and Country comes to be perſuaded of
it at laſt, and this to ſuch a degree, that
many People (otherwiſe prudent e-
nough) dare not ſleep alone in a Cham-
ber, nor travel buc by Day-lighr, much
leſs have they the courage to enter
into
of Prejudices.
5
w
into empty Houſes or Churches. Letter
I...
5. FROM our Nurſes we are
brought home, where we are ſtill put
into worſe hands among idle and igno-
rant Servants, whoſe chiefeſt Enter-
tainments are Diſcourſes of Fairys,
Elves, Witchcrafts, walking Ghoſts,
Fortune-telling, conſulting Aſtrologers,
or ſuch other chimerical Doings; de-
lighting to fright and delude one ano-
ther, not ſeldom to carry on their pri-
vate Intrigues: which things, however
intended, never fail to make fatal im-
preſſions on the Children: and for the
moſt part our Parents are not wiſer.
6. THEN we are ſent out to School,
where all the Youth come equally infect-
ed from home, and hear of nothing there
but Dæmons, Nymphs, Genii, Satyrs,
Fauns, Apparitions, Prophecys, Tranſ-
formations, and other ſtupendous Mi-
racles. We tell all our ſtorys over again
among our felves; and what may be
concealed from a Child in a prudent
Family, he's ſure to hear of it at School,
where ſo many Children are brought
together, not to improve one another
(which cannot be ſuppos.d of ſuch Con-
verſation) but to communicate their
mutual
1
B 3
)
6
The Origin and Force
1
Letter mutual Miſtakes and vicious Habits, to
I. grow the more idle, and to meet with
bad Examples. We greedily devour
the Poets, Orators, and Mythologiſts,
committing great Extracts of their
Fictions to our memory, being ſur-
priz'd and gain'd by the Charms of their
Stile, Numbers, and Compoſition ;
whereby it comes to paſs that we ſwal-
low the Poiſon of their Errors with
inexpreſſible Pleaſure, and lay a large
Foundation for furure Credulity, inſen-
fibly acquiring a Diſpoſition for hearing
things rare and wonderful, to imagin
we believe what we only dread or deſire,
to think when we are but puzzld that
we are convinc'd, and to ſwallow what
we cannot comprehend.
-
7. WE are made little wiſer, tho
much more vain and conceited in the
Univerſitys, eſpecially abroad, where .
the Profeſſors (right or wrong) muſt
accommodate all things to the Laws
and the Religion of the Country: or, if
they ſteal ſometimes into the Liberty of
Philoſophizing, they generally run into
Extremes, either making us truſt too
little or too much to our Senſes, or
amuſing us with illuſory Abſtractions,
and Subtiltys which refine the Subject
>
Out
*
*
of Prejudices.
7
out of our View, reducing it at laſt to Letter
mere nothing. The Univerſity is the I.
moſt fertile Nurſery of Prejudices, m
whereof the greateſt is, that we think
there to learn every thing, when in
reality we are taught nothing; only we
talk by Rote with mighty aſſurance the
precarious Notions of our Syſtems,
which if deny'd by another, we have
not a word further to ſay out of our
common Road, nor any Arguments left,
to ſatisfy the Oppoſer or our felves.
But our comfort is, that we know as
much as our Maſters, who affect to
ſpeak a barbarous Jargon which com-
monly has no Signification ; and the
main Art that fits their Diſciples to
take their Degrees, is to treat of very
ordinary Matters in very extraordinary
Terms. Yet this dos not render them
half ſo inſupportable to People of Senſe,
as their formal Sciffneſs and Pedantry,
their perpetual Itch of Diſpute and Con-
tradiction. I purpoſely forbear ſaying
any thing of the Advantage commonly
taken there from the Inexperience of the
Youth (who muſt naturally rely on the
Judgment of their Teachers) to ingage
Sem betimes to different Partys and
Factions, to Sourneſs, Cenforiouſneſs,
and Bigotry : for, in one word, there
is
i
I
в 4
8
The Origin and Force
Lettery is ſcarce any thing learnt at the Uni-
I. verſity, but what a man muſt forget, if
he would be underſtood, or not ap-
pear ridiculous and troubleſome, whea
he comes into other Company.
8. BUT as if all this were not
enough to corrupt our Underſtandings,
there are certain Perſons hir'd and ſet
a part in moſt Communitys of the World,
not to undeceive, but to retain the reſt
of the People in their Miftakes. This
will be counted a hard Saying, but it
cannot concern the Orthodox Clergy :
and of other Prieſts what can there be
more certain, ſince 'cis for this very rea-
ſon they are counted Heterodox? The
ſtrange things and amazing ſtorys we
have read or heard (if of any Concern
to a particular Religion) are daily con-
firm’d to us by the Preacher from the
Pulpit, where all he ſays is taken for
Truth by the greateſt part of the Audi-
tory, no body having the liberty to
contradict him, and he giving out his
own Conceits for the very Oracles of
God. Tho every Sect will deny this
of its peculiar Doctrines (and that we
know it, SERENA, to be falſe of
the Reform’d Religion which we pro-
feſs) yet the reſt affirm it with unde,
niable
of Prejudices.
9
1
niable Arguments of one another; for it Letter
is impoſſible they ſhou'd be all or above 1.
one of 'em in the right, which is a m
Demonſtration that the reſt, being the
bulk of Mankind, are retain'd in their
Miſtakes by their Prieſts. And never-
theleſs the very Doubts about the Joys
of Heaven and the Torments of Hell,
are enough to procure Authority for
their infinite Contradictions : ſo ſtrong
are the Impreſſions of Hope and Fear,
which yet are ever founded in Igno-
rance !
9. WHEN we come abroad into
the World, we find all thoſe Errors to
be in ſo high a Credit, that every one is
gaz'd on as a Monſter, who is out of
this univerſal Mode: or if by ſome
lucky chance we ſhou'd happen to be
undeceiv’d, yet the prevailing Power of
Intereſt will make us hypocritically
(or, if you pleaſe, prudently) to pre-
tend the contrary, for fear of loſing
our Fortunes, Quiet, Reputation, or
Lives. This confirms others in their
Prejudices by our example, as much as
if we were deceiv'd our felves ; for
knowing nothing of our Minds but by
our outward Actions, which appear lo
like their own, they judg us to be of
the
10
The Origin and Force
Letter the ſame Perſuaſion. Beſides, that to
I. maintain we are in the Right, while
mothers are in the Wrong, will be inter-
preted ſuch an Affront to all other Peo-
ple, as a Man wou'd not venture to be
guilty of who knows Mankind, and is
reſolvid to lead an eaſy Life far from
the Noiſe, and Crowd, and Hurry of
the World.
10. THOSE who are more in love
with the Buſtle of the Publick, or more
under a Neceſſity to endure it, gene-
rally betake themſelves to fome Pro-
fellion. This indiſpenſably engages 'em
to many Prejudices in favor of their par-
ticular Calling, which if all of 'em do
not always believe, yet they find it
their intereſt that others ſhou'd do ſo, to
gain with them the greater Credit, Re.
putation, and Authoricy. CATO the
Cenfor wonder'd, that when one Augur
met another, they did not laugh at the
Simplicity of thoſe who believ'd their
Divinations; and if they had done fo
among themſelves (as we know from
Hiſtory they often did) yet they wou'd
never the ſooner expoſe the Craft of
their Order to the People, who thought
'em the infallible News-mongers of
Heaven, and who paid 'em ſo well for
}
their
of Prejudices.
II
C
their Intelligence. Hence not only every Letter
Profeffion, but alſo every Rank of Men, I.
have their particular Language, which m
is thought by others to contain very
extraordinary Matters, much above the
common Capacity or Comprehenſion.
The Nobility, Country-Gentlemen,
Jockys, and Beaus, have as well their
ſeveral Cants (tho not fo barbarous) as
the Divines, the Lawyers, Phyſicians,
and Philoſophers. Except the few wiſe
and cunning, all the reſt are really per-
fuaded that they are far greater Men
than ſuch as
are ignorant of their
Terms; and I have many times ſeen a
Hunter as much deſpiſe the good Senſe
of thoſe who did not underſtand his
noiſy Jargon, as an Aſtrologer very
proud of illuminating the credulous Mob
with that vile Stuff, which he did not
ſo much as underſtand himſelf. In
moſt Profeſſions (eſpecially in thoſe
they repute Mechanick) the Members
are ſworn not to diſcover the Myſtery
of their Trade, which very Notion of
Myſtery makes others imagin that
there's ſomeching extraordinary in very
trivial matters thus artfully diſguiz'd;
and your Myſterys of State (tho not
to be pry'd into by vulgar Eyes, but to
be admir'd with Veneration) are fome-
times
12
The Origin and Force
Letter times as airy and imaginary, as flight
I. and ridiculous as any others.
AN
11. BUT no ſort of Prejudices ſtick
cloſer to us, or are harder to be eradi.
cated, than thoſe of the Society wherein
we live and had our Education. This
hoids equally true of their civil Cuſtoms
and religious Rites, of their Notions
and Practices. We cannot eaſily be
brought to believe that our Anceſtors
were moſtly in the wrong, much leſs
that thoſe with whom we daily converſe
have ſo little ground for many of their
Actions : eſpecially ſince we are as apt
to love, or to admire the Opinigns of
Men as we do their Perfons, and that
we are bred in the ſame Perfuafion as
well as they. On the contrary likewiſe,
we frequently hate the Opinion for the
fake of the Perſon, and not leſs fre-
quently the Perſon for the ſake of his
Opinion; commonly for no better rea-
fon, than that we were differently bred,
and accuſtom’d to think that one who
errs in his Notions cannot be right in
his Practice. Thus the Body of the
People in all Places of the World do
greedily imbibe whatever they are
taught to imitate or to reſpect from
their Infancy, and without further Evi-
dence
of Prejudices.
13
dence are ready to die for the Truth Letter
of it in old Age; which is to become I.
properly Martyrs to a Habit, but not
to Religion or Truth, unleſs by mere
Accident. Nay, Cuſtom (which is
noc unfitly callid a ſecond Nature) has
impreſt ſuch a Stamp on the very Lan-
guage of the Society, that what is de-
liver'd in theſe or thoſe words, tho
never ſo contradictory or abſtruſe, paſſes
ordinarily for current Truth: bur change
your Terms, or uſe the Expreſſions of
any other Party, and then if you ſpeak
Oracles, whatever you ſay is reputed
falſe, or at beſt ſuſpected. And indeed
it cannot well be otherwiſe, ſince theſe
Prejudices of all others muſt never be
examin'd. You may reaſon your ſelf
(for example ) into what Religion you
pleaſe; but, pray, what Religion will
permit you to reaſon your ſelf out of
it? I know ſome of 'em profeſs to al-
low a Liberty of examining, but their
Proceedings not ſeldom ſhow their want
of Sincerity : for ler any of their Doc-
trines be call'd in doubt or deny'd after
ſuch an Examination, and the Perſon
that dos it will paſs his cime very ill.
If he's not put to Deach, ſeat into Ba-
niſhment, depriv'd of his Employ.
ments, fin'd, or excommunicated, ac-
cording
1
14
The Origin and Force
Letrercording as his Church has more or leſs
I. Power; yet the leaſt he may expect, is
to be abhorr'd and ſhund by the other
Members of the Society (a thing in all
People's power) which every Man has
not Fortitude enough to bear for the
ſake of the greateſt Truths; and the very
Dearneſs of Acquaintance has often re-
tain’d Men of admirable Underſtanding,
in the external Profeſſion of the moſt
abſurd and ridiculous Errors.
.-
12. ADD to all this our own Fears
and Vanity ; our Ignorance of Things
paſt, the Uncertainty of the preſent
Time, and our ſollicitous Curioſity a-
bout what's to come ; our Precipitation
in judging, our Inconſiderateneſs in
afſenting, and want of due Suſpenſion
in examining: which makes us not
only be carry'd away by vulgar Errors
in our Practice, to be milled by our
Senſes as well as by our Appetites, and
to take numberleſs Falſitys for demon-
ftrated Truths in matters of Specula-
tion; but likewiſe to be unjuſt to the
Merit of others, to confound the Inno-
cent with the Guilty, and generally to
prefer the latter. And, as our Preju-
dices govern us, 'tis next to impoſſible
we ſhould ever truly diſcern who is the
innocent
i
of Prejudices.
15
W
1
innocent or guilty Perſon, who has got Letter
the better or the worſe of any Cauſe;
Cauſe; I.
fince our firſt Queſtion is not what a
Man has done or how, but who or
whence he is? being ready to approve
or condemn, to read over his Book or to
throw it away, according to the Faction
or Party he eſpouſes. This ſurely is nei-
ther fair nor manly dealing: and I hope
no body will pretend that it is the way
to diſcover Truch, no more than to con-
tinue ſtedfaſt in the Profeſſion of it;
ſince it's hard to conceive (for exam-
ple) by what means a Man can quit the
Alcoran if he muſt, never read the
Bible; or if a Mahometan ought to read
the Bible, I ſee no reaſon a Chriſtian
ſhou'd fear to read the Alcoran; which
is as true of all the Books in the World.
It were ſuperfluous to ſpeak any thing
more at large of ſuch common Places
as our predominant Paffions, the Con-
tagion of the conſenting Multitude, or
the Auchority of our moſt mighty Maf-
the irreſiftible Tyrant Cuſtom,
which equally rules over Princes,
Prieſts, and People.
1
ter, the
13. AFTER theſe Obſervations
we may perceive the perillous Condition
of every particular Man, and how im-
poſſible
1
16
The Origin and Force
!
Letter poſſible it appears for him to eſcape In-
I. fection, to obtain or to preſerve his
Liberty; ſince all the other men of the
World are agreed in the ſame Con-
ſpiracy to deceive him. But tho a Per-
ſon exempt from Prejudices ſeems in
his outward Circumſtances to have little
advantage over others ; yet the củlti-
vating of his Reaſon will be the chief
Study of his Life, when on the one
band he conſiders that nothing can
equal his inward Quiet and Joy, ſeeing
almoſt all the reft of his kind ever grove.
ling in the dark, loft in inextricable
Mazes, agitated with innumerable
Doubts, tormented with perpetual Fears,
and not ſure to find any End of their
Miſery even in Death: while, on the
other hand, he himſelf is wholly few
cur'd by a right uſe of his Under-
ſtanding againſt all theſe vain Dreams
and terrible Phantoms, content with
what he already knows, and pleas'd
with new Diſcoverys, without think-
ing himſelf concern’d in things inſcru-
table; not led like a Beaſt by Au-
thority or Paſſion, but giving Law to
his own Actions as a free and reaſo-
nable Man.
14. I
of Prejudices.
3
17
E
}
Letter
14. I AM as ſenſible as any in I.
the World, SERENA, how little
you need that I ſhou'd further inlarge
on this Subject, you having already lo
much Knowledg and ſo few Prejudices,
reaſoning ſo exactly, thinking ſo nice-
ly, and ſpeaking ſo juſtly. Nor is it
for your Inſtruction (I confeſs) that I
have written now at your Deſire, but
to ſhow you how much we agree in our
Opinions ; tho I am ready to acknow-
ledg that you exceed moſt men as well
as my ſelf in Quickneſs of Underſtand-
ing, as you do all your own Sex by
your many excellent Qualitys. In the
matter. of Prejudices, you ſee that at
leaſt
you are not in a worſe ſtate than
other Perſons; or if your Circum-
ftances are better (as I'm ſure they are)
nevertheleſs you muſt be content with
the inward Pleaſure and Satisfaction of
your own Mind, and not expect the
Applauſe of the Publick, which wou'd
rather expoſe you to Diſgrace or Danger,
than do Juſtice to your incomparable
Virtues. But this ought not to hinder
your injoj ing the Happineſs of free
Diſcourſe with any Perſons worthy of
this Honor, whom you ſhall find to
have as much Judgment and Dif-
С
crecion
18
The Origin, &c.
Letter cretion in reaſoning, as I have Zeal
I. and. Sincerity in profeffing my: ſelf,
iD MADAM, to be your moſt faithful
bumible Servant.
LETTER
( 19 )
1
$
1
Lette:
II.
A
1
3
1
for
LETTER II.
molt
The Hiſtory of the Soulºs
Immortality among the
Heathens.
>
}
1.
I
y the beſt Religion ought to
be diſtinguiſh'd by the Purity
and Integrity of its Morals, as
well as by the Truth and Uſefulneſs of
its Doctrins, I am not acquainted with
any body more liocerely pious than
you, MADAM; which is a Tefti-
mony that all thoſe, who have the Hape
pineſs to be acquainted with you,
will
readily grant to your Virtue. You
have no Doubts, I'm certain, about the
Souls Immortality, and Cbriſtianity
affords the beſt, the cleareſt Demonftra-
tion for it, even the Revelation of God
himſelf. But you have often admir'd,
you ſay, how the Heathens came by
C2
the
20
The Hiſtory of the
Letter the Diſcovery of this Truth, Gince
II. they had no ſuch Revelation from Hea-
ven, and that what is fo confidently faid
of their learning it from the ancient
Books of the Jews, may be as eaſily
deny'd as affirm'd ; belides that it is
altogether groundlefs, no ſuch thing
plainly appearing in theſe Books them-
ſelves, tho it be manifeſt from the Pen-
tateuch and the Series of other Hiſtory,
that many Nations had their ſeveral
Religions and Governments long be-
fore the Law was deliver'd to the
Ifraelites. The ſame holds as true of
the pretended Preaching of ABRA-
HAM, and of the Tradition of the Sons
of Noah; theſe being as deſtitute
of any Evidence from matter of Fact,
as in their Circumſtances utterly im-
probable. To have therefore the plea-
ſure, MADAM, of doing a Thing
which you ſignify will be very agreeable
to you, I ſhall lay this Subject before
you as it appears to my ſelf, not from
Conjectures and Suppoſicions, which
give no body any real Conviction, how-
ever they may fileace or amuſe; but
I ſhall argue from unbiaſs'd Reaſons,
and the greateſt Conſent of antient
Writers.
2. To
Souls Immortality.
Letter
2. TO Perſons leſs knowing and II.
unprejudic'd than SERENA, it wou'd m
ſound ſtrange perhaps to hear me ſpeak
of the Soul's Immortality, as of an
Opinion, which, like ſome others in
Philoſophy, had a Beginning at a certain
time, or from a certain Author who
was the Inventor thereof, and which
was favour'd or oppos’d as Peoples Per.
ſualion, Intereſt, or Inclination led 'em.
But ſo it was among the Heathens,
whatever you may think of the matter;
and I have ſometimes confider'd with
aſtoniſhment the weakneſs of thoſe,
who, contrary to their own Experi-
ence, ſeem'd afraid to acknowledg ſo
much : as if the nature of the thing
cou'd ſuffer any detriment from the
Errors of others about it ; or as if the
Heathens had not entertain'd as ex.
travagant Fancys about the very Being
of God, and all the other Articles of
our Religion, which no body takes to
be any Argument againſt the Truth of
them.
1
3. NOW tho the Egyptian Prieſts,
the Chaldæan Magi, and the Indian
Brachmans have diſputed among them-
ſelves about the Honor of this In >
vention
C3
22
The Hiſtory of the
etter vention (10 leſs than thoſe of Harlem
and Mentz about the beginning of
Printing, and thoſe of China and Eu-
rope about
the Origin of Artillery as
well as of Printing,"and other Nations
thout other Arts or Opinions) yet it is
exprefly afſented by ARISTOTLE;
and agreed by the generality of Writers
as an uncontroverted Truth, that the
moft antient Greek Philoſophers did not
dream of any Principle or actuating
Spirit in the Univerſe it ſelf, no more
than in any of the Parts thereof : but
explaio'd all the Fhænomena of Nature
' by Matter and local Motion, Levity
and Gravity, or the like; and rejected
all that the Parts ſaid of the Gods,
Dæmons, Souls, Ghoſts, Heaver, Hell,
Viſions, Prophecys, and Miracles, as
Fables invented at pleaſure, and Fictions
to divert their Readers. After..THA-
LES, ANAXIMANDER, ANAXI-
MENES, and others had thus itaught
the Univerſe to be infinite, and Matter
to be eternal, tho the Forms thereof
were changeable, comes A N AX A.
GORAS (as it is unanimouſly own'd
!
semana
t
Των δε πρωτων φιλοσοφισανων οι πλειστι τας εν
unus erde mover annan arras espal map Twy Metaph.
1...
by
Soul's Immortality.
-23
by almoſt all Authors Heathen or Letter
Chriftian) and to this Matter adds ano-7. II.
ther Principle, which he call?d the
MIND, as the Mover and Diſpoſer
of the ſame: whereupon from ſo cu-
rious, ſó new, and ſtrange an Invention
he was firnam'd the MIND, ſome
deriding and others admiring bim for
this Norion. We ſhall preſently ſhow
how he came by this Diſcovery, tho
moſt of thoſe that preceded him made
infinite Matter the Principle of all
things. 'Tis true thar THALES
maintain'd Matter to be eſſentially
Water, as ANAXIMENES affirin'd
it to be Air; and that by various
Rarefactions and Condenſations all
things were farm’d out of theſe Ele.
ments, and reſolv'd into them again :
but the meaning of both is, that the
Particles of Matter are extremely ſub-
til and in perpetual motion like Air or
Ariſtot. Metaph.l. 1. Plato in Phædone. Cic. de
Nar. Deor. l. 1. Diogen. Laerc. in Anaxag. Plutarch.
in Pericle, & in placic. Philof.l. 1. Tercul. de Anima.
Clem. Alex. Stromát. l. 2. Euſeb. de Præp. Evang. l.
14 Auguſt. de Civ. Dei, l. 8.
Themift. Orat. 15.
Etiam Proclus, Simplicius, cum mulcis aliis, .tam Gen-
tilibus quam Chriftianis.
Diogen. Laert. in Anaxag. Saidas in Anaxagora.
Plutarch, in Pericle.
Water;
C4
The Hiſtory of the
Ionic
Letter Water; from which Motion, and the
IL, Infinity of the Univerſe, the whole
A
V Tribe of Philoſophers (as we faid.juſt
now) accounted for all the Phänomena
L of Nature, till ANAXAGOR AS ad-
ded the moving and ordering Mind.
4. ONE wou'd think that a Perſor;
who deferv'd ſo well of the Greeks,
fou'd have met with ſutable Rewards
and Applauſe; but whether it be that
the other Philoſophers envy'd him, or
that they wilh'd there was no Spirit,
or that he did not ſufficiently anſwer
their Objeệtions, or whatever were the
reaſon, 'cis certain that he was unfor-
tunate in his Reputation at that time
and ever ſince, having bin yery ill usd
by all Party.s, for no cauſe that I can
ſee, but that he did not fully come up
to any of them, Some; aſſert that he
did not underſtand the corpufcular Phi-
loſophy, and that he eſpous'd the Opi-
nion of the ſeparate Mind (for he was
not the, Author of it). to ſave him-
ſelf the labor of underſtanding Me
chanicks, cf making long Deductions
and accurate Obſervations, or "prying
into the Natureof Things. And as a
Confirmation 20f, this, they tell you
that in other Matters' his imaginación
was
Soul's Immortality.
25
AM
was very grofs, witnefs his! teaching Letter
that the Sun was little bigger than the II.
Peninſul of Peloponneſus; that the wo
Earth was flat, and not round; that
the Firmament was made of Stones,
which were kept from falling by their
ſwift Rotation ; that in Generation
the Males came from the Mother's right
Side, and the Females from her left;
that Snow was black; and that the Par-
ticles of all things, as of Blood, or
Bones, or Gold, or Milk, were already
form’d and exiſtent from Eternity, but
that they conſtituted Blood, or Gold,
Black or Green, as it happen'd that a
fufficient Number of them were brought
together into one Body, ſo as greatly to
ſurpaſs the Particles of any other fort,
which Opinion the Greeks expreſs by
the Word Homæomerid. They further
* laught at him for leaving his Grounds
to the diſcretion of his Sheep, that he
might be the more at leiſure for the
Study of Aſtronomy, in which his
Syſtem of the Sun and the Stones of
the Firmament ſhows he was a wonder-
· Vide Diog. Laerc. in Anaxagora, & ad eum Anno-
1
tatores.
2
Diogen. Laert. in Anaxagora, &c.
ful
26
The Hiſtory of the
Letter fyl Proficient ; they blam'd him for
neg-
IT. lecting what was neceſſary and pro-
un firable in Life, and giving himſelf up
to ſpeculative, abſtruſe, and remote
Conſiderations, which are wholly uſeleſs
and uncertain ; and faid that he de-
ſervedly wanted Bread in his old Age,
having bin in danger of ſtarving with-
out the affiftance of his Scholar PERI-
CL-ES.: Thoſe who believ'd, a divine
intelligent Being, counted him a mun-
grel Philoſopher between themſelves and
thoſe of the Ionick Sect, and were an-
gry with him for not employing his
ordering Mind on every occaſion; for,
as often as he cou'd without it, he ex-
plain'd all the Phænomena of Nature by
the Action and Reaction of Bodys on
one another. PLATO (in his Phado)
introduces SOCRATES charging him
with this very matter, and howing no
ſmall contempt for his Books.' For the
ſame reaſon he was not counted Ortho-
dox by ſome Fathers of the Chriſtian
Church notwithſtanding his adding
Spirit to Matter ; and I'É EN Æ US
(in his ſecond Book againſt Hereſys)
dos not only call him irreligious, but
is.co
}
TUL
inde
9 Lib. 2. de Hærer
. :, ; ;;
1
allo
Soul's Immortality.
27
=
alfo in preciſe terms an Atheiſt, and Letter
ſays that he was ſo iftild by others. IT.
CLEMENS A'l'É'XANDRINU S'bears
very hard upon him with Puns, which
I Thall here render word for word.
AN AXA GORA , ſays-he, was the firf
who added Mind to things: but he did not
préſerve the Dignity of the efficient Cauſe,
deſcribing" certain mindleſs Vortexes, to-
gether with a Mindleſneſs and Inaction of
the Mind. And“ARISTOTLE com-
parès him to a Poet that brings off his
Hero with a Miracle, when no natural
Cauſe can ſave him : for he affirms that
·A NAXAGOR A's makes uſe of the Mind
as of 6 Machine in the Formation of the
World; and produce's it only, when he doubts
by what Cauſe it neceſſarily exiſts: but in
other matters, he aligns any other Cauſe
of the things which are made rather than
the Mind. However, there wanted
not thoſe among the Antients and Mo-
derns who entertain'd a more favorable
Eπει και Αναξαρεας πρωτος επενησε τον Ναν τους
πραγμασιν και αλλ' εδε ετος ετηρηση την αξιαν την ποι-
ητικην, Δινες τινας ανοηθες αναζωγραφων, συν τη το Νε
ņ
TOEICTE Xal avoide Scromat. 1. 2.
Ανεξαρρας τε γαρ μηχανή χρήται το Νω προς την
κοσμοποιϊαν και και όταν απορηση για τις αιθιαν εξ αναγ-
κης εςι, τότε έλκει αυτον: δε τοις άλλοις, πανα
framov millatul TWY ZIVOKEYWY » 08. Metaph. 1. 1.
Opinion
28
The Hiſtory of the
{a
Letter Opinion of him, and the great Dr.
II. BURNET (in his 'Archæology). fays
that his Sirname of the Mind is far more
honorable than thoſe of Africanus and
Afiaticus: nor did ANAXAGORAS
fail of ſetting a juſt Value on his own
Worth; for after his Exile (whether
for Atheiſm in ungodding the Planets,
or for Treaſon in conſpiring with PE-
RICLES) when ſome body told him
that he was depriv'd of the Athenians,
he immediately anſwer’d, not of
them, but they of me.
S
5. PHERECYDES of the Iſland
Syrus, as we are inform'd by 3 CICE-
Ro and others, was the firſt among the
Greek Philoſophers that committed the
Immortality of human Souls to writing:
for tho THALES is ſaid to have bin
of the ſame ? Opinion, yet he publiſh'd
nothing; and MAXIMUS TYRIUS
.
: L. 1. C.' 10.
Diogenes Laertius in Anaxagora; * MEYXV, alle
EXHIYOT Juso
Credo equidem etiam alios; ſed (quod Litteris
extet) Pherecydes Syrius primum dixit Animos Ho-
minum effe fempiternos. Hanc Opinionem Diſcipulus
cjus Pythagoras maxime confirmavit. Tuſc. Quaft. I. 1.
4. Eνιοι δε και αυλον πρωθον ειπεν φασιν αθενας τας
fugas, wv eso governos Tomlns. Diogen, Laert. in
Thalere,
(in
1.
Souls Immortality.
29
(in his twenty eighth Diſſertation) af-/Letter
firms with CICERO that PYTHA II.
GORAS the Samian, the Diſciple of
PHERE CYDES, ' was the firſt among
the Greeks who durft openly maintain that
the Body only dy'd, but that the Soul was
immortal, neither ſubject to Age nor Cor-
ruption, and that it exiſted before it came
hither. You ſee, it was ſo great an In-
novation, that he was reckon'd a bold
Man, who had Courage enough to vent
it. Afterwards PL A To and the reſt
greedily imbrac'd this Doctrine; and we
know how widely the Grecians cou'd
ſpread it by their numberleſs Colonys
in Aſia, in Italy, in Sicily, in Gaule,
and other parts of the World, as well
as by their Poets, Orators, Hiſtorians,
and Philoſophers, whoſe Works were
ſo much admir'd by other Nations for
their Subtlity, Politeneſs, and Learning.
6. BUT the next Queſtion is,
whence ANAXAGORAS and his
Followers (who pretended to no divine
Revelations) borrow'd this Invention.
Πυθαρέας δε ο Σαμιος πρωθος εν τοις Έλλησιν
«θολμησεν ειπείν ότι αυτό το μεν σωμα τεθνηξεται, η
dit funn av Off TADA 01gnoslal di furns you emas, xul
Jag Eival authy neix Mxsly dives,
It
ven
30
The Hiſtory of the
Letter It is evident from antient Monuments
II. that he add the other Philoſophers of his
ſide, with the Poets and Mỹthologiſts,
learnt it partly from the Magi; when
the Perſians tranſported their Arris'into
Greece, and partly from the Priests of
Egypt when they traveld for Roow-
ledg into that Country, THAL'E S
had his Philoſophy of the 'Egyptian
Prieſts. PLATO was in Egypta long
time, he has a great many of the Egyp-
tian Doctrins in his Works, and is ac-
knowledg’d by all to have learnt of
* them and of their Diſciple PyPHA-
GORAS as well as of the Perſian Magi,
whatever he has deliver d'about the
Immortality of the Soul, the different
Manſions of the Juſt and Unjuſt in
a future State, the Expiations of
Crimes, the Lakes and Rivers, the
Meadows, Caves, and Monſters of
!
Diogen, Laert. in Thalere. Clem. Alexand. Strom.
1. 1. Eufeb. de Præpar. Evangel. l: 10. Jofeph. I. 1.
concra Ap.
* Diod. Sic. l. 1. Cicero I. 5. de Finibus. Lib. de
Senecture. Tuſc. Quæft. I. I. Ariftot. Metaph. l. 1.
Diog. Laert. in Platone. Quintilian. lib. 1. Clem.
Alexandrin. in Admonit. ad Gent. Valer. Max: 1. 8.
Philoſtrat. vit. Appollon. lib. l. Hieronymus lib.
2. Ep. 1. ad Paulinam. Lactant. lib. 4. cum multis
aliis.
Hell,
.
Souls Immortality.
3
Hell.
PYTHAGORAS; one of the Letter
greateſt Travellers in the World, con II.
vers’d with the Chaldæam. Magi, che in
Indian Gymnoſophiſts, and particularly
with the Egyptian Priests and Prol
phets, ſuffering himſelf to be circunks
cis'd that he might be admidded. to héar
the ſecret Doctrins of che latter, which
they wou'd not communicate to him
without this Condition.
I will noc
here inſiſt on the Poets, as Ori P.H.EU S,
HOMER, or any other of the moſt
ancient, who yet are all confeft to have
borrow'd their Fictions from the Egyp-
tians, as may be ſeen in the firſt Book
of DIODORUS: SIGULUS. A:
NAXAG OR AS was firſt taught by the
Magi, having bin twenty years of Age
at the Expedition of XERXES, and
(as 3 DIONYSIU's PHALERE US re-
lates) he begun to philofophize in A-
thens at thoſe Years. He was a Hearer
of A NAXIM EN ES, and (as Theo.
DORET and AMMIANUS MAR-
• Herodot. in Thalia. Diod. Sic. l. 1. Cicero de
Finibus l. s. Plin. Hift. Nac. . 36. etiam lib. 25.
Diogen. Laert. in Pythag. Iſocrat. in laude Pufiridis,
& alii paffim
3. Clem. Alex.
Theodorer. in Serm, contra
Gracos.
• Diog. Laert. in Anaxagora.
CELLINUS
1
32
The Hiſtory of the
Letter CELLINUs inform us) had travel'd
II. / likewiſe into! Egypt ; ſo that we
plainly perceive whence he had his No-
tion of the ordering Mind. The Greeks
learnt ſeveral things of the Magi in
thoſe Days, which afterwards inſpir'd
others with the Defire of going into
thoſe Parts for perfecting their Know-
ledg.
:
ܟ
I
1
7. BUT the great Doubt ftill re-
mains, who were the firſt Inventors of
the Doctrin of Spirits among the Hea-
thens, the Egyptian Prieſts, the Chal-
dæan Magi, or the Indian Bramins.
PAUSANIAS is very poſitive in fa-
vour of the two laft: •For, ſays he,
I know the Chaldean and Indian Magi
to be the firſt who affirm'd that the Soul
of Man was immortal; and of this they
perſuaded as well other Greeks, as ef-
pecially PL ATO the Son of ARISTON.
A few more Greeks beſides PAU SA-
NIAS (and from their Authority fome
2
· Theodoret. de Græc. Affect: Serm. 2. Theodor.
Meliteniot. Proæm. in Aſtronomiam. Amm. Marcel.
1.22.
Εγω δε Χαλδαιες και Ινδων τες Μαγες πρωτες
οισα ειπονίας, ως αθανατος εσιν ανθρωπα ψυχη : και
σφισι και Ελληνων αλλοι το εποιθησαν, και εχ ήκισα
Πλάτων και Αρισωγος, Meifeniac.
of
Soul's Immortality
33
1
of the Roman Writers ) believ'd the Letter
Chaldæans ro have bin at leaſt the In II.
ventors of Aſtrology, if not of the m
Soul's Immortality. But we might pro-
duce an Army of Witneſſes, if the
things did not ſpeak themſelves, to
prove that the Chaldæans (to whom
the Bramins' were Diſciples) had all
their Learning and Religion, and con-
ſequently the Immortality of the Soul,
no leſs than Aſtrology, from the Egyp-
tians. We cou'd ſhow that MACRO
BIUS ? did not exaggerate, when he
callid Egypt the Mother of the Sciences,
and its Inhabitants the Parents of all the
Arts in Philoſophy, the firſt of all Men
that dar'd to ſearch and meaſure the Hea-
vens, and the only Perfons skill'd in all
Divine things; that is to ſay, the beſt
Divines then in the World. But ſuch
a Diſquiſition not being abſolutely ne-
.
Κλεαρχος δε ο Σολευς, εν τω περι παιδειας, και
τες Γυμνοσοφισας απομονες ειναι των Μακων φησιν. Diog.
Laerc. in Proæmio Hiſtor. Philoſophorum.
2. Dies quidem hic intercalaris, antequam quincus
Annus incipiat inſerendus, cum Ægypti macris Arcium
ratione conſentir. Saturnal. lib. 1. c. 15. Placo Ægyp-
tios: omnium Philofophiæ Diſciplinarum Parentes feo
curus eſt. Somn. Scip. l. 1. c. 19. Quos conſtac primos
omnium Cælum fcrutari & meciri auſos. Ibid. c. 216
Imitatus Ægyptios ſolos divinarum rerum omnium
confcios. - Saturnal. l. 1.6. 14.
