"^c^AiivaaiH^ ^^AHvaaiii^?^ ^TiuoNVsoi^ ^aHAiNn-Jwv' .\\\[UNIVERVa vj^lOSANCElfT. ;lOSANCELfj> ^OFCAIIFO/?.^;. ^ \ri 1 ^ > v/ _ 1^ ^^OFCAIIFO/?^ '^/5a3AiNn-3Wv* >&Aavaan-^^ ^^Aavaaii-^^?^ .NStllBRARYQc, ^(5/0:1 nv3- JO ^;^VLIBRARYac ^ N'^ ^^'AyvaaiH^'^ ^riiJONvsoi"^'^ vVlOSANCElfjv, o '^Aa^AiNnjwv \WEUNIVE]?5-/A "^J^iiaoNvsoi^ vvlOS7\NGElfj> o "^AaaAiNO-awv^ ^^^lllBRARYOc ^;;^iL^BRARYQ/: ^«!/0JllV3IO'^ ^^mmyi^"^ ,^ME•UNIVER5•/A '^/5d3AINfl]WV^ ^OFCALIFOM^ >;,OFCAIIFO%, ^^Aavaaiii^N^ avaaii-^^"^ ^^Ayvaani^"^ o 1^ ■V/5a3AINn3\\V \}mm//j iw-m"^ %a3AiNn3WV ^UIBRARY(9/;^ ^HmmO/-^ \oi ITVD- J0>^ '^(tfOJ IIVD- JO"^ UNIVERS/^ ^lOSANCElfj^ 30NVS0V^ %a3AINn3WV ^QFCAIIFO/?^ ^OFCMIFO/?^ ^"-^ '-"^^"^ "^^AHvyan-i^^' immo/r 4 >i. ^^IIIBRARYQ^ WIIVJ-JO^" '^^lOSANCElfj;> o .avaaii-^^'^ '^^Ayvaan•^^^'^ ^TiiaoNvsoi^^ ^/saaAiNa^wv :-UNIVER^// HONVSOl^^ v>:lOSANCElfj> ■^/^iiaAiNn^wv^ A^lLIBRARYO^ ^^ILIBRARYOc ^(!/0JllV3J0'^ o I30NYS01^^ v^clOSANGEl^^ AINI13WV ^•OFCAiiFO/?^ ^OFCALIFO/?^ ^ and D " the 34 ^ Mifcellaneous the Partlcks of Light having Httle or no Gra? vity, that we know of, they inflating the aque- ous Particles, make them become fpecifically lighter than the Air ; by which means they mount into the Air, and there the Motion of the Fire leffening, they condenfe, and fo b?-, come of an equal Weight with th,e Air in the upper Regions of the Atmofphere ; and, being attraded by each other, they join, and forrn^ Clouds ; and then being united, they ^re mor^ condens'd, and become fpecifically heavier than the Air, and fo fall in Rain. After the fame manner they are raifed in the Tubes of Vege- tables, with feveral SaUs, and earthy Particles i and what is more than fuflicient to nouriili the Plant, flies oif in Vapour from the Leaves and BlofToms. Fermentation, which we often call Corrup- tion, but ought rather to be called th^ Parent of Vegetation and Generation, is alfo occa.0oned by this elaflic Flpid of Light and Fire ; aad i& only a lefs rapid Motion of Fire, which by de-, o-rees breaks the Union of the feveral Parts of Matter. V/hen the Union of the Parts is weak, then the Heat and Fermentation neceflary to fcjparate the Parts is but fmall, as in Hay and Straw wet with Water ^ unlefs it be in a great Quantity, and prefs'd together by its Weight ; then it will kindle and burn. Thus Ferrnenta- tion, by the Elafticity, attracting and repelling Pov^^ers inherent in Fire, and the feveral Par- ticles of Matter, breaks tlxe former Union pf the Metapbyjical EfTay. 35 the Particles of Bodies, and they become fit again to unite with other Bodies, whilft the feminal Power, or fpiritual Monad, in the Seed, atttradls to itfelf fuch Particles as are fit for its Increafe and Nourifhment, and to affift it in extending and unfolding its Form. And thus Foffils and Salts cryftallize, and Vegetables put on their feveral Forms : For Light and Heat fiVft breaks the Cohefion of Metals, Stones, ^c. and the Motion being leflen'd by degrees, by an Union of cold Fluids, Water, Air, Gfc. im- pregnated with Salts, they give Admiffion to the Spirit of the Seed to form a proper Nidiis^ in order to unfold their Vehicles, and inlarge their Forms. Thefe attracting their feveral proper Juices raifed by the Heat in their Tubes, with a proper Proportion of Salts, Earth, fife. according to the feveral Species of Plants, I ap- prehend to be the Caufe of Vegetation as well in Animals as in Plants. D 2 CHAP. s 36 A Mifcellaneous CHAP. IV. Some Thoughts upon the Nature of the Divine Beings in Analogy to our Human Nature ; and farther Confi derations^ ^whether the aBive Powers we obferve in Matter be by Impulfe from a fuperior Being, or from inherent ^Powers given to material Beings by the Deity at their firjl Creation, I N C E, from the foregoing Obfervations, it is obvioas that the Particles of corporeal Beings around us have adlive Powers communi- cated to them by the Almighty and Firft Caufe,N by which they fubmit to fuch eflablifh^d Laws, as are neceffary for making out the feveral Ap- pearances in this outward and fenfible World,, and yet feemingly exert a Conatus to move and extend themfelves in Space ; it is worthy of our ferious Inquiry, whether the Firft Caufe has made corporeal Beings around us of fpiritual as well as paffive Monads or Particles, in which all their Faculties, which may afterwards ap- pear in time, are dormant and ftagnant, and nothing appears but the Powers of Attracftion, Cohefion, Elafticity, &c. and a Power of in- larging themfelves by their feminal Powers ; when in proper Nidus's, by Application of Heat and Moiflure, they may put on Vegetable or Metaphyftcal Effay. 37 or Animal Forms : Or whether they are all compounded of paffive Particles, incapable of being reduced to an Unity • and that thofe are conftantly moved by a boundlefs Spirit, which pervades all things in the mundane Syftem, and by an impelling Power forces thofe Particles of Matter to attract, repel, gravitate, ^c, as well at immenfe Diilances, as when near each other. The Knowlege of this is beyond what Men can reafonably hope to attain to, or fully com- prehend. However, by a ferious Application, fome Obfervations may be made, that may lead us in time to find out the Truth, and to admire the all-powerful and alf-wife Condudt of Providence. If we (hould fuppofe the Infinite and Eter- nal Firft Caufe, God the Father, whom we conceive the Source of the Deity, as well as of all finite Beings, to be, by a perpetual Energy or Activity, exerting himfelf in fupporting in- animate corporeal Beings, and forcing them to obey thefe Laws I have mentioned, fuch as Gravity, Cohefion, Elafticity, cffr. we mull then fuppofe that Infinite Firft Caufe tlie Soul of the Univcrfe rather than the Caufe ; and, tho' we believe him Almighty, yet it may be dubious whether he exerts always that his in- finite Adlivity, tho' he is capable of it at plea- fure; for if fo, after he had created all Things, he could not be faid to have refled from his Labours, fuppofing him Ifill to continue his infinite Power and Adivity to fupport the D X muiidane 38 A Mifcellamous mundane Syftem, as well as at the time of its Creation ; and if he fliould not, the Form of all corporeal Beings would fall into Atoms, whenever the impulfive Power that caufes Gravity, ^c, fhould ceafe. This Suppofition, of God's being the Soul of the inanimate World, feems to be too low for the Idea of the Firft Unoriginated Intelli- gence, whofe chief Glory and Happinefs we ought rather to conceive to arife from his mo- ral intelledual Faculties, fuch as his Goodnefs, Mercy, Truth, and Juftice, in making intelli- gent created Beings happy. Yet, on the other hand, to fuppofe the Infinite Firft Caufe to be inadlive, and at Reft, fince Life in created Be- ings we find confifts in Activity, may be ap- prehended as degrading the Idea of a Deity, and fuppofing God to be an indolent Being. We ought therefore to avoid thefe Extremes, and neither fuppofe the Deity to be inaftive, nor oblig'd always to make ufe of an infinite Energy and Labour to fupport the Fabric he has made ; and rather believe, that his chief Pleafure is from his intellectual Faculties, in fuperintending and governing the intelleftual World, without fuppofing him to be the Soul of the World, always exerting the fame Force to fupport it, as when it was rirft created. Since, from our Chriftian Faith, we acknow- lege Three Powers, Perfons, or Intelligencies in the Deity, tho' the Knowlege of that My- ftery be above the Apprehenfion of our finite Under- Metaphyjicai Effay. 39 tJndier (landings ; yet vve may be allowed to forrii Ideas of thefe Three Powers or Perfons in the Deity, from lower Appearances in created Beings, as Well fpiritual as corporeal, and from Paffxges in Holy Writ, upon which we are allowed to ruminate and refle(n:. Let us then look into the little Mictotofm of Man, and we fhall find three diftind: Po\Vers in our Nature : One Power of Intelligence, by which i^^e think^ refledl, and reafon • which we con- jceive to be abfolutely free from Matter, Form, or Figure, fuitable to the Idea we form of the Immenfe Deity : Another Power w^e have of Self-motion, of moving our corporeal Vehicle; and a perceptive Power of Beings without us, from our Senfations: This makes us focial, and connects us to the vifible World ; and this Union with our Vehicle is the Caufe of our Spirit or Intelled:'s being confined to a particu- lar Place in Space; otherwife, our In telledl be- ing as free as Thought, without fuch Vehicle and Union, might range, like Thought, from cne Point of infinite Space to another in a Mo- ment : This gives us a Form and Ex ten fi on in Space, and enables us, by certain Reftridlions, to ufe or not ufe our intelledlual Faculties, ac- cording as we are ad:ed upon by material Beings around us; which, by confining our Form or Extenfion, lock up bar reafoning Faculties, and deprive us of Memory and Reflection, and leave lis in an inaftive or dormant State, as our Souk are in Embryo, or at or before our Conception D 4 in 40 A Mifcellaneous in the Womb. There is a third Power in our Being, of which we have not the fole Direction, tho' it is in fome meafure fubfervient to our other Faculties ; and that is, our plaflic or plantal Power ; by which means we vegetate and inlarge our Form, until we arrive at the State of Manhood, and inlarge our fuperior Faculties, as far as is allow'd in our corporeal Habitations. Over this plantal Principle we have very little Power ; nor can we at pleafure flop thofe involuntary Motions that tend to its Increafe, fuch as Refpiration, and the Motion of the Heart, unlefs by Violence we deprive ourfelves of animal Life. In this Nature feem to be feated our animal Paffions, Sympathies, and Antipathies, which often get the better of our Reafon, and are with great Difficulty kept within Bounds by our intelledual Faculties : This plaftic Power, tho' a Part of our Being, yet fcems to be different from our intellectual and fenfitive Life ; and feems to be the Source of Self-love, as the other two are of our Love to God and our Neighbour ; which, when kept in due Subordination to our Reafon, is of great Ufe to us in our animal State. Since our Being is, in Miniature, a faint Refemblance of the Deity, we being made af- ter his Image, Why may we not fuppofe the Three Perfons or Powers in the Deity to be fimilar, or bear an Analogy, to thefe Three Powers in our Being, tho' infinitely fuperior to us ^ and that God the Father, the Unoriginated and Metaphyfical Effay. 41 and Firft Caufe, is properly that Immenfe and Eternal Intelled, without Form, Figure, or Motion ? That our Redeemer, God the Son, the Only-begotten of the Father, the exprefs Image of his Perfon, by whom he made the vifible World, and who hath the fupreme Super- intendence of all vifible and created Beings, mav be fuppofed that Second Power in the Deity, to whom we bear a Refemblance in our animal Form and Vehicle, by which our Intellect is united to this vifible World, and we become focial : And this feems agreeable to the Exv preflions of our Saviour, that n$ Man can fee the Father^ but the Son ; becaufe the Supreme Intelleft is not vifible, being furrounded with Light inacceirible : And our Blefled Redeemer is faid to be the exprefs Image of his Perfon, as being the only vifible Part of the Deity, as I may fay, that comes under our Comprehenfion in our animal State ; he being the Head and Creator of our Vehicles, and of our Union with them ; by which he hath conneded us to the vifible World, and made us focial. The Third Power or Perfon in the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, may be fuppofed analogous to our plaftic or plantal Nature, and Author of our Paffions, and of the Sympathies and Antipathies in our Nature ; by which, as our animal corporeal Being, and all corporeal Beings around us, are inade to be fubfervient to the Laws of Nature, and to our intelledual Power, in carrying on the Scheme of Providence s fo the Holy Spirit inflates 42 A Mtfcelkncmis inflates all corporeal Beings, and makes them fubfervieut to thefe Laws, artd fupports th^ffe Powers in corpored Beings, which link together Our mundane Syftem in its beautiful Fr^m^ ; and at the fame time influences our Paflions to be fubfervient to Reafon and the Spirit of Grace: And from thence he is called the Holy Spirit, by infpiring us with celefiiial or asthereal Fire ; and may be called the Univerfal Spirit. Thiis feems alfo agreeable to the Account given of the Holy Spirit in Holy Writ * When the Apofl:les received the Holy Ghod^ it camfe with a rufhing Wind, in Appearance of Fire; and Powers and Knowlege were immediately communicated to them by Impulfe, by inflating them with this celeilial Fire : And it would feem, that the Apoftles being filled With this celefl;ial Fire, the Holy Spirit, when Mii-acles were wrought by fhem, that it was by this Communication with this infinitely elaftic uni- verfal Spirit, that fills infinite Space, that at any Diltance adted with the Volition of the Apoftles inflated with the Holy Spirit, by a fympathetic Energy, whereby it fufpended the LaWs of Nature for a time, and prevented their Cohe- f.on. Gravity, tff. and altered the Diredion of Motion in corporeal Beings ; and thus it ftill &ded confonant to Truth, to itfelf. This feerns to me to be the fole and genuine Caufe of Gra- vity ; unlefs there be a fubordinate Spirit of Nature, fuch as the elaftic aethereal Fire, adting under the Divine Spirit : For tho^ Powers rtiay be Metaphyfical Eflay. 43 be originally given to the firft Elements or Par-*- ticles of corporeal Beings, to attraevil, or Spirit of Nature, found he could not tempt our Sa- viour by endeavouring to get him to reft fatif- feed with anfwering his animal Appetites ou Wants, he then placed him in another Light, and endeavoured to tempt him by carrying him into the Holy City, and fetting him on one of the Pinacles of the Temple : This, fcems to be fliewing him the greateft Exaltation of his hu^ man Nature, when in its greateft Perfefiion and Holinefe, exprefted by fetting him upon the Pinacle of the Temple, that, is the higheft Degree of Holinefs or moral Redtitude huaiaii Nature is capable of ; and, when in that Situa- tion, defires him to fall from thence, if he eould, to try the Veracity and Power of God ; telling hioi that God had laid, that his Angels fhould proted: aud cicxend him, and no Harm Ihould come to hira, tho' he endeavoured to fell frorrx thai holy fublime Situation, by endeavouring to give way to the animal Senfations and Plea- furesj for God would ftill preferv^ him, as he declared by his Angels : But our Saviour again rjefifted the Temptation, by (hewing he fhould run no P^ilk ; for 1"^^ ought not to tempt God to deprive him of his Protedtion, by wilfully attempting to dtbafe his Nature, in hopes that God would not fufter him, but interpofe, by his Angels and miniftring Spirits, to prevent his receiving Harm by the Attempt : So that h« Mctapyfical Eilay. 47 he was to do all in his Power to keep hinifelf up to tlie Pinacle of Holinefs, and was not ta depepd upon God's Mercy, without the Ufe of bis own Endeavours. After this fecond Attempt of the Devil, or Spirit of Nature, to thwart the divine Miffion of our Sa^viour, his acxt Attempt was, to attack and t^mpt him by the Pleafures of Senfe; and then he lays before him all the Grandeur and Pleafures of this Life, and the Glory of them; ^€ Height of animal Fehcity in carnal Plea- sures, and the Soothing of all our animal Paf-. fions and Appetites, under the Simile of ihew- ing him all the Kingdoms of the Earth -, and defires him, in Confideration of having fuch Gratifications as his Senfes could afford him., ta reft content w^ith that, arid fall down and wor-. fliip him the Spirit of Nature ; which was to rnake that his fupreme Happinefs, and carnal Pleafures his chief End ; give all his Attention to the outward Man, the animal Nature; and give up the divine Life, the moral Attributes of the Deity implanted in the inward Man ; and thus his Miffion to loft Man would have no Effed: : This our Saviour again reiifl:s, and fhews, that no Attendance, Refpeft, or Wor- lliip, is due, but to God, and his divine moral Attributes ; and that all our carnal Appetites and Pleafures muft give way, and be lubfer- vient, to them : So that the Devil finding no way to gain upon the animal Nature ot our Saviour, he qyit him \ and, after his withftand- ing 48 A Mifcellaneous ing all Temptations, God fent his Angels to ilrengthen our Saviour's Soul. It is from the Univerfal Spirit, which guides and direds the Motions of all the Globes in our vifible World, by Gravity, &c. that we can form any probable Account of the Marks or Signatures of Children in the Womb, from the Imagination of the Mother ; for the plaftic Power in the Fastus being within the plaftic Power of the Mother, and being adl:ed upon by the fame Spirit of Nature, a ftrong and impulfive Imagination of the Mother, by a concurring Acftion in the fame plaftic Spirit in the Fcetus, affedls the tender and increafing Parts of the Fcetus^ and, like an impulfive Sig- nature, leaves the Impreffion behind. Sym- pathies, Antipathies, and our Paflions, have their Origin from this plaftic Power ; over which our Wills have fmall Influence : But tho' our Reafon may in time get the better of our Paifions, or regulate them, yet they often hurry away our Wills, without attending to Reafon, or giving any time for Reflection. Some flight Contingency will often hurry us into Paflions, and make us capable of Adions, v^hich, at other times, when cool, and ading by Reafon, we fliould be incapable of doing ; as, in Surprizes of Fire, fome have carried away Weights, which they could not move when their Pairion was over. CHAP. Metaphyjtcal Effay. 49 CHAP. V. Upon the different Powers inherent in the Jirjl Principles of corporeal Beings ^ with the Pro- bability that moji of them are femi?ial or vital^ and are capable of having their Forms altered^ and their Powers increafed or diminified -, That many of them may become confcious^ and again be deprived of their Confcioufnefs and Seffations ; confequetttly, that moji of them are fpiritual Monads, Upon this P?'inciple our Souls have exijled from the firfi Forma- tion of Beings^ and may have been^ or con- fcious^ or dormant^ until this tifne^ or alter- nately fo, NOtwithftanding this unlverfal Spirit of Nature, or the plaftic Power which obliges corporeal Beings to fubmit to the efta- blifhed Rules and Laws we obferve in the mun- dane Syftem ; yet I cannot but think, that many of the firft Principles of corporeal Beings, at their Creation by the Almighty Being, may have had fome Powers created with them, which may make them active ; and that they are all indivifible or indifcerpible, and have not indefinite difcerpible Parts : That they may have a Conatus to expand themfelves in Space, as we find the Germina of all Plants and Ani- E mals 150 A Mifcellaneous mals have : In fhort, that they may have fper- matic and vital Pov^ers ; and that many Par- ticles of inanimate Matter may have a Power, fome time or other in Eternity, of obtaining fenfitive Enjoyments; and afterwards, by Se- paration from their Vehicles or Machines, or by their not being properly filled or inflated, they may again be deprived of Thought and Memory, and lie dormant in inanimate Mat- ter, which is next to Annihilation ; yet ftill may be ferviceable in carrying on the Defigns of the Almighty Being : And this feems agree- able to St. Pauh Reafoning of God's Power over his Creatures, as a Potter of his Veflels, to make fome for Honour ^ and form for Dif-^ honour : For if at any time in Eternity we be- come confcious, it is no matter whether we are immediately created confcious, or have had a Being for an indefinite Number of Ages, without Thought or Senfation ; yet ftill affift- ing in the Frame of vifible or corporeal Beings. Nor may it be inconfiftent with the Juftice and Wifdom of God, to deprive fpiritual con- fcious Beings, who have misbehaved towards him, of their fpiritual Life or Confcioufnefs, and to confine their Extenfion ; and fo for many Ages make them fijbfervient to his Work of Providence, and ad as Particles of corporeal Beings. Tho' this may feem fur- prifingly odd to our Conception at firft, to think that each of the innumerable Particles of Light may have a Power of being further ex- tended Metaphyjtcal Eflay. 51 tended in Space, and of fome time or other being made confcious, and having fenfual En- joyments ; yet, if we confider how fmall a Part of infinite Space is filled with thofe Par- ticles, and that even that vaft Body the Sun, that has emitted, for (o many Ages, each Mo- ment, fo many Rays of Light, yet is but a lu- cid Point, when compared to the unbounded i^ther and Heavens that furround it ; he will not be furprifed, in fuch an unlimited Space, that every Atom or Particle of Light might, in fome Point of Eternity, become animated, and have fpiritual and fenfitive Enjoyments com- municated to them, unlefs the whole aethereal Fluid thro' infinite Space be intirely made up of Light : Nor would it be Injuftice in the Divine Being, in cafe they never fhould, no more than if he had never brought them into Being at all : Yet ftill it feems more agreeable to the Wifdom and Goodnefs of God, in cafe thefe Particles of corporeal Beings are of an adtive fpiritual Nature, and have been formed fo far capable of Motion and Extenfion, as to put on new Forms, that they might, in fome Point of Time, be made capable of Senfations, and be- come confcious. If we confider the Gradations of Being, from the moft angelic Forms of intelledual Beings to the mod minute Particles of Matter, we may obferve how clofe the Links of the Chain are, from one Extreme to the other, without any Chaim in Nature. We may further obferve, E z that 52 A Mifcellaneous that the Motion of the Particles of Light and Heat, with a proper Mixture of nitrous and aqueous Particles, alters the Form, I may fay, ot all corporeal Beings, by Fermentation, Cor- roiion, &c, which we often call Putrefa(flion : For what are the Fermentation of Liquids, or the Diffolution of the denfeft Metals, even of Gold in Aqua-regia^ but thefe Particles altering their Situation and Figure, and being made capable of {hooting themfelves out into new Forms, and putting on new Appearances in Nature ? We find that even Gold will, by a long Con- tinuance in an intenfe Heat, lofe of its Weight, and confequently at laft all fly off, and put on a new Appearance in Nature : Vitrifications, Diamonds, ^c, feem to be no other than Par- ticles of Light bound up in adamantine Chains, and, by Rotation, and quick Fridion, will fly off in lucid Rays. Iron, Copper, 6?c. by the common Effeds of the Acids in the Air, are diminifhed by Ruft, and loie their metalline Form, and cannot by human Art be refl:ored, and made Metals again. The incredible quick Motion of the Particles of Light, and vibrate- ing Motion of Heat, feparate the Particles of all corporeal Beings : The mofl of thefe may he feminal Forms, or the Seeds not yet united to the Vehicles of Plants, Animals, ^c. which afterwards, united with proper Salts or Ve- hicles, and getting into proper Nidus's, are capable of putting on new Forms, and of at- trading other Particles, which have not pro- cured Metaphyfical EfTay. 53 cured a proper Nidtis j and thus force them to enter into their Pores, or otherwife unite with them, and inflate and increafe their Form by their pkftic or plantal Nature. Thus Salts and Foffils ilioot into their proper Forms : Thus, in feparating Tills or Clays, I have leen the Forms of Shells, that is, the bare Impreffion of a Shell, without any Shells having ever been there • and, in thefe Inftances, it is pro- bable the plaftic Principle, or feminal Monad, not having found a proper Nidus ^ could a6l no further. How near to the Shooting of Salts are the lowefl: Degrees of Vegetation, fuch as Mold upon Books, and MofTes ! And yet each of thefe have their Seeds much more minute than we can defcry with our beft Glaffes. All thefe unfold themfelves, and take in other Particles to inlarge their Forms. How minutely fmall are the Seed of PufF-Balls ! which do not exceed the fmalleft Atoms or Particles of Smoke or Vapour ; yet in thefe, by our beft Glaffes, we fee in the Seed the perfed: Form of a young Puff-Bali. Whether in thefe again we ought to conceive Seeds as much fmaller than thofe, as thefe are to large Puff-Ealls, and again Seeds in thefe, in a progreflive Series, defcend- ing downwards indefinitely s or whether we ought to ffop there, or one Degree lower, at Particles no bio-aer than we conceive thofe of DO Light are, and fuppofe one of thefe to unite with a proper Vehicle, and expand itfelf in a E 3 proper 54 ^ Mifcellaneous proper Nidus, and fo put on that vegetable Form, I leave to the Con fide ration of the Judicious j but, to my Apprehenfion, the laft Suppofition feems at leaft as reafonable as the other : For to me it feems much more difficult to comprehend, that thefe minute Seeds of PufF-Balls, or other Vegetables, fhould have within them Seeds, as much fmaller in proportion to them, as they are to large Puff- Balls, and fo backward for a Series of Ages from the Creation of the World, which have been ftill unfolding themfelves, and growing greater, until they have come to the Growth where we now find them ; than to fup- pofe the minuteft Particles of Matter to have a Point of Unity to flop at, which is indivifible, and without difcerpible Parts ; and that thefe are either fpiritual Forms, or Vehicles, and have a Power communicated to them, by our great Creator, of, fome time or other, inlarging their Forms, when, by the Application of proper Particles of Matter, in proper Nidus's^ they can exert their plantal Pow^r : And this feems to be agreeable to the Powers we find in corporeal Particles, of exciting and increafing Motion, of attracting fome, and 0/ repelling others. Thus we find Vegetation is performed by the A6tion of the Rays of Light and Heat, in a fluid or moift Body -, for Water feems to be neceflTary, as well as that, in the Produdlion of all vegetable and animal Forms : There the fe- minal Forms have a Power and Liberty to ex- pand themfelves, and to receive or rejed: fuch Particles Metaphyjtcal EiTay. 5^ Particles as are agreeable or difagreeable to them : For if neither of thefe ihould be the Cafe, then we muft fuppofe the Works of Creation to be going on conftantly, and that God Almighty is daily creating Souls, and feminal Forms, of all vifible Beings, as well animal as plantal Souls ; and that thefe are, at the Death of each Indi- vidual, again annihilated; which is contrary to the Idea we have of the Divine Wifdom : For how can we fuppofe, that God Almighty fhould exert his creative Power each Moment, in every minute Infed: or Fly, which continues but a Moment in Being, and immediately after reduce it into nothing ? Or does it feem confiftent to Reafon, that our Souls, which animate and fo highjy tranfcend our human Vehicle, or Body, and thp feveral material Particles of which it is compofed, fhould be formed hut Yefterday, and that each Particle of Matter the Body con- fifts of fhould have been created from the firft Formation of Beings ? Is it not much more agreeable to fuppofe the Divine Wifdom to have at firft created our human Souls, and all femi- nal Forms -, and that each of thefe, in their certain Periods of Time, {hould have a con- fcious Being, and many of them have an Op- portunity of becoming immortal, or of being ever afterwards confcious, in cafe they fhould obey their Maker's Laws; and that others, upon their Mifbehaviour and Difobedience, fhould be again remanded into their original Chains of Darknefs ; whilfl; fome may continue E 4 confcious 56 A MifceUaneous confcious in Mifery, and others be reduced to a dormant State, as feminal or^ animal Forms are, before they are confcious ? If this fhould happen to be the State of our vifible World, we fhould obferve a moft lovely Harmony in Nature, in a moft beautiful Chain of Providence, going on by infenfible Grada- tions of Being, through immenfe Space and Duration, from the fmalleft Particle of Matter, to the moft fublime angelic Forms ^ and by this Scheme Generation may be accounted for, which otherwife cannot be eafily conceived, without a conftant Exertion of the Almighty Power in creating Beings each Moment. Let us but confider this beautiful Chain of Beings we obferve, or conceive, in the World ; and try if we can find a Stop or Chafm, from the higheft Seraph to the loweft Particle of Matter : For if we begin at the lower End of the Chain, and rife by degrees to the angelic State, we fhall find fuch a Gradation of Beings, and fuch a Capacity of Beings rifing in Enjoy- ment and Life, as muft give infinite Pleafure; and yet we cannot tell where to flop, or w^here we can break off. Thus let us obferve the leaft indivifible Atom, or Particle, with its Power of Attrac- tion, Cohefion, Elafticity, &c, and a Power of Compreflion and Dilatation, and confe- quently a Power of putting on different Forms in Nature ; and confider it in its loweft Capaci- ty, in Stones, Salts, Earths, and metalline Forms, Metaphyfical EfTay. 57 Forms, and obferve what Appearances it puts on when reduced to a fluid State, by (hooting into Salts ; and we may obferve in it a Conatus to vegetate. We may obferve in all Fermen- tations, which in many Things we call Cor- ruption, but rather ought to be called the Parent of Vegetation, or Generation • and even that Erugo we obferve upon Metals ; and there we fhall find a low Degree of Vegetation, fomewhat above the fimple Shooting of Salts : Let us next obferve the Mold upon lefs denfe Bodies, fuch as Books ; and thefe Molds dif- cover plainly vegetable Forms 5 nay even the Mold upon Excrements is Vegetation. The Mofles, Fungus's, Corals, &c. come next in View, and fo by degrees, until we come to the higheft Perfection of Vegetation, in Trees, Flowxrs, and Fruit. Let us next obferve the loweft Degree of animal Life, in Infeds, Fifh, &c, and try if we can break off the Chain betwixt animal Life and Vegetation : The fenfitive Plant has apparently as much Senfe as the Zoophyta^ or Sea Jellies, and the animal Plants fixed in the Bottom of the Sea : The late Difcoveries made on the Polype^ a Water-Plant, or Lifedl, which partakes of both Natures fo as not to know properly to which it moft belongs, having local Motion, and feeding as Animals, and yet is propagated and generated from Buds or Slips ; each Part, when divided, becoming a perfed: Infeft, and producing others by Buds which feparate 58 A Mifcellajieous feparate from it, and become Self-movers ; this feems intimately to conned the Links be- twixt Animals and Plants : Thus, from the lowefl: infenfible Motion in thefe Fifli and In* feds, we may rife gradually to the more lively and adive of the Brute Creation, and obferve how Perceptions and fenfitive Enjoyments im- prove, without breaking the Chain \ what Care, what Solicitude, and what PafTions^ pre- vail in the Brute Creation, until at laft, what we call Inftind, in them, fhews a lower Degree of Reafon ; they have, no doubt, Memory, Refledion, and a leiTer Degree of Reafon ; but are not made capable of a Chain of Thought, and consequently are not account- able for their Adions. Let us then proceed to the Human Species, and obferve in Fools and Madmen how near they approach to Brutes. In Infancy they are even lefs capable of exerting Reafon, or of do- ing any thing for their own Defence. From thence let us obferve how far the human Genius can raife its Thoughts and Perceptions, and make ufe of its in telledual Powers, though confined to this Globe i and we may obferve as near a Link between the beft and wifeft Men, and Angels, or fuperior Beings, as there is between any of the lower Orders of Vege- tables, Brutes, ^c. We may further conceive fuperior Orders of Being, inhabiting our Atmo- fphere, invifible to us, endowed with greater Capacities, and fuperior Powers j and the farther Metaphyfical Effay. 59 farther we pafs from thefe Earths, or material Globes, into the purer asthereal Spaces, we have Reafon to believe the fuperior intelligent Orders of Spirits are endowed with greater Ca- pacities and Powers, and are capable of more Enjoyments, and a greater Degree of Glory; and lb on in a progreffive Series upwards, as far as Thought can reach, and yet infinitely fliort of the Divine Being. At the fame time that we obferve this beautiful Chain of Beings, from the Nature of the Beings which furround us, w^e have no Reafon to believe that they WTre all created at firft in the fime Degree and Station, and in the Enjoyment of fenfitive or rational Life, which we now obierve many of them in ; but that fome Beings who may not yet be con- fcious, may hereafter become fo ; and chat Be- ings already confcious, having Freedom of Adion, may, by their Behaviour and Obedi- ence to their Creator's Will, have greater Faculties and Powers communicated to them, and be made capable of greater Degrees of Glory, and be exalted into the higher Station and Order of Beings ; and others, by Milbeha- viour, may lofe their Glory and Happinefs, and be degraded and confined to lower Orders of Being, fo far, as even to lofe Reafon and Thought, and fo be reduced to an inanimate and dormant State, in the Way we now fee material Beings around us. We 6o A Mi/cellafieous We may eafily conceive this, from the Ob- fervations we make in the animal and human Species : Inftances may be frequently given, where Men of great Capacities and Judgment have, by old Age and Infirmities, loft their Memory and Judgment fo far, as fome have forgot their own Names. In Sleep we retain very little Senfation, or Perception -, in Swoon- ings, Convulfions, and Lethargies, though the Soul ftill remain in the Body, yet all Percep- tion is loft, and we are, in a manner, inanimate. How we are to be after Death, until the Re- furredion, may not be eafily determined : It feems probable to fome, that we may have thin airy Vehicles, and may retain our Senfations and Confcioufnefs -, nor may it be at all incon- fiftent with our eternal Happinefs, to fuppofe we may be in a dormant State until that time, as it is probable we have been in it, from the Creation until our Birth ; for as the Time from the Mofaic Creation until our Birth is but a Point to Eternity, fo our being in a dor- mant State for Ages to come, until the Refur- reclion, and Reftoration of all Things, is no- thing to Eternity, and is to be confidered in a glorious Immortality afterwards, no more than if we had flept a Night. When we confider the Soul in the Fo^tus^ before the Birth, that it is a living Spirit, capable of Thought, Con- fcioufnefs, and Reflection ; and yet at that time has hone, nor perhaps any Perception ; and that the Soul then has little more than a felf- movinsr Metaphyjical Effay. 6i moving Power, fuch as Vegetables have, of expanding and unfolding their Vehicles, until their Organs are fitted and enlarged, and then by degrees its Senfations and Faculties appear ; when we confider, that this vivifying Spirit, or Principle, has had a Being, and was felf-* moving at the Time of Conception, as well as afterwards, when it comes to the Birth ; and fince, by the Improvement of GlafTes, we now fee that thefe fpiritual and feminal Forms are in the Seed of the Male before Coition and Conception 5 we have great Reafon to believe, that all the Souls of Men, and of all Animals, and the feminal Forms of Plants, have bqcn created from the Beginning, and perhaps long before the Mofaic Creation. And this feems agreeable to the Apparatus of all Beings around us, and more agreeable to the Difpenfations of Providence ; for let us confider the feveral Ways of our Souls animating our earthy Ve- hicles, or human Bodies, that have generally been thought of; and afterwards obferve which feems moil confident, and is moft agreeable to the Difpenfation of an all- wife Providence. The general Notion that at prefent prevails, is, that after Conception, when the Body of the Fcetus is formed, God Almighty creates a Soul, and injedls it into the Body, and from that Moment the Body is animated. But dees this feem confiftent, that the all-wife, juft, and good God, {hould daily exert his Almighty Power, and create an immaculate and fault- kfs 62 A Mtfcellaneous lefs Soul, of an angelic Nature, and place it in a corrupt Body, liable to all the Frailties, Paffions, and Ii:ifirmities, we are fubjeft to, in our Sojournment in this Globe, from the Power our plaflic Nature has over our rational and fpiri- tual Soul ; and that thefe fpiritual Beings (hould be daily liable to offend him, and to be guilty of Sin, and liable to Death, and future Punifh- ment, and yet not have natural Powers fufiici- ent to preferve themfelves from Sin and Punifli- mant ? Or can we fuppofe our great God fo far concurring v/ith adulterous and inceftuous Pollutions, as to exert his Almighty Power daily, and injed: a Soul into the Foetus form'd by their Ad of Coition ? This feems in- confiftent with the divine moral Reditude of the Deity, and would feem to be a Sandtion to their Actions : I muft therefore differ from thofe who are of this Opinion, fince another Way may be found more agreeable to the Ways of Providence. It does not feem agreeable to Divine Wifdom, that God Almighty ihould daily, at each Con- ception, create an animal, and efpecially a human Soul, and inftil it into the Fcetus^ which by fome Accident becomes immediately after an Abortion, fo that the Soul by its Cre- ation has had no animal Enjoyment, and reaped no Benefit from its Creation on this Globe \ and it would ftill appear more inconfiftent with the Divine Wifdom and Goodnefs, if it were made liable to Original Sin, according to our common Metaphyseal Eflay. 63 common Interpretation of it ; nay, a Creation in fuch a Situation would feem nugatory, or appear to be a Weaknefs in the Deity, as if it were impradiicable to create a rational Soul, without injeding it into a Fcetus in the Womb ; for, fuppofing the Soul continued confcious from its Creation to the general Refurredion, is it not equal to it whether it was from that Moment it was injeded, or from the firft Creation of Beings ? Or, Ihould it be in a dor- mant State, from the Abortion to the Refur- redion, might it not have been fo from the Mofaic Creation, or for a longer Period ? Or if Souls are only confcious of their own paft Ac- tions, and have no Communication with ex- ternal Beings, whilft unembodied, until the Refurredion, as many imagine, then on what could fuch a Soul refled, having had no Time for Thought or Reflection, from its Creation to its Separation from the Fcetus? Or, if it had Sen- fations or Communication with external Beings when unembodied, why might it not have had the fame, had it been created earlier, without even entering the human Fcetus'? So that a Cre- ation of an animal Soul juft to enter a Fcetus^ and inftantly to be removed by Abortion, would feem nugatory 5 and to create it merely to make it peccant, according to the common Interpretation of the Adamic Lapfe, would feem to be cruel and unjuft 5 fo that, in what- ever Light it be taken, it feems more agreeable to Divine Wifdom, that the Soul fliould be 5 created, 64 A Mifcellaneous created earlier, at leaft as foon, if not fooner than thofe Particles of Matter to which it is united. The next Opinion is, that our Souls were all originally in the firfl Ada?n ; and that both our Spirits and Bodies are all come from him; and, by throwing oft one Tegument or Skin af- ter another, at each Conception, we at laft ap- pear in the World in the Condition we are nowin: But this feems to be too much of a Piece with theMaterialifts, who may believe our Souls, like Matter in their Conception, divifible infinitely; for this would confirm their Hypothefis, that our Souls are material, and infinitely divifible ; and that there are Souls within Souls, looking backwards as far as Thought can reach ; for Myriads of Millions are included in the Vehicle of one, nnce fo many Souls or Animalcules are thrown off at each ACt of Copulation, as we now obferve by Microfcopes, when in the leaft Drop of the Semen there are fuch furprifing Numbers feen. This would alfo confirm their Opinion, who imagine, that Souls take up no Room or Place in Space, by being infinitely fmall J and may thus, in a manner, be con- ceived not to be any- where : Whereas, from the Pov;^ers we obferve in ourfelves, and other fpiritual Beings, we muft take up Room, and be extended in Space, fince we ad: in a limited Part of it. The laft and moft agreeable Hypothefis, which feems more confiftent with the Apparatus of all Things Melaphyjical Efiay. 65-- Things about us, is, That our Souls have had a Being long before our Appearance in this Stage of Life ; that we have had our Being fince the firfl Creation of all Things, perhaps an inde- finite Series of Ages before the Mofaic Crea- tion ; and that as we find our Souls immortal for the time to come, or at leaft in Being, tho' perhaps in a dormant State, until the Re- furredion, as being indivifible and indifcerpible^ fo our Beings have been from the firfl Creation of the Angelic Orders of Being, when tk^ Morning Stars fuJig together ^ and all the Sons cfGodJhoutedforyoy: That fome of thefe Beings, particularly human Souls, have been confcious heretofore, and, by the Freedom of their Wills, may have erred : They may have been perhaps too vain-glorious of their Facul- ties, and have not given the due Submiffion they ought, to the Commands laid upon them by their Almighty Creator ; and fo may have lain dormant, in a quiefcent State, from the Mofaic Creation ; and may thus have been doom^d to our earthy Vehicles, as to a State of Trial and Probation here : And this may be what is meant in Scripture by the Fall of Adain^ and the Reconciliation made by our -Blefled Redeemer, to flrengthen and fupport us in our Pilgrimage here. This is the Reafon why we are reprefented, in Holy Writ, as Strangers feeking our Way home to our native Country : But had we never been Inhabitants of that heavenly Paradife before the Mofaic F Creation 5 66 A Mifcellaneous Creation ; or if our Souls were only created at or after Conception here, or even at the Forma- tion of Ada?n ; we had no Pretenfions to call the aethereal Regions our Home, or be faid to return to it. Nor is it at all inconfiftent, that we fhould be deprived of the Knowlege or Re- membrance of what we were before our En- trance into thefe our earthy Manfions ; fince, in many Inftances, we forget what daily hap- pens to us ; and, when dormant, we forget moft of the Tranfadions of our Lives : Nay, our Saviour's Soul, which we allow pre-exifted, forgot many of his Tran factions, and his Know- lege of Things before, or he could not, from his Birth, be faid to increafe in Knowlege, as well as in Stature. It is alfo coniiftent with the Wifdom and Juftice of God, to deprive us of Life and Thought for a Series of Ages, and afterwards to reftore us to what Proportion of Life, Senfa- tions, and Memory, he pleafes ; and give us a Capacity of reftoring ourfelves again to his Favour, by reconciling us to himfelf by his only Son our Redeemer. This alfo opens that divine Lock of Providence, and anfwers the Obje6lions of fuch as cannot conceive we could fuffer for the Sins of Adam^ our firft Parent, v/hen v/e had no Being, or at leaft were not confcious ; or that God Almighty fhould create or imprifon an immaculate Soul in a corrupt Body, liable to daily Tranfgrelfions, Pains, and Difeafes; which, for want of fufficient Helps and Metaphyfical Effay. 67 and Power over its Paffions, is in Danger of being doom'd to eternal Punifhment. But if we fuppofe we have had a former Being, and have difobeyed our Creator, and forfeited his Favour ; then it is highly confiftent with his Wifdom and Juftice, to doom us to thefe earthy Habitations : And it is infinitely good in him, to allow us a State of Probation here, to reconcile us again to his Favour. And it is alfo highly agreeable to Realbn, that our Souls, ac- cording to the Degree of our former Sins, fhould ad: here in the Formation of our Bodies, and may be the Occafion of the Predominancy of the Paffions of fome againft all Precept and Example \ and that it is the original Vices of our Souls, which get the better of us and our Reafon here j and which often may be the Oc- cafion of the Infirmities of our Bodies, which often accompany us from our Cradles to our Graves. This pre-exiflent State is alfo agreeable to feveral Texts of Holy Writ, and to the Opi- nion of the Learned among the 'Jews ; particu- larly "^ob xxxviii. 21. where God, expofiulate- ing with "Job about his Knowlege of Things at the Creation, fays, Knowefl thou it becaiife tkou waji then born, or becaufe the Number of thy Days is great? And in the viiith of the ^Z^//- dom oi Solomon^ 19th and 20th, Solomon is in- troduced faying, For I was a witty Child ^ and had a good Spirit ; yea^ rather bei?ig good^ I came into a Body undefiled. Nor did our Sa- F 2 viour 68 A Mifcellaneous viour contradid or blame the Jews, when they asked him, whether it was the bhnd Man, or his Father, that had finned, which had occa* fioned his being born bhnd ^ fo that he did not difcountenance the Opinion of Pre-exiftence. Thus then, from the former Peccancy of the Soul, Ambition, Lull:, Anger, Malice, En- vy, Covetoufnefs, &c. may be the Leaders of the Soul in this State ; and, according to the Predominancy of thefe, may the Organs of the Body be framed ; for the Paffions of the Soul are often read in the Features and Form of the Perion: From, hence proceeds Phyiiognomy. And thus the Meaning of the Fall of Adam^ which was concealed from the Vulgar by Mo- fes under a Veil, as being not neceffary for them to know, may be made confident with the higheft Notions of the Wifdom and Juftice of God : And the driving Adam and Kve out of Paradife, and giving them Coats of Skins to hide their Nakednefs, was no more than the confining the Souls of lapfed Mankind to thefe our earthy Bodies, or taking Flefli upon us, and confining us to this Globe : And the hiding Gur Nakednefs, was the concealing our former State from us ; for we had been inexpreffibly more miferable, if we had retained the Me- mory of our former Glory, and paft Actions ; and probably could not have gone thro' our State of Probation here. Thus God Almighty, before or at the time of the Mojdic Creation, deprived our Souls of their Metaphyfical Effay. 69 their former Confcioufnefs and Glory; and con- fined our Soulsj and all other animal and plan- tal Souls, or feminal Forms, to this and other Globes around us, and left our Souls in a quief- cent or dormant State ; and has in time allow'd thefe Souls, or feminal Forms, to vegetate and inflate fen fitive Beings ; and in due time, by Generation, to become confcious ; and, by ex- panding themfelves in proper Nidus's^ to ani- mate and command human Bodies : Nor is the Continuance of this dormant State of the Soul, from the Creation until this time, ^ny more than a Moment in Eternity ; nor is it more than as a momentary Sleep to the Soul. And thus may be interpreted that deep Sleep which fell upon Adarn^ or the Souls of Men, upon the Formation of Kve^ the plaftic Nature, or the Bodies of Men, which may properly be called the Mother of Mankind in this State ; as Adam, the Father, is the adlive generating Principle the Soul. I have already obferved, that the Beings of Men and Angels confift of three Natures and Powers ; viz. The fupreme Intelligence of Thought, Refledion, Reafon, Memory, &c. The Second, the animal fenfitive Being, by which that Principle perceives, and unites with, the fenfitive World : This makes us focial, by a Communication of Ideas and Thoughts with other Beings around us : And the Third, our vegetative plaftic Nature, which makes us oc- cupy a certain Proportion of Space, and gives F 3 us 70 A Mifcellamous us a vlfible Form in this World ; which afts and vegetates without our Knowlege, or our having any confiderable Pov/er over it : In this are feated our Paflions, which often get the better of our Reafon, or intelledual Being. In this Divifion of our Nature, the confcious, re- flecting, reafoning Part, the Contempiator of the Divine Being, may be called the Male, or Adam ; and the focial Part, with the Seat of the Paffions, and vegetating plaftic Nature, may be called Eve^ or the Female: From whence Woman is called the w^eaker Veffel : And hence is the Allegory of the Serpent's firft tempting £^' which by fome Paffions boils up into a Fever, by others lofes its Motion, or is much retarded ; as in Tremors of Fear, in Fainting, and Swooning. The other Pleafures arifing from the plealing Paf- fions, the Exultations of Joy, the Titillations which Metaphyseal EfTay. 83 which occafion Laughter, the Douceurs of Love, and Pleafures which arife from the Em- braces of different Sexes, throw the Blood at once into an agreeable Motion, and frequently carry off Reafon, and govern our Wills. This plaflic Power, in our Nature, has its Seat in the Heart, which at once gives fuch fudden Emotions to the Blood and Spirits ; and over thefe Faffions the airy Demons may have great Power, without entering into, or acflua- ting the human Body : The Seat of the fenfi- tive Power, by which alfo we furni(h Ideas to the intelligent Soul or Nature, by our Senfes, of Seeing, Hearing, &c, which give us Mate- rials for Refleftion and Memory, which is alfo the Centre of Union betwixt our Reafon and Paffions ; and binds and connefts the thinking Being to other external Beings around us, and fo makes us focial, and alfo directs all the vo- luntary Motions of the Body -, the principal Seat of that Power muft be in the Head, where is the Origin of the Nerves ; there all the Senfations unite, which are made by the Motion of external Objects around us, llriking upon the feveral Organs of our animal Ma- chine : There the Rays of Light, which form the Images in the Retina of the Eye, are re- fledted and carried to the common SejiJ'orium : There alfo are brought the Vibrations made by the elaflic Fluid the Air upon the Tympa?7U?n of the Ear ; and there alfo Sm^ls and Taftes are conveyed from the feveral Effliroia of fur- G 2 rounding 84 A Mifcellaneotis rounding Bodies, which are all Touches or Motions finely variegated, fo as to give different Senfations. In this common Senjo Hum is feated the animal Soul, which like a fkilful Organift, playing upon the feveral Stops, actuates and diredts the Motion of the Body at pleafure, as long as the animal Machine is in Health and Vigour : When by Obftruttions the Body is out of Order, as in Gout, Rheumatifm, or Palfy, then the Soul has no Power over thofe Parts afFeded, until Health be reftored, and thefe Obftacles removed. This fenfitive Soul muft be extended, and elaftic, in order to begin and diredt the Motion of the Nerves, or animal Spirits ; and fo may be comprefled and dilated, and by too much A(ftion may lofe fomewhat of its Power, and may require Reft or Sleep to re- ftore its elaftic Force ; for I cannot think, that it is the animal Spirits alone, which are in- creafed by Nourifhment, and are Part of the animal Machine, that want to be reftored ; but that even the Soul itfelf wants Time to reftore its Power, otherwife every Senfe would not be equally loft in Sleep, but only fuch of them as had been moft ufed, and wanted a Recruit ; for if the Soul itfelf did not of itfelf retire from animating, or ading in the Body, it might continue its Power over fuch of the Senfes as had not been much employed : But I appre- hend, that when the Soul exerts its Power in moving the Body, it dilates itfelf beyond its ordinary Bounds, by extending itfelf towards .4 the Metaphyftcal Eflay. 85 the Nerves it moves \ and when it exerts that Force too long, the liirrounding Fluid, or Body, prefles upon the Ventricle of the Brain, wherein is its Seat ; and the Soul, by being too much preffed, in its Turn, retires into itfelf, and lofes its Senfations. When this is only done moderately. Slumbers enfue, and the Soul is taken up with pleafing incoherent Imagina- tions, which we call Dreams -, which are occa- iioned by the different Vibrations, and Degree and Nature of the Preffure of the Brain upon the Soul : If it be preffed more ftrongly, then a deep Sleep follows without Dreams, the fine Vibrations being flopped, which Noifes or Pu(hes can fcarce remove : If it be very ftrongly compreffed, then follow Swoonings, Convul- IJons, Apoplexies, ^c, and by the ftagnating of the Juices around, even Death itfelf : And hence it follows, that at Death, or what we apprehend to be fo, the Soul does not imme- diately quit its earthy Vehicle ; but may lie dormant in it, for a confiderable time, with- out any Senfation, even until the Body is cor- rupted ; and this we may judge, from fome who have recovered from Apoplexies, Lethar- gies, and Coma's, long after all outward Warmth or Breathing ceafed, by extraordinary Rubbings, and applying Warmth and Fire out- wardly, to give Motion to the ftagnated Fluids ; whereas, if nothing had been done, the Soul would not have animated the Body again, nor could we, in fuch a Cafe, precifely tell, when G 3 the 86 A M'lfcellaneous the Soul broke thro' its earthy Prifon, and took its Flight : And what confirms my Belief, that too great a Comprefllon of the Soul in its Seat in the Brain takes away all Senfation and Confcioufnefs, is, that the Animalcule that impregnates the Partus has no Senfations until the Infant is born, when it is increafed fo far, as to allow fufficient Room in the Ventricle, for the Soul to expand itfelf, and adl : We alfo find, that all our Powers and Faculties increafe until we are full-grown : That Perfons of a dry Conflitution are more witty and volatile, from the Sou Is not being fo much prefled by Moifture in the Brain ; and if that Drynefs be too much, or the Ventricle be violently agita- ted by Heat, Ecftafies, Deliriums, and Mad- nefs, enfue : If^ on the contrary, it has too much Moifture, Lethargies, Palfies, and Apo- plexies, follow : And thus fome have been re- covered, when apparently dead, in Apoplexies, by applying a red-hot Iron to the Head, to niife a Blifter, and draw off that Moifture, which prefled upon the Soul in the Ventricle, and deprived it of Motion and Senfation. This feems to make it highly probable, that the Ventricle in the Brain is the chief Seat of the Soul ; and that Confcioufnefs, Thought, Reafon, Refledion, and Memory, are only in Aft when the Soul has Liberty properly to ex- pand itfelf; and, when it is too much com- preffed, all Confcioufnefs and Memory ceafes : \Q that the Soul is not a thinking Subftance, or Being, Metaphyjical Eflay. 87 Being, whilft confined to any earthy Vehicle, but* capable of Cogitation, and that according to the Machine or Vehicle it is united to, and the Room it takes up in Space, by its Exten- fion. From hence it may be probable, that our Souls after Death do not immediately take their Flight to Heaven, or the scthereal Regions, but may lie in a dormant State, without being con- fcious, untii the Refurredtion and Reftoration of all Things ; for if we had a Being from or before the Mofaic Creation, and have been in a dormant or quiefcent State, until our Birth, why may we not continue fo after Death, until the Refurreftion ? For, to a Perfon reftored to his Life and Confcioufnefs at the Refurreftion, it is no more feemingTime loft to him, than if he had flept but one Night ; for all is but a Point in eternal Duration ; and a Perfon raifed out of a Lethargy or Apoplexy, if he had lain a Month, would think it but a Moment. If this Hypothefis feems probable, and the Soul, by being feated in the Ventricle of the Brain, at the Origin of the Nerves, plays the Machine the Body, and, by being too much comprefled, lofes its Power and Senfc, it may be eafy to account how the Body may be poffeffed by aereal Demons, or other fuperior Powers 5 for fuch fpiritual Forms as have airy, thin Vehicles, may pafs by the Interftices or Overtures in the human Body, into the Ven- tricle of the Brain 3 and there, by its fuperior G 4 Power^ 88 A Mifcellaneous Power, may comprefs the Soul of the Animal, whether Man or Brute, as in the Cafe of their entering into the Swine. The Soul, by being thus compreffed, is made fenfelefs, or becomes dormant ; and the Demon, playing upon the Nerves, animates the Body, fpeaks and ads as the human Soul did : And this feems plainly the Cafe of Demoniacs, who in many Inftances have done furprifing Things ; for the Demon, knowing the mechanical Powers of the human Machine, will enable the Body to perform Adions, which the human Soul, thro' its Terrors and Fears, dare not venture upon, and to feme may appear miraculous. A De- mon may alfo animate a dead Carcafe before it be corrupted, whilft the Motion of the Blood may be rertored, as long as the Organs are per- fect, and the Nerves in a Condition to adt. The Hypothefis of the Soul's being in a quiefcent State from Death until the Refur- redtion, is not, I think, inconfiftent with Rea- fon or Revelation ; ior the fingle Inftancc of the Thief upon the Crofs, to whom our Sa- viour faid, I'his Day you jhall be with me in Paradife, upon hi$ acknowleging his Divinity, is no Precedent, more than the Tranflation of Enoch, or Eli as being carried up in a Chariot to Heaven, are Precedents that we fhall not die. But as the Arguments for this Opinion, both from Reafon and Revelation, will take up too much Room here, I refer it to the j^ppendix^ where I propofe to confider it more at Metaphyfical Eflay. 89 at large. However, I think the Dodrine of the Refurreftion of the Body may be much eafier accounted for by it : For the intelligent feniitive Soul, being kept dormant by the Compreffion of the furrounding Bodies at Death, at the laft Judgment, the Time appointed by God, being freed and releafed from that Weight, and being again free, with its plaftic Nature, to inflate another Body or Machine, or even the fame, tho' not filled with earthy Particles, but with a luminous, aethereal, elaftic Fluid, not liable to Corruption, as our Saviour ap- peared in at his Transfiguration, and afterwards at his Afcenfion -, I fay, it may not only enjoy all its former Senfations, but alfo be reftored to the Knowlege and Remembrance of all its part Adions 3 and then be made liable to its final Doom of eternal Happinefs, or Mi- fery. And this Body or Machine, inflated by a Soul, having the fame Senfations and Paf- fions, is as much the fame Perfon, and it may be called the fame Body as much, as before ; For all thefe Particles in our Solids, as well as Fluids, are now liable to perpetual Repairs and Changes -, and yet the Body is ftill the fame 5 for the Body, properly, is only the Stame?!^ or Vehicle, which contained and difpofed of thefe earthy Particles ; and is the fame in the Fcetus^ or in the Animalcule, at Conception, as when increafed to the utmofi: in time of Manhood : For as the Soul, in its interior Ve- Jiicle, is the intelligent percipient Beings fo the 90 A Mifcella7ieous the Body, the outward Vehicle, and animal Machine, feems to be the plaftic Nature, and Seat of the Paffions, which connedts the Soul to other lurrounding Beings, and makes it fo- cial : Whilft that continues the fame, it is the fame Body, whether filled with terreftrial Par- ticles, or with an aethereal, elaftic, luminous Fluid. This is not only philofophical, but agreeable to St. Paul's, incomparable Account of the Refurredion, wherein he fhews, there are Bodies cekjlial^ and Bodies terrejlrial 3 that there is one Kind of FleJJo of Fipy another of Birds, &c. which fhews, that the feveral Juices that inflate the Body or Vehicle are very dif- ferent, and yet the Body is the fame, with whatever Juices it is filled : Which is a full Anfwer to all the vain chimerical Objedlions made againft the Refurredlion ; as, That the human Body may be devoured by Canibals^ and be turned into their Nourishment, and fo become Part of their Body ; and thus belong to two Perfons at the Refurredion. It may as well be objected, that Infants or Abortions muft be raifed with the Bodies of Infants, or as fmall as the Feet us -, and that old Men, dy- ing of a Decay, will appear in the fame wi- thered decayed Body : But, fince none of the Juices, nor Solids formed from the Juices, are eflential Parts of the Body, the whole Objedion vanifhes at once -, and the Dodrine of the Refurredion is confiftent with the moft fub- lime Metaphyftcal Effay. 91 lime philofophical Notions, and alfo to the Reafon of any confiderate thinking Man. Thus the Body, as it was the Caufe of the Lapfe of Man in his paradifaical State, and of all the Pains he fufFers here in his State of Pro- bation ; fo after the Refur reft ion, to thofe who have behaved well, and improved their Time, it will be the Caufe of a vaft Increafe of Joy and Pleafure to eternal Ages : Whilft thofe who mifbehave in this State, fliall be again re- manded back to their Prifons, and fuffer in the general Conflagration of this Globe, which is called the fecond Death ; and, according to the Enormity of their Crimes, they may, at Inter- vals, be confcious, and fuffer different Degrees of Punilliment, or may remain in an inaftive dormant State ; whilfl: Devils, and fuch as are fuperlatively wicked, may continue confcious, and endure perpetual Torments : But who can live in ever lofting Burnings ? So, perhaps, for ever may only be an indeterminate Series of Ages, as it is in moft Places of Scripture to be underflood. CHAP. 92 A Mifcellaneous CHAP. VII. Wherein the Hypothejis of the Atomical Philofo^ phy^ or Creation of Jpiritual and material Monads^ are more at large confidered ; with fome Quaeres tending to clear up the Hypo-^ thefis : A?id an Attempt to account for At- traBion and Cohejion upon the foregoing Prifi- ciples, HAVING thus curforily treated of the Hypothefis I have advanced, which feeniB to agree both with Scripture and Reafon -, by which it feems probable, that the feveral Par- ticles of Beings around us are fpermatical and vital, and not made of mere paffive Matter, fupported by mechanical Laws ; and that our Souls have pre-exifted, as well as other Beings, for an indeterminate Number of Ages ; evqn long before the Mofaic Account of the Forma- tion of this Globe j I fliall endeavour to ex- plain this Hypothefis, and to (hew more at large, that it is confiftent not only with Rea- fon, but with the Divine Account of Things in Holy Writ. In order to this, I fhall offer fome Poflulates, and propofe fome ^ioeres, to be thought of, aad to be difcuffed 3 which, if they be thought probable, fince the whole Hypothefis is but coa-n Metaphyjical Eflay. 93 conjefturalj fomething further may be built upon them. Firft then, all finite, dependent, and created Beings muft be bounded and limited in Space, yet occupying and filling a Part of it; and con- fequently muft have Amplitude and Figure ; for what is infinitely great or little can have no Figure : For as what is infinitely great fills all Space, fo what is infinitely little occupies no Part of Space, and can have no Figure, nor exift in Space. All created finite Beings muft either be ori- ginally individual indifcerpible Subftances or Atoms, filling a greater or lefl^er Proportion of Space, or Beings compounded of fuch Atoms^ united ^nd joined together. What we call Matter, or Body, feems to be a Compound of two or more of thefe Atoms, and not of Particles infinitely divifible ; which feems liable to great Abfurdities : For a mental Divifion of fuch Atoms does not give difcer- pible Parts, more than a mental Divifion of in- finite Space divides Space, and makes two In- finites out of one, or feparates the two Halves fo mentally divided. Thefe firft-formed Atoms, or Individuals, out of which the Syftems around us are framed, may have been formed orginally by God of different Powers, Capacities, and Amplitudes ; confequently fome of them may occupy a greater Place in Space than others : Some may have been formed fo, as always to retain the famQ 94 -^ Mifcellaneous fame Figure, and fill an equal Space, whilft others may have Powers of altering their Figure, of dilating and contrading themfelves, fo as uniformly to fill a greater or leffer Part of Space ; and this by an inherent Power of Self- motion: Whilft other Particles, or individual Beings, may have their Figures altered, or be comprefTed by Impulfe, or dilated by an exte- rior Force of Beings in Contact with their own Power, if they have any, fubmitting to the ex- terior Power or Force. Thefe Particles, if any fuch there are, which, by an adamantine Hardnefs, prevent their Change of Figure, or Capacity of Contradtion aad Dilatation, may be capable of only three Dimenfions, "viz. Length, Breadth, and Thick- nefs, fuch as we attribute to Matter or Body 5 whilft the other Particles or Monads, capable of Contradiion and Dilatation, may be con- ceived to have a fourth Dimenfion, diftind: from Body, Spiffitude ; by which, as the three other Dimenfions are leflened, the eflential Spiffitude is increafed -, and as they are inlarged, it is leflened : Whereas, in Bodies incapable of Contradiion and Dilatation, if the Length is {hortened, the Breadth or Thicknefs is in- creafed ; and if both Length and Breadth be decreased, then the Thicknefs muft be increafed in proportion to the other's Decreafe : If there are Particles perfedtly non-elaftic, and inca- pable of PreflTare, as Water is fuppofed to be, then it is only capable of thofe three Dimen- fions i Metaphyfical Eflay. 95 fions ; but in all Particles that are elaftic, ef- fential Spiflitude feems to take place, by which the three Dimenfions are forced into the fourth ; which Spiflitude, by its innate Power of Self- motion, it endeavours to leflTen again, and ex- pand itfelf ; and fo gives itfelf a new and dif- ferent Motion, in a different or contrary Di- reftion. To this Power, in Spirits, of Contradlion and Dilatation, or its fourth Dimenfion, Spif- litude, it is objeded, that a Monad, or Being without component Parts, cannot alter its Form or Figure ; and confequently cannot take up or fill a larger Sphere, and again re-enter into it- felf 3 for that fuppofes component Parts, which, by changing their Situation in refpedl to each other, upon the altering the Figure of the Mo- nad, muft glide by each other ; and confequent- ly, as thefe, by altering their Situation, recede from, or approach to each other, they then be- come divifible, and of courfe difcerpible. To this it may be anfwered, That a finite Spirit, being extended, muft have Figure ; and tho' the intelledual Monad, being moft minute, may not alter its Form, yet each Intelled: may, by the Deity, be infeparably united to an exte- rior Vehicle, which is indilcerpible ; and may not be compa6l, as a Sphere or Globe, but of various Figures, as in a Machine, the Figure of a Man, or oiher Animal ; that it may be like a Membrane, full of Cavities or Tubes, which may be inflated with the aethereal, or any other grofier 96 A Mifcellaneous grofler Fluid ; that when it is thus properly filled, it appears extended to the Bulk of its proper Form, and occupying the utmoll Space or Sphere of Adion appointed for it -, that, when it is emptied of the Fluid, it is contradl- ed into its fmalleft Dimenfions, and takes up little more than a phyfical Point in Space -, but whether in its contracted or dilated State, they are ftill impenetrable to each other, and indif- cerpible, tho' they may enter into the Cavities of each other when dilated : For Self-penetra- trability, in any other Senfe, may not be eafily accounted for, without allowing a fubtil fpiri- tual Fluid, fuch as we apprehend jEther to be, which equally fills infinite Space, and pervades probably every thing, being the almighty In- ftrument of the Deity, in which we live, and move, and have our Being : This Fluid, there- fore, mufl fill all the Cavities or Tubes of fuch Vehicle, when by Dilatation it radiates out- ward, and is expell'd by fuch adlive Being, up- on its Contra6Hon, or re-entering, as it were, into itfelf, by approaching its own Centre as much as polfible, or by its being forced toge- ther by a fuperior Power ; and this may be all the Self-penetrability it is capable of, which I here call Spilfitude ; and thus it may be ca- pable of a furprifing Contradion or Dilatation, and may extend its Figure, fo as to ad in a very large Sphere -, and the a^thereal elaftic Fluid, more elaftic than Light, may affift and add to its Power and Motion ; and^ when fully in- flated. Metaphyftcal EfTay. 97 flated, it may then become confcious, and have Senfations of external Beings ; and yet fuch Being may ftill be indifcerpible, being ftill con- tinuous, tho' it alters its Figure upon its greater Extenfion, by its many Angles or Curves at its utmoft Sphere of Aftion : For ihould its whole Subftance be penetrable by other finite Beings, without fuch Vacuities upon its Dilata- tion, then two or more Spirits might adequately fill or be extended in the fame Portion of Space, and ad there ; which feems abfurd in created limited Beings. According to my Conception of thefe Beings, at the time of the Creation, I fliould divide the original Monads, or indifcerpible Particles, into three Clailes : Firft, fuch as have a Power of Self-motion, Self-penetration, or Self-con- tradtion, and Dilatation ; by which means, by moving inwards, and entering into themfelves, they might contract themfelves into lefs Bounds perhaps than a Particle of Light, and by their Power of moving outward again, and dilating themfelves, they might radiate, and exert a Power, in a determined Sphere around them, according to the original Amplitude given to them by the Deity ; and thefe I call pure fpiritual Beings, or IntelledlSjCapableof Thought, and other intellectual Powers, tho' perhaps not always confcious, or enjoying Senfations ; and this Clafs may have either a Subordination of Powers, Capacities, and Amplitudes, from the highefl Intelligence or Seraph, to the lowell H plantal 98 A Mifcellaneous plantal Soul, and have their Powers of Self- motion and Penetration in proportion ;^or per- haps they may have equal Capacities, but may not have Power of exerting and enjoying them, but according to the Vehicle to which they are united ; and thefe Monads are the Beings mofi: perfecftly elaftic. The Second Clafs, or Species, are, of fuch Monads, or indifcerpible Particles, as may be Capable of Contraction and Dilatation by other Beings or Particles, but not from any Power widiin themfelves : Thefe may be alio of fpe- cifically different determined Figures, when properly inflated and filled, having a vaft Va- riety of Stops or Organs, whereby Confciouf- nefs and Senfations may be allowed or prevent- ed : Thefe may have fuch an Elafticity or Spring as Air and Wool have > and thefe I imagine to be the Vehicles of all created fpiri- tual Beings, from the highefl Orders of Seraphs, to the loweft animal and feminal Forms of Plants and FofTils > by which, according to their Stops or Organs, the Spirit united to it has a Power of Thought, Memory, Senfe, &c, or may, for w^ant of their having proper Organs, be deprived of Confcioufnefs and Senfations. The Third Clafs may be, of fuch Monads as are abfolutely non-elaftic, if fuch there be in Nature ; being minute Particles of various Figures, never to be altered, increafed, or di- miniflied ; and thefe may be attracted and co- here to the Monads of the Firft and Second 2 Clafs, Metaphyjical Effay. 5)9 Clafs, when united together ; or they may, by Impulfe, be obliged to obey the Laws of the Spirit of Nature, or the feveral Spirits, in their feveral Vehicles, throughout the Univerfe 5 and thus may affift in increafing the Habitations and Bodies of the feveral animal and plantal Souls, in thefe Orbs of Darknefs ; whilft the Vehicles of the fuperior Orders of Spirits are filled with lucid asthereal Particles, and confequently have higher Degrees of Senfation and Knowlege. ^cere. Whether the Monads, or Beings of the Firft and Second Clafs, may not make up the greateft Part of the Syftems of the Univerfe, or perhaps the Whole ? that is. Whether there be any indivifible Particles, perfectly non-elaftic and paffive, incapableof a Variation of Figure, in the World ? And whether or not all the Varieties in Nature, and Phaenomena of the feveral Syftems in the Univerfe, may not be framed of Beings of the Firft and Second ? For I apprehend, that the material Beings around us may be made up ^i fuch fpiritual Forms ajid Vehicles, not properly united together, or, where united, not having obtained a proper Nidus to receive Nourifti- ment, or Particles to inflate their Vehicle, and give them a proper Power of Adion : For thefe, lying in an una6live and infenfible State, may be attracted, and become Nouriihment to an Animal or Plant, which has found a proper Nidus^ wherein it may receive its Nouriiliment; and by that means it may become Part of the Solids which make up the Plant or Animal, H 2 until 100 A Mifcellaneous until they are again thrown off, either by th"c Perfpiration or Death of the Animal, or Plant, after its Corruption : So that, during that In- terval, they fubmit to the Laws given to them by the Divine Being, of Attradtion, Cohelion, Gravity, Elafticity, &c. ^icej'e. Whether the Beings of the Firfl Clafs are abfolutely without any Vehicle, by which they are limited to a Figure ? And whe- ther, without any Vehicle^ they can be con- fcious, or capable of Refledion within them- felves ? Or whether they be capable of con- templating the divine moral Perfections, tho* they may not be capable of outward Senfations ; and conlequently cannot be focial, or commu- nicate with created Beings ? Or whether there can be fuch created Beings as pure Noes, or In- telligences, without at leafl an interior Vehicle ? At prefent I am of Opinion, that unlefs they have fome inward ethereal V^ehicle, they are abfolutely in a State of Silence, and no- ways confcious ; and, tho' they may have a Power of Self-penetration, yet they have no Power to com- municate, or frame Ideas, withany other Beings around them. Shf^rey Whether fenfitive and focial Life, as well as plantal, proceeds not from the Beings .of the Firft Clafs inflating and filling up the Machines or Vehicles of tlie Second, by being intimately united to them? And whether, af- ter that Union, they can become confcious, or have Senfations^ yntil fuch Machine or Vehicle, having Metaphyseal Effay. loi liaving proper Organs, is properly ralfed or filled widi aethereal or other Particles ; by which means the Machine, by its proper Or- gans or Stops, conveys external Objedls to the confcious Intelligence within, for its animad- verting upon ? ^cere^ Whether Particles of Light are not Beings of the Firft Clafs, fpiritual Forms, in- difcerpible, affive, and valtly elaftic ; capable Gf changing their Form, and extending them- felves more or lefs in Space ; with a Power of attracfling and repelling, as well as of being at- tracted or repelled by, other Beings, or Particles, of what we call Matter ? Whether it be not alfo from their Elafticity that Light is caufed, and Colours from the Reflexion., and different Degrees of Refradlion, of the feveral Rays ? For each being an adive Monad, of a fpherical or elliptic Form., proceeding with a mofl rapid Motion, and ftriking againft a Particle at Reft, by its being capable of Compreffion, or moving inwards, it alters its Form upon Contad j and, by its Conatus again to extend itfelf to its former Fi^i-ure and Bulk, it o-ives a new Di^. redtion to its Motion, and flies off with almofl equal Velocity -, whilft the other Particle at Reft, being in Contaft, and adhering to other Particles, is reftored to its former Situatio;i; but does not fly away, as the Particle of Light, which was in a rapid Motion : Befides, its repelling Power might be then vaflly ftronger than its attractive Power. H 3 ^i^re^', 10 2 A Mifcellaiteous ^li^r^y Wliether this Reflexion or Elafti- city of the Rays of Light could poflibly be, if each Particle of Light, and each minute Par- ticle of Matter it touch'd, were made up of an infinite Number of divifible Parts, fuch as paffive Matter has been fuppofed to have ? Whether, if fo, upon Contact, its Motion would not ceafe, in cafe two Particles met in contrary Diredlions ? Or what could prevent thofe in- finite Number of Parts, of which each con- fided , from fcparating upon the Shock, when they met ? If then each Particle of Light is an aftivc indifcerpible Being, capable of Compreflion and Dilatation, and may have other Powers com- municated to it, or latent in it, feveral of which we find it has, as Elaffcicity, an attractive and repelling Power, &c. Why may we not fuppofe each a fpiritual or feminal Form, at fome time or other capable of entering a Vehicle or Ma- chine, of inflating and filling it, and of at- tracting fuch Particles as are capable of extend- ing the Machine, and of repelling fuch as are deftru(ftive to it ? ^icere, Whether all inflammable Bodies, fuch as Oils, Sulphurs, inflammable Spirits, Bitumen, and even Vitrifications, are not moftly made up of fuch Particles of Light, attracted and united to other Particles of Matter 5 and are capable of being dilunited and releafed from them by a proper Application of other Beings, Metaphyjical EfTay, 103 as by Fermentations, a proper Application of Fire, Gfr, ^cere^ Whether the minute Particles of Salts, nitrous, mineral, vegetable, or animal, are not Particles of the Second Clafs, not elaftic in fuch a manner as the Particles of Light are j but only fpringy, as we find Air is, to fuch a a Degree, and no further; and may, perhaps, have no further Degree of Activity, but fuch as are communicated to them by Particles of Light, and other adlive Particles, as is very vifible in Explofions of Gunpowder, Thunder, Gfr. where, by the I^ndling of the Sulphur, and Motion and Activity of the Rays of Light, thofe Salts are inflated ; and, by extending their Form, they repel each other with a moft fur- prifing Force ? Doth it not then feem probable, that thefe Particles of Salts may be the Vehicles or Machines, into which fpiritual and feminal Forms, fuch as Rays of Light feem to be, may enter ; and, when they find a proper Nidus or Cicatricula to inlarge themfelves in, they may attradl other Particles which have not found a proper Ntdiis, and fo raife and fill their Ma- chines or Vehicles to their utmofl Extent ; and, by receiving NouriiLment through the proper Apertures into their Tubes, they may increafe their Vehicles or Bodies, fo as to appear in their feveral fpecifical Figures ? And thus may all the beautiful Fabrics of Vegetables and Animals be formed. H 4 If 104 ^ Mtjcellamom If we have Caufe to believe, that Particles of Light are fpiritual and feminal Forms, en- dowed Vv^ith a Power of Self-motion and At- traction, if they meet with Salts or Machines agreeable to them 3 and may alfo attrad: other Particles of Matter to raife and extend their Vehicle, when fix'd in a proper Nidus ; and alfo have a Power of repelling, or flying from, fuch Particles as are diiTimilar or difagreeable to their feveral Natures ; and that there may probably be a clofer Union betwixt Particles of the Firit and Second Clafs, that is, Vv'ith Sul- phurs and Salts, than betv/ixt Salts and Salts, &c, and that fome fpiritual Forms, when fix'd in a Vehicle, may have greater Power than others ; then vv'e may more eafily account for Cohefion and Fermentation by this Hypothefis, than by any other, by fimilar Particles attrad:- ing each other, and uniting with or entering fuch Vehicles as are agreeable to their Nature, by an inherent Sympathy j and, if they meet again with others more agreeable to their Na- ture, they quit the Hold of fuch as they were in Contad Vv'ith before, and rufh into Union with thofe they find more agreeable to them. By this Hypothefis I fhould endeavour to account for Cohefion and Fermentation after this manner : If there can be any Cohefion be- fore thefe fpiritual Monads enter into Vehicles, then I muft fuppofe two or more of them, ra- diating from their feveral Centers, of effential Spiilitude, by dilating themJelves from their Centers Metaphyfical Effay. 105 Centers to the Circumference of their Sphere of Adion, as far as their feveral Powers ex- tend : As each fwells outward, their Subftan- ces meet towards the Circumference of their Sphere, and mingle or blend thro' each other, in different Angles or Curves : If their Ori- ginal Natures are fimilar, which we call Sym- pathy in Nature, then they approach each other by moving their feveral Centers towards each other, and contracting, and more intimately blending their radiating Spheres, and, by an intimate Union, endeavour to bring their Centers together as near as poffible ; and the more fimilar they are, and the ftronger their fympathetic Energy, the clofer is their Union, and confequently their Cohefion ftronger, in- fomuch as fometimes they will rufli into each other, as the Magnet and Iron : For the fame Reafon, if their Natures are diffimilar, which we call Antipathies in Nature, then, upon their feveral Centers being brought towards each other by fome external Power, they exert their Motion outwards from their Cen- ters, by expanding themfelves ; and, inflead of blending their radiating Spheres, they, by their elaftic Force, repel each other -, This we call their fugitive Powder : And thefe different Powers, in the feveral Mafles of Matter, oc- cafion different De2:rees of Attradlion and Co- helion, and is the Caufe of all Fermentation, by fome Particles rulhing into Contadl with each other, while fome aie feparating and try- ing from each other. I have already obferved, that io6 A Mifcella?2eous that Particles of Light are the moft aftive of all Particles, or Atoms ; and I may venture to call them fpiritual Monads, or adive Beings ; and they feem to be as much unembodied, or without Vehicle, as any Spirit can be, having only an adive Power of Self-motion and Pene- tration, and of radiating outwards from its Centre, fo as to inlarge its Sphere, and occupy a larger Space. I have alfo obferved, that there are an almoft infinite Number of fpecifi- cally diftindt Monads, or Atoms, of the fecond Clafs, which may be called Vehicles or Ma- chines, of Forms, Organs, and Figures, in al- moft an infinite Variety, which are capable only of being extended to a determined Size and Figure, upon being filled or inflated by a fpiritual Monad. It is then queftionable, whether the fpiritual Particles of Light, un- embodied, have any more than an elallic Power of Repulfion, or can have Powers of Attraction and Cohefion, until they enter, and inflate, in Part at leafl:, thefe Vehicle or Machine- Atoms : And this I think is moft pro- bable ; for, in their feparate State, they are only capable of Self-penetration and Dilatation^ which makes them elaftic, but does not feem to have any determined Figure -, but when once a fpiritual Monad enters the Aperture of a Machine-Atom, the Machine-Atom being alfo indifccrpible, it is then in its Dilatation bounded by the Figure of its Vehicle, if it is at Liberty to expand itfelf by other furrounding Beings ; Metaphyseal Efiay. 107 Beings ; otherwife it can only extend itfelf in part, being confined by other Particles in Con- tad: with it, which may be either inflated, or not, by other fpiritual Monads : And it feems to be probable, that only when thus united, it is capable of Attraction, Cohefion, Magnet- ifm, Sfr. for thefe fpiritual Beings expanding themfelves in their Vehicles, according to their feveral Forms, appear in Figures of different Angles and Curves ; and thefe, when in Contad: with each other, by their curved Surfaces run- ning into each other, and thefe being kept in their Figures by the Power of the adive fpiritual Monad within, and alfo being indif- cerpible, they, like fo many Hooks, link them together ; and this feems to be the true Caufe of Cohefion ; and this continues as long as thefe aftive Alonads endeavour to extend their Ma- chines to their utmoft Limits ; but when other Monads, or Particles of Light, unembodied, are fet into a violent rapid Motion, w^hich oc- cafions Heat, they exert their elaftic Force in Numbers againft the embodied Particles ; and each perhaps having an equal Power, by forcing their Pafl^age thro* the embodied Par- ticles, which cohere together, they overpov/er them, and oblige tliem to retire inward, and feparate their Hold, which is the Caufe of Fermentation 3 which is no more than fepara- ting thofe embodied Particles by the Entrance of more unembodied Monads, fet into a vio- lent Motion by being crouded together : And thus io8 A Mtfcellamous thus the MalTes of Matter which cohere the iirongeil, fuch as Gold, ZSc, are made fluid by the Entrance of Light, fet into a violent vi- brating Motion, being made intenfely hot. ^£re^ Whether thefe unembodied Particles have different Powers, and can force other fpiritual Monads, already in Vehicles, out from ti>em, and enter them themfelves ; or whether a fpiritual Form, once entering a Vehicle, is confined to that Vehicle, until it goes thro' that State of Life in the Vehicle, allotted by the Divine Being ? The whole Mihtv feems to be in a manner filled with thefe fpiritual unembodied Particles, moftly in a quiefcent State, and only put on the Appearance of Light, when darted or re- flected downwards upon the Retina in the Eye, from the Sun, or Stars, or other fuperior Be- ings, or by Reflexion from other Particles of Matter ; for as they pafs along, otherwife di- reded, tliey fliew no Light at all in the iEther, nor would they in our Atmofphere, but from the Number of Machine-Atoms floating there, which reflect them downwards towards our Eyes, before the Sun appears above our Hori- zon ; for when they are crouded together in the Focus of a Burning-glafs, fo as in a Mo- ment to vitrify the denfell Metals, yet, when viewed fideways, they fhew no Light, but what is occafioned from the Atoms in the Air, v/hich refledt a few of them. Each Metaphyjtcal Effay. 109 Each of thefe fpiritual Forms, when it has entered a proper Vehicle, is prepared to put oa ' a new Appearance in the World, as foon as it can procure a proper Nidus: When that is found, they feverally put on the beautiful Forms of Animals, Vegetables, &c. if not, they continue confined in Metals, Salts, Clays, Rocks, Vapours in the Air, &c. until fuch time as, by the various Turns of Providence, they come into Life ; or perhaps by a too rapid Motion of Fire they may again be feparated from fuch Machines as they had entered, or at lead be feparated from all other Particles which had entered into and fupported their Vehicle or Machine. Since then fuch feminal Forms as either float in the Air, or are found upon the Surfaces of Planets,- united with proper Vehicles, have an Opportunity of getting into proper Nidus s^ and putting on all the beautiful Appearances we fee in our Globe, among the various Species of Vegetables ; and the fpiritual Forms entering animal Vehicles have the Opportunity of enjoy- ing fenfitive Life here -, and that fuch of them as are buried a confiderable Depth under the Surfaces of this Globe, and other Planets, have no Opportunity of coming into the World of Life, either animal or plantal • and that, from the Analogy of Things, we have great Reafou to believe, that the fuperior Parts of the feve- ral Atmofpheres, and the cethereal Regions, are filled with Beings of higher Orders, and fu- perior no A Mifcellaneous perior Powers and Senfations ; I fhould incline to believe, that all the feveral Globes, Suns, Planets, and Comets, are Prifons, wherein Beings former- ly endowed with Life in the asthereal Regions, who from the Freedom of their Wills have mi{behavedj and lapfed, are confined ; and moft of them reduced to a dormant State, or Death, except fuch as are animated upon their feveral Surfaces, until, by the various Turns of Provi- dence in Eternity, they may again be allowed to appear in Life -, or may be, perhaps, made up of many Beings never yet endowed with Life, but who by their active Principle may live hereafter ; and in the mean time are as a Subjiratum, or Stage, neceflary to carry on the Tran factions of Providence. CHAP. VIII. Wherein is conjidered^ ivhether fpiritual and feminal Fon?is have fpeci fie ally dijlinci Po-zo- ers', or whether all have the fame ^ but are confined according to the Stops or Organs in the Species of Vehicle to which they are united. The InfiinSl of Brutes accounted for from the fame Principle, IF what I have already advanced feems any way probable, it may be proper to con- fjder, whether at the Creation it feems moft rational Metapyjical Eflay. m rational to believe, that God Almighty fliould endow thefe fpiritual Monads with equal or unequal Powers ; that is, whether every Being, or fpiritual Form, of the Firft Clafs, is capable of inflating or uniting with fpecifically diftinfl: Vehicles or Machines, and to have their Powers and Capacities, during fuch Union, confined to the Knowlege or Senfations admit- ted by the Organs of fuch Machine ; and, when they enter into the Vehicles of Plants, lofe all fenfitive Life and Knowlege during fuch Union j and yet might have been capable of Perception and Reafon, had they been uni- ted to an animal or human Vehicle ; or whether Beings of the FirlT: Clafs are fpecifically diftind:, and are in due Subordination, and each can only enjoy Life, when united to a Machine fitted for its Order and Degree. There being Difficulties on both Sides of the Queftion, it may be difficult to anfwer it to Satisfaction : At firft View, it feems mod pro- bable, that each fliould be fitted for a Vehicle of its ov/n Rank and Order; but^ upon fecond Thoughts, better Things, I think, will emerge from the other, of being capable at difix^rent times of uniting with Machines fpecifically diftinft. At firft it may feem a little difficult to conceive, that the Soul or feminal Form of a Vegetable, or Reptile, (liould inflate a human or angelic Vehicle, and be capable of the higheft fenfitive and rational Pleafures and Powers ; but, on the other hand, if thefe feminal Forms be 1 1 2 A Mifcellaneou$ be really fpiritual, and can become confcious upon being united with a Machine, or Body, having proper Stops and Organs, and can any way increafe in their Powers, as the Machine is improved ; and fo, from having a vegetative Life, become fenfitive, as their Machine in- creafes and improves • and thus become confci- ous of fenfitive Enjoyments, and afterwards, by further Improvement, of rational ; the firlt of which is fo vifible in the brutal, and the other in the human Soul ; wherein Souls at firft are merely vegetative, at and after Conception ; as they rife in Life, at and after Birth, they come to have fenfitive Enjovments ; and after- wards, v/hen the human Body is complete, they enjoy rational Life and Pleafures ; and find flill higher Hopes of much greater Powers and Enjoyments in their future angelic Vehi- cles, when the divine Life will be triumphant : How can we know, whether or not thofe Souls, which now form Vegetables, might not have been capable of Senfations, if their Vehi* cles had proper Organs, and they had inflated animal Bodies ? I have formerly obferved, that there are in- fenfible Gradations betwixt vegetative and fen- fitive Life, as alfo from fenfitive to rational; and that the Links of the Chain are fo clofe from the loweft Folnl to the fublimeft human Soi.tl, that in the Series v/e cannot tell where to break off the Chain : Thus it is very difficult to tell, whether it be originally in the Soul that tlie Metaphyjical ElTay. 113 the Faculties are wanting, or whether it be ia the Machine, or Body, given to it by the Di- vine Being, w^ho confines it in each to fuch a Number of Stops, like an Organ, beyond which it cannot range \ and thus the Divine Being may, at different times, unite it to fpe- cifically diftindl Machines, and yet the Soul be the fame individual Intelligence. For we may fuppofe a Soul inhabiting an animal or vegetable Vehicle, to be much the fame as a Man thrown into a dark Dungeon 3 or into a Prifon, thro* which there may be a fmall Paffage for Light : In the one Cafe, the Perfon can have no Knowlege of Light at all ; in the other, of only fo much as that Paffage would admit him to fee. In like manner, a Soul in a vegetable Vehicle admits of no Sen- fations at all ; whilft the fame Soul, if in an animal Vehicle, would be capable of fuch Numbers and Degrees of Senfations, as were appointed for fuch a Species of Animal, into whofe Vehicle it had entered : And it may be probable, that the Soul, when it is confined to one Vehicle, may have no Remembrance of the Pleafures or Pains it might have enjoyed or fufl^ered, when in a former Vehicle, or different State ; and yet, at the final Diftribution of Re- wards and Puniflhments, the whole Series may be brought into its View at once, and it may remember all that happened to it in its feveral States, and fo be made fully fenfible of the juft Diftribution of Rewards and Punifhments I at ii4 A Mifcellaneous at the lafl: and general Judgment of our blefTed Saviour. As it is very difficult to determine whether fpiritual Beings may have been originally form- ed tit for their feveral Vehicles, in a due Subor- dination, from the higheft Seraph to the lowefl feminal Form, v^'ithout being capable of filling, or being united to, any other fpecific Vehicle, but the one in w^hich it was firft placed ; or whether the feveral adive, fpiritual Form?, might have been originally capable of higher or lower Powers or Pleafures, according to the feveral fpecific Vehicles to which the Divine Be- ing might think proper to unite them, according to the Number of Stops in the feveral Machines, or Vehicles 3 the candid Reader will confider in which View the Divine Wifdom and Goodnefs will appear in the ftrongefl Light, and deter- mine accordingly. If the firft, then all the feminal Forms and Souls, as well plantal as animal, were originally formed with a View to this, and the feveral Globes around us ; they being only fitted to anfwer the Scheme of Providence on this Stage, and prefent Syllem ^of Suns and Planets ; and when this is finifhed are of no further Ufe, but may be again anni- liilated ; but if the fecond fliould appear ra- tional, then fpiritual Beings have had an Ex- i fence long before the Formation of this Sy- ikm ; and the Suns and Planets are feverally f6rmed, as Places of Probation or Punifhment of Being?, who have afted in a former State, who Idetaphyjical Eflay. 