D
ceſſary
܀
34
The Hiſtory of the
Lecter ceſſary here, we muſt be content with
IL juſt what makes for our purpoſe.
1
in
8. THOSE who attributed the In-
vention of Religion to the Chaldæans,
had no reaſon but their becoming ſo fa-
mous for Aſtrology (which they firſt
taught the Greeks) and the mighty
Noiſe which they made every where
abour Spirics and Dæmons, their Hierar-
chy of Angels, the final Conflagration
of the World, and ſeveral other Nocions
like to theſe. But this Affertion is
eaſily overchrown by more antient and
numerous Authoričys. HERODOTUS,
the Father of Hiſtory, ſays that? the
Egyptians were the firſt of Men who in-
stituted Aſſemblys, Shows, and Pilgri-
mages in honour of the Gods, and that
from them the Greeks have learnt it; of
which he alledges for a Proof, that theſe
Things were practis'd from remote Times
by the'Egyptians, whereas but very lately
by the Greeks. 'Tis confeſt by all that
Πανηγυριας δε αρα και πομπας και προσαγωγας
πρωθος ανθρωπων Αιγυπτιοι εισι οι ποιήσαμενοι και και
παρg τείων δε Ελλωες μεμαθηκασι. Τεκμηeιον δε
μοι τε και το διε. Αι μεν γας φαινονται και πολλα και
2.2918 7/sypisyal, de 'Eramperel YEWE ETom 34001
the
1, 2.
Soul's Immortality.
35
RI S.
I
the Athenians had a great part of their Letter
Worſhip from their King CECROPS II.
an Egyprián; they had many Cuſtoms
from DANAUS and his Daughters of
the ſame Country, and the Eleuſinian
and Samothracian Myſterys were only
Copys from thoſe of Isis and Osi.
As to Aſtrology particularly,
HERODOTUS maintains, 'That the
Egyptians firſt invented what Month and
Day fou'd belong to each God; and on
whatever Day any Perfon was to be born,
what was to be his Lot, what Death he
fou'd die, and how he fou'd live ; and
that theſe things were made uſe of by ſuch
Greeks As were addicted to Poetry. To
the ſame purpoſe DION CASSIUS
ſays, 'That the Diſpoſition of the Days
according to the ſeven Planets was the In-
vention of the Egyptians, the not com-
municated to all other people but very bate-
ly; and that it was utterly unknown to
Και ταδε αλλα Αιγυπιοισι εσι εξευρημενα : μεις
ε και ημερη εκαςη θεων οττυ εο και Kell In exasir
ήμερη γινομενες δεοισι εγκυρησει, και οκως τελάτησε,
και δκοι τις εξαι. Και τερμσι των Ελληνων οι εν
Tumor gevoerot EX.PNOXylo. Lib. 2.
* To de dues más aszpas 185 &nila 185 Taavi wyo-
μασμενες ας ημερας ανακειοθαι, καθεση μεν υπ' Αιμπ.
ιων, παγεςι δε και επ πεενας ανθρωπος και παλαι ποτε,
ως λογω ειπείν, αρξαμενον. Οι γον αρχαιοι Ελληνες
*datum alo, ora yo eue Arai imsarle. Lib. 37.
DA
36
The Hiſtory of the
Letter the old Grecians. HERODOT us again
ΙΙ. acquaints us with what the Egyptians
affirm'd from their own moſt ancient
Records, 'That they had firſt in uſe the
Sirnames of the twelve greater Gods, and
that the Greeks borrow'd theſe things of
them : that they were likewiſe the firſt who
appointed Altars, and Statues, and Shrines
for the Gods, and to carve Animals in
Stone. This is further confirm'd by
LUCIAN, whoſe Words are there :
The Egyptians are ſaid to be the firſt of
Men who had the Knowledg of the Gods,
who built Temples, and inſtituted Shrines
and Aſſemblys. They were likewiſe the
firſt who underſtood the ſacred Names or
Words, and the firſt that taught the ſa-
cred Diſcourſes or Language. But not
long after the Aſſyrians learnt the Doc-
trin of the Gods from the Egyptians; they
A
τε
Δυωδεκα θιων επωνυμιας ελεγρν πρωτες Αιγυπ-
ιες
5 νομασαι, και Ελληνας παρά σφιών αναλάβειν : βωμες
τε και αγαλμαθα και νηss θήoισι απονειμαι σφέας πρω-
Πες, και ζωα εν λιθοισι εύγλυψu. Lib. 2.
1 Πρωθοι μεν ανθρωπων Αιγυπλιοι λεονται των
εννοιον λαόν, και ιρα εισαθαι, και τεμενα και
ποιηγυριας αποδειχαι. Πρώτοι δε και ονομαζα εξα
εγνωσαν, και λογος τους ελεξαν. Μετα δε και πολλος»
χρονη παρ’ Αιγυπιων λουν Ασύριοι ες θεες κκεσαν,
και δρα και νηες ήγειραν, εν τοισι και αγαλματα εθενο,
και ξοανα εςησανθος το δε παλαιον και παρ' Αιγυπτιοισι
αξοαγοι νεοι ησαν. De Dea Syria.
allo
*
Souls Immortality.
37
.
alſo built Temples and Shrines, and in Letter
theſe they plac'd Images and erected Sta II.
tues: get of old the Temples of the Egyp-
tians were without any Statues. Here
are deciſive Paſſages againſt the Ally-
rians and the Greeks. But let's hear
'DIODORUS Siculus of the Ma-
gi in particular. The Egyptians, ſays he,
affirm that many Colonys were ſpread over
the World out of their Country. For
Belus, who is reckon'd the Son of
NEPTUNE and LIBYA, led a Colony
into the Land of Babylon; and having fixt
his Seat near the River Euphrates, he did
after the manner of the Egyptians inſti.
tute Prieſts, exempting them from pub-
lick and expenſive Offices ; and by the
Babylonians they are ſtild Chaldeans, who
obſerve the Stars after the Example of
the Prieſts, and natural Philoſophers, and
Aſtrologers of Egypt. This is back'd
1
:
* Οι δε εν Αιγυπποι φασι και μεθα ταυλα αποικιας
πλεισας εξ Αιγυπτε καλα πασαν διασπαρηναι την οικε-
μενην και εις Βαβυλωνα μεν γαρ αγανάν αποικος Βηλον
1ον νομιζομενον Ποσειδωνος ειναι και Λιβυης : ον παρα
TOV Eupsel Tmv FolduON Xchef sur Sevid, 185 di isghts
καβαςησαθαι παραπληστως ος κατ’ Αιγυπloν άθελάς,
και πασης λειζεριας απολελυμενες, ος Βαζυλωνίοι κα-,
λεσι Χαλδίαιες: τας τε παρατηρήσεις των αςγων τείες
ποιησαι, μιμαμενες της παρ' Αιγυπποις ξερεις, και
QUOT X85, en de Asegoyos. ' Lib. I.
D3
by
38
The Hiſtory of the
1
w
Letter by 'PAUSANIAS, who ſays, That
II. BELUS the Babylonian had his Name
from Belus an Egyptian the Son of
LIBY A.
And : DIODORUS repeats
once again, That the Egyptians ſaid the
Chaldeans of Babylon were deſcended from
them, and that they learnt from the Egyp-
tian Prieſts that Aſtrology which gave
them ſo much Reputation. To tire you
with no more Proofs, the Egyptians
had many opportunitys to ſpread their
Do&rins in Aſia as well as in Africa
(eſpecially before the Aſſyrian Monar-
chy) by the prodigious Conqueſts of
SESOSTRIS and bis Succeffors even
into India, much further than ALEX-
ANDER the Great cou'd penetrate many
Ages afterwards.
SESOSTRIS was
likewiſe in Thracia, and ſome other
Parts of Europe. 3 NEC EPSOs, ano-
ther Egyptian King, is related to have
taught many myſterious Rites to the
Magi, the Sciences not being then un-
។
1 Ο εν Βαβυλωνι Βηλος απο ανθεος Αιγυπης Βηλα
34 AG uns ovoula egevo Meſſeniac.
φαση δε τες εν Βαβυλωνι Χαλδαιες αποικας Αιγυπ.
των ονίας, την Δοξαν εχεις την περι της Ασe9λοκας
παρα των Ιερέων μαθονίας ταιν Αιγυππων. Lib. Ι.
Quique Magos docuit Myſteria vana Necepſos.
Aufon. Epift. 19.
worthy
1
Soul's Immortality.
39
worthy of Princes; for 'PORPHY: Letter
ŘY tells us, That the Race of the Magi II.
was so potent and honorable among them
Perſians, that DARIUs the Son of
HYSTASPES caus'd to be inſcrib'd
among other things, on his own Monument,
that he was Maſter to the Magi. I know
the Jews and a world of Chriſtians
pretend that the Egyptians had all their
Learning from ABRAHA M, a Chal-
dean by Nation, tho not by Profeſſion,
a Stranger who liv’d there only two
years, and who probably ſpoke a dif-
ferent Language.
The Pentateuch
makes no mention of his Learning;
or if he underſtood Aftronomy or any
other Science, why did he not take che
ſame pains to inſtruct his own Nation
as he did the Egyptians ? for che Jews
were of all Eaſtern People the moſt
illiterace ; whereas it is recorded in the
Acts of the Apoſtles for the Honor of C.7. v. 2 2
Moses, noć that he follow'd the
Doctrins of ABRAHAM, but chat he
was educated and had excell'd in all
the Learning of the Egyptians.' The
“Ούλα δε μεγα και σεβασμιον γιος το παρα
Περσαις νενομοσαι, ώςε και Δαρεον τον Υφασης
επιγραψει το μνήματα, προς τοις άλλοις, δπ και Μα-
Heriwy zayoilo Aide Koldos. De. Abſtin. Animal. 1.
4.
Pentateuch
D4
40
The Hiſtory of the
Letter Pentateuch it ſelf makes mention of
U. their Religion and Sciences long before
in the Law was deliver'd to MOS ES,
which is an indiſputable Teſtimony of
their Antiquity before any Nation in
the World.
;
9. HAVING thus done 'Juſtice to
the Egyprians, and proving them to
bave bin the Fountains of Learning to
all the Eaſt, the Authors of the Chal-
dæan and Greek Religions; I come
now, SERENA, to ſhow that they
were the firſt among the Heathens, who
particularly aſſerted the Immortality of
the Soul, with all that depends on it, as
Heaven, Hell, and the intermediate
Spaces, Specters, Viſions, Sorcery, Ne-
cromancy, and all kinds of Divination,
HERODOT U s, who liv'd long in their
Country, who convers'd familiarly with
their Prieſts, who carefully diſtin-
guiſhes wbat he ſaw, and ask'd, and
examin'd, from Hearfay and Report,
and who had opportunitys to ſearch into
their Antiquity and Opinions the beſt
1
Μεχει μεν τεε οψε δε εμοι, και γνωμη, και ισορμή
ταυτα λεγεσι επ : τoδε απο ταδε, Αιγυπτες ερχομαι
λογες ερεων καλα ηκεον, προστςαι δε Ιοι και αυτοισι η
Locul 735 Epists ofos. L. 2.
of
Souls Immortality.
411
of any body, is very clear and poſitive. Letter
*The Egyptians, ſays he, were the firſt II.
who maintain'd'this Opinion, that them
SOUL OF MAN IS IMMORTAL;
that the Body being dead, it removes into
Some other Animal that is born, and that
when it has taken its Circuit thro all
terreſtrial, marine, and volatile Bodys, it
enters again into the Body of fome Man
that is born. Now this Courſe is per-
form’d in the ſpace of three thouſand
Tears. Certain Greeks have made #fe of
this Doctrin, as if it were of their own
Invention, fome ſooner and others later ;
whoſe Names, the known to me, I pur-
poſely forbear to write. DIODORUS
Siculus acquaints us who : they
were: and here, to name no other, we
ſee whence PYTHAGORAS had his
Tranſmigration, of which I ſhall have
Πρώτοι δε και τον δε τον λογον Αιγυπποι εισε
απονες, ως ανθρωσε ψυχη αθαναλος εςι; 18 σωματος δε
καβαφθινονος, ες αλλο ζωον αιει γινομενον εσουεαι και
επταν δε πριελθη πανlα τα χερσαία, και τα θαλασία,
και τα πετεινά, αυπς ες ανθρωπε σωμα ινομένου
εσδυνάν. Την πεeueιλησιν δε αυθη μνεθαι εν τρισχα-
λιοισι. ενεσι. Τεθω. Πω λογω ισι δε Ελληνων εχρησανθο,
δι μεν πρώτερον, οι δευτερον, ως ιδιω εαυτων εoντι, των
α δως τα ονοματα και γεαφω. L. 2.
Orpheus, Mufæus, Melampus, Dædalus, Homerus,
Lycurgus, Solon, Plato, Pythagoras, Eudoxus, Demo-
critus, Ænopis
. 1. 1. Alii alios nominant.
occaſion
$70
42
The Hiſtory of the
Letter occaſion to make ſome mention before I
II. have done. Thus it was with other
m Doctrins. Yet, as I hinted before, be-
cauſe the Greeks learnt moſt of their
Aſtronomy and Aſtrology from the Ma-
gi, they imagin’d them to have invent-
ed thoſe Sciences : for by reaſon of their
Colonys in Afia and in the Ionian
Inands, they were acquainted with the
Magi, much ſooner than with the Egyp-
tian Prophets, having little knowledg of
the latter, till Egypt was conquer'd by
the Perſians, and till the time of ALEX-
ANDER the Great ; travelling after-
wards very frequently thither, and in
great numbers.
10. THE Getes learnt the Immor-
tality of the Soul from their Country,
man Z AMOLXIS, who was Servant
and Diſciple to PYTHAGORAS, and
who ſo wrought by his ' Addreſs on
thoſe Scythian Nations, that they not
only receiv'd Laws from him, and the
Doctrin of a future State ; but fo
great was their Reſpect towards him
A
Herodoc. l. 4. Strabo I. 16. Moareas & Hella-
nicus in Etymologico magno. Porphyr. in vita Pythag.
Diog. Laert. in Pythagora.
for
1
Souls Immortality.
43
A
1
for theſe Benefits, that after his Death Letter
they worſhip'd him as a God. This
II.
Opinion of changing the preſent Life
for a better, made them fo fearleſs in
Battel, and ſo ready to expoſe them-
ſelves to the greateſt Dangers, being
continually fir'd to a noble Emulation
by their Poets, who (like the · Gallick
Bards) eterniz'd the Memory of thoſe
magnanimous Worthys that loſt their
Lives in War. The Druids of Gaule
(of whom were iſſu'd thoſe in Britain)
who were of the fame Perſuaſion with
the Getes, and who taught the Tranſ
inigration of Souls, borrow'd their Let-
ters from the Greeks, and probably
their Philoſophy, as Julius C#-
SAR in ’ expreſs words informs us.
This might eaſily be done by means of
the moſt ancient Greek Colony. of Mar-
ſeilles, famous for Arts and Learning.
They might have a Communication
with thoſe of the Grecian Country and
Religion behind them in Italy. And
from their Neighbors the Germans
'
3
Pompon. Mela 1. 2. C. 2. cum aliis pæne innumeris.
• Cæſar de Bello Gal. l. 6. Pompon. Mela 1. 3. C. 2.
Amm. Marcel. I. 15. Plinius aliique.
Cum in reliquis fere Rebus, publicis privatiſque
Rationibus, Græcis Litteris utantur. Lib. 6. de Bello
Gallico.
(who
44
The Hiſtory of the
Letter (who are often comprehended under the
II, the name of Celts as well as themſelves)
they might likewiſe receive the Docs
trin of ZAMOL XI S. But however
this cou'd happen, LUCAN in the
firſt Book of his Pharſalia, ſings of all
thoſe Nations in this manner.
1
- The numerous Peoples of the frozen
North
Are truly happy in their fond Miſtake,
Not fearing Death that dreadfulleſt of
Fears.
Hence their rough Minds are always
bent on Arms,
Hence their ſtout Heroes ſmiling meet
their Death,
And hence they think it Cowardiſe to
Spare
A Life, that's certain to return
again.
II. BUT tho I have trac'd this
Opinion to its Source, yet your Queſtion,
MADAM, is ſtill unreſolv'd, till I
Certe populi, quos deſpicit Arctos,
Felices errore ſuo, quos, ille Timoram,
Maximus, haud urget Lechi metus.": Inde ruendi
In Ferruin mens prona viris, Animæque capaces ;
Mortis, & ignavum redicura parcere vitæ.
explain
Souls Immortality.
45
explain how the' Egyptians themſelves Letter
cou'd frame ſuch a Notion without Di II.
vine Revelation. To this I anſwer,
that their Funeral Rices, and their
hiſtorical Method of preſerving the
Memory of deſerving Perſons, ſeem in
all probability to have bin the occaſional
Cauſes of this Belief.
Their way of
burying, you know, was by embalming
the dead Bodys, which they depoſited
in ſubterranean Grots, where they
continu'd intire for thouſands of Years ;
ſo that before any Notion of ſeparate
or immortal Souls, the common Lan-
guage was, that ſuch a one was under
ground, that he was carry'd over the
River Acheruſia by CHARON (the
Title of the publick Ferryman for this
purpoſe) and laid happily to reſt in the
Ely Gian Fields, which were the common
Burial-place near Memphis. Among
other Methods chey had of perperuating
Events, the ſureſt of all was to impoſe
the Names of memorable Perſons and
Things on the Conſtellations, as the
only eternal Monuments, nor ſubject to
the Violence of Men or Brutes, nor to
the Injury of Time or Weather. This
Cuſtom was deriv'd from chem to other
Nacions, who chang'd indeed the
Names, but gave new ones to the Stars
for
46 The Hiſtory of the
=
Letter for the ſame end. Thus Isis, Oslo
II. RIS, ANUBIS, THOVTH, and the
like, were at firſt pointed to above, and
their Hiſtorys explain'd: Suphis, and
Sethos, and PHA NES, and Mo-
SES were ſaid to be under ground.
But the unconſidering Vulgar hearing
the Learned conſtantly talk of certain
Perſons in the Stars, believ'd 'em at laſt
to be really there, and that all the others
were under ground; becauſe, as Ci-
CERO ſays, 'The Bodys of tbe Dead
falling on the Ground, and being cover'd
with Earth, they thought that they led the
reſt of their Lives below : from which
Perſuaſion he obſerves many Errors to
have proceeded, eſpecially the Fables
and Terrors of Hell.
12. ABOUT the Life of thoſe in
the Stars I ſhall ſpeak more largely ano-
ther time, when I have leiſure to write
the Diſcourſel promis'd you about the
Origin of Idolatry. But at preſent I
Shall proceed with chofe Funeral Rites,
which were the occaſion of ſo many
' In Terram cadentibus Corporibus, hiſce humo
tectis, fub Terra cenfebant reliquam vitam agi Mor-
tuorum. Tuſc. Quaftelo I.
Opinions
Soul's Immortality.
47
A
Opinions relating to a future State Letter
in Egypt, in other parts of Africa, II.
over all Aſia, in many places of Europe,
and particularly in Greece. DIODO-
RUS SICULUS, in the firſt Book of
his unvaluable Library, very largely re-
lates the Funeral Rites of the Egyp-
tians, eſpecially their manner of em-
balming Bodys to ſuch Perfection, that
after many Ages the ſame Likeneſs' and
Lineaments continue : after which he
proceeds in theſe words. The Rela-
tions of the Body that is to be burg'd, ac-
quaint before-band the Judges, and the
Kindred as well as the Friends of the dead
Perſon with the Day of his Burial: and
after telling his Name, they certify that
he is at that time to paſs over the Lake.
After this there aſſemble above forty
Fudges, and fitting in a certain Semi-
circle, prepar'd on the ſide of the Lake,
the Boat, which is provided in the mean
while
i
}
" Το δις μελλον1ος αποθαι σωμαίος οι συγγενες
προλεγεστ την ημερας της τάφης τους δε Δικασεις και
τους συγγενεσιν, ει δε φιλοις τε πτελέυτηκότος και και
διαζεσαιεναι, λερνες στη διαζαναν μελλ. την λιμνη
τε'νομα τα τελελεύθηκόος. Επεια αγινομενων δι-
καφων πλευω πων τεταρακοντα, και καθιζωνων επι
ονος ημικυκλικ, κατεσκευασμενε περαν της λίμνης και και
μεν βαρις καθέλκίλαι καλεσκιναρμενη περίερον υπο των
Tavlny
48 The Hiſtory of the
I
Letter while by thoſe to whom that Care belongs,
II.
is brought thither by the Ferryman,
whom the Egyptians in their Lan-
guage call CHARO N. Wherefore they
Say that ORPHEUS, having ſeen this
Cuſtom when he had formerly traveld
into Egypt, compos’d his Fable about Hell,
partly imitating theſe things, and partly
inventing out of his own Head. Then
DIODORUS goes on to tell that every
body may accuſe or defend the dead Per-
fon, who, if he be prov’d to have led a
bad Life, is deny'd the uſual ſort of
Burial. From this Prohibition of Bu-
rial in Egypt, which was affi&ting to
the Living and ſcandalous to the Dead,
the Greeks (and from them the Ro-
mans) had their Notion that the Souls
of the unbury'd were diſquieted, and
cou'd not paſs over the River into the
Elyſian Fields, turning a noble Practice
into a ſenſleſs Fable. Hence you may
likewiſe perceive how they came by the
Notion of infernal Judges, which Office
ταυτην εχαντων την επιμέλειαν και εφεσθαι δε ταύτη
Φερευς, δν Αιγυπτιοι καλα την ιδιας Διαλεκον ονομα-
ζεσι Χαρωγα. Διο και φασιν Ορφέα το παλαιον εις
Αιγυλον εβαλονία και θιασαμενον τείο το νομιμον,
μυθοποιησαι τα καθ' αδο και τα μεν μιμησαμενον, τα
Saulov idrote wdrausvoy.
they
Soul's Immortality.
49
they beſtow'd on Minos, Æacus, Letter
and RHADAMANTHUS, the moſt II.
juſt Princes among the Greeks. But i
not to digreſs, if any falſe Accuſer ap-
pear'd, he was ſeverely puniſh'd ; and
if none accus'd the dead, then he was
put into his Coffin, and his Relations
throwing off their Mouroing, made a
ſolemo Panegyrick, not magnifying his
Dignity or Family, but commending
his Education, Piety, Juſtice, Tempe-
rance, and other Virtues. After re-
lating more Particularitys to our pur-
poſe, DIODORUS makes this moſt ju-
dicious Obſervation. 'The Greeks, ſays
he, in their commentitious Pables, and by
their celebrated Poets have diſguiz'd the
Truth of theſe things, as of what relates
to the Honor of the Juſt and Diſgrace of
the Wicked ; and therefore they have bin
so far from being able by theſe means to
lead Men to the beſt ſort of Life, that
they are themſelves deſpis’d by the Bado
and derided for their Polly. But among
E
the
• Ο μεν γαρ Ελλωες μυθοις πεπλασμενους και ποιο
έτως διαβεβλημενοις την τει τεθων πισιν παρεδωκαν,
την τε των ευσες ων τμην, και την των πονηρών πμoρμανο
Τοιγαρον εχ' οίται εχυσαι δυναται ταυγα προθρεψαθαι
επι τον αρισον βιον της ανθρωπος και αλλα τουνανλιον υπο
Των φαύλων χλααζομενοι, καλαφρωνηστως συγχανεσι.
Maggi
1
so
The History of the
}
1
Letter the Egyptians, the Puniſhment of the
II. Wicked and the Recompence of the Good,
not being contain'd in Fables, biut exhi-
bited to our Eyes, each Party is every day
put in mind of their Dutys; and by this
Cuſtom there grows the beſt and moſt uſe-
ful Reformation of Manners. Lower in
the ſame Book he gives a Catalogue of
ſuch celebrated Greek Philoſophers and
Legiſlators as were initiated in the
Egyptian I earning; and repeats again,
shat Orpheus' brought from thence
the greateſt part of the myſterious Rites
(us'd in Greece) with the Orgys that are
celebrated at their Explanation, and the
Fictions of Hell. Somewhat lower a-
gain, he, that was an Eye-witneſs,
aſſures us, That the Meadow, which was
the feign'd Habitation of the Dead, is a
place by the Lake call'd Acherufia near Mem-
phis,
Παρα δε τοις Αιγυπτι oις και μυθωδες αλλ' οραλης τους
μεν πονδe9ις της κολάσεως, τοις δ'αγαθοις της τιμής
εσης, καθ' έκασον ημερgν αμφότεest των εαυτοις προση-
κοντων υπομεμνησκονία και και δια του το τροπα με-
γιση και συμφορωίατη Διορθωσις μνείαι των ηθών. Lib. Ι.
Ορφεα μεν γαρ των μυστικων τελετων τα πλασα, και
τα πει την εαυής πλανων οργαζομενα, και την των εν
do ww.Jonogav dmveyrealIbid.
Λαμωνα δε νομιζειν και την μυθολογεμενην οικισιν
των μετηλλαχείων τον παρα την λίμνην τοσον την κε. 8-
LEVNY
1
Soul's Immortality.
51
ι
phis, which City is ſurrounded with moſt Letter
beautiful Meads and Groves of Lotus and ΙΙ.
Calamus. Nor is it improperly ſaid that the
Dead inhabit thoſe places; for that the great-
eſt part and the moſt ſumptuous of the Egyp-
tian Burials are made here, the dead Bodys
being tranſported over the River and
Acherufian Lake, and laid there in Grots
made for that purpoſe. The other Fic-
tions of the Greeks about Hell
, do likewiſe
agree with thoſe things which are to this
day perform’d in Egypt: for the Veſſel
for tranſporting the Bodys is callid Bas
ris, and a piece of Mony to the value of
An Obolus is paid for franght to the Ferry-
man, who in their Country Language is
call'd CHARON. There is alſo near
thoſe places, as they ſay, the Fane of
E 2
darkſom
TOU
μενην μεν Αχερεσταν, πλησιον δε ουσαν της Μεμφεως,
ονων τει αθην λειμωνων καλλιεων, έλων, και λωλε και
χαλαμε. Ακολεθως δ'ειρηθει και το κατοικεν τους
πλευρησανίας εν τουτοις τοις Toπoις: δια το τας των
Αιγυπτιων ας πλεισας και με σας ενανθα γνεθαι,
διασορθμώομενων μεν των νεκρων δια το
Ταμου και της Αχερουσιας λιμνης, τιθεμενων δε ζων
σωματων εις ας εαυθα κειμενας θη κας. Συμφωνείν δε
και τ'αλλα τα παρα τοις Ελλησι καθ' αδ's μυθολογεμενα
τοις ει νυν ινομενοις κατ’ Αιγυπήoν : το μεν γαρ διακο
μιζον τα σωματα αλοιoν, Βαριν καλειται και το δ' επιζαθρον
νομισμα τον οβολον τω πορθμς διδοθαι, καλουμενω καλα την
εγχώριον διαλεκον Χαρωγι. Ειναι δε λεγεσι πλησιον των
τοπων τείων και σκολίας Hχαλης δεν, και πυλας Καλο
κυλου
52
The Hiſtory of the
1
h
Letter darkſom HECATE, and the Gates of
II. Cocytus and LETHE made faſt
with brazen Bolts. There are alſo other
Portals of Truth, and near theſe the Sta-
tue of Juſtice without a Head. There yet
remain among the Egyptiaxs ſeveral other
things that gave occaſion to our Fables,
keeping ſtill the ſame Names, and the
ſame Actions being perforni’d. Here's a
moſt natural Account of the Riſe of
thoſe Poetical Fictions concerning the
Elyſian Fields, CHARON and his
Paſſage-mony, with the different Man-
fions of departed Souls, and the ſeveral
Portals of Hell. All other Origins are
falſe, or manifeſtly abſurd and precarious.
This whole Book of the moſt accurate
DIODORUS deſerves to be read : but
I have tranſcrib'd enough for my pur-
poſe.
13.
THUS have I ſhown you,
MADAM, how this Opinion of the
Souls Immortality and the Conſequences
κων και Ληθης, διειλεμμενας χάλκεοις οχλσιν : υπ -
αρχήν δε και αλλας πυλας Αληθειας, και σλήσιος
των αδειλον ακεφαλον σειναι Δικης : σολλα δε και
αλλα των μεμυθολογημενων διαμετYes, παρ' Αιγυαλιους,
Τηρεμενης ει της προσηγοριας και της εν τω σρατίων
%Ephesuso
of
*
Soul's Immortality.
53
}
of the fame, was introduc'd from the Letter
Egyptians among the Grecians, ſpread II.
by the latter in their Colonys in Aſia w
and Europe, and deliver'd to the Ro-
mans, who from the Greeks had their
Religion and Laws. I mark'd the Pro-
greſs of it among the Scythians, Ger-
mans, Gauls, and Britains. I have like-
wiſe prov'd how from Egypt, the Place
of its Birth, it travel'd to the Chal-
dæans and Indians, and from them over
all the Eaſtern Parts of the World : for
Pris no wonder that this Doctrin was
gladly and univerſally receiv'd (tho not
built among the Heathens on its true
Reaſons) ſince it flatter'd Men with the
Hopes of what they wiſh above all
things whatſoever, namely, to con-
tinue their Exiſtence beyond the Grave;
there being but few that can bear the
very Thoughts of ever cealing to live
ſomewhere, and moſt people commonly
chuling to be miſerable, rather, than
not to be at all. This was the State of
the Soul's Immortality, among thoſe
Nations who were not illuminated by
Divine Revelation. The People begun
it, from them their Children learnt it,
at laſt it became a part of all mens
Education (as it happens to Opinions
generally receiv'd) and ſo the Learned
themſelves
E 3
54
The Hiſtory of the
Letter themſelves believ'd it before they had a
II. reaſon for it. 'Tis true, the Vulgar,
m who are not us'd to Reflections, em-
brac'd it ever afterwards (as they do fill)
upon Truſt or from Authority : but not
ſo with the Philoſophers, who 'offer'd
many probable Arguments for the Souls
ſeparate Exiſtence and eternal Duration,
They conceiv'd their own Thoughts or
Ideas to be immaterial, and to have
nothing in common with Extenſion ;
they found a Freedom in their Wills,
and a ſpontaneous Motion in their Bo.
dys; they obſerv'd a perpetual Conten-
cion between their Appetite and their
Reaſon; they laid much ſtreſs on their
Dreams, and thought that ſometimes
awake ţhey had certain Preſages in their
Minds of future Dangers; they ſaw
shat Men had an unquenchable Thirſt
after Knowledg, a Proſpect of Futurity,
and earneſtly deſir'd a Happineſs that
ſhou'd never end: therefore they con-
cluded that all theſe things muſt needs
proceed from ſome Being diſtinct from
the Body, which was ſelf-moving, and
conſequently immortal ; ſince every
Parcel of Matter is movid by ſome ex:
ternal Cauſe, and that what has Mo-
tion in it ſelf can never loſe it. The
Soul's Immortality was likewiſe great-
ly
Soul's Immortality.
55
ly confirm'd among the Heathens by Letter
their Legiſlators, whereof ſeveral did II.
not believe it themſelves; but (obſerv- m
ing that tho ſome were vertuous by
Nature or Temper, and that others were
made ſo by the hopes of Reward and
Honor, or by the Fear of Puniſhment
and Diſgrace) they further adopted this
Opinion, as ſuring all mens Circum-
ſtances, perſuading them that in the
other Life, the Wicked were ſure to be
puniſh'd for their Crimes, tho they
might here eſcape the Rigor of the
Laws; and that the Good wou'd like-
wiſe meet there with thoſe Rewards,
which might be unjuſtly deny'd to
their Merit in the preſent Life. By
others this Argument was deem'd to
have more of Reaſon than of Politicks in
it, and they have labor'd to prove that
ſuch a Conduct was neceſſarily be.
coming the Goodneſs and Equity of a
moſt wiſe Being. They had ſeveral
Diſputes about the Soul's Præ-exiſtence,
Duration, Ellence, and the Maoner and
Time of its coming into the Body, its
leaving of it, and their Union together.
On theſe Subjects there have bin written
many ſubtil and ingenious Conjectures,
but more that were ridiculous, extra-
vagant, and impoſſible. Nor have the
modern
E 4
56
The Hiſtory of the
Letter modern Philoſophers ſucceeded any bet,
II. ter than the Antients, and among both of
w them ſcarce any two were of a mind;
whereas in my opinion the Moderns
have not the ſame right to examine this
matter as the Antients, but ought hum-
bly to acquieſce in the Authority of our
Savior Jesus CHRIST, who brought
Life and Immortality to Light.
P
14. 'TIS no wonder that a Notion,
thus grounded among the Heathens,
was doubted or denyd by great num-
bers of them, even by whole Sects, as
the Epicureans' for example; and in
ſome other Sects the diftinct Being of it
after Death was totally deſtroy'd, they
making it then to return to the Soul of
the World, and to be ſwallow'd up
therein. “But in all Sects there never
wanted particular Perſons who really
oppos’d the Soul's Immortality, tho
they might accommodate their ordinary
Language to the Belief of the People :
for moſt of the Philoſophers (as we
read) had two ſorts of Doctrins, the
one internal and the other external, or
the one private and the other publick ;
the latter to be indifferently communi-
cated to all the World, and the former
only very cauticufly to their beſt Friends,
or
Soul's Immortality.
57
I
n
.
or to ſome few others capable of receiv- Letter
ing it, and that wou'd not make any ill
II.
uſe of the fanie. PYTHAGORAS him-
ſelf did not believe the Tranſmigration
which has made him ſo famous to Pof-
terity; for in the internal or ſecret Doc-
trin he meant no more than the eternal
Revolution of Forms in Matter, thoſe
ceaſleſs Viciffitudes and Alterations,
which turn every thing into all things,
and all things into any thing, as Vegeta-
bles and Animals become part of us, we
become part of them, and both become
parts of a thouſand other things in the Uni-
verſe, Earth turning into Water,Water in-
to Air, Air into Æther, and ſo back again
in Mixtures without End or Number.
But in the external or popular Doctrin
he impos’d on the Mob by an equivocal
Expreſſion, that they fou'd become vari-
ous kinds of Beaſts after Death, thereby to
derer 'em the more effectually from Wic-
kedneſs. Take notice, MADAM,
how his intimate Acquaintance and Dif-
ciple T I MÆUS Locrus ſpeaks.
'If any Perſon, ſays he, will continue
impenitent and refractory, be ſhall be ſure
of Puniſhment both from the Laws, and
from
.
1
Ει δε καις σκλαρος και απειθης, τελω δ'επιθω
κoλασις, α τ'εκ των νομών και α εκ των λογων συν-
1
TOY
58
The Hiſtory of the
1
1
Letter from thoſe Doctrins, which denounce ce-
II. Leſtial and infernal Judgments; as that
unhappy Ghoſts will meet with implacable
Torments, and thoſe other things which
the Ionick Poet has deliver'd out of an-
tient Tradition. For as we cure the Bodys
of ſick Perſons with any ſort of Remedys,
if they refuſe the moſt wholeſom; fo we
keep the Minds of Men in order by falſe
Realons, if they will not be govern'd by
true ones. Wherefore there is a neceſſity of
teaching thoſe foreign Torments: as that
there is a Tranſmigration of the Soul, thoſe
of Cowards paſſing into female Bodys aſſigned
? em for a Diſgrace ; thoſe of Murderers
into Beaſts of Prey, for a Puniſhment ;
thoſe of luxurious Perſons, into the Forms
of Swine or Goats ; thoſe of inconſtant
and boaſting Fellows, into Animals flying
in the Air ; and thoſe of the Slothful and
the
1ονα επαρισα δειμαία τε επωρgνια και τα καθ' αδέω και
ότι κολάσιες απαραίοι αποκειναι δυσδαιμοσε νερ-
Περοις, και τ'αλλα οσα επαινεω τον Ιονικον ποιημαν, εκ
παλαιας ποιανία τως εναγκας. Ως γαρ τα σωματα
νοσωδεσι πoκα υμασομες, ακα μ α κη τοις υμεινο-
Παθοις και έτω τας ψυχας απαρομες ψευδεσι λαρις,
εικα μη αγααι αλαθεσι. Λεφινο δ'αναγκαίως και
τημοριαι ξεναι, ως μεγενθυομεναν ταν ψυχαν, των μεν
δειλων ες γυναικεα σκαγια, ποθ' ύβριν εκδιδομενα και
των διε μιαιφογων ες θηeιων σωμα]α, πόνε κολάσιν και
λεγνων θες συων ή καπρων μορφας και κεφων δε και
puslew pay
Souls Immortality.
59
the Idle, of the Unteachable and the Letter
Fooliſh, into the Shapes of Animals liv. II.
ing in the Water. Homer's Tradition m
of the Torments of Hell I have prov'd
already to have bin from Egypt; and
Tranſmigration is here call'd a foreign
Torment, becauſe PYTHAGORAS
learnt it of the Egyptian Prieſts.
15. THO the Poets embelliſh'd
their Pieces with the Opinion of the
Soul's Immortality, yet a great number
of them (for they were not all of a
mind) utterly rejected it, as I might
ſhow by their own expreſs words : for
SENECA 'was not ſingle in ſaying,
1
Nought's after Death, and Death it
ſelf is nought,
Of a quick Race only the utmoſt Goal;
Then may the Saints loſe all their
Hopes of Heav'n,
And Sinners quit their racking Fears
of Hell.
But
TOV
μεγεωρων ες τηνων αεροπορων και αργων δε και απegux-
ήων, αμαθων τε και ανοήτων, ες των ενυδρων
d'eay.
In Libri Calce.
• Poft Mortem nihil eſt, ipfaque Mors nihil,
Velocis fpatii Meta noviffima.
Spem ponant avidi, folliciti Mecum.
Quæris
60
The Hiſtory of the
But after Death you're curious where
Letter
II.
to be?
E'ex where the Children yet unborn
remain.
We're loft in Darkneſs and devouring
· Time.
Death wafts the Body, and at laſt de-
ſtroys ;
Nor ſpares the Soul. Infernal Depths,
and thoſe
Dark Kingdoms of th' inexorable
Lord,
With Cerb'rus guarding the well bolted
Gates,
Are only ſenfleſs Tales and empty
Words,
A Fable like unto a frightful Dream.
The beſt reaſon I can find for the Incre-
dulity of the Poets, is 'the Experience
they had of their own Fictions about
the future State of the Soul: for ſcarce
Quæris quo jaceas poft obitum loco ?
Quo non nata jacent.
Tempus nos avidum devorat & Chaos.
Mors individua eft noxia Corpori,
Nec parcens Animą. Tænara, & afpero
Regnum ſub Domino, Limen & obfidens
Cuftos non facili Cerberus oftio,
Rumores vacui, verbaque inania,
Et par follicito Fabula Somnio.
Troada Alt. 2. Char.
one
Soul's Immortality.
61
/
one of 'em believ'd the charming De- Letter
ſcripcions they made of the Elyſian II.
Fields, nor their terrible tho elegant m
Relations of the Torments of the Wic-
ked. VIRGIL, the moſt accurate and
ample Topographer of the infernal
Regions, cou'd yet, when he thought
of EPICURUS, break our into this
Philoſophical Rapture :
Happy! who cou'd of things the Cax-
ſes know,
Cur'd of all Fears, who cou'd tread
under foot
Relentleſs Pate, and greedy Waves
of Hell !
I ſhou'd never have done if I alledg'd
all the Paſſages where HORACE, Ju-
VE NAL, and the reſt of them ſport
with the ſtorys about Hell, and Ghofts,
and the like: bur CORNELIUS SE-
VERus has expreft the Minds of them
all, cho after a more ſerious manner, in
his Poem concerning the burning of
Mount Etna.
Felix qui pornic rerum cognoſcere Cauſas,
Atque Metus omnes & inexorabile Facum
Subjecit pedibus, ftrepicumque Acheroncis avari!
Georg. l. 2.
Of
éz
The Hiſtory of the
Letter
II.
I
AIN
of all our Errors and Miſtakes of
things
Tbe' greateſt part proceeds from tra-
gick Scenes.
In Verſe the Poets, not in Viſion,
faw
Black airy Spirits fleeting under
ground,
And Pluto's pallid Regions after
Death.
The Poets feign'd the Stygian Waves
and Dogs.
Theſe have foul Tityus o'er ſevin
Acres ſtretch'd;
'Tis they, poor TANTALUs, who
thee torment
With Hunger mercileſs and Thirſt;
'tis they,
O Minos and O EACUS, who
ſing
Tour Iplendid Judgments upon trem-
bling Souls;
'Tis
* Plurima pars Scenæ rerum eſt fallacia : Vares
Sub rerris nigros viderunt Carmine Manes,
Atque inter cineres Ditis pallentia Regna.
Mencici vates Stygias Undaſque, Caneſque.
Hi Tityon feptem ſtravere in jugera fædum ;
Sollicitant magna te circum, Tancale, poena,
Sollicitantque Siti ; Minos, tuaque, Æace, in umbris
Jura
Soul's Immortality.
63
'Tis they who turn Ixion's reſt- Letter
lefs Wheel,
II.
And forge all th' other Fables under m
Earth.
Earth's not enough: they pry about
the Gods,
And boldly view that Heaven where they
ne'er ſhall come.
You'l think me uncharitable, perhaps,
for excluding them by this laſt Line out
of Paradiſe: but, beſides that they de-
ſerve no leſs for their Fictions in pre-
judice of Truth, the Injury's not fo
great ; ſince they cannot much fear a
Hell of their own making.
16. BUT the Reaſons of thoſe who
deny'd the Immortality of the Soul,
whether Poets or Philoſophers, are al-
moſt all comprehended in a narrow
Compaſs by PLINY the elder, in the
ſeventh Book of his Natural Hiſtory.
· After the Interment of the Body, ſays he,
there are various Conje&tures about de-
parted
Jura canunt; idemque rotant Ixionis orbem ;
Quicquid & interius falfi fibi conſcia Terra eft.
Non eſt Terra facis : fpeculantur Numina Divum,
Nec metuunt oculos alieno admitcere Cælo, Sc.
Poft fepulcuram variæ Manium Ambages. Om-
aibus a ſuprema die eadem quæ ante primam
;
magis
3
nec
64
The Hiſtory of the
m
Letter parted Souls. Bist the State of all Men
II. is the ſame after the laſt Day of their
Life, as before the firſt; nor is there any
more Senſe in Body or Soul after Death,
than before the Day of our Birth. Tet
the Vanity of living Men extends to fe-
ture Ages, and feigns to it ſelf a new
Life in the very time of Death : Some
beſtowing Immortality on the Soul; Tome
teaching the Tranſmigration of the Same;
others allowing Senſe to thoſe in Hell, and
worſhipping their Ghoſts, and making a
God of him, who is not at preſent ſo
much as a Man. As if indeed the marge
ner of breathing in Man differ'd any way
from that of all other Animals; or as if
There cou'd not be found many things
which, enjoy a longer Life, to which no
bodo dreams of attributing the like Imi-
mortality. But what ſort of Body has
the ſeparate Soul ? Of what Subſtance ?
Where
magis a morte fenfus ullus aut Corpori aut Anima,
quam ante Natalem. Eadem enim Vanitas in futurum
eriam ſe prorogat, & in morcis quoque tempore ipſa
fibi vitam mentitur : alias Immortalitatem Animæ
3
alias Transfigurationem ; alias ſentum Inferis dando,
& Manes colendo, Deumque faciendo qui jam eciam
Homo eſſe defierit. Ceu vero ullo inodo fpirandi racio
Homini a cæteris Animalibus diſtet; aut non diucur-
niora multa in vita reperiantur, quibus pemo fimilem
divinar Immortalitatem. Quod autem Corpus Ajimæ
pes
Soul's Immortality. 65
X
1
Where refidés its Thinking? How does it Letter
fee . How does it bear? Or by.what II.
mean's doe's" it touch? · About what is it a
burad? Or what Good can there be
without theſe thing's ? Where likewiſe is
the Manſion thereof? And in so many
Ages; home valt muſt be the multitude
of Souls, as well as of Ghoſts! Theſe
are Allurements to quierChildren, and the
Fiction's of Mortals that wou'd live with-
out end." The Vanity of preſerving the
Bodys of Men, is like that of the Refura
rection promis'd by DÉMOCRITUS,
who did not revive himfelf. But what a
prodigious Madneſs is it, to think that
Life can be renewid by. Déach ? Or what
Repoſe can' Mortals ever enjoy, if the
Soul be alive above, and the Ghoſt has
Senſe below-? In earneſt, this Fondneſs
and Credulity deſtroys the Vſefulneſs
F
Death,
per ſe? Quæ Materia? Ubi Cogitacio illi ? Quomodo
viſus? Auditus ? Aut quî tangic ? Qui uſus ejus ? Auc
quod fine his Bonum ? Quæ deinde Sedes? Quancave
multicudo tot ſeculis Animarum, velut Umbrarum!
Puerilium iſta Delinimentorum,avidæque nunquam defi-
nere mortalitatis Cominenca ſunt. Similis & de afſervan-
dis Corporibus Hominum, ac reviviſcendi promiffa De-
mocrito vanitas, qui non revixic ipfe. Qux (malum)
iſta Dementia eſt, iterari Vicam morte? Quæve Ge-
nicis quies unquam, fi in fublimi ſepſus Adimæ manes
incer infernos Limbræ ? Perdic profecto ifta Dul.
sedo
66
The Hiſtory of the
=}
Letter Death, which is the principal. Good of
II. Nature ; and doubles the Pains of a dying
Max, if he happens to be concerned about
his future State : for if it beige pleaſure
to live, to whom can it be pleaſant to baug
liv'd?' But how much eaſier and març
certain is it for every one to believe, big
own Escperiencez and to draw an Argus
ment of his Security from the Conſidera.
tion of what he has bin before he was born?
Such are the Reaſonings of Men who
talk all the while of they know not
whạt, having falſe Notions of the Ori-
gin of the Soul, none at all of its Uni-
on with the Body, and but imperfe&
Gụeſſes about its Eſſence, which leads
'em conſequently to doubt of its ſepa-
rate Exiſtence, and ſo to deny its Im-
mortality. But, however Men left to
themſelves may miſtake, 'tis impoſſible
that God ſhou'd lie; and what he has
reveald, tho not in every thing falling
under our Comprehenfion, muſt yer: be
true and abſolutely certain. And in
cedo Credulitafque præcipuum Natura bonum, mor-
sem ; ac duplicer Obitus, fi dolere etiam poft-fucuri
Æftimatione evenir: etenim fi dulce vivere cft, cui
poteft effe vixiffe? At quanto facilius certiufque fibi
quemque credere, ac Specimen ſecuritaris antegenitali
fumere experimento? Cap. $6.
this
Soul's Trnmortality.
by
this conſiſts no ſmall Advantage of Be- Letter
lievers, that. cho they may be equally. 11.
ignorant with others about the nature of
a thing, yet they may have the greateſt
Conviction of its Exiſtence, and make
ebae uſe of this Diſcovery which is bene-
ficial or convenient.
17.
BUT I exceed my deſign of a
bare Hiſtorian; beſides that you need
no Antidote, SERENA, againſt the
Poiſon of an abler Adverſary than
Pliny. I have freely given you my
Opinion how the Heathens came by
their Notion of the Soul's Immortality,
with my Reaſons for the fame : and if I
attribute the Invention of this Doctrin,
asiwell as of Aſtrology, and moſt of the
other Sciences, to the old Egyptians, 'tis
not out of any Parciality to an extinct
Nation (tho never ſo learned, wiſe, or
polite) but led by hiſtorical Proofs to a
full Perſuaſion. In treading the Mazes
of 'Antiquity, I am ſecure from all ſuf-
picion of Favor or Fear, of Intereſt or
Revenge. I can't be thought to flatter
NEC EPSOS, if I ſhou'd make him
paſs for the King of Aſtrologers; and I
am come too late into the World to ex-
pect any Recompence from Seso sa
TRIS, who, I think, far exceeds all
be
F 2
68
The Hiſtory; &c.
Letter the other Heroes and Conquerors of An-
II. tiquity. When I undertook to examine
this Subject, the Diſcovery of Truth
-was the only end I propos'd to my ſelf,
beſides that of obeying your Commands,
which, fhall be always, MADAM,
receiv'd with more Alacrity and Sub-
miſſion, than thoſe of any Monarch in
the Univerſe, by your moſt oblig'd and
devoted Servant.
1
LETTER
69
Lettei
III.
7
LETTER III.
The Origin of Idolatry, and
Reaſons of Heatbeniſm.
3
?
1
1.
I
AM under a double Obligation,
MADAM, to împare my
Thoughts to you about the
Origin of Idolatry, both from the Pro-
mile I made yoứ by word of mouth, and
by what I have ſince written to you in
the Letter concerning the Soul's Immer-
tality among the Heathens. But you are
not to expect an account of all the an-
tient Superftitions, which wou'd re-
quire many Volumes, nor of any one
Religion whatſoever. I ſhall only en-
deavour to ſhow by what means the
Reaſon of men became ſo deprav'd, as
to think of ſubordinate Deitys, how
the Worlhip of many Gods was firſt
introduc'd
F 3
70,
The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter introducd into the world, and what
IH: induc'd Men to pay Divine Honors to
their Fellow-Creatures, whether on
Earth of its the Heavens: then, I hatt
explain the Fables of the Heathens by
general and certain Principles, giving
the occaſion of their Temples. Prieſts,
and Altars; of their Images and Sta-
tues;
their Oracles, Sacrifices, Feafts,
Expiations, Judiciary Aftrology, Gholts,
and Specters, of the tutelary Powers of
ſeveral Countrits; of Peoples thinking
that Heaven is over us, that Hell is
under us, and ſuch other things as com-
monly occur in the Greek and Roman
Authors: Tho:with very ſmall pains:
I could manifeſtly prove that jÄ Egypt
· Men had firft, long before others, arriv'd
at the various beginning sof Religions (as
AMMIANUS MAR CEL LINUS
Speaks) and that they preferu'd the firſt
occafions of Sacred Rites conceald in
their ſecret Writings. You I Shall not
trouble you with repeating the Argu-
ments I have already, produc'd to this
purpoſe in the Hiſtory of the Soul's Im-
Tues
wa
1
1
;
i
* Hic primum Homines, longe ange alios ad varia:
ficligionum incunabula (ut dicitur pervenerunt; &
initia prima Sacrorim caute cuenta condita Scriptis
arcanis bibe:22p!"
...
mortality,
S:
and Resfons of Heatheniſm. 71
mortality, from the Authority of HE- Letter
RODOTUS, DIODOR Us Sicu. III.
EUS, LUCIAN, DION CASSIUS,
MACÊ O BIUS, and others : nor will
I urge that, by Examples and Laws
from the Pentateuch, it clearly appears
that" Magick, the Interpretation of
Dreams, Aſtrology, and Necromancy,
were long usd in Egypt. before they
were known in Chaldæa or any Other
place.
2. THE moſt ancient Egyptians,
Perfians, and Romans,' che firft Pa-
triarchs of the Hebrews, with ſeveral
other Nations and Sects, had no ſacred
Images.or Statues, no peculiar Places or
coftly Faſhions of Worſhip; the plain
Eaſideſs of cheir Religion being moft
agreeable to the Simplicity of the Di-
vine Nature, as indifference of Place or
Time were the beſt Expreſſions of in-
finite Power and Omnipreſence. But
tho God did thus make Men upright, yet
they found out (ſays the wiſeſt King of Eccl.7.29.
Iſrael) many Inventions. And certainly
when once a Man ſuffers himſelf to be
led into precarious or arbitrary Practices,
he cannot ſtop for any Reaſon, but
what, if it be good, muſt conclude with
equat Force againſt all. I believe I
may
F 4
1
72
The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter may without much difficulty Prove,
III. that ſuch as firſt entertain'd Deſigns
magainſt the Liberty of Mankind, were
alſo the firſt Depravers of their Reaſon.
For none, in his right ſenſes, can ever
be perſuaded volunrarily to part with
his Freedom ;, and he that makes" uſe of
Force to deprive him of it, muſt have
brib'd or deluded very many before.
hand to ſupport his unjuſt Pretenſions,
by which acceſſion of ſtrength he cou'd
ſeduce, frighten, or ſubdue others. Ic
will not therefore appear unlikely that
Men very early learnt to have the ſame
Conceptions of God himſelf, which
they had before of their earthly Princes:
and after thus fancying bim murable,
jealous, revengeful, and arbitrary, they
next endeavqur'd to procure his Favor
much after the ſame manner that they
made their court to thoſe who pre-
tended to be his Repreſentatives or
Lieutenants, nay to be Gods them-
ſelves, or to be deſcended of heavenly
Parentage, as the antient Monarchs us'd
to do.
1
3.
IT ſeems evident from the re-
moreft Monuments of Learning, that
all Superſtition originally related to the
Worſhip of the Dead, being principally
deriv'd
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm, 73
deriv?d from Funeral Rites, tbo the Letter
firſt occaſion might be very innocent or III.
laudable, and was no other than 'Oracions
wherein they were fometimes perſonally
addeeft:(ſuch as the Panegyricks of the
Egyptians) or Statues dedicated with
many Ceremonys. to their Memory.
But the Flatterers of great Men in the
Perſons of their Predeceſſors, the ex-
ceffivé. Affection of Friends, or Rela-
tions, and the Advantage which the
Heathen Prieſts drew: from the Credu-
{ity of the ſimple, carry'd this matter
a great deal furthere. Not only Kings
and Queens, great. Generals and Legiſ.
lators, the Patrons of Learning, Pro-
moters, of curious Arts, and Au-
thors of uſeful Inventions, partook of
this Honor ; but alſo fuch private Per.
fons, as by their virtuous Actions had
diftinguiſh'd themſelves from others,
were often conſecrated to pious and
eternal Memory by their Country or
their Kindred, as reputable to the Dead,
and exemplary to the Living. This is
the true reaſon (as we ſhall Thew in its
proper place) of all Nations having
their proper, tutelary Gods; and hence
Divi Indigetes.
are
I
74
The Origin of Idolatry
Letter are deriv'd the peculiát Religions of
III. 'particular Familys. PLIN Y"in the
ſecond Book of his Natural Hidrogen
fays,. That the moſt antient way' of Mens
paying their Acknowledgments to their
Bovefactors, was by deifying of their feet
tbuir::Deceaſe (which was affirm'd by
2.Cicero. wisho ſeveral others before
kim) and that the fercieral Appétiations of
the Gods and of the Stars are dernid
from the meritorious A&tions forf Meni
The firſt Idolatry therefore did not prbi
coed (as pris commonly füppos d.)
fromthe Beauty, or Order, or Influencë
of the Stars : but Men, as I told you
in the Hiſtory of the Soul's "Inimortality,
obferving Books to periſh. by Fire;
Worms, or Rotteonefs; and Iron, Braſs,
or:'Marble pot Jeſs ſubject: ro violent
Hands or the Injuriy:s of the Weather,
they impos'd on the Stars (as the only
ur.
1
i
2
ľ
Şacra Genelitia
isti
2.Hic eft vetuftiffimus referendi bene merentibtis
Gratiam mos, ur tales: Numinibus , adſcribanos" qujppe
& omnium aliorum nomina Deorum, & quæ fupra
récult Syderüm, ex hromirtúm nara ſune meritis.
Sufcepit;aucemy vita Hominum confuetudo que com-
munis, uc beneficiis excellentes viros in Coelum fama
ac voluntare rotterent; hinc Hercules, hinc Caftor &
Pollux, &c. De Nat. Deor. l. 2.
ish! jy
เy
ever-
1
7
}
and Reaſons of Heatbeni/m. 75
.
everlaſting Monuments) the proper Letter
Names of their Heroes, or of fome III.
thing memorable in their Hiſtory. V
ERA TOSTHENES the Cyrenean, a
very, antient: Philofopher of prodigious
Knowledg in all the Sciences, wrote
a Book (ygt extant) of the Conſtellas
tions, wherein he delivers the Reaſons
of their Names, which are perpetual
Alluſions to antient Hiſtory, tho won-
derfully diſguiz'd by Time, and for
the moſt part mere Fables. The moſt
learned Monſieur Le CLERC, when
he wrote an Extract of ERATOS-
THE NE S, among ſome other Mytho-
logical Trads in the eighth Volume of
the Univerſal and Hiſtorical Library,
made the following Epigram.
Antiquity, b'ing ſure that Nature's
Force
Wou'd Braſs and Marble Monuments
conſume,
Did wiſely its own Hiſtory tranſmit
To future Times by Heav'ns eternal
Fires.
I
1
Tempore, cum lapidum fciret monumenta vetuftas,
Atque perire fuo cuncta metalla ſitu;. ,
Cauta, ſuam, ætates fercun docuiffe futuras
Cælorum æternis ignibus, Hiſtoriam.
In
76
The Origin of Idolatry,
ܛ| ܢ
A
Letteri
III. In other places he declares bimſelf to be
of the ſame opinion concerning the
Appellations of the Stars; and in that
very Journal explains fome Fables upon
this Principle.
As* divers Nation's
learnt this Cuſtom one of another, fo
they accordingly chang’d their Spheres,
each impoſing on the heavenly Bodys
the Names and Actions belonging to
their own Country. This is manifeſt
in the Spheres of the Greeks and Bar-
barians, and for this reaſon the Cretans
maintain'd'"that moſt of the Gods were
born among them, being. Men, who, for
their Benefits to the Publick; had obtain'd
immortal Honors: for they believ'd-'the
Grecian Gods to be thoſe of all Man-
kind, and knew not that in other places
this way of naming the Conſtellations
and deifying deſerving Men, was long
in uſe before they had practis'd it.
Nor was there wanting one among
the Chriſtians, who, approving this
Method, endeavour'd to aboliſh thoſe
5
Των θεων δε τις πλασες μυθολογεσι παρ' εαύλους
γονεναι, τες δια τας κοινας ευεργέσιας τυχονας αθα-
valar tikar. Diod. Sic. l. s.
Heathen
1
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm. 少
​Heathen Names, as not underſtood, or Letter
of no concern to us; and to impoſe III.
on the Stars new Names in their ſtead,
containing the Hiſtory of the Old and
New Teſtament. But ſince he cou'd
nor, prevail with the Aftronomers, let's
not digreſs. At laſt ſuch as were ig-
norant or aſham'd of the true Reaſons
of theſe things, wou'd juſtify their
Worſhip (tho, as I ſhall evince, by
weak Arguments) from the endleſs
and orderly Revolution, the admirable
Luftre, and general Uſefulneſs of the
Sun, Moon, and other Planets and
Stars.: Tbis did likewiſe give the
Philoſophers a handle to explain the
Motions of the Planets by certain In-
telligences fixt and inhabiting in their
Orbs, which they perpetually guided in
their Courſes ; and hence the Bodys of
the Sun and Moon are painted like a
Face with Eyes, Nofe, and a Mouth.
4. THE Opinion of the twelve
greater Gods proceeded from certain
Hiſtorys affix'd to the twelve Signs of
the Zodiack, as the ſeven Planets bear
the Names of as many Perſons, to
whom were alſo conſecrated che Days
of the Week, but reputed more or leſs
holy:
ܐ
78 The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter holy, lucky or fortunate, according to
III. the Temper and Dignity of theſe Gods:
m ſo that the Egyptian Diviſion of Time
into Months and Weeks, and the ſtorys
they wou'd perpetuate by the Stars,
gave a Riſe to the moſt eminënt Gods of
the Heathens. From hence very natu-
rally. Judiciary Aftrology had its be-
ginning: for the People, as you'l fee
lower, believing thoſe Gods to corre-
ſpond with their Prieſts, who they
thought might as well foretel any other
Secrer as they did Eclipſes, conſulted
them about all they dreaded or with’d.
The fluctuating of mens Minds be-
tween Hope and Fear, is one of the
chief Cauſes of Superftition : for being
no way able to foreſee the Event of
what greatly concerns them; they now
hope the beſt, and the next -minute
fear the worſt, which eaſily leads them
not only to take any thing for a good
or bad Omen, which happen'd to them
in any former good luck or misfortune;
but alſo to lay hold of any Advice, to
conſult Diviners and Aſtrologers. 'Tis
juſt after the fame manner with fick
Perſons, who frequently prefer a Con-
jurer to the beſt Doctor, and a ridicu-
lous Charm to the moſt excellent Re.
medy
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm. 79
medy, 1:' Magick it felf (in the wor& Letter
ſenſe) had its undoubted Original from III.
Phyfick, as PLINY ſays, pretending w
to afford - better Remedys, to be 00
bler and more divine : to its flat-
tering and moſt alluring Promiſes were
added the joint Forces of Religion (to
which F, Mankind is
. r. always! extreme-
by obnoxiors) and of Mathematical
Arts (meaning Aftrology) every body
being deſirous to know what regards hims
for the future, and believing that the
Truth of theſe things may be certainly
learn from Heaven.
Thus captivating
Mens Underſtandings by this triple Ty, it
increasid to ſuch a prodigious pitch, &c.
Qver, and above the Impreffions of
Religion in barbarous Words and
Charms; and of Aſtrology, in the In-
fluence and Intelligence of the Stars,
the Magicians wou'd appear noç to act
{
1
Naram primum e Medicina nemo dubitat, ac fpe-
cie falutari irrepfiffe velut altiorem fanctioremque
quam Medicinam : ica blandiflimis defideraciffimiſque
promiffis
, addidiffe vires Religionis, ad quas maxime
etiamnum caligat humanum genus : acque ut hoc quos
que fuggefferit mifcuiffc Arces, mathematicas, nullo non
avido futura de fefe fejendi, acque ea e, cælo veriffime
peci credente. 'Ità, poffeffis hominum ſepſibus, tripli,
ci nodo, in tantum Faftigium adolevic, &c. Nare
Hift. lib. 30.
without
{
80 The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter without rational Grounds, by the oc-
III. cule phyſical Virtues of certain Herbs,
Stones, Minerals, and other Things
extremely difficult to be procur'd,
and only known to themſelves. I
have already prov'd' in my laſt Let-
ter, that the Egyptians were the In-
venters of Aftrology; and tho Cr
C ER 0, the Diſciple of the Greeks,
inclines to attribute it rather to the
Chaldeans of Aſſyria, 'yet it's worth
your while to hear how cautiouſly this
wife. Man has expréſt himſelf. The
Chaldeans, ' ſays he, 'not thoſe ſo called
from their Profeſſion but from their Na-
tion, by a conſtant Obſervation of the Stars
are thought to have fram'd' a Science,
whereby it may be foretold to every
Perfon what may happen to him, and to
what's Condition be is born. The Egypti-
ans likewiſe, from the Antiquity of
Times, are believ'd to have had the ſame
Art for innumerable Ages.
i.
*Chaldæi, non ex Artis ſed ex Gentis vocabulo no-
minati, diuturna Obſervatione Syderum Scientiam pu.
táncur effeciffe, uc prædici poffet quid cuique eventu-
rym, & quo quiſque Faro narus effet. Eandem Artem
etiam Egyptii longinquitate temporum innumerabilibus
pene fæculis conſequati pucantur. De Divinat. lib. 1.
5. SINCE
1
and Realons of Heatheniſin. 8
1
Letteren
5. SINCE thus I have accounted III.
för Magick and judiciary Aſtrology,
I ſhall, before I go any further, add a
word or two about Peoples looking
up when they pray, believing Hea-
ven to be over their Heads, and Heil
under their Feet. I ſhall likewiſe pro-
duce the occaſional Cauſes of Ghoſts
and Specters: for all thoſe Things came
from the ſame cominon Root with the
Origin of Idolatry, that is, from the
Rites of the Ancients about dead Boo
dys. In the Letter about the immor
tality of the Soul, among the Heathens,
I explain’d to you by what Degrees
che People came to be perſuaded, chac
there were Perſons living in the Stars ;
and here I'll ſhow you how they ar-
riv'd to the ſupreme Dignity of Godo
ſhip : from which you'l eaſily per-
ceive that this introduct the Cuſtom
of Mens lifting up their Eyes, and exo
tending their Hands to Heaven when
they pray, directing themſelves to the
Gods whom they beheld above them.
From the ſame Funeral Rites they be.
liev'd Hell to be under them, and to
be the Manſion of the Good and the
Bad, cho diftinguiſh'd in their Places
G
and
1
I
82 The Origin of Idolatry,
)
Letter and Conditions; becauſe all ſorts of Men
III. were equally bury'd, and only a ſmal
mler number deify’d, whom they thought
to be above: whereas in the Univerſe,
properly ſpeaking, there is in reality
neither Above nor Below, Right nor
Left, Eaſt, Weſt, North, or South,
theſe being only abſtracted Notions, de-
noting the Relations of particular Bo-
dys to one another, and their ſeveral
Siruations in reſpect of us. The Fan-
cy of Ghoſts and Specters proceeded in
like manner from the Egyptian Mum-
mys, theſe being ſo long kept incire,
not only in the Grots near Memphis,
but alſo by many People in fine A-
partments at home, and which (whé-
ther preſerving their Lineaments
freſh, or becoming ghaftly with Time)
cou'd naturally make frightful Impref-
fions on Children, Strangers, and the
ignorant Valgar. Tho Humation, or
the placing of the intire Corps under
Ground, was the moſt ancient and uni-
verſal manner of Burial, and that the
Athenians are acknowledgd to have
learn'd it of the Egyptians, yet you
know the Romans were accuſtom'd to
burn their dead Bodys; and neverthe-
leſs, as CICERO judiciouſly remarks,
they
A
and Reaforis of Heatheniſm. 83
$
they were nothing cur’d thereby of Letter
their Notions concerning Ghoſts and III.
Specters, Humation having bin like u
wiſe their firſt Method of Burial. And
To prevalent was Error,' ſays he, that
tho they knew the Bodys were burnt, jet
they feign'd ſuch things to be tranſacted
in the infernal Places, which without Bo-
dys.can neither be done nor underſtood:
For as they cou'd not frame any Notion
in their Minds of Souls living in a re-
parate State, so they fought out ſome
Form or Figure. Thence proceeded all
HOME R's Divination by the Dead ;
thence thoſe necromantick Rites which my
Friend Apei us us’d to perform; thencë
in our Neighbourhood the Lake of Aver-
nus,
Whence Ghoſts are nightly rais’d, and
Gates of deepeſt Hell
Tancumqlie valuit Error---ut corpora cremata cum
fcirent, tamen ea tieri apud inferos fingerent, quæ ſine
corporibus nec fieri poffenc nec intelligi. Animos es
nim per ſcipſos viventes non poterant mente complecti,
Formani aliquam Figuramque quarebanr. Inde Home-
ri tota Nexuide : inde ca qux meus amicus Appius Ne-
HSquartid faciebar: inde in Vicinia noſtra Averni Lacus,
Únde Animæ excitantur obſcura uunbra, aperto oftio
Alci Acherontis, falſo fanguine imagines mortuorum.
Tuſc. Qu«ft. loni
G 2
Opess
84
The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter
THI.
Open to falfe Bodys, Images of the
Dead.
6. THUS you fee, MADAM,
how they took care to people HeH ; and
the truth is, that the very Heaven of
the Gentiles was wholly inhabited by
Colonys from our Earth. CICERO
in his firſt' Tuſcular Diſputation, bold-
ly ſays, is not all Heaven full of human
Race? If I should be at the pains of
ſearching among the Antients, and parti-
cularly the Greek Writers, thoſe, who are
accounted the principal Gods, will be found
to have remov'd from among us into Hea-
Ask whoſe are the Sepulchers they
foow in Greece. Remember, ſecing you
are initiated, what is told at the Celebra-
tion of the Myſterys; and then you'll un.
derſtand how very far this Buſineſs reaches.
ven.
· Torum pene Coelum nonne humano Genere con:-
plecum eſt ? Si vero fcrutari vetera; & ex his ea quæ
Scriçere's Graci prodidcrunt cruere coner ; ipfi illi,
majores gentium Dii qui habentur, hinc a nobis profec-
ti in Cælum reperientur. Quære quorum demonſtran-
tur fcpulchra in Græcia. Reminiſcere, quoniam es ini-
tiacus, qux traduntur Myfteriis ; cum denique quam
hoc lure pareat intelliges.
Nor
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm. 85
Nor was it at the Eleuſinian Myſterys Letter
only that ſuch Diſcoverys were made, III.
for thoſe of the Egyptians 'adumbrared m
the Death of their deify'd King O's I-
RIS and his Queen Isis; to ſpeak no-
thing of the Syrian Rites in Honor of
ADONIS and other Deitys,which King
DAVID moſt properly calls the Sacri-
fices of the Dead. It is a's true of all the Pfal. 106.
Myſterys in general, what Cicero 28.
ſays in another place of thoſe of Eleu-
fis, Samothracia, and Lemnos, 'That
being explain’d, and reduc'd to the Ex-
amination of Reafon, the Nature of
Things is better known than that of the
Gods. EUHE MER US, an old Sicilian
Poer and Philoſopher, wrote the Hiſto-
ry of SATURN, JUPITER, and the
reſt of that fort, deſcribing the Birth,
Country, Actions, and Buryal.place of
each; and, as PLUTARCH words ir,
He humaniz'd the Gods, not transform-
ing but reducing them to Men, ſuch as
they: truly were before. Bur, not con-
1
Quibus explicatis, ad rationemque revocatis, rerum
magis natura cognofcitur quam Deorum. De. Nar. Dert.
lib. I.
Εξανθgωπιζα τα θεια. .
3 Ab Euhemēro autem & Mortes & Sepult.rx de-
monſtrantur Deorum. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. I.
tent
G 3
86 The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter tent thus to deify the Dead, they af
III. fign’d them the ſame Inclinations and
V Offices which they had before on
Earth, and, as VIRGIL ſings of his
Warriors,
! The ſame Delight they took alive
in Arms,
To courſe in Chariots, or breed ſtately
Horles,
With equal Care imploys their Ghoſts
below.
So HESIOD, very pertinently to our
purpoſe, repreſents the happy Inbabi.
tants of the Golden Age like the moſt
ancient Princes, injoying their former
Power above, and as being the Diſtri-
buters of Riches and Honors here on
Earth,
· Theſe by great Joye's Decree now
Demons are,
Ce-
I
Quæ gratia curruum,
Armorumque fuit vivis, quæ cura nirentes
Paſcere equos, eadem ſequitur tellure repoftos.
Æn. 1. 6.
2 Τοι μεν Δαιμογες εσι Διος μεγαλε δια βελας,
E E92059
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm.
87
Celeſtial, Good, Guardians of mortal Letter
Men,
III.
Obſerving all their juft or wicked'
Deeds,
B’ing cloth'd with Air, and wandring
o'er the Earth,
They Wealth and Honors to their
Fav'rites give;
For ſtill their kingly Office they re-
tain.
From the ſame Spring the old Ethi-
opians, as we learn from STRABO,
• believ'd their Benefactors and Perſons
of royal Extract to be Gods, and, no
doubt, to benefit and protect then ſtill
from above, as they formerly us’d to do
below.
7. I DON'T prerend, MADAM,
that theſe falſe Notions of the Heathens
about the Dead were theonly Riſe of Ido-
latry ; but I maintain it was the first, the
Εθλοι, επιχθονιοι, φυλακες θνήθων ανθρωπων,
οι φα φυλασσεσιν Το διας και χείλια εργα,
Heeg sarausrol, Teitur pollessles 67 AllV,
Πλέθοδοι και και το γιος βασιλη1ον εχου.
Oper. & Dies.