115 who may hereafter be reftored, or be doon^ed to farther Punifhment. If this (hould be the Cafe, then confclous intelHgent Beings, endowed with Freedom of Will, may be capable of the higheft Rewards and Pnnifhments, according to the moral Redlitude or Turpitude of their Behaviour ; and that moral Rectitude or Turpitude may, upon their Death, or Difunion from their Ve- hicle, be the Occafion of their having their Powers and Knowlege increafed, or abridged, in their next Vehicle ^ which, by a fympathetic Attradlion, may unite with Vehicles fuited to their Nature and Goodnefs : And thus Beines in a State of Probation may, upon their good Behaviour, be raifed up to the higher Orders, and increafe in Futurity, in Power, Goodnefs, and Knowlege ; whilft others, who mifbehave, may have their Power?, Faculties, and Pleafures, abridged, and undergo Puniiliments fitted to the moral Turpitude of their Natures : Thus lapfed Angels, being forced from Heaven, and their asthereal Vehicles, to the Orbs in which we enjoy our animal Life, may be confined in animal Vehicles, of different Kinds, according to their Degree of Lapfe \ or be bound up in Vegetables, and chained to inanimate Matter, and be left in a State of Silence and Inactivity, for a time, to be reftored again to Senfations, according to the Vehicle fitted for their Recep- tion by the Divine Being. Befides, by this Hypothefis, all the Cruelty we apprehend in I 2 Nature, ii6 J Mifcellaneous Nature, from the greater and fiercer Animals devouring the fmaller and more harmlefs, would be taken away, when it may be expedled, that the fame Animal may again revive in a Vehicle of a different or better Ciafs than that which it had before. Befides, if there are Beings fent down from the a?thereal Regions, to undergo a Series of Punifliments, according to the Enor- fnity of their Lapfe ; then fuch Deprivation of Life, from time to time, can't be called Cruel- ty, but a proportional Punifhment for their fe- veral Crimes. Thus there may be a Rotation among all fpiritual Beings, and a Poffibihty of their falling from the higheft Happinefs to the lowed: Degree of Life and Mifery, and of be- ing raifed from the loweft Mifery to the higheft Degree of Life and Happinefs, according to the moral Redlitude of their Behaviour, in pro- moting general Goodnefs, by the Ardour of their Love to God and their Neighbour, in which fupreme Felicity confifts. To clear up this Difficulty a little further: Let us fuppofe a fpiritual Monad of the firft Clafs, before it is united to any Vehicle, as it is repell'd and flying off with a moft rapid Mo- tion from different Atoms or Particles it meets with, and confider, whether, in that State, it can have adual Thought, Memory, or Confci- OLifnefs ? Or of what Ufe it could be to it, be- fore it is united to a Body or Vehicle, properly inflated and formed with Organs of Senfation, and a proper Place for a percipient Being to rc- fide Metaphyjtcal ElTay. 117 fide in, and lodge its feveral Obfervations and Reflecftions ? If this might be fuppofed, then every individual indivifible Atom, of what we call Matter, might have adtual Thought and Perception ; and fo confequently might every Particle of Light, either in Motion or at Reft, cohering to other Particles of Matter. But of what IJfe could Thought or Refledlion be to a fpiritual Monad, box'd about from one Point of Space to another, by its Elafticity, without time to form Obfervations, or make Refledtions ? Or of what Ufe could Thought or Refleftion be, in an abfolute State of Reft, in Contact with other Beings, where there were no Senfations, nor any Variety to forra Obfervations upon, or to compare different Objefts ? So that it feems more reafonable to believe, that Confcioufnefs can only be of Ufe, when the Soul animates, or is united to, a Ve- hicle properly filled, and in Order : If fo, then all fpiritual Forms are more confined, or in»- larged, in their Powers and Faculties, accord- ing to the Vehicle they are united to ; and that in the almoft infinite Variety of fpecific Ma- chines, or Bodies, extant in the Univerfe, the fpiritual Forms are limited, according to the Stops or Organs in the Machine ; and, if any fpiritual Form can be difunited from its Vehicle by any Power in Nature, and inflate any other Machine, its Powers may be inlarg'd or lefTen'd, according to that Machine w^ith which it is again united 3 confequently the loweft fpiritual I 3 Foro^j ii8 A Mifcellaneous Form may be made capable of enjoying the greateft Happinefs. But to this it may be objeded, That if each Vegetable has a Soul that occafions its Vegeta- tion, as Animals have, which Soul muft bcin- divifible and indilcerpible ; How comes it, that many Trees, and other Vegetables, upon being taken up and divided, each Branch or Twig fhall take Root, and vegetate by Slips ; which muft fuppofe that the Soul of each is divifible, being found in each Part of fuch divided Vege- table ; which muft quite overturn the Hypo- thefis ? This indeed would be a material Ob- j eel ion ; and, if it can't be anfwered without allowing fuch a Bivifion of the vegetable Soul, it would unhinge the whole Scheme : I there- fore beg Leave to offer this in Anfwer ; That there may be one Soul to each Vegetable ; but, as they carry their Seeds in themfelves, and every Bud contains a perfecfl Vegetable within it, having the Seed or vegetable Soul of a Plant, with its proper Vehicle, and a Cicatricida, or Nidus^ proper to vegetate in, upon its Separa- tion from its Mother Plant, the Tubes and Veflels, thro' which the Nourishment is con- vey'd, being ftill open, it is ftill fupported by the Motion of Pleat and Moifture ; which en- ables the vegetable Soul in the Bud to increafe, and throw itlelf out into Branches, Bloffoms^ and Fruit, and at the fame time to vegetate downwards, by throwing out Roots thro' the Bark to receive Nourifliment. If Metaphyjtcal Eflay. 119 If this Method of accounting for it fliould not be intirely fatisfacSory, I would offer a fur- ther Solution to it \ which is this : That Ve- getables are made up of Numbers of fuch Souls, link'd and chain'd together by the intermediate Particles that form the Tube, and dead Part of the Wood or Stalk : That each plantal Soul is perfed: in its Bud, Bloffom, and Fruit ; and the Juice to nourifli the next Bud is convey 'd thro' thofe Tubes which had furnifli'd it with Nou- rifhment ; and fo on, from Bud to Bud, until the Plant increafes to its greateft Form : So that every Bud has a plantal Soul, and they remain thus chain'd to each other, until the Plant is deftroyed, and the Parts are ieparated by Fire or Fermentation. This Solution feems the more probable, from the Obfervation of fome Infeds of the vermicular Kind, which feem to be made up of feveral Infects chain'd together : For, upon cutting Worms afunder, each Part continues alive, until, for want of Food, the Life and Motion ceafes : And it has been obferved by Glafles, that Worms have had a Chain of Hearts, from one End to the other : When they are all properly joined to- gether, they receive Nourifhment thro' a fmall capillary Orifice at one End, and it is convey 'd, as in Plants, from one to the other by Tubes ; but, when cut afunder, having no proper Ori- fice to convey Nourifliment to them, they muft die in a little time. This Chain of Infedts is mofl obfervable in Worms in the human Body, I 4 where I20 A Mifcellaneous where they are found of many Yards Length ; and their feveral Links are plainly difcovered, by which they are known to be diftindl Rep- tiles, join'd and chain'd together in the manner I mention : And, if Reptiles be fo, which have animal Souls, we have the more Reafon to be- lieve that Plants may be formed in the fame manner. The Obfervations made lately upon the Polype^ a Water-Infect, are a Confirmation of this: For tho' it be plainly an Animal, yet it partakes fo much of the vegetable Nature or Soul, that, when cut afunder in feveral Parts, each Part becomes a perfe(ft Infedl of that Species ; and then feeds, and propagates its Species, as before its Divifion, by the Bud, as it may be faid ; for Buds, or fmall Tubercules, rife out of fe- veral Parts of its Body, and, falling off, be- come perfedl Infedls of that Species : Thefe Buds, or Embryo's, upon the Parent's being divided, being lodg d in Miniature in the feve- ral divided Parts, increafe, but don't feparate from the Se(ftion of the Parent Infeft, as it would have done, if it had continued alive ; but fpreads itfelf in that divided Part, until it fills up the Breadth made in the Tube ; and fo appears as a full-grown Infed:, without being maimed or difmembered by the Divifion made in the Parent Infecfl. This Plant-Animal, as it ma^ be called, is of the moft fimple Texture, being only a Tube, or Stomach, clofed below, Jiaving feveral Limbs or Claws round its Mouth, ox Metaphyfical Effay. 121 or Orifice of the Stomach : So that, whethe be divided lengthways, or tranfverfly, ea^^ Part becomes a perfedl Infed 5 and, if the Stomach or Tube be turned infide our, it di- gefts its Food as well as before. This Polypus brings the animal and plantal Souls fo near to- gether, that the Links of the Chain, in thefe Clafles of Being, are as clofely united between Vegetables and Animals, as between Salts and Sulphurs and Vegetables, or betwixt Reptiles and Animals of higher Perception or Orders: Yet we can't conceive, even in this Polypus^ that the animal or fenfitive Soul is difcerpible, tho' each Side vegetates when cut afunder ; for each Bud, or generated Polype^ has its diftind: vegetable or animal Soul or Principle, by which it attradls or feizes other Particles as Food, to increafe and perfedl its Form or Vehicle : Thus each fpiritual Monad attraded to, or cohering to, the Body of the Polype^ as animal Spirits do in other more perfedl Animals, finding in every Part of thefe Infeds proper Nidus^s to increafe their Vehicles, which are fo fimple, add to the Chain, and reftore the Polype to its former Figure, when cut afunder ; as Wounds are filled up in Animals, or in Plants, when the Parts are cut ofiT, and others applied, as in grafting or inoculating. There are alfo other Infedls of the volatile Kind, Bees, Flies, £f He might indeed remember better fuch Senfa- tions, from the finer Texture of his Brain ; but that is (till owing to the Machine : After -i^at let him be unbound, and make ufe of his Hands ; Metaphyjical EiTay. 129 Hands; and then the Senfe of Feeling being fo much perfed:er than generally among Brutes, a greater Degree of Refledtion would arife from the Difference of the Objects he handled, from their Hardnefs, Softnefs, Roughnefs, Cur- vature, Angles, (Sc. So that the Soul might difcover itfelf more rational than feveral others of the animal Kind, which wanted Sight and Hearing ; but that is ftill owing to the Frame of the Machine, by having its Touch more acute, from the Formation of the Nerves and Mufcles, which he has in greater Number and Perfedlion in the human Machine, and from the finer Texture of the Brain : But thefe Refle- ctions may be ftill fhort of thofe of Brutes which have Sight and Hearing : For let fuch an adult Perfon be conceived without Organs of Senfe, and, notwithftanding his Brain may be perfed:, can we conceive any Knowlege, without a Mi- racle, could be communicated to him, but by his Senfes ; or that he could have any Objeds to compare or reflect upon ? Or, if his Senfes were reftored to him, by opening the feveral Faflages, when he could difcourfe, (hould he be able to give an Account of any rational Conceptions during the time he wanted Senfa- tions ? Surely he could not. Should we again confider the human Soul, after its having obtained the higheft Pitch of Life, in its Decline, when the Senfes are flat- ten'd, and Organs untun'd. Sight and Hearing gone, and the other Senfes going, thro' Age K and 130 A Mifcellamous and Infirmities ; and the Meoiory loft, from the Relaxation of the Organs of the Brain ; Is not the human Soul again, in a manner, re- turned to its vegetative State, and reduced to a State vvorfe than many brutal Souls ? Do not we obferve in Madmen, where the Senfes are moft exquifite, and only the Brain dlfordered by being too much heated and dry, that, for want of a Power of comparing Things proper- ly, all Reafon is loft ? Do not we obferve the fame, from a Defe(fl in the Brain, in Fools and Idiots, which reduces their Capacity below many of the brutal Species ? Since then the human Soul is different in its Powers and Faculties, at different times, ac- cording to the State of the Body, and may, whilft united to it, in a manner, be quite de- prived of Life, Senfe, and Motion -, and if its Vehicle be not filled and fupported with proper Materials, to allow the feveral Organs to play their Parts, it may be continued for Ages with- out Senfations and Enjoyments -, and afterwards, at the Pleafure of the Almighty Being, may have its Body properly inflated, and be reftored to Life 'y Why may we not believe, that every aftive, indifcerpible Particle of Light is a Be- ing capable of fuch Life, and of rational Powers, when fixed in a proper Machine or Vehicle ; and that the Divine Being, in an al- moft infinite Variety, may give fuch Degrees of Life, as he, in his good Pleafure, thinks proper. Metaphyjtcal Eflay. 131 proper, to different Particles, at different times, in an Eternity of Duration ? If we fuppofe the Divine Being to have created, by Emanations from himfelf, an almofl infinite Number of adlive fpiritual Forms, and a proportional Number of Vehicles, or Ma- chines, capable of giving different Powers and Senfations to fuch adtive Beings as fhould be properly united to them ^ and thefe Machines of fuch fpecific Variety, as to allow a Gradation of Powers and Senfations, from the loweft Fofiil to the higheft Animal, or higher, to the higheft Cherub, or angelic Power ; we can aflign no Reafon why the Divine Being might not, in Execution of his Schemes of Provi- dence, allow or appoint fuch fpiritual Forms to carry on his divine Appointments, in anima- ting or inflating the lowefi Machines of Foflils, Vegetables, or Animals ; nor fhould it be deemed any Hardfhip to allow them no higher Degree of Life, no more than if they had not been brought into Being at all : Nor would it be at all inconfiflent, if fuch fuperior Beings as were •endowed with the higheft Senfations and Powers, with Freedom of Will, and fo made accountable for their Adions, if they fhould mifbehave in their feveral Stations, for the Divine Being to degrade fuch, and unite them to a lower Clafs of Vehicles, for their Crimes 5 nay, even to degrade them fo far, a« to take all Senfations from them, and leave only their Entity to them j and that for a K 2 longer 132 A Mifcellaneous longer or fliorter time, according to the Na- ture of their Crimes ; and yet oblige them, in that State of Infenfibility, to carry on the Defigns of Providence in their degraded State ; by which means all our planetary Orbs may be now beautified with fuch Variety of fpe- cifically diflindl Beings, and be enlightened by the Light of fo many Suns and Stars around us. The Almighty Being may alfo hereafter, to fuch Beings as are either in a State of Probation here, or in a State of Punifhment, give fuch a Degree of Life as he thinks proper, by feparating them from their prefent Machines, and giving them others of different Powers, at his good Pleafure ; and fuch as behave well here, may be reftored to their own, or to a Body of an higher Order, properly filled with an jEthereal Fluid, in its higheft Perfed:ion ; and thofe who have mifbehaved may be de- prived of fuch Machines as they have enjoyed, and have Bodies of a worfe Nature given to them, and fo be deprived of their Senfations and Reafon, according to the Pleafure of the Almighty Being. By this Hypothefis may all the Variety of Beings around us be eafily accounted for 5 and the feminal Form may be called the Male, and the Vehicle or Machine the Female -, and their proper Union the Caufe or Parent of Genera- tion : Thefe, in Animals, I apprehend to be united in Semine maJculinOy whillt in the Ani- malcule there -, but this cannot be formed into a perfed: Animal, until it is injeded into the Fe- male, Metaphyfical Eflay. 133 male, and finds a proper Situation, or Nidus^ to fix itfelf in, wherein it can receive proper Nourifhment. The Cicatricula in the Ova- rium of the Female has a proper Figure and Dimenfions fitted to the Animalcule of its own Species, and will allow all the Organs of the Machine of that Species to come to their full Extent and Form, as alfo thofe of a Species very like them ; as for Inftance, an Afs and a Mare, by which a Male is generated, where the Cicatricula alters a little the Shape of the Afs, and makes it approach to the Shape of the Horfe : And thus the Size and Form of the Cicatricula makes an Alteration, from time to time, among the feveral Species of Dogs, Horfes, G?r. by which means Mungrels are generated ^ but when the feveral Species are very difl^erent in Shape, either a Monlter is generated, or no Generation happens at all, becaufe the Shape of the Cicatricula will not allow the Members of the Male Animalcule to be properly formed or inlarged : Some Fe- males may alfo bear Monfters, from a male Conftrudion of the Cicatricula^ thro' Difeafes or Obftrudions in the Ovarium ; but when the Animalcule is injeded into a Female of the fame Species, in perfed Health, and puflies its Way, and fixes itfelf in the Cicatricula^ it finds there a proper Nourifhment to increaie and fvvell its Vehicle, and a proper Warmth and Moifture to give the Particles Motion ; by which means it attradls fuch Particles as are K 3 proper 134- ^ Mifcellaneous proper for its Increafe -, whether they are Par- ticles of the Firft or Second Clafs, feminal Forms, or Vehicles, or both united^ which have not found a proper Nidus to be hatched in ; and they become the Juices, and afterwards the Solids, of fuch generated Being 3 or if there be any other Particles befides thefe in Nature, then all contribute to raife and expand the animal Machine, and complete the feveral Organs and Members, by forming the Bones, Mufcles, Nerves, &c, until, upon the Death of the Animal, and Difunion of the Parts, each Particle again is fet at Liberty ; which happens after its Corruption, which is no more than a Separation of the Parts by Fermentation -, each Particle feparating from thofe it adhered to before, and joining with others which are more iimilar to its Nature ; endeavouring, by that means, to find a proper Nidus^ in order to its appearing in the World of Life ; fympa- thetical Powers, fuch as Attraction, &c, be- ing originally granted by the Divine Being to thofe feminal Forms without Thought, Con- fcioufnefs, or any Senfations, until they appear in a proper Vehicle, with proper Stops, and Organs of Senfation. In this Generation of Animals it feems reafonable to think, that the Seed-vefTels of each Species are formed with fuch wonderful Contrivance and Art, that they may only take in the fpecific Vehicles belonging to each Species, without admitting any others 3 an4 the Metaphyseal Eflay. 135 the Particles of Light, or feminal Forms, may be united to fuch Vehicles either before or after their Entrance into fuch Seed-veflels, they being fo minute and fpiritual as to go through the fmallefl Paffages of any Animal^ or through the fineft Pores of Matter. The Inftind:, or leffer Degree of Reafon, in Brutes, may be eafily accounted for by this Hypothefis ; for they are limited in their Powers and Senfations, according to the Num- ber of Stops in their animal Machine 3 fome having more, and others fewer, Organs of Sen- fation, as alfo of Nerves, Mufcles, Gfr. to enable them to move their feveral Parts, and excite different Senfations : Thus feveral of the reptile Kind, and ShelUfijGb, feem to have no kind of Senfation but Touch and Tafte, having no fuch Organs for Sight, Smelling, and Hear- ing; having no fuch Stops: But the fame Animal in higher Life may be capable of higher Percep- tions 'y as for Inftance, the Caterpiller, and Butterfly ; for, in the Eruca, no Sight or Hear- ing can be difcovered in them, or could then be of Ufe to them 3 yet, in this reptile State, many of them prepare proper Nidus's to pre- lerve themfelves in, during their Aurelia^ or quiefcent State, until they appear in the beauti- ful Forms of Moths and Butterflies, when they have the higher Senfations of Sight and Hear- ing : As to the Vociferation of Birds and Bealls of the fame Species -, and mufical Notes of Birds being almoft the fame, in the fame Species ; that is intirely owing to the Size, K 4 Formation, 136 A Mifcellaneous Formation, Number, and Situation of the Nerves and Mufcles forming the Voice ; and are but as fo many Organ-ftops, which the Divine Being has confined each Species to. As to the Nidification of Birds, and Care, Protec- tion, and Fondnefs, which the Old (hew to the Young of Birds and Beads, until they are capable of providing for themfelves, the Su^ preme Being has given them grateful and pleaf- ing Senfations of particular Things : Thus, in Nidification, one Species has a pleafing Senfa- tion of Feathers and Down, others of well- tempered Clay ; and juft fo much Memory and Refledion is given to them, as is necelTary for their Prefervation from their feveral Enemies, and providing, and laying up Provifions, for their Suftenance, according as it is agreeable to their Senfations and Nature ^ but no greater Degree of Reafon is given to them than is neceffary. In that of Incubation, feeding, and fuckhng their Young, the fame Kind of pleafing Titillations are raifed and allowed to them, as we find in ourfelves upon the meet- ing of a beloved or graceful Objed, which ftrikes oi;r Imagination and Fancy; and that wears away after a reafonable Time, and is over by the time the Young are grown up : When they venture their Lives in Defence of their Young, yet at other times will fly from their Enemy, their PalTion of Anger is raifed , beyond their Fear, in order to preferve Ob- jefts that are fo grateful to them. Thus we find a commoi^ Metaphyfical Eflay. 137 a common Method made ufe of to find a Hen s Neft, is, to rub her Belly with Nettles; fo that, to get rid of that ungrateful Senfation, by- getting a more pleafing one, flie runs away to fit upon her Eggs. The Caufe of a common Bee's making its Honeycomb in perfedl Hexagons, may be from its Obfervation of the Texture of its own Head -, for that black oval horny Part, com- monly taken for the Eye, is all formed of per- fedl Hexagons, like the Honeycomb 3 and may be defigned as a Pattern fet before them by the Divine Being, for them to imitate in making their Combs. The Inftind: of Moths and Butterflies, in their Eruca State, and when transforming themfelves into their Aurelia^ or dormant State, is to get rid of uneafy, as well as tp procure grateful Senlations : When, by gratifying their Tafte, they have increafed their Bodies beyond what their Skin will with Eafe contain, then, to get rid of it, they fwell their Rings, where the Skin is weakefl, till it burfts \ and fo con- tinue to do to each of the others, until the Whole drops off; and the inner Skin, being more pliant, gives Liberty to the Caterpiller to increafe : This it repeats twice or thrice before it enters, into its AiircUa State. When the Silkworjn forms its Ball to lie fafe in during its quiefcent State, it is, for the fame Reafon, to get rid of the Silk Gum it is filled with, which it faftens to the furrounding Twigs, and after-5 I 8 A Mifcellamous afterwards to the Silk itfelf, in a zigzag Way, until the V/hole is drawn out ; and this may either be to get rid of an uneafy Senfation whilft it is filled with it, or by its having a grateful Senfadon all the time it is fpinning and forming its Ball ; and then that living Egg, after hciving made a fafe warm Neft for the Moth to be hatch'd in, leaving it a fufficient Quantity of Nourifliment, dies, and leave^the Moth to increale, and beform'd in the Aureli a State, like a Bird in the Egg : For, from fome late Obfervations by Monfieur Raumur^ it feems dubious whether it be the fame individual Being that is the Moth, that was the Caterpiller in the firfl State ; for the Eruca rather feems to be a living Nidus, in which the other had its Origin, and from whence it takes its Food for Increafe ; and whilil the Eruca feeds and increafes itfelf^ it gives Food to the Fcetus within it : For it is certain, in throwing off its feveral Skins in its Eruca State, all the crufla- ceous Parts in its Head and Legs, and fome of its inward Parts, are thrown off, when it enters into its Aurelia State ; and nothing is left but fuch Juices as are fit to nourifh the Butterfly within, when it becomes an Aurelia, the But- terflv being all then in a fluid State within the Aurelia, which receives its Nourifhment from the juices furrcunding it, as the Fcetus^ or Chick, in the Egg receives it from the White of the Egg : So that the Caterpiller is to the Butterfly in Embryo, as the Egg to the Chick 3 only the Cater^ Metaphyfical Eflay. 139 Caterpiller is a living Animal, v/hich feeds and increafes itfelf to give Food to the Butterfly within it, and has only fo many Organs as are neceffary to dired it to fuch Food as is proper for the Foetus within, and to provide Materials for it in its quiefcent State, until the Moth or Butterfly is grown perfed: to appear in a higher Degree of Life. It is un neceffary to fay any more upon the Inftindt of Brutes ; for their Stops are limited by the Almighty Being ; and juft fo many are allowed to them, in their feveral Degrees and Stations in Life, as are neceffary for the Safety and Ufe of the Animal in its Station of Being: Juft as an Organ is limited in its Notes by its fe- veral Stops and Pipes, thus fo many Powers are given to the feveral Species of Beings around us, as are neceffary to carry on the beautiful Frame of the Univerfe, and the Defigns of the Divine Providence : So that all Nature feems pregnant of Beings living, or capable of Life, having adlive Powers, all things being made of Beings indivifible and indifcerpible -, and that there is no fuch thing as jMatter abfolutely paffive, in- finitely diviflble, or incapable of being re- duced to an Unity, in the Univerfe. If it be the iiime individual Beins: in the Eruca, that afterwards becomes a Butterfly, it may give us a faint Refemblance of our Death, and Refurredion from our animal to a more angelic State, by our throwing off our animal fuperior Vehicle, and appearing in an angelic sethereal 140 A Mifcellaneous asthereal Vehicle hereafter, when it becomes properly filled with an aethereal Fluid : For its Eriica State is analogous to our groveling animal State here ; when in its Aurelia^ and quiefcent State, it is like our dormant State in the Grave ; and, when it emerges into Life again, after throwing off its fuperior Vehicle, with higher Faculties and Powers, cutting the aereal Fluid, it is analogous to our throwing off our earthy or animal Vehicle, and appearing in our heavenly and aethereal Body, and fo afcend- ing to the aethereal Plains : And it may feem probable, that, according as the Soul, in its interior Vehicle, is filled with divine and moral Perfedlions from our State of Probation, that our aethereal Vehicle may be inlarged, and we may foar the higher in the iEther to the greateft Happinefs ; whilft thofe who have few or no moral Perfeftions, may be incapable of filling their aethereal Vehicle, and may again fweep the lower Regions of Air, and infernal Abodes, and be remanded into future Prifons, and States of Punilhment. CHAP. Metaphyjical Effay. 141 CHAP. IX. Some Thoughts upon the Number^ Amplitudey and Duration of dependent Beings : Wherein is conjideredy from the Analogy of Things^ Whether^ as dependent Beings are difpojed in^ or in a manner may be faid to fill^ infinite Space ^ they may not alfo have been from Eter- nity^ or at leafl as far back towards it as we can conceive^ and not only from the Mofaic Fiat ? Withfome further T'boughts upon the State of Beings before the Mofaic Creation, and Formatio?! of the Univerfe, as it now appears with Suns, Planets, Comets, &c. TH E human Soul, in its prefent State, when feated in the Body, perfecftly well formed, has Powers, Organs, and Senfations, to contemplate upon all the vifible Beings around us, which fall within our View ; particularly all thofe which are inferior to our Nature : So that we can fee below us a mod beautiful Chain, clofely link'd together, depending upon each other, from the lead and loweft Atom to the higheft Perfedion of our Species. We have alfo Powers, by Obfervation, Memory, and Refledion, of raifing our Ideas fo far, as to continue this Chain upwards, railing the Beau- ty, Order^ and Power of created Beings above us 142 A Mifcellaneous U5 to immenfe Diftances, as well in Space as in Perfeffions ; and, tho' they don't fall diredlly under our prefent Senfations, or the Powers we at prefent enjoy, yet, from the Ratio of Beings to each other, and from Reafon, we may eafily conceive fuch Beings above us, ob- ferving us, as we do thofe below us, who ap- prove or difapprove of our Adions, according as our Inclinations are good or bad -, and fo intereft themfelves in our Affairs ; and fome may protedl and guard us, whilft others may moleft and dillurb us, according to their dif- ferent Paffions and Inclinations. Thus we may rationally fuppofe our Atmofphere, and the Atmofpheres of the feveral Planets, fill'd with Beings of fuperior Orders ; and not only the Atmofpheres, but all the Fields of iEther thro* the great Expanfe, amongd all the Fixed Stars, to abound, or in a manner to be filled, with Bein2:s of the hio-heft created Powers and Ca- pacities, aimofl infinite in Number; infomuch as all the Atoms in our View and Conception, of material Beings, tho' each as minute as a Particle of Light, when all put together, are but as an Atom, or Unit, to the Number and Amplitude of fuch Beings as fill the Fields of liquid i^thcr, which furround the lucid Points of the Suns and Planets fufpended in the in- finite Expanfe of Space. From the fame Way of reafoning upon the Ratio of Beings to each other, as we conceive Beings in an indefinite Scries, extended and difperfed Metaphyftcal Effay. 143 difperfed in Space, almoft infinite in Number and Quantity -, fo how can we imagine, taking Duration and Eternity under our Conlideration, that dependent Beings have been of no longer Duration than from the Mofaic Creation, and Formation of this Globe ? I muft, therefore, much inlarge my Conception of the Origin of dependent Beings, and believe that the firft Formation of Beings was not at the time of the Mofaic Account, as vulgarly underftood 5 which I fhall endeavour to confirm from the philofo- phical Cabala of the Mofaic Hiftory, as ex- tracted by the incomparable Dr. Henry More^ which I fhall inlarge upon in the next Chap- ter. That the Origin of dependent Beings, if not from Eternity, was as early as we can conceive, feems probable for thefe Reafons : That tho' all created Beings were brought into Being by' the Will of the Independent, Infinite, Eternal Being, and confequently were caufed by his Will ; yet it may be very ditlicult to tell when they were not : Nor may it be improbable or falfe to fay, that they were not made out of Nothing, but may ratl>er be faid to be Emana- tions from the Divine Being, like Rays of Light from the Sun, to whom feparate Exiftence, Confcioufnefs, &c, were giv^en 3 and at plea- fure might be again abforb'd by the Almighty Being : And thus Succeffions of finite Beings may be conceived in infinite Space : For fince the 144 ^ Mffcella?ieous the Supreme Being occupies infinite Space, not- withftanding his Unity, he mufl: be conceived coextended with, or in Amplitude equal to, infinite Space ; and confcquently be immove- able, and a perfed: Plenum in Space. Now how can a finite Quantity be fuperadded to an infinite Plenum ? unlefs Inch finite Beings emerge from the Infinite Being, in whom we hve, and move, and have our Being. When once they are emerg'd, each occupies a deter- mined Proportion of Space ; and being taken all together, as they are finite in Number and Quantity, they are capable of Motion, of ap- proaching to, and receding from each other, and of having diftindt Powers and Faculties. If fo, then, tho' their feparate Exiftences, Powers, and Capacities, may be conceived to receive a Beginning, as an Effe6l from a Caufe, yet, if we take in the moral Attributes of God, which cannot be feparated from our Idea of a perfect independent Being, no more than his Infinitude and Eternity can, (o that his Wif- dom, Juflice, and, above all, his Goodnefs, is coextended with his Almighty Power and Am- plitude ; then, tho' God may be conceived be- fore his Creatures, as a voluntary Caufe before the Effed: ; yet, taking in his moral Attributes, it can't be conceived, that there fhould be a time wherein God would not communicate his Good- nefs to dependent Beings : For fliould there have been a Beginning to his Creation of Beings, or the Emanation of dependent Beings from him, Melaphyjtcal Effay. 145 felm, commence in Time whenever it could, there muft have been an Eternity before the Commencement : Tho' we go back as far as Thought can reach, yet, where-ever we ftop, an Eternity is beyond it : And then let us con-^ ceive that Eternity, in which God's moral At- tributes, as well as his Power^ was inadive, and that he never had communicated his Goodnefs to dependent Beings : Nor could his Wifdom, Juftice, Mercy, or Power, be any ways ex- erted from Eternity until the Mofaic Fiat was pronounced, if that was the firft Creation -, and confequently the Divine Being, inftead of be- ing active, good, &c, muft have been inadive, and wrapt up in Contemplation, without ex- erting his Power, or any of his moral Attri- butes, from all Eternity to that time. Whe- ther this be a Perfedion, or an adequate No- tion of the Divine Being, I leave to the Con- fideration of others ; but, in the Light I view it, it would feem to be a Defed, inftead of a Perfedion. As infinite Space, and eternal Duration, are above our finite Conceptions, and we can't con- ceive either adequately, great Difficulties muft arife w^henever they come under our Confider- ation 3 but that does not leffen the Certainty of either : So, in treating of eternal Creation or Generation, or of Creation in Time, Ditficul- ties muft needs arife on either Side; and we ■ muft adhere to that Side which is liable to the feweft Objedtions 5 which I fliall a little further L confider, 146 A Mifcellaneous confider, and leave to the Judgment of the impartial Reader. An eternal Creation of dependent Beings does not take from the Perfedtion or Power of the Divine Being, whilft he is the Caufe, more than a Creation in Time ; for they can neither be faid to be independent, nor neceffarily exiflent, if their Exiftence, tho* eternal, proceed from his Will. If they are voluntary Emanations from his Being, individuated, to whom fepa- rate Powers and Capacities are given, and may at his Pleafure be abforbed ; or if their Powers and Capacities may be increafed or diminifhed ; they can in no fort be independent, or neceffa- rily exiftent, being, both as to their Entity and Powers, under the Governance and Diredion of the Almighty Being. Let us a little further confider an eternal vo- luntary Emanation of dependent Beings from the Deity, and a Creation of dependent Beings from Nothing in Time ; and obferve which gives greater Power or Perfeftion to the Divine Being. Since the Deity is an Omnipotent, Eternal, Infinite, Adtive Being, moft perfedtly wife, good, and juft, we muft conceive, that all his Attributes were in Adt from Eternity j and confequently, that he had the Power of Creation from Eternity, and of exerting that Power iiiftantaneoufly, coeval with his eternal Being, according to his Will and Pleafure, which was regulated by his Goodnefs and Wifdom j. and confequently no Point of Time, a parU Metaphyjtcal tflay* i^.^ >ante^ in eternal Duration, can be conceived, wherein he could not have aded or created ^ which therefore muft be without Beginning, and from Eternity : For if that be denied, and his creative Power and Will had a Beginning, then an Eternity was before it, wherein the Divine Being could not ad, and his Power, Goodnefs, Wifdom, and Juftice, muft have been quiefcent. But fmce God muft be al- lowed to have had the Power of Creation from Eternity ; if he exerted that Power from Eter- nity, which it muft be allowed he could do ; then from Eternity he has been difplaying his Power, Goodnefs, Wifdom, and Juftice, in an infinite Variety, in adjufting, governing, and regulating dependent Beings 5 and perhaps in increafing or diminifhing their Numbers : Tho' it fhould feem to take from his Wifdom, to fuppofe him to bring Creatures into Being, that he was oblig d again to annihilate, or de- prive of Being. Upon the Suppofitlon of a temporary Crea- tion, or a Creation in Time, which, as it had a Beginning, may have an End \ let us con- fider what Perfedlion or Glory accrues to the Divine Being from it, more than from an eter- nal Creation : No other, I conceive, but this 5 That God fhould from nothing bring anUniverfe into Being, inftantaneoufly, after an Eternity was paft, a parte ante \ and, for the obtaining this iingle Ad, they muft confine his Al- mighty Power, Wifdom, and Goodnefs, from L 2 Adion, 148 A Mifcellaneous Adlion, from all Eternity to that Moment : So that from Eternity he was indolent, or wrapt up in contemplating or brooding, and, as it were, preparing, what he was to bring about in that Jundure of Time. Would it not feem as rational to fay, that, to difplay another Adt of mighty Power, he might or fhould anni- hilate at once all he had formed, and contem- plate to all Eternity upon what he had done in Time, as well as from Eternity contemplate upon what he would do in Time ? Could this laft Ad: add to the Power, Wifdom, or Per- fedtion of the Deity ? And yet, according to my Conception, the Cafe is parallel : But, to avoid this, we fly to his Truth, Goodnefs, Wif- dom, Mercy, Gfr. not confidering, that the fame Divine Perfedions fhould prevent the fame Opinion, a parte ante. I am apt to believe this Opinion has pre- vailed, from the confidering feparately the na- tural Perfedions of the Deity from the moral, I may fay the divine ; and thus refting upon his Infinitude, Eternity, and Almighty Power, they conceived all dependent Creatures finite in Duration, as well as in Amplitude ; and, to increafe the Power of God in giving them a Beginning from nothing, they lefl^en'd the Eter- nity of his Goodnefs, and other moral Attri- butes, to his Creatures; and fo gave the Divine Being an Eternity of Duration, without Adion, or any Application of his moral Attributes: Whereas, if we concqve dependent Beings as Emana- Metaphyjical Eflay. 149 Emanations from the Deity, proceeding, in the manner how, from his Will, and not from Deftiny or Fate ; then all the Divine Perfedions were in Ad: from all Eternity, and his Wifdom, as well as his Goodnefs, were in perpetual Ad, in fr)rming, adjufting, and governing his Crea- tures, and in rewarding and punifliing them according to their Adions ; which is to be car- ried on thro' eternal Duration. It feems therefore highly probable, by con- lidering the Divine Perfedions together, that there can be no Time fhewn or conceived, wherein dependent Beings have not exifted ^ lince no Time can be ihewn or conceived, wherein the Divine Being was not equally good as great : Nor can it give us fo high an Idea of the Deity, to fuppofe his Power greater than his Goodnefs, his moft divine Attribute. It takes nothing from the Divine Perfedions, to fay, that God is the eternal Caufe of his Crea- tures, no more than to fay, that he was the Caufe in Time ; for he is equally great, if they exifted by his Will from Eternity, as if they were produced in Time : And his Wifdom and Goodnefs muft be more confpicuous by his having an eternal adual Power of governing, rewarding, and punifhing free confcious Be- ings, and making all things in Nature fubfer-r vient to his Will, than an inadive Speculation from Eternity, of what he would bring forth in Time. L 3 Since 150 A Mifcellaneous Since then it feems agreeable to the Per-* feclion of the Deity, to extend the Formation of his Creatures as far back as Thought can reach, and not inconfiftent with his Goodnefs to have given them eternal Duration ; I muft conceive, that from Eternity, or from endlefs Ages, an almofl infinite Number of finite Beings were formed, by Emanations from the Divine Being, of the greateft Perfeftions their Natures could allow of, confiftent with the Variety, Beauty, Harmony, and Subordination of Beings, requifite in a Government where infinite Goodnefs and Wifdom prefided ; and greater Powers and Faculties were given to fome than to others, in order to have a per- fed: Subordination : Freedom of Will was alfo abfolutely neceffary to confcious rational Be- ings, or otherwife abfolute Fate determined every thing, and Reafon could not aft : But, lince the Divine Being afted by his Will with the greateft Freedom, it was reafonable, that he fhould govern Creatures that had alfo Free- dom of Will, and were accountable for their Adions. In fuch a State, Rewards and Punifli- ments were necefTary ; and confequently Ca- pacities of being admitted into higher Enjoy- inents, and of obtaining greater Powers, upon obeying the V/ill of the Supreme Being ; and ^Ifo of being degraded, and lofing their former Powers and Enjoyments, upon Difobedience. Thefe Creatures then, whether ,formed from Eternity, or as early in Time as can be imagined^ Metaphyjtcal Eflay. 151 imagined, as they were formed by the moft perfedt Power and Wifdom, fo they were, in their feveral Orders and Degrees, formed moft perfedt, in a regular Subordination to each other, and in perfect Obedience to their Crea- tor ', then they were all acflive, all Joy, all lu- minous, wrapt up in Contemplation of the Divine Perfedions and Goodnefs 5 there was then no Darknefs at all, all was Heaven, all Light ; no dark opaque Globes, or Earths, or Comets, or want of Suns to enlighten them, but all was univerfal Day ; then the vaft Ex- panfe of Space was peopled with Archangels, Angels, and all the heavenly Hoft, with all the acSive and confcious Spirits or Beings, that' perhaps ever were, or will be, in the Univerfe ; for it would feem an Imperfedion, that the fupremely wife God fhould form Beings, that it was heceffary for him again to annihilate : This, it is probable, was the firft State of Things, agreeable to the Divine Wifdom, all fingle adlive Beings, elaftic, and extended in Space, confci- ous, and capable of contemplating upon, and adoring the Divine Being in all his Perfed-ions, his Goodnefs, Wifdom, Power, and Providence, according to the different Perfedlions^ Powers,, and Capacities, of the feveral created Beings. But fince the Beauty and Harmony of the Univerfe, and Happinefs of confcious Beings, confift in a Variety of Senfations, and a Rota- tion of various Pleafures, as well as of the beatific Vifion, and conftant Contemplation of L 4 the 152 A Mifcellaneous the Deity j for an Attendance to the Works of Creation and Providence is a Kind of Relaxa- tion from the too intenfe View of the Divine Perfections ; the all-wife Being thought it proper to unite them to Vehicles, with fuch Senfations, Paffions, and Appetites to the feveral Orders of Being, as b^ their Variety might heighten the Joy and Pleafure of the Creatures, by making them focial Beings ; and to have Affedions and Paflions for each other. The intelligent contemplative Nature, or di- vine, may be called the Mafculine Nature, as being more ftrong and vigorous 5 fometimes called the inward Man, and properly the di- vine or religious Nature, either in the angelic or human Order of Beings -, the other, or fu- perior Vehicle or Machine, conveying Senfa- tions, Paffions and AfFedions, by which the fuperior Orders become focial, may be called the Feminine^ as being weaker, and fubordinate to the Rational and Mafculine, and may be called the animal and fenfitive Nature j where- in private and felfifh Good is made the Objed: of the Individual's Happinefs, as public Good is of the Divine or Mafculine Nature: The feveral Orders of Being, thus furnifhed with thofe two Vehicles, properly united, enjoyed feverally, in each Individual, according to their Powers and Capacities, all the Pleafures and Enjoyments of Reafon and Senfe -, and fo long as the animal Enjoyments, the private Good of the Individual, was kept in due Subordination tQ Metaphyseal Effay. 