2 Ως δε επι το πολυ ας Ευερείας και βασιλικες δεκ
VOL41T*06. Lib. 17.
most
G4
88 The Origin of Idolatry,
n
Letter moſt natural, the moſt univerſal, and
III. wilat gave occaſion to all the reſt.' The
ſame exceſſive Reipect was transfer'd by
degrees to other things, both as being
the Gifts of the Gods, and for their own
innate Excellency. There are many other
Natures of the Gods, ſays CICERO,
( not without reafon, becauſe of their
great Benefits) inſtituted and nam'd by
the 'wifeſt Men of Greece, and by our
Anceſtors : for whatever cou'd bring great
profit to Mankind, that thing they thought
cou'd not be made without the Divine Boun-
ty towards Mon. But they did not re-
frain this Notion to thoſe uſeful things
without us, nor to the celeſtial Bodys;
they alſo extended the like Privilege
to the Diſpoſitions of the Mind, to its
Facultys, and Virtues : for, according
to tbe fame CICERO, The thing it
felf, in which there is any great worth, is
fo
Multæ autem aliæ naturæ Deorum ex magnis Bene-
ficui: corum, non fine caufa, &a Græciæ fapientiffimis
& majoribus noſtris conftitutæ nominatæque ſunt:
quicquid enim magnam utilitatem generi afferrer hu-
mans, id nón fine divina Bonitate ergå Homines fieri
arbitrabantur. De Nat. Deor. l. 2.
Tum autem res ipfa in qua vis incft major aliqua
sic
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm.
89
ro term'd by them, that even this very Letter
Worth is callid a God, as Fidelity, the III.
Mind, &c. And fo Virtue, Honor,
Safety, Concord, Chaſtity, Liberty,
Victory, Clemency, Piery,' and ſuch.
like, were deify'd; in all which things,
adds he,' becauſe there was so great a
Worth that it could not be manag'd without
God, the Thing it ſelf has obtain'd the
name of a God, of which kind the words
êupid and Defire, Venus and Love,
are confecrated.
Without queſtion,
when wiſe and good Men perceiv'd
that the People wou'd needs have a
plurality of Gods, and Temples dedi-
cated to them, they, to comply with
their Weakneſs, and at the ſame time
to bring 'em as much as they cou'd to
better and nobler Thoughts, deify'd
ſuch Things. Hence
Hence may be perceiv’d.
how ſo many Things came to be deify'd,
which have no perſonal Form or Ex-
iſtence, and are nothing elſe but mere
.
1
fic appellatur, ut ea ipli vis nominetur Deus, ut Fides,
ut Mens, &c. Ibid.
Quarum omnium rerum quia vis erat tanta ut fine
Deo regi non poffet, ipſa res Dearum nomen obtinuit,
quo ex genere Cupidinis & voluntatis, & lubentinæ
Veneris vocabula conſecrara ſunt. Ibid.
Propertys,
1
90
The Origin of Idolatry,
+
Letrer Propertys, Modes, or Accidents. This
III. made Cicero appoint in bis Laws
m(a matter practis'd in Rome before )
that thoſe things ſhou'd bé reputed
Gods, for the ſake of which Man was
admitted to afcend into Heaven, 'Tis
well done, ſays he, that the Mind, Piety,
Virtue, Faith, are conſecrated, of all
which the Temples are publickly dedicated
at Rome į that thoſe who have them
(and all good Men have them ) may
think that the Gods themſelves are plac's
in their.Minds.
1
1
}
8. BUT as the Superſtitious pervert
every thing in Heaven and Earth, fo
they fail'd not to do in this caſe, confe-
Crating the moſt vitious and abominable
things, for which our Author juftly
repreheads them. The Athenians
were bleſs'd with a couple of fine God-
deſſes, Contumely and Impudence; the
Romans had Pear and Hope, Paleneſs
3
Propter quæ datur homini aſcenſus in Cælum.-
fene vero quod Mens, Pieras, Virtus, Fides, conſe-
crantur manū, quarum omnium Romæ dedicata publice
Templa ſunt: ut illa qui habeant (habent autem
nes boni) Deos ipfos in Animis fuis collocatos pucenta
De Leg. l. 2.
and
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm. 92
E}
and Trembling. The deſtructive Fer Letter
ver had an Altar; and there was an III.
endleſs rabble of Gods preſiding over
the fouleit Diſtempers, and even over
Actions very barbarous and obſcene.
The Egyprians, beſides the Worſhip of
the celeſtial Gods, or of the Stars and
Planets, had withala fymbolical Wor-
fhip on Earth, attributing Divine Vir-
fues and paying a religious Reſpect to
almoſt all ſorts of Aninials and Plants,
not excepting the moſt vile and con-
temprible. Yet all parts of Egypt did
not reverence the fame Species. The
Reaſons they alledg’d in their own
Juſtification, were either the Uſefulneſs
of theſe things, or that the ſeveral
Deitys manifeſted their particular Pow-
ers more in one Species than in another,
or they pretended to ſome Allegory
drawn from Morality or Natural Phi-
lofophy. 'In their Sacred Rites, ſays
PLUTARCH, there's nothing appointed
that's unreaſonable ( as ſome imagine) or
fabulous, or from Superſtition; but ſome
things
* Ουδεν αλογον, 8δε μυθωδιες, 8δε υπο Δεισιδαιμο-
νλας (ώσπερ ενιοι νομισεσιν) εγκαίεςοιχείο δερμαις:
αλλα
92
The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter things having moral and uſeful Cauſes,
III. and others not being void of Some hiſto-
rical or philoſophical Elegance. Agree-
able-to which CICERO ſays, chat
the very Egyptians, · who are ſo much
laught at, have not confecrated any Beaſt,
but for ſome Advantage that they drew
from it.
This ſymbolical Theology
made ſeveral learned Men believe that
all the other parts of the Heathen Re-
ligions might and ought to be ſo ex-
plain'd, which I ſhall prove to be a
great miſtake before I have done. The
Egyptians indeed carry'd it farther than
all others : for they did not only wok-
Ship the Bird Ibis, Hawks,.Cats, Dogs,
Crocodiles, Sea-horſes, Goats, Bulls,
Cows, Onions, Garlick, and what nor?
but they worſhipt a Man in the Town of
Anubis, in which they ſacrific’d to him,
and burnt the ſacred ſtuff on the Altars.
*
A
8
αλλα τα μεν ηθικας εχονία και χορωδίες αιθέας, ταδε
EH ALOleg que foluilos isdeixins 07.01xns estvo De Iſide
& Oſiride.
Ipſiilli, qui irridentur, Ægyptii, nullam Belluam,
niſi ob aliquam utilitarem quam ex ea caperent, con-
fecraverunt. De Nat. Deor. l. 1.
2 Ανθρωπον στις εσιν καλα Ανεζιν κωμων, αν και και
σκω υεται, και επι των βωμων τα ξερεια καείαι.. De
Abftin. l. 4.
They
1
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm.
93
IAS
si
to
They are the words of PORPHYR Y. Letter
III.
9. IN other Countrys fome paid a
philoſophical Worſhip to the four Ele-
ments, and certain parts of the human
Body. Other Citys as well as that of
Rome were elevated to the high Dig-
nity of Goddeſſes. And many for fear
of offending by miſtake erected Altars
unknown Gods, The Romans
frankly naturaliz'd thoſe of all other
Nations, falling down before ſuch De.
itys as cou'd not protect their antiene
Votarys from the Power of their Arms: :
yet this was rather a politick Liberty
of Conſcience, than the Effects of any
real Devotion. Now from all this it is
very evident, not only that the Gods did
infinitely exceed Mankind in number
as well as in dignity ; but that, tho
Superſtition cou'd be kept within no
bounds, yet all Idolatry had its original
from mens Notions and A&tions about
dead Bodys. But no Abſurdity ſeems
greater to me than to find Divinity at-
tributed to Chance, which is directly
Diog. Laert, in Epimenides Payſan. in Agric. &
Lucian. in Philopat.
oppoſite
94
The Origin of Idolatry,
.
Letter oppoſite to all Order, Intelligence, and
III. Delign: and, nevertheleſs, under the
name of Fortune it had its proper Tem-
ples, one dedicated to good, and another
to bad Fortune ; at the ſame time re-
ceiving Divine Worſhip, and the moſt
opprobrious Epithets of blind, various,
inconſtant, true to the worſt, and a jilo
to the beſt. Theſe things, as in the
Sequel will appear, were introduc'd and
invented at ſecond hand ; but all occaó
fion’d and grounded on the Worſhip of
the Dead.
10. I AM far from deſigning to
bring all the Arguments I cou'd to
demonſtrate my Opinion about the Orio
gin of Idolatry, yet I cannot forbear
producing one Example, which ſhows
the utmoſt Extravagance of human
Nature. Tho the generality of Chrif-
tians have almoſt made a Martyr of
SOCRATES as dying for the Belief
of one God, and that the Heathens will
have his guilt to have bin for intro-
ducing other Gods than the State al-
low'd, yet both theſe Aſſertions are
falfe: for to his death he adher'd to the
Worſhip of his Country, being of opi-
nion that no private Perſon ought to
ſeparate
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm. 95
?
ſeparate from the publick Eſtabliſh- Letter
ment; and cho he might believe. but III.
one God, yet this was none of them
Crimes objected to him by his Accuſers
or his Judges. However, conſidering
the Sentiments of all Men about him,
it ſeems ſcarce credible that this Father
of good Manners, this Prince of Philo-
fophers, and ableft Phyſician of the
Mind, Thou'd have divine Honors paid
to himſelf after his death, chat he ſhou'd
have a Temple and a Fountain dedi-
cated to his Name. We read, it's true,
that the Achenians, repenting of their
injuft Sentence, and to acknowledg his
exemplary worth, erected a Statue to
perperuace his Memory ; and we know
what is very natural) that his Admirers
celebrated his Birth-day, and wore the Fi.
gure
of his Head about them on Gems in
their Rings or Seals. But this Veneration
at laſt was carry'd to religious Worſhip.
For MARINUS, the Diſciple and
Succeſſor of Proclus at Athens,
who wrote his Maſter's Life, and wlio
ſpeaks of a thing he knew as well as I
do to what Saint my Pariſh-Church is
dedicated : MARINUS, I ſay, rela-
ting the happy Preſages of Proclus's
fucceeding in the Platonick School, ſays,
that
(
96
The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter that as he arriv'd at the Piræum, Ni.
ΙΙΙ.
COLAS, who afterwards grew famous ini
the Art of Declamation, but Audy'd then
under the Profeſſors at Athens, went
down to the Port as to one of his Ac-
quaintance, to receive and lodg him as
his Countryman; for NICOLAS was
likewiſe a Lycian, and so he conducted
him into the City. But (Proclus)
finding himſelf weary after his Voyage,
ſat down by the way in the Chappel of
SOCRATES ( when as yet he neither
knew nor had heard that SOCRATES
was honor'd in any place thereabouts)
and pray'd NICOLAS that he wou'd
likewiſe ſit down a little, and, if he cou'd
any where, to help him to ſome Water.
The other obeying him, order'd ſome to be
brought
1 Ως γαρ εις τον πειρgle καιρς, Νικόλαος, ο υε-
Ροή μεν πειφανής επί τη σοφισική γενομενος, τηνικαύλα
δε σχολάζων τοις εν Αθήναις Διδάσκαλοις, καθεση εις
Τον Λιμενα, ως προς γνωριμων, υποδεξαμενος δε αυτον
κα ξεναγήσεων των πολιτων. Λυκιος γαρ και ο Νικολαος.
Ηγη εη αυλος επι την πολιν. Ο δε εκ τι βαδιζεν
κοπα ηθείο καθα την οδον, και ωει το Σοκρατειον, επω
ειδως δε ακηκοως δι Σοκραίες αυλα το εκγνoντo πμαι και
δεξικ δε τον Νικολάον επιμεύειν τε αυθοι βραχυ, και
καθεζεθαι, άμα δε και ει εχοι ποθεν υδώς αυτο
τoeισαθαι: και γαρ διψς πολλω, ως ελεγεν, καίειχο.
“Ο δε έτοιμος αυτω, και τα 10 εκ αλλαχοθαν ποθεν,
εξ
and Realons of Heatheni'm. 97
brought immediately, and that from no Letter
other place, but from that ſame conſecra III.
ted Ground : for the Fountain of Soi
CRATES's Statue was not far from
thence. Now, as he was drinking, Ni-
COLAS, who thought of it only juſt
then, ſaid to him, this is a good Omex
that you have ſat in the Temple of So-
CRATES, and that there you drunk the
firſt Attic Water. Then PROCLUS,
riſing up and worſhipping, proceeded on
his way to the City. Here you have an
Example in all Forms how the Venea
ration of dead Men becomes exceilive
in time, and I have choſen to relate it
thus at length, becauſe it was moſt
unlikely to happen to SOCRATES,
tho more deſerving it than any
other.
>
II.
I SHOU'D never have done,
SERENA, if I wou'd confirm my
Opinion by all the Authoritys I cou'd
et oculos de skeeps 78 isge zijers Toel @egnatales de
ας πορρω ην η πηγη της Σοκραίες τηλης. Πιονι δε
αύω συμβολον και Νικολαος, τότε πρωθον επις ας, επιν,
Mis to Eougaletes en svad suudet Sa Kabb pasjon EXESTEX
Αγικων υδωρ πιως.
“Ο δε, εξαναςας και ωe9σκμη
νησας, επι την πολιν επoραετο. Marin, in vita Procli,
Cap. 1o. Edit. Lond.
H
produse
98
The Origin of Idolatry,
1
1
Letter produce. Whoever is converſant in the
III. Learning of the Ancients, and con-
W liders the Accounts they have left us of
their own Original as well as that of
other Nations, what they have parti-
cularly written of their Gods, and the
Reaſons of their Deification, can have
no doubts remaining concerning this
matter. But 'cis obſervable, that ac-
cording to the degrees of Improvement
any Nation made in Politeneſs, Lite-
rature, or Government, the leſs they
were addicted to this impious Humor
of God-making. To give an Inſtance
hereof, the Romans deify'd ROMU-
Lus their firſt King and Founder ; but,
during choſe many hundred Years their
Commonwealth ſublifted, they did not
confecrate one Mortal, tho for Virtue,
Knowledg, and Valor, they were fur-
mith'd with more deſerving Examples
than all the World beſides. And yet
as foon as ever their free Republick was
curn'd into abſolute Monarchy, the
greareſt part of the firſt Emperors
were deifyd ; both Julius CÆ.
SAR the Subverter of their Liberty,
and the moſt cruel, leud, or fooliſh of
the ſucceeding Tyrants, with ſome of
their Wives, Relations, and Favorites;
imitating
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm. 99
imitating herein the Cuſtom of Kings Letter
among the Barbarians, who by ſuch III.
Artifices kept their Subjects in per-
petual Slavery, as not daring to rebel
againſt the Gods, or thoſe that were
in Election to become ſuch. There's
nothing better known in Hiſtory, than
that Princes had Divine Honors paid
'em after Death by the Egyptians, Ar-
ſyrians, the moſt antient Greeks, and
other Nations. Their Queens alſo,
their Brothers, Siſters, and other Kin-
dred, were made Gods and Goddeſſes;
and it was always the Intereſt of the
ſucceeding Monarch, to keep up this
extraordinary Notion of his Race.
Nay Divine Worſhip was offer'd to
many others during their Lives, as well
as to AUGUSTUS. PLUTARCH,
to whom I might add ſeveral more
Authors, relates that ARTABANUS,
a Perſian Lord, ſaid to THE MISTO-
CLES, then a Fugitive in that Court,
Of the many and good Laws which we
have, this is the most excellent, to honor
3
1 Ημιν δε πολλων νομων και καλων ονων καλα
λιος 8ος εςι, το τιμον βασιλέα, και ωροσκυvesν εί-
Love on Exo Io Themiſtocle.
H 2
100
The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter the King, and to worſhip the image of
III. God. No body is ignorant how ſacred
in the Ottoman Race is eſteem'd; tho this,
as we ſee, cannot always preſerve 'em
from the Fury of their iofolent Guards
or of their injur'd Subjects. The Di-
vine Right claim'd of late by ſome
Chriſtian Kings, and the unreſerv'd
and paſſive Obedience pretended by
their flattering Clergy to be due to
them, if not a better
Expedient to ſup-
port Tyranoy than that of the Hea-
thens, yet they were unqueſtionably
intended for the ſame end and purpoſe.
But the wiſer Men grew, the leſs they
believ'd of theſe things; on the con-
trary the more narrowly they watch'd
their Princes, the more jealous they be-
came of their Liberty and Privileges.
Religion and Reaſon are hated Ob-
ſtacles to Superſtition and Error; and
CICERO remarks that ſome Ora.
cles ceas'd to give Reſponſes in bis
time, becauſe people were grown leſs
credulous.
12. HAVING .hitherto explain'd
and eſtabliſh'd the Origin of Idolatry,
I ſhall now, MADAM, conformably
to theſe Principles, aſſign the Reaſons
of
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm.
101
1
1
of the Heathen Rites, if you'l allow Letter
any Reaſon to be given for Practices in III.
many caſes very abſurd and extrava-
gant. Men thinking to pleaſe, their
God (whoever he was among ſo many)
as they were wont to do while a Prince
on Earth, erected magnificent Tem.
ples or Palaces, and on fumptuous
Tables or Altars they made Feaſts or
Sacrifices to him ; imagining that he
and his Court (principally compos’d of
their deceas'd Heroes) did feed on the
Blood and Fumes of ſlaughter'd Ani-
mals, and delight their celeſtial Nor-
trils with ſouffing up the Fragrancy of
Incenſe, as they did their facred Eyes
with Pomp and Shows. All the At-
tendance was ſurable to their State and
Dignity when living. Solema Times
or Holy days were ſer apart from ordi-
nary Labor for the Celebration of the
Feaſt ; and thoſe, whom afterwards
they call'd their Prieſts (whoſe buſineſs
was to order the Feaſt, to ſerve the
Company, and to repeat a Panegyrick
in Commenjoration of the deify'd Mor-
tal) were clad in ſplendid Garments,
and endow'd with ſeveral commodious
Privileges, as the Servants of Princes
always are: but the chiefeft at the be-
ginning
H 3
102 The Origin of Idolatry,
1
Letter ginning were an Exemption from
III. every other Duty to the Publick, and
V plentiful Salarys aſſign’d for their
Livelihood. There was likewiſe ac
theſe Feafts, good ſtore of Muſick,
Dancing, Perfuming, Illuminations,
Bowings, Cringings, Proſtrations, and
every thing beſides that is uſually im-
ploy'd co gratify the Senſes of the moſt
vain or licentious Prince; but cou'd
never be thought acceptable to any Di-
vine Being, without placing the Origin
of Idolatry in the Worſhip of the Dead,
which makes ſuch Worſhip and Cere-
nionys very accountable.
13. AS they did with the Miniſters
of their Princes, ſo they muſt make an
Intereſt both with the Courtiers in Hea-
ven and with the Prieſts on Earth; not
only bribing them for their Intercefſion,
but if they wou'd not favor, at leaſt not
to oppoſe their Petitions : for they were
commonly of different Factions above
as well as below. But you muſt under-
ſtand that the Power of theſe Courtiers
was of no ſmall moment, the Govern-
ment and Protection of all Regions and
Citys, particularly of thoſe where they
liv'd or govern'd themſelves, being dil
tributed
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm. 103
tributed among 'em. There was nei- Letter
ther Tree nor Plant ; nor Beaſt, Fiſh, III.
or Fowl; nor River, Fountain, nor Hill;
nor almoſt any other Creature, but was
the ſpecial Care and Delight of one or
other of them, and frequently callid
after their Names, as in their Life-time
they happen'd to uſe, or love, or admire
them. This immediate Direction they
were thought to have on the Things
now mention'd, as well as over the Dil.
eaſes of the Body and the Paſſions of the
Mind, gave a Reputation and Authori-
ty to their pretended Miracles, Appari-
tions, Divinations, Oracles, and all
other Arts of the Cunning, to drain the
Pockers of the Credulous.
14. AS for the Sanctuarys and the fe-
cret Arks kept in them, with their many
myſterious Doings, their Expiations,
Purifications, and other ridiculous, pro-
fane, or cruel Ceremonys, and all very
burdenſom; there, I ſay, were at the
begioning ſymbolical, repreſenting the
true Hiſtory of the Gods while living
on Earth, exhibiting the Reaſons of
their Deification, and the Arks in parti-
cular containing the Emblems, Marks,
or Tokens of the whole Fact, as all a.
gree
H 4
104 The Origin of Idolatry,
e
Letter gree who have look'd into the Heathen
III. Myſterys. But theſe things were after-
wards manag’d by the Prieſts ſo as to
make their imagin'd Intimacy with
Heaven more valu'd, and to get Re-
venues ſettled on theinfelves, proporti-
onable to the Laboriouſneſs and Impor-
tance of the Service in which they were
engag’d. Nor did the Multitude of
the Rites ſerve a little to amuſe and di-
Atract the Vulgar from reflecting on
matters with more conſideration, their
whole Time being almoſt employd a-
bour them: beſides that they muſt
needs entertain a high Opinion of them,
who cou'd affix Sanctity to Times, Pla-
ces, and Perſons, and to ſuch things as
were either indifferent in their own Na-
tures, or ſeem'd the fartheſt imaginable
from being religious. Moreover, there
was oot wanting ſometimes a mutual
Compact between the Prince and the
Prieſt, whereby the former oblig'd him-
felt to ſecure all theſe Advantages to the
latter, if he in return would preach up
his abſolute Power over the People, on
whoſe well-meaning Underſtandings he
cou'd make what Impreſſions he pleas'd
at any time.
15. TO
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm,
105
Letter
15 TO the Authority of Princes III.
they added their own Inventions abour m
Hell (as I ſhow'd before in this Lerter,
and alſo in the laſt I ſent you) not con-
tenting themſelves to terrify Men with
Ice and Flames, deep Mire and Dark-
neſs, they added Vultures, Rolling-
Stones, Wheels, and Chains; Hydras,
Centaurs, Harpies, Chimeras, Sphyn-
xes, Gorgons, Dragons, and a World of
other Monſters, the Executioners of
the Princes Tyranny. They told 'em
alſo of Ghoſts and Specters, Viſions
and Voices, amazing the Vulgar with
the tremendous Sounds of Tartarus,
Erebus, the black and roaring Waves
of
Styx, Acheron, Phlegethon, Lethe, Co-
cytus, Avernus;
with the hideous barking of triple-
headed CERE ER US, the dogged Sul-
lenneſs of CHARON the Ferryman :
but the inexorable Furys, ALECTO,
TISIPHONE, and MEGÆR A, were
more dreaded by far than PLUTO or
PROSERPINA, tho Sovereign Go.
vernors over thoſe infernal Regions.
From
106 The Origin of Idolatry,
1
3
Letter From what I ſaid before about the Ori-
III. gin of Ghoſts and Aſtrology, you may
be ſure they were addicted to all man-
ner of Divination and Magick, ſuch as
Augurys and Auſpicys, Extiſpicys,
Necromancy and Necyomancy, 4 Py-
romancy, Pſychomancy, Nephelo-
mancy, Hydromancy, * Capnomancy,
Sortileges, with other numberleſs
and ſuperſtitious Vanitys, which are
continu'd in moſt parts of the World
to this very Time, and which may be
found deſcrib'd at large in VANDAL E.
We may imagin, from the ſame Reaſons,
that they abounded with Witches, Sor-
cerers, and Fortune-tellers, who, by vir-
tue of a Covenant or
Compact with
the Dæmons, by their Knowledg of the
IO
Divining by Birds and Signs. ? By the Entrals of
Animals. 3 By the Dead and Ghoſts. 4 By Fire. s By
Souls. 6 By the Clouds. ? By Water. By Smoak
& By Lots, whether in Paſages of Books or otherwiſe.
8
1
: Quis labor hic fuperis, Cantus Herbafque fequendi
Spernendiq; Timor? Cujus Commercia PACTI
Obſtrictos habuere Deos ? Parere neceſſe eſt,
An juvar ? Ignota tantum piecare merentur,
An tacitis valuere minis? Hoc Juris in omnes
Eft illis ſuperos ? An habent hæc Carmina certum
Imperioſa Deum, qui Mundum cogere, quicquid
Cogicur ipfe, poteſt? Lucan. Pharſal. l. 6.
Stars,
*
orang
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm. 107
Stars, and by the occult Qualitys of Letter
certain Herbs, Stones, barbarous Words, III. .
and Charms, and by pricking, or melt- u
ing, or burying the Images of the Par-
cys concern'd, pretended to make the
Gods appear, and to raiſe the Ghoſts of
the Dead; to darken the Sun and
Moon, and make the Planets more
backward, nay to bring down the Stars
from the Firmament; to transform
themſelves and others into various
Shapes; to afflict whom they pleas'd
with Diſtempers ; procure Love or
ed; foretel future Events; diſco-
ver hidden Treaſures; ſpirit away Peo-
ples Corn, or Milk, or other Goods ;
change little Children in their Cradles ;
and a thouſand more ſuch Pranks, tedi-
ous to relate, and impoſſible for think-
ing Men to believe. But what the
Learned and the Prudent thought of all
theſe Pretenders to extraordinary Know-
ledg, old Ennius will frankly tell
you in his rugged Meaſures.
..
I value not one rafb a Marſian Au.
gur,
Nor
Non habeo denique nauci Marfum Augurem,
Non
108
The Origin of Idolatry,
6
Letter
IIT.
Nor Country Fortunetellers, nor
Town Star-gazers,
Nor Fugling-Gypſies, nor yet Dream-
Interpreters :
For not by Skill or Art are theſe Di-
viners;
But ſuperſtitious Prophets, Gueſſers
impudent,
Or idle Rogues, or craz'd, or mere
ſtarving Beggars.
They know no way themſelves, yet
others would direct ;
And crave a Groat of thoſe, to whom
they promiſe Riches,
Thence let 'em take the Great, and
give back all the reſt.
We may add here the fabulous Storys
of the Heathens (much like our modern
Tales of Fairys) concerning their Syl-
vans, Fauns and Satyrs; their Larvx
Non vicinos Aruſpices, non de circo Aſtrologos,
Non Ifiacos Conjectores, non Interpretes Somnium:
Non enim funt ii aur ſcienția aut arre Divini,
Sed fuperftitiofi Vares, impudentefq; Harioli,
Aut inertes, aut infani, aut quibus Egeſtas imperat;
Qui fibi femiram non lapiunt, alteri monftrant viam,
Quibus divitias pollicentur ab iis Drachmam ipfi petunr,
De his divitiis fibi deducape Drachmam, reddant
Cic. de Divinat. lib. I.
and
cætera.
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm. 109
and Lemures ; their Nymphs of the Letter
Seas, Rivers, Fountains, Hills, and III.
Woods, ſuch as the Nereids, Naiads,
Dryads, Hamadryads, Oreads, and if
there be any more like to theſe, only fit
to ſcare Women and Children.
16. LET's now return,
now return, if you
pleaſe, to the higher Powers; for as in
Life ſo after Death they were of ſeveral
Orders, Gods of the upper, and Gods
of the lower Form, the Nobility and
Commons, as alſo 3 intermediate, in-
ferior, and vagabond Dæmons (origi-
nally from the Suppoſition of departed
Souls) who had no certain Habitation,
but wander'd in the Air, and were con-
ftantly fent on Errands, either to carry
the Prayers of Men to their Superiors,
or to acqua int the World with the
Wrach or Favor of the Gods, where-
of they were commonly thought to be
the Miniſters and Executioners, for
thoſe Princes had their Armys in Hea-
ven as well as on Earth. But as the
& Dii majorum Gentium.
* Dii minorum Gencium,
Dii medioxumi, &c.
Hea-
110
The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter Heathens ſent the beſt of their Gods to
III. Heaven, ſo they recalld 'em again at
their Pleaſure, confining their Preſence
to ſome ſmall Chappel, or to the poor
Idol within that: for they imagin'd
that many of them liv'd in Tombs or
wander'd in the Air, before they help'd
'em to thoſe Accommodations, where
the Deſires of their Petitioners were
more agreeably heard than in any other
place. They often fell down before
the Work of their own Hands, which,
had it Life or Reflection, ought rather
to worſhip them from whole Skill all
its Excellency had bin deriv'd: but the
wiſer Mice, Swallows, and Spiders made
very bold with their Statues, notwith-
ſtanding the virtue of Conſecration,
while filly Men were forc'd themſelves
to protect what they fear'd and ador’d.
Theſe very Statues are an Argument of
their human Figure and Original, and
we know the reſpect that was paid to
the Statues, even of living Princes.
Their Shrines were often viſited by the
moſt ignorant and devout, who alſo
hung the Temples round with Offerings
and rich Preſents, conſulted the Oracles
in all dubious Events, bound them-
ſelves by Vows in their Diſtreſs, believ'd
their
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm.
III
1
their very Dreams to be divinely Letter
inſpird, and made their Religion in III.
every reſpect as troubleſom to others as
to themſelves. From what they prac-
tis’d on Earth, there was not a darling
Paſſion or Game of their great Men
(ſuch as drinking, wenching, or hunt-
ing) but the like were afcrib'd to the
Gods. Wherefore we often read of
their Amours, Marriages, Rapes and
Adulterys; their Diſſenſions, Revel-
lings, Quarrels, and Wounds; their
Revenges and Thefts; their Com.
plaints and manifold Diſtreſſes, being
ſometimes expos’d, at other times im-
priſon'd, and once fairly beaten out of
their Cittadel in Heaven by the Giants,
to ſeek in a pitiful manner for ſhelter
on Earth; all which things demonſtrate
their Earthly Original. We need not
wonder after this to find, that they are
always repreſented in the State wherein
they dy'd, and with all the diſtinguiſh-
ing Marks in which they liv'd. Thus
are ſome of 'em ever old, and others e-
ver young ; Parents, Children, and Re-
lations; ſome lame and blind, of diffe-
rent Colours and Appetites; ſome clo-
ven-footed (whence the preſent vulgar
notion of the Devil) fome furniſh'd
with
:
112
The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter with Wings, or arm'd with Swords,
III. 6 Spears, Helmers, Clubs, Forks and
Bows; or drawn in their Chariots by
Lions, Tygers, Horſes, Sea-calfs, Pea-
cocks, and Doves. Now all theſe
things were partly borrow'd from their
true Hiſtory, and are partly allegorical,
poetical, and fabulous Diſguiſes of what
is no longer perfectly known nor under-
ſtood.
1
17. ÆNOMAUS, EuHEME-
RUS, LUCIAN, and many other Per-
fons who made uſe of their Rea-
fon, did fearleſly mock the Deitys for
being naturaliz'd of this or that Place,
where they exercis'd every one the
Trade wherein he excell'd. Thus
APOLLO had an Office of Intelligence,
and told Fortunes at Delphos ; ESCU.
LAPius ſet up an Apothecary's Shop
at Pergamus; VENUS kepe a noted
Baudyhouſe at Paphos; VULCAN
had a Blackſmith's Forge in Lemnos ;
ſome were Midwives, fome Huntreſſes,
and all of them traffick'd where they
cou'd: for they us’d, like us Mortals,
ſuch as they had formerly bin, when
they did not thrive in one place, to re-
move into ſome other more convenient
for
and Realons of Heathenim
113
for their Buſineſs. As all Events were Letter
believ'd to be the Effects of their Love III.
or Diſpleaſure, fo Men found out ſem
veral Methods to chank or appeaſe
them; and particularly gave 'em (by
way of acknowledgment for the reſt)
the Firſt-Fruits of all Productions, whe-
ther of Animals or Vegetables, with
Tythes and other Offerings which they
were bound to pay to their Living
Princes. Nor was there any thing al-
moſt that came amiſs in their Sacrifices ;
for what was the averſion of one prov'd
the delight of another, and ſome of
'em would be content with nothing un-
der human Victims, an Argument of
their bloody Diſpoſition in this world.
We often find them highly reſenting the
Affront (as Princes and Great Men uſe
to do) when their Altars were neglec-
ted, eſpecially if the People feaſted other
Gods; and Men have not leis frequent-
ly in their Turos reproach'd the Divine
Powers with Ingratitude, and even out.
rag'd their Statues (being ſometimes in-
clin’d to Rebellion) when they thougho
themſelves not ſufficiently required for
the rich Preſents or Bribes which they
.
gave them
1
13. BUT
114
The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter
III. 18. BUT tho the more learned and
m virtuous had many times better Noti-
ons of Things, yet we find the Senti-
ments of ſome of 'em mighty fluctua-
ting and obſcure, principally occaſion'd
by the Perſecucion that was ſure to at-
tend the Truth, or any attempt towards
a general Reformation, witneſs the
Death of SOCRATES. We may ob-
ſerve from "PLUTARCH, that the
true Reaſon why the Theory of the
Stars and Planets was ſo litele, or at leaſt
not ſo generally known, was, that the
common People wou'd never endure to
hear thoſe things made ſubject to a Phi.
loſophical Examination, or explain'd by
the ordinary Laws of Nature, by in-
voluntary Cauſes, and blind. Facultys,
while they held 'em to be intelligent,
eternal, and immortal Gods. And
therefore when A NAXAGORAS dil-
cover'd that the Moon had but a bor-
2
Ουδ' λογG- ένδοξG- ήν, αλλ' απορρητος ετι και
δι' ολιγων, και μετ' ευλαβειας τινα η πιςεως βαδιζων και
και ηνειχαντο της φυσικές και μετεωρολες τοτε καλεμε-
νκς, ως εις αιτιας αλογες και δυναμεις απογοήτες, και
καταναγκασμενα παθη, διατριβοντο το θειογ. In
vira Niciæ.
row'd
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm.
115
{
row'd Light from the Sun, and ſo gave Letter
the Reaſons of its Wax and Wane, ſuch III.
a Do&rine durſt not be made publick,
but was ſecretly.communicated to very
few, and even to them under a Promiſe
of Fidelity. Indeed a great many emi-
nent Perſons in Europe and Aſia, both
underſtood themſelves the Origin of the
Religions commonly receiv’d, and
ſometimes have dar'd to diſcover their
Vanity, Inſufficiency, and Impofture
to others. But ſuch as at any time
thus aſſerted the Unity of the Deity,
and expos'd Superſtition, we ought not
to reckon for Heathens, by which Ex.
preffion is properly underſtood Idolaters
who believe å plurality of Gods, and
that pretend to have particular Revela-
tions from them, with ſeveral ſorts of
Rites inſtituted to their Honor as they
were thought to act in diſtinct Provina
ces, or elſe to commemorate their para
ticular Actions. The Jews (who
thought all the People of the World,
but themſelves, to be of this kind) uſu-
ally call'd 'em the Nations, from the
Greek whereof we have the word Heaa
thens, and Gentiles from the Latin.
All thoſe therefore who had Penetration
enough to diſcover, and Courage to op:
I 2
poſe
I
116
The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter poſe the Folly or Craft of this Theology,
III. were calld and reputed Atheiſts, and
mtreated as ſuch by the Multitude at the
Inftigation of the Prielts. Several Per-
fons, eſpecially among the Philoſophers,
were fin’d and impriſon’d, ſome were
fent into Exile, others judicially ſen-
terc'd to Death; many torn in pieces by
the Rabble, and all of them conſtantly
branded with Impiery for disbelieving
the Myſterys, or expoling the Holy
Cheats of their Times. But no thanks
are due to the Heathen Prieſts, that
fewer loftances of this kind occur a-
mong them than the Chriſtians: for,
beſides that moſt of the Heathen Prieſts
differ'd little from Civil Magiſtrates,
and that many of them did not conci-
nue in their Office for Life, they were
likewiſe in perfect ſubjection to the
Stare: whereas the Chriftian Prieſts (ex-
cept in a very few Proteſtant Countrys)
overtop the Government, and are every
where abſolute Maſters of the Under-
ſtanding of the Lairy. In our Diſcour .
fes therefore of the Antients, we are to
afcribe their found Notions or moral
Practices to the Light of Reaſon, where-
of Heatheniſm was a nororious Corrup-
tion. For want of obſerving this Dif-
tinction,
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm. 117
1
tinction, there are infinite Miſtakes Letter
commitred. One raſhly maintains III.
that Heatbenilin was a better Foun.
darion for Virtue than Chriſtianity,
whereas he ought to have ſaid no
more (at moft) than that the Law
of Nature was often better fulfilld
by Heathens than Chriſtians. Ano-
ther ihinks all thoſe to have bin Ido-
laters who liv'd when Heatheniſm
prevail'd, than which there cannot
be a groffer Error. Can any Man
be ſo ſtupid as to count CICERO
( for example ) á Heathen, who, in
his admirable Treatiſes of Divinati-
on and of the Nature of the Gods,
has demonſtratively ſubverted their
Polytheiſm, Sacrifices, pretended Re
.
velations, Prophecys, and Miracles ;
their Oracles,
Augurys, Oneirocri-
ticks, Incantations, and all Fopperys
of the like fort ? MINUTIUS
Felix, TERTULLIAN,
ther Primitive Apologiſts for Chrif
tianity, tranſcrib'd their beſt Argu-
ments againſt Huacheniſm out of
theſe and the like Books, and very
often in the ſame words.
ARNO-
BI U S, after doing Juſtice to others,
I 3 maintains,
i
I
and oo
118
The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter maintains, that if 'TULLY's Works
III. were read, the Chriſtians need not
m trouble themſelves with Writing; and,
after acknowledging that he did with
much Ingenuity, Conſtancy, Boldneſs,
and greater Piety explode the Gods, tells
us that many Heathens did for that rea .
fon not only decry thoſe Books, and
avoid reading them; but were alſo for
ſolliciting the Senate to burn and abo-
liſh them: whereas, to uſe the judicious
1
'Quem quidem locum plene jamdudum homines
pectcris vivi, cam Romanis Literis explicavere, quam
Græcis, & ante omnes Tullius, Romani diſertiſſimus
Generis, nullam veritus Impietaris Invidiam, ingenue,
conſtanter, & libere, quid fuper tali Opinatione fenti-
ret, pietate cum majore monſtravit. A quo ſi res
ſumere Judicii veritate confcriptas, non verborum Lu-
culentias pergeretis, probata effet & hæc Cauſa, nec few
cundas (ur dicitur) actiones nobis ab Intantibus poftu-
laret. Sed quid aucupia verborum, fplendoremque fer-
monis peri ab hoc dicam, cum fciam effe non paucos
qui averlentur & fugiant Libros de hoc ejus, nec in
aurem velint admittere lectionem Opinionuin ſuarum
praſumpta viņcentem? Cumque alios audiam muffitare
indignanter & dicere, oportere ſtatui per Senatum abo-
leantur ut hæc fcripta, quibus Chriſtiana Religio com.
probetur, & vetuftatis opprimatur auctoritas ? Quinimo
fi fiditis exploratum vos dicere quicquam de Diis
veftris,
Erroris convincire Ciceronem; temeraria & impia dic-
ritare refellitore, redarguire, comprobate : nam inter-
cipere ſcripra, & publicaram vellc fubmergere Lectio-
nem, non eft Deos defendere, fed veriraris Teſtificatia:
ncm timere. Lib. 3. adverſus Gent.
words
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm. 119
words of our Author, to fupprefs thoſe Letter
Books, or to prohibit the publick reading III.
of them, was not to defend the Gods,
but to fear the Teſtimony of Truth. I
cou'd name a great nuinber of other
Perſons, remarkable for their Valor,
Piety, or Juſtice, who were much far-
ther from being Idolaters than their
Accuſers; and Thou'd no more be de-
nominated Heathens, than thoſe can
be now call Mahometans, who, tho
living at Mecca, disbelieve the Alcoran.
Now, ſuch as will have theſe to be
Mahometans, or thoſe to be Heathens,
plainly ſhow their Ignorance of what
is meant by the Words, or that they
perceive not the Diſtinction between the
Law of Nature and all poſitive Inſti-
tutions.
1
19. TO be ſhort, MADAM, the
Religion of the Gentiles (as contrary
or ſuperadded to the Light of Reaſon)
is ſuch as cou'd not influence Virtue or
Morality very much in this Life, nor
afford any certain Hopes or Security
againſt the Terror of Death.
true, there were many among the Hea-
thens, who, loath to believe their Re-
ligion ſo groundleſs and ridiculous as
I 4
it
'Tis
120
The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter it ſeemd to appear, eſpecially from the
III. Deſcriptions of the Poets, wou'd have
their numberleſs Gods to be nothing elfe
but the various Appellations, Attri-
butes, or Provinces of ſome one Being,
whether it were the Sun, or BAC:
chus, or any God beſides, of whom
they had a better Opinion Legiſlators
did
put
the beſt face they cou'd upon the
marter, and, without anxious Inquiry
into the Truth or Falſhood of things,
they approv'd of all that contributed to
keep Mankind in order, that' excited
'em to Virtue by Example and Re-
wards, that deter'd 'em from Vice by
Puniſhments and Diſgrace. But others,
as the well-meaning Philoſophers, alle-
goriz'd all their Doctrins into merę na-
cural things, wherein the Deity mani-
feſts his Efficacy, Bounty, or Goodneſs;
from which threefold Conſideration
proceeded the famous Diſtinction of
their Poerical, Political, and Philoſo.
phical Theology. Yet the more dif-
cerning Perſons laught at theſe Shifts,
well knowing that it was impoſſible to
make any colerable Apology for moſt of
their Fables. CICERO therefore
condemns the Stoicks for pretending
that all the Greek Theology wa's
myfterious,
+
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm, i 21
-
AN
1
myſterious. Firſt Zeno, 'ſays he, Letter
after him CLEAN THES, and then III.
CHRYSIPPUS, were at great pains
to no purpoſe, to give a reaſonable Ex-
plication of commentitious Fables, and to
account for the Etymology of the very
Names of every God: which proceeding
plainly shows that they believe not the
Truth of theſe things in the literal ſenſe.
However, to give a Specimen of their
Allegorys, .they made Jupiter and
Juno, to ſignify the Air and Clouds;
NEPTUNE and THETIS, the Sea
and Flouds ; CERES' and
CERES' and BAC-
Chus, the Earth and all its Produc-
tions; MERCURY and MINERVA,
the ingenious Talents of the Mind, as
Learning, Merchandize, Arts, or the
like; CUPID and VENUS, our ear-
neft Delires and amorous Inclinations;
Mars and BELLONA, Diſſenſions and
Wars; PLUTO and PROSERPINA,
1
2
Magnam moleftiam fufcepit, ac minime neceffa-
riam, primus Zeno, poft Cleanthes, deinde Chryfippus,
commentitiarum fabularum reddere rationem : voca-
bulorum, cur quique ica appellati fiut, caufas expli.
Quod cum facitis, illud profecto confitemini,
longe aliter rem fe habere atque hominum opinio fit.
De Nat. Deor, l. 3.
Mines,
care.
1
122 The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter Mines, Treaſures, and whatever lies
III. conceald under ground. So they pro-
ceeded to explain away the reſt of the
Gods; and, as Allegorys are as fruitful
as our Imaginations, ſcarce any two
Authors cou'd wholly agree in their
Opinions. But ſuppoſing the Truth
of the matter had bin as any or all
of 'em wou'd have it, yet their Re-
ligion was not a whit the better, and
deſerv'd to be aboliſh'd ; lince, what-
ever were the Speculations of a few
among the Learned, 'cis evident that
the Vulgar took all theſe to be very
real Gods, of whom they ſtood in
mighty fear, and to whom they paid
Divine Adoration: not to inſiſt on the
Trouble and Expenſiveneſs of their
Rites, or the Cheats and Dominion of
the Prieſts. This was clearly perceiv'd
by Cicero, who, enumerating the
ſeveral kinds of the Heathen Gods,
From another Reafon, 'ſays he, and in-
deed a phyſical one, has proceeded a great
multitude of Gods, which, being intro-
• Alia quoque ex ratione, & quidem phyfica, magna
fluxit multicudo Deorum, qui, inducti ſpecie humana,
fabulas Poetis ſuppedicaverunt, hominum autem vicam
fuperſtitione omni referſerunt.' De Nat. Deor. I. 2.
duc'd
1
123
and Reafons of Heatheni/m.
!
duc'd under human Shape, have ſupply'd Letter
the Poets with Fables, but at the Fame III.
time have fill'd the Life of Men with all
forts of Superſtition. The ſame may
be as truly ſaid of the modern Saints
and Images : for notwithſtanding the
nice Diſtinctions of ſupreme and ab-
ſolure, of inferior and relative Wor-
ſhip ; all the common People are
downright groſs Idolaters ; and as to
the multitude of their Obſervations,
the Impoſtures or Power of their
Clergy in the places where this Wor-
ſhip is eſtabliſh'd, the Superſtitions of
the whole world put together wou'd,
in reſpect of them, make a very eaſy
and tolerable Religion. Nor ought
we to forget that this new Idolatry
of the Chriſtians is altogether groun-
ded, as that of the ancient Heathens,
on the excellive Veneration of dead
Men and Women ; but improv'd by
degrees to ſuch a pitch by the Arti-
fices of the Prieſts, who allure others
by this example to follow their Dia
rections, which always tend to the In-
creaſe of their own Glory, Power, and
Profit.
1
20. THE
1
124
The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter
III. 20. THE preſent Heathens, who
Vinhabit the greateſt part of Africa, vaſt
Tracts of Afia, almoſt all America,
and ſome few Corners of Europe,
agree very much with the Antients in
their Opinions, which is the reaſon that
I have hitherto omitted ſome things I
mention under this Head, to avoid
Repetition. But they diſagree among
themſelves in different places, as the
Antients did. They have their fe-
veral Coſmogonias, or Accounts of the
Creation of the World ; and their
Theogonias, or Genealogys of the Gods,
whon ſome hold to be coequal, others
ſubordinate, ſome to be all good, others
again to be all bad : and many that
'there are cwo ſovereigo Principles of
Good and Ill, ſuch as the OROM A
ZES and ARIMANES of the old
Chaldeans : nor are there wanting
who maintain the Divine Unity,
fometimes with, and ſometimes with-
out inferior Miniſters ; as there be
who aſſert the Eternity and Immen-
ſity of the Univerſe, and that all things
happen by an irreſiſtible Decree of Fate.
Their Sentiments are as different an
bout Providence, the Duration of the
World,
i
and Reaſons of Heathenifm. 125
2
E}
World, and a future State ; whether Letter
the Soul be immortal, is confin'd III.
after Death to any certain Manſions, or
tranſmigrates out of one Body into
another, this laſt being the moſt pre-
vailing Opinion. They diverſify their
Sacrifices with numberleſs Rites and
Ceremonys, one Nation worſhipping
that Animal whereof another makes
an Offering to its God; and one Man
religiouſly uſing that Geſture or Garb,
which another rejects as unbecom-
ing and profane: for as J U V ENAL
obſerves of the old Egyptians,
!
Such is the Madneſs of the thought
lefs Mob,
Each place abhors the Deitys of
others,
And own no Gods but what themſelves
adore.
1
They perform Divine Service on the
Tops of Hills, in the open Air, or in
Temples, and Groves, or Caves.
· Inde furor valgo, quod Numina vicinorum
Odit ucerque locus, cum ſolos credac habendos
Eife Deos, quos ipfe colit. $47. 15
They
1
126
The Origin of Idolatry,
}
Letter They believe good and bad Dæmons,
III. and guardian Powers of Places and
Men. They have ſeveral ſubordinate
Degrees of Prieſts and Prieſteſſes, Col-
leges in many parts for their Education,
and religious Houſes for their Main-
tenance. They have their facred
Books, Traditions, and Images ; pre-
tended Miracles, Prophecys, Revela-
tions, and Oracles ; Sorcerys, Augu-
rys, Sortileges, Omens, and all ſorts
of Divination. As they have their
Merry-meetings where they eat and
drink, fing and dance before their
Gods ; ſo they have their more me-
lancholy Seaſons, when they
only mortify themſelves with ſtrange
Auſteritys of Faſting, Abftinence
from Women, coarſe Habits, loog
Pilgrimages, or other laborious Pen-
nances : but they alſo burn and
whip, and cut and flaſh their Bodys
in a moſt cruel manner; vainly ima-
gining to honor or pleaſe the Deity
by ſuch things as do themſelves real
hurt, and no body elſe any good:
When the Unintelligibleneſs or Ab-
ſurdity of any of their Practices or
Doctrins is objected to them, they
preſently tell you that nothing is im-
poſſible
1100
and Reaſons of Heatheniſm.
poſſible to the higher Powers, and Letter
that theſe are Myſterys neither to be III.
fathom’d or examin’d by the finire m
Underſtanding of Man ; as may be
read in almoſt all the Travels of all
Nations.
21. HAVING given this ſum-
mary Account, SERENA, of an-
tient and modern Heatheniſm, we
may remark that almoſt every Point
of thoſe ſuperſtitious and idolatrous
Religions are in theſe or groſſer Cir-
cumſtances reviv'd by many Chriſ-
tians in our Weſtern Parts of the
Word, and by all the Oriental Sects :
as Sacrifices, Incenſe, Lighrs, Images,
Luftrations, Feafts, Mulick, Alcars,
Pilgrimages, Faſtings, religious Celi-
bacy and Habits, Confecrations, Divi-
nations, Sorcerys, Omens, Preſages,
Charms, the Worſhip of dead Men
and Women, a continual Canoniza-
tion of more, Mediators between God
and Men, good and evil Dæmons,
guardian Genius's, Male and Female
tutelar Powers to whom they dedicate
Temples, appoint Feaſts and peculiar
Modes of Worſhip, not only can-
toning all Places among 'em, but
likewiſe
?
128
The Origin of Idolatry,
Letter likewiſe the Cure of Diſeaſes, and
III. the diſpoſal of everything which
Men are glad to want or enjoy.
Theſe things, I confeſs, are not ob-
ſerv'd in all places alike; yet more
or leſs in every place, and rivetted
by Education where they are not
eſtabliſh'd by Law. But how little
right, theſe have to the Denomination
of Chriſtians, who defend the very
things which Jesus CHRIST went
about to deſtroy, is evident to all
them who don't conſider Chriſtianity
as a politick Faction or a bare Sound;
but as an Inſtitution deſign’d to rec-
tify our Morals, to give us juft Ideas
of the Divinity, and conſequently to
extirpate all ſuperſtitious Opinions and
Practices. In plain and proper Terms
this is Antichriſtianiſm, noching being
more diametrically repugnant to the
Doctrin of CHRIST; and as far as
any is tinctur’d with it, ſo far he
is a Heathen or a Jew, but no Chrif
tian.
22. THIS Reflection is a Tri
bute due to Religion and Truth; nor,
in my opinion, is the gratifying of mens
Curioſity a ſufficient Recommendation
1
-
and Reatons of Heathenifm. 129
to any Diſquiſitions, without ſome Letter
general Inſtructidni naturally conducing III.
to Wiſdom or Virtue. And indeed
this whole Differtation, MADAM,
is a memorable Proof and Inſtance to
whae an aſtoniſhing degree of Extra-
vagance human Nature is capable of
arriving; and that in all times Super-
ftition is the ſame, however the Names
of it may vary, or that it may have
different Objects, or be greater or leſs in
degrees, a's any Country has more or
leſs Liberty of Conſcience : and free
Speech: But if any ſhou'd wonder
how Men-cou'd leave the direct and
eaſy Path of Reaſon to wander in
ſuch inextricable Mazes, let him
but conſider how in very many
and conſiderable Regions the plain
Inſtitution of Jesus CHRIST cou'd
degenerate into the moſt abfurd Doc-
trins, unintelligible Jargon, ridiculous
Practices, and inexplicable Myſterys:
and how almoſt in every corner of the
world Religion and Truth cou'd be
chang'd into Superſtition and Priest-
Craft. In a word, the Subject of this
long Letter is elegantly comprehended
in thoſe four Lines which are in every
body's mouth :
K
Natural
130
The Origin of Idolatry.
i'
1
A
Letter
III. Natural Religion was eaſy firſt and
plain,
Tales made it Myſtery, Offrings made
it Gain ;
Sacrifices and shows were at length
prepar'd,
The Priefts ste Roaft-meat, and the
People ſtar'd.
I am afraid, by the time you come
thus far, you'l be as weary of reading
as I am now of writing; and there-
fore, MADAM, for both our Eaſe
I ſhall add no more on this occaſion,
but that I ſhall continue all my Life
your moſt ſincere and obedient Ser.
vant.
Obit,non
$
.
5
LETTER
1
3
2
t
13.1
Letter
IV.
}
1
1
LETTER IV.
2
To a Gentleman in Holland,
ſhowing SPINOSA's sy
tem of Philoſopby. to be
without any Principle or
Foundation.
4
1
"Y
OU gueſs very right, SIR,
when you fancy that in ſó
charming a Retirement, I
injoy the moſt perfect Happineſs this
Earth can poſſibly afford, Health of
Body and Tranquillity of Mind. Beſides
the Purity of the Air, this Country
abounds in all manner of Game; and
my Neighbors ſeem wholly unacquainta
ed with any other Fraud or Violence,
than what they uſe againſt wild Beaſts,
K.
Fowl,
13:2
A Confutation
!
Letter Fowl, and Fiſh. You cannot read in
W. their Looks (as in thoſe of your tattling
M and buſy Citizens) the good or bad
"Succeſs of Fleets and Armys:
they
know as little of foreign Affairs, as of
what paſſes in the Planetary Worlds ;
and if ſometimes they inform them-
ſelves about the State of things at
Court, 'tis not to learn who is in fa-
vor or diſgrace, who is to be next in
or out of the Miniſtry ; bursto, know
how the publick Good of the Nation
is manag'd, how its Security, Wealth,
and Power are preſerv'd. Whoever is
able and active to promote theſe ends,
him they eſteem their beſt Friend ;
nor can the Name or Pretence of
any Party make them become his
Enemys.
2. BUT, Sir, I cannot eaſily for-
give your fearing that any thing
which comes from you ſhou'd diſturb
my Repoſe among ſuch innocent people,
every Letter you write being as agree-
able and inſtructive as their Conver-
ſation is plain and ſincere. Your mag-
nificent Expreſſions in praiſe of Spl-
NOSA I cannot blame, oo more than
the exceſſive Encomiums, which Lu-
O. KETIU
of SPINOSA.
133
CRETIUS took all opportunitys to Letter
heap on EPICURUŚ: for ſo long as IV.
in your Opinion he paſſes for ſo extra- m
ordinary a Perſon, ſo much above the
common rate of Mankind, and ſo
happy above all Philoſophers in his
Diſcoverys, you cannot in juſtice ſpeak
leſs than you have done, and, were
you a Poet, you wou'd raiſe your Strains
yet higher
1
3. FOR my part, I ſhall always
be far from ſaying that! SPINOSA
did nothing" well, becauſe in many
things he fucceeded fo ill.
On the
contrary, he has had ſeveral lucky
Thoughts, and appears to have bin a
Man of admirable natural Endow-
ments, tho his ſhare of Learning (ex-
cept in ſome parts of the Mathema-
ticks, and in the underſtanding of the
Rabbins) ſeems to have bin very mo-
derate. I grant you likewiſe that he
was truly fober, obſervant of the Laws
of his Country, and not poffeſt with
the fordid Paſſion of heaping up Riches :
for there's nothing niore undeniable
from antient Hiſtory and preſent Ex-
perience, than that as the Profeſſors
of Truth are not always the greateſt
Saints,
K 3
134
A Confutation
Letter Saints, fo Men of erronequs Principles
IV. have often led excellent Lives; and you
m know that Monſieur BAILE; in his
various Thoughts upon Comets, has mani-
1e-Iv prov'd that even Atheiſm does
not rectfaſily lead a Man to be wicked,
tủo he acknowledges withal that the
Conſiderations of Safety, Reputation,
and Intereſt, ., are not ſuch effectual
Reſtraints againſt Immorality, as the
Doctrins of Religion. I further agree
with you that. SPINOSA's, Adverſa.
sys have gain'd nothing on his Dif-
ciples by the contumelious and vilifying
Epithets they beſtow on his Perſon for
the ſake of his Opinions; which ſhame-
ful little Artifices are only fit for the
Patrons of Error, being contrary to
Religion as well as to common Civility,
and may well, enrage a fuperftitious
Mob, but can never impoſe on Men, of
Senſe, who judg of things as they are
in themſelves, and not as repreſented
to them by paſſionate and unjuſt An-
tagoniſts.
>
4. DON’T imagine, Sir, that I
expreſs this Moderation either out of
Complaiſance to the Reſpect you bear
ÇO the Memory of SPINOSA, or that
I
*
of SPINOSA.
135
1
I am now more convinc'd of his Opi- Letter
nions than you formerly us'd to find IV.
me : for after this manner it is that
I think all Men in the World ought
to be treated in matters of mere Specu-
lation, leaving their immoral Actions
(if they be guilty of any) to the Care
of the Law, and the Animadverſion of
the Magiſtrate. But I am ſo far from
being a Profelite to thoſe Points whereof
you and I have diſcours'd at your Houſe,
that I am perſuaded the whole Syſtem
of SPINOSA is not only falſe, but
alſo precarious and without any ſort of
Foundation. I do not mean that there
are no incidental Truths in his Book,
no more than that there are no miſtakes
careleſly crept into thoſe that are better:
but I maintain that no ſuch thing fol-
lows from his Syſtem, which if it be gra-
tuitous and without any Principles, can-
not ferve to explain any part or future
Difficultys, nor to give better Reaſons
for what we commonly receive.
5. LET him have bin never ſo
honeſt a Man, yet I ſuppoſe you'l not
exempt him from many human Fraileys
to which the belt are ſubject : and I
am inclin'd to fufpect that his chiefeſt
Weakneſs
K 4
136
A Confutation
Letter. Weakneſs was an immoderate Paffion
IV. to become the Head of a Şect, to have
w Diſciples and a new Syſtem of Philo-
ſophy honor'd with his Name, the
Example being: freſh and, inviting
from the good Fortune of his Maſter
CARTESIUS: I do not make this
Conclufion from his frequent uſe of
ſuch Expreſfiops: as my Philoſophy, or
our Syſtem, and the like :,nor wou'd I
have every man accus'd of this Affecta-
tion who makes ſome particular' Dif-
coyerys, orin wlio even changes, the
whole Face of Philofophy, and intro-
duces - a. Method abſolutely new 3. for
ſuch, Perſons may without all queſtion
be acted by no other Motives befides
the Love of Truth and the Benefit
of the Society, nor will they reject
any thing but what they really con-
ceive to be hurtful, erroneous, or un-
profitable. SOCRATES, notwith-
ſtanding the mighty Reformation be
made in Philoſophy, was never ſuf-
pected to aim at being the Head of
a new Sect ; and CICERO very
truly obſerves that his Diſciples mul-
tiply'd their Conteſts, divided into
Partys, and ſpoild his Doctrin when
they
of SPINOSA
137
they form'd it into a 'Syſtem, by which Letter
they pretended, no doubt, to explain IV.
a thouſand things whereof SOCRA-C
TEs never thought, and to which we
find they reduc'd even thoſe airy--Spe-
culations which he diſcarded as uſe-
leſs to Life, expenſive of Time, of no
concern to the World, and never to
be comprehended.
put
6. BUT when a Man builds a
whole Syſtem of Philoſophy either
without any firſt Principles, or on a
precarious Foundation : and afterwards
when he's told of this Fault, and
in mind of the Difficultys that at-
tend it, yet neither ſupplies that De-
fect, nor accounts for thoſe Difficultys
by any' thing he has already eſta-
bliſh'd, nor yet acknowledges his Mif-
take; we may reaſonably ſuſpect that
he's too much in love with his new
World (for ſuch is a Syſtem of Philo.
.
1
* Illam autem Socraticam Dubitationem de omnibus
rebus, & pulla adhibita affirmatione conſuetudinem
differendi, reliquerunt. Ita facta eſt differendi (quod
minime Socrates probabat) ars quædam, Philofophiæ
& rerum ordo, & defcriptio difciplinæ. Academic.
Quest. I I.
ſophy)
6
!
138
}
A Confutation
A
Letter fophy) ever to admit of a better Cre-
IV, ator: whereas a Perſon that propoſes
W no other view but the manifeſting
and propagating of Truth, and that
cannot reft fatisfy?d with Fancys or
Conjectures, wou'd in ſuch Circum-
ſtances be nothing. alham’d to confeſs
and amend his Error.
7. NOW let's examine whether
SPINOSA, be guilty of the Charge
I have drawn up againſt him. I
ſhall fairly alledg my Proofs, and
leave your ſelf to be Judg, tho you
ſeem ſo highly prepofſeft in his fa-
vor. I need not prove to his greateſt
Admirer that he acknowledges but one
Subſtance in the Univerſe, or that the
Matter of all the things in the Uni-
verſe is but one continu'd , Being,
every where of the ſame nature, how-
ever differently modify'd, and endu'd
with unchangeable, eſſential, and inſe-
parable Attributes.
Of theſe Attri-
butes ( which he ſuppoſes eternal as
well as the Subſtance to which they
belong ) he reckons Extenſion and
Cogitation to be the moſt principal ;
tho he' ſuppoſes innumerable others
which he has not bin at the pains to
names
of SPINOSA
.
139
name.
He has no where ſo much as Letter
inſinuated that Motion was one of IV.
them; or if he had, we ſhou'd not
have believ'd it on his word, nor
without more convincing Arguments
than he has given that every Portion
and Particle of Matter always thinks :
for this is contrary to Reaſon and
Experience, both which demonſtrate
the Extenſion of Matter.
Whatever
be the Principle of Thinking in Ani-
mals, yet it cannot be perform’d but
the means of the Brain. We Men
are conſcious of no Thoughts, while
the Functions, of the Brain are fur-
pended ; we find our felves to think
there, and there only ; and we obſerve
no ſigns of Thought in any things that
want a Brain, whereas every Creature
that has one, ſeems to ſhow fome
degree of Thinking by its Actions.
As for his Subtiltys to prove under
pretence of Reaſon what is thus re-
jected by Experience, I may ſend you
my Thoughts about them another time:
for it is not my preſent Deſign to con-
fute all his Errors one by one, but to
ſhow that his whole Syſtem is altogether
groundleſs, which at one ſtroke de-
ſtroys whatever is built upon it.
8. WE
140
A Confutation
'
i
23
Letter
IV. 8. WE agree on every ſide that the
perpetual Changes in Matter are the
Effects of Motion, which produces an
Infinity of different Figures, Mixtures,
and fendible Qualitys. But we muſt
diſtinguiſh between focal Motion and
the moving Force or Action : for
local Motion is only a Change of Situ-
arion, or the ſucceſſive Application of
the ſame Body to the reſpective Parts
of ſeveral other Bodys ; ſo that this
Motion is nothing different from the
Body it ſelf, nor any real Being in Na.
ture, but a mere Mode or Conſidera-
tion of its Situation, and the Effect of
ſome Force or Action without or within
the Body. Tho the ordinary Rules of
Motion are but Obſervations learnt
from the Experience of what com-
monly paſſes in local Motion, or pro-
bable Calculations deduc'd from ſuch
Obſervations ; yet the Action or moving
Force is likewiſe often call'd by the
name of Motion, and thus the Effect
is confounded with the Cauſe, which
has occaſion'd a world of Perplexitys,
and Abſurditys. But all thoſe who
have created of the Diverſitys that hap-
peo in Matter, muſt have meant this
Action
of SpinOSAD
141
5
1
Action as their Cauſe, or labor'd to Letter
no purpofe : for: this being once ex- IV.
plain'd, we can leaſily account for local
Motion as its Effect, and not otherwiſe.
The Mathematicians generally take the
moving Force for granted, and treat of
local Motion as they find it, without
giving themſelves much trouble about
its : Original: but the Practice of the
Philoſophers is otherwiſe, or rather
ought to be fo.
9. WHOEVER then goes about
to explain by their firſt Cauſes the
Origin of the World, its preſent Me-
chaniſm, or the Affections of Matter,
muft begin with the firſt Caufe, of Mo-
tion: for no manner of Variety is inclu-
ded in the bare Idea of Extenſion, nor
any Cauſe of Alteration ; and ſeeing it
is Action alone that can poſſibly produce
any Change in Extenſion, this Action
or Principle of Motion muſt be well
clear'd and eſtabliſhd, or the Syſtem
muſt quickly be found defective. If
iç be only taken for granted, the Syf-
tem will be but a Hypotheſis ; but if
prov'd and explain'd, then we may
expect to find ſome greater Certitude
than hitherto in natural Philoſophy,
16
142
A Confutation
Letter It is not enough then to build on local
IV. Motion, which, as we ſaid before, is
mbut an Effect of this Action, as well as
all the other Variety's in Nature: fo
is Reſt, which is now generally ac-
knowledg'd, to be no Privation nor a
State of abſolute Inactivity, as much
Force being neceffary to keep Bodys
at reſt as to move themwhere-
fore local Morion and Reſt are only
relative Terms, periſhable Modes, and
no poſitive or real Beings.
+
10. 'TIS hard to determine what
were the true Opinions of the moſt
antient Sages of Greece ; but the gene-
rality of Philoſophers every where
fince ANAXAGORAS have laid down
as a Principle, that Matter being of it
ſelf inactive, a dull and heavy Lump,
the Divinity (which was acknowledg'd
diſtinct from this Matrer) communi-
cated Motion to it, tho after a man-
ner exceeding human Comprehenfion.
Hence they proceed to ſhow what Di-
viſions this Motion made in Matter,
what Particles of different Bulk and
Figure thence were form’d, and how
the Univerſe (I will not ſay how well)
and all the parts thereof came into their
preſent
of SPINO S'A.
143
prefent State., SPINOSA, on the con. Letter
trary, acknowledges no Being ſeparate IV.
or different from the Subſtance of the
Univerſe, no Being to give it Motion,
to continue, or to preſerve it, if it has
none of dits own. He builds on all the
common Notions about local Motion,
without ever ſhowing any Cauſe of it;
being not willing to allow the Impulſe
of a preſiding Deity, and unable (as
you'll preſently perceive) to produce a
better, or as good a Reaſon. Yet he
was of opinion that Matter was natu-
rally inactive: for in the ſecond part of
his Ethicks or Syſtem, Propoſition the
thirteenth, Axiom the firſt, he ſays. in
expreſs terms, All Bodys are either in
mation or at reft. And to let you ſee
that he did not mean reſpective Reſt,
or the Reſiſtance of other Bodys, in the
Demonftration of the ſecond Lemma
he further affirms, that ? all Bodys may
Sometimes be abſolutely mov'd, and fome-
times be abſolutely at reſt. There can be
nothing more poſitive : yet if any or all
* Omnia Corpora moventur vel quieſcunt.
· Omnia Corpora abſolute jam moveri, jam
quiefcere poffunt.
che
144
A Confutation
Legter the Parcels of Matter may be in abfo-
IV. lute Reſt, they muſt ever perlift in
that State withour fome external Caufe
to put 'em in motion, and this Caufe
he has no where affign'd; beſides that
all Matter may be inactive, if any part
of it can ever be fo.
limit..!!
, 'iario
II. SPINOSA has no where in
IN
his Syſtem attempted to definé-Motion
or Reft, , which is unpardonable in a
Philoſopher, whether done with or
without defign; and yet according to
himſelf in his Ethicks! Motion and
Reſt are the Cauſes of all the Diverſitys
among- Bodys, thence proceeds the dif-
tinction of particular Bodys, and 3 an 14-
finity of things proceed fr.om Motion and
Reji. In proſecuting this Subject I
ſhall 'alledg: nothing out of his other
)
2
Corpora racione moris & quietis, . celericàtis 8
tarditatis, & non ratione ſubſtaðriæ ab invicem diſtin-
guuntur. Lem. i. ante Prop. 14. Part. 2.
Corpora res fingulares funt, quæ racione motus &
quietis ab invicem diſtinguuntur. Demonſtrat. Lem. 3.
ante-Prop. 14. Ibid
...
* Non tamen propterca Deus magis dici poteſt ex
libertate voluntatis agere, quam propter ea quæ ex
moru & quiete fequuntur infinita enim ex his etiam
fequuntur) dici poteft ex libertate morus & quietis
agere. Corol. 2. Prop. 2. Pirt. 1.
Books:
of SPINOSA. 145
,
Books: becauſe that in his Tractatus Theo- Letter
logico-Politicus he has had no occaſion IV.
to treat of theſe matters; and that in m
one of his Epiſtles he declares himſelf
not anſwerable for any thing in his
Demonſtration of CARTESI U s's Prin.
ciples; and this he oblig'd MEYER
the Publiſher to tell the world in the
Preface of the Book, which he has ac-
cordingly done: for he compos'd that
Work at the requeſt of one of his Diſci-
ples, and built his Demonſtrations on
CARTESIUS's Definitions, Poftulates,
and Axioms, which are ſuppos’d but not
believ'd to be true. So that the Ethicks
(to which Title he has reduc'd all bis
Philoſophy) is his real Syſtem, wherein
and in bis Letters.his genuine Sentiments
of Philoſophy are only to be found. After
dealing thus fairly with him (which is
no more than Juſtice requires) there's
no need of ſhowing by Inferences that
he did not hold Motion to be an eternal
Attribute of Matter; which if he had
done, we cou'd not have believ'd it
without good proof : I ſay, we are
Spar'd theſe pains, ſince he exprelly
aſſerts the contrary, and he was
ſurely. beſt able to acquaint us with
his own Opinion. 'In his firft Letter
formen
146
A Confutation
Letter to
OLDENBURG, whereby he
IV. communicates to him ſome part of his
Ethicks, thus he writes.
You muſt
take heed that by Attribute 1 underſtand
every thing that is conceiv'd by it ſelf and
in it ſelf, in fuch a manner as that the
Conception of it does not involve or ſup-
poſe the Conception of any other thing
as Extenſion, for example, is conceiv’d by
it ſelf and in it ſelf, but Motion not so';
for it is conceiv’d to be in another thing,
and the Conception of it involves Ex-
tenſion. This is extremely plain and
peremptory; nor ſhall we examine at
preſent how true or falſe it may be of
Extenſion, which is but an abſtracted
Idea, and no more conceivable without
a Subject chan Motion is.
12. SPINOSA then, who values
himſelf in his Ethicks on deducing
things from their firſt Cauſes (which
the Schoolmen term a priori) SPINO-
Ubi notandum me per attributum intelligere omne
id quod concipitur per fe & in fe, adeo ut ipfius Con-
ceptus non involvat Conceptum alterius rei: ut, ex. gr.
Extenſio per fe & in fe concipitur, at Motus non item;
Dam concipitur in alio, & ipfius Concepcus involvit Ex-
tealiquem.
SA,
of SPINÓS A
147
1
SA, I ſay, having given no account Letter
how Matter came to be mov'd or Mo. IV.
tion comes to be continu’d, not allow. m
ing God as firſt Mover, neither prov-
ing nor ſuppoſing Motion to be an
Attribute (but the contrary) nor in-
deed explaining what Mocion is, he
cou'd not poſlibly ſhow how the Di-
verſity of particular Bodys is recon
cilable to the Unity of Subſtance, or to
the Sameneſs of Matter in the whole
Univerſe : wherefore I may ſafely con-
clude that his Syſtem is intirely pre-
carious and without any ſort of ground,
indigeſted and unphiloſophical. But
left your Affection thou'd biaſs you to
think that fuch a great Man cou'd noc
ftumble ſo at the Threſhold, and that
he has ſomewhere ſupply'd this enor-
mous Defect tho it might eſcape my
Obſervation, I hope you'll believe his
own Words to a Perſon who wou'd nor
implicitly ſwear to his Philoſophy, but
whoſe Difference of Opinions did pro-
bably make as little Difference in their
Affections as in yours and mine. 'Tis
a very remarkable thing by what De-
lays, Shifts, and Excuſes he wou'd
avoid ſolving the Objections that were
made to him on this Head, which
La
keeps
148
A Confutation
Letter keeps me ſtill in the Belief that he cou'd
IV. not bear to part with his Syſtem, nor to
mu loſe the hopes of heading a new Sect.
-
13. BUT be this how it will (for
we ought to be reſerv'd in divining
the Thoughts or the Dead) the Author
of the ſixty third Epiftle in his Poſthu-
mous Works preſſes him by 'a very ſen-
ſible and modeſt Requeſt, which,
without a good Anſwer, overthrows,
as we have prov'd, the whole Fabrick
of his Philoſophy. 'If you have lez-
ſure, ſays his Friend, and that oppor-
tunity permits, I bumbly beg of you the
true Definition of Motion, as well as the
Explication of that Definition : and after
what manner (ſince Extenſion, AS con-
ſider'd in it ſelf, is indiviſible, immu-
Iable, &c.) we can foow a priori how
ſuch and so many Varietys cou'd begin,
and by conſequence the Exiſtence of Fi-
gures in the Particles of any Body, which
get
i Si ocium eft & occafio finit, a to ſubiiffe pero
veram Mocus definitionem, ut & ejus explicacionein;
atque qua ratione (cum Extenſio, quatenus per le
concipitur, indivifibilis, immutabilis, &c. fit) priori
deducere poſſimus tot camque mulcas oriri poffe varie-
tutes, & per confequens Exiftentius figuræ in parti,
Pulis
of SPINOSA
142
1
yet in every Body are various and different Letter
from the Figures of the Parts, which con IV.
ftitute the Form of another Body. Well;
what ſays SPINOSA? or does he di-
rect him to any place where this is al-
ready done to his hand ? Far from it ;
for in the following Epiſtle he replies
in theſe words : 'Now for the reſt, that
is to ſay, concerning Motion, and ſuch
things as relate to Method, becauſe they
are not yet written in Order, I keep 'em
till another opportunity. His Friend,
who wou'd not be put off ſo Nightly,
and whoſe Thirſt after Knowledg made
him wait with Impatience, brings him
again in mind of this Difficulty in the
fixty ninth Epiſtle: : I cannot without
great difficulty conceive, ſays he, how a
priori can be prov'd the Exiſtence of Bo-
dys which have Motions and Figures ;
culis alicujus Corporis, quz ramen in quovis Corpore
variæ & diverfæ funt a figuris partium quæ alrerius
Corporis formam conftituunt.
Cæterum, de reliquis, nimirum de Moru, quæque
ad methodum ſpectant, quia nondum ordine confcripta
Tuint, in aliam occafionem refervo.
Difficulter admodum concipere queo, quî a priori
Corporum exiftentia demonftretur quz Motus & Figuras
habent, cum in extenfione, rem abfolure conſiderando,
mil tale occurrat,
L3
ſince
2
150
A Confutation
t
Lerter fince in Extenſione conſidering it - by it
IV. ſelf, nothing like theſe occurs. To this
W'SPINOSA anſwers without any Ex-
plication in the following Letter: 'It
is not only difficult, as you fay, but alto-
gether impoſſible to demonftrate the Exz:
iſtence of particular Bodys from Ex-;
tenſion, as CARTESIus conceives, it,
that is to ſay, an inactive Bulk : for
Matter that is at rejt will as much as
in it lies continue in its reft, nor 64n it
be excited to Motion, but by a more
powerful external, Cauſe; and for this
reaſon I did not heſitate formerly to
affirm that CARTesiu s's Principles
of natusy al things were uſeleſs, I will not
Say abfurd.
abſurd. The other, who knew.
well enough that SPINOSA did not
admit of any, external Cauſe, tho his
Syſtem (which was finiſh'd before )
had not then appear’d, prays him with
• Ex Exrenſione, ut eam Cartefius concipit, molem
fcilicet quieſcentem, corporum Exiſtentiam demonftrare
non tantum difficile, ur ais, fed omnino impoffibile
eſt : Materia enim quiefcens, quantum in fe eft, in
ſua quiere perſeverabit, nec ad motum concicabitur
nifi à Cauſi potentiori externa ; & haç de Caufa
dubitavi olim affirmare rerum naturalium
Principia Carteſiana inutilia effe, ne, dicam ab-
furda,
non
)
more
of SPINOS AO
151
(
more earneftneſs than ever, to ſpeak Letter
his Thoughts without all diſguize, for IV.
here he ſhelters himſelf under common
Expreſſions. I wil, ſays his Friend
in the one and ſeventieth Letter, that
you wou'd be pleas’d to gratify me in
this particular, by telling me how the
Variety of things can be ſhown to proceed
from the Conception of Extenſion ac-
cording to your Notions, fince 2014 men-
tion'd CARTESI U S's Opinion, in
which he affirms to be able no other way to
deduce this from Extenſion, but by ſup-
poſing it to have bin produc'di therein
from a Motion impreſt by God. CAR-
TESIUS therefore in my. Judgment de-
duces the Exiſtence of parlicular Bodys
not from quieſcent Matter, except the
Suppoſition of God as Mover goes for
nothing with you, once you have not
your
· Velim ut in hac re mihi gratificeris, indicando,
qui ex conceptu Extenſionis fecundum duas Media
tationes varietas rerum a priori poſfit oftendi, quando-
quidem meminiſti Opinionis Carteſianæ, in qua Cur-
teſius ftatuit fe fam ex Extenſione nullo alio modo
deducere poffe, quam fupponendo motu a Deo exci-
tato hoc effectum fuiſſe in Extenfione. Deducir ergo
juxta meam Opinionem corporum Exiſtentiam non ex
quieſcente materia, 'niſi forte ſuppoficionein motoris
Dei pro nihilo haberes, quandoquidem, qui illud ex
effentia
L 4
132
A Confutation
Letter your ſelf demonſtrated how it ſhou'd ne-
IV. ceſſarily follow from the Eſſence of God
ma priori'; which, CARTESI US going
about to ſhow, he believ'd it to exceed all
human Comprehenſion. Wherefore I in-
treat this thing of you, well knowing you
have other Thoughts, unleſs perhaps there
be ſome culpable occaſion that has hi-
therto kept you from making this Matter
plain. This Perſon has done Juſtice to
CARTESIUS; for tho his Syſtem is
at beſt but an ingenious Philoſophical
Romance, yet he was never ſo careleſs
or inaccurate as to think of deducing
the Variety and Difference of particular
Bodys from more Extenſion, and there-
fore ſuppos'd God at the beginning to
have given a ſhake to the lazy Lump,
from which his Matrers of the firſt,
ſecond, and third Elements ſucceſſively
exifted, and from theſe, after his manner,
the Diſpoſition of the whole Univerſe.
But Spinos A neither ſuppoſing the
effentia Dei a priori neceſſario ſequi debeat, abs te
non fit oſtenſum, id, quod Carteſius oftenfurụs, Cap-
gum humanum ſuperare credebat. Quare a te hanc rem
requiro, ſciens bene te alias Cogitationes habere, nifi
alia fontica fubfit forre cauſa, quare illud hactenus
inanifeftum facere nolueris, &c.
fame
1
*
of SPINO SAO
153
IV
.
fame Principle, nor eſtabliſhing any Letter
other to explain the Varietys of par-
IV.
ticular Bodys in the Identity of Sub-
ſtance, you'll own, I doubt not, that
without any Artifice, Paffion, or In-
tereſt, I have clearly prov'd what I
undertook to you, that his Philoſophy
is built on no certain or probable Foun-
dation, but on gratuitous Suppoſitions,
from which he deduces what he and
his Followers call Demonſtrations. He
was accuſtom’d to this way of pre-
tending to demonſtrate things in a
Geometrical Method, tho he knew 'em
to be falſe, fince thus he had before
demonſtrated CARTESI U s's Princi-
ples. But that very Work is a memo-
rable Example how eaſily People may
be deceiv'd by this Method (tho in ir
ſelf abſolutely certain) if they are not
us’d to make long Deductions without
miſſing one Link in the Chain, if they
take any thing for ſelf evident which
needs it ſelf to be prov'd, or any thing
for prov'd from the Authority of others
or their own Prepoſſeſſions.
But to
return to his friend, all the Anſwer
he receiv'd to his laſt Intreaty was
in general words ; for in the two and
ſeveritieth Epiſtle, SPINOSA after re-
je&ting
.
154
A Confutation
Letter jeeting CARTESIUS's Definition of
IV. Matter, thus beſpeaks him : 'What you
defixe of me, whether the Variety of
things can be demonſtrated a priori from
the mere Conception of : Extenſion, I
think I have already faown this to be
impoſſible, and that conſequently Matter
was ill defin?d by CARTESIUs from
Extenſion, whereas it ought to be necef-
farily explain'd by ſome Attribute, which
expreſſes an eternal and infinite Eſſence.
But, if I live, perhaps I may some
other time dealmore plainly with you
about theſe matters : for I have not bin.
able hitherto to diſpoſe any thing in order
about them. We do not find that he
ever did fo about Morion, which
makes it the more inexcuſable, be-
cauſe, altho his Ethicks were compleat-
ed at this time, yet he might change,
add, or take awaywhat he wou'd,
9
Quod peris, an ex folo Extenfionis conceptu rerum
varietas a priori poffit demonſtrari, credo me jam fatis
clare oftendiſſe id impoſſibile clie, ideoque materiam
a Carrelio male definiri per Extenſionem ; fed eam
neceſſario debere explicari per Attriburum, quod æter-
nam & infinitam Effentiam exprimat. Sed de his forfan
aliquando, fi vita fuppetit, clarius tecum agam;
nam huc ufque nihil de his ordine diſponere mihi
Jicuir,
fince
of SPINOSA.
155
ſince the Book was not publübdi till Letter
after his Death. Neither couid. Mo- IV:
tion be the Attribute he meads here, A
having directly declar'd the contrary,
before, and nothing appeariog to favod
this Notion in all his Works.:
14: Į NEED: not require a better
proof that Men of the greateft Can-
dor and Judgment may be in many
things feduc'd by Prejudice, ſince you
never perceiv'd this Flaw, my. Friend;
and that you ever extolld SPINOSA,
for, demonſtracing all things a priori.
On the contrary, in your Letter to me
of the Tenth Inftant, you much infift
on the Difficultys, which accompany
the common Syftiends of Motion, tak-
ing it, I ſuppoſe, for granged that
your Hero had mended the matter,
which you ſee he never did. To take
my leave of him therefore, and to
apply.my Diſcourſe to your ſelf, it is
notorious that moſt of thofe Difficul-
tys you mention, proceed from Peoples
confounding the Cauſe with the EF-
feet, or the moving Force with local
Motion : and when they think they
have given its true Definition, they
have really ſaid nothing but that: Mo-
tion
136
A Confutation
Letter tion is Motion, only diverſifying their
IV. Ferms a little ; for when a Bowl'runs
won the Green, and the Definition of
Motion is ask'd, 'tis gravely anſwer’d,
that it is the removing of one . Body
from the Neighborhood of others, &c.
and this the Bowlers know, as well
as the Philoſopher, ſeeing it daily with
their own Eyes ; but 'tis the Cauſe
of this Eeffect they deſire to hear ex-
plain'd, óf which he's ordinarily as
ignorant as they
15. YOU ſay very truly that even
thoſe who carefully diſtinguiſh the
Cauſe and the Effect, are yet extreme-
ly puzzl'd about the moving Force it
ſelf, what ſort of Being it is; where
it reſides, in Matter or without it;
by what means it can move Matter ;
how it paſſes from one Body to ano-
ther; or is divided between many
Bodys while others are at reſt, and a
thouſand more ſuch Riddles. Where-
fore not being able to diſcover any
ſuch real Being in Nature, nor to de
termin whether it be a Body or Spi-
rit, and yet leſs to make it a Mode,
fince (among other Objections ) no
Accident can paſs from one Subject
}
to
of SPINOSA.
157
to another, nor be without its par- Letter
ticular Cauſe in any Subject whatſo- IV.
ever, and that it may be intirely dem
ftroy'd the Subject remaining ſafe,
they are forc'd at laſt to have recourſe
to God, and to maintain that as he
communicated Motion to Marter at the
beginning, ſo he ſtill begets and con-
tinues it whenever, and as long as
there's occafion for it, and that he
actually concurs to every Motion in the
Univerſe. - But this Syſtem is ſubject to
more fatal Conſequences than thoſe
they wou'd avoid by it: for beſides that
they hereby deſtroy what many have
faid about God's impreſſing Motion on
Matter at the beginning, as ſomething
that was of it ſelf ſufficient for the
future; they farther make God the Au-
thor of all ihe Wickedneſs in Nature,
tho Motion were ſtill but a Mode.
'Tis he, for example, that actually
moves the Tongue of a lying Witneſs,
the Hand and Dagger of a Murderer,
with ſuch other palpable Difficultys,
which all their moral and phyſical
Diſtinctions are not able to ſolve. But
why ſhould I throw away any Words
on this Syſtem, ſince in all times, as
CICERO obſerves, when the Phila-
ſophers
158
A Confutation
t
Letter ſophers are ignorant of the Cauſe of
IV. any thing, they preſently betake them-
ſelves for refuge and fanctuary to 'God,
which is not to explain things, but to
cover their own Negligence or Short-
ſightedneſs, their Vanity nor ſuffering
them to allow any other Caule, but
God's immediate Concourſe to what
they are not able to unfold.
}
1
16. YOU do not foreſee perhaps
what Doubts you create to your ſelf,
and what Work you cut out for me,
in demanding my particular Opinion
about Motion.
Motion. 'Tis
'Tis eaſier at any
time to find out the Defects of others
than to ſupply them, and a Man is
very like to be wrong underſtood
who delivers his Opinion (eſpecially
if altogether new) before it be guard-
ed with its Proofs and Explication :
but our Friendſhip not allowing me
ro deny you any thing in my power,
I fhall be open and free with you in
chis particular. I hold then that Mo-
7
8 Sed omuium talium rerum ratio reddenda eft :
quod vos, cum facere non poteſtis, tanquam in aram
confugitis ad Deum. De Nat. Deor. to z
tion
of SPINOSA
159
sion is effential to Marter, that is to Letter
fay, as inſeparable from its Nature as IV
Impenetrability or Extenſion, and that
it ought to make a part of its Defi-
nition. But as in 'Matter we diſtin-
guiſh the Quantity of particular Bodys
and the Extenſion of the whole, of
which theſe Quantitys are bur ſeveral
Determinations or Modes, exiſting
and periſhing by their ſeveral Cauſes:
fo, the better to be underſtood, I
wou'd have this Motion of the whole
be callid Aation, and all local Motions, as
direct or circular, faſt or flow, ſimple
or compounded, be ſtill calld Motion,
being only the ſeveral changeable De-
terminations of the Action which is al-
ways in the whole, and in every Part
of the fame, and without which it
cou'd not receive any Modifications.
I deny that Matter is or ever was an
inactive dead Lump in abſolute Re-
poſe, a lazy and unweildy thing; and
when I write exprelly on this Subject
to you, I hope to evince that this
Notion alone accounts for the fame
Quantity of Motion in the Univerſe,
that it alone proves there neither
needs nor can be any Void, that Mat-
ter cannot be truly defin'd without
that
160
A Confutation
Letter that it ſolves all the Difficultys about the
IV. moving Force, and all the reſt which
we have mention'd before.
17. BUT you'l ſay that, beſides
the Singularity of the Opinion, I ſhall
make a world of Adverfarys by rea-
ſon of the many Hypotheſes and Doc-
trins which it unavoidably deſtroys.
To this I anſwer, that the Offence is
taken, but not given; and that I ſhall
thereby be nothing diſquieted, pro-
vided I be able to contribute
any
thing towards the Diſcovery of Truth.
This is not a Syſtem of Accommodation,
ſuch as thoſe which ſome invent to
reconcile other different Syſtems, tho
they are not certain that their own is
i more true than the reſt. But if I be
able to prove from the nature of the
thing it ſelf, and not to favor or op-
poſe any Cauſe, that Action is eſſential
to Matter, that Matter cannot be
rightly conceiv'd nor conſequently be
rightly defin'd without it, that nothing
can be accounted for in Matter with-
out this eſſential Action, and that it
is eaſily ſhowo to exiſt in the moſt
heavy or hard. Bodys; then they may
quarrel (who have a mind to ic) with
God
"
of SPINOSA.
161
/
God or Nature, and not with me, who Letter
am but their humble Interpreter. Af IV.
ter all, I apprehend no Enemys if I m
fhou'd ever publiſh to the World what
I may write to apyFriend on this Subject;
for every Party is neceſſitated to ex-
plain the Phenomena of Nature by
Motion : and therefore ſuch as believe
Matter created, may as well conceive
that God at the beginning endu'd it
with A&tion as well as with Extenſion;
and thoſe who believe it eternal, may
as well believe it eternally active, as
eternally diviſible; nor can they ever
account for any Change in Nature
without admitting this, as I have
prov'd before againſt SPINOSA. My
only buſineſs is to prove Marter neceſa-
rily active as well as extended, and thence
to explain as much as I can of its Afo
fections; but not to meddle in the Dir
putes which others may raiſe about its
Original or Duration.
18. YOU may perceive, SIR, that I
have a great deal of leiſure, and norhing
to make me uneaſy, or at leaſt that I
won't be made ſo, when I can take oco
ca Gion to write ſo long a Letter from a
few hints in a couple of yours. But it
M
13
162 A Confutation, &c.
Letter is impoſſible not to acquire a more dila-
IV. ted Underſtanding by your Correſpon-
dence. After ſo much Philofophy about
the Primitive World, I ſhall trouble you
with nothing that paſſes in the preſent;
and I deſire this particular favor of you,
that in the Letters with which you'l
pleaſe to honor me during my Stay in
ihis Solitude (which I hope will be ve-
ry many) you wou'd not mention a
word of News: for there's ſomething
in all ſuch Occurrences, which engages
us to intereſt our felves more than in
many Peoples Opinion we are concern'd
to do; and yer, according as it goes
with publick Affairs, I cannot for my
Life refrain from rejoicing, or being an-
gry, or growing ſad like others, which
perhaps proceeds from very good Rea-
fons, but with which I wou'd not
willingly be diſquiered here.
Still I
except from the foregoing Inſtructions
all that regards your Family or our
other Friends, in whoſe Welfare, and
particularly in your own, none can re-
ceive more real Satisfaction, than,
SIR, your moſt humble and affectio-
nate Servant.
LETTER
Letter
163
Letter
V.
LETTER V.
Motion effential to Matter;
in Anſwer to fome Remarks
by a noble Friend on the
Confutation of SPINOSA.
Nunc quæ mobilitas fit reddita Materiai
Corporibus, paucis licet hinc cognoſcere,
Memmi.
Lucret. l. 2.
.
&
.
I.
ARDON me, SIR, if I
doubt whether the favorable
Character you are pleas'd to
beſtow on the Confutation of Spia
NOS A, proceeds from your Kindneſs
"P
M 2
1
164 Motion eſſential to Matter.
)
Letter or your Judgment. But what makes
V. me flateer my ſelf that you wrote your
genuine Thoughts about the firſt part
of that Lerrer to our worthy Friend, is
your making ſome Objections againſt
the latter part, wherein I have barely
declar'd my Opinion, that Matter is
neceſſarily active as well as extended.
To this you cannot eaſily agree, and
neither he nor I can'blame you for it,
unleſs at the ſame time we wou'd
raſhly condemn our
ſelves when
we were of your mind.
But as our
Opinion ought to go for nothing
without good Reaſons, ſo we admit
of no Right from Poſſeſſion, of no Pri-
vilege by Preſcription in Philoſophy,
how much foever we allow it in na.
tional Laws or Cuſtoms. Authority is
to decide matters of Fact, but not to
determine the Truths of Nature. You
ventur'd fair, I muſt acknowledg, to
make your Obſervations and Objections
before I gave any notice or hint of my
Arguments: but this very Proceeding
declares how untenable you believe my
Aſſertion to be, even ſo unguarded
and abſurd, that any perſon cou'd eaſi-
ly gueſs at the little that might be
plauſibly offer'd, for ſuch a Paradox.
This
Motion esſential to Matter.
165
This is but a natural Conſtruction of Letter
your meaning, and ſuch Thoughts as V.
People are extremely apt to entertainm
of any Notion that contradicts the
common Belief, eſpecially if ſuch a Be-
lief has continu'd very long in pof-
feffion, and has bin very univerſally re-
ceiv'd. In the Anſwer you deſire of
me,
I ſhall follow the Thread of your
own Letter; and take care to be as
brief, as the indiſpenſable Law of Per-
{picuity will permit.
1
2. YOU take my Meaning very
right in urging, that if Activity ought
to enter into the Definition of Matter, it
ought likewiſe to expreſs the Eſſence there-
of: for certainly all the Propertys of
any thing Thou'd follow or be knowable
from its Definition; elſe the Definition
is nor diſtinguiſhing and adequate, but
confuſe and imperfect. In my Opi-
nion therefore Matter bas bin hitherto
but half, or rather a third part defin'd
by Extenſion, from which alone many
of its Modifications can follow by no
means; and this is the reaſon, why
none of the motive Effets have bin
conſider'd as effential to it, but adven-
titious and of a different fort, becauſe
M 3
not
166
Motion eſſential to Matter.
n
1
Letter not contain’d in any of the Terms of
V. its Definition : whereas Matter being
defin'd active as well as extended (to
which you may add Solidity, with the
incomparable Mr. Lock) then all
the motive Effects follow very naturally,
and need not be explain'd by any other
Cauſe, no more than the Conſequences
of Extenſion. Suppoſing it an Error
that Motion is extraneous to Matter,
you'll own that the ordinary Defini-
tions which are built upon this Suppo-
ſition, have greatly contributed to ſet-
tle it firmly in the Minds of men; they
being thus accuſtom’d to deprive Mat-
ter of Motion in their Speech and
Writing from the beginning, which
kept 'em for ever after from revoking
it in doubt, but rather making it a felf-
evident Principle: and you know that
ſuch as had deſigns of gaining Repu-
tation by introducing falſe Doctrins
that favor'd their Deſigns, or of main-
taining their Authority in ſupporting
abſurd Perſuaſions already eſtabliſhid,
did make it a ſtanding Rule that Prin-
ciples muſt not be diſputed; and then
they canoniz'd for Principles, whatever
Maxims they found moft conducible to
their purpoſe. But if Motion be effen-
.
tial
Motion eſſential to Matter. 167
tial to Matter, it muſt be likewiſe as Letter
effential to its Definition.
V.
:
3. I OWN what you next object,
that before ſuch a Definition is made, the
neceſſary Activity of Matter ought to be
clearly prov’d, which to do, in the Se-
quel of this Letter, is my Intention ;
and to endeavor the recommending of
this Definition by the Reaſons I ſhall
produce to ſhow that all the Matter in
Nature, every Part and Parcel of it,
has bin ever in motion, and can never
be otherwiſe ; that the Particles which
lie in the midſt of the moſt folid and
bulky Rocks, in the heart of Iron Bars
or Gold Ingots, are as well in conſtant
Aaion, as thoſe of Fire, or Air, or
Water, tho not according to the ſame
Determinations, nor in the ſame De-
grees, no more than theſe laſt men-
tion'd, compar'd among themſelves :
for this Action is equally natural and
internal to them all, and to all other
Claſſes of Matter in the Univerſe; tho
their ſpecifick Morions be ſo various
and different, which proceeds from
their ſeveral ways of affecting one ano-
ther. But it's time enough to think
of a new Definition, when this eſſen,
cial
M 4
168 Motion eſſential to Matter.
1
Letter tial Motion is evidently provid.
V.
4. YOU once thought it incon-
ceivable, it ſeems, I ſhould ever main-
tain that Matter cannot as much as
be conceiv'd without an Action of its own,
or under ſome Effeet of ſuch an A&ti-
on; and I ſtill maintain, that Matter
can no more be conceiv'd without Mo-
tion than without Extenſion, and that
the one is as inſeparable from it as the
other. Your conceiving Faculty I
know to be much more delicate than
mine, wherefore I wou'd have you try
it a little on this Subject, and then to
make me comprehend what Idea you
have fram'd of Matter without Action.
It muſt be fomething depriv'd of all
Figure or Color, neither heavy nor
light, rough or ſmooth, ſweet or four,
hot or cold, void (in a word) of all
ſenſible Qualitys, without Parts, Pro-
portion, or any Relation whatſoever :
ſince all theſe depend immediately on
Motion, as well as the forms of all
corporeal Beings, their Generation,
Succeſſion, and Corruption, by the num
berleſs Mixtures, Tranſpoſitions, and
other Arrangements of their Parts, all
which are the natural and undoubted
Effects
Motion eſſential to Matter. 169
s}
Effects of Motion, or rather Motion it Letter
ſelf under theſe ſeveral Names and V.
Determinations. The commonly ac-
knowledg'd Diviſibility of Matter is
alſo an undeniable Argument that it
cannot be conceiv'd without Motion,
fince it is Motion that diverGifies or
divides it ; which is therefore preſup-
pos'd as well as Extenſion in the Idea
of Diviſibility, and conſequently the
one is as eſſential to Matter as the other.
How can you conceive that Matter is
any thing or a Subſtance, unleſs it be
endu'd with A&tion? How can it be
the Subject of Accidents (according to
the vulgar Definition) ſince all Accidents
are nothing elſe but the ſeveral Deter-
minations of Action in Matter, diver-
fify'd as they are differently plac'd with
relation to our Senſes; but in reality
not diſtinct from our Imagination, or
from the thing it ſelf wherein they are
ſaid to exiſt ? Roundneſs is nothing
different from the round Body (which
is as true of all Figures ) for this
Roundneſs is not the Name of any real
thing, but only a word to expreſs the
particular manner of a certain Body.
Neither are : Hot or Cold, Sounds,
Smells, or Colors, ſo much as even the
Man-
120 Motion effential to Matter.
}
+
Letter Mappers or Poftures of the things
V. themſelves, but the Names we give to
their ways of affecting our Imagination;
for moſt things are conceiv'd by us
with reſpect to our own Bodys, and not
to their true Nature : wherefore what
is ſweet to one is four to another, what
is rough to me is ſmooth to you, what
is pleaſure to the Healthy is pain to
the Sick ; tho moft mens Organs being
fram'd very like one another, they are
conſequently affected much after the
fame manner, yet ſtill with ſome de-
grees of Difference.
But there, and
all other Differences in Matter proceed-
ing from ſeveral Changes, or theſe very
things being but the Conceptions of
different Morions, I think I may war-
rantably affirm that Matter is never
conceiv'd but under fome Notion of
A&ion, which before I end I deſign to
ſhow to be as true of Reft it felf.
Now ftrip me Matter of Motion (if
you can) and I undertake before-hand
to divine your Conception of it, which
muſt be the very fame with thoſe
who try'd ſuch Projects before you : for
their Materia prima was que neque eft
guid, neque eft quale, neque eft quantum,
neque quicquam corum quibus Ens denomi-
natur;
Motion effential to Matter.
171
Natur ; which is in a great many words Letter
to ſay, that it is nothing at all.
V.
{
5. BUT you affirm that the Ex-
tenſion of Matter is very eaſily known, if
not ſelf evident, but not its Activity;
wherein I mun beg leave to diſſent
from you, aſſercing that the one
is no leſs eaſy to be known than the
other, and neither of 'em doubted or
miſtaken, but by ſuch as judg of
things from Appearances, Cuſtom, or
Authority, without conſulting their
own Reaſon, arguing in which Method
they may as well prove the Moon to
be no bigger than a large Cheſhire
Cheeſe : for as the Vulgar believe that
there is no Extenſion, where they per-
ceive no viſible Object ; ſo thoſe, who
wou'd take it ill to be rankt in other
things with the Vulgar, yet agree with
them in this, thinking that there's
Action, where they can ſee no local or
determinate Motion. Experience ſhows
that great numbers of Adverſarys are
no Argument againſt the Truth of any
thing whatſoever. The plaineſt tbings
in the World have bin mighty Secrets
for whole Ages ; and we know that
it's hard to find a thing, where no body
dreams
no
172 Motion eſſential to Matter.
Letter dreams of looking for it. Have a little
V. patience, SIR, and I may be ſo happy
mas to be capable of ſhowing you what
led all Sects of Philoſophers as well as
the Vulgar, to believe the Sluggiſhneſs
of Matrer, tho divers of the former
were aware of its actual univerſal Mo-
tion, which from the Prejudice of their
Infancy, they were ready to aſcribe to
any Cauſe rather than to the right one ;
and this has very often oblig'd 'em to
feign very ill-forted and ridiculous Hy-
potheſes.
6. I APPROVE of your fourth
Obſervation (for you know I wou'd not
eaſily diſagree with you in any thing)
that many of the moſt learned Philoſophers
contend for a Vacuum, which Notion ſeems
to be grounded on the Deadneſs or Inalti-
vity of Matter : to which I add, that
ſome of thoſe Philoſophers deny(with the
Epicureans) the Void to have any ſub-
ftantial Extenſion, and will have it to be
nothing; while the reſt make it an ex-
tended Subſtance, which is neither Body
nor Spirit. Theſe Notions have rais?
a world of Diſputes about the nature
of Space. The Opinion of a Void is
one of the numberleſs erroneous Confe
quences
1
}
Motion eſſential to Matter. 173
i
}
quences of defining Matter only by Letter
Extenſion, of making it naturally in V.
active, and of tbinking it divided into
real Parts every way independent of
one another, On theſe Suppoſitions it
is impoſſible there ſhou'd not be a
Void; but ?tis as impoſſible that ten
thouſand Abfurditys ſhou'd not follow
from thence. What we call Parts in
Matter, may be prov'd to be but the
different Conceptions of its Affections,
the diſtinctions of its Modificacions;
which Parts are therefore only imagi-
nary or relacive, but not real and abfo-
lutely divided : for Water, as ſuch, can
be generated, divided, and corrupted,
increas'd and diminiſh'd ; but not when
conſider'd as Matter.
1
7. ON this occaſion, to avoid all Am-
biguity, ’ris convenient to inform you,
that by Bodys I underſtand certain Mo-
difications of Matter, conceiv’d by the
Mind as ſo many limited Syſtems, or
particular Quantitys mentally abſtract-
ed, but not actually ſeparated from the
Extenſion of the Univerſe. We there-
fore ſay that one Body is bigger or leſs
than another, is broken or diffolv'd,
from the mulcifacious Change of Modi-
ficacions:
1974
Motion eſſential to Matter.
}
Letter fications: but we cannot properly ſay
V. that Matters are bigger one than ano-
ther, becauſe there's but one fort of
Matter in the Univerſe ; and if it be
infinitely extended, it can have no ab-
ſolute Parts independent of one another,
Parts and Particles being conceiv'd as I
told you juſt now that Bodys were.
A world of other words are invented
to help our Imagination, like Scaffolds
for the Convenience of the Workmen
;
but which muſt be laid aſide when the
Building is finiſh'd, and not be miſta-
ken for the Pillars or Foundation. Of
this ſort are Great and Small, for exam-
ple, which are but mereCompariſons
of the Mind, and not the Names of
any poſitive Subjects; as you are Big
in reſpect of your little siſter, but Lic.
1
tle in reſpect of an Elephant, and ſhe
is Big when compar'd to her Parrot,
but very Little when ſhe ſtands by her
Mother. Theſe and ſuch words are very
ferviceavle when rightly apply'd; yer
they are often abus'd, and from relative or
modal, are made real, abſolute, and po-
ſitive: ſuch are Bodys, Parts, Particles,
Somthing, a certain Being, and the
like, which may be well allow'd in
the Practice of Life, but never in the
Specu-
Motion efſential to Matter.
175
Speculations of Philoſophy.
Letter
V.
8. BUT to return to your Objec-
tion ; others who admitted no real,
but only modal and reſpective Parts in
Nature, yet cou'd never with all their
Subtilty bring any Arguments againſt
a Void, but what their Adverſarys
cou'd eaſily ruin, becauſe they agreed
with them in making Matter inactive.
You, that underſtand ſo well the Hiſto-
ry of Philoſophy, know that the Diffi-
cultys appear to be equal on both ſides,
which has induc'd many to believe that
the thing is in its own nature inexpli-
cable, throwing the fault (as they of-
ten unjuftly do) on their own Con-
ceptions, which chey find unſatisfy’d;
and not on the precarious Suppoſitions
of both Partys, which they do not per-
ceive. There is nothing more certain
than that of two Contradictorys che
one muſt be always true, as the other
muſt be always falſe ; and tho it be
therefore indiſputable that either there
is a Void, or that all is full (to uſe
their improper Expreſſion) tho it be
plain that the Truth is within the nar-
row Compaſs of theſe two ſhort Pro-
poſitions, yet neither ſide has bin hi-
cherto
1
176 Motion eſſential to Matter.
A
Letter therto able to demonſtrate which of 'em
V.
is the true Opinion, becauſe they have
both argu'd from a falſe Medium,
which nothing but Falſitys
and Abſurditys cou'd naturally fol-
low
from
1
9. BUT if you are once perſua-
ded, SIR, as I hope you quickly will,
that Matter is active as well as ex
tended, all your difficultys about a
Vacuum muſt fall to the ground. For
as thoſe particular or limited Quanti-
tys, which we call ſuch or ſuch Bodys,
are but ſeveral Modifications of the
general Extenſion of Matter in which
they are all contain’d, and which they
neither increaſe nor diminiſh: fo (as
an adequate Parallel) all the particular
or local Motions of Matter are but
the ſeveral Determinations of its gene-
ral Action, directing it this or that way,
by theſe or thoſe Cauſes, in this or that
manner, without giving it any Augmen-
tation or Diminution. Indeed in all Trea-
tiſes of the ordinary Laws of Motion,
you meet with the ſeveral degrees of
Motion that any Body loſes or acquires ;
but thoſe Laws concern the Quantity
of the Action of particular Bodys on
one
Motion effential to Matter. 1977
no
one another, and not the Action of Letter
Matter in general; as particular Quan V.
titys of Matter are meaſur'd by other
leffer Quantitys, but not the Extenſion
of the Whole. The Mathematicians
compute the Quantitys and Proportions
of Morion, as they obſerve Bodys to
act on one another, without troubling
themſelves about the phyſical Reaſons
of what every perſon allows, being a
thing which does not always concern
chem, and which they leave the Phis
loſophers to explain tho the latter
wou'd ſucceed better in their Reaſons,
if they did more acquaint themſelves
before-hand with the Obſervations and
Facts of the former, as Mr. NEW.
TON juſtly * obferves.
10. THERE is no inſeparable
Attribute of Matter, but has number-
: In Matheſi inveſtigandæ funt virium Quantitates
& Rationes illæ, quæ ex condicionibus quibuſcunque
pofitis confequencur : denique ubi in phyficam des
ſcendicur, conferendæ funt hæ Raciones cum Phäno-
menis, uc innoceſcar quænam virium Conditiones fin-
gulis Corporum attractivorum generibus compecant;
& cum demum de virium Speciebus, Caufis, & Rari-
onibus Phyficis cutius difputare licebit. Philof. Nat.
Princip. Math. p. 192.
N
leſs
178 Motion effential to Matter.
}
Letter Jeſs Modifications proper to it felf as
V. well as Extenſion. So has Solidity,
mufo has A&tion ; and yet all the Attri-
butes muſt concur in producing the
peculiar Modes of each, becauſe they
are ſtill but the Confideration of the
ſelf-fame Matter under different re-
ſpects. To ſay then, as you do after
a Croud of Philoſophers, that if there
be 10 Void, there is conſequently no place
for C to remove into, nor any
into, nor any Elbow-
room for B to puſh C; for you, I repeac
it, to ſpeak in this manner, is not only
to have the fame groſs Conception of
Space with your Farmers, but alſo to
ſuppoſe the Points B and C, and all or
moſt of the Points about them, to be
really fixr, and in abſolute Repoſe.
But
you
ſhould not run with a multi-
tude to commit Miſtakes, no more than
to do evil; and if I ſucceed in proving
the natural, effential, intrinſick, and ne-
ceſſary Action of Mátrerthen you
may eaſily perceive that theſe Objecti-
ons will be no longer Difficultys, and
that all your Circles of contiguous Balls,
your Fiſh on the point of moving in
the Water, and the reſt of thoſe thred-
bare Examples muſt be employ'd on
ſome other occaſions; becauſe all theſe
ſuppoſe
1
1
Motion eſſential to Matter.
179
fuppoſe an abſolute Reſt, as well as the Letter
Generation of Motion, which is the V.
thing in queſtion ; and cou'd it be
prov'd, there wou'd be no folid an-
ſwering of ſuch Arguments for a la
CUM.
11. Í HINTED ſomething to
you before about the abuſe of Words
in Philoſophy, and we may inſtance
particularly certain Terms invented to
very good purpoſe by Mathematicians;
but miſunderſtood or perverted by
others, and nor ſeldom very wrongly
apply'd by certain Mathematicians
themſelves, which can never fail to
happen when abftracted Notions are
taken for real Beings, and then laid
down as Principles whereon to build
Hypotheſes. Thus the Mathematical
Lines, Surfaces, and Points have bin
maintain'd to exiſt in reality, and
many Concluſions thence deduc'd, tho
very unhappily; as that Extenſion was
compounded of Points, which is to
ſay, that Length, Breadth, and Thick-
neſs are form'd of what is neither long,
nor broad, nor thick, or Meaſure of
no Quantity. So the word infi.
site has bin wonderfully perplex'H;
which
N2
1
180
Motion effential to Matter.
1
n
Letter which has given occaſion to a thouſand
V. Equivocations and Errors. Number
was made infinite; as if it follow'd,
becauſe Units may be added to one ano-
ther without end, that chere a&ually ex-
iſted an infinite Number. Of this nature
are, infinite Time, the infinite Cogi-
tation of Man, aſymptot Lines, and
a great many other boundleſs Progreſ-
fions, which are infinite only with re-
ſpect to the Operations of our Minds,
but not ſo in themſelves : for what-
ever is really infinite, does actually ex-
iſt as ſuch; whereas what only may be
infinite, is very poſitively not ſo.
12. BUT no Word has bin more
miſapply'd, nor conſequently has given
occaſion to more Diſputes than Space,
which is only an abſtracted Notion
(as you ſhall perceive hereafter ) or
the Relation that any thing has to other
Beings at a diſtance from it, without
any Conſideration of what lies between
them, tho they have at the ſame time a
real Exiſtence. Thus Place is either
the relative Poſition of a thing with
reſpect to the circumambient Bodys,
or the Room it fills with its own Bulk,
and from which it is conceiv'd to ex-
clude
Motion eſſential to Matter. 181
XN
clude all other Bodys, which are but Letter
mere Abſtractions, the Capacity no V.
thing differing from the Body con-
tain’d: and fo Diſtance is the Meaſure
between any two Bodys, without re-
gard to the things whoſe Extenſion is
fo meaſur'd. Yet becauſe the Mathe-
maticians had occaſion to ſuppoſe Space
without Matter, as they did Duration
without Things, Points without Quan-
tity, and the like ; the Philoſophers,
who cou'd not otherwiſe account for
the Generation of Motion in Matter
which they held to be inactive, ima-
gin’d a real Space diftinet from Matter,
which they held to be extended, in-
corporeal, immovable, homogeneal, in-
diviſible, and infinite. But this whole
Diſpute depends on the Action and In-
finity of Matter. In the firſt place,
if Matter it ſelf be eſſentially active,
there's no need to help ir to Motion
by this Invention, nor is there any
Generation of Motion, Secondly, if
it be infinite, it can have no ſeparate
Parts that move independently of one
another in crooked or ſtreight Lines,
notwithſtanding thoſe Modifications
which we call particular diviſible Bo-
dys. Thirdly, Matter muſt be like-
N 3
wiſe
182 Motion eſſential to. Matter.
Letter wiſe homogeneal, if it has Adion of
V. it ſelf as well as Solidity or Exten Gion,
without being divided into Parts.
And fourthly, if it be infinite, the
Univerſe muſt be without all local
Motion, there being no fix'd Points
without it, to which it might be fuc-
ceſſively apply'd, nor any place into
which it cou'd poſſibly remove.
3
13. PROCEEDING, SIR, ac-
cording to the Order of your Remarks,
I ſhall briefly endeavor to prove
theſe ſeveral Points. I am not infenſi-
ble that I oppoſe a Notion univerſally re-
ceiv'd, and that in this particular Arti-
cle of Space I am ſaid to have the greateſt
Man in the world againſt me, who yet
cannot grow any thing leſs, tho he ſhou'd
happen herein to be miſtaken ; ſince
the Demonſtrations and Diſcoverys of
his unparalleld Book remain intirely
true without it. For my part, I can
no more believe an abſolute Space
diſtinct from Matter, as the place of
it; than that there is an abſolute Time,
different from the things whoſe Du-
ration are conſider'd. And yet Mr.
NEWTON is thought not only to be-
lieve theſe things, but alſo to put
thena
Motion eſſential to Matter.
183
favorable
them both on the ſame foor. Times and Letter
Spaces, ſays 'he, are as it were their
V,
own Places, and thoſe of all other things.
All the things in the Univerſe are in
Time as to the Order of Succeſſion, and
in Space as to the Order of Situation.
T'is eſſential to 'em that they be Places ;
and to think theſe primary Places can be
movi’d, is abſurd. Theſe are therefore
abſolute Places, and the Tranſlations
from them are the only abſolute. Motions.
I am convinc'd that theſe words are
capable of receiving an Interpretation
to cite them in the ſenſe wherein they
are commonly underſtood : beſides that
his Book (as I ſaid before ) is neither
way concern'd.
14. AS for your alledging (to infer
the Inactivity of Matter, as well as a
Vacuum) that one Body is heavier or
lighter than another of equal Bulk ; you
1
Tempora & Spatia funt fui ipforum & rerum
omnium quafi loca. În Tempore, quoad ordinein
Succeffionis, in Spatio, quoad ordinem Situs, locantur
univerſa. De illorum eſſencia eft ut fine loca, &
loca primaria moveri abſurdum eft. Hæc funt igitur
abſoluta loca, & fole Tranſlaciones de his locis fund
abfoluti Motus. P. 9.
muſt
N 4
184 Motion eſſential to Matter.
Lerter muſt ſuppoſe that Levity and Gravity
V.
are not mere Relations, the Compa-
Wriſops of certain Situations and exter-
pal Preſſures ; but that they are real
Beings, or abſolute and inherent Qua-
Jitys, which is now by every body ex-
ploded, and contrary to all that you
know your ſelf of Mechanicks. It
may not be difficult to perſuade even Per-
fons of a moderate Capacity, that there
could be no Levity or Gravity in the
ſuppos'd Chaos, and that theſe Qua-
litys wholly depend on the Conſti-
tution and Fabrick of the Univerſe ;
which is to ſay, that they are the
Conſequences of the World in actual
Being, and the neceſſary Effects of its
preſent Order, but not eſſential Are.
tributes of Matter, the fame Body be-
coming heavy or light by turns, ac-
cording as it is plac'd among other
Bodys, and there being nothing better
known, than that many things are
not ſometimes in a ftate of Levity or
Gravity. To imagine that any Parcel
of Matter has Levity or Gravity of it
ſelf, becauſe you ſee thoſe Effects in
the Fabrick of the World ; or to deduce
it from the common Laws of Gravita-
tion, is not only to imagine Matter
alike
Motion eſſential to Matter. 185
alike affected in all Places, but that the Letter,
Wheels, and Springs, and Chain's of a V.
Watch, can perform all thoſe Motions
ſeparately which they do together.
And yet it was from ſuch falfe Sup-
poſitions, that the Philoſophers, 'in their
ſeveral Formations of the World, 'in-
vented the Fable of the four Elements,
orderly placing themſelves according
to their different degrees of Gravity
and Levity ; the Earth undermoft or
in the Center, next to that the Water,
then the Seat of the Air, and upper-
moſt of all the Fire. All Sorts and
Sects of People have bin ſuperſtitiouſly
fond of this primary Chaos, a Notion
as confus'd and monſtrous as the Im-
port of the Name, and built in every
ſtep on Suppoſitions that are not only
arbitrary, bur utterly falſe and chimea
rical: ſuch is the groſs Conception
of the Number and Unmixedneſs of
the four Elements, drawn from the
moſt compounded Bodys in the world;
ſuch is the Levity and Gravity of the
dancing Particles; and ſuch the Sepa-
ration of the Seeds of things (as they
ſpeak) which without ſuch Levity
and Gravity cou'd not be perform’d,
nor indeed on theſe very Conditions,
without
186 Motion eſſential to Matter.
Letter without an Almighty Architect, which
V. they did not always take care to pro-
m vide, or furnilh'd him with ſuch
wretched Tools and Contrivance, as
ſhow'd the Meanneſs of their own
Underſtanding, the ſole . Model by
which they form'd him. Such a pre-
carious Suppoſition (in a word) is
Matter's having bin at any time in this
Confuſion, without aſcertaining how
long or for what reaſon, with a thou.
ſand more the like Abſurditys, which
every man may eaſily repreſent to him-
ſelf from theſe few Inſtances. This
may alſo ſerve for an Example, how
little ftreſs is to be laid on univerſal
Conſent, or rather on any epidemical
and common Error that makes pre-
tences to that Name.
}
15. BUT not to ramble into Di-
greſſions, tho never ſo natural, you
own that molt Bodys are in actual Mo-
tion, which can be no. Argument that
they have bin always ſo, or that there
are not others in abſolute Repoſe. I
grant that ſuch a Conſequence does
not neceſſarily follow, tho the thing
in it ſelf be true. But however, it may
not be amifs to conſider, how far this
actual
Motion eſſential to Matter. 187
actual Motion reaches and is allow'd, Letter
before we come to treat of Reft. V.
Tho the Matter of the Univerſe be
every where the ſame, yer, according
to its various Modifications, it is con-
ceiv'd to be divided into numberleſs
particular Syſtems, Vortexes, or Whirl-
pools of Matter; and theſe again are
ſubdivided into other Syſtems greater
or leſs, which depend on one another,
as every one on the Whole, in their Cen-
ters, Texture, Frame, and Coherence.
Our Sun (for example) is the Center of
one of thoſe bigger Syſtems, which
contains a great many leſſer ones with-
in the Sphere of its Activity, as all the
Planets that move about it: and theſe
are ſubdivided into yet leſfer Syſtems
that depend on them, as his Satellites
wait upon Jupiter, and the Moon on
the Earth ; the Earth again is divided
into the Atmoſphere, Ground, Water,
and other principal Parts ; theſe again
into Men, Birds, Beaſts, Trees, Plants,
Fiſhes, Worms, Inſects, Stones, Met-
tals, and a thouſand other differen-
Now as all theſe depend in a
Link on one another, ſo their Matter
(to ſpeak in the uſual Language ) is
.mutually reſolv'd into each other : for
Earth,
'ces.
188 Motion eſſential to Matter.
Letter Earth, and Water, and Air, and Fire,
V. are not only cloſely blended and united,
mbut likewiſe interchangeably tranſ-
form'd in a perpetual Revolution ;
Earth becoming Water, Water Air,
Air Æther, and ſo back again in Mix-
tures without End or Number. The
Aoimals we deſtroy contribute to pre-
ſerve us, till we are deſtroy'd to pre-
ſerve other things, and become Graſs,
or Plants, or Water, or Air, or ſome-
thing elſe that helps to make other
Animals, and they one another, or
other Men; and there again turn into
Stone, or Wood, or Mettals, or Mine-
rals, or Animals again, or become Parts
of all theſe and of a great many other
Things, Animals and Vegetables daily
conſuming and devouring each other
;
ſo true it is that every thing lives by
the Deſtruction of another. All the
Parts of the Univerſe are in this con-
Itant Motion of deſtroying and begeta
ting, of begetting and deſtroying: and
the greater Syſtems are acknowledg’d to,
have their ceaſleſs Movements as well as
the ſmalleſt Particles, the very central
Globes of the Vortexes turning about
their own Axis; and every Particle in the
Vortex gravitating towards the Center.
Our Bodys, however we may flatter our
ſelves
Motion eſſential to Matter. 189
ſelves, differ nothing from thoſe of Letrer
other Creatures, but like them re V.
ceive Increaſe or Diminution by Nu.m
trition and Evacuation, by Accretion,
Tranſpiration, and ſeveral other ways,
giving fome Parts of ours to other
Bodys, and receiving again of theirs,
not altogether the ſame yeſterday as to
day, nor to continue the ſame to mor-
row, being alive in a perpetual Flux
like a River, and in the total Diſſo-
lucion of our Syſtem at death to be-
come Parts of a thouſand other things
at once; our Carcaſes partly mixing
with the Duſt and Water of the Earth,
partly exhald and evaporated into the
Air, flying to ſo many different pla-
ces, mixing and incorporating with in-
numerable things.
16. NO Parts of Matter are tyd
to any one Figure or Form, lofing and
changing their Figures and Forms con-
tinually, that is, being in perpetual
Motion, clipt, or worn, or ground to
pieces, or diſſolvd by other Parts, ac-
quiring their Figures, and theſe theirs,
and ſo on iaceffantly; Earth, Air, Fire,
and Water, Iron, Wood, and Marble,
Plants and Animals, being rarefy'd or
condens'd,
190 Motion eſſential to Matter.
n
Letter condeos'd, or liquify'd or congeald,
V: or diffolvid or coagulated, or any other
way reſolv'd into one another. The
whole Face of the Earth exhibits thoſe
Mutations every minute to our Eyes,
nothing continuing one hour numeri-
cally the fame ; and theſe Changes
being but leveral kinds of Motion, are
therefore the inconteſtable Effects of
fome univerſal Action. But the Chan-
ges in the Parts make no Change in
the Univerſe : for it is manifeſt that
the continual Alterations, Succeſſions,
Revolutions, and Tranſmutations of
Matter, cauſe no Acceſſion or Dimi-
ourion therein, no more than any Let-
ter is added or loſt in the Alphabet by
the endleſs Combinations and Trans-
pofitions thereof into ſo many different
Words and Languages : for a thing
no ſooner quits one Form than it puts
on another, leaving as it were the
Theater in a certain dreſs, and appear-
.
ing again in a new one, which pro-
duces a perpetual Youthfulneſs and Vi.
gor, without any Decay or Decrepitneſs
of the World, as ſome have fooliſhly
imagin’d, contrary not only to Reaſon,
but to Experience ; the World, with
all the Parts and Kinds thereof, con-
tinuing
Motion eſſential to Matter.
191
tinuing at all times in the ſame con- Letter
dition. The great Syſtems of the
V.
Univerſe being ſubdivided into gra-
dual and lefſer Syſtems of Matter, the
Individuals of the latter do periſh in-
deed, cho they are not anoihilated,
continuing only a certain time in their
particular Forms, according to the
Strength or Weakneſs of their Dif-
pofition, Structure, or Conftitution,
which we call the natural age or time
of ſuch a thing ; yet if this Conſti-
tution, before its ordinary Period, be
deſtroy'd by more prevalent circum-
ambient Motions, io ſuch caſes we
commonly call it Violence or Accident,
as that a murder'd young man is dead
before his time. But the Species ftill
continues by Propagation, notwith-
ſtanding the Decay of the Individuals;
and the Death of our Bodys, is but
Matter going to be dreft in ſome new
Form : the Impreſſions may vary,
but
the Wax continues ſtill the ſame, and
indeed Death is in effect the very fame
thing with our Birth; for as to die
is only to ceaſe to be what we for-
merly were, fo to be born is to begin
to be ſomthing which we were not
before. E'er I leave this Head, I
beg
192 Motion eſſential to Matter.
..
Letter beg your pardon, SIR, if I take no-
V. tice to
to you, that conſidering the
numberleſs ſucceſſive Generations that
have inhabited this Globe, return-
ing at Death into the common Maſs
of the fame, ſcattering and mix-
ing with all the other Parts thereof ;
and joining to this, the inceſſant river-
like Flowing and Tranſpiration of Mat-
ter every moment from the Bodys of
Men while they live, as well as their
daily Nouriſhment, Inſpiration of Air,
and other Additions of Matter to their
Bulk : I ſay, conſidering theſe things,
it ſeems to be probable that there is
no Particle of Matter on the face of
the whole Earth, which has not bin
a Part of Man. Nor is this Reaſon-
ing confin'd only to our Species, but
remains as true of every Order of Anis
mals or Plants, or any other Beings ;
ſince they have bin all reſolv'd into
one another by numberleſs and ceaſleſs
Revolutions, ſo that nothing is more
certain than that every material Thing
is all Things, and that all Things are
but one
17. THUS far you allow a con.
ftant Motion in Things from ſenſible
Effects
Motion eſſential to Matter. 193
Effects. You ſay that the Particles of Letter
Air, Water, Fire, Æther, Vapors, Ex: V:
halations, are without all queſtion in
perpetual. Morion. You confefs the
Motion of the imperceptible litele. Bon
dys that flow from all greater viſible
Bodys;.' which by their Siże, Figure,
Number, and Morion, operate on our
Senſes, and produce the ſeveral Sen-
ſations and Ideas we have of Colors,
Taftes, Smells, Heat, Cold,' and the
like: But you appeal at the fame time
to my Senſes, that there are ſome Bodys
in abſolute Reftir as well as others in läbe
folute Motion, and you inſtance Rocks,
Iron, Gold, Lead, Timber, and ſuch
other things' as do not füddenly change
their Situation withouc Tome external
Force. To this I anſwer, that your
Reaſon, and not your Senſes are the
true Judges in this caſe; tho I own
that your Senſes can never deceive you,
if
you call your Reaſon to their Allir-
tance: and to theſe in conſult together
I fear goc likewiſe to appeal, as to
thoſe very Examples you have alledg’d.
But you muſt always diſtinguiſh be-
tween the internal Energy, Autoki-
nefy, or efſential Action of all Matcer,
without which it cou'd be capable of
0
NO
194 Motion eſſential to Matter.
Lecter, no particular Alteration or Diviſion; and
Vi the external local Motion, or Changes
of Place, which are but the various Mo-
difications of the eſſential Action as
their Subject; the particular Motions
being determin'd by other more pre-
valeot Motions,, to be direct or cir-
cular, faſt or flow, continu'd or intet,
rupted, according to the occurreat,
ſubſequent, or circumambient Motions
of other Bodys; .no part' of Matter
being without its own internal Energy,
however thus determin'd by the neigh-
boring Parts according as their parti-
cular Determination is : tronger or
weaker, yields or refifts; and theſe
again continue to be vary'd after ſome
other manner by the next; and ſo every
thing proceeds in endleſs Changes, that
is (as I maintain) in perpetual Motion.
Now all the local Motions imaginable
being acknowledg’d Accidents, increaſ-
ing, altering, diminiſhing, and periſhing,
without the Deſtruction of the Subject
which they modify, or in which they
exiſt, this Subject cannot be wholly
imaginary, a mere abſtracted Notion,
but ſomething real and poſitive. Ex-
tenſion cannot be this Subject, ſince
the Idea of Extenſion does not necer
ſarily
Motion effential to Matter.
198
1
ſarily infer any Variety, Alteration, or Letter
Mocion; and therefore (as I ſaid juft v.
now) it muſt be Action, ſince all
thoſe Motions are but the different
Modificacions of Action, as all parti-
cular Bodys or Quantitys are but the
different Modifications of Excenſion.
Of Solidity or Impenetrability I ſhall
put you in miod in its due place, and
fhow how theſe three effential Attri.
butes or Propertys are inſeparable, and
do co-operate.
18. BUT not to forget the Appeal
to our Senſes, wou'd not you believe
with the Vulgar that the Stars are no
bigger than ordinary Tapers, that the
Sun and Moon are no more than a
Foot or two in breadth, if your Rea-
ſon had not computed the Diſtance
between your Eyes and thoſe Bodys,
and meaſur'd their real Bulk by their
Appearances in ſuch a diſtance, with the
other proper Arguments which I need not
repeat to one that knows 'em ſo well ?
Is it not the ſame thing as to the
diftinguiſhing the fixt Stars from the
Planets, and underſtanding the true
Motion of the latter, which is very
different from what the Senſes exhi.
bit ? I will not deſcend ſo low as a
O 2
ftreight
196 Motion eſſential to Matter.
Letter ſtreight Stick appearing crooked in the
V.
Water, or the Colors on the Neck of
a Dove ; nor foar ſo high as the Heat,
Cold, Relifhes, and Odors, that are
not in the things themſelves, which
we denominate from theſe Senſations.
But to come home to thel Subject we
have in hand; is not local Morion it
ſelf ſometimes fo low, that it is pop
perceiv'd by our Senſes, no diftinguith-
able Removal from one point to ano
ther, tho the Motion goes : conſtantly
on all this while, and that we are
convinc'd of it at last bylundoubted
Effects and vilble Intervals, as in the
Hand of a Clock or the Shadow of a
Dyal? And ſo it is in Motions that
are extremely ſwift, where no Succeffion
is diftin&tly obſerv'd, as in the Paſſage
of a Bullet, or the like. To judg of the
Body of a Man or any other: Animal
by the external Surface, it wou'd ſeem
to have as little internal local Motion
(not to ſpeak now of its :inſeparable
Action) as Lead, or Gold, or Stone; nor
wou'd we make a different Judgment
of any Tree or Plant. And yet un-
leſs every Particle of a Tree were in
motion, it cou'd neither receive Aug.
mentation when it grows, nor Dimi-
nution when it decays. Your Skill
in
Motion gljential to Matter. 197
"
}
in Anatomy, join’d to common Expe- Letter
rience, will not let you queftion but V.
that all the Particles, of Animals are
in perpetual Motion as well as thoſe
of Plants, growing,, decaying, traof-
piring, diſſolving, corrupring, becom-
ing fat or lean, het;or cold, tho the
Man ſits ſtill, or 'the Beaſt is alleep,
or the Tree ſtands fixt in its place.
The Circulation of the Blood and Sap
to every imaginable Parts are now. BO
Secrets: įn Natural Philoſophy. Nor is
Iron, Stone, Gold, or Lead, more void
of this internal Motion; thạn, thoſe
they call fluid Bodys : for otherwiſe
they cou'd never underga xhoſe, Alger
rations which Air, on Fire, orWater,
or any thing elſe produces , in them.
Buç tho by their being, reduc'd into
theſe Forms from a precedent different
Ştate, tho by their continual wearing,
and final Change of Figare, ?cis cer-
tain that their Parts are always in
motion, yet they are not ſo eaſily nor
quickly determin'd by pcher circum-
ambient Motions (tho there are that
do it very ſuddenly) to change their
Form or Sicuation perceptibly to our
Senſes; wbich made People imagine that
they had no Morion ac all, nor any
poculiar Determinations.
O 3
19. N E.
198 Motion eſſential to Matter.
!
}
Letter
V.
19.
NEVERTHELESS the very
remaining of ſuch Bodys in one place
is a real Action, the Efforts and Re-
fitance of this Parcel being equal for
ſome time to the determining Motions
I of the neighboring Bodys that act
upon it, and that will not ſuffer it
to paſs certain Bounds; which is eafi-
ly underſtood from what I have al-
ready no leſs copiouſly than plainly
faid of the núriberleſs ſucceſſive De-
terminations of Motion, of which
this is one kind, and called by the
People Reft, co diftinguiſh that State
of Body from the local Motions that
are viſible. A Body that' defcends by
Gravity or the ſtronger Impulſe of other
Bodys, as its own Impulſe is ftronger than
the Determinations that yield to it on
the way, is no leſs in Action that it
is refifted from advancing further by
the yet ſtronger Reſiſtance of the
Earth, and hindėr'd from going back
by an equal Preſſure from the Body's
behind it, than a ship is without Acti-
on, if the Force of the Wind blowing
towards the mouth of the River, be
equal to that of the Tide flowing to-
wards the Spring of it: fór 'let either
of
Motion eſſential to Matter.
199
of theſe get the better of the other, Letter
and the Ship fails. But all this while V
the Ship was depriv'd only of one ſort of w
Mocion, and not of all Effort or Action,
Bð more than Iron, or Lead, or Gold,
whoſe Parts, by their own internal
Motion, and by the Motions of the
circumambient Bodys, are perpetually
growing and increaſing, or wearing,
moldring, decaying, changing, and pe
rilbing in ſome other manner to us
imperceptible ; till by the Ruſt or
Tarniſh on their Surface, by the Aug.
mentation or Diminution of their
Quantity, the Alteration of their Form
or Figure, or by ſome other ſenſible
Effects, we are intirely convinc'd of
it at laſti Since Reſt therefore is but
a certain Determination of the Morion
of Bodys, a real of Adion of Refil.
tance between equal Motions, 'cis plain
that this is no abfolute Inactivity among
Bodys, but only a relative Repoſe with
reſpect to other Bodys that ſenſibly
change their place.
}
है q
20. BUT the Vulgar taking local
Mórion (as they do all other Rela-
tions) for a real Being, have thought
Reſt a Privación, or that Motion was
Action,
04
200
Motion eſſential to Matter.
m
Letter A&tion, and that Reſt was a Paſſion ;
V. whereas every Motion is as well a Paſſion
in reſpect of the Body that gave it the
laft Determination, as it is an Action
compar'd to the Body that it deter-
mines next. But the turning of theſe
and ſuch Words from a relative to
an abſolute Signification, has occa-
fion'd moſt of the Errors and Diſputes
on this Subject. However the beſt Phis
Joſophers and Mathematicians, notwith-
ſtanding their making Motion extrane-
Qus and Reſt effential to Matier, have
fairly acknowledg’d the actual conſtant
Motion of every Part ; being oblig'd to
this by the irreſiſtible Evidence of Rea-
fon and Experience. They grant that
the ſame inceffunt Changes and Motions
appear in the Bodys underground, as
in thoſe above, it ; which is confirm’d
not only by the nature of the ſeveral
Beds of Earth in Mines and Quarrys,
by the generation of Metals and Mi-
nerals, but alſo by the Appearances of
all other ſubterranean' Bodys, and Foſ-
fils. They own that all the Phano-
mena of Nature muſt be explain’d by
Motion, by ihe A&tion of all things on
one another, according to mechanick
Principles. And 'cis ſo in effect that
they
1
Motion eſſential to Matter.
201
they account for all the Diverſitys in Letter
Naçure, for the elementary and ſenli-
V.
ble Qualitys; for all the Forms, Pi.
gures, Mixtures, or other Modifica.
tions and Alterations of Matter. Thoſe
who think the moſt truly and nicely
therefore on local Motion, 'confider
the Points from which and to which
the Body moves, not as in abſolute
Repoſe, but only as quieſcent with
reſpect to the Morion of that Body:
and tho Mr. NEWTON be deem'd
an Advocate for extended incorpo-
real Space, , yet he declares that per-
haps 'no one" Body is in abſolute Reſt,
that perhaps no : immovable bodily
Center is to be found in Nature ; and
in one place he expreſſes himſelf in
theſe 3 Words :. The Vulgar atribute
Reſiſtance to quieſcent, and Impulſe to
movent Bodys ; but Motion and Reſt,
is commonly conceiv'd, are only reſpec-
tively
1
1
· Fieri enim poreſt ut nullum re verá quieſcat Cor-
pus, ad quod loca mocuſque referantur. Pag. 7.
Hactenus expofui motus Corporum attractorum ad
Centrum immobile, quale tamen vix extat in rerum
Natura. Pag. 162.
,,Vulgus Refiftentiam quiefcentibus & Imperum
moventibus tribuit ; fed Mocus & Qujes, uti vulgo
conci.
+
202 Motion eſſential to Matter.
Letter tively diftinguifl'd from one another, nor
V. are thoſe things always in true Repoſe,
which are vulgarly conſider'd as quieſcent.
Thus far that deſervedly admir'd Au-
tbor, who has ſeen the fartheft of all
Men living into the actual State of
Matter ; and indeed all Phyſicks ought
to be denominated from the Title he
has given to the firſt Book of his Prin-
ciples, viz. of the Motion of Bodys.
21. I NEED not ask your par-
don, SIR, for being ſo particular,
both becauſe it was your requeſt to
me, and for the ſake of thoſe who
are ignorapt of many things which I
might ſuppoſe to you, and to whom
you might nevertheleſs ſhow my Let-
ter, or ſpeak of my Opinion. I think
after all that has bia faid, I may now
venture to conclude that Astion is eſsen-
tial to Matter, ſince it muſt be the
real Subject of all thoſe Modifications
which are call'd local Morions, Chan.
ges, Differences, or Diverſitys; and
1
concipiuntur, reſpectu folo diſtinguuntur ab invicet,
ncque ſemper vere quieſcahe quæ vulgo tanquam qui-
efcearia ſpectancur. Pag. 2.
princi-
Motion eſſential to Matter. 203
1
principally - becauſe abſolute Repoſe, Letter
on which the Inactivity or Lumpilh- V.
nefs of Matter was built, is entirely
deſtroy'd, and prov'd no where to exiſt.
This vulgar Error of abſolute Reft was
occaſion'd by the Appearances of heavy,
hard, and bulky Bodys ; and ſeeing
they did not change that ſtrong Deter-
mination (which the People did not
conceive to be an A&tion) but by '
much
ſtronger Determinations, whoſe Effects
were obvious to their Senſes, they con-
cluded firſt that there was an abſolute
Reft, and ſecondly that all Bodys wou'd
continue in that State without ſome
foreigo Mover, which they imagind
not to be Matter, ſince all Bodys were
Matrer, and that what was natural to
the Parts, was fo to the Whole. At
leaft, the Philoſophers made fuch Iofe-
rences from the Notion of Reſt, which
they learnt from their Education, and
from the ſole Judgment of their Senſes:
for none is born a Divine, Philoſopher,
or Politician, and therefore every man
at the beginning ſtands on the ſame
ground with the Vulgar, receiving the
fame Prejudices and Impreſſions; and
however he may extricate himſelf from
many Errors, yet if he leaves any in.
poſſeſſion
20.
Motion eſſential to Matter,
Letter poffeffion.unexamin’de, hq, ſhall always
V. reaſon himſelf inco, Contradictions or
mAbſurditys from that Principle, cho
otherwiſe juſtly reckon'd a wiſe and
able Perſon. Since therefore there is no
ſuch abſolute Reſt in thoſe Examples
you have brought, and that on the con-
trary every other Parcel of Matter, as
well as theſe, are in abſolute Morion,
you ſhou'd not lide with ſuch Philo-
ſophers,,,as were either the moſt fuper-
ftitious or the leaſt perſpicacious ; nor
ought you to argue at, all from a vulgar
Error': but ſeeing that every Part of
Matter is prov'd to be always in mo-
rion, you ſhou'd conclude that Motion
is eſſential to the whole, for the ſame
reaſon that you think Extenſion to be
fo; becauſe every Part. is extended.
To all that will think without Bials,
Experience renders theſe Caſes parallel,
and Reaſon evidently demonſtrates it.
22. I HAVE induſtriouſly omitted
to ſpeak any thing of the relative Mo-
rions of all thoſe Bodys conceiv'd to be
in Repoſe; and I ſhall but hint them
now, to puc you in mind that at the
ſame time they ceaſe not to be abſolute.
Every thing in the Globe of our Earth
(which
Motion, effential to Matter. 205
V,
which is as true of all the other Pla- Letter
nets) parrakes of its conſtant Morion ;
for the Motion of the Whole is but the
Sum.coğal of the Motion of the Parts;
which:is not only plain from the Rea-
ſon of the thing is felf, but alſo from
the :proportionable Force that is necef-
fary either to impreſs a new: Detet-
mination on any Body,, or to ſtop the
Détermination it has already acquir'd,
for the one cannot be leſs than the
other. Tho all the aflignable Parts of
a Ball in Motion are at reſt with re-
ſpect to one another, or to their places
in the Ball ; yet none will ſay, but
that they are all in actual; Morion as
Parts of the Ball, and in relation to
every thing without it. So a Paſſenger
ſhares the Motion of a Ship.under Sail,
to ſay nothing of the ſpecific Motions
of his human Syſtem ; tho he's con-
ceiv'd to be at reſt, with regard to the
place wherein he fits, or to the other
Parts of the Ship, which, notwithſtand-
ing the Motion of the Whole, keep the
fame Diſtance and poſition with reſpect
to him. I have likewiſe dropt but a
word in the fifteench Paragraph) of
the Cencripetal Force, by which all
the Bodys of the Earth are drawn or
tend
206 Motion eſſential to Matter.
Letter tend towards its Center (as all others
V. to the proper Centers of their Mocions)
nor have I mention'd a fyllable of the
centrifugal Porce, by which they en-
deavour to recede from the Center in a
ftreight Line, if they are not otherwiſe
derermin'd by fome ſtronger Caufe: As a
Stone whirld about in a Sling is detain'd
in its Orbit by the Leather, the String
of which, being ſtretche by the Motion
of the Stone, is contracted towards the
Stone it felf, by its Efforts to Ay off
directly in every point of the Circle
it defcribes; and at the ſame time it is
equally contracted towards the man's
Hand; whence it follows, that the
Center approaches as much to the Stone
as the Stone does to the Center, which
yer does not always happen for many
reaſons. Notable Effects depend on
theſe Forces the nearer they are to being
equal, or the ſtronger one of 'em is
than the other ; wherefore the centri.
petal being much greater than the cen-
trifugal Force of the Parts of the Earth,
taking in likewiſe the Atmoſphere, is
one main reaſon that it never lofes
any
of its Matter, and that it always con-
cinues of the ſame Bulk or Dimenſions,
the centripetal Force of Gravity that de-
tains
Motion effential to Matter. 207
tains the ſeveral Bodys in their Orbit, 'Letter
being conſiderably ſtronger than the v.
centrifugal Force of Motion, by which
they ſtrive to fly off in the Tangent.
Let che Cauſes of theſe Forces be what
they will, they are unanſwerable Ar-
guments to my purpoſe of a perpetual
Motion in all things. But I ſhall write
10 more concerning them, left I inſen-
fibly ingage my ſelf in a Diſpute with
you about the nature of Gravity, as
whether the weight of Bodys be always
proportionable to their Quantity of
Matter; that is, whether there be more
Matter as there is more weight in a
cubic Foot of Lead than in â cubic Foot
of Cork, which, I know, you main-
tain after no contemptible Philoſophers :
or whether the fame Quantity of Matter
be containd in the ſame Dimenſions of
Mercury, Gold, Silver, Iron, Lead,
Earth, Water, Cork, or Air, tho their
ſpecific Gravitys be ſo different from
each other, proceeding partly from ex-
teroal Preſſures, and partly from thoſe
internal Structures or Modificacions
which give their common Matter choſe
various Forms that conſtitute their Spe-
cies, and are diſtinguiſh'd by their Gra.
vity, as they are by their Figures, Co-
lors,
*
208 Motion eſſential to · Matter.
1
Letter lors, Taites, Smells, or any other - Af
Vi fections,', arifing from their peculiar
W Diſpoſicion, from the Action of other.
Budys, or from our Senſes: and Imagi-
nation. This is: my own "Opinion,
whatever-be, my reaſons for it: beſides,
that were Gravity an effential Attribure,
and not a partidulas Mode of Matrer,
the ſame things wou'd equally ponde-
rate io.all places and circumſtances, as
they are every where equally ſolid or
equally extended; nor wou'd chey'vary
in the Retardation.or: Acceleration of
their.- Deſcent in various Diſtances fromri
the Centeery With mewtherefore Gra.
vity: infers no Vacuum (as I told you
before in the fourteenth: Paragraph) and
is but one of the many Modes of A&tions,
however; this Determination happens,
which at preſeor we ſhall not examine;
its real Exiſtence being deny'd by: no
body, and the Quantidys and Propor-
tions of Motion proceeding from. Gra-
vity, or the mutual Aajon of particular
Bodys in this refpe&, being to be cal-
culated from Fact and Obſervation, be
their phyſical Cauſes what you pleaſe.
For the ſame reaſons I ſhall paſs. by
the Attraction of the Planets, their
gravitating, or acting any other way on
one
Motion eſſential to Matter.
209
one another ; as 'cis certain not only Letter
from the Influence of the Sun, the V.
Tides occaſion'd by the Moon, and by w
ſeveral other Arguments, that they
very remarkably affect each other, ac-
cording to their Magnitude, Figure,
Diſtances, and Poſition.
N
23. THAT Motion is adventitious
to Matter, that it has actually ſeparate
and independent Parts, that there is a
Void or incorporeal Space, are not che
only Miſtakes occaſion'd by the Notion
of abſolute Reft. For thoſe Philofo-
phers who were the leaſt ſuperſtitious,
and who look'd the moſt narrowly into
the Nature of things, have caught thacall
Macter was animated, as well every Par-
ticle of Air, or Water, or Wood, or Iron,
or Stone, as a Man, a Brute, or the whole
Maſs together ; being - naturally led
into this Conceit, becauſe having learnt
from others that Matter was eſſentially
inactive (from which Prejudice they
did not take care to free themſelves)
and yet finding by Experience all and
every Particle of Matter to be in mo-
tion, and believing likewiſe chat Life
was different from the organiz'd Body,
they concluded that the Cauſe of this
P
Morion
210
Motion eſſential to Matter.
Aw
Letter Motion was ſome Being intimately
V.
join'd to Matter however modify’d,
and that it was in feparable from the
ſame. But this pretended-Animation is
utterly uſeleſs, fince Matter has Motion
of it ſelf, and that there is no real Re-
poſe. Theſe enlivening Philoſophers
were divided into ſeveral Claſſes ; ſo
many Expedients are neceſſary to put
ſome face of Truth upon Error! Some
of 'em, as the Stoics, held this. Life to
be a Soul of the World, co-extended
with Matter, infinuated and infus'd
thro the whole and every part. thereof,
being it ſelf eſſentially corporeal, tho
infinitely finer than all other. Bodys,
which, in reſpect of its Subtilty and
Action, were reputed extremely groſs:
but the univerſal Soul of the Platoniſts
was immaterial, and as pure Spirit.
Qthers, as STRATO, of Lampſacus,
and the modern Hylozoickscicaught
that the Particles of Matterabad: Life,
and alſo a degree of Thought, op ar di-
rect Perception without any. Reflection ;
to which HERACLITUS:ofiold, and
lately SPINOS A, added Undertanding
or rebex Acts, without ever removing the
Difficultys apparently, offering tbem-
ſelves againſt ſuch a precarious Hypothie-
fis,
--
Motion eſſential to Márter.
21
in
fis, not as much as ſhowing (tho thisCon- Letter
ſciouſneſs were granted) how the feve V.
ral reaſoning Particles cou'd agree to m
gether to form the ſame Body or Syſtem,
or to ſeparate or join ſo regularly on
certain occaſions, without any jarring
or change of Opinions, as to their be-
ing better or worſe in other places,
ſingle or in numerous Company ; nor
how, iho all the Particles of a Man
have Senſe and Underſtanding, he finds
but one ſuch Faculty in himſelf, and
ihat Faculty exerting its Operations only
in one place.' No leſs romantic is the
plaſtic Life of other Philoſophers, which
(according to its modern Reviver, the
univerſally learned Dr. Cudworth)
is not material, but an inferior fort of
Spirit without Senſation or Thought,
yet endu'd with a vital Operation and
Energy; theſe Plaſtics ſeeming to dif-
fer with the Hylozoics only about words,
tho pretending a mighty Diſagreement,
to keep clear, I ſuppoſe, of the abſurd
or invidious Conſequences charg'd on
their Opinions ; as the Janſenists and
Calviniſts treat one another about
Predeftination, in which Doctrin they
certainly mean the ſame thing, noc-
withſtanding the nice diſtinctions of the
P2
Janſeniſts.
L
2 12
Motion effential to Matter.
Letter Janſeniſts. But all theſe Hypotheſes
are fo many viſible Shifts to account
for the actual Motion of inactive Mat-
ter, and to avoid bringing God every
moment on the ſtage, and ſetting him
a work on all occaſions, nay in all A&ti-
ons without diſtinction, and this too by
an abſolute and unavoidable Neceſſity.
Thus far of ſuch as provided external
or foreign Movers of Matter ; and as
for thoſe who allow'd it naturally in-
active, but aſſignd no Cauſe for its
Motion,, as ANAXIMANDER, A-
ŅAXIMENES, and ſome other An-
tients; nor any Cauſe either of its Mo-
tion or Cogitation, as SPINOSA a-
mong the Moderns : theſe, I ſay, are ſo
unphiloſophical as to deſerve no fur-
ther Hiſtory, and have always afforded
matter of Triumph to the Stoics, Spiri-
tualiſts, and Plaſtics, or reckon 'em by
what other Names or Diſtribucions you
may think more proper, :
24. BUT the moſt univerſal Mif.
take proceeding from the ſuppos’d. In-
activity of Matter is the Notion of an
infinite, extended, and yet incorporeal
Space. Becauſe great matters are built
on this fubftantial Space, and that men
of
Motion eſſential to Matter.
213
n
of grcat Name and Merit have coun- Letter
tenanc'd it by their Approbation, I
V.
ſhall give you the Hiltory of this c
Opinion, as I have done of the reſt ;
tho I might juſtly neglect it after
having prov'd Matter to be eſſentially
active, and that its general Motion was
the immediate Subject of all the par-
ticular motive Determinations, as Ex-
tenſion is the immediate Subject of the
ſeveral Figures and Quantitys: for it
was likewiſe to help Nuggiſh Matter
to Motion, that this Space (as the
room of its Action was principally de-
vis'd; but Matrer noc being inactive, nor
wanting to have Motiod continually im-
preft by an external Agent, Space niay be
exterminated from Philoſophy, as uſe-
leſs and imaginary. Extenſion is grant-
ed on all hands to be infinite, for it
cannot be terminated by Inextenſion;
and the Demonſtrations for this are ſo
univerſally known and acknowledg’d,
that I ſhall not trouble you with re-
peating them. No leſs infinite is Mita
ter, when conceiv'd as an extended thing,
for you can imagin no bounds of it, to
which you may not add more Excenſion
infinitely; and therefore if it be not act 1.
ally infinice, its Finiteneſs muſt proceed
from
P 3
214
Motion eſſential to. Matter.
Letter from ſome other Çauſe beſides its Exten.
V. fion. Thoſe who maintain d Matter to be
fioite upon philoſophical grounds, imag
gind it to be inactive diviſible into
Parts independent and ſeparate, with
vacant Interiticęs; which Parts were
heavy or light of themſelves, and had
various Figures,as well as degrees of Mo-
tion, when violently forc'd out of their
Datural ſtate of Reſt. This neceſſarily
led 'em to ſuppoſe finite Extenſions, at
the ſame time that they allow'd ano,
ther 'Extenſion, which was infinite.
And then they could not but make
thoſe Extenſions effèntially different in
other reſpects; the one immovable,
impenetrable, indiviſible, unchangeable,
homogeneal, incorporeal, and all-con-
raining; the other movable, penetrable,
diviſible, changeable, heterogeneal, cor-
poreal, and contain’d: the one betokening
infinite Space, and the other particular
Bodys. But this whole Diſtinction is built
on ſuppoſing the thing in queſtion, and
by the equivocal Signification of the
words Place, Whole, Parts, Particles,
Diviſibility, or the like ; and therefore
afrer they took it for granted that
Matter was finite, divided into Parts,
that it wanted Motion from elſewhere,
and
Motion eſſential to Matter.
215
and had a void Place wherein to act, then Letter
they eſtabliſh'd this Wheel within a V.
Wheel, for one Extenſion penetrating m
another, as if Modes were penetrared
by their Şubject. But all theſe Suppo-
ſitions being (as I' have ofren told you)
only the Conſequences of the main
Suppofition, that Matter was inactive,
and the contrary of this or the effen-
tial Motion of it being already de-
monſtrated, there is no reaſon not to
think Matter infinite, and that, as
Nothing has no Propertys, ſo that the
acknowledg’d infinite Extenſion belongs
to this infinite Subject, which is infi-
nitely modify'd in its Motion, Exten-
ſion, and other inſeparable Attributes.
95. T MIGHT conclude here,
SIR; but to put this matter beyond
all doubt with you, I ſhall be at a
little more pains to ſhow how all theſe
things, which they attribute to Space
and Body as their effential Differences,
do wholly belong without any contra-
diction to infinite Matter : for I grant
that theſe Propertys have a real Ex-
iſtence, and tho ſeemingly oppoſite,
they are but the Affections of the ſame
Subject'under various Conſiderations.
P4
When
216
Motion eſſential to Matter.
Letter When Bodys are conceiv'd finite, mo-
V. vable, diviſible, at reft, heavy or light,
under different Figures, and in various
Situations; then we abſtract the Mo-
difications from the Subject, or, if you
will, the Parts from the Whole, and
imagine proper Boundarys to certain
Portions of Matter, which ſeparate
and diftinguiſh them from all the reſt,
wbence came originally the Notion of
a Void : but when we conſider infinite
Space as impenetrable, immovable, in-
diviſible, the place which receives all
Bodys, wherein they move and are
contain’d, it ſelf being void of all
Change, Form, or Figure; then, on
the contrary, we abſtract the infinice
Subject from the finite Modifications,
or the Whole from the Parts. Now
let's apply this Doctrin in particular
Inſtances. Since nothing can be added
10 Infinite nor taken away from ic, the
Univerſe can neither increaſe nor di,
miniſh, there being no place without
it to which you may remove what
you divide from it, or from which
you may bring what you add to it:
conſequently it is immovable and in-
diviſible ; and alſo wichout all Figure,
Since it has no Bounds or Limits ;
and
A
Motion effential to Matter.
217
and, immenfe, fince no. finite Quantity; Letter
tho never ſo often, tepeated, can equal V.
or meaſure its Extenſion. Thereforem
when we ſay, that Space is all-contain-
ingi. We , mean: it of infinite Matter,
to diftinguiſh the Whole from the
Parts, which yet are not different from
the 'Whole. When we ſay it per-
mçates all things, we abſtract the Ex-
tenſion of Matter from its other Pro.
pertys; and ſo we do, when we ſay
it's incorporeal, not then conſidering
it pcherwiſe than as the Mathema-
ticians in Points, or Lines, or Surfaces.
When we affirm it is 'one, we mean
that it is infioite and indiviſible ; for
there's
, but one Univerſe, tho there
may be numberleſs Worlds. When
we lay it is the Place of all things,
we ſignify' that it is the Subject of its
own Modifications, whether Motions,
Figures, or others. When we ſay it's
homogeneal, we mean that Matter is
ever the fame, be the Modifications of
it never ſo various. And laſtly, when
we fay that finite Bodys cannot exiſt
without an infinite Space, we only ſay
that they cannot be unleſs they are ; for
their own 'Solidity or their Reſpect to
other things is all their Place, abſtracting
from
218 Motion eſſentialita Matter.
s}
है d
Letter from the Univerſe of which they are Parts,
V. of whoſe infinite Motion, Sólidity, and
Extenſion, they finitely partake": for
infinite Matter isthe real Space and Place,
as well as the real Subject of its own par-
ticular Portions and Modifications:
ring
26. YOU may now perceive how
this Norion of abſolute Space - was
forin'd, partly by gratuitouš. Suppo-
fitioas, as that Matter was finite, in-
active," and diviſible-; . partly, by ab.
ftracting Extenſion, the moſt obvious
Property of Matter, without confider-
ing the other Propertys, or their ab-
ſolute Connection in the ſame 'Subject;
tho each of 'em may be mentally ab-
ſtracted from the reſt, which is of fin-
gular uſe to Mathematicians on ſeveral
occaſions : provided ſuch Abſtractions be
never taken for Realitys, and made to
exiſt out of the Subjects from which
they are abſtracted, no more than
plac'd in another Subject uncertain or
unknown. Matter is often abſtracted
from Motion, as Motion is from Mat-
ter, fo are Solidity and Matter, Motion
and Extenſion, Extenſion and Solidity,
Solidity and Motion ; each of theſe
may be and is taken by it ſelf without
any
Motion eſſential to Matter.
219
any Conſideration of the reſt, whereas Letter
in reality the Motion of Matter de y.
pends on its Solidity and Extenſion,
and ſo all of 'em inſeparably on one
another. But the Defenders of Space,
after abſtracting Exteplion from Mar-
ter, then diſtinguiſh between Exten-
fion, in general, and the particular Ex-
tenſion of Matter, of this or that Body, as
if the latter were ſomething ſuperadded to
the former, tho they cou'd not aſſign the
Subject of the former,whether a Subſtance
neither Body per Spirit, or a new kind
of Nothing endow'd with the Propertys
of a Being. Nay many of them have
not ſtuck to make it paſs for the Su-
preme Being it ſelf, or at leaft for an
inadequate Conception of God, as may
be ſeen in the ingenious Mr. RALPH-
SON's Book of Real Space, to whom
I had an eye in the two foregoing
Paragraphs i tho, as may be likewiſe
learnt from his own Authoritys, he was
neither the firſt Broacher of this Con-
ceit, nor the only Maintainer of it
now. I am ſatisfy'd that moſt of thoſe
Gentlemen did firmly believe the Ex-
iſtence of a Deity, and I charitably
hope it of 'em all; but in my Opinion
their unwary Zeal refind him into
mere
220 Motion eſſential to Matter.
~
Y
Letter mere Nothing, or (what they wou'd
V. as little allow) they made Nature or
the Univerſe to be the only God: but
the Goodneſs of their Intention ought
to ſecure 'em with all men of Candor
from the Charge and Conſequences of
Atheiſm. Their Miftake however was
perceiv'd by the Atheiſts themſelves,
and made the Subject of their Mirth,
as in theſe four Lines of a Poem,
wherein, after cavilling before at ſome
other Notions of the Deity, they ridi-
cule this infinite incorporeal Space on
much better.grounds.
Others, whoſe Heads ſublimer Notions
Ir Ace,
Cunningly prove that thou’rt Almighty
Space;
And Space w’are ſure is nothing, ergo
Thou:
Theſe Men Nip into Trutb they know
not how.
And truly the fancy of one Extenſion
penetrating another, made many others
laugh, who are as far as any from A-
theiſm or Irreligion: and ſome of 'em
wou'd fain learn where the Reaſon
and Wiſdom of extended Space reGdes,
whether
1
Motion eſſential to Matter.
221
whether in the Whole, or in any of Letter
the Parts, I ſpeak of Parts in a ſenſe V.
of Accommodation, for Infinite can have.c
none: but if with one of CICERO's
Dialogifts they wou'd infer that the
Whole muſt have Underſtanding, be-
cauſe ſome Portions of it are intelligent;
beſides not allowing the Underſtand-
ing of the Parts to belong in any
manner to their Extenſion, we may
retort with the other Speaker in Ci-
CERO, that by the fame Argument, the
Whole muſt be a Courtier, a Muſician,
a Dancing-maſter, or a Philoſopher, be-
cauſe many of the Parts are ſuch. But
theſe are Sophiſms on both fides, by
confounding variable Modes with eſſen-
tial Propertys, or by aſcribing true Ef-
fects to imaginary, foreign, or diſpro-
portionable Cauſes.
27. AFTER accounting for the
eſſential Motion of Matter, you'll find
that the Compariſons and Similitudes ra-
ther than the Arguments of thoſe who
defend Space, prove no more than that
you conceive what they mean, or elſe
that they generally beg the Queſtion.
I can ſuppoſe with any of them, that
all the Matter of the World is reduc'd
hy
222 Motion effential to Matter.
Léttet by God into two equal Spheres; that
V. if they be at a diſtance from one a00-
ther, there is between them a meaſu-
rable Space or Void ; or that if they
mutually touch in a Point (as perfect
Spheres muft neceſſarily do) there is
a Space which is not Body, between
the other Points of their Circumfe-
rences. But is not all this at the ſame
time to ſuppoſe Matter finite, to ſup-
poſe this very Space which they pretend
to prove; and from no reaſon that I
can fee, but from the bare Conſidera-
tion of Gravity ? I can with Mr.
Lock conceive the Motion of one
Body alone without any other ſucceed .
ing immediately into its place; but it
is by abſtracting this ſingle Body, and
with-holding my Attention from choſe
that really ſucceed it. I can with him
conceive two Bodys at a diſtance ap-
proaching one another, without dif-
placing any thing elſe till their Super-
ficies come to meet ; but 'uis by ab-
ftracting from all that they neceſſarily
diſplace: for, as he judiciouſly obſerves
himſelf, it does not follow that any
thing exiſts in ſuch a ſtate, merely be
cauſe we can conceive it ſo; or there
wou'd be ģreat ſtore of Hydras, Cen-
taurs,
Motion effential to Matter. 223
taúrs, Chimeras, and other Monſters, Letret
which never had a' Being. But Igrant V
to him that by ſuch Inſtances I
per-
fectly underſtand the meaning of thoſe
who contend for Space or a Void,
which was abfurd in the Carteſians
to deny, and unpardonable to diſpute
againſt a thing, whereof they profeſt
to have no Idea. Mr. LOCK has all
that can be ſaid on this Subject in his
Eſſay of Human Underſtanding, eſpecial-
ly in the thirteenth Chapter of the
ſecond Book, where among other
things he uſes theſe words: If Body be
not ſuppos’d infinite, which, I think, no
one will affirm, I can conceive a Man at
the extremity of Matter, and that he
can ſtretch his Hand beyond his Body.
He cou'd not be ignorant how many
affirm'd the Infinity of Matter before
he was born, and I am not the only i
Man that does it in his own sime:
bur tho I can abſtract co my fell füch
imaginary Bounds, jet I cannot meet
with one good reaſon to perſuade me
that Extenſion ( which he acknow:
ledges infinite ) does exiſt any where
out of Matter: I ſay, that I find no-
thing offer'd to perſuade me of this,
but ſuch Suppofirions as I have already
confused:
1
224
Motion eſſential to Matter.
Letter confuted ; not to in Gift on inſurmoun-
V. table Difficultys ariſing from thoſe fictiti-
ous Extremitys, as to their Con Giſtence,
Figure, whether any thing can break
looſe from them, what becomes of ſuch
Fractions, and a thouſand other Rid-
dles. I can further gratify him in
the Conſideration of divided Particles;
but I deny that the Continuity of in-
finite Matter can ever be ſeparated by
any diſtinct Surfaces with void inter-
mediate Spaces; for we only abftract
(as I told you in the ſixth and ſeventh
Paragraphs) what we call Parts, con-
fidering by it ſelf ſo much of Exten-
fion as is for our purpoſe, and diſtin-
guiſhing ſuch Parcels nor by real Di-
viſions from the Whole, but by the Mo-
difications of Color, Figure, Motion,
or the like, as. we conſider the Hear
without the Light of the Sun. He
ſays further, That thoſe who affert the
Impoſſibility of Space exiſting without Mar-
ter, muſt not only make Body infinite, but
muſt alſo deny a power in God to anni-
hilate any part of Matter. That they
make Matter infinire is confeft; but
what he adds about Annihilation is
deny'd : for beſides that no Revelation
from God can be produc'd, wherein he
has
Motion eſſential to Matter. 225
{
has declar'd that he will annihilate any Letter
part of Matter, ſo it is no Argument V.
for a real Space, that God has it in his
power to annihilate, no more than that
the World ſhall actually finiſh in three
Days, becauſe I conceive it poſſible for
God to deſtroy it in that ſhort time.
I know no reaſon (of what he aſſerts
in the ſame place) why the Main-
tainers of infinite Matter ſhou'd be loth
to ſpeak out their opinion, any more
than the Maintainers of infinite Space,
or of any other Infinite, for the word.
is apply'd to more Subjects than one
or two: and what made CARTE-
sius backward to affirm expreſly that
Matter was infinite, contenting him-
ſelf with the word Indefinice, was his
being ſure on the one hand that Ex-
tenſion was infinite; and yet, allowing
withal chat Matter was naturally in-
active and really diviſible, he cou'd not
well demonſtrate its Infinity, tho you
that read him ſo often need no Proofs
that he ſometimes poſitively affirm'd it.
As for the Theological Exceptions to this
Poſition, they are of little weight, and
ſhow the Philoſophy of ſome Men to be
as little as their Zeal is great and fervent;
nor do I believe that the moderate and
Q learned
1
226 Motion eſſential to Matter.
Letter learned Divines of our time will revive
V. the exploded Sophiſms of their ignorant
Predeceſſors. But I deſire you wou'd
remember, that notwithſtanding my
Diffent with Mr. Lock about Space,
I conſider his Eſſay of Human Vnderſtand-
ing to be the molt uſeful Book towards
attaining univerſal Knowledg, that is ex-
tant in any Language; as well as for help.
ing Men to ſpeak pertinently,intelligibly,
and accurately, of all kinds of Subjects:
nor have I affected here to oppoſe fo
great a Man; but knowing how much
his Authority (way'd with you from my
own Recommendation, I took care to
remove the Prejudices you might thence
entertain againſt infinite Matter, its
eſſential Motion, or whatever might be
built on ſuch Foundations.
28. AN D now, SIR, after having
led me this tedious Chaſe, by the work
you took care to cut out for me in your
ſhort but moſt comprehenſive Letter, I
queſtion not but you'll allow that Mo-
tion ought to enter into the Definition
of Matter, no leſs than Extenſion or
Solidity. But if you demand the Defi-
nition of Motion it felf, I anſwer that
I cannot give it, nor any other Man,
tho
Motion eſſential to Matter.
2 27
X
tho never ſo able; not that we know Letter
it the leſs for all this, but on the con-
V.
trary becauſe we know it better than
any thing which is capable of a Defini-
tion, Simple Ideas, ſuch as Motion,
Extenſion, Color, Sound, are ſelf-evi-
dent, and their Names by no means de-
finable ; but the ſingle Words which de-
note complex Ideas, that is, a Collection
of ſelf-evident Ideas conſider'd as one
thing, are the true Objects of Defini-
tion; becauſe the ſeveral Terms for thoſe
Ideas, when put together, ſhow the
Connection, Poflibility, and Conception
of the Whole. Thus all the Words in
the world cou'd not explain Blue, por
give the clear Idea of it to one who
never ſaw that Color; but ſuppoſing the
ſame Perſon never ſaw any Gold, tho
well acquainted with other Metals, yet
he'll be able to form a diftinct Notion of
it, from the mouth of another who de-
ſcribes it of a certain Yellowneſs and
Weight, malleable, fuſible, fixt, and the
like. When the Names therefore of
ſimple Ideas are defin'd, we muſt not
imagine it to be their Subjects; for fy-
nonymous Terms do not explain the na-
ture of the thing, but give us the mean.
ing of the Word in more intelligible
Q 2
Terms;
.
228
Motion eſſential to Matter.
Letter Terms: wherefore Paſſage, Tranſlation,
V. Removing, ſucceſſive Applicacion, are
ubur other words for Motion, and no
Definitions of the thing, no more than
ARISTOTLE's Act of a being in power
ſo far forth as it is in power ; but all
particular local Motions may be defin'd
by the Lines they deſcribe, and the
Cauſes that determine the Courſe or
Degrees of their Motion. The ſame is
to be underſtood of the general Extenfi-
on of Matter, and of its particular Deter-
minations, by Meaſure, Figures, or any
other way. The Solidity of all Mat-
ter is likewife an intuitive or undefinable
Idea. But I do not here underſtand So-
lidity in the ſenſe of Geometers, of eve-
ry aſſign'd Quantity that has three Di-
menſions; but as Mr. Lock has ſub-
ſtituted this poſitive Term, inſtead of
the negative one of Impenetrability,
for the Relittance we find in every Body
to the Entrance of any other Body inco
the place it poffeffes till ic has left it : as
a drop of Water equally preſt on all ſides,
is an inſurmountable Obſtacle for the
ſtrongeſt Bodys in the Univerſe to join,
till it be remov'd ; and ſo a piece of
Wood will keep your two Hands from
ever coming together, tho you endea-
vour
Motion eſſential to Matter.
229
vour it never ſo forcibly. The ſame is Letter
as'true of all fluid and ſofr things, as of
the moſt fixt or hard, or heavy or light; m
as true of Air and Pulp, as of Gold
and Diamonds ; which, as the inoſt
exact Mr. Lock again obſerves to you,
diſtinguiſhes the word as put for an in-
ſeparable Property of Matter, from the
com'mon Accepration of it, when ſolid
is put for hard, in which ſenſe it is a
certaio Coheſión of the Parts of any
thing difficultly ſeparated, whereas in the
Philoſophical ſenſe it is a Repletion, or
utter Excluſion of all other Bodys, and
ſo I have underſtood it throughout this
whole Letter, except in the third Para-
graph.
6
29. I WON'T ſay that Matter has
no other eſſential Propertys but theſe
three of Extenſion, Solidity, and Acti-
on : but I am perſuaded that from the
due and joint Conſideration of theſe a-
lone, a world of its Phänomena may
be better accounted for than hitherto.
But few Diſcoverys are to be expected
in natural Philoſophy from one who ab-
ſtracts any of them from the reſt, or that
makes it alone the compleat Eſſence of
Matter : for 'cis moſt certain that in
Matter
Q3
1
}
1
230 Motion eſſential to 'Matter.
Letter Matter thoſe Attributes are never other-
V. wife but mentally divided from one
another. That Extenſion, for example,
exhauſts the Idea of Marrer, I deny ;
ſince it does not imply Solidity or Mócio
on : but that all extended is Matter, may
be very true, tho Matter be mot barely
extended, but likewiſe active and folid.
But tho in the pure Confideration of
thoſe Ideas the one does not ſuppoſe the
other, and that each of 'em has certain
Modes, which are conceiv'd to belong
immediately to it ſelf, yet they are ſo
firmly linke in Nature, that the one can-
not exiſt without the other, and they all
neceſſarily concur to the producing of
thoſe Modes which are proper to each.
Extenſion is the immediate Subject of all
the Diviſions, Figures, and Parcels of
Matter ; but 'cis Aation that cauſes thoſe
Alterations, and they cou'd not be dif.
tinet without Solidity. Action is the
immediate Cauſe of all local Motions,
Changes, or Várietys in Matter ; but
Extenſion is the Subject and Meaſure of
their Diſtances: and tho upon Solidity
depends the Reſiſtance, Impulſe, and
Protruſion of Bodys, yet 'tis Action that
produces them in Extenſion. Səlidity,
Extenſion, and Action, are therefore
three
)
Motion effential to Matter.
231
three diſtinct Ideas, but not three diffe. Letter
rent things; only the various Conſide-
V.
rations of one and the ſelf-fame Matter.
To return to our particular Subject, you
may eaſily perceive by this time, that
the Vis motrix, the true motive Force is
this eſſencial Action of Matter; and
that the Vis impreſſa, the impreſt Force
of particular Bodys, is fome Determi-
nation of the general A&tion : for in this
ſenſe it's indiſputable that nothing can
move, that is, determine it felf, till it
be determin'd by ſome other thing: ſo
that Maiter being active, the Direction
given roihat Action in any part, wou'd
of it ſelf for ever continue, becauſe no
Effect can be without a Cauſe, and by
conſequence this Direction muſt be
chang'd by ſome greater Force, as that
by another, and fo on, one never ending
but for another to begin, no more than
any Figure is deſtroy'd in Matter, but
to make place for another. Thus one
Motion is always ſucceeded by another
Motion, and never by abſolute Reft, no
more than in any Parcel of Matter the
ceaſing of one Figure is the ceaſing of all,
which is impoſſible. Theſe Determinati-
ons of Motion in the Parts of folid extend.
ed Matter, are what we call the Phäno-
mena
04
2,32
Motion eſſential to Matter.
Letter mena of Nature, and to which we give
V: Names or aſcribe Uſes, Perfection or
W Imperfection, according as they affect
our Senſes, and cauſe Pain or Pleaſure
to our Bodys, contribute to our Preſer-
vation or Destruction : but we do not
always denominate 'em from their real
Cauſes, or ways of producing one ano-
ther, as the Elaſticity, Hardneſs, Soft-
neſs, Fluidity, Quantity, Figures, and
Relations of particular Bodys. On the
contrary we frequently attribute many
Determinations of Motion to no Cauſe
at all, as the ſpontaneous Motion of A-
nimals : for, however thoſe Motions
may be accompany'd by Thought, yet,
conſider'd as Motions, they have their
phyſical Cauſes, as a Dog's running after
a Hare, the Bulk of the external Object
acting by its whole Force of Impulſe
or Attraction on the Nerves, which are
ſo diſpos’d with the Muſcles, Joints, and
other Parts, as to produce various Mo-
tions in the Animal Machine. And
whoever underſtands in any meaſușe the
Action of Bodys on one another by their
immediate Contact, or by the imper-
ceptible Particles that continually flow
from them, and to this Knowledg joins
that of Mechanics, Hydroſtatics, and
Anatomy,
1
Motion eſſential to Matter.
233
Anatomy, will be convinc'd that all the Letter
Motions of fitting, ſtanding, lying, ri V.
fing, running, walking, and ſuch others, m
have their proper, external, marerial,
and proportionable Determinations.
After Mr. NEWTON, in the Preface
of his Mathematical Principles of Natu-
ral Philoſophy, has ſpoken of Gravity,
Elaſticity, Reſiſtance, Impulſe, and At-
traction, and of his Explication of the
mundane Syſtem by theſe Principles ;
* I wiſh, adds he, that we cou'd by the
Same Method of reaſoning be able to explain
the other Phenomena of Nature from me-
chanic Principles ! for I am induced by di-
vers Confiderations to ſuſpect a little, that
all theſe may depend on certain Forces,
whereby from Cauſes yet undiſcover'd the
Particles of Bodys are mutually impell's
againſt each other, and cohere according to
regular Figures, or whereby they recede
and are driven from one another: which
· Lltinam cætera Naturæ Phänomena ex Principiis
mechanicis eodem argumentandi genere derivare li-
cerer! Nam multa me movent, ut nonnihil ſuſpicer ea
omnia ex viribus quibufdam pendere poffe, quibus Cor-
porum particulæ per cauſas nondum cognitas vel in fe
mutuo impelluntur & fecundum Figuras regulares cohe-
ent, vel ab invicem fugantur & recedunt : quibus viri-
bus ignotis, Philofophi hacteuus Naturam fruftra ten-
tarunt.
Forces
1
1
234 Motion eſſential to Matter.
5
}
Letter Forces being yet unknown, the Philoſophers
V. have hitherto attempted Nature in vain.
What thoſe particular Forces and Fi-
gures may be, with their Reaſons
and Degrees, none in the world is ſo
well able to diſcover and reduce into an
intelligible Syſtem, as the moſt excel
lent Author : but as for the general or
moving Force of all Matter, I wou'd
flatter my ſelf, that I have done ſome-
thing towards it in this Letter.
30. THUS I have return'd a par-
ticular Anſwer, I think, to every De-
mand in yours, except to your laſt Ob-
jection, which (were there degrees in
Truth and Fallhood) is more feeble
than all the reſt, That after admitting
the Activity of Matter, there ſeems to be
no need of a preſiding Intelligence : which,
give me leave to ſay it', is the moſt
thoughtleſs and unweigh'd Expreſſion I
ever knew to drop from your Mouth or
Pen; ſince you do not allow your ſelf
to draw invidious Conſequences con-
trary to the Perſuaſion of your own
Conſcience, as bur too too many are
known to do. Beſides, that God was
able to create this Matter active as well
as extended, that he cou'd give it the
one
Motion eſſential to Matter.
235
one Property as well as the other, and Letter
that no reaſon can be aſſign'd why he V
ſhou'd not endue it with the former
as well as with the latter ; is there
likewiſe no neceſſity that he ſhou'd
ever or rather always direct its Mo
tions? Can the Formation of Animals
or Plants be accounted for from the
Action, any more than from the Ex-
tenſion of Matter? Or are you able to
imagine that the Action and Reaction of
Bodys, of all the Particles of Matter on
one another, cou'd ever have the Contri-
vance to make any one of thoſe admi-
rable vegetable or animal Machines ?
All your Skill in Mechaniſm can no
more help you, than it did CARTE-
si us, to find out Rules and Engines
for making either a Man or a Mouſe.
All the jumbling of Atoms, all the
Chances you can ſuppoſe for it, cou'd
rio more bring the Parts of the Uni-
verſe into their preſent Order, nor con-
tinue them in the ſame, nor cauſe the
Organization of a Flower or a Fly, than
you can imagine that by tumbling to-
gether the Letters of a Printer a million
of cimes, they ſhou'd ever fall at laſt
into ſuch a Pofition, as to make the
Æneis of VIRGIL, or the Ilias of
!
HOMER,
236 Motion eſſential to Matter.
V.
1
1
Letter Homer, or any other Book in the
world. And as for the Infinity of Mato
ter, it only excludes, what all reaſona-
ble and good Men muſt exclude, an ex-
tended corporeal God, but not a pure
Spirit or immaterial Being. I am per-
ſuaded, that in omitting many other
common Objections, you purpoſely
ſpar'd me, knowing there was no end
of Abſurditys from falſe or precarious
Syſtems ; Abſurditys fo monſtrous, that
they have driven ſeveral of the Carte-
lians (to name no others) to as mon-
ſtrous Hypotheſes, when not knowing
wherein. conſiſted the moving Force,
and for avoiding the Tranſicion of Ac-
cidents from one Subject to another,
they are not aſham'd to ſay, that God
takes the Motion from one Bowl that
is running forward (for example) and
communicates it to the other againſt
which it rubs, continuing it during its
Courſe by his immediate Concurrence,
and taking it away by ſuch degrees as
are obſery'd in the ordinary Laws of
Motion. Is this to explain any thing?
Or are theſe the men that laugh at
Sympathy, Antipathy, occult Qualitys,
or the like? I know to whom I ad-
dreſs. my ſelf, when I ſpeak of every
thing
Motion eſſential to Matter.
237
thing ſo ſuccinctly; any the leaſt Hint Letter
being enough for you, to work out all
V.
the reſt by your own moſt happy Ger
nius: beſides that the ordinary Solutions
can never ſatisfy any man who denies
the ordinary Suppplītions.
31, PRAY, againſt your writing
to me next, be pleas'd' to conſider
whether the Mathematicians (who are
generally the beſt and ſtricteſt Rea.
ſoners, tho they build ſometimes on
groundleſs Suppoſitions, and have often
made real Beings of abſtracted Ideas)
whether, I ſay, they did not perceive,
without reflecting that they did ſo, the.
Neceſſity of this intrinſick and effential
A&tion of Matter, by their Conatus ad
Motum ? I have purpoſely omitted in-
fiſting on this, when I ſhow'd
it was the Diſcovery of the fame
per-
petual and univerſal Action, that gave
a Being to the Syſtems of the Scoics,
Plaſtics, Hylozoics, and others : for
my Intention has not bin to write all
I cou'd ſay on this Subject, but as
much as I thought. neceſſary to anſwer
your objections, and to bring you over
to the ſame Opinion. Neither will
I point out to you what further uſe in
Philoſophy
you that
238 Motion effential to Matter.
Letter Philoſophy may be made of this ef-
V. fential Motion of Matter, beſides a
clearer Knowledg of Nature in gene-
ral, and the particular Deciſion of
the Controverfys about the moving
Force, about local Motion without
or with a Void, about the nature of
Space, and the Infinity of Matter. I
am confident that before your reading
thus far, you have already made the
Application of this Doctrin to ſeveral
other Difficultys, having impartially
revolv'd in your own Mind the un-
ſatisfactory Gueſſes and miſerable Cir-
cles, rather than genuine Explications
of the Schools; and that you have conſi-
der'd likewiſe what numberleſs Errors
may branch themſelves over the whole
Body of Philoſophy, from any one falſe
Principle laid down for undiſputed Truth,
without Proof or Examination. What
Obſervations of this kind I have made
my ſelf from time to time, I ſhall
freely impart to you and our common
Friend, who alone philoſophizes at
Court, and who exceeds all the reft
in Politeneſs and · Addreſs, as much
as he does in Wiſdom and Literature,
his ſuperior Genius and admirable
Senſe no leſs diſtinguiſhing him in
ordinary
Motion eſſential to Matter. 239
ordinary Ceremonys, than in the niceſt Letter
and moſt arduous Points of State Af. V.
fairs. But I ſhall give you no furtherm
trouble, SIR, till you are next diſ-
pos’d to honor me with your Com-
mands.
FINI S.
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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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