153 to the Rational ; where the public Good was the Objedl ; and both Natures contributed to the general Good of the Univerfe ; fo long was each Individual capable of the higheft Gratifications and Senfations ^ and a perfect Harmony fubfifted through all the Orders and Degrees of focial Beings, from the higheft Se- raph, to the loweft Order of intelligent Beings : But as foon as the private Good of the Indi- vidual, Self-love, was fet up in Oppofition to the public Good, the Love of God, and our Neighbour ; and the animal Nature quit its^ Subordination to the Divine ; then Difcord and Confufion took place in Society ; the Harmony of the Univerfe was broke ; the divine Laws of Society were unhinged ; and by the experi- mental Knowlege of Evil, was the firft Dilobe- dience of the divine Laws made known to thofe Orders of Spirits who fet up Self-love, the Gratification of animal Nature, in Oppofition to divine Love, the chief Good of all created Beings ; for as the Divine Being had given his Creatures a Freedom of Will to acft confiftently, or otherwife, with the Laws he had eftablifhed in the Univerfe, for the Good of the Whole, in the Subordination in which he had placed them ; with a fufficient Powder, in each Indi- vidual, to preferve the Harmony he had efta- blifhed i and a Promife of Death, or Life, ac- cording as they difobeyed or obeyed his Laws ; it was intirely owing to themfelves, their re- belling againft the Divine Laws eftabUfhed in the 154 -^ Mifcellaneous the Univerfe, by fome of the feveral Orders thinking of themfelves more highly than they ought, and entering into private Cabals to fcalc the Heavens as it were, and take the Place of fuperior Orders by Force ; and fo break intd the divine Harmony, and regular Subordina- tion, eftablifhed in the Univerfe. But this P.ebellion of the angelic Orders was defeated by the Meffiah at the Head of the obedient an- gelic Hoft ; and the difobedient, lapfed, an- gelic, and human Orders of Spirits, were hurled down from the Powers and Enjoyments they had in the Heavens, into Opacity and Darknefs, by depriving their Vehicles of that Aftivity, Luminoufnefs, and Diaphaneity, they were before inflated with ; by confining their Extenfion and Powers to a much fmaller Pro- portion of Space ; by which means, by lefTcn- ing their Extenfion, and increafmg their eflen- tial Spiiiitude, by Attraction and Cohefion, Darknefs was firft brought into the World ; and thus they, being forced together, became the Siibfiratum of the feveral Chaos's of the Suns, Planets, and Comets, throughout the Univerfe ; moft, if not all, being deprived of Confcioufnefs and Senfations, until fuch time as it might be thought proper, by the Divine Being, to reftore them to fuch Degrees of Life as wxre appointed by him; for their undergoing the feveral Degrees of Punifliment allotted to them ; and for placing fuch of them in a State of Probation again, in order to try their future Obedience;, Metaphyfxal Efiay. 155 Obedience, for whom a Divine Mediator had interpofed. The Difobedience and Lapfe, among fo many of the angelic Orders, occafioned the Death or Stupor of moft of them, perhaps, by their Difunion from their fuperior Vehicle, the Caufe and Conveyer of their Senfations, and focial Pleafures ; by which means, thofe Ve- hicles, being no more properly inflated, be- came opaque Particles ; compofing, with the other adtive Particles, Maffes of Matter, of which our feveral opaque chaotic Globes, as well Suns, as Planets and Comets, are formed; which are no more than fo many Prifons to the lapfed Spirits, by which they are excluded from Light, Life, and the Regions of Joy ; and this feems to be a remarkable Period, which hath taken up a conliderable Time in eternal Duration, wherein the Divine Goodnels and Juftice were remarkably concerned in the Diftribution of Rewards and Punifliments among the innocent and lapfed Angels. In inflidting thefe Punifhments, perhaps the moft flagrant and rebellious Spirits were con- fined to the Centers of the feveral Syftems, iu thofe Globes, which afterwards becam.e Suns^ and fixt Stars ; under the Surfaces of which they may have lain quiefcent for Millions of Ages, without Life or Senfe j whilft others^ not fo noxious, were enchained in the chaotic Maffes of Planets, and Comets, in order to their being brought into Life, when thefe 3 Globea 156 A MifcelIa?teous Globes were made habitable by the Almighty Power of God ; at which time the Mofaic Creation commenced ; when the Divine Logos put all theie Planets in regular Motion, round the leveral Sans 5 and made each of them ha- bitable for Beings of different Powers and Properties, according as they were placed higher or lower in each Syftem, around the feveral Suns w^hich enlightened them ; each. adive Spirit infinuating itfelf into a proper Vehicle, upon being fixt in a proper Nidiis^ wherein it could increafe, and receive Food, upon the Planets being made habitable ; whilll, at the fame time, among the angelic Orders, feveral may be daily tranlgreffing fome of the- divine Lav/s ; and, according to the Degrees of fuch Tranfgreffion, Spirits may be daily driven downwards towards the Centers of the feveral Syftems ; and there either lofe their Senfations, as others have done, or be driven from the higheft and pureft ^Ether, the higheil: Heaven, to the inferior, where the Planets range ; where they may ftill remain confcious, though deprived of Part of their angelic Glory and Power ; either afterwards to be rellored with- out defcending lower, by a gradual Rotation > or to be impelled lower, to the inferior Re- gions, according to their Degree of Lapfe ; whilO, in the mean time, other lapfed Spirits may be in a State of Probation, as human Souls are, and may at proper Periods be reflored to Heaven and Joy, again to fill the Heavens from Metaphyfical Effay. 157 from whence others fall This may be the Situ- ation in which we at prefent are. The Num- ber of Spirits confined to opaque Globes need not ftagger our Imagination, fince Darknefs to Light, or the opaque Globes to the iEther, is not in Proportion, as a Grain in the Balance, or an Atom to the whole Earth 3 and confe- quently, the lapfed Spirits bear no Proportion to the Bleffed, that fill the asthereal Spaces of Heaven and Joy. If then we may fuppofe the feveral Globes, and Maffes of Matter, in the feveral SyfLems around us, to be Prifons to lapfed Spirits, and Places of Punifliment, as well as Places of Probation ; then, from the Suns, the Centers. of the feveral Syflems, to the higheft Heaven^ as in ours, fuperior to the Orb oi Satiuii^ as far as the higheft and moft eccentric Comets range in their Aphelions, we may fuppofe the heavenly Situations to be more glorious, and confequently to be inhabited by Beings of more fupereminent Powers, the higher they are iituated ; and according to their Behaviour, or Obedience to the Divine Being, they may afcend, or defcend, to, or from, the fuperior Heavens ; and their Pleafure may be inlarged or diminifhed ; and the fuperior Orders may have a Power of degrading and repelling them from their Society. Thus thofe Beings, or Devils, v/ho moft enormoufly tranfgrefs the divine Laws, are forced down to the feveral Suns, where the greateft Attradion of Matter is, where 158 A Mifcellaneous where they may undergo Punifhments to an indeterminate Eternity ^ whereas others, not offending fo egregioufly, may only be impelled, or fink to the Orbits of the feveral Planets, where, according to their Tranfgreffions, they may hover, and be attrad:ed by the feveral Planets in their Orbits, each attrafting erratic Souls, when within their Sphere of Attradlion : So, in like manner, may fome be impelled to, or attradled by, the Comets, in their Defcent to, and Afcent from, the Sun ; and may in them be imprifoned for many Ages, until they are made habitable by the almighty Power of the Divine Being. Thofe in the higheft Heavens, above the Orbs of Jupiter and Saturn, and fo in other Syftems, may be intirely taken up in the beatific Vifion 3 in contemplating the divine Perfedions, in all his Works of Creation and Providence : Thofe, no higher than the Or- bits of thefe Planets, may be relaxed from the too intenfe Contemplation of the Deity 5 and may have fuperior Vehicles to enable them to enjoy Society, and have animal Paflions and Senfations; whilft others, gliding ftill lower in the Globes of Mars^ and the Earth, may be further immerged in animal Senfations and Pleafiires, mixt with a due Proportion of ra-- tional and focial Pleafures : Thofe again floating or impelled lower to the Orbs of Vejius and Mercury, may have their higher Powers, Reafon, and rational EnjoymentSj fo weakened, that Metaphyjical Effay. 159 that their Paffions, irafcible and concupifcible, may predominate, v/ith other animal Appetites, from the greater Number of the Sun's Rays exerting their Paflions : And thofe who moft grofly offend may fall into the Difk of the Sun, and fixed Stars, the great Abyfs, and be con- fined there, with or without Senfations, during the Pleafure of the Almighty Being, according as his Juftice or Mercy takes place, or is allow- able according to the Difpenfations of Divine Providence. It is highly probable, that this Period of Time, and Difpenfation of Providence, in Suns, Planets and Comets, may have an End, as it has had a Beginning ; for in eternal Duration, the Harmony and Variety of the Difpenfations of Providence makes up the Beauty of the Whole, and Happinefs of created Beings ; for fliould there be no Rotation or Variety, but the fame Scene continued throughout Eternity, the Progrefs of Knowlege and Obfervations would be at a Stand, and the infinite Wifdom of the Divine Being would not have room to difplay itfelf ^ nor could his infinite Goodnefs difplay itfelf fo much to his Creatures, by con. - tinuing them always in a permanent State of Contemplation, as by an ad:!ve progreffive Knowlege, and Obfervation of a Variety of Scenes and Difpenfations, where the Divine Wifdom, Goodnefs, Mercy, and Juftice, would be difplayed in an iniinite Variety. Various Hints are given in Holy Writ of an End to this i6o - A MifceUa7ieous this Period ; Heaven and Earth JImU pafs aiaaj \ That in new 'Jeriijalem there was no need of the Light of the Sun, God himfelf being the Light thereof : At the End the Meffiah fhall deliver up his Kingdom to God the Father, that he may be All in all, to the End of Time; that is, when Time iliall be no longer meafured by the Rotation of the heavenly Bodies i Which Paffages plainly intimate, that there ihall be an End to the prefent Syftem of Beings around us : What fhall fucceed, Eye hath not Jeen^ nor Ear heardy nor hath it en» tered into the Heart of Man to conceive it. That there is to be a continued Rotation and Variety throughout Eternity, may be alfo confirmed from EzekiePs Vifion of the Mer-^ cava of the Mefliah ; the Chariot of the God of Ifraeli The Wheels, and Wheels withia Wheels, plainly indicate a Rotation, and Va- riety of Scenes, in eternal Duration, and that in the living Part of the Univerfe ; for they were living Creatures full of Eyes ; fo that it was a Rotation of Souls, and angelic Orders. So alfo in the different Faces and Appearances of the living Creatures in the Mercava or Chariot, which was alfo in the Quadrants of the Wheels, the different Powers and Periods of Souls, and the feveral Orders of adive Spirits, were made known in the Vifion ; as it is finely defcribed by the ingenious Doctor Henry More ; wherein the four Faces of the Eagle, the Man, the Lion, and the Ox or Cherub, are highly em- blematical Metaphyseal Effay. i6i blematical of the feveral Syidems of Souls in Rotation : The Eagle, by its high Fhght and fteady looking at the Sun, reprefents the feveral Orders of intelligent Beings, in their greateft Exaltations, in the intenfe Beams of the Al- mighty, wrapt up in divine Contemplation, and the beatific Vifion : This he calls the Aziluthic State. The human Face reprefents that State and Period he calls the Briathic, wherein Reafon and Policy prefide over the Paffions ; where focial Virtues, and neighbourly Love, are fubordinate, and united to Love divine. It being impoffible for Souls always to foar up to the Height of divine Love, and to bear with- out allay the intenfe Light and Glory of the Divine Being 3 he thought it proper in this State and Period to give them an ardent Love to their Fellow-creatures, and make them focial by forming them into Governments, in a due Subordination to each other. The Face of a Lion reprefents that Period in the Revolution of Souls, wherein the irraf- cible and concupifcible Paffions bear Sway, called by him thp Jetzirathic State ; wherein Souls lapfed 5 from their Paffions having got the better of their Reafon ; the animal Appe- tites, and Self-love, having got the Afcendant over both divine and focial Love ; this is fig- nified by the Ferocity of the Lion, the King of the Brute Creation : This State prepares Souls to fall down to the . prefent State and Period of Souls, reprcfented by the Face of an M Ox i62 A Mifcellamous Ox or Cherub, which is a fluggilli flavifli Animal, deftined to Labour, and till the Ground ; the proper Emblem of Souls in our prefent State, called by him the Afiathic State : This is the Period where Souls are chained down, and imprifoned in earthy and material Prifons ; confined to the feveral Globes of the Planets, where we are doomed to eat our Bread by the Sweat of our Brows : This Ro- tation of Periods is reprefented by one Part of the Wheel's touching the Earth, whilft the upper Quadrant of the Wheel, whereon the Face of the Eagle was difplayed, reached to the higheft Heavens : This was the Univerfe, the Chariot which fupported the Throne of the Mefliah, the God of Ifrael -, wherein are reprefented the feveral Syftems and Difpenfa- tions of Providence in the Kingdom of the Meffiah, before he delivers up his Kingdom to the Father, that God may be All in all ; at which time fuch new Scenes, and Variety of Difpenfations, may emerge from the infinite Wifdom and Goodnefs of God, to intelligent Beings, as is paft all Comprehenfion in our earthy Vehicles : But, for a fuller Defcription of this Vifion by Dodor More, I refer you to the Appendix. CHAP. Metaphyfical Eflay. 163 CHAP. X. The fore goijig Hypothefis fupported by a cabalijitc Interpretation to be given to the Mofaic Ac- count of the Creation and Lapfe^ treated of in the Three Jirji Chapters c/^Genefis; as ex- tracted^ by Dr. Henry More, from the Learned amofig the Jews, and ether Eajiern Writers, TH I S Hypothefis, of the Earllnefs of the Creation of dependent Beings, and Pre-exiftence of Angels and human Souls, as well as all other adlive Beings, for innumerable Ages before the Mofaic Mra^ mentioned in the literal Tranflation of the Mofaic Account of the Creation of this Globe, and alfo of the Lapfe of Angels and human Souls before the Formation of this Globe, may be confirmed by a philofophical or cabaliftic Meaning to be given to the Mofaic Text in the Three firft: Chapters of Genefis^ as colleded by the great Dr. Henry More, as well from the Jewifi and Eaftern Sages, as from his own profound Rea- foning upon thofe Chapters. This Cabala I fhall extract and explain in the beft manner I can, and leave it to the Judgment of the Reader, whether fuch a veil'd Account may not be M 2 couch'd 164 A Mifcellaneota couch'd in the Text, as well as the literal Ac- count adapted to the Capacities of the V'ulgar. I?t the Beginnhtg God created the Heavens and the Earth ; and the Earth was ivithouf Form, and void -, and Darknefs was upon the Face of the Deep -, and the Spirit of God moved upon the Face of the Waters, The Firft Verfe feems plainly to (hew, that in the Beginning, long before the Six Days Creation, God created the Heavens and the Earth 5 that is. As early in Time as Thought can reach, taking in the Divine Goodnefs, I may fay, from Eternity. The Heaven and Light are fynonymous Terms, as is Earth and Darknefs : Thus, before the Mofaic Account of the Six Days Creation, it is plain God had created the firft Principles, out of which all Be- ings around us are formed. By the Heavens, the almoft infinite Number of individual, indif- cerpible, adive, felf-moving Beings, which God created by the glorious Emanations from his own Being, are fet forth, as difperfed thro* infinite Space ; and by Earth may be under- ftood the almoft infinite Variety of fpecific Vehicles or Machines, which, in their own Nature, are unadlive and opaque, and thence called Earth or Darknefs ; which, as yet not teing united to the fpiritual adlive Monads, were diftinguifh'd by the Name of Earth— ^W the Earth was without Form, and void : And thefe fpecific Vehicles of Souls, being not pro- perly Metaphyfical Effay. 165 perly Inflated by Souls or fpiritual Forms, were empty, and in no Order or Cohefion. — And Darknefs was upon the Face of the Deep : — For as yet over the whole Abyfs of Matter, Earth, or thefe fpecific Vehicles, neither Life nor Light appeared, for want of a proper Union of each fpiritual Monad with a proper Ve- hicle. And the Spirit of God moved upon the Face of the Waters ; that is, Over thefe Atoms, being in a fluid State, for want of Union, the divine Energy of the Holy Spirit moved and brooded to unite and bring themi into Life, contemplating all the Powers and Beauty of Creation, when the feveral Atoms of Light (hould be properly united to their Vehicles, and Light and Life fhould fpring up from thence. And God faid. Let there be Light ; and there was Light -, that is. The Almighty di- rected each fpiritual adive Form or Monad to a proper Vehicle • from whence fprung up at once a Univerfe of Life, Joy, and adtive Be- ings, in a proper Subordination of all pofllble Perfedtions, with proper Powers and Senfations ; and, as each of thefe performed his Will, pre- ferved their Dignity, and obeyed his Command- ments, they were preferved in their original State, with all their Powers and Senfations: But fuch as, from the Freedom of their W^ills, afterwards difobeyed, fell from their Station of Light and Life into Opacity and Darknefs, which is fymbolized by God's dividing the M 3 Light 1 66 A Mifcellaneous Light from the Darknefs. And the Evening and the Morning were the firjl Day : The ^ Evening, that is, the State of Darknefs and Silence, which Individuals were in before their Union with their paffive Vehicles or Machines ; and the Morning of Joy, Light, and Life, which fprang up upon the Union of the adtive with the paffive Particles, in their full State of Perfedlion : And this was the firft and fuper- eminent Period fymbolized by the firft Day's Creation. After this moft fublime and fupereminent Period, which might be properly called the Golden Age, from its Purity 3 when the Uni- verfe was all Light and Day, until Spirits, by their Difobedience and Lapfe, were deprived of their Joy and Glory, and were hurled down from this Heaven of Light, into the chaotic Darknefs of Planets and Comets, before the Creation of this World of Suns and Earths appeared ; when the difobedient Spirits were divided from their fuperior Vehicles, and were crouded together by the Impulfe of Gravity, or fuperior Power of the heavenly Hoft impelling them from them, or, by their own attractive fympathetical Powers, cohering and uniting themfelves in par- ticular Mafles, or folid Globes of Matter , the Divine Being, in Procefs of Time, after many of the asthereal Regions had been in a manner di (peopled by the Lapfe, refolved to reftore fe- veral of his Creatures, according to the Nature of their Lapfe, who were confined to Matter, without Metaphyjlcal Eflay. 167 without Life or Perception, to different De- grees of Life and Power : Upon the Promul- gation of which, the Sons of God fhouted for Joy, when they heard that the human Order of Beings were allowed a State of Probation, upon our Divine Meffiah's offering to purchafe it for us in time, by taking Flefh upon him, and undergoing Death to redeem us from our original Guilt and Sin in our former State. It then pleafed the Almighty Being to create this vifible World, as it appears at prefent, with its Suns and Planets, as it is fet forth by Mojes-y wherein the Divine Second Perfon, our Mefllah, was the principal Agent. It does not appear whether the feveral Syflems of Suns and Planets were all made at once, or in different Periods of Time -, or whether Mofes here does not con- fine himfelf to our Earth; tho' it may anfwer to our Solar Syflem, and to all the Syflems of the Fixed Stars. However, The Divine Logos then faid. Let there be a Firmament in the Midjl of the Waters^ and let it divide the Waters from the Waters : That is. Let an Atmofphere be formed, fo elaflic and fpringy, that it may carry along with it and fupport a confiderable Quantity of Water in Vapours, and fuch Particles of Earth as were rendered fluid, by uniting with it, as in other heterogeneous Exhalations : This feparated fome of thefe Particles, nitrous Salts, Gf^. from the others which were lock'd up in the Earth, which were ready to be applied afterwards to M 4 the i68 A Mifcellaneous the Generation of Plants and Animal?, as the Divine Logos (hould dire6l. This Air, or At- mofphere, was compofed moftly of fpringy Machines or Vehicles, perhaps already united to fome of the fpiritual Particles of Light, or feminal Forms ; which, uniting with aqueous Vapours, are poured down in Rain, or diftill'd in Dew, into the Womb of the Earth, to be ready to fix in proper Nidus's^ in order to take Life upon due Admiffion of Heat and Moifture : And God called this Firmament, Expanfe, or Atmofphere, Heaven : And this fecond Period, by the Reunion of the active and paflive Atoms in the Atmofpheres of the feveral Earths and Planets, being a further Progrefs from the chaotic Darknefs to Light, is expreffed a Second Day, as before, beginning from the Evening or Darknefs, and ending in the Morning. Then God /aid. Let the Waters be gathered together into one Place^ and let the dry Land appear. Thus, after many of the Waters, and other Fluids, were fupported by the At- mofphere, and a fufRcient Quantity of Fluids were fix'd in the Abyfs under the Earth, the reft of the Waters were gathered together in the Hollows of the Globe, by making the Sur- face of the Earth uneven, fo as the rifing Ground and Hills became dry and folid ; from whence one was called Earth, and the Colledlion of Waters Seas : And^ being then proper for Ve- getation, having a reafonable Degree of Heat and Moifture, God/aid^ Let the Earth bring forth Metaphyjical Effay. 169 forth Grafs^ the Herb yielding Seed^ and the Fruit-tree yielding Fruity after his Kind -^ whofe Seed is in itfef upon the Earth. And the Earth brought forth Grafs ^ &c. and God faw that it ujas good. And the E^'cening and the Morning was the third Day. This Third Day's Creation being a regular Progreffion from the chaotic Darknels of lapfed Beings, confined in the Appearance of Matter, into Life, Light, and Joy, the Divine Logos thought proper to bring on Life gradually ; and thus plantal Life, being the loweft, proceeds firft in Order : For, before this, the feminal Forms imprifon'd in Matter had not proper Nidus's to vegetate in : And as in Animals their plantal precedes their fenfitive Life, and Plants being alfo neceflary for the Food of Animals, it was highly proper and regular that Plants fl:iould be formed before Animals; and, a fmaller Degree of Heat being neceflary for Vegetation, thefe feminal Forms, united to their Vehicles, having obtained a proper Seat, began to vege- tate before the Sun or Stars appeared upon the Face of the Earth or Planets, or perhaps be- fore they blazed out to adorn the vifible World, or the Planets were put into a regular Motion round the Sun : For Suns and Stars were of no Ufe in the firft Period, when all was Light and Heaven -, the angelic Orders before the Lapfe wanting no fuch Light as We, and other Animals, now enjoy : Nor were Suns neceflary in the time of chaotic Darknefs, before our vi- fible lyo A Mifcellaneous fible Creation, or any time before Animals were formed : So that the Sulphur, and moft of the luminous Matter in the Sun and Stars, might be in clofe Cohefion, and at Reft, in thefe fe- veral Globes, until they were rekindled by the Divine Power, and new Motion was given to them to {hoot off their feveral Rays of Light. The Divine Logos then, in the regular man- ner he created thefe Worlds, and brought out Light from Darknefs, by a regular Progreflion, made all Vegetables begin to grow before the Sun blazed out, or at leaft appeared in our Globe ; to which the firft natural Heat in the Nucleus of the Earth did not a little contribute ; lince this Globe is an heterogenous Body, full of Salts and Sulphurs, which by proper Fermenta- tions are fet in Motion: For, without fome Degree of Heat, Water had not been fluid, but in its natural State of Ice, and could neither have been divided by the Atmofphere, nor colleded into Seas, Thus the Stage of the Earth and Planets were prepared and adorned for Animals to ad: upon • and Vegetation being thus brought to Perfection, God faw that it was good ; and it being fo great a Progrefs from Death to Life, is diftinguiflied as a diftind: Period, and called the Third Day's Creation. Befides, as the Formation of the angelic Or- ders, or Regions of Light, made the Firft Pe- riod or Divifion of Time ; and the Reunion of the adive and paflive Particles, the feminal Forms and Vehicles, upon the Formation of the Metaphyseal Eflay, 171 the Firmament or Atmofphere, which fepa- rated the Earth from the aethereal Regions, which is fometimes fymboUz'd as a Gulph fix'd between Heaven and Hell, Light and Dark- nefSj made the Second Period 5 then thofe fe- minal Forms and Vehicles, after Union, fixing themfelves in proper Nidus's^ in order to ve- getate, may be fymbolized under the Ternary, as the other under the Binary, and thus make up the Third Period or Day's Creation, before the regular Motion was given to the heavenly Bodies, which was the Fourth Day's Work, and neceffary for the fubfequent Animal Crea- tion. And God /aid. Let there be Lights in the Firmament of Heaven^ to divide the Day from- the Night j and let them be for Signs, &c.— And let them be for Lights in the Firmament of Heaven, to give Light to the Ea?'th. And God made two great Lights, &c. — He made the Stars alfo. During the chaotic Darknefs, until it was time to create Animals capable of Sight and other Senfations, Suns, and Globes of Light, were un- neceffary, as well as their regular Revolutions and Rotations round their feveral Axes : But when Beings were to be introduced capable of Senfation and Vifion, then it was neceffary to form thefe Globes of Light, and fecondary Planets, to divide Light from Darknefs, and to give proper Seafons for the Ufe of Animals, particularly of Man : Then was our glorious Syftem 172 A Mifcellaneous Syftem of heavenly Bodies framed ; the Sun fix'd pendulous in the Center, revolving round its Axe, and the feveral primary and fecondary Planets revolving as well round the Sun as their feveral Centers, and round each other 3 as alfo the Comets, not yet made habitable, or long fince deprived of Beings capable of animal Life. Thus the Divine Logos^ having formed thefe Suns and Planets, and having given them an elaftic Power fufficient to throw off innumerable Rays of Light, with unaccountable Rapidity, thro' all the aethereal Regions, as well as to the fe- veral Planets, faw that it was good and per- fedl : And the Evening and the Morning was the Fourth Day ; the Quaternary denoting this Period, when this glorious Syftem appeared to our particular Globe, to invigorate the Pro- duction of Plants and Animals. And God /aid. Let the Waters bring forth abundantly the moving Creature that has Lifey and Fowl that may fly in the open Firmament of Heaven. And God created great Whales^ &c. ajid every wi?iged Fowl after his Kind -, and faw that At was good^ atid blefjed them^ f'^yi^^gy Be fruitful, and multiply, a7id fill the Waters of the Seas, and let Fowl multiply upon the Earth. Thus an Habitation being ready for fenfible Beings, God enabled the more pliant Fluid of Water as a proper Nidus to receive the Seeds of Fiih and Fowl, and other volatile Infcdts, which were now ready to vegetate and increafe, the Waters being earlier ready than t]be Earth, to Metaphyseal Eflay. 173 to bring the Beings formed there into Life and Adion 'y and God faw that they were good : And having made a competent Number of each, without at once filling the Seas and the Earth with their Numbers, he blefTed them, and gave them a Power to increafe and con- tinue their feveral Species, by receiving the Souls, or feminal Forms, of each, and injed:- ing thofe Seeds into the Female, who was fur- nifhed with a proper Nidus to nourifh them, until they lodg'd their Eggs in fecure Places, where they might be hatch'd with Safety: And this higher Degree of Life in fenfible Enjoy- ments being a further Progrefs in the Creation, he mentions it as a Fifth Period, the Quinary denoting the State thereof. Ajtd God/aid^ Let the Earth bring forth the liviiig Creature after his Kind^ ajtd Cattle after their Kind^ and every thing that creepeth upon the Earth after his Kind : And God made the Beaji of the Earth after his Kind^ &cc. And God faw that it was good. Thus, after God had formed Beings in lower Degrees of Life, with feveral Kinds of Fow!, as well as Fifli (for the more perfedFovi'l were made out of the Earth with Beafts, as men- tioned in the Second Chapter), he then pro- ceeded to form Beings of greater Powers and Capacities, many of them endow'd with a lefler Degree of Reafon, having Thought, Paffions, Memory, and a lower Degree of Reflection; enough to procure them the Pleafures of the animal 174 ^ Mifcellaneous animal Life, having all animal Senfations in Perfedion, and Capacity and Cunning enough to protect themfelves or their Young from their Enemies ; but incapable of any religious Know- lege ; all their Reafon and Paffions being only fufficient to afford them felfifh animal Enjoy- ments, having no Capacity of enjoying the fu- preme Good, or Knowlege of moral Good, fo as to have a Concern for the general Good of their Species, or the Univerfe, and confequent- ly not accountable for their Adlions. And God Jaidy Let us ?nake Man in our Image y after our Likenefs ; and let them have Dominion over the Fijh of the Sea, &c. So God created Man in hii own Image, in the Image of God created he him, Male and Female created he them. And God blefj'ed them, and faid unto them. Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenijh the Earth, and fubdue it ; aitd have iSominion over the FiJh of the Sea^ Sec. And God faid, Behold, I have given you every Herb bearing Seed, 'which is upon the Face of all the Earth, and every Tree, in which is the Fruit of a I'ree yielding Seed\ to you it jlmll be for Meat, And to every Beajl of the Earth, &c. I have given every green Herb for Meat ; and it wasfo. And God f aw every things that it •was good. And the Eve?iing and the Morni?2g were the Sixth Day, Thus, when the Logos had repleniflied this Globe with Beings of all inferior Orders and Degrees of Life and Knowlege, he ft ill thought it Metaphyjlcal Effay. 175 it Imperfeft without forming a Species of Beings of uiperior Power and Knowlege, who would be Lords over this Globe, and receive a Benefit from all the inferior Orders of created Beings ; and fhould alfo have a Power and Capacity of adoring the Deity, and propagating a Race to continue it to the End of Time. This Species was alfo as a middle Link in the Chain, to conned; the inferior Ranks of Beings to the fuperior Orders in the aethereal Regions. The Triune God, therefore, made Man in his Like- nefs and Image, not only in Similitude, as to Powers and Capacities, as Thought, Knowlege, Reafon, and a Capacity of poflefling moral Virtue and Goodnefs, tho' all infinitely fhort of the Deity ; but alfo bearing a Refemblance in their Form to the Soul or Vehicle of the Mefliah, united to. the Divine Logos, Thus^ drawing down the aethereal Man, or Adam^ after his Lapfe, and forming him by the plaftic Power of the Spirit of God, in a prepared Nidus in the Bofom of the Earth, forming and raifing his Vehicle with the Dufl of the Ground, Male and Female created he them^ bletling them, and commanding them to be fruitful^ and muU tiply^ and replenijh the Earth, and fubdue it^ and have Dominion over the whole Earth ; al- lowing them all that was pleafant and delicious for their Food, and the Rem-ainder to other living Creatures. Then God faw the whole Creation of this Globe finiilied ; and, behold, it was good : And thus ended the laft Period, the 5 whole 176 A Mifcellaneoiis whole creative Power then ceafing ; the Senary, made up of the three firll perfed: Numbers, aptly pointing out the Perfedion of it. Thus Mofes has pointed out, very philofophi- cally, as well as adapted to the meaneft Capa- city, the whole Creation and Syftem of Beings, as well as the Beginning and Original of our earthy Species confined to this Globe. A philofophical Inquiry, How we were formed, and in what Numbers ? would natu- rally follow in this Place ; But I fhall defer it, until I go thro' the cabaliftic Interpretation given to the Second and Third Chapters, which treats of the primitive Life we enjoyed in the aethereal Regions, before we lap fed, and fell from it into our prefent State of Pilgrimage and Proba- tion, together with the Nature of our Lapfe, and "what we fuffer by it; and then leave it to the Judgment of the Reader, Whether there is not a hidden or veil'd Meaning in thefe Chapters, for the Inflrudion of the more Learned and Wife ; as St. Faul fays, We f peak Wifdom unto thofe who are perfedi ; as well as a plain and li- teral Account to the Vulgar, of the Original and Lapfe of Adam^ the Founder of the yewifi Race, and Type of our Saviour ; by whofe Difobedience Sin and Guilt are imputed to all Mankind, as well as Grace and Forgivenefs by the Obedience and Death of our Saviour Chrift. After Mofes had finiflied his Account of the Formation of this particular Globe and Syflem, in the Six Days Creation, ^e clofes that ISfarra- tion Metaphyseal EfTay. 177 ti6n in the Beginning of the Second Chapter : Thus the Heavens aiid Earth were jinijhed^ and ell the Hoji of them. — -Jnd God rejled the fe- venth Day from all his Works which he had made. He afterwards fays, ' This Account I have * given you is not only a plain Hiftory of the * Planting and Peopling of this Globe, but it * is alfo an Account of the Generations of the * Univerfe, antecedent to the prefent State of ^ this Globe ; viz. The Generations of the ^ Heavens and the Earthy when they were firfl * formed, in the Day^ or in that firft Period, * when Gvd had made the Earth and the Hea- * vens^ and every Plant of the Fields before it * was in the Earthy and every Herb before it * grew ; for the Lord had not caufed it to rain * upon the Earthy and there was not a Man to * //// the Grounds That is, God had created all the adlive fpiritual Beings, all the Seeds, fe- minal Forms, and Vehicles, of all Things, be- fore they were produced or appeared upon the Earth, or Surface of this Globe ; before ever any Rain had been to occafion Vegetation, or any Man had been created here to affift the Earth to produce her Crops, by Tillage and manuring it : But even then there was a balmy Moifture, which afcended in Vapour, and, re- turning to the Earth, affifted the teeming Womb of the Earth to produce Vegetables at their firft Appearance in this Globe. And the Lord God had Aio formed Man of the Diijl of the Ground, and breathed into his Nojtrils the Breath of Life: N And 178 A Mifcellaneous And Mnn became a living Soul : That is, Even before Plants grew upon this Earth, or Things were prepared here for Man's Habitation, God alfo formed Man in his Vehicle from thefe Atoms, this Duft of the Ground 5 and into thefe Atoms, Vehicles, or Machines, God breathed in an ad:ive Spirit, one of thefe fpiri- tual Monads, or Particles of Light; and he became, upon this Union and Inflation of his Vehicle, a living Soul in his aethereal Body or Vehicle ; fuch as he fhall have again at the Re- ftoration of all Things. Aitd the Lord God planted u Garden Eajl-t. *ward in Eden, and there he put the Man whom he had formed, Eaftward may be here under- flood toward the Sun-rifing, or in the Dawn of the Creation ; that is, prior to Man's inha- biting this Globe, or defcending into this ani- mal State : And there God placed Man, the human Species, among the fuperior Order of Beings, and made their Situation the moft happy that could be imagined ; there Souls bringing forth, as the Earth, every profitable Plant and pleafant Fruit, enjoying and contemplating the Divine Being : And the Tree of Life and Im* mortality was even planted in their Soul, the obeying the effential Will of God, in approving of the fupreme Good of the Univerfe ; tho' not then attained to by the human Soul : And the Tree of Knowlege of Good and Evil, w^hich was Man's own Will, or the felfi/h animal Appetite; the Gratifying of which was not Metaphyfical Eflay. 179 not always confiftent with the divine Will, or fupreme Good, the following of which muft bring Evil into the World : And there was a pleafant River which watered this Garden of Man's Soul, which divided into four Heads or Streams, which are the four Cardinal Virtues, Prudence, Juftice, Fortitude, and Temperance. In this paradifaical State had God placed Man, whom he had created perfecft, to culti- vate and improve his Soul, and to contemplate upon the divine Perfedlions ; indulging him in all the Powers and Pleafures he had given him \ allowing him full Liberty to enjoy every thing in that Paradife, but the following his own felfifli Will, which, by feparating him from the Divine Will, and fupreme Good, would only give him the Knowlege of Evil, with the Guilt of Difobedience ^ which would wean his AfFedtions from the Divine Life, and hurry him down to the felfifli animal Life ; by which means he would contract a Languor, and Hide down into the Earth, be buried in human Flefli, and become an Inhabitant of the Regiori of Mortality and Death. And the Lord God faid^ It is not good that Man Jhould be alone : I will make him an Help meet for him. Hitherto Mofes had taken no Notice in the aethereal Adam^ or that Order of Spirits which were afterwards human, of any other Faculties, but fuch as were intelledual, and carried up the Soul to the holy Intellecfl, the Divine Being ^ and this feems to be the N 2 perfe(ft i8o A Mifcellaneous perfecfl and Mafculine Adam, which confined in his Power of contemplating the Divine Su- preme Intelle(fl : In this State Man may be conceived without his fuperior Vehicle, that is, without fecial or animal Senfations or Pleafures -, contemplating upon God, and his divine moral Attributes, and his Works of Creation and Providence, ad intra-, knowing the Names and Natures of all other Beings in Theory, as well the better as the worfe Genii of the an- gelic Orders, as alfo of the animal and vege- table World : And God brought them all in View before his intelled:ual Faculties, and he pronounced right in what Judgment and Knowlege he profeffed about them j but among thefe Orders of Being, there was not any that was proper to be a Vehicle for this Mafculine jidam to affociate with, and give him the Pleafures of Society, by his partaking of ani- mal fenfitive Pleafures; wherefore the Divine Being thought proper to endue the Soul of Man, or that Mafculine Adam, with a Faculty of being united to a fuperior Vehicle, by which means it became united to Matter, and adted, and wa» adted upon by material Beings around it, and thus became capable of all the Pleafures of Senfe : He thus took Adam off from a too great View of the Light of the Divine Being, and allowed him to look down- wards, and contemplate upon all the lower Orders of Being, as wtU as the higher Genii, ad extra-, and to be pleafed with the Senfa- tions Metaphyseal Effay. i8i tions and Joys of his Vehicle 5 fo that his higher Facuhies of contemplating the Divine Being became drowfy and fleepy, and the Feminine Pleafures of the Vehicle became vivid and ftrong; and he immediately allowed, that all his former intelledlual Pleafures were not fo grateful to him, as this focial Knowlege of Beings in the fame Clafs with himfelf ; info- much that he found the Senfations of his Ve- hicle fo agreeable to him, that he faid it was Bone of his Bone, ^c. and called it after his own Name, and faid. For fuch Gratifications as thefe, will Man leave the perpetual Con- templation of the Divine Being and Perfec- tions, which are too high and fublime for the Nature of Man, and will cleave to the joyful and chearful Life of the Vehicle, and ihall ac- count the Whole as one Being or Perfon : And thus Adam^ or the human Species, flood ex- pofed naked to the View of God, with his new- wedded Joy, the Pleafures of Senfe \ but, be- ing yet innocent and fimple, having not yet fet up his felfifh Will and Pleafures, owing to his Vehicle, or Feminine Part of his Being, againft the Will and Commandment of God, he was not afhamcd. The Life of the Vehicle being now fo flrong and pleafant, and drawing the Thoughts of Man from the Contemplation of the Deity to the Pleafures of Senfe, fome of the Orders of the evil Genii or Angels, who had difobeyed, and who were more fubtil than thofe of any N 3 other 1 82 A Mifcellaneous other Order, finding the human Species weak- ened by their Feminine Attachment toPleafure, in a proper Situation for them to tempt them t6 difobey the Commandment God had given them, and to follow the Dictates of their own Will ; this Order or Serpent, therefore, laying hold of the feminized Adam^ who had indul- ged himfelf in gratifying his Paffions, and fen- fual Pleafures, faid, What, has God indeed prevented you from gratifying your Appetites, and indulging this pleafant Life of enjoying fenfual Pleafures, which he has opened to your View ? And Eve^ or the feminized Adam^ faid. We may enjoy all thofe Pleafures that are con- liftent with the Divine Will, and agreeable t6 a Divine Life ; v/e are only forbid to feed on bur own felfifli Will, and to feek Pleafures without the Approbation of the Will of God ; for if we gratify our own fenfual Will, and a(9; inconfiftently to the fupreme Good of the Uni* Verfe, we fliall afiuredly defcend into the Re*. gion of Mortality ^ be deprived of the Enjoy* Inents we now have, and be caft into a Stat6 of Silence or Death : But the evil Genii faid unto the Woman, or feminized Jdam^ This it but an Apprehenfion, and panic Fear, in you ; you fliall not furely die, as you have been told. God indeed loves to keep his Creatures in Awe, to prevent their ranging too far, and aiming at too much Knowlege ; for he knows, if you take the fame Liberty we have done, and make ufe of your Will to ad without Confinement, as Metapkyjical Eflay. 183 as your fenftial Pleafures in your Vehicle dic- tate to you, your Eyes would be wonderfully opened, you would enjoy a vaft Variety of Pleafures, become abundantly wife, and, like Gods, know every thing both good and evil. This pleafing Dodrine being agreeable to the Faffions in Adam^ his Defire of enjoying all the Pleafures of Senfe got the better of his Reafon ; fo that, finding it agreeable to his Paffion of becoming wife, and gratifying him- felf in the full Swing of his own Will, he wholly fet himfelf to enjoy the pleafing Life of his Vehicle, without any Diredion from Reafon, or confulting with the divine Light God had placed in him : And thus his Reafon, and Mafculine Faculties, fubmitted to the pleafing Life of the Vehicle ; and both con- curred in fetting up the Will of Man againft the dired Voice of Reafon, which God had commanded Man to obey. After thus giving himfelf an unlimited Swing in following the Defires of his own Will, and ^all the animal fenfual Pleafures arifing from the pleafing Titillations of his Vehicle, the Eyes of his Faculties were opened, and he per- ceived how naked they were : Adam had be- fore found the Height of rational Joy in obeying the V/ill of God, and promoting the general Good of the Univerfe, and of being united to God, and his holy Angels : He nour found, that by giving a Loofe to his own felf- i(h Defires, and giving Way to every fel-fifli N 4 Good 184 A Mifcellaneous Good that he found pleafed his Senfes, and gratified his Paffions, and Life of his Vehicle ; that the fetting up his own private Pleafurc againfl the public Good, Paffion againft Reafon, the fenfual Pleafures of the animal Life againft the divine ; that thefe Purfuits had removed him to a great Diftance from the Society of the higher Powers, and from the Regions of Light J and had caufed him to affociate with Beings of an inferior Nature, the animal Crea- tion. The Eyes of his Reafon being, after fome time, opened, he found that the Circle of fenfitive Pleafures was vain and frivolous, that he was then naked and expofed, and had moft intimately the Knowlege of Evil by his Soul's being eftranged from following the fu^ preme Good : However, he fowed Fig-leaves together, made fome frivolous Pretences to try to juftify his Condu<5t, by alleging, that the Vigour of his plaftic Nature, and Vehicle, ihould be gratified, fince it was given to him by God. In the mean time, the Voice of God, Divine Wifdom, fpoke to him in the Cool of the Day, that is, when his Paffions were cool, and Reafon began again to recover its legal Sway -, but he, finding his Folly, hid himfelf from the Prefence of God among the Trees of the Garden, as a wild Beaft would fhun the Sight of a Man; that is, he ftill flrovq to evade the divine Light and Reafon implanted in him, by gratifying his felfifh Appetites ; but the Divine Light ftill purfued jidam in,h;s Confclence, Metaphyseal Effay, 185 Confcience, and upbraided him for his Difobe- dience : At laft Adam acknowleged his Naked- nefs and Folly, finding he had no Power nor Abilities of his own, and yet had fet up a felfifh Good, and quit his Obedience and De- pendence upon God ; which had occafioned his Shame, and his hiding himfelf at the Ap- proach of the Divine Light. And God faid. Who has told thee, that thou waft naked ? Haft thou then eat of this Fruit I commanded thee not to eat, the lufcious Di(flates of thy own Will? And your being thus intimately acquainted with the Evil of Dilobedience, and Knowlege of your own Weaknefs and Lofs, has this at length awakened your Confcience, and made you afraid ? But Adam excufed himfelf upon account of his Want of Power to obey his Reafon, from the Vigour and Impetuofity of his Vehicle the Woman, his plaftic Nature, and Seat of his Paffions, the Affociate of his Nature^ which God had given him for a Help; ^nd the Divine Being then faid. What Work have thefeFemininePaffions and Senfations done ? But immediately an Excufe was offered, that the grand Deceiver the Serpent, the wicked rebellious Genii, had deceived and wrought upon Adam's Paffions, the animal Nature, and laid all the Variety of the Pleafures of Senfe before him'; by which they gained Admittance, his Nature being too weak there to withftand the Affault. In this Confufion was Adam^ by forfaking the divine Light of his Reafon, and letting i86 A Mifcellaneous letting his own Will get a Head againft it : For whereas he might have continued in an angelic sethereal Situation, and his Feminine Paffions might have been brought into perfed: Obedi- ence to his Reafon, the Divine Light, and Joys, might have been multiplied upon the whole Man, beyond all Expreffion and Imagi- nation, for ever ; he, on the contrary, found the Nature of his Vehicle fo much altered, that he funk more and more from the asthereal Regions towards a mortal and terreftrial State; as you fhall further hear, after telling you of the Doom pronounced by the Divine Being againft the Serpent : Which was this ; That this old Serpent, who was the Prince of the rebellious Genii, Ihould be more accurft than all the other Orders of lapfed Beings, particu- larly than the Human : And whereas he could before lord it in the aethereal Regions, among the innocent Souls of Men, and other angelic Orders ; he fhould for the future be caft down to the lower Regions, keep his Station in the lower Atmofphere, and grovel, as it were, up- on the Earth; and, inftead of being fatiated with sethereal angelic Food, fhould feed upon the Duft of the Earth, and be transformed into unclean Beafts, and poifonous Serpents ; and that there fhould be a general Enmity and Abhorrency betwixt him and his Fellow-rcbels, and Mankind ; and, in Procefs of Time, the. ever-faithful and obedient Soul of the Meffiah fhould take an earthy Vehicle, and trample over Metaphyseal Effay, 187 over the Power of the Devil, and fallen Angels here upon Earth, and after his Death he fhould be appointed Prince and Head over all the an* gelic Orders in Heaven, Concerning Adam^ or the human Species, God decreed that they ihould defcend down to be Inhabitants of the Earth, and fhould not there indulge to themfelves the Pleafures of the Body, without a Mixture of Pain and Sorrow 5 and that their Feminine Part, their Faffions and Affedions, fhould be under the Correftion of their Reafon ; that Man fhould have a wearifome and toilfome Labour on Earth, which fhould bring forth Thorns and Thiftles, tho' Man fhould fubfift by the Corn of the Field ; Wherefore by the Sweat of their Brows fhould Mankind eat Bread, until they returned unto the Ground from whence his terreflrial Vehicle was taken. This was the Counfel of God concerning Adam and the Ser- pent, Man and the fallen Angels. Now Adam^ tho' he was finking apace into the lower animal Life, yet his Mind was not grown quit^ fo ftupid, but that he knew the State he^ was to fall into, and faid. That the Feminine Part, tho* it had feduced him, yet there fhould be this Advantage from it, that the Earth would be inhabited by intelligent Animals: Wherefore he called the Life of his Vehicle JEi;^, becaufe it is indeed the Mother of all the Generations of Men that live upon the Earth. At i88 A Mifcellaneous At lad the plaftic Nature and Power being fully awaked, AJa?}is Soul, or the Souls of Mankind, defcended into prepared terreftrial Vehicles ; and, having proper Nidus's to be formed and nourifhed in, they, in Procefs of Time, appeared cloathed in Coats of Skin, that is, became downright terreftrial Animals, and mortal Creatures upon this Earth ; having tafted of the Waters of Lethe^ and forgot what had happened to them in their pre-exift- ent State : For God faid, Lo ! Man in his aethereal paradifaical State, having known his Power by Obedience, and his Guilt by Dif- obedience, in his following his own Will and Self-love, will pretend, if he continue in the sethereal Regions, of himfelf, to merit Immor- tality, and eternal Life, without any Puni(h- ment for his Crime. Therefore God fent him , out of Paradife, and removed him from that happy Situation, and made him defcend to the Earth, and become an Inhabitant of this lower Region, and till the Ground, from whence he was taken. Thus the Divine Being prevented Man from becoming immortal, or reaching unto the Fruit of the Tree of Life, without pafling thro' a State of Probation, and being again re- invefted with a fiery or aethereal Vehicle, and becoming a pure aethereal Spirit, who then fhall be admitted to tafte the Fruit of the Tree of Life and Immortality, and fo live for ever. Notwith- Metaphyfical Effay, 189 Notwithftanding this feems to be the hid- den and veiled Account of the Lapfe of Angels and Men, before the Forming of this Globe and Syftem, wherein God reveals himfelf as thro' a Cloud 5 yet it need not at the fame time ex- clude the literal Meaning, or prevent our believing, that God Almighty had formed ^^j^;^ in an extraordinary manner after the Six Days Creation, when he had replenifhed the Earth, with all its Inhabitants, Mankind, as well as other Animals, as I fhall endeavour to {hew, both from Scripture and Reafon, in the next Chapter. For as our Saviour, from the Begin- ning, was appointed to come into the World, to take Flefh upon him, and die, to fave lapfed Man ^ fo Adam^ and alfo Ifaac^ were brought into the World after an extraordinary manner, as Types of our Saviour : Adam was formed extraordinarily out of the Earth, with- out a Father, and not by Generation from the Aborigines^ God Almighty being his Father j from whence, by St. Luke^ "he was called the Son of God ; and IJaac without a Mother, fince Sarah was dead as to bearing Children, God working a Miracle in her to bear him : Thus they were perfed: Types of our Saviour, who was begot without the Seed of Man : Thus Adam was formed extraordinarily to be the Head of a feledt Race, the Je-uos, in whofe Line our Saviour was to come in the Flefh, t) beget Prielts and Prophets to hand down true Religion, divine Truths, and promulge th^ divine I go A Mifcellaneous divine Law to the Aborigines : Thus he was fubftituted inftead of the Mafs of fallen Man, as their Prince or Head, in an upright State, to try, if, by his own Strength, he could obey the Law which God had given him. He might alfo have been formed in Palejline, and after- wards placed in Eden, feparated from the reft of Mankind, to prove his Obedience ; and that^ upon his Fall with Eve, the Sin, as Reprefen- tative and Prince of Mankind, was myftically imputed to all Mankind, tho' already lapfed, that the Obedience and Death of Chrift might be alfo imputed as an Atonement for all Man- kind, who believed, obeyed, and depended upon the Satisfadion of the Meffiah, or to thofe who, being without the Law, became a Law unto themfelves -, that is, aded with a good Confcience in their State of Probation here. Adam not having a proper Help among^ all the Females of the Aborigines to carry down a feled Race from him to the Meffiah, Eve was formed out of his Subflance or Side, as in a proper Nidus^ or Matrix, after God had caufed a deep Sleep to fall upon him, which might have been of fuch a Length as was neceflary to bring on the Foetus to Perfec- tion -y and this might give Rife to the Fable of ^upiter\ bearing Bacchus in his Thigh : In the Time of this deep Sleep Eve was born, and the Tumour in his Side healed, and fhe was brought to him in a beautiful Infancy. I find no Reafon to believe^ that Adam was I formed Metaphyseal Effay. 191 formed at once in perfed: Manhood, with a full Knowlege of Arts and Sciences, for fince our Saviour, his Prototype, increafed from In- fancy in Stature and Knowlege ; we may reafonably believe the fame in Adam^ his Type : It feems reafonable to believe, that it was in his Increafe and Youth that he gave Names to all living Creatures, after obferving their Na- tures, and minuted them down, for the Ufc of others ; that in his Youth Kve was formed, when there was not an Help meet for him among the perhaps gigantic Aborigines ; and fhe, probably, lived with him in Paradife, in JEiden^ in a State of Innocence, until he was flbout thirty-four Years of Age, at which Time of Life our Saviour fuffered, when Kve might have been about fixteen or feven teen Years of Age : At that Time of Life, as he was our Saviour's Type, he probably difobeyed ; for, as he was put into the Garden of Rden to cul- tivate it, and find out the Nature of Plants as well as Animals, it muft be prefumed, that he lived there for fome time 5 and that was the Time in Life that Defires and Concupifcencc grew ftrong in Eve^ and made her liften to the Temptation of the Serpent, by liftening to the Pleafures of Senfe; which might have been forbid to them, as a proper Teft of their Obe- dience, when their Paffions grew ftrong ; {o that a literal Meaning may accompany the other thro' the whole Mofaical Text, to carry on the Myllery of the Fall of Man, that he might be 192 A Mi/cellaneous be a perfeft Type of our Saviour, who was afterwards to come and redeem lapfed Man-* kind 5 and as his Righteoufnefs and Obedience was imputed to all Mankind, io Adam's Lapfe or Difobedience was likewife imputed to Man^ kind ; for Death reigned even over thofe j^b-^ origines, who had not finned after the Similitude of Adam's Tranfgreffion 3 for they could not be under the Guilt of Sin before the Law was given to Adam ; for tho' natural Sin was in the World before the Law, yet it could not be imputed, when the Law was not given, as St. Taul reafons. Thus, literally, for eating the forbidden Fruit, the Tree of carnal Senfe planted in the Midft of the Garden, they were drove out of the Garden of Eden^ to till the Ground from whence they were taken; and the Curfe of the natural Creation was im- puted to them upon their Difobedience, tho^ the Labour of Man, Thorns and Thirties, and Creeping of the Serpent, as well as Pains of. Child-bearing, were all natural from the firft Formation of the Earth. CHAP. Metaph^ifical Effay. 193 CHAP. XL Wherein isjheu-n^ both from Scripture and Rea^ forty that there were Men created on this Globe before the Mofaic JErz of the Creation of Adam, the Father oj the Jewifh Kace ; and that federal of their T>efcendents are living now upon this Globe : And fdewijig that NoahV Flood was not univerfal^ nor intended to drown thofe Aborigines 3 but ojily the De- fcendents of Adam, who had degenerated from the true Religion ^ and Worjhip of the true God, Jehovah, the God of IfraeL HAVING finifhed what I prcpofed, in relation to the cabaliftic Meaning to be given to the Lapfe of Adam^ as fet forth by Mofes j it may be proper here to confider phi- lofophically how Man was formed, and in what Numbers, upon our fir ft Appearance up- on this Globe : For as the Tenor of Scripture, in the vulgar Reading, feems to fhew, that we all defcended from one Individual, no other being mentioned than Adam, and yet there being feveral Texts of Scripture which cannot be eafily explained in that Senfe, as well as Paflages in Hiftory, which would give us Ground to believe, that there have been IVIen upon this Earth before the Mofaic /Era of Adam ; I O (hall 194 ^ Mifcellaneous fhall therefore firft treat of it phllofophicalljr, as far as I can treat of it from Reafon and Ob- fervation ) and then endeavour to (hew, that it is not inconfiftent with the Tenor and Intention of the Scriptures, that we are not defcended from one particular Stock or Parent. It feems plain, from the Mofaic Account, that the Divine Being formed all the feminal Forms, and fpecific Vehicles, and, by uniting them, formed each individual Plant and Ani- mal, in their Seeds, in the Six Days Creation, or in thofe feveral Periods ; and moll probably the Spirits and Souls of all Beings in the Firft Period : So that God refted from any new Creation from that time. Thus the Heavens and Earth wej'e finijhed^ and all the Hoft of them : And God ended his Work^ and rejied the feventh Day from all his Work which he had made. Now it can't be faid, that God had finifhed all the Hoft of Heaven and Earth, and refted from his Work, if he is perpetually creating human and other animal Souls, as Ge- neration is carried on, from the Beginning to this time ; and fo on to the End of the World. Again he fays, Thefe are the Generations of the Heavens and the Earthy in the Day that God made the Earth a7id the Heavens^ and every Plant oj the Field, before it was in the Earthy and every Herb of the Fields before it grew j for as yet there was ?io Rain, nor Man formed to till the Ground : That is, God had made all Spirit?, Soul«^, and feminal Forms, in their Metaphyjical Effay. 195 their Seeds, before they were produced upon this Earth ; and confequently before they grew ; before the Formation of Man, as he now ap- pears a terreftrial Animal ; or before any thing on this Globe arofe to Perfed:ion : This he points out as One Period ; In the Day that God made the Earth and the Heave7is. Now fince God had formed all the Seeds of Vegetables, and prepared the Earth over the whole Globe, in its feveral Climates, at firft, as a proper Nidus for the Produdlion of all Ve- getables ; it does not feem rational to think, that only one Individual of each Species was produced at firft ; and that they, having Seeds in themfclves, fhould propagate, difperfe, and replenifh the Earth, before Animals were formed ; but rather, fince their Seeds were all fcatter'd originally in the Air, Water, and Earth, and the Earth being a proper Matrix or Nidus for them, they grew every-where fpontaneoufly, according to the feveral Soils and Climates: Whereas, fuppofing only one Individual of each created at firft, it would take many Ages to difperfe them thro' the Globe, where nothing but Winds or Water could carry them, until Animals were created 5 and Part of this Earth, and uninhabited Iflands, would to this Day be without Trees or Herbage : Nor is it realbnable to believe, that God ihould form innumerable Seeds at once, and prepare a World proper for them, and frame a Theatre for other fupcrior Beings to acl upon, and yet leave the O 2 Vv'hole 196 A Mifcellaneous Whole a Defert, the greateil: Part for many Ages without bemg cloathed with Vegetables, having only a fingle Stalk of each formed at once : It feems therefore more philofophical to allow, that the whole Earth was at firft properly cloathed with all Kinds of Plants and Trees, according to the feveral Soils and Climates j and that the Surface of the Earth being a com- mon Mother to them, the feveral feminal Forms of Plants, and each adive Spirit, entering a proper Vehicle or Machine, drew a fuitable Nourifliment from the properly-prepared Ma- trix of the Earth ; and thus a due Proportion of Verdure, or Cloathing, at once appeared up- on the Earth. From the fame way of Reafoning we muft believe, that Fifli, Fowl, Beads, Infedts, &c. were formed in great Number's at firft, tho' hot fo many as to fill the whole Earth : For, if only tVv^o Individuals, Male and Female, of each Species, vvxre formed at firft, there being fo many Beafts, Birds, and Fifh, nay, even In- fe6ls, of Prey^ which live upon one another, that they muft have devoured the weaker, and the feveral Infedts they lived upon, or muft have been famifti'd for want of Food ; for we find moft Fifti live upon one another, the greater having nothing elfe to feed upon, and the P.emainder feed upon Infedls -, and, by the Texture and Form of Land Animals, we find fnany of them were never defigned by Provi- dence to feed upon Vegetables : Befides, of what Metaphyjlcal Eflay. 197 what Ufe would Vegetables have been, formed abundantly over the Face of the whole Earth, if there were not a fuitable Number of fiich Animals as feed upon them formed at firfl to keep them down ? The whole Earth would foon have been covered over with rotten Vege- tables, and have become a Bog : This would not have been conliftent with the infinite Wif- dom of God. Could we fuppofe, amongft ourfelves, that a wife Man fliould build a fine Palace, fit it out with Furniture in the mofi: ele- gant Manner, prepare a great Feaft, with vaft Variety and Plenty ; and, when all was done, have no Gueft invited, no Perfon to eat at it, but have it all thrown away as good for no- thing ? How then can we imagine, that the infinitely w^ife God could have done fo at the firft Formation of this Globe ? Have we not then Reafon to believe, that the ail -wife Being, from innumerable Seeds of Animals, prepared a fufficient Number at pnce to enter into pro- per Eggs or Matrices, and to come to Life at once in different Climates in the Globe ? Nor do I think we ought to fuppofe, that Animals were formed at once in perfect Size and Vi- gour ; but grew gradually, as they do now, from their Seed or Egg : The more luxuriant Earth at that time might have been prepared with a proper Nutriment for tliem, in (lead of the Milk they now receive from their Dams : Nor is it any way inconceivable, or im- probable, that miniltring Angels, under the O 3 Direction igS A MifcellaneQus Direflion of the Mefliah, (houlft affift Na- ture at the Creation in fupporting and feed- ing young Animals, until they were capable of fupporting themfelves, without building the whole Works of the Creation and Formation of Animals upon the abfolute Fiat and Power of God ; otherwife the whole Creation, in its Perfe6tion, might have been inftantaneous, and all Succeffions of Being might have been at once in the World without Nourilhment at all : But fince we find, that God's Wifdom is always joined with his Power, and that he adts, where it may be done, by fecond Caufes ; it is more probable, that the Generation of Animals was brought to Perfection by degrees, as well as their Succeffion has been carried on fince. The laft and chief thing I propofed to con- fider, is, Whether, in the Six Days Creation, when great Numbers of Individuals of all other Beings were created, and brought to Perfedtion, only one Male and Female of the human Spe- cies was rnade at firfl ? Or whether a greater Number ? As I am confidering this now philofophi- cally, according as it appears to Reafon, with- out any View to Holy Writ, which I fhall conUder of in an Article by itfelf ; I can't in the leaft doubt, but many Individuals of the human Species were created and brought up- on the Stage together, long before the Mo^ Jaic /Era of Adam , and that many Nations now living upon this Globe are; not the De- fcendents Metaphyjical Eflay. igg fcendents of Adam^ but were generated from other Parents, To proceed in the fame way of Reafoning, I can't conceive, from the regular and uniform Proceedings of the Deity, but that a reafonable and proportional Number of the human Species were made, according to the Number of other Beings that were made fubordinate to them : For fince it feems to have been the Intention of Providence, that the Ufe of Animals and Vegetables, and the Command of them, was principally defigned for Man, as Lord over them in the prefent State of Things in this Globe 3 if they abounded and were formed in Numbers, in every Climate and Region throughout the Globe, and only one Man was formed at firft, from whom all others have defcended ; How many Ages would it have been before Man could have the Ufe, or obtain the Dominion over Animals and Plants, in the feveral Regions of this Globe ! Their Increafe, to the Increafe of the human Species, would have been un- *meafurable > fince Man is many Years before he begins to generate, and Animals begin very young, and have them in greater Numbers at a time ; Thus the wild Beafts and Fowls would have been too many for them, and ioK fuch Bealts and Birds, £fr. as they prcy*d upon ; and the Animals and Vegetables defigned for Food and Rayment to Man, would have been in a great meafure loft for many Ages^ and v/Quld have been of little more Significancy, O 4 than 200 A Mifcellaneous than if there had been none at all in mod Parts of the Globe. Ic feems therefore, from the Ratio of Things, more agreeable to the Proceedings of Providence, that a reafonable Number of the human Species, of both Sexes, fliould have been brought upon the Stage to- gether, in different Regions and Climates, in the fame manner that other Animals were ; and grew gradually from a Fo'tiis to Manhood ; and were not at once made, like a Statue, and had Souls infufed into them, as vulgarly be- lieved ; but that, as our Saviour increafed and grew, from his Conception to IVIanhood,in Stature and Knowlege, fo Men were originally form'd from the Seed in lilce manner ; and were taken care of, in their Infancy and Increafe, by mi- niftring Angels, until they were capable of providing for themfelves ; and that then they were left to themfelves in a State of Nature, to condnd themfelves by their Reafon, without Law or revealed Religion, until Adam was formed, to whom the Law was given ; God Almighty, at their firft Creation, having only direded them to increafe^ and multiply^ and re^ plentjh the Earth, and fiihdue it^ having given them the Do?nin!on over it, and the inferior animal and vegetable Creation : So that the Aborigines, being without any Religion, or revealed Law, adted only fo far as their unin- ftru(5led Reafon could lead them, and princi- pally gratified their animal Nature, until the Law Metaphyseal Effay. 201 Law was revealed to Adam^ and they were in- fl:rad:ed by him and his Defcendents. This Opinion, of Numbers having been formed at firft, earth-born, Aborigines^ before the Formation oi Adam^ the Head of the Race of the y^wj, feems to be further confirmed, upon viewing and confidering the feveral Na- tions at prefent upon this Globe, io far as they are known to us, from our late Difcoveries within thefe three hundred Years ^ which feems plainly to fliew, that we are not all defcended from one common Parent, but have had feve- ral original Parents : And were the other Na- tions, which we have not yet difcovered, known to us, it might flill further confirm us in that Opinion. Before we confider this Variety and Differ- ence in the human Species, fince Nature afts generally after the fame manner. Let us go back^ and obferve the lower animal Creation, among the feveral Species of Brutes, and their Under- Species, and we fhall find a great Variety, and fuch a one as is conllantly preferved, w^here the Under-Species generate together : Let us obferve, in fuch Animals as are moft in our View, and fee how great a Variety there is, and conflantly preferved, among Dogs, Maftifi^, Bull-dogs, Greyhounds, Spaniels, and fo on thro' all the feveral Under-Species of Dogs, and we may obferve the fame Kind conftantly preferved, where the Breed is not mixed • and, when they are mixed, the Breed conftantly vary 202 A Mifcellaneom vary in proportion to the leveral Mixtures, Ob- ferve the fame in Horfes, or any other Ani- mals; and we fliall find, if we keep the Breed unmix'd, they never degenerate Into any of the other Kinds. Is it not reafonable to beHeve, that thofe feveral Kinds have not proceeded from one individual Parent or Sire ? Don't we find the like Diflin(5lion among the human Species, in different Countries throughout the Globe, that neither Change of Climate, Food, nor Educa- tion, can alter ? Such are the Diflinftion be- tween the Whites, Copper-colour'd, and Blacks j and again amongft thofe, the long-hair'd Blacks, and the woolly Blacks : The Blacks, by being carried to the coldeft Countries, never alter their Colour ^ nor the Whites, upon being car- ried to the warmeft, and to thofe where the Blacks have had their Original : Nay, even to this Day, tho' many Mixtures, by crofs-breed- ing, has been among thefe feveral Kinds, yet tte Colours always bear a Proportion accord- ing to the Mixture : If a Mulatto is generated between a White and a Black, the Mulattos Breed will be whiter or blacker, according as they are begot or conceived by a White or a Black : And fo, in like manner, are the Mejiizos begot between a White and Copper-colour'd In- dian : Nay the Features, and different-colour'd Eyes and Hair, are generally preferved, where Nations have been preferved unmix'd with other Nations : The woolly Blacks of Guiney and Gambia are diflinguiflied by their flat Nofes, Metaphyseal Eflay. 203 Nofes, and thick Lips, which are natural to them, and not occafioned by any Force from the Mother, by Cuftom j whilfl the long- haired Blacks have Features more like the Whites, rais'd Nofes, and thin Lips. Thus, where Nations are unmix'd, you will find whole Nations with black Hair, as the Blacks are every- where, and the Copper-colour'd Indians : And probably the Hair of the Whites, in their feveral original Nations, would have been each of one Colour, fome white, others brown, or black, or red, but from the crofs-breeding, thro* the feveral Nations ; by which Children from the fame Parents have different Colours, the Breed having been often crofs'd. The fame Obfervation will hold of the Colour of the Eye: In fuch Nations who have not mix'd with others from their Original, the Eye is always the fame : Where the Strain is crofs'd, the Eyes alter, according to the feveral Mixtures* How vaftly different are the Chine fe from us, in- their Features, by having preferved them- felveiS unmix'd j and feveral Tartar Nations, who only intermarry in their own Nations ; as the Circajjians^ admired thro' many Nations for the Beauty of their Faces and Complexions ! Nay, is it not a thing notorious, that xh^Jews^ by preferving themfelves in a great meafure un- mix'd, are diflinguifh'd almoll every-where by their Likenefs to each other 7 This original Variety, (till preferved where there is no Mixture, and varying only where there 204 ^ Mifeellaneoiis there are Mixtures, and juft in, proportion to thefe Mixtures, is next to a Demonftration, to me, that different Nations in the Globe have had different original Parents ^ and that Num- bers were created at firft, Earth-born, or Ab^ origmes^ in the feveral Climates and Regions on this Globe, Upon the Whole, after the flridleft philofo- phical Inquiry that can be made, I believe it will be found to be more confiftent with the Ways of Providence, that as Vegetables and Animals were originally formed in fufScient Numbers, in different Regions of the Globe ; fo likewife, in different Climates and Coun- tries, God Almighty at firfl created Men, in fufficient Numbers to the reft of the inferior Beings, from their original Seeds, in a beauti- ful Variety; to command, fubdue, and make ufe of the feveral Animals and Plants given to them for Food and Pleafure, as well as for their other Ufes : And thus the Divine Being adted confiftently with himfelf in other Parts of the Creation, and difplay'd his Divine Wif- dom in keeping up the beautiful Variety we obferve throughout the Univerfe. The chiefeft Objedlion to this, is. That Mofes^ in his Account, feems to be intirely filent about it, or at leaft does not diredly mention it : And the whole Tenor of the Holy Scriptures feems to infinuate, that Adam was the firll Man, and that he was the Father of the whole human Species, all the Naticjis of Metaphyftcal Eflay. 205 of the Globe being the liTue of his Loins : And this vulgar Interpretation feems to have the greater Weight, becaufe we are all fup- pofed to have fallen in Adam -, and are Par- takers of his original Sin and Guilt, upon this very Account of his being our common Parent ; and, by being defcended from him, we arc Partakers of his Crime : But as there are feve- ral Paflages in the Writings of Mofes, which cannot be eafily explained upon this Plan, of there having been no Men in the World before Adam ; and that the Scheme of Providence can't be fo well fupported, upon Suppofition that we all fuffer for his Crime, tho' we were not a(ftually concerned in his original Sin ; and fince there is a much greater Prefumption from Reafon, as well as from the Defcription of the the Fall of Adam^ as already mentioned, from the Second and Third Chapters of Genefis^ that it has a fecret veil'd Meaning, as well as a lite-^ ral Meaning ; and that Ada?n is not to be taken as an Individual in that Hiftory, but for the whole Mafs of Mankind, the human Species, when they were an Order of Angels, before their Lapfe ; in an ^ethereal Paradife, before they were debafed and fent to people this Globe; and, in the literal Way, Adam is fet forth there as a Type of our Saviour; and, in the Fifth Chapter, as Father of Seth^ he is handed down to us as a Man formed extraordinarily by God, as Head of the Church, and of the Jewifi Nation 3 from whom our Saviour was to de- fcend. 20 6 A Mifcelianeous fcend, to continue down in his Line the Wor- /hip of the true God and Religion, the Myftery of our Redemption, to the Gentiles, the Abori^ gines^ difperfed thro' the World, to the time of our Saviour's coming in the Flefh, when our Redemption was completed ; I beg to be indulged fo far, as to explain feveral of the Texts of Scripture that treat upon that Subjedl ; and to fhew Reafons from them to confirm the Opinion, that there were more Men created at firft than one, and that the Earth was fully peopled before the Formation of Adaniy per- haps for many Ages before. If we follow the Text literally, and fuppofe a Six Days Creation, of twenty-four Hours Length, fuch as we now have, it feems plain, that Men were made the fixth Day, that is, a Plurality, more than one ; for he made them Male and Female, that is, feveral Individuals of the human Species, that Day : For God jatd^ Let us make Man, that is. Mankind, not a. lingle Man ; and let them have Dominiony &cc. So God created Man, Male and Female created he them, and blejfed them : So that here is a plain Indication of a Creation of a Plurality, Male and Female : And this it is plain could not be Ada?n and Eve, if we are to take them, according to the literal Meaning in the Second Chapter, for Individuals ; for there it feems plain, that Adam was not made in the Six Days Creation, but after the Creation, after the Planting of the Garden of Eden ; which, as it and then our Reafoning from his Writings at all is to no Purpofe : But, from what he records, it is plain, that Adam^ from Abel until ^eth was born, got none ; and then he was One hundred and Thirty ; tho', if be grew up from Infancy, probably, both Cain 2 22 A Mtfcellaneous Cain and Abel might have been born before he was Forty ; or, if we believe with others, that he was formed a perfedl jMan, they might have been born much fooner. We find alfo, that Noah was five hundred Years old, before he had any ; and S>hem^ Ham^ and yaphet, were One hundred each, before they had any : For if Noah had any Sons before thofe, or if they had any, they would have been preferved in the Ark : And to fuppofe that he had others, and that they died before the Flood, can't be al- lowed, from the Health and Longevity of thefe Antediluvians ; otherwife the Objection form- ed is of no Force, the Increafe being fuppofed fo great from their Longevity. Let us alfo obferve thofe born for two or three Ages after the Flood, when, if the Flood was univerfal, there was as great a Neceffiiy of peopling the Globe as before ;; and we fliall find they did not begin to beget Children foon, tho' their Lives Vvxre much fliorten'd; nor had they any great Number of Children, many not above three or four Sons ; and thofe who had 'moft, not above eight or ten : And here there is no room for fuppofing more, becaufe Mofes is particular in mentioning all the Sons born to each, upon the Divifions of the Nations among them ; tho' in that Divifion we muft obferve, that no Countries are mentioned, but thofe in the Neighbourhood of the Jews-, and, if there had been any others, he would not have failed mentioning them , otherwife the Divifions of the Metaphyjical Eflay. 223 the feveral Nations and Countries among them had not been faithfully related, if there were others Partakers of the Divifion. I think therefore it is plain, that all are mentioned that were born, or lived to get Children ; and, of thefe, only "Joktaii had thirteen ; all the red from four or five to ten. In Skem\ Sacceffion, until Abraha7n\ Time, not one begat Children before Thirty, except Nahor at Twenty-nine, who then begat Terah^ according to the Vul- gate Account : But, if we follow the Samari- tally then each was One hundred and thirty, before they began to get Children ; which, being later than when the Antediluviam gene- rally began, does not feem to be the true Ac- count i but feems to have been inlarged, to make the Numbers at the Confufion of Tongues, and in the Time of Nimrod, and in Abram\ Days, more credible, fince Abram was but the tenth from Noah, and born within 292 Years of the Flood. From thefe few Hints we can bring toge- ther, in this concife Account given by Mofes^ it mufl be allowed, that neither the Antedilu" ^oiam^ nor the Defcendcnts of Noah, were pro- lific ; and the early Marriages of the Antedilu- viam with the Ge?ifileSy the Aborigines^ and turning their Thoughts to carnal Pleafures, and propagating with them, was one of the Faults they were charged with by the Divine Being : So that it feems plain to me, that Adain'^ Race was fent to preach, and convey down D vine Trutlis 2 24 A Mifcellaneotis Truths to thofe who were before them in \ State of Nature, formed every- where over the Globe, after their general Lapfe from their asthereal Paradife; and, as aPunifhment, being left to themfelves, without any Help but what they had from their natural Reafon, without any other Knowlege of God or Religion, until after the Formation of Adam -, as the Hotten- totSy and other barbarous Nations in Africa and America^ have been in, probably from that time, until our late Difcoveries, and fome who have not been yet discovered are at this Day : To this End Longevity was given to Adam^ find his Race, to give their Dodlrine more Weight, and to give them a longer time to in- creafe in Knowlege of the Divine Laws, and beneficial human focial Arts and Sciences ; which made them a kind of living Regifters, and alfo more capable of civilizing and re- claiming the Aborigines, than if they had a frequent Succeffion of new People among them. But, that I may take all the Hints I can ga- ther from Holy Writ together, before I con- fider of the Improbability of the Deluge's be- ing univerfal from Reafon ; let us confider, if none v.^ere left but Noah^ and his Sons, upon the whole Earth, how could fo many Cities be built, and Empires formed, in fo few Years after the Flood, as is mentioned ? We find that 5hem\ Pofterity, who being Head of the feleil Jewijh Race, we may reafonably believe his Metaphyseal Efiay. 225 his Pofterity were as long Livers as the De- fcendents of Ham and Japhet^ that Eber his Great Grandfon begat Peleg ninety-nine Years after the Fiood, in vvhofe Days the Earth was divided, at the time of the Confaiion of Tongues. Now, from the Mofaic Account, there could not be one hundred of S hem's Pofterity at that time on the Earth, in pro- portion to the Numbers begat by Sbem and Arphaxad '^ for 6"/?^;;; had but five Sons, and Arphaxad and Selah not many, and probably his other Sons had not many. Japhet had feven Sons, his Son Gomer three, and Java/i four 5 yet by thefe, and their Brother s Sons, were the Illes of the Gentiles divided. Ham had four Sons, his Son CuJJj five, be- fidcsNmrodj who was probably born within lefs than fifty Years of the Flood > and yet, withia one hundred Years after that, he had formed a mighty Empire ; and, in the Beginning of his Reign, he had built four large Cities, Babel^ Enoch ^ Ac cad, and Calnah, when it can*t be prefumed there were near two hundred ot Ham\ Pofterity upon the Earth 5 nor of all Noah's Pofterity, at the Building of Babel, and general Difperfion, near five hundred : Yet, among fo fmall a Number, they would have the whole Afiatic Continent, with the Euro- pean and African, to be divided, when they could fcarcely people a reafonable Village ; and at the fame time Mofes mentions the Building of Cities, and Ereding of Empires. But it is r^ cafjr 2 26 A Mifcellaneous eafy to reconcile thefe Accounts, if we fuppole only the flat Country of Afia deftroyed by the Flood, in which the Defcendents of Adam lived, who, in nine Generations, were not many, as may be made plainly to appear, by their generating fo flowly, until they began to intermarry with the Aborigines : For it is plain that they did not, for four or five Generations at leaft after Adani^ begin to marry with the Gentiles ; for it is faid, When Men began to multiply upon the Earthy and 'Daughters were born to them^ that the Sons of God, or Adam, Jaw the Daughters of Men, and took them Wives : Which muft have been after Adam'^ Sons began to multiply ; which, as they gene- rated flowly, might have been not till fome time after Ada?n?> Death, who probably might have kept his Defcendents, during his time, unmix'd from the Gentile Race : So that, if only thefe fuffered, and thofe Gentiles who were intermixed with them, and that all the reft of the Gentiles were preferved ; then it is eafy to account for thefe Cities being built, and Empires formed fo early, and their feparating to civilize, inftrucfl, and govern \h& Aborigines , and then thefe Texts (Among thefe were the Ifles of the Gentiles divided, in their Lands^ every one after his Tongue, after their Families, in their Nations -, and again. By thefe were the Nations divided in the Earth after the Flood) may be eafily and naturally explained ; That the Lands and Nations of the Gentiles were divided among the Metaphyseal Eflay. 227 the Sons of ISIoah^ according to their Tongues and Families ; that is, they divided and dif- perfed themfelves among each of thofe Nations, according to the feveral Tongues oi^h^ Abort- gines^ to inftrud:, civilize, and govern them. Belides, upon this Suppofition, a much better Reafon may be given for the Building of Ba- bel^ and Confufion of Tongues, than by the common Opinion of the Univeriality of the Deluge : For we may fuppofe, that Noab^ and his Family, defcending from the Mountains of Armenia into the delightful Plains of Shinar^ made ft ill more fertile by the Flood, finding that their Forefathers and Friends had been all deftroyed, becaufe they intermarried with Ah^ origines^ and had polluted their Race, and had been feduced by them from the Paths of Vir- tue and true Religion to the Worfliip of falfe Gods, and all other immoral Pracftices ; it was reafonable to think they would keep together^ and not intermix again with the Gentiles : They therefore, when they began to increafe, would not feparatCj but defigned to ere(fl; a Kingdom, and build a City and Tower^ that might make their Name formidable, and reach unto Heaven ; and, by their Knowlege in Arts and Sciences, and by their Works, they might make all the Nations around them afraid of them ; and perhaps make Slaves of them, and bring them under their Dominion : For it was highly improbable, that in a Plain they (hould attempt to build a Tower to preferve them r^a irora 2 28 A Mifcellaneous from a fecond Deluge, which God had cbve- nanted not to bring upon them: Nor was the Foundation of the Tower any-way proper to contain fuch a Number of People as were ne- ceflary to build it : But their Defign of living together being alfo abfolutely inconfiftent with the Will of God, who had preferved them as well to civilize and propagate true Religion among the Gentiles, as to continue down a di- ftindl Race to the time of the Meffiah ; he thought proper to prevent their Defign of building a City, and living in one Community : And, as nothing was fo effectual to promote their Separation, as confounding their Language, and giving them different Tongues^ nor could be of greater Advantage^ upon their feparating to in ftruct barbarous Nations of different Tongues and Originals, than to give them the feveral Languages of the Gentiles, to enable them to bring them to the Knowlege of true Religion and Piety ; God Almighty might think proper either to do it miraeuloufly, by infufing it into them, as was done afterwards to the Apoftles, by which fome might know one Language, and others the feveral other Languages of the Aborigines ; or might bring it about without a Miracle, in cafe we fuppofe Noah^ and his Defcendents, had fuch a fuperior Knowlege, not only of Religion and Virtue, but of die fe- veral Arts and Sciences beneficial to Mankind,, which the Aho7ngincs wanted in their State of Nature : And therefore many of the Gentiles depended Metaphyseal Effay. 229 depended upon them, and came to fee their Work, and gave them their Affiftance in build- ing the Tov/er; and, by their different Tonguef, the feveral Sons of Noah learned their different Languages, and went each with the different Tribes, according to their Language ; and thus they intruded, civiUzed, and prefided over them : From whence Nimrod was called, The mighty Hunter before the Lord^ becaufe he ci- vilized moll ; and by that means, having got the Empire over them, he laid the Foundation of his mighty Empire, and built the feveral Cities mentioned by Mofes : For it is probable, that the jdborigines^ from the Beginning, were in the State of Nature, having no grciter De- gree of Reafon than they could attain without Education or Government ^ and, for that Rea- fon, fubmitted willingly to the Sons of Noah, whillt they preferved their Religion and Vir- tue, and only bellowed Benefits upon them, by civilizing and inftrufting them. Thus the firft Ages after Noah, among the Heathen Gentiles^ were called the Reign of the Gods : As thefe, in time, began to degenerate, they were fucceeded by a Dynafty of Heroes ; and, in Procefs of Time, their Succeffors degenerated into Men, there being no Dillindion in Time betwixt them and the Defcendents of the Aborigmes, by their Intermarriages, and the proper InftruT dions given to the Gentiiei ; except the Family of Jacob^ which was feparated by God, and kppt diftindl and unmix'd from the Race p/ 0^3 ^M 230 A Mifceltaneous the Gentiles 'y and, for that Reaibn, married ii> their own Tribes, and preferved their Genea- logy. Befides what I have already obferved, in relation to the Blacks, Copper-colour'd, and Whites, which are now in Being ; it feems plain from Holy Writ, that the Gentiles were of a Race diftindl from the Jews, the Sons of Noah: It appears alfo, I think, very plain, that there were Men on the Earth, m Abraham'^ Days, who were not defcended from Noah \ who were thofe born Servants to Abraham in his Family, and bought with his Money of Strangers, whom God allowed to be adopted into his Family, upon their being circumcifed. It can't be fuppofed, that thefe could be his Brethren of the Seed of ISlcah : He was but the tenth from him, and was fifty-eight Years of Age v/hen Noah died : And is it to be fup- pofed, that Noah's Children, in his Life-time, were born Slaves and Servants to their Brethren, or bought and fold like Cattle ? What Right could any have to do it ? Or what Neceffity for any to fell themfelves ? If there were no Inha- bitants but the Sons of Noah, there was Land and Food enough for all ; and therefore they wouM not choofe to make Slaves of themfelves. Jt it could be fuppofed, that the elder Brother had a Right over his Brethren, then Abraham, and tp.e Dependents of Shem, fhould have fub- mitted to Japhet, Were the Defcendents of Ham only m.ade Slaves, becaufe of Noahs cuxfing: Metaphyftcal Effay. 231 curfing Ham ? How then came thofe mighty Empires under Nimrod and NinuSy the De- fcendents of Ham^ and all the Kingdoms of Canaan^ divided amongft, and poffefled by, his Offspring ? It feems therefore plain, that no fuch Slavery was among Noah's Pofterity in Abrahams time, either through Neceffity or Right 3 and that Eleazer of T>amafcuSy and others born in Abraham's Family, were of the Sons of the Gentiles ^ of Strangers, whofe ori- ginal Fathers were not known : And this is the Reafon of St. Pauls Obfervation upon our Sa- viour's being defcended from Ifaac rather than JJhmael ; becaufe Hagar, from whom he de- fcended, was a Bondwoman of the Race of the Gentiles ; but there was to be no Mixture of the Gentile Blood in our Saviour's Genea- logy ; for he, from both Sides, was to defcend from Adams Family, There is another thing I can't pafs by unob- ferved, which confirms me, that the Gentiles were of a Race different from Adam^ and they were Aborigines formed out of the Earth be- fore the time of Adam \ and that is, a Confe- quence from this Text in St. Luke^ That the Blood of all the Prophets^ that were fied from the Found'Jiion of the Worlds may be required of this Generation, from the Blood o/Abel, £?r. For finc?e Abel was a Prophet, and the chief Part of a Prophet's Bulinefs was preaching and teaching, and not prediding things to come ; How could Abel have been efteemed a Prophet,, CL+ if 232 A Mifcellaneous if he had none to inftrud ? But if it be allow'd that he had People to civilize and inflru(ft, then we may have a natural and eafy Way to ac- count for the Acceptance of Jbers Oifering, and the Non-acceptance of Cain's, and the Occafion of Cain's murdering his Brothtr j4i?cl -, for they were manifeftly Types of the two Co- venants of Nature and Grace. Al^el was a Keeper of Sheep, that is, an Inftru6tor of People, a Civilizer and Converter of them to the Laws of God and Society ; and endeavour'd to make them holy, and pure, and innocent as Sheep, of which he was term'd the Keeper -, and thus endeavoured to raife the Power of the divine Life in them : Whereas Cain was a Tiller of the Ground ; that is, he only in- llrudted them in fuch Parts of Nature as were beneficial to them in their animal State, to raife our anim.al Pleafures and Senfationsj fuch as Building, Planting, increafing Property, and, in fhort, gratifying all the Senfes with the Lufts and Pleafures of the animal Life. After they had feverally made a Proficiency in their feveral Undertakings, each of them came with their Tribute and Offerings to God Almighty : Cain came with his Firft-fruits, which were thofe which he had inftruded in fuch Arts as promoted animal Pleafures and Enjoyments, the Fruits of the Ground, what we have from our terreftrial and animal Nature : At the fame time ^hel came with his Flock, whom he had inftrufted in divine Truths, in whom he Metaphyjical Effay. 233 he had raifed the divine and fecial Virtues above their animal Pleafures 3 which was the better Part which Mary chofe, when Martha was incumbered with the Cares of the animal Life : And God accepted the Offering of Abel^ which he preferred to Cains, as the divine Life ought to be preferred to the animal ; the Love of Cod and our Neighbour before Self-love : Therefore God defpifed Ca'm\ Offering, upoii his preferring the natural and animal Pleafures before the divine : And the Divine Being, find- ing him difgufted, faid, ' Why are you angry ? ^ If you have chofen right, won't you be ac- * cepted ? But if you have not^ ^hen you f ought to be condemned : But, as you have ^ chofen the worft, fo the Pleafures of the * animal Life fhall be yours, over which you ' fhall have the Dominion.' Upon t^iis, Self or Animal Love, which C(iin had embraced, having gotten the better of Social Love, Pailion^ of his Reafon, he facrificed his Brother to his Refentment; and was, upon that Account, curfed, and removed from the Society of the Faithful : And God faid, ' Thofe animal Plea- ' fures which you have chofen tLall not be * fo great as you imagine : The Earth fhall f not yield her Strength, as you exped : A * Fugitive and Vagabond fhall you be in the ' Earth : This Self-love which you have cho- ■ fen is the Bane of Society, and will feparate .* Society into Fadtions and Parties, and will 5 keep up a perpetual Enmity amongft them, '-. fetting 2 34 ^ Mifcellaneous * fetting every Man's Sword againft thee, and * againft one another.' And Cain^ finding this Curfe was the natural Confequence of his ani-» mal Choice, faid, he was moft ^vretched in having defplfed the divine Life, fupreme and focial Love ; and, being confequently baniflied from the Face of God, every one, thro' a Prin- ciple of Self-love, fhould attempt to flay him j and fo begged an Abatement of his Doom ; which God granted to him, by threatening fe- vere Vengeance againft thofe who ihould de- ftroy him, or fhed Blood without a legal Power, by fetting up their private Self-love, the Gra- tifying of their Pafiions, againft the Good of Society : Thus God fet a Mark upon Cain^ and limited the Vengeance to be taken of him for the Murder of Abel, and the foolifh Choice he had made ; and thus he being banifhed from Adam's^ Family, and his Followers and De- fcendents being deprived of Grace, and the Prefence of God, proceeded on in promoting animal Pleafures, and following their animal Appetites, building and adorning Cities, making Tents, learning Mufic, and the feveral mecha- nic Arts ; for which they were famous, having bent all their Force and Genius in promoting luch animal Pleafures ; whilft the Sons of Seth called upon the Name of the Lord, and pro- pagated true Religion, and divine Truth and Myfteries, until their Defcendents degenerated, and fell into animal Pleafures, by intermarry- ing with the Defcendents of Cain and the Gen- tiles '. fdetaphyfical Eflay. 235 tile^ \ which brought the Flood upon them, to deftroy their whole Generation, as already mentioned. Having thus fliewn^ from Holy Writ, that the general Texts relating to the Deluge may reafonably admit of a reftrain'd Signification ; and that many of the Texts in the Mofaic Hi- ftory can't be eafily explained, without fup- pofing that the Flood was not univerfal ; I fhall now confider the whole Account from Reafon, and obferve upon it, as it is delivered by Mojei ; and then we may form a Judgment whether it was intended by him to fhew there was an univerfal Deluge, or not. Firft, I {hall endeavour to fhew, that the Deluge was not caufed by the abfolute Power of God, by an immediate Creation of Waters, and afterwards an Annihilation of them ; but that, in this Deftrudtion of the Sons of Adam by the Deluge, it was done by the Concur- rence of Second Caufes, and by the Wifdom and Forefight of God, which is ever united with his Power. It is pretty clear, that in all the Miracles, wrought, as mentioned in Holy Writ, God Almighty performed them by his Power and Knowlege in Nature, in Concurrence with Se- cond Caufes 5 which, being above the commoi> Proceedings of Nature, are equally miraculous to us ; as in the Plagues oi Egypt, the Deftruclion q{ Sodom, quelling of Storms, curing the Sick^ raifing the Dead, &c. For we find, in the Plagues 236 A Mifcellaneom of Egypt ^ many of them imitated by natural Magic, and others by the Concurrence of Se- cond Caufes ; as bringing the Locufts by a ilrong Eaft Wind, the Thunder and Hail, Gfr. Sodcm was deftroyed by Thunder, Lightning, and an Earthquake; by a regular Shower, as it is called, of Fire and Brimftone : So that it is plain, that the Divine Being, in all his Mi- racles, adted by miniflring Angels, and Second Caufes ; by his Knowlege in Nature, as well as by his Power. So in this Deluge we may ob- ferve, that there was a regular Scheme of Pro- vidence. The Flood was predid:ed by Noah^ when he preached to the Sons of Adam^ and acquainted them with it : An Ark was pre- pared, by Diredion of the Wifdom of God, to preferve Noah^ and his Family, and fuch Beafts and Fowl as it was thought neceffary forv him to preferve, during a Confinement which lafted above a Year ; and alfo Provifion fuffici- ent for them for fo long a time. It does not appear, that thefe Animals came in of them- lelves by the Command of God into the Ark ; for God commanded Noah to take them, and place them in the Ark, with fuch Provifions aS were then allowed to be eat, for Food for them : And it is faid that they went, as Gq4 commanded Noah\ that is, Noah carried theni in, as he was ordered : So that, in all the Pro- ceeding for Noah's Prefervation, we may oh-r fcrve Wifdom and Prudence going along with Power, At the time of the Flood we find thq fame ; Metaphyseal EiTay. 237 fame : The Divine Being caufed a regular pro- greflive Rain of forty Days Continuance, and opened the Fountains of the Deep; which plainly (hews a Concurrence of Second Caufes, Wifdom united with Power : For if God Al- mighty defigned only to make ufe of his Power, the Deluge and Deftruftion might have been inftantaneous, as well as the Prefervation of Noahy and the Land Animals ; and therefore the making the Ark, and all the Trouble Noah was at in faving himfelf and Family, was nu- gatory. All that can be anfwered is, that during the time he was building it, he was preaching, and warning the Sons of ^dam^ that they might repent : But if the whole Globe was peopled, to what a fmall Number could he preach ? Only to thofe in a fmall Country round him, perhaps within one hundred Miles: So that this Anfwer is no- way fatisfad:ory. But, upon the Hypothecs, that a fmall Part oi A/]a was under the Deluge, and that only Ada??f'^, or rather 5f//6's, Race was drowned, who, as we have oblerved, increafed very flowly, and had not fpread far among the Aborigines ; then in- deed NoaJjs Preaching to them might havd been of Ufe. I think it therefore very realbn- able to believCj that the Flood was the Effect of Wifdom, concurring by Second Caufes with Power ; and that there was no Exertion of the Almighty Fiat in creating and again aniiihilate- ing the Waters, and bringing all the feveral Species and Under-Species of Beafts, Fowl, In- ieds, 238 A Mifcellaneous fedls, and Reptiles, from all the Climates of the Globe, the Frozen as well as Torrid Zones, by Miracle into the Ark : Nor is there any tolerable Reafon offered why the Deity fhould curfe and deftroy the whole animal Creation by Land, and let all the Fifti and Watry In- fedls efcape. I fliall now endeavour to fhew, that, with- out we allow a Creation and Annihilation of Waters^ or bringing down vaft Quantities from the Atmofpheres of Comets, which mull have been again caught up by the Attradtion of other Comets, that no fuch univerfal Deluge could have happened to this Globe, and it be again reftored to the State in which we find it now, without altering the whole Frame of Nature, and miraculoufly turning Fluids into Solids at once ; which is ftill begging the Queftion, be- ing an Exertion of Almighty Power. Let us firft confider the Quantity of Water fufficient to cover the whole Globe, at leaft two Miles perpendicular ; which muft have been the Cafe, to have covered the Tops of the higheft Mountains fifteen Cubits: For it is made evident, that the Andes, the Alps, Can- cafus^ and other inland Mountains, muft be at leaft fo much perpendicular from the Sea. There are 200,000,000 of fquare Miles upon the Surface of the Earth ; and that doubled, be- ing two Miles high, it would take 400,000,000 of cubical Miles of Water to cover the Globe two Miles high. Now, fince the Weight of the Metaphyseal Eflay. 239 the Air, and all the Fluids and Exhalations in the whole Atmofphere, is but equal to the Height of thirty-two Feet of Water, fuppofing the Air itfelf to have no Weight, and that the whole Weight of the Atmofphere was only occafioned by Water, and other Exhalations, fufpended in it, and the Whole could be converted into Rain ; it would cover the Earth but thirty-two Feet deep ; the whole Content of which would not make 12,000 cubical Miles; which being deduded from 400,000,000, there v^^ould re- main 399,988;,QOo cubical Miles of Water to be found after fome other manner, to have co- vered the Earth fo deep ; which is above 33,333 times as much as could be contained in Vapour in the Atmofphere ; and if we take 3333 from that Sum, which is above -f^, for the Moun- tains (whicli muft be allowed for the Height of the Mountains, and is enough, confidering how much Sea and Icjw Ground there is on the Surface of the Globe), there would ftili be 3000 times as much more Water wanting, be- fides all the Rain which poffibly could be con- tained in the Atmofphere, in cafe the Whok had fallen. To fupply this, without a Creation, or con- verting Solids into Fluids, which mull alfo be by making ufe of Almighty Powder, only two Ways can be afligned, or by both united : The firft is, by the Atmofphere of a Comet, which might have been attraded by the Earth upon the Approach of the Comet, as fuppofed by 7 * the 240 A Mifcellaneou§ the ingenious Mr. Whijlon ; the other, by there being an Abyfs or Fluid under the Cruft of the Earth, into which the Earth might have fallen, upon its Cruft's being broke ; naturally, ac- cording to Bur?iet -, or by the Comet, accord- ing to Whijlon ; which, by its fubfiding, forced tip the Water, which, united to the Rain, occa- fioned the Deluge. If any Waters fell from the Atmofphere of a Comet, they muft ftill remain upon this Globe -, for without a much greater Heat than we at prefent have, more can't be raifed in Vapour, and be fuftained by the Air, than there was and is at prefent ; and confequently there would ftill be fo much more wanting to cover the Tops of the Mountains, now as they are : And to fuppofe that there was an Abyfs of Water under the Earth, about a Nucleus^ as the White of an Egg betwixt the Yolk and the Shell, lighter than the Earth, Stones and Metals above it, as fuppofcd by Burnet^ is not confiftent with either his own Principles, or Whijiorf^^ fuppbfing the Nucleus to have been a Comet intenfely heated : For, until it had cooled, the Water would have been in Vapour, as well as Metals, Stones, and Earth, fufpended in its Atmofphere ; and, up- on its cooling, we muft ftill fuppofe, that the heavieft fubfided firft ; and confequently the Fluid in the Abyfs could not have been Water,- but rather Mercury, or fome other Fluid hea- vier than the Earth, which floated upon its Surface : But, fuppofing it fo, it is not eafy to force Metaphyjical Eftay. 241 force an Arch downwards : A fmall Globe of Gold could not be forced inward, of alter its Form to an Ellipfis, until the Water forced thro* it : And if a Sphere could be forced in- wards, it muft firft alter its Form towards an Ellipfis ; and confequently fome Parts muft be raifed, and made higher, to allow the others to fubfide : For the Waters, upon forcing the Arch upwards, muft have raifed the Earth higher than it was before ; and the fame thing would have happened, if it had been attrafted by the Comet ; for it muft then have turned a Sphere into an Ellipfis, and then the longeft Diameter muft be farther from the Center, and confequently not covered with Water : So that in whatever way we view it, ftill Almighty Power muft be brought in to make it univerfal : And this does not feem to be apparent from the Mofaic Account, which makes ufe all along of Second Caufes, both in the Punifhment inflifted upon Adam's degenerate Race, and in the Pre- fervation of Noah. I fhall now endeavour to fhew, that a partial Flood, over a particular Region of 1000 or perhaps 2000 Miles diameter, might be occa- iioned by the Concurrence of Second Caufes, either by a Comet, Or without one: And in either Cafe the Wifdom and Foreknowlege of God would have been obvious, as well as his Power J and it would have been equally mira- culous to Mankind, by being C9ntrary to the ufual Proceedings of Nature, R Sup- 242 A Mifcellamou^ Suppofing a Comet fhould have approached nearer the Earth than the Orbit of the Moon, it would only attradl this Globe as the Sun and Moon do J but in a much greater Degree, if it were much larger than the Moon, and very near to .this Globe ^ that is, it would attrad the whole Globe, but the Water, as being move-- able more than the folid Part ; and fo raife an extraordinary Tide, by forming the Waters into an EUipfis, as the Sun and Moon now do. If fuch a Comet fhould have come fo near this Globe, as to be attraded fo ftrongly by it, as to make it for fome time quit its Defcent towards the Sun, and revolve round the Earth like the Moon, wdth a Movement a little quicker than the Rotation of the Earth round its Axe, in the fame Diredion, fo that for near forty Days it would feem to be fufpendedover that Part oiAfid adjoining to Palajlifie^ where the Deluge was, in its Perigceum ; and a little after it, during the time pf forty Days^ Part of its Atmofphere might have been attracted more ftrongly by the Earth by being much larger, and might have poured down in violent Rains ; whilft, in the mean time* the Waters of the Ocean w^ere formed into an EUipfis, and attraded over the lower AJia from the Indian and Mediterranean Seas, and confequently would rife upon the Land in proportion to the Diftance and Power of Attradion in the Comet ; and thus a partial Flood niight be accounted for by Second Caufes. This might alfo occafion a partial Flood in- Greece, Metaphyjical Eflay. 243 Greece y 2i^ Deucalion's^ and Ogyges'^-, for Part of the Rain might fall there, upon the Ap- proach of the Comet, and the great Tide would have joined it, from the Ocean's having been drawn violently thro' the Streights of Gibraltar^ and perhaps over Part of the ad- joining Lands ; and this would account for the Whole, as mentioned by Moles, and other ^ntient Writers. But if this fliould not have been the Caufe, fuch a partial Deluge might be accounted for without the Approach of a Comet, by an Earthquake, which might at the fame time deprefs a great Part of a Country, by railing another Part under the Bottom of the Indian^ Arabia?!, and Mediterranean Seas, and thus caufe a great Flov/ing of Waters over that Country; at the fame time, concurring Caufes might make the Atmofphere over that Country as light as poflible^ and all the Vapours in the Atmofphere, in that whole Hemifphere, might have been impelled by the Winds, from all Points, to that Part of the Atmofphere, and fail in furprifing Cataracts and Spouts, over that Part of the Globe ; if at the fame time we fhould fuppofe, which is not improbable, that the Mediteranean Sea, at that time, had no Communication with the Ocean by the Streights oi Gibraltar ^zvA that the Ez/aV;/^ had alfo no Communication with the Mediterranean by the Thracian Bojporus^ but were then both Inland Seas, like the Cafpian, as the P^r- R 2 Jian 244 A Mifcellaneous fian Gulph might alfo have been ; and we know, that the Mediterranean can't now be kept full by all the Rivers running into it, without the Affiftance of the Ocean thro' the Streights ; the Sun and Wind exhaling more Va- pours from its Surface than all the Rivers and Rain fupply ; which would alfo be the Cafe of the Etixiney had it no Paflage thro' the BofporuSy but might have been raifed higher upon the adjoining Lands ; and it is alfo known, that the Lands on each Side of the Bofporus are very high, as alfo at the Streights of Gibraltar ; fo that if a vaft Deluge of Rain poured down for forty Days upon that Part of our Hemi- fphere, either by a Comet's falling near the Earth, and its Tail or Atmofphcre's being at- traded by the Earth in its Defcent to the Sun ; or by the Atmofphere's being extraordinarily lightened, fo as to pour down all its Vapours in Rain upon that Part of our Hemifphere, over the Euxine^ Armenia^ and the low Lands of jifia and Africa^ adjoining the Mediterranean Sea ; and at the fame time the Euxine^ from the great Rife of its Waters, fhould have burft a Paffage at the I'hracian Bofporus thro' the Hellejpont^ the Mediterranean Sea muft have been raifed to a great Height, as there was then no Paffage to the Ocean ; and thus all the lovf Lands of Afia^ and the adjoining Countries in Africa and Europe^ might have been over- flowed, for a limited Time ; and afterwards by burftinga Paffage at the Entrance of the Per- fan Metaphyfical EfTay. 245 Jian Gulph, and at the Streights of Gibraltar ^ they would again gradually fubfide, until the Waters came upon a Level with the feveral Oceans they ran into ; and by either of thefe Ways a Deluge over thefe Countries might have been occafioned, which Mofe^ calls an univerfal Deluge after the Eaftern manner, as by way of Excellency and Eminency he calls yudaa^ and the adjoining Countries, the whole Earth, wherein every thing, that breathed up- on the dry Land in thefe Countries, died, ex- cept thofe that were xyith Noah in the Ark. Since then we find, that an univerfal Deluge could not have been caufed without the Al- mighty Fiat of the Divine Being, which^^ from the Methods taken to bring it about, does not feem probable, fince both the Punifli- ment of Adam\ degenerate Race, and the Pre- fervation oi Noah in the Ark, was concerted by Wifdom and Prudence, as well as- Power; I (hall next confider, whether the Ark was large enough to have preferved all the various Species of Animals, with Noah^ and Provifions for all, for twelve Months, with any tolerable Ac- commodation for Noahy and his Family ; for fince Noah was found righteous, and had fuch great Favour with God, it miift be believed, that he was placed in the Ark, as in a Place of Safety and Pleafure, and was not to be con- fined fo long in it as a Malefador in a Gaol ; and therefore we muft fuppofe, that he had all proper Accommodations in it. R3 By 246 A Mifcellaneotis By the Defcription the Ark was three hun- dred Cubits long, which we have Reafon to believe were of fuch Cubits as were in Ufe when Mofes wrote, when the Jews were of the ufual Stature, being but as Graflioppers to the Sons of Anak-y and it is plain, in this Hiilory, that he wrote according to the vulgar Capacities of the Jews ; for he fays, The Windows or Floodgates of Heaven were opened^ as if the Sky over us was a Vault, and Waters above the Vault, which, upon being open'd, pour'd down upon the Earth. The Ark was then probably four hundred and fifty Feet long, feventy-five broad, and forty-five high, which, if equally broad below as above, as it was probably flat-bottom 'd, would allow of 33750 fquare Feet upon each Floor, or 3750 fquare Yards. Now, it is probable, fuppofing the Flood univerfal, that the upper Story was allowed to Noah's Family, and to the Birds and Infecfls ; that the Middle was for the Beafts ; and the loweft for the Provifions, and, as they w^ere confumed, for the Dung; for it is plain, from the Texture of the Ark, that they could not throw it out in the time of the Deluge ; for the Door, being in the Side, was kept clofe ; and there being but one Win- dow, eighteen Inches fquare, which was not open'd for near nine Months, when he fent out the Raven, after the Tops of the Mountains were feen -, for it is plain the Raven could not have fubfifted before without Food, nor have continued upon the Wing many Days -, it is not Metaphyjical Eflay. 247 not to be pre fumed that he would have opened the Door of the Ark fooner ; and therefore no- thing could have been thrown out of the Ark, and the more, becaufe a great Wind blew to dry up the Waters, as it is mentioned by Mofes. Let us then confider, the great Variety of Species of Beads, befides their Under-Spe- cies : If we knew perfedly all the Globe, it is highly probable, that there are Two hundred pf each Genus, fpecifically diftind:, that don't breed with each other, and very probably there are feveral Under-Species, one with another, may- be from Ten to Twenty, befides the Mongrel- breed got between thefe : Of the Monkey Herd, there are at leaft thirty or forty Sorts, near as many Sort of Dogs, not to mention the different Kind of Horfes, Kine, Deer, Goats, ^c, which have all a great Variety, and many more different Kinds are difcovered every Day, brought from diftant Countries, little known, and thofe not Mongrels, but originally diftintf^ from their firft Creation ; but if we allow only One hundred of each general Kind, and Ten of each Under-Species, there would have been one thoufand Kinds in the Ark i and Two of each Kind, Male and Fe- male, makes Two thoufand, befides Five more of each clean Kind, Seven of each having been put into the Ark ; fo that, upon allowing them one Story among them, they would have, one with another, very little more than five Feet by 3. 3, or i6i-fquaris Feet, that R 4 ' K 248 A Mifcellaneous is, four Feet fquare to ftand or lie in for twelve Months they were in the Ark ; and as many of thefe were Beafts of Prey, they muft have had diftindt Cells to have lodged in, other wife they would have devoured the reft, unlefs a Miracle had been wrought daily in the Ark to prevent it, by altering their Nature, fo that great Part of the Story would be taken up in Partitions. Now, tho' a great many of thefe were fmall, and might have been confined w^ithin a Foot of each other, yet there are a great many very large, that would require eight or ten Feet fquare to ftand in > and we can't fup- pofe, that they would be fo crouded together as fcarce to have Room to rife up and lie down, for above twelve Months, their living fo long in that State would be almoft miraculous : Be- fides, Noahy and his Family, muft have had Room to have gone among them to have fed them, and thrown down their Dung 5 other^ wile, in that time, the Ark would have ftiflecj them with the Stench: The under Story muft have been at leaft twenty Feet high to con- tain the Provifions, and afterwards the Dung and Urine, of all thofe in the Ark ^ for I don't fuppofe they wanted Drink in Store ; for that they might have, tho' muddy, from the Wa- ters without, by Conveyances thro' the Sides ^ but their E:5fcrements muft have remained within, fince the Ark was clofed up, and the ^indow npt left open 3 the other two Stories would be abput twelye Fe^t c;ach, fome Beaft$ requiripg Metaphyfical Eflay. 249 requiring at leaft that Height, and Noah in his Story could not be allowed lefs. Suppofing then fuch a Number fo crouded together, with- out any Change of Air, for above nine Months, or even half fo many > how is it poffible they could fubfift without a Miracle, without be- ing foon lufFocated ? What a Confufion muft they have occafioned by their Noife and Com- plaints, v/ithout Light, or with very little ! Forit would no: be fafe to keep Lamps burning among them, nor Fire to drefs their Food, there be- ing little or no Vent for the Smoak. Would it not appear, in this Situation, that Noah^ and his Family, were in a condemned Hole, and not ia a Place of Safety, with proper Accom- modations ? And muft they not have been em- ployed as Slaves in feeding and cleaning all this Number of Animals ? Or, fuppofing each was fliut up, with his proper Allowance of Provifions, byhimfelf, muft they not have pro- vided them all with Water ? And muft they not all have lain in their Dung, and the whole Ark have been worfe than a Privy ? Or is the whole Tranfacflion in the Ark all along as miraculous as the general Deluge without, and all preferv- ed v^dthin it by a Miracle ? Could the Birds, Beails, and Infefts of Prey, be obliged to live upon Hay, Corn, or Fruit ? All thefe thhigs, upon the Suppofition of a general Deluge, feem not eafy to be accounted for; that the Divine Being fhould ad by Second Caufes in faving Isfgah^ and all with him, and yet Miracles 4 iliould 2^o A Mifcellaneous fhould be wrought to change the Nature qf Things during the whole Time they continued in the Ark. But let us turn our Views the other Way, and fuppofe it only a partial Flood, and that Noah only took in fuch ferviceable Beafts, an4 Birds, £?<:. as might be of Ufe to him in the Ark, and afterwards, until he got to a Country v/here he might get more ; which might be a confiderable tim.e, if the Flood extended over a large Country ; for he muft have had fome for Food, as well as for Cloathing and Service, fince it would take up fome time for Plants and Corn to grow. In fuch a Cafe, the Ark would have been a Palace to Noah^ and his Fa- milly, allowing them a whole Story, another for his Fowls and Cattle, and a third for his Provifions \ and all would have room to move and exercife in during fo long a Confinement y and then they might be allowed a reafonable Quantity of Fire and Light. Befides, the Raven's flying off fo diredlly, without returning to the Ark, is a ftrong Pre- fumption, that the Flood was not univerfal, becaufe, being of a ftrong Flight, and rifing high in the Atmofphere, he obferved Mountains iit a Diftance, which not having been under the Deluge, he could find Food there to live upon ; but if all had been under Water for nine Months, it could not be expefted, that he could find any out of the Ark, without it were Fifh, which was not his natural Food. The Dove alfo Metaphyftcal Effay. 251 alfo plucking off a green Olive-leaf, which revived Noal)S> Hopes, and after Seven Days more not returning, makes it ftill more pro- bable, as its Food is nothing but Grain, that it flev/ to a Country V/here it found ibme; but if the v^hole Globe had been under Water for nine Months, every Tree and Plant in the Earth muft have been deftroyed, as well as Land Animals ; for neither Tree, Plant, or Seed, of any Kind, can be fo long under Water without being fo far fpoiled as never to vegetate more, without another Miracle to re- ftore its vegetative Power ; and then Noah muft have begun again to plant all Kind of Ve- getables, which he muft have preferved in their Seeds in the Ark. Upon the Hypothefis of an univerfal Flood, the Miracle muft ftill have continued after Noah had come out of the Ark -, for then the Birds and Beafts of Prey muft have devoured the other Birds, Beafts, and Infefts, long before they could have had Young multiplied for the Subfiftence of fo many ravenous Beafts and Birds ; for tho' Noah pre- ferved Seven of the clean and harmlefs Kinds, yet as he was then allowed to eat Flefli before he could get Plants and Fruit, they were few enough for him to live upon with his Family, until the Young increafed. Befides, as it is very hard to conceive, without a Miracle, how Greenlajid wliite Bears, Rein Deer, Sea-Horfes, and many other Species, which can only live in Froft and Snow, fhould travel to the warm Countries 252 A Mifcellaneous Countries in Afia^ to enter the Ark, and how Peruvian Sheep, Sloaths, and other Animals, peculiar to the Continent of America^ (hould arrive there, the Sloaths being a Month going from one Tree to another, fo after the Flood another Miracle muft be wrought to carry fome back to the frozen Zones, and the others to America -, for many of the Kinds in Americ/f, we have never heard of their having been on our Continent of Europe^ AJia, or Africa ; and, if the Deluge was univerfal, America muft have been peopled from our Continent 3 but as there are none of the Copper-coloured Indians of America upon our Continent, nor have we ever read of any here, they feem to be of an Original different from us ; but, fuppofing they were originally from this Continent, and car- ried Animals with them, it would be much more reafonabte to believe they would carry over the moft ufeful Animals, than others not ufeful, but noxious ; but, on the contrary, we find many noxious Animals, and poifonous Serpents, and other In fefts, in America-^ but, upon our Difcovery, few or none of the ufeful K^ndSy which this Continent affords ; for they had neither Horfes, Afles, Camels, European Kine, Sheep, Goats, Dogs, or Swine, in America y and many more I could name, until they were carried from Europe lately ; they have indeed a Kind of wild Oxen in North America^ but thefe of a quite different Kind from ours, and not fo beneficial ^ infomuch that Metaphyfical Effay. 253 that we have the greateft Reafoii to believe, that the Americans^ and all their Animals there, were Aborigines from the firft Creation, and that America never, till lately, was planted from this Continent; and confequently, A^(?^i?'s Deluge was not univerfal ; which, after what I have advanced, I leave to the Judgment of the impartial Reader. I have been fo tedious in giving my Reafons why I believe, that there was an original Race of Men, the Gentiles^ diftindt from the De- pendents of Adantj and that Noah's Flood was not univerfal, but that the original Race of thefe earth-born Gentiles is ft ill, to this Day, upon the Earth, becaufe the generality of Mankind have been of fo different an Opinion for many Ages, that I fhall very briefly con- clude this Subjedt, without obferving much more from either Holy Writ, or profene Hi- ftory, which I could be very copious upor\ I (hall only obferve, that the Race of the Giants, fo often mentioned by Mofes, is with Difficulty accounted for by any other Method, the Emims, Zamzummims^ and Sons of Anak. Thus he fays, /&Emims, /j//^i/^^ Ai^akims, —and again, That alfo was accounted a Land of Giants \ Giants dwelt there of old Times ^ called Zamzummims. — Again, For only Og re- mained of the Race of the Giants, This mufl; be a diftinft Race; from the Sons of Noah^ or lie would have traced their Pedigree from Jtsfo^h ; and thofe Times he calls old Times muft 254 ^ Mtfcellaiieous mud have been before the Days of AhrahanVy which were frefli in the Memory of all who heard him. This alfo accounts for the Di* ftindlion betwixt '^ew and Geittile \ they are reprefented by the Apoftle as Aliens, a wild Stock grafted in upon the Jewip Race, the Sons of Adam.-^lt may alfo be a Reafon why the Jews did extirpate the Sevea Nations of Canaan^ defcended from Noah, by reafon of their Apoftafy, when they had no fuch Com- mands againft others who were of the Race of the Gentiles. Thofe things which appear fabulous to uS in profane Hiftory, may alfo have had a Foundation of Truth upon this Suppofition, the general Opinion of Giants having been the Aborigines of all Nations. The Wars of the Giants, the Sons of Tita?i, or the Earth, againft the Gods, the Defcendents of Noah, is obvious at firft View : Befides, it accounts for the Progrefs of Letters and Learning from AJla to Europe, to Nations fetded there, who had no Learning before -, for, if Cadmus was the firft who brought Letters into Greece, we can't fuppofe the Aborigines of Greece were the Defcendents of Noah -, otherwife they might have had the fame Letters and Learning upon their firft Settlement, Learning being cultivated and improved by his Family ; for we can't but fuppofe Noah to have excelled in Learning, in all Arts and Sciences, from his antediluvian Knowlege, and great Age. Thus the Account 7 of Metaphyjical Effay. 255 of Bacchus and Ceres ^ being the fir ft who taught the feveral Nations the Ufe of Winje, Bread-corn, and Bread, arifes from the De- fcendents of Noab inftrudting the Aborigines in ufeful Arts. It would be endlefs to follow this as I might. In fhort, there will be no Difficulty in allowing of the Antiquity of the Egyptia?iy Chinefe^ and other oriental Hiftories, and to moft of the Difficulties we find at pre- fent in the early Account of the Original of Na- tions, upon allowing of Preadamites, and dif- allowing of the Univerfality of the Deluge^ A Con- [ 257 ] A Conjectural SCHEME O F T H E Creation of Beings in General, AND THE Difpenfation of Providence in this Globe, from the Time of the Mo- fak Creation. AVING from the foregoing Hypo- thefis, together with the CabaUrtic Interpretation of the Mcfaic Hiftory, opened and inlarged our View of the Creation of ours, as well as of the angelic, and other adlive fpirituai Beings ; and hinted at fome of the various Methods which the Almighty Being may have taken in the For- mation and Government of fpirituai and fen- fitive Beings, thro' the Dlfpenfations of his Providence, hitherto j I am far from fuppofing, S that 258 A Mifcellaneous that what I have advanced, tho' it may appear reafonable, Ihould be ablblately true in itlelf ; that is what no finite Being can pretend to dive ihto, or come to the Know lege of, without the divine Impulfe, or Revelation : Yet fince it appears to me to be rational, and not incon- iiftent with wdiat has been revealed to us from God Almighty, in the divine Writings of Mofes. and the Prophets, and principally of our bleffed Saviour, and his holy Apoftles, who have farther opened up the Scheme of Providence ; and fince, at the fame time, it vaftly inlarges our Ideas of the Infinitude and Eternity of the Goodnefs and Wifdom of the Divine Being, as well as of his Power, in the Communication of his Goodnefs to created finite Beings, formed by his Will ; I hope I ihall not be condemned for attempting to ex- plain the Ways of Providence in a rational Way, whether the Hypothefis be true or not ; fince it gives us the greateft Idea of the Power and Goodnefs of God, and fhews us the in- coiifiderable Figure we make, in the Situation we are in at prefent, upon this Globe, and how fmall a Proportion we bear to the Univerfe, the almoft infinite Work of the immenfe Being. Befides, it muft have the greateft Influence upon our Actions, by fliewing us^ that, if we fubmit to the Divine Will, and follow the Dilates of well-informed Reafon, during the Period of our State of Probation here, relying upon Metaphyseal Effay. 259 upon the Merits of our hleffed Saviour, the Divine Logos ^ to atone for our almoft neceffary Failures -, from the Infirmities and Frailties of our hun:ian Bodies, and from the Power our Paffions have over us -, we fhall hereafter, at the General Judgment and Reftoration of all Things, be intitled to an exceeding Weight of Glory, in proportion to the Rectitude of our Behaviour in this Life ; and that if we fhould fubmit, and w^alk according to our felfifh animal Appetites, without Regard to the Divine Will, that then we muft hereafter not only be deprived of that Glory, but muft fubmit to an indefinitely eternal Death, or an indeterminate Series of Torments in proportion to our Difobedience. This, I fay, muft be the neceflary Confequence of this Hypothefis, if true : But if it fliould not be true, and fall vaftly Ihort of the divine Scheme of Provi- dence ; yet, as it is a confiftent Scheme, it may fliew our Freethinkers, and Sceptics in Religion, that from the prefent Phasnomena of Beings around us, and the prefent Difpenfations of Providence in this Globe, a very confiftent Scheme is carried on by the Divine Wifdom, fince it muft be infinitely above what I, or all human Wifdom, can apprehend 3 and that fuch a rational Scheme may be chalk'd out by us, perfectly cofiftent with the Phasnomena of Beings, and the divine Revelation in the Holy Scriptures, by a Meffiah, according to the Myfteries of the Chriftian Religion, which S 2 may 2 6o A Mifcellaneous may unlock all the Difficulties, which they apprehend to be at prefent in the Scheme of Providence, which is hid from the Vulgar, and only capable of being known to fuch as diligently thirit, and fearch after it. I fliall therefore beg Leave to follow the foregoing Hypotheiis, and Ihew throughout, how agreeable it is to the Difpenfations of Pro- vidence^ as it is revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures at large, and particularly to the Chriftian Religion, of which we are immediate Profeflbrs. I (hall fuppofe then, that the Almighty Be- ing had created, by Emanations from himfelf, a Number of finite, adtive, fpiritual Monads, or Beings, as early as it was poffible for his Will to ad: ; which I muft conceive to be from an indefinite Eternity, confidering Time as a Fluent, his Will being coeval with his Power, which was from Eternity, and agree- able to his eternal and infinite Goodnefs, which confifts in communicating his Goodnefs and Happinefs to others, as foon as it might be done, from the Nature of Things, as far as in- finite Wifdom could diredl: ; and that this Goodnefs fhould be as extenfive as poffible, and confequently be communicated to as great a Number as the Divine Wifdom could govern, and difpofe of, according to his moft perfect Wifdom, which muft alfo be conceived to be infinite, as fir as Number can be conceived to be fo, and the Beings, each of them finite, 8 which Metaphyseal Effay. 261 which our finite Conceptions can have no ad- equate Notion of 5 and muft be equally loft in , contemplating the Amplitude and Duration of the Beings in the Univerfe, over which a Be- ing of infinite Power, Goodnefs, and Wifdom, prefides. I muft alfo, in contemplating upon the fame Goodnefs and Wifdom, believe, that as many of thefe Beings, or Monads, were acflive, fpiritual, endowed with Life, Confcioufnefs, and Perceptions, and capable of enjoying Happinefs, in a proper Subordination, where infinite Wifdom prefided, as it was poflibie to have made 3 and that no other Beings, Par- ticles, or Monads, were made, but fuch as were neceffary at firft to the Happinefs of fuch adlive fpiritual Beings, and preferving them in a due Subordination in the Govern- ment of the Univerfe. I muft alfo believe, that thefe fpiritual, active, confcious Beings were endowed with Reafon to regulate their Actions, and had a Freedom of Will to a(ft \ otherwife Deftiny or Fate ruled over all, and the Divine Wifdom could no more be fiid to govern in fuch a State, than Man could be faid to govern in- animate Beings around us ; for then fuch con- fcious Beings could be no more than fo many Machines, acted upon by the Divine Being, with- out being capable of ading of themfelves; but the Deity, being abfolutely free, thought it con- fonant to Divine Wifdom, to rule over Beings S 3 who 262 A Mifcellaneous who had Freedom of Will and Adion, and who confequently iliould be accountable for their A6tions : Confequently, in fuch a Society, Rev/ards and Punifhments were neceflary, and Happinefs or Mifery were to be diftributed to fuch Beings, in proportion to their Obedience or Difobedience to the Laws eftablifhed by the Divine Being, to regulate the Actions of a So- ciety endowed with fuch Freedom of Will, and Power of Adion. I muft alfo conceive, that as fuch confcious Beings were capable of being made more happy or miferable^ or of being rewarded or puniih- ed, according to their Behaviour ; fo they might be capable, from time to time, of hav- ing greater Powers and Knowlege communi- cated to them, or to be deprived of fuch Power and Knov/lege as they had. This feems to be the natural Confequence of Rewards or Paniihment. Whether then we fuppofe, from the firft Formation of Beings, that all were formed coequal in Power, and equally happy, or whether they be fuppofed created with dif- ferent Powers, and different Degrees of Hap- pinefs, fince they were endowed with Free- dom of Will, and made accountable for their Adions and Behaviour, and intitled to Re- wards, and made liable to Punifliments, ac- cording to their Obedience or Difobedience to the Divine Will or Law ; it will, in the Confequence, be the fame at prefent ; for, fince their Formation, according to their Be- haviour, Metaphyfical Effay. 263 haviour, fome have been ra'ifed to higher Powers and Enjoyments, and others have been debafed, and have had their Powers taken away, in a regular manner, according to the all-wife Difpenfations of the Divine Provi- dence, in his Diftribution of Rewards and Pu- nifhments, for the univerfal Good of his Crea- tures, according to the Subordination of Beings at pre fen t in the World. I muft alfo conceive, that as thefe adlive fpiritual Beings are finite, and of different Powers and Capacities; fo-they muft be capable of Amplitude and Figure, and occupy Space, and are capable of Motion, or Changing of Place in Space ; which, if they were not in Space, or did not occupy Space, or could not be bounded in Space, which, in other Words, is being ex- tended, they could not a6t at all in Space : Therefore, as either Part of their Subftance or Nature, or infeparably united to them, they mufl have a Vehicle or Form, which individu- ates them, and gives them a Form or Figure in Space : This may be dilatable or compreffible, according to the Amplitude or Powers granted to each Individual, at different times, by the Almighty Being ; and, according to its Rewards or Happinefs, may be more completely filled with the Divine Spirit, and asthereal heavenly Fluid, which pervades all things in the Uni- verfe ; they having a Power over fo much of it as inflates their Form or Vehicle when di- S 4 lated. 264 A Mifcellaneous lated, it being then within their Sphere of Action. Whether the Paffions and Aftedions, the Sympathies and Antipathies of our Nature, and of other fpiritual Beings, have been from the Beginning an ellential Ingredient in the Nature of Spirits, is next to be confidered ; or whether it is by a Superaddition, or intimate Union with the confcious Being by a different Vehicle, which, when properly united to it, makes Spi- rits fociable, and gives proper Senfations of Be- ings without us ; I am of Opinion, whatever way it is, that without our Paffions and Af-^ fedions we cannot be completely happy or milerahle ; and that, in order to our being re- warded or puniilied, they are a neceffary Part of oiir Being. We might indeed reafon calmly, and be confcious, without them, and adl as Beings who have no Concern for themfelves ; but it is our Paffions which add Wings to our Reafon, and prefs us on to Adlion : It is our Hopes, Expedations, and Joy, which add to our Happinefs ; as it is our Fears, Difappoint-. ments, and Defpondency, which make us miferable : Thefe, added to the ecftatic Plea- fures, and racking Pains, of our Senfes, make us only completely happy or miferable. With- out thefe, reafoning coolly upon Things would not much affed us. I mutt therefore think them neceffary to our Well-being, tho' not ab* folutely fo to our Being in general ^ and, whilft focial, we can't be without them. Whatever Metaphyseal Efl'ay. 265 Whatever other Beings were formed by the Deity, were only fuch Particles or Machines, as might increafe the Powers or Perceptions of fuch fpiritual Beings as were to be rewarded ; or of confining and limiting the Powers and Senfations of fuch as were to be puniflied. Thefe, and thefe only, if no others were ne- cefTary to reward or punifh the feveral con- fcious Orders of Beings, I ihould fuppofe were formed by the all-wife Governor of the Uni- verfe : For I muft fuppofe, that the Divine Being vvould not make ufe of more Engines to fupport and govern the Uni verfe than were ne- ceflarv, when fewer would anfwer all the Ends of infinite Wifdom : And tho' I am inclinable to believe, that all the adlive confcious Beings were made from the Beginning, or firil Form- ation of Beings (for, tho' it may be termed from Eternity, yet, as we can't conceive an adequate Notion of Eternity, confidering it only as a Fluent by Succeffion, we muft ufe fuch flowing Terms, and call it a Beginning) ; yet I muft conceive, that all thofe fpiritual Beings have not ever been, or fhall for ever be, confcious. If they have been Emanations from the Supreme Deity, they may have been form-, ed, or flowed out in SucceflTion, at difitrcnt Pe- riods, and may again be abforbed, if that fhould be agreeable to Divine Wifdom : And, in that cafe, there might have been, in eternal Dura- tion, many Beings in Succeflion, which do not fiow exift j, and many in Future who may exift^ 266 A Mifcellaneous exift, who have not yet exifted -, tho*, in Eter- nity, no Time can be thought ©f, wherein there were not adlual Beings, or Emanations from the Deity. Yet I am more inclineablc to believe, that all fuch a6live fpiritual Beings, as were formed from the Beginning, fhall for ever continue confcious and happy, who have not forfeited thro' Mifbehaviour ; and thofe only, who mifbehave, are to fufter Death, or Punifh- ment, by becoming inconfcious in a dormant State, or enduring a Life of Pain ; and that it would rather feem a Weaknefs in the Deity, than a Perfedlion, to annihilate any Being he had once made confcious in the Univerfe ; but Ihould rather continue all Beings in a Rotation of Pleafure or Pain, or in a dormant inadive State, according to their Behaviour ; and thus continue them in fuch a Degree of Being as his infinite Goodnefs, Juflice, and Wifdom, fhould appoint, for the Good of the Whole. As to fuch Machine- Atoms, as may have been made by the Divine Being as a Means of further rewarding or punifliing confcious Beings ^ thefe might have been formed alfo from the Beginning : But I think it does not follow ne- cefTarily, that they fhould ; for they might have been formed at different Periods, according to the Variety of the Rewards and Punifliments to he granted, or inflicted, to the feveral Orders of Being at different times ; wherein infinite Wifdom might difplay itfelf, in an infinite Va- riety, in an endlefs Rotation : And this might either Metaphyfical Eflay. 267 either be done by a new Creation of fuch Ma- chine-Vehicles, from time to time j or by a new Difpofition of fuch as were originally made ; whichever Way was moft confonant to infinite Wifdom to aft. If then it feems rational to believe, that the Immenfe All- wife Deity hath, before all Time, as far back as we can imagine, formed and governed a World of fpiritual Beings, aftive, confcious, having Underftanding and Reafon to condudt them, and Paffions to ftimulate them to aim at their private Happinefs, as well as the univerfal Good of all created Beings ; and a Freedom of Will to acfl, either for their imaginary private Good, or for the public Good, according as they gave way to their Paffions, or governed them by their Reafon ; and that, to keep up the Harmony of focial Beings in the Univerfe, as a further Stimulus^ he had pro- mifed Rewards, and threaten'd Punilliments, to all, in proportion to their Obedience or Difobe- dience to the Laws he had eftablifhed for the Good of the Whole j if this be thought agree- able to Truth, then we muft conceive, that, from time to time, in confequence of this Free- dom of Will and Adlion, many Changes have happened among thefe confciou^ angelic Beings, according to their Vigilance, or Indolence, in obeying the Laws of the Supreme Lawgiver ; confequently, if they were all at firft coequal, by their fcveral Rewards and Punifhments, ibme have advanced in Goodnefs, Knowlege, and 26S A Mifcellaneous and Power, whilft others have declined in each ; and thus they have become fubordinate to each other : Or, if they w^ere created at firft in a regular Subordination, their different Behaviour has raifed fome, and debafed others ; and this not only ad intra^ with regard to their Know- lege, Widom, Goodnefs, and other intelledtual Faculties ^ but alfo ad extra, in relation to Place in Space : For as they were focial, they muft alfo have had external Senfations, by which they could communicate Happinefs to each other, or the contrary, and thus contribute to their Plea- fure or Pain. We may therefore fuppofe, that according to the different Goodnefs, Rank, 6?r. of fuch Spirits as had been rewarded, fuch Places in Space poffcffed by them were more glorious than the Places poffeffed by Spirits de- graded and punifhed \ and that, as Light is the moft glorious thing we perceive by our exter- nal Senfations, and the Supreme God is faid to dwell in Light inacceffible, fo we have the more Reafon to believe, that the higher Orders of Spirits, who were moft eminendy rewarded, enjoyed thefe Regions of Day in the higheft Perfeftion 5 and that fuch as were degraded, in proportion to their Crimes, were more or lefs deprived of this Light, and excluded from the Society of the fuperior Order of Spirits : That as they were incapable of approaching this in- acceffible glorious Light, and their Senfe of Vifion confequently impaired, their other Sen- fations might be in proportion alfo leffened, as well Metaphyjical Effay. 269 well as their internal Faculties; confequently thofe of equal Capacities and Perceptions might form themfelves into Societies, as being nearly Coequals in different Spheres in the Univerfe ; not, perhaps, out of Choice, but by being im- pell'd thither by Beings of higher Stations, and of fuperior Power. If the Supreme Being made the moft inter- nal Vehicles of Spirits, from the Beginning, an effential Part of their Being or Subflance, then I fliould be incHned to believe, that when they were rewarded or punifh^d, Pleafure or Pain, Happinefs or Mifery, were communicated to them, either by fiUihg their Vehicles, when rewarded, with more of the asthereal luminous Fluid ; which, as it increafed their Power ad extra, fo alfo communicated a divine internal Balfam, which improved their intelledual Fa- culties, and ftrengthened their moral Virtues : On the contrary, when they milbehaved, and were degraded of their former Power and Per- ceptions, the heavenly Fluid was gradually withdrawn ; by which not only their external Power was leffen'd, by contrading their Ve- hicle, and being confined to a6t in a fmaller Sphere ; but alfo by being deprived of that hea- venly Ma?2na, the Food of Souls, by which their intellectual Faculties were impaired, and confequently their moral Virtues : So that they became more felfilTi, and acfled lefs for the public Good of the Univerfe, and more for their own imaginary Good. Rewards or Punifli- ments 270 A Mifcellaneoiis meats might have been imparted to them in another manner, by including them in a fupe- rior Vehicle or Machine, which might have had a greater Variety of Senfations and Organs, by which further Powers and Pleafures were granted to them when rewarded \ or they might have been included in Machines having fewer Organs, when punilTied ; fo that their Senfations and Knowlege might be lefTen'd, in proportion to their Crimes ; or, at fome times, be intirely deprived of them, and be thus re- duced to adl in the fmalleft Part of Space ; and, whilft thus contracted, being deprived of the heavenly Fluid, they equally loft their in- telledual Powers of Reafoning, Memory, and Refledion, and confequently were for fome time reduced to a dormant State, or State of Silence ; which we call a temporal Death. Thefe being premifed, according to this Hy- pothefis, I fuppofe, that thefe intellectual Be- ings, thefe adtive confcious Spirits, in this gold- en Age, this primitive State of the Univerfe, when all was univerfal Day, either being co- equal, or in a regular Subordination to each other, according to the Situation in which in- finite Wifdom was pleafed to place them -, that many of thefe Beings, or different Orders of Be- ing, either envying the Promotion of other Spi- rits, of which, by their Indolence or Selfifhnefs, they had made themfelves unworthy \ or other- wife thinking themfelves worthy of the Rewards they were no- ways intitled to > they, giving way Metaphyftcal Effay. 271 way to their Paffions and felfiih Appetites, thro' Pride, broke thro' the Laws of the Univerfe, the Laws of Society eftabliflied by the Divine Being : And, fince we find the Supreme Being acting in our material World by Second Caufes, fo we have Reafon to believe, that, before the Commencement of our material Syftem, he alfo adted by Second Caufes amongft the angelic Powers ; and diftributed his Rewards and Pu- niihments by miniftring Angels of the higheft Orders, who were fubfervient and obedient to the Divine Will and Laws, to the inferior Or- ders, as he thought proper : That, accordingly, in this Diftribution of Revi^ards and Favours, the Soul of the MelFiah, for his fupereminent Zeal and Obedience to the Supreme Being, was exalted above all the Orders of Angels ; and that Lucifer^ then one of the fuperior Orders, at the Head of a numerous Train, being filled with Pride and Self-merit, openly ^leclared againft fuch Diftribution of Rewards as the Al- mighty thought proper to make by Second Caufes, the fuperior Orders of Angels ; and they finding themfelves fecluded from fuch Rewards as their felfifli Pride thought they de- ferved, and that the Soul of the Meflkh, who might have been in the fame Order, or per- haps a lower Order than Lucifer^ and thofe Orders who adhered to him, was advanced to their Prejudice, they actually tranfgrefled the Laws of Society, and claimed, by Force, to be rewarded above their Merit ; and perhaps Lu- cifer 272 A Mifceilaneous cifer claimed the Place and Dignity to which the Mefliah's Soul had been raiied, and de- manded that the MefTiah Ihould be degraded ; and thus rebelled^ and endeavoured to gain his Place by Force. The Supreme Being then ap- pointed the Mefliah's Soul, to whom he com- municated the Fulnefs of his Spirit and Power, by uniting him to the LogoSy his Divine Wifdom, Prince over all the angelic Hofl who were obe- dient ; and he, at the Head of the angelic Hoft, queird the Rebellion raifed by Lucifer and his Adherents ; deprived him of the Light and Power he bore, with all the rebellious Hoft, his Aflbciates; expelled them the aethereal Regions, and, by contrading their Vehicles, either by withdrawing the luminous asthereal Fluid with which they had been inflated, or by confining them to other Machine- Vehicles of fewer Or- gans and Powers, threw them down into the leveral grand Abyfl^es, the Centers of our fe- veral Syftems ; where they were impell'd by the angelic Hoft, and furrounding ^ther, and made to gravitate upon each other, and to at- tract and repel each other, according to the Similitude of their Natures and Crimes ; which may be the Caufe of the Sympathies and Anti- pathies we obferve in Nature ; and there they may have been bound in Chains of Darknefs, for many Ages before the Formation of our Syftem. We may alfo conceive, that befides this grand and enormous Rebellion, wherein fo many were at Metaphyjical EfTay. 273 at once fecliided from the asthereal Regions, that, in fo many Series of Ages before and fince, many angelic Beings are in a Rotation, or Motion, afcending and defcending in Dignity^ Station j and Place, in the aethereal Regions ; either gradually, 6x at diftincl Periods, when regular Judgments are given, and Tryals held, in dif- ferent Parts of the Univerfe. Where many are concerned, and Tranfgreffions enormous^ then Tryals may be held at diflind Periods : Where Lapfes are made by Individuals, by fmall Degrees, and gradually, from Indolence, Inattention, Gfr:. to the Divine Laws 5 in thofe Inftances they may fink, or be repell'd, from the fuperior ^Ether, towards the Chaofes of Suns, Comets, or PlanetSj without being con- fined to their Globes, or to Matter, without any formal Tryal j and, upon Recolledion and Amendment, may again be reftored to the fu- perior Regions, in a kind of Rotation, or afcend- ing and defcending, as on Jacob's Ladder. We may alfo conceive, that in fo enormous a Rebellion as that of Lucifer, where fo many Orders were drawn in, that feveral of thefe did more eminently tranfgrefs than others : Some, from the Heio;ht of Arroo;ance and Pride, aorainft the Almighty Difpenfer of Rewards ; and others thro' Malice and Envy againil: the Mef- iiah, upon account of his Exaltation ; and fome by other fpecious Pretences, according to iW Powers and Capacities they enjoyed in iheir feveral States of Subordination, in which they T wexe 274 ^ Mifcellaneous were placed ; and therefore, at that Period, when they (hall be folemnly tried, different Degrees of Panifliment will be awarded againfk them> and for a larger or fliorter time, in proportion to their Crimes. As Confinement is alfo a reafonable intermediate Punifhment, until their general Tryal and Sentence ; fo alfo, according to their Crimes, it may be reafonable to believe, that the Degrees of Confinement may be greater or lefs, and they may have more or lefs Enjoyment of Life and Senfations, in proportion to their Crimes : That, accord- ingly, fome may be deprived of Life and Senfa- tions, and be intirely inconfcious, until the ge- neral* Judgment : Some may be deprived in part, and for Part of the Time, and be con- fcious fometimes ; and yet, when confcious, may be deprived of the Memory of part Adions, or any Knowlege for the time to come 5 whilft others may know both, and^fear, and tremble at the Approach of their Tryal and Judgment. The Soul of the Meffiah, after his Exalta- tion, and being made Prince and General of the obedient angelic Hoft, and after having conquer d the rebellious Angels, and expell'd them from the aethereal Regions, and impell'd them into the Abyfl'es, the Centers of our feveral Syftems, where they were confined to Matter, by Gravi- tation and Attradion, m a dormant and inadive State, dark and opaque, the Fires in the feve- ml Suns not being yet kindled > and He, whom they Metaphyjical Ellay. 2^5 they had defpifed, being appointed, at a de- termin'd Period, to be the Judge of their Crimes, and to be a Difpenler of the Puniil:i- ments 16 be determined againfl: them at a fo- lemn Tryal ; knowing that many dilTcrent Or- ders of Being were concerned in the Lapfe and .Rebellion, and that fome of thefe were (h-av/n in by Orders of fuperior Knowlege and Power, but were not principal in the Revolt ; that Lu- cifer, and others, had rebelled thro* Pride, and an abfolute Defiance of the Almighty Being, as if he had unjuftly diftributed his Rewards ; whilft others were only exafperated at his Pro- motion and Exaltation ; and others perhaps drawn in by other leffer Motives ; he offered himfelf as a Mediator and Interceffor with the Almighty Being, God the Father, not only for fuch as had fallen thro' Weaknefs and In- advertency, in joining the fuperior Orders, but alfo for fuch who had oppofed his Exaltation ^ and, upon Condition that God the Father would allow them to become confcious, and would place them in a State of Probation, before the general Judgment fhould be held, he w^ould empty himfelf of that Glory to which he h?.d been advanced, and would take human Na-- ture upon him, in that State of Life in which they iliould be allowed to a6l, during their State of Probation ; and would fubmit to the Frailties and Infirm.ities of their Nature, which they were doom'd to be imprifon'd in for their Lapfe ; that;, by his Obedience in that StQte, T 2 he 2^6 A Mifcellaneous he might atone for all fuch who had been in- advertently drawn in ; and even for all thofc who had oppofed his Exaltation, in cafe they fhould own him in that State of Probation, and obey his Precepts, and depend upon his Merit and Satisfiidion to fupply their Defeds ; and in order to have his Obedience imputed to them, he would not only undergo all the Wants and Infirmities liable to their Nature ; but even Death itfelf, in the moft ignominious manner, when deprived of all the AfTiftance he had from his Union with the Divine Logos^ the in- finite Wifdom of the Father, to which his Soul was moft intimately united, he having pour'd forth his Spirit without Bounds or Meafure up- on him : A fuperexcellent Teft of that fuper- eminent Merit, for which God the Father had anointed him with the Oil of Gladnefs above his Fellows, This Declaration and Offer, and the Ac- ceptance of it, made all the Sons of God, the angelic Hoft, fhout with Joy ; and the whole Heavens, thro' the infinite Expanfe, echo witli the Praife of the fuperabundant Goodnefs of the Meffiah our Redeemer, who would de- prive himfelf of his Glory and Happinefs, for a time, to refiore thofe to the Favour of God, who had oppofed his Exaltation ; but did not do it for thofe, who had rebelled in Defiance of the Almighty Will and Power. Thus God the Father made him the Creator of our prefent Syftem, in Suns, Planets, and Comets ; Metaphyjical Effay, 277 Comets; which he formed into regular Syftems, from thefe original Atoms or Monads, confined together in the Centers or AbyiTes of our feve-n ral Syftems ; having formed them into Globes at different Diftances, and put them into Mo- tion round the Sun, fix'd pendulous in the Cen- ter of each Syftem, putting all the Particles ia the Sun into a ftrong vibrating Motion, fo as to be intenfely hot; which, by that means, ihot oft innumerable Rays of Light with the utmofl Velocity ; fo that fuch Beings as were allowed to take Life in the feveral Planets^ were enabled to vegetate, and by degrees were capable of Senfations ; and thus the feverai furrounding Beings became vifible to them. At this time was the Mofaic Creation, and Formation of this Globe ; and perhaps at the fame time the Formation, not only of this Syflem, but alfo of all the Syftems of Suna and Planets thro' immenfe Space : Tho' the Probability is greater, from the Comets, that the feveral Syftems, or Planets, have been made habitable at different times in Succeflion, in eternal Duration ; as Rewards or Punifli- ments were to be diftributed among the feveral Orders, according to their Degree of Lapfe, as they may be placed in a State of Punifhment, or State of Probiition, Since the Divine Being has an infinite Va- riety of Rewards and Punishments to difpenfc to confcious free Spirits, who may deferve Re- wards and Punifliments, in different Degree^^ T 3 botK 278 A Mifcellamotis both as to Daration and Inteiilenefs ; fo, at the time of the Formation of thefe Globes, at the time of the Mcfaic Creation, many of thefe lapfed Spirits, who had been doom'd to a State of Silence, by being deprived of their Senfa- tions, and had been chain'd down to the Abyffes of the feveral Sans, or Chaoles of Planets, by the Impulfe of Gravitation, or mutual Attrac- tion, had an Opportunity of gaining fome De- gree of Life, and appearing in the beautiful Forrn of Vegetables or Animals ; their animal or plantal Souls being, in their Seeds, difperfed not only in the Surfaces of the feveral Suns and Planets, if Particles of Light are fpiritual Forms, but alfo throughout all the Matter in the feveral Stars thro' iniinite Space : Thofe, who are doom'd to a long Ina and therefore was in a proper Situation to improve his Rea- fon : And thus it is faid, That God brought all Animals before Adam^ and whatever he called them, that was to be their Name ; that is. He inquired into the Nature of Things, as much as he was capable of doing from his Reafon^ and then gave them Names he found moft agreeable to their Natures. After he had improved his own Knowlege^ and begat Seth^ and inftrud:ed him as far as he was capable, and had formed a proper Language to converfe with 3 by the time Rms was born, they began to inftrudl the Terrige?ice in the Knowlege of God, by civilizing them, and learning them ufeful Arts in Society ; and then Men began to call upon the Name of the Lord, Thus it feems more rational, that as our Creator improved every thing gradually, that alfo the Defcendents of Adam were not at firft infpired with Arts and Sciences ; but they im- proved themfelves by Obfervations and Expe- rience in the Knowlege of God and Nature : And thus it is faid, that Cain\ Iflue, tho' ac- curfed, were the Inventors of feveral Arts not "knovv^n before to the Aborigines^ or very im- perfectly Metaphyseal Effay. 299 perfectly known ; whilft Seth\ Pofterity im- proved themfelves more in the Knowlege of God and Religion, and the more neceflary Arts of Society, and in inftruding others in that Knowlege : And they, after Adam^ Death, and Tranflation of Enochs debafing themfelves by intermarrying with thefe Sons of the Earth, the Sons of Men ^ and, by that means, for- faking their God, and filling the Earth with Rapine ; Noah's Family alone remaining free from that Mixture, and Revolt from the Wor- ship of the true God ; he thought proper to bring on the Deluge to deftroy the adulterous Sons of Adam ; but no other Countries, except thofe the Adamic Race lived in, were de- ftroy ed. We may therefore conceive, that Noah^ and his Family, only preferved the Knowlege they had acquired in Arts and Sciences before the Flood 'y and probably nothing was recorded before but by Hieroglyphics, or Charadera taken from them : So that they only preferv'd the Language form'd and improv'd by Ada^n \ which they continued down until the Building of Babel ^ and their Separation there to inftruft the reft of Mankind, when they learned their feveral Languages, which was called the Con- fufion of Tongues. The Kingdom of Egypt ^ and Countries ad- joining in Africa and Europe^ as well as thofe Eaftward in AJia^ adjoining to the AjfyriaUy Chaldcca?}^ and Babylonian Empires, towards Perfiay 300 A Mifcellaneous Perjiay India^ and China^ were probably not under the Deluge, but adjoining to them ; and therefore thefe, after the Flood, fpread them- felves into thofe Countries which had been over- flowed, whilft the Sons oi Noah defcended into the Vale of Shinar^ and lived there, having no Thoughts of feparating to inflrudl the Aborts gines or Gentiles \ but began to build a City and Tower which would make their Name formidable, and defend themfelves from the Aborixiries, that they might not again be cuiied, by adulterating themfelves by mixing with them. The Sons of Noah having a perfedl Know- lege of the Adamic Arts and Sciences, and the Gentiles becoming acquainted with their fupe^ rior Knowlege in thefe Arts, came to affift them in building, and, at the fame time, to be inftrudled by them ; and each Nation having a different Language, the Sons of Noah learned their feveral Languages, and divided themfelves amongfl the Gentile Nations, to inftrudl and civilize them, they willingly fubmitting to them, upon account of the Benefits they re- ceived from them. This happen 'd in the Days of Felcg, Japkefs Poflerity taking the Weft and North-wefl, Hams the South and South- weft, and Shenis the Eaft and North-eafl Part of the Continent ; whilft Noah, as fome imagine, travel'd on to China^ and civiliz'd thofe People, and was their Fohi. Heber^ and his Pofterity, prefcrved their original He- breiJO Metaphyfical Effay. 301 brew Language, which was continued down in Abrahams Line. Nimrod became a mighty Hunter ; that is, drew together great Numbers of thefe erratic People, who were com.e into thefe rich Countries which had been overflow'd by the Deluge, and built feveral Cities^ and began the Ajfyrian Empire. This will eafily account for the Greatnefs of the Egyptian Empire in the Days of Abraham^ when their Kings .had their Seraglios, and were ferved by Princes, who promoted their Pleafures, having taken Sarah from Abraham ^ to add to the Numbers in his Haram : And their People were very induftrious, abounding in Corn, not only fufficient for themfelves, but alfo to fupport their neighbouring Countries in time of Famine, who chiefly depended upon their Herds of Cattle, and Flocks of Sheep :.i For the Egyptia?is^ living in the Neighbourhood of the Adamic Race before the Flood, had undoubtedly learned Policy, and to be induftri- ous, from an Intercourfe with them ; having learned the Art of Building, Manufaftures, and Tillage; being famous for Corn, fine Linen, and Silks ; having found out the Ufe of Iron, and other Metals ^ having Horfes and Chariots for War, and an inlarg'd Commerce in time of Peace, Caravans of IJhmaelites trading there with Spices and Slaves in Jacob's Days : And we find Gold and Silver was in great Ufe in Abraham's time, and Lands valuable, from the Numbers of People then on the Globe, when Abraham 302 A Mifcellaneotis Abraham paid fo much Silver for one Field for a Burying-place. By the Bracelets and Jewels made ufe of for attiring the Women in his Days, we may conclude, that Trade and ■ Commerce had been carried on for fome Ages before Abraham's Days, other wife Gold and Silver would not have been in fuch Requeft ; for Bartering was the original Trafiick in Infant Settlements ; and Gold and Silver only became ufeful, when Trade became fo ex ten five as to reach diftant Countries, where bulky Goods could not be carried to Advantage. All thefe Things confidered, we have no Reafon to doubt, even from the Mofatc Account, that Egypt was a flouriihing Empire, even before the Mr a of the Deluge : And fmce they had an Intercourfe with Adam's Race, and only knew the Method of writing and recording their Thoughts by Hieroglyphics, for many Ages after the Deluge, the Prefumption is the Wronger, that Adam's Race did not know any other Method of Writing, until the time Mofes wrote his Hiflory, which was wrote by the iff^r^^zi:; Alphabet, which I take to be the firft of that Kind 3 and, from the wonderful Improve- ment it occafioned to Learning, from the dark and dilatory Way ufed before by Hieroglyphics, I have Reafon to believe, that this Difcovery was made to Mcfes by the Divine Being upon the Mount, by a particular Revelation, upon the writing the Law upon the two Tables of Stone j wiiich were therefore faid to be wrote Metaphyjical Effay. 303 by the Finger or Appointment of God, fuper- eminently; the Words, as well as alphabetic CharadVers, being exprefly taken down from the Mefliah, the Angel of the Covenant. ^ This feems ftill the more probable, from the great Ufe and furprifing Difference there is between an Alphabet compofed of a few Let- ters, or Charaders, which exprefles all the Variety of Sounds made ufe of in Speech, and an Hieroglyphic Charader, which fignifies the feveral Things themfelves ; the Combination of a few Sounds being almofl infinite, tho' the Sounds are few ; but the Variety of Things being in- numerable, the Charadcrs to reprefent them muft be alfo innumerable : So that, to convey our Thoughts in Hieroglyphic Charafters, we muft retain in our Memory many thoufand Charaders; as in China, to be accounted a Man of Learning, he muft underftand and write down at leaft 20,000 Charaders ; and even then not be able to exprefs, or convey to others, abftrad Ideas with any Certainty; which is fo eafily done by an Alphabet of about twenty-four Charadlers or Letters. If therefore it feems probable, that the firft Hebrew Alphabet was wrote down upon the two Tables of Stone to Mofes, by the Finger of God, our Mefliah, upon the Mount 3 I fhould think, if the original Hebrew Alphabet be ftill retained, as I have Reafon to believe it is, from the great Care taken by the antient Jews to preferve it upon thefe Tables in the Ark, 304 A Mifcellaneous Ark, which was made facred, in order to pr€- ferve it with greater Safety -, infomuch that Uzzab w^as ftruck dead for touching it, and whole Nations of the Philijiines, for attempting to keep it, or look into it •, and afterwards the great Joy, in the time of Jofiah, upon the Difcovery then made of the original Roll of the Law ; and the great Care Ezra took in preferving and tranfcribing the Sacred Books and Characters, upon his Return from the Cap- tivity, when he formed the Canon of Scrip- tures y which were preferved, with the utmoft Care, until the Septuagint Verfion was taken ^ iuid afterwards preferved in the Jewijlo State, >vith great Care and Exadnefs, until the Chri- ftian /Era ; and then preferved by the Talmud until our Age, when, by Printing, the Types were preferved ; I fay, if we dill retain the true Hebrew Characfler and Alphabet, I am not furprifed at the Opinion of fome, we are plea fed to call Vifionaries, that the Hebrew Charadler and Alphabet not only exprelTes Sounds, but that the Form and Union of the Parts of the Letters alfo are Characters for Things, having been feledted, for that Purpofe, put of the Hieroglyphics 5 and that out of them a philofophical Language may be formed, as well as what we call literal ; and confequently that Mofes^ in his Books of the Law, along with the literal Text, carried on a myflical or fecret Hiltory, by Types and Figures, which was hid from the Vulgar under that Veil, fo ex- prefly Metaphyfical Effay. 305 prefly mentioned and typified by the Veil he put on, when he fpake to them, after coming from the Mount, where he had fuch great things revealed to him. This myflical and fecret Meaning was long preferved in the Schools of the Prophets ; and therefore our Saviour bids his Hearers fearch the Scriptures^ and fays. That not fo much as one Iota or Tittle of the Law fliould fail 5 which mufl: certainly mean, that no Part of this my- ftical or typical Hiftory, or Prophecy, preferved by the Exadtnefs of the Charader, and Identi- calnefs of the Words and Letters which con- veyed that fecret Meaning, which they were to fearch for, fhould be loft. It feems alfo, from his Intention to carry on this typic Hiftory, and Prophecy of Times to come, that Mofes has only feledled fuch Paftages in the literal Hiftory, as are proper to convey and commu- nicate the other -, and has chofen fuch Names and Numbers as may form a Key to unlock thefe Myfteries, and difcover the Types and Times they anfwer to -, as is ufed in the pro- phetic Language of Daniel^ Ezekiel^ and St. John the Divine, with the reft of the Prophets : And fome, who have look'd into the Hebrew Text of the Mofaic Books, and Hebrew Al- phabet, confirm this Conjecfture, and find that every proper Name, recorded by Mofes, has a fignificant Meaning, in the prophetic Stile, to unlock his veiPd or fecret Hiftory -, and dif- X cover 3o6 A Mifcellaneous cover it to be an exadt Prophecy of the Church to the End of Time. It feems alfo highly probable, that all the different Alphabets now ufed in our Continent of Europe,' Jfia, and Africa, have had their Original from the Hebrew Alphabet : It is plain, that the Chaldcean and Syriac are form'd from the Hebrew ; and that the EgyptianSy jlrablans, and Greeks, had theirs from He^ brews, or Phcenicians, who had theirs alfo from them : The Roman is plainly taken from the Greek -, and the Saxon^ and all the Weftern Alphabets, from the Greek and Roman: And I don't doubt but the Runic, Piinicy T^artarian^ and Indian, as well as the Coptic Alphabets, are from the fame Orig-inal : So that all the o Nations, who have had Alphabets, have had them from the Hebrews ; and none can be traced farther back than the time of receiving the Law, when Mofes compiled his Hiftory. Thefe Obfervations feem alfo to add Weight to the Opinion, that Learning, Knowlege, and Improvements, have, by the Divine Will, been gradually growing to Perfedion, as well as the Knowlege of the true God and Religion, by our Saviour yejus Chrijl 3 and that as Learning becomes more general, and fpreads over the Face of the Globe, fo Nations become more focial, and are civilized, and fitted better to re- ceive true Religion, as revealed by our Meffiah : And therefore, fince true Religion and Revela- tion v/as, from the earliefl Account by Mofes, confined Metaphyftcal Efiay. 307 confined to the Patriarchs in a Corner of the Globe ; and, after the Promulgation of the Law, was confined to the JewiJJ: State and Race, until the time of our Saviour's Appearance; by which time the Nations on our Continent were fo far civilized, and improved in Learn- ing and Letters, that they were Subjecfls fitted to receive his Divine Revelation ; and fince that time Learning and Commerce has ftill been im- proving, and fpreading to diftant Countries, not before knov/n to the Jews or Greeks^ v/ho never had Learning or Letters among them; as in great Part of Africa^ all America already difcovered, and the feveral Nations not fully difcovered in the Southern Hemifphere; in Lidia, China^ and Japan^ and feveral other Parts of the Globe ; How can we conceive, that if they had defcended all from Adam or Noah^ that they had all been Strangers to the true God or Religion, and ihould never have had any Degree of Learning ? not one of the Na- tions in the World, who had no Cbnverfatlon with the Hebrews^ "Egyptians^ or Greeks^ or others who had their Learning from them, having had any Degree of Learning when they were difcovered by Europeans lately : Nay, even the Chinefe and Japonefe^ who muft have had an Intercourfe with the Af^atics^ who were Defcendents of Noah, tho' they have many ufeful Arts among them, and a fine Polity by Confucius^ yet never had any Alpha- bet. All this confidered, I mull believe, from X 2 the 308 A Mifcellaneous the Goodnefs of God Almighty, that he would not have concealed the Knowlege of his Being, and their Reconciliation to him by our Meffiah, for fo many Ages, when fo neceffary to their Salvation, if they had not been fo far lap fed, as to be fent hither into a State of intermediate Pu- nifhment, being irreclaimable whilft upon this Globe, and referved for a future Judgment ; being too far lapfed to be included within the prefent mediatorial Scheme -, otherwife the all- wife and good Being would not have continued them fo long in a State of Ignorance of the true Religion revealed by our Saviour, which, for fo many Ages, had been confined to 'Ju^ dcea^ until the Death of our Saviour ; and, fince that time^ to the leiTer Part of our Con- tinent, until within thefe 25-0 Years, that it began to fpread farther. This greatly confirms me in what I have al- ready laid down. That thefe feveral Globes were formed for Prlfons, and Places of Punifh- ment, as well as for Places of Probation ; and that all lapfed Beings are thrufi: out of the asthereal Regions, and are confined here until the Reftoration of all things : That thofe, who have egregiouily err'd, are here in a State of Silence, or admitted fometimes to take a fenfitive Life in Brute Animals, or to animate our human Species ; yet are fo overloaded by their former Sins, as to be here only in a State of Punifhment, led by their Pafiions, and no- ways fitted for a State of Probation 5 whilfl others. Metaphyseal Eflay. 309 others, who have not lapfed fo far, are in a State of Probation, and, by being penitent, and living virtuoufly here, reap the Benefit of our Saviour^s Death and Interceffion for us ; whilft other angelic Beings, who have fcarce been peccant at all, have come into Bodies fcarcely defiled, to be fhining Lights to con- dud: others who are here in a State of Proba- tion, and prevent their being carried aftray by the Seed of thefe Devils incarnate. This alone, I think, will fufficiently account for the Rea- fon "of our Saviour's coming fo late into the World, and having been revealed to fo few fince that time : But, fince none can tell who are in a State of Probation, and who are not, all are to be preach'd to, and exhorted to re- pent and amend their Lives, and to lay hold of the Merits of our Saviour, and the Benefits we have received by his Death and Literceffion for us. Tho' this third Clafs, whom I fuppofe to be Devils incarnate, may not be redeemable here, they being in a State of intermediate Punifh- ment, and may be doom'd to greater Degrees of Punifliment hereafter, at the next general Judgment after the DifTolution and Conflagra- tion of this Globe ; when the Eledi:, and thofe who have made ufe of their State of Probation here, to work out their Salvation, by obeying the Will and Precepts, and laying hold of the Merits and Satisfaction, of our Saviour, pur- chafed for us by his Death, to make out our X 3 Defi^ 310 A Mifcellaneous Deficiencies, fhall be rewarded, and made happy eternally hereafter, in proportion to their Behaviour and Adlivity in obeying the Divine Precepts -, there being Degrees of Happinefs hereafter, according to their Obedience to the Divine Will here ; yet I am inclined to believe, that this third Clafs are not to be punifhed for ever, but that, at the general Judgment, there are to be different Degrees of Punifhment, both as to Intenfenefs of Pain, and Duration ; and that finite fallible Creatures are not to fuffer an Eternity of Pain ; but that, according to their former Crimes, and thofe committed here, their Puniiliment will be proportioned : And alfo, as to the Duration of them ; fome, after a Series of Ages, may be again placed in a State of Si- lence and Inadlivity, whilfi: others may be again placed in a State of Probation, and may, at diftincl Periods, be again tried at a general Judgm.ent : For by Eternity, in the Ploly Scrip- tures, we are not to conceive an abfolute Eter- nity, but a Duration of which we know not the End, or an indeterminate Eternity. For, fince Punlfnment is only defigned for the Good of the Whole, and God Almighty's Goodnefs is fiipereminently over all his Works, he may abate of the Rigour of his Juftice, when it is compatible with tlie Good of the Univerfe ; and fince all Creatures are finite, both in Space and Duration, it cannot be fuppofed, that their •adtual Punifhment Ihould be abfolutely eternal ; and therefore the l;ipfed Angel?, who are Devik incarnate^ Metaphyfical Effay. 311 incarnate, may hereafter be eafed of their Pu- nifliment, and reftored to the Regions of Light ; and the mofi: egregious Offenders, if not re- ftored to Happinefs, may be reduced to a State of Silence at leaft, without further Punifliment, which is an eternal Death. Many pious Chriftians are of Opinion, that it may be of bad Confequence to difbelieve the abfolute Eternity of Hell-Torments, or that the Devils or Men may hereafter be happy, who Ihall be fentenced to Mifery at the general Judgment; becaufe, amongft the lower Rank of Men, Terrors and Fears have a ftronger Influ- ence upon their Adions, than Hopes and Re- wards : But furely thofe judge very ill, w^ho would have Men follow the Precepts and obey the Will of God thro* Fear, and not from Love y the firfl: being a flavifh Principle ; for even the Devils are faid to fear a?id tremble -, but Love is the Principle of free Beings, and Sons of God. The Idea of God's being angry, and inex- orable, never to be fatisfied, or to pardon the Sins of finite fallible Beings, is a Notion un- worthy of the Divine Being, and contrary to the Tenor of Holy Scripture, where he is re- prefented to be all Goodnefs, and full of Com- paffion, and that his Mercy is over all his Works, I muft therefore incline to that Opinion, which raifes the higheft Idea of the Goodnefs and Mercy of God ; and mufl believe, that the X 4 Meafure 312 A Mifcellaneous Meafure of his Juftice is confined to fuch Pu- nifhments as will mod conduce to the Good of the whole Univerfe, and not that which they are pleafed to call an adequate Punifhment, that is, an Eternity of Torment, becaufe the Sins were committed againft an Eternal Being : For the fame Reafon would hold, that all Punilhments muft be infinitely exquifite, be- caufe the Deity is infinite, as well as eternal ; and confequently there could be no Degrees of Punifliment : The leaft as well as the moft egregious Sinners muft then be doomed to equal Puniiliments, both infinite in Intenfenefs and Duration. Nor do we find, that the Belief of the Eter- nity of Hell-Torments has fo great an Influence upon the Morality and Behaviour of the lower Rank of Men here, as an immediate temporal Punilhment; and therefore, the fupporting that Idea, of the Deity's being inexorable to all Eternity, is apt*to make confiderate Men, w^ho think feriouily upon it, Infidels to our Holy Religion ; and, upon thofe who do not think and refled: upon it, can have no Influence here. But as thro' the whole Scheme of Pro- vidence, as I have obferved, the whole human Species, and Creation, are advancing gradually to Perfcdion, from the Beginning, or Mofaic Fiat^ to the Confummation of all things in this Period -, fo, as oar Knov/lege increafcs, our Ideas of God's Goodnefs and Mercy will increafe j and this and other harfh Ideas of 4- God's Metaphyseal Effay. 313 God's Anger, and fevere Juflice, will be gra- dually exploded, to make way towards that Perfedion we are approaching, after we have difcovered and civilized all the barbarous Na- tions upon the Globe, and made them capable of underftanding the Revelation of the Myftery of their Redemption by a Meffiah, our Saviour ^efiis Cbrijl 3 when his Name will be preached unto all Nations upon Earth ^ at which thne we fiiall become as perfect as we can expedl fallible Beings to be upon this Globe ; whea the happy Millennium will commence, and our Saviour's being our Melliah and King will be acknowleged over the whole Earth. Then the Philadelphian State of the Church fhali prevail,. where we (hall follow the Divine Pre- cepts, not thro' Fear, but for Love, as Chil- dren calling him Abba, Father. Then all in- exorable Ideas will vanifh, and the Divine Per- fedlionSj his Wifdom, Goodnefs, and Mercy, will be exalted ; and nothing but the Love of God and our Neighbour will prevail over the Eledt, and thofe who improve their State of Probation here ; who will prefide and rule over tliofe who are irreclaimable, until Tome time before the Conflagration and Diflblution of this Globe ; when there v/ill be a Falling-away and Lifurrcvflion of the Ungodly againft the Holy City or Polity, the Elect Society ; when our Saviour, the Divine Meffiah, will come in Triumph in the Clouds, to begin the general Judgm^ent of Men and Angels 3 rertoring, af- ter 314 ^ Mifcellaneousy &c. ter a folemn Hearing and Sentence, thofe, who have behaved w^ell, to the ajthereal Regions of Day, and eternal Joy ; and dooming thofe, who have mifbehaved, to the chaotic Abyfs of our Syftem, for a Series of Ages indeterminate to us. What may emerge afterwards, Eye hath not feen^ nor Ear heard -^ nor hath it entered into the Heart of Man to conceive, what the Wifdom, Juftice, and fuperlative Goodnefs of God will bring to Light in our progreffive Eternity, AP, APPENDIX- Re A soi and that Y ail 322 APPENDIX. all our Thoughts perifh. There is only one Text which gives the leaft Countenance to an- other Opinion, where the Pfalmift fays, God will redeem my Soul from the Power of the Grave ; for he Jhall receive me. But this may as well be underftood to be at the Refurredion, when his Soul (hall be redeemed from the Power of the Grave, and be received by God, tho' it won't be fo with the Wicked, as ap- pears by the foregoing Text. Solomon^ in Ecclefmftes^ fpeaking of, and comparing Man with Beads, fays, T^hat they die alike ^ all go into one Place^ all are of Duft^ and return to Dujl again. Who knoweth the Spirit of a Man^ that goeth upward^ and the Spirit of the Beaji^ that goeth downward to the Earth? I fhould incline to read it thus ; Who know^eth the Spirit of a Man, that it go- eth upwards, and the Spirit of a Beaft, that it goeth dov/nward ? Becaufe before he faid, they had one Fate : And, in the following Text; he builds upon it, that fTnce we don't know whether our Fate be better than Beafts, Let us rejoice in the Works we have made ; for that is our Portion, In another Place he fays. For the Living know^ that they JJjall die ; but the Dead know liot any things neither have they any more a P.eward, And again, fpeaking of the Infirmities of old Age, he fays. Then Jhall the Duji return to the Earth as it was, and the Spirit fiall return to God, who gave it. This- is not inconfiftent with the Belief^ that it may continue APPENDIX. 323 continue in Silence and Reft, fafe under the Proteffion and Power of God, until he fliall reinveft it with a glorious Body, at the Time of the Renovation of all Things ; for return- ing unto God, as he is omniprefent, is not changing of Place ; and it may be faid as well to return to him, when it refts in the Grave, under his Care and Prefence, tho' in a dor- mant or filent State. . Ifaiah the Prophet feems to be of the fame Opinion, when he fays, that the Righteous perijheth^ &cc. none conjidering^ that he is taken away from the Evil to come-, he Jhall enter into Peace , they Jhall reft in their Beds^ each one walking in his Right eoiifnefs. Which is. That tho' the Righteous are taken away from this Life, often fooner than the Wicked, and lie dormant in their Graves, yet it is. done out of Kindnefs to them, to avoid the Evil coming upon them from the Wickednefs in this World ; for there they reft from their Labour and Pain, and in the End they fliali depend upon their having walked uprightly whilft they lived upon the Earth. Had he believed they had immediately upon Death entered into Heaven, or been happily confcious in an inter- mediate State, he would not have given for a Reafon, that they died fooner than the Wicked, to avoid the Evil and Pain coming upon them here in this Life -, but that they died fooner to obtain the Reward at the time of their Death, of entering into a happy State. Y 2 The 324 APPENDIX. The Angel in Daniel confirms this, when he fays, And many of them that Jleep in the Duji of the Earth Jhall awake ^ fome to ever-- lafling Life^ and fome to Shame ^ and everlafting Conte?npt, And afterwards fays, Go thou thy Way until thy End be ; for thou fhalt refl^ and fland in thy hot at the End of the Days. Thefe Expreffions can never be intended for the Body, the Vehicle of the Soul j for that is incapable of Life or Senfations ; for the adtive Spirit, or the Perfon, is that only which lives, and guides, and direds it ; and he fays, that even Daniel himfelf fliall fo reft as the others, and afterwards ftand in his Lot at the time of the firft Refurrection. Thus I think, from what can be difcovered from the general Tenor of the Writings in the Old Teftament, that they, in a manner, all concur, that the Soul is to be in a dormant State, or State of Reft, until the Confumma- tion of all Things. I fhall next give the Opinion of the apocry- phal Writers, who were reputed Men of the greateft Wifdom and Knowlege amongft the Jews 'y tho' it has been doubtful, whether they were divinely infpired, or their Books canonical : But as our Saviour has repeated feveral Paflages out of Efdras, it muft give that Book great Weight and Authority, the. whole Book having the Appearance of Truth, and of being prophetical ; and in it he feemsto confirm the foregoing Opinion. His APPENDIX. 325 His firft Text, that mentions the State of the Dead, is this : And thoje that be dead will I raife up again from their P laces ^ and bring them out of their Graves, Again, Remember thy Children that fleep ; for IJhall bring them out of the Sides of the Earthy and Jhew Mercy unto them. Again, After Seven Days the World that yet awaketh not Jhall be raifed up^ and that Jhall die that is corrupt ; and the Earth Jhall rejiore thoje that are afleep in her, and fo Jhall the Dujl thofe that are in Silence ; and the fecret Places fhall deliver thofe Souls that were com^ mitt ed to them ; for after Death Jhall Judgment come^ when we Jhall live again, Thefe feveral Texts feem to concur in the fame Opinion, of the Tranquillity of our State from Death un- til the general Judgment and Reftoration of all Things, when we fhall live again j for were we confcious or alive in the Grave, or in the intermediate State, we could not be faid tQ begin to live again at the time of the Refurrec- tion. There is one Text in Efdras^ which may bear a different Meaning ; viz. Did not the Souls aljo of the Righteous^ in their Chamber Sy afk ^e/iicns of thefe Things, f^yi^gy How long Jhall I hope on this Fajhion ? When cometh the Fruit of the Floor of our Reward? Where the Chambers, of Souls may be underftood of Graves ; and, if fo, would imply, that Sojjih were confcious there, and alked Queftions. And this feems to be confirmed afterwards, Y 3 where 326 APPENDIX. where Uriel fays, that in the Grave the Chanu hers of Souls are like the Womb of a Woman ; for as the Woman in Travail hafl.em to efcape the Nee effity of her Travail y fo does the Grave hafle to deliver what is committed to it. But avS this Paffage feeras to imply, that Souls after Death are embodied, and have Organs of Speech, it would ieem to be figurative, efpe- cially as it differs from his Opinion in the other Texts mentioned; and it may be incorredly- copied, fince our Tranflation is only from the Latin Copy : However, if we take the whole Scope of the Difcourfe betwixt the Angel and Efdras^ it may bear a different and natural Meaning. Efdras is inquifitively asking, Why the Jeivs were call off, and their Days fhort- ened, and when they fhould. have an End? Uriel bids him ponder how much the evil Seed has increafed fince Jdam\ Time ; and how great a Floor it would fill, when the Ears were cut down : And when he flill per- fifted to know the End of that Time, and w^hy the fews had bad Times ; the Angel again checks him for his Inquifitivenefs, and tells him, He had much exceeded. Upon this it feems r>atural, that Efdras anfwers in his Juftiiication, and that they are not" the Words of Uriel ; Did not the Sou Is alfo of the Righteous afk ^eflions of thefe things in their Chambers ? Ho%o long fmll I hope on this Faflnon ? When cometh the Fruit of the Floor of our Re'ivard? That is^ Have not the Righteous APPENDIX. 327 Righteous in their Chambers, before me, alfo fupplicated God, in like manner, to know thefe Things ? And, upon this, Uriel anfwers him to his Queftion, that the End fhould be when the Number of Seeds was completed ; for God had weighed the World in the Balance, and had meafured and numbered the Times, and made no Alteration until the Meafure was fulfilled: And then Efdras fays. Perhaps it was for their Wickednefs that the Floors of the Righteous were not filled. Which brings on the Simile of the Womb's giving up, at its Seafon, its Charge, as the Graves (hould, when their Charge was complete : So that the Cham- bers there mentioned may not be intended for the Souls after Death, but for the fecret Prayers of the Righteous in their Life-time. The Author of the Wifdom of Solomon fays of the Dead, In the Sight of the Unwife they feemed to die ; ajtd their Departure is taken for Mifery^ and their going from us to be utter DefiruBion ; but they are in Peace, — And^ in the Time of their Vifitation, they Jhallfoine^ and run to and fro^ like Sparks among th^ Stubble, In this Place, talking of the Death of the Righteous, he fays, the Unwife imagine they are utterly gone and deftroyed, never again to be reftored to Life ; but they are in a State of Peace and Reft ; and, in their Vifitation at the R^furredion, they fhall again be viviiied, and Y 4 be 328 APPENDIX. be in a glorious State, fhining like a Spark among the Stubble. Baruchy in the Prayer of the Jews^ has thefe Words ; O Lord^ open thy Eyes, and be-- hold ; for the Dead^ that are in the Graves^ whofe Souls are taken from their Bodies^ will give unto the Lord neither Praife nor Righteoufnefs : So that we may obferve, that the Opinion of the wifeft of the Jews was, that the Souls after Death were in a quiefcent State, a State of Reft in the Grave, until the general Judgment, and Refurreftion of the Body. Having thus obferved upon the feveral Texts in the Old Teftament, and from the Jews be- fore our Saviour's Birth, I fhall now confider what is handed down to us by the infpired Pen- men in the New Teftament, in relation to the State of our Souls from Death to the Refur- reftion. St. Matthew has only two or three Paflages relating to it 3 viz. The Maid is 7tot dead^ but fleepeth. Again, But^ as touching the Refurrec-- tion of the Deady have ye not read that which was fpoken to you by God ? I am the God of Abraham, the God ^Ifaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the Dead, but of the Livifig, — *And the Graves were opened, and many Bodies of Saints^ which Jlept^ arofe^ and came out of their Graves , after his Refurrec^ tion i and went into the Holy City^ and appeared unto many. In the firft and laft of thefe PalT- ages^ APPENDIX. 329 ages, Death and Sleep are fuppofed to be nearly the fame : In the laft it can't be fup- pofed, that only the Bodies arofe, which were afleep, and not the Soul or Perfon ; but it is the Bodies of thofe Saints who flept. So it is intended as the Sleep of the Saint, the intelli- gent Being refiding in the Body, which tri- umphed with our Saviour, and appeared at his RefurrecSion, as a Confirmation of their future Refurredlicn hereafter. The fecond I mentioned of Abraham^ -?A^^» and yacob's, being alive, tho' at firft View it feems to be againft it ^ yet, upon Reflection, and confidering the Manner in which our Sa- viour introduces it, to prove a future Refurrec- tion, I think it will rather ma,ke for the State of Reft than the other : For it could be no Proof of a future Refurredtion, to fay, that they were then adlually alive in Heaven, but the contrary ; for then, the Soul having adual Life and Enjoyments after Death immediate- ly, it did not from thence follow, that there- fore there muft be a future Refurreftion ; but it was a very good Argument upon the other Suppofition, that God could not be called the God of Abraham^ &c. if they were not in Be- ing, tho' at Reft under his Care and Protec- tion, until they fhould again revive at the Re- furredtion ; for God is no^ the God of the Dead, but of the Living; and therefore, if there was no Refurredtion that they fliould live again, he could not be called their God. St. 330 APPENDIX. St. Ltike^ mentioning it as a Proof of a future Refurred:ion, confirms it in ftronger Terms : Now that the Dead are raifed^ even Mofes Jhewed it at the BuJ}j^ when he calleth the Lord the God ^Abraham, &c. for he is nat the God of the Dead, but of the Living ; for all live unto him. And St. Paul, in his Epiftle to the Hebrews, mentioning them with the other Saints, fays, Thefe all, having obtained a good Report thro' Faith, received not the Promife^ God having provided fome better thing for us, that the^' without us fiould not be made perfect : So that they thro' Faith received the Promife of a glorious Refurreftion by our Saviour ; which Abraham^ he fays, received in a Figure, upon his offering up Ifaac : Yet, notwithftand- ing, neither he, nor any of the Saints, fhould be made perfedt without us, until the Reftora- tion of all Things. In raifing the dead Maid, he fays, She is not dead, but fleepeth. And the Spirit came again, I don't think that Expref- fion a fufficient Proof, that the Soul had actu- ally quit the Body, tho' all Motion and Senfe were gone, and would have continued fo, if our Saviour had not miraculoufly interpofed j the Words feeming to import no more, than that her Spirit or Soul was reftored again to its Fundiions and Power in the Body. The only two Paffages in St. Luke, that fup- pofe a Life in the Grave, are the Parable of D/t^j and Lazarus, and our Saviour's Speech on the Crofs to the Thief, To-day fialt thou be with APPENDIX. 331 "with me in Paradife. The Parable I need not relate, but only refer to it. In Parables it is not neceffary, that the Whole fhould be ftridly true, as we may obferve from the other Parables delivered by our Saviour, but only bear a Re- femblance, to enforce fome Truth. All that our Saviour feems to inculcate by this Parable, is, that the good Things of this World are not given according to Merit, but they fhall be given fo in the World to come ; and that thofe who will not make ufe of their Reafon, and what God has revealed to them by his Prophets in his Law and Gofpel here, muft not expeft to have Miracles wrought in their Favour ; and if extraordinary Methods fhould be made ufc of, it would be of no Weight with them, if they difobey'd his revealed Laws, and would not hearken to the Voice of Reafon. i\s to the Cortex of the Parable, it feems only to be an Embellifliment in delivering thofe Truths ; for the Beggar lying in Abra- hams Bofom is certainly a figurative Expref- fion, from ^/5r^?/6^;;2's Faith 3 for Souls unera- bodied can't be fuppofed to have Bofoms : His lifting up his Eyes, and feeing Abraham at a Diflance, and fpeaking to him, when, at that time, neither of them had the Organs of Speech or Sight, being unembodied ; and, be- fides, are fuppofed to be at a great Diftanca from each other, and an impaffable Gulph be- tween them, and confequently can't be fup- pofed to be within Hearing of each other ; his 4 defiring 332 APPENDIX. defiring that Lazarus (hould dip the Tip of his Finger in Water, and cool his Tongue, being tormented in the Flame ; all fuppofes a Spirit embodied^ and a material Fire : So that the Whole leems to be figurative, and only an Embellilhment to convey the Truth defigned : Befides, the one being convey 'd by Angels into a happy State, and the other being in Torment, muft prefuppofe a particular and private Judg-* ment and Sentence to have pafled ; for v/hich we have no Foundation from Holy Writ ^ and therefore I can't think that this can be brought as a Proof of Life, Happinefs, or Mifery, in the Grave, until the general Judgment and Refurrecftion. The other Paflage of our Saviour, to the Malefadlor on the Crofs, feems to be much ftronger : But, taking it in the ftrongeft Senfe, as it happened at a time when the whole My- flery of the Redemption of Mankind was ful- filled, and was a very remarkable Confeffion and Inftance of Faith, in owning our Saviour for the Son of God, by requefting him to re- member him when he came into his Kingdom, when others, even his Difciples, believed him to be forfaken of God the Father ; it was worthy of our Saviour to give him a remarkable Inftance of his Favour, by carrying him along with him, and making him triumph over Death and the Devil : But this ought to be no more brought in Proof of our living, and bein^ confcious, from Death unto the Refurreftion, than APPENPIX. 333 than Enoch' % Tranflation, or Elias being car- ried up to Heaven in a fiery Chariot, ought to be brought as a Proof, that no Man dies, but that all go immediately to Heaven. But, if I may be indulged a little, I believe It may appear from the Text, without iiraining the Signification, that the Malefadlor did not go diredlly to Paradife, taking the vs^hole PafT- age together, nor was our Saviour's Anfwer to that Purpofe ; for *tis plain it was not the Thief's Requeft : But the Thief being penitent, and making fo laudable a Confeflion of his own Crime, and of our Saviour's Divinity and Mif- fion, he, before God and Man, at that time owned him for the true Meffiah, and implored his Mercy in thefe Words • Lord^ remember me lichen thou comejl into thy Kitigdom, Which can by no means be faid to be an immediate Entrance into Paradife, ot Heaven, that he pe- titioned for, but when God's Kingdom began ; which is at the laft Judgment, when our Sa- viour fliall fay, Comey ye BleJJed^ into the King- dom prepared for you prom the Foundation of the World, As this feems to be his Requeft, (Oy without ftraining the Anfwer, only tranferring the Stop or Comma, our Saviour anfwers, Verily I fay unto you this Day^ Verily I now promife to you, that from this your Faith, and remarkable owning me at this time, thou Jhalt he tvith me in Paradife ; that is, When I come into my Kingdom, thou (halt be with me. Does not that, without ftraining the Text, feem to 334 APPENDIX. to be the eafy and natural Anfwer to his Re- queft, upon our Saviour's forgiving him, and accepting of his fincere Repentance ? The Al- teration of the Point, in this Place, makes a great Alteration in the Senfe ; and makes a like Alteration in St. Matthew, where our Saviour fays, Te that have followed me in the Regenera- tion^ when the Son of Man fhall fit on the Throne of his Glory ^ ye fhall ft Upon twelve *Thrones, judging the twelve Tribes of Ifrael ; •where the Comma after followed me^ or after Regeneration^ makes a great Alteration of the Senfe. Upon the Whole, I leave either Me- thod of accounting for it to the impartial Reader; but, I think, taking it in the ftrongeft Senfe, it will not amount to a Proof of a Life in the Grave, or after Death, before the Re- furred:ion. St. John, in the Fifth Chapter of his Gofpel, is very copious upon this Point, from our Sa- viour's Words : For as the Father^ raifes up the Dead, and quickeneth them, even fo the Son quickeneth whom he will-, for the Father judgeth no Man^ but hath committed all fudgment unto the Son, Again, Verily the Flour is comijig, and now is^ when the Deadfiall hear the Voice of the Son cf God, and they that hear fl^ll live : ' For as the Father hath Life in hinifelf, fo has he given to the Son to have Life in himfelf -, and has give?i him Authority to execute Judg^ ment alfo, hecaufe he is the Son of Man. Mar^ vel not at this ; for the Hour is comi?2g, in the which APPENDIX. 335 iMch all that are in the Graves Jhall hear his Voice y and Jhall come forth ; the^ that have done Good, unto the RefurreBion of Life -, and they that have done Evil^ unto the Refurrec- tion of Damnation, I can^ of my own f elf, do nothing: As I hear, I judge -, a?id my Judg- ment is juft, becaufe I feek ?iot my own Wtll^ but the Will of the Father^ which hasfent me. This whole Paffage, I think, fully proves, that our future Life and Immortality is the Gift of God ; and, tho' our Souls are capable of having Life in their own Nature, yet it is not in our Power to enjoy Life adlually : For as the Father raifes up the Dead^ and quickeneth them, evenfo the Son quickeneth whom he will. Now, if the Soul is quick and confcious in the Grave, from Death until the Refurredtion, it is then neither the Father, nor the Son, that quickeneth it ; but it is inherent in the Soul to be always quick and confcious. Our Saviour here, to fliew that he is the Son of God, declares, that all Judgment is given to him by the Fa- ther, and that Life and Immortahty are the Effedls of his Judgment and Power ; and fays, that the Hour is coming, when all that are dead in the Grave fiall hear his Voice, and [hall come forth ; they that have done Good, unto the RefurreSio?i of Life ; a?id they that have done Evil, unto the Refurretlion of Da?72nation. Now, if Confcioufnefs is Life (which if it be not, I can't tell what is Life), and the Soul be confcious in the Grave, it would not magnify his 336 APPENDIX. his Power, to fay, that they (hould hear his Voice, and live, and come forth of the Grave, in cafe they were alive before in the Grave, or in the intermediate State betwixt Death and Judg- ment: Nor would it be a magnifying of the Power of the Father and himfelf, by faying, the Father had Life in himfelf, and had given the fame Power to the Son to have Life in himfelf, and to communicate that Life to whomfoever he judged proper to beftow it, if the Souls of Men had Life in themfelves, and were in their own Nature immortal, when feparate from the Body : But our Saviour here plainly (hews, that Life is the Gift of God, and is given as a Re- ward or Punifhment to us at the Refurreftion, according to our Works; not arbitrarily of our Saviour ; for he fays, of himfelf he can do nothing ; but, as he hears, he judges; and gives fuch a Degree of Life, v. ith Happinefs or Mi- fery, as is juft and proper for the Good of the whole Frame of Beings in the Univerfe. St. John^ in his Deicription of the Death of Lazarus^ and of our Saviour's raifing him from the Dead, expreffeth clearly, that he was in a dormant State. Our Saviour, fpeaking to his Difciples, fays, Our Friend hizirns Jleepeth ^^ but I gOy that 1 7nay awake him out of his Sleep, This feems to me to be as plain a Declaration of the quiefcent or dormant State of the Soul after Death, as can poflibly be exprefled : For here feems to be no Figure, no Parable, but a plain Narrative of our Saviour to his Difciples, that APPENDIX. 2Z7 that Lazarus was dead, lying dormant in hrs Grave, and that he was going to give him Life again, and awake him out of his Sleep. Had Lazarus been happy, and his Soul confcious in his feparate State, either in a Paradife, or jprefent with the Divinity in Heaven, our Sa- viour did no Service or Favour to Lazarus^ whom he loved, in bringing him back to Life again ; for being prefent with his Divinity in Heaven, was vaftly preferable to being pre- fent with his Humanity here on Earth : But, if he was in a State of Infenfibility, or dormant, it was a Benefit to him to be reftored to Life, and to the Society of our Saviour : For .our Saviour's exprefling his Satisfadion, upon the Difciples Account, that he was not prefent with him to prevent his Death, that they mJght have their Faith ftrengthened by his raifing him from the Dead, could be no Reafon, if it had Bot been a Benefit to Lazarus -, for that could have been done by raifing any other Perfon, as well as Lazarus^ whom he loved, w^hofe Life he reftored out of Love to him ; which -would not have been Love, if he was happier in the Grave. He alio fays, in performing the Miracle, Lazarus, come forth : So that, from that, it feems reafonable to believe, that the Soul continued in the Grave dormant in the Body ; and that Hades, Hell, or the Grave, are fynonymous Terms for the State of Inadti- vity in the Grave, until the lafl Judgment and Z Refur- 338 APPENDIX. Refurredtlon, when Death and Hell give up their Dead. St. Peter^ in the Acfs of the Apoflles, where he reafons upon cur Saviour's Refurredtion, from David's^ Expreffion, that his Soul fhould not be left in Hades^ or the Grave, nor his Body fee Corruption, fhews, that it could not be meant of Davids own Soul and Body, for he was dead and buried ; that his Soul there- fore remained in Hades^ the Grave, or State of feparate Souls ; and that his Body was cor- rupted : For David, he fays, is not afc ended into Heaven: And where St. Paul reafons upon the fame PafTage at Antioch^ he fays. That David y after he had Jerved his own Ge-^ Tier at ion J by the Will of God^ fell onfleep^ and 'was laid unto his Fathers^ and f aw Corruption : Wherein we may fee, that they both concur in the fame Sentiment, that Death is a State of Sleep and Inactivity. In the Relation given of the Martyrdom of Stephen, he fays. Lord Jefus, receive my Spi^ rit\ and when he had f aid this^ he fell afleep. Here the latter Part confirms the fame Senti- ment of a dormant State in the Grave : Yet it may be objed:ed, that his giving up his Spirit to our Saviour may infer, that it lived with him in Hades. I don't think that is a necef- faxy Inference ; but only that he gave up his Soul to the Care of our MeiBah, until he Ihould reftore all things at the Refurredlion of the juft. As to his being prefent with the Perfon of A PPENDIX. 339 of the Meffiah, it is plain he was not -, for his Soul, as David's,^ was in Hades ; but our Sa- viour was in Heaven, whither he went to pre- pare Manfions for the Saints, and faid, he v^^ould come again to receive them^ that "where he ivas^ they might be alfo : But, if their Souls were with him before, he needed not to come to receive them, and carry them with him. St. Paul, in his Firft Epiftle to the Corin- thians^ exprefles himfelf to be of the fame Opinion : Ma7iy are weak andjickly among you^ and ma7iy Jleep. 'The greatejl Part remain to this prefent^ but fome are fallen ajleep. If there be no RefurreBion^ and Chrift is not rifen^ then they alfOy which are fallen ajleep in Chriji^ nre perijhed, If in this Life only we have Hope^ we are of all Men mofi miferable. But now is Chriji rifenfrom the Dead, and become the Firft- fruits of them that flept : For fuice by Man came Death, by Man came alfo the RefurreC" tion of the Dead, For as in Adam all die, Jo in ChriJI Jhall all be made alive : But ever^ Man- in his own Order : ChriJI the FirJi-fruits, af- terwards they that are Chrifl's, at his Coming,- If after the manner of Men, I have fought with Beajis at Ephefus, what advantages it rne^ if the Dead rije not ? Let us eat a7id drink, for To-morrow we die, Thefe feveral Texts, but particularly the whole Argument in this xvth Chap'^r, feem defigned to fliew, that we have really no Lite in the Grave -, and that our Religion and La- Z a bour 340 APPENDIX. hour is in vain, if there be no Refurreftiort from our State of Inadivity in the Grave : For, as wc are all doom'd to Death, a State of Silence in the Grave, by Adarn^ fo we are to be reftored to Life again by our Saviour ; but every one in his own Order : Chrijl the Firji-fruits of them that Jleep, by his Refurredtion ; and then the reft, in their Order, at his Coming again, fhall be raifed up, and vivified. Can any thing be plainer exprefied, than this Opinion of St. Paul^ from this Argument ? He then adds, If there be no Refarrection, let us enjoy and purfue all our animal Appetites and Pleafures, and trouble ourfelves no further; for all, who are dead, are periflied. This could not have been true Rea- foning, if we were to be alive and confcious in Hades ^ or the Grave, in our feparate State, which, according to our Adions in this Life, gave us Pleafure or Pain, Joy or Sorrow, upon our Remembrance of our paft Aftions ; for then we could not be faid to have perifli'd, tho' there were no Refurredlion : So that this whole Argument was to eftablifli this Dodlrine, that, without there be a Refurredtion, Man utterly perillies, and in the Grave has no Senfations or Enjoyments. In his EpilHe to the Philippians fome have imagined him to be of a different Opinion, when he foys, For^ to me, to live is Chrijl^ but to die is Gain : Tet, what I Jhall choofe, I wot not : For I am i?t a Str eight betwixt two, having a Dejire to depart^ and to be with Chrijl y which is APPENDIX. 34.1 is far better : Neverthelefs, to abide in the Flejh is more needful for you. But he after- wards, in the iiid Chapter, fays, That I may know him, and the Power of his RefurreBion^ and the FellowJJnp of his Sufferings ^ being made conformable unto his Deaths if by any means I might attain unto the RefurreSiion of the Dead. So that he apprehended, that even a State of Silence in the Grave, under the Care and Pro- tedlion of Chrift, v^hich was being with him, in a fure Dependence of a happy Refurredion, was much better for him, and a great Gain, com- pared to the Troubles, Afflidions, and Bonds he was then in, when he wrote to them : But that, even in the Condition he was then in, lince he could be of Service to them, and to the Church, he was divided in Opinion, whether he fhould wifh to be out of the Troubles of this Life for his own Eafe, or continue in it for their Good, and the Good of the Church. There is alfo an Expreffion, in his Epiftle to the Colofjians, which is ufed as an i^rgument by fome for a Middle State of Life : For ye are dead, and your Life is hid with Chriji in God. When Chrift,^ who is our Life, Jhall appear^ then Jhall ye alfo appear with him in Glory. If this being hid with Chriji could be underftood after Death, which I apprehend, from fhe Con- text, it is notp I fliould incline to think it more agreeable to a dormant State, or State of Si- lence, tb^n an adive confcious State ; for a Sleep may appear to be Life concealed : Butj, Z 3 aa 342 APPENDIX, as I apprehend, he is reafoning with People as they are now in this State, that if they be rifen with Chrift, in a Figure, from the Death of Sin to a new Life of Holinefs, they muft feek thofe things which are above, and fet their Af- fedlions upon them, and not upon the things on Earth : Fcr^ fays he, ye a7^e dead^ and your Life is hid "with Chrift in God ; that is. Ye are dead to the Pleafures and Enjoyments of Senfe, In this Life ; but your Life^ which you expedt by Faith in Heaven, is at prefent hid with Chriji 171 God : But when he, who is our Ljfe^ Jhall appear^ then foall ye alfo appear with him in Glory, In his Epiflle to the 'T'hejfalofiians^ he more fully confirms his Dodlrine of the dormant State of the Dead, faying, But I would not have you be ignorant concerning them that are djleep ; that ye Jorrow not^ even as others who. have no Hope : For if we believe^ that Jefus died^ and rofe again ^ even fo thofe alfo^ which, fleep in Jefus^ will God bring with him ; for iL'e which are alive ^ and remain unto the Coming (f our Lord, fiall not prevent them which are. ^fleep. So that this whole Account feems cal- culated to fbew them, that tho' all who die are in a dormant inactive State, yet they are jiot perifhed, but will be reftored to Life at the Coming of our Saviour to Judgmeat. He fays afterwards, to 'Timothy^ That a Crown of Righ- teoufnefs is laid up for him at the Day of his Appearance. APPENDIX. 343 I fhall only barely mention, in Confirmation of this Dodlrine, that Life is not inherent in our Nature, the feveral Texts of St. Paul^ fhewing, that Life and Immortality arc the Gift of God, and only difcovered by his Go- fpel, to them who by patient Continuance in Well-doing feek for Glory ^ and Honour^ and Iminortality^ eternal Life, Jf it were in- herent in our Nature, why (hould it be joined with Glory and Honour, which we petition and fearch for ? For the Wages of Sin is Deaths but the Gift of God is eternal Life : For to this End Chriji both died^ and rofe^ and re- 'vived, that he might be Lord both of the Dead and Living -, that is, That he might have a Power to give either Death or Life. Again, Who only hath Immortality : But is now ?nade manifeft by the Appearing of our Saviour Chriji ^ who hath abolijhed Deaths a?id hath brought Life and Immortality to Light through the GofpeL In hopes of eternal Life^ which God^ who cannot lye^ promifed before the World began^ Thefe feveral Texts fhew, that Life and Im« mortality are the Gift of God. St. Peter^ in his General Epiftles, has but one Expreflion of Death, which he alfo com- pares to Sleep, frying, Where is the Promife cf his Coming ? for^ fmce the Fathers fell ajleep^ all things contiiiue as they were from the Begin- ning of the Creation, In the Revelation of St John, he fays, And ihey lived and reigned with Chriji one thoujand 7j 4 Tcan\ 344 A P P E N D I X. Tears ; hut the reji of the Dead lived not until the thoufand Tears were JiniJJ:ed. This is the jirft ReJurreBion. This is an exprefs Deckr ration, that the Dead were in a State of Silence, or dormant, and did not enjoy Life until the thoufand Years were finiflied. A7id I Jaw the D^ad, Jmall and greats Jland before God, And the Sea gave up the Dead which were in it ; and Death and Hell deli^ vered up tloe Dead which were in them ; and, they were judged^ every. Man according to his Works, : And Death ajid Hell were caf into the hake of Fire, This is the fecond Death. Thus Death, Hell, and the Grave, are fuppofed to have been in Pofleffion of the Souls as well as Bodies of Men, until the general Judgment. I heard a Voice^ f^y^^g^ BleJJed are the Dead which die in the Lord-, for they Jhall refl front their Labour Sy and their Works follow them.. That only mentions a State of Reft in Death from their Toils and Labour ip this Life ^ and their good Works follow them ^ that is, will be teftified and appear at the Refurrediqn and laft Judgment. There is only one Paffage in thefe Revela-^ tions, which feems to be an Objedion to this Dodrine ; viz, Ifaw under the Altar the Souls of them that were flain for the Word of God, and for the Teftimony which they held ^ and they cried with a loudVoicey faying ^ How long^OLord^ holy and true, dofl thou not judge and avenge our J^lood on them that dwell on the Earth ? And white APPENDIX, 345 wfjiU Robes were given unto every one of them : And it was J aid unto them^ that they JIj out d rejl yet for a little Seafon^ until their Fellow-fer-^ vants alfo^ and their Brethren^ that JJjould be killed as they were^ Jhould be fulfilled. As this is wrote in the prophetic Stile, I tthink it cannot invalidate the general Dodtrine Jnfifted upon in the apoftolical Writings. If it were defigned to be underftocd literally, then they were adlually lying under an Altar in Heaven, and had Organs of Speech -, for they cried with a loud Voice ; and had white Robes given to them ', fo that they were em^ bodied : But, as the Whole feems to be figura^ tiye, it Js only intended to (liew, that they mull: remain as they are until the whole Scheme of Providence be fulfilled ; for nothing v/ill hap-r pen to their Energies, until the Completion of all things at the laft Judgment. Their calling put for Vengeance fhews it alfo to be figurative ; for, when departing Saints pray for their Ene- rnies, it is not to be believed, that Saints and Martyrs, after Death, pray for Vengeance ^gainft them. Nor is it lefs figurative than in Ithe next Chapter, upon Sealing of the Twelve Tribes, when ' he beheld a great Multitude, of ' all Nations, whom none could number, be- ^ fore the Throne in Heaven, cloathed with ^ white Robes, praifing God, and the Lamb, ^ in Concert with all the Angels, Elders, and ? four Beafts ; which, the Elder told him, were ^ fuch as had fuffered here, and had wafhed ^ their 346 APPENDIX. * their Robes in the Blood of the Lamb, who * ferve God always, who dwells among them : * Thefe fliall never fuffer any more ; but the * Lamb fhall feed them, and lead them to * living Waters, and wipe away their Tears.' This all is plainly a figurative Defcription of what Saints Aall enjoy after the Confummatioa of all things : So that thefe figurative Vifions can be no Foundation for any Dodrine. There are two or three other Paffages in the New Teftament infifted upon by the great Dr. Henry More^ and others, as a Proof of the Soul's being alive, and confcious, in Hades^ from the time of Death until the Refurreftion ; which I fhall mention, and obferve upon, and leave it to the Reader, whether the Interpreta- tion I fliall give them be not as natural and plain as theirs, who bring them as a Proof for the Confcioufnefs of the Soul after Death in Hades, The firft I fhall mention is in St. Peter's Epillle : For Chriji alfo has once Juffered for Sins^ the Jufi for the TJnjiiJl^ that he might hr'mg m to God\ being put to Death hi the FleJJj, but quickened in the Spirit (according to Dr. More, ' but fafe and alive as to his Soul * and Spirit'): By which alfo he went and preached unto the Spirits in Prifon^ which fometimes were difobedient^ when once the Long- fuffering of God waited in the Days of Noah, while the Jyrk was preparing^ wherein few, that is, eight Souls ^ werefaved by Water. This Pafl- gge he and others bring as a Proof, that our Saviour^ APPENDIX, 347 Saviour, at that time, preached to the Souls of all thofe who periihed in the Deluge, after be- ing drowned, and in Hades -^ and confequently, if they had not been alive, he would not have preached to thern after Death. This feems to be a nice Paffage to found fuch a Doctrine up- on, as to allow a State of Probation in the Grave, which feems to be contrary to the whole Tenor of the Holy Scripture. I fliould therefore think, that an Interpretation of this Kind feems to be as natural : St. Peter is encouraging Chriftians to live well, and to fuffer for doing Good : * For, fays he, our Saviour Chrift has done fo, ^ to bring us to God 5 being put to Death ^ in the Flefh, but raifed up by the Spirit of ^ God : By which Spirit he alfo formerly, in ^ the Days of Noah^ while the Ark was pre- * paring, went and preached unto thofe Spirits, * or human Souls, who had difobeyed God, ^ who were then imprifon'd in their finful Bo- ^ dies upon this Earth; whom God, in his ^ Long-fuffering, forbore, all the time the Ark * was preparing.' I don't fee a more natural Prifon for human Souls, than our Bodies, when alive in this Globe : And, if this be the only State of Probation we have (for as. the T^ree faUs^ there it Jhall lie)^ it is the only Place where Preaching can be of Ufe : For, if we can alter and amend our Souk in the Grave, without which Preaching would fignify no- thing there, then there mufh be a State of Probation in the Grave: And, tho' this would not 348 APPENDIX. not amount to a Popilli Purgatory, becaufe they woAild be faved by their own A61, upon being preached to, and not by the Prayers and Offerings of others to the Priefts , yet it might have a very bad EfFecl in this Life, if we fhould beheve, that we have another State of Probation in the Grave, which is a very dangerous Doctrine to be fupported by the In- terpretation of a very doubtful Text -, nor can it poffibly be interpr.eted of the Spirits or Souls which had perifhed in the Deluge, but ex- prefiy the contrary from the Text ; for his Preaching to the Spirits in Prifon was whilfl: the Ark was preparing ; confequently, before the Deluge ; and would plainly allude to his* Preaching by the Spirit, thro' Noah^ all the time he was preparing the Ark. The next I fliall mention is the 8 th Verfe of the vth Chapter of the Second Epiftle to the Corinthians: We are confident^ J Ja)\ andwill- i?2g rather to be abjhtt from the Body^ and to be prejent rcith the Lord. From whence they would infer, that the Moment we throw off our earthy Vehicle, we live in aftual Com-, munication with Chrill:, in his Prefence, and are confequently confcious. But if we take the whole Argument, from the latter Part of the former Chapter to the 1 1 th of this Chap- ter, we fliall find, that it is after the Jadg^ ment and Refurredion, that we fliall be pre- fent with the Lord, which w^as what he ear^ iieflly wiflfd and pray'd for. For, fays St. Faiil^ APPENDIX. 349 Faul^ We know that he that rat fed up our Sa^ viour Jefus Chriji^ Jhall alfo raije us up ; fcr ivhich Reafon we do net faint : For, tho' our outward, terreftrial Veliicle, or Body, periflies, yet our inward, sethereal Vehicle, is improve- ing Day by Day : For our prejhit light Afflic- tions are nothing^when compared with the glorious Immortality we floall have at the Refi'j'reclion^ which we look for by the Eye of Faith ; for we know^ that if this our earthy "Taberfiacle or Vehicle was diffohed, we have a Building of God^ a Houfe net made with Hands, eternal in the Heavens^ an asthereal Body ; for in this we groan ear?2ej}h\ defiring to be cloathed upon with our Houfe which is from Heaven^ that is, our heavenly Body, after the Refurredion, if fo be, that, being cloathed, we fiall not be found naked -, provided we are not without moral Virtues and Perfediions, which if we fliould want, we could not fill our cEthereal Vehicle ; for, whilfl we are in this terreftrial Body ,wc are uneafy, being burden'd with it ; not that we defire to be uncloathed, or without a Body, and Senfations ; but that we might be cloathed upon by filling our asthereal Body, that IVlor- tality, in the State cf Death, w^hen we are un- cloathed, may befwallowed up of Life : Now he that does all this for us, is God, who hath given us the Earneft of the Spirit, viz, by his Raifing of Chrift from the Dead, fo that we are confident of this Immortality ; knowing, thac whilft we are in our terreftrial Vehicle, we arc abfent 350 APPENDIX. abfent from the Lord ; for we walk by Faith^ not by Sight, in this Body ; but we are con- fident, when we have put off this Body, and are cloathed upon with our heavenly Body, that we fhall be prefent with the Lord : Where- fore, whether in that, or this State, we labour to be accepted of hirii ; for we muft all appear before his Judgment-feat, that every one may receive what is done in this Body, whether it be o-ood or bad. The only other Text infifted upon is this ; Pear not them that kill the Body, but are not able to dejiroy the Soul ; but rather fear him, ivko is able to dejiroy both Soul and Body in Hades or Hell, This I think has no Weight againfl the foregoing Doctrines ; for it feems to be no more than this, Don't be afraid of the Powers of Darknefs in this World ; for all the Harm they can do you, is to deprive you of animal Life, by feparating you from your terreftrial Body or Vehicle ; but fear him, who, after this Life, can prevent your enjoying eternal Life, by having a Power to continue your Soul and Body in Hell or Hades ^ or re- inanding you there, after the general Judg- ment, for ever. Thefe are the only Texts that are urged in Defence of the Opinion of our Souls being confcious from Death to the Refurredtion ; and I think they all rather concur in fupport- ing the other Opinion, that the Soul continues in the fame quiefcent State, as it has been in from APPENDIX. 351 from the Mofaic Creation, until it animated a human Body at Birth. I have now gone thro' all the Paffiiges, re- lating to our feparate State, that are in the Holy Scriptures ; and, after fully confidering them in the heft manner I am capable of, I think the whole Tenor of them confirms the Opinion of a dormant State of the Soul from Death to the Refurrcdion : And I think I have made it appear from the foregoing Treatife, that it is not inconfiiknt with Reafon and Philofophy ; nor do I think it any-way inconfiftent with our Hopes as Chriftians, but rather confirms and eftablifhes th9 Chriftian Religion, by (hewing the Neceffity there was for our Saviour's Refurredtion, to confirm us in the Certainty of a future Life, and eflablifh our Faith in the Refurredion, and future general Judgment, and Diftribution of Re- wards and Punifliments : But if it were true, that we are confcious in the Grave, and that the Soul at Death, feparated from this terre- ftrial Body, had affumed its sethereal Veliicle, and fo afcended to the osthereal Plains, freed from the Clog of Matter, and enjoy 'd the Prefence of God -, then there would feem to be no Necefiity for a Refurredion of the Body, and a future Judgment, fince Rewards and Punifhments were adually diftributed to the Soul at Death ; and our Saviour, to efiabliih this Truth, inftead of his rifmg with his Body, and afterwards afcending, and changing it for 7 his. 352 APPENDIX. his aethereal Body, changing his mortal for his immortal Cloathing, ought rather to have ap-^ peared as a Spirit without a Body, at the Mo- ment of his Death, when his Spirit was fepa- rated from his Body. I cannot fee the leaft Foundation, in Holy Writ, for any particular Judgment or Sentence to be palled upon us at our Death ; the whole Tenor of the Gofpels, and the apoftolical Writings, are demonftaable to the contrary. St. P/7?//fays, 'Judge nothing before the Time^ until the Lord come, who both will bring to Light the hidden Things of T^ark- nefs, and will make majiifejl the Counfels of the Heart ; afid then pall every Man have Praife of God : For we mufl all appear before the Judgment- feat of Chrifl, that every one fnay receive the Thi?igs done in his Body^ accord- ing to thai he hath done, whether it be good or bad. St. Peter fays, that the Vnjuji are re- ferved unto the Day ofjudgmeiit, to be punijlo^ ed. If I were to mention every Paflage that confirms this, I fliould fwell it into a Volume.. It does not feem confiftent v^ith the general Scheme of Providence, nor the Dignity of our Saviour, that a particular Judgment fhculd pafs upon every one at Death, The Father has given all Judgment to the Son, and he is to remain in Heaven until the general Judgment : Does the Soul then immediately go up to Heaven to be judg'd ? Or is it to be fuppofed, that our Saviour fhould delegate his Power to others ? or that, after a private Judgment APPENDIX. 353 judgment and Sentence upon each, a general Tryal and Judgment fhould be held before Men and Angels : It feems much more ratio- nal, and confiftent with Scripture, to think, that as the Tree falls, there it (hall lie, until the general Judgment, and Diftribution of Re-- wards and Punifhments. If then no particular Judgment is held, or Sentence paffed upon us at our Deaths -, then what Advantage can it be to the Juft to be confcious until the Day of Judgment ? It is no way reafonable to think, they fhould pretend to judge themfelves -, and as the beft have had many Infirmities, and were guilty of Sins here, and there being no Repentance in the Grave, they muft be anxious and uneafy for feveral Ages. Many from the firft Peopling of the Earth not being able to weigh whether their Faith, and good Actions, overbalanced their Sins ; it is plain they could have no Certainty, if they had it not before their Death ; and a Sufpenfe of fo many Ages muft give little Satisfad:ion -, nor is it coniifl- ent with the Wifdom of God, that they fhould be rewarded before he had palTed his Sentence ; and the certain Knowlege of a future Happinefs muft be a Reward before the time : So, in like manner, would the Knowlege of a future State of Mifery be a Punifhment, before Tryal and Conviction, to the Unjuft and Wicked, which I think is not agreeable to Divine \Vifdom and Juftice 3 fo that in fuppofing we are to be confcious in the A a Grave, 354 APPENDIX. Grave, the Jaft and Unjuft muft be in part rewarded and punifhed before Tryal and Convidion. Is it not more probable, that each might remain in a quiefcent or dormant State, which appears to be but a Moment in eternal Duration, until they are fummoned to appear at the general Judgment by the Trump of God, than to fuppofe them in an anxious State for fo many Ages ? This DocSrine cannot have any ill Confequence, or give any Countenance to the Wicked, by putting the evil Day far from them ; for they ftill have a Certainty of a Judgment and Punilhment to come, and that, I may fay, immediately to them ; it being like lying down in the Evening to fleep, and rifing next Morning to be judg'd, and receive Sentence. It is no-way inconfiftent with divine Revela- tion, and true Philofophy, that Life and Im- mortality hereafter fhould be the Gift of God, as well as our firfl Being and Life have been from his Goodnefs. And the Apoftle affures us, that Life and Immortality were his Gift, and brought to Light thro' the Gofpel ; and ccnfequently, are not inherent in our Nature, tho' Ad:ivity and Self-motion may be origi- nally in us ', and as we have been inconfcious before our Conception and Birth, fo may we continue after Death, until the folemn Trump of God roufes us, when the Dead in Chrift fliall rife firft: ; and probably their Judgment may be over before the reft of Mankind, and the APPENDIX. 355 the fallen Angels, are judged, wherein they will aflift in judging them, according to fome Expreffions in Scripture. This is faid to be the firft Refurredlion, which St. Paul laboured to obtain ; but the Wicked, and fallen Angels, who are referved in everlafting Chains of Darknefs, which may be underftood of a dormant inadive State, and the reft of the human Species, who are dormant in Hade^^ fliall be delivered up by the Sea, Death, and Hades^ and after Judgment fliall be thrown into the Lake of Fire, which is the fecond Death;, which is in Oppofition to the firft Refurredion, which is exprefled by living and reigning with the Lord : Whereas the others are deprived of Joy, and perhaps fometimes of Life ; being thrown out of the sthereal Regions into the great Abyfs of Fire, the Center of our Syftem, the Sun ; or perhaps all the fixt Stars and Suns, Planets, &c, are made one great Abyfs, if the whole Univerfe be judged to- gether; where either adlual Puniihments may attend them, or they may be fometimes con- fcious, fometimes inconfcious ; being fome- times in a dormant State to endlefs Ages, or an indeterminate Eternity, unlefs fome new Scene is open'd for them by the Goodnefs, Wifdom, and determinate Counfel, of the Di^ vine Being. Thus I can't, from either Scripture or Reafon, apprehend, that a dormant State, un- A a 2 til 356 APPENDIX. til the laft Judgment, is difadvantageous to our Hopes, or inconfiftent with our Religion -, and it feems more asireeable to our Nature to be laid dormant in our Graves at our Death ; and be raifed, as it were, next Moment, to a glo- rious Immortality, at the general Judgment ; than to be in a middle State confcious, without either being acquitted or convidled until the laft Judgment -, which at beft can only be an an- xious State, without Society ; which feems only to be allowed to us when joined to our Vehicles or Bodies properly inflated, and in Order. Whether the Soul at Death retains any of its Confcioufnefs of paft x^dlions before the Re- furreclion, whilft in its dormant State, feems to have no Foundation from Holy Writ to found a Dodirine of Faith upon it j but, from the whole Tenor of Scripture, it feems clear, that it has no acbive Powers, or outward Sen- fations, nor any Communication with other focial , Beings, until it is reflored to its ^Ethereal Vehicle or Body at the Refurredion, when its final Doom is to be pronounced for future Glory or Punifnment to endlefs Ages, or an indeterminate Eternity. Therefore, by this Hypothefi?, an End is put to all the fabulous Fabric of Purgatory, built upon that interme- diate State, of living and being confcious in the Grave -, being allowed there a fecond State of Probation ; whereas our only State of Probatioji, and Purgatory, is in this Life, in our APPENDIX. 357 our animal State here : For the fame Reafon, Prayers to Saints, as Interceflbrs, are ufelefs and nugatory, iince they can't hear u?, or know any thing about us ; and Popifh ReHcs are fo much idle Trumpery to impofe upon the Laity, and debafe our human Nature. Aa 3 DoBor 358 APPENDIX. Dovior Henry More'i Jhort and faithful Para- pbrafe on Ezekiel'^ Vifon of the Mercava (or Chariot of the God of Ifrael), reprefent- tJig emblematically the Kingdom of the Mef fiah, and the Revolution of Souls thro the Four Worlds or States of Aziluth, Briah,. Jetzirah, and Afiah, from the Hebrew Text, ic €i EZEKIEL, Chap. I. *' i.^^TOW it came to pafs, in the thir- *' 1^ ^'^^1^ Year, in the fourth Month, " in the fifth Day of the Month, when I was '' in the Middle of the Captivity, by the *' River Chebar^ that the Heavens were open'd, *' and I faw Vifions of God. 2. '' I fay, In the. fifth Day of the Month (it was the fifth Year of King yehoiakim's Captivity). 3. " The Word of Jehovah came to Eze- kiel the Prieft, the Son of Buzi^ in the Land of the Chaldceans, by the River Che^ bar-, and the Hand of Jehovah was there upon him. 4. '' And I looked, and, behold! a Whirl- wind came out of the North, a great Cloud, and a Fire in the Middle of the Cloud, in- folding itfelf (or, as it were, catching and taking hold of itfelf) i and a Brightnefs was ^' about ^J^. '/■'i^^.J.fS, /■ ..^- V \ \ ■"m^^ o)# D o l/'/lf hi/i/tirUa/'/e tf'j/J/fMr'.t/- ■ ant/ (a///'a/t'^/'{fii/.' Wc^i /urot/i '.— , APPENDIX. 359 " about It ; and from the Midft of this Bright- " nefs, viz. out of the Middle of the Fire, *' which was the Center or Middle of the " Brightnefs, there appeared, as it were, the ** Likenefs of Amber [Chafmal), f. '' And in the Middle of the Brightnefs *' there appeared the Likenefs of four living " Creatures: This was their A fpe^ft^ they had *' the Likenefs of a Man. 6. " And every one had four Faces, and *' every one four Wings. 7. '^ And their Feet a llrait (upright) *^ Foot, and the Sole of their Foot like the *V Sole of a Calf's Foot, and fparkling like " the Appearance of burnifh'd Brafs. 8* '^ Moreover, the Hands of a Man were *^ under their Wings ; and to a QLiaternion of " their Quadrants (that is, to one of the four " Sides of each of the four Animals) were both Faces {viz, human), and Wings. 9. *' And they were joined by their Wings, one to another ; they returned not when " they went : They went every one ftrait '• forward. 10. *' And this was the Likenefs of their " Faces : The firft (or anterior) was the Face •' of a Man ; Then the Face of a Lion to the *' right Hand (of each of the four Animals) ; *"• but at the left Hand, to a Quaternion of them *' was the Face of an Ox : And laftly (on " the pofterior Side) was the Face of an " Eagle, to a Quaternion of them. A a 4 II. u it 360 APPENDIX. II.** And fo indeed were their chief Faces " (that is, of every one one chief Face) placed ; but a Pair of Wings was extended, outwards and upwards, from every one (Animal) ; and a Pair joined or coupled together at the anterior Part of each Animal ; and laftly, a Pair covered the hinder Parts of the Body. 12. " And they went every one ftrait for- ward thitherward, whither the Face looked: *' Whitherfoever the Spirit was to go, they *' went 5 and they returned not when they ** went, 13. ^* As for the Likenefs of the Animals, their Appearance like burning Coals of Fire ; like the Appearance of Lamps 5 the Fire it- felf ran up and down among the Animals ; and there was Brightnefs to the Fire itfelf ; and out of the Fire went forth Lightning. 14. " And the Animals ran and returned as the Appearance of a Flafh of Lightning. If. '' And when I beheld the Animals, there appeared one Wheel upon the Earthy befide the Animals with the Quaternion of their Faces. 16. *' The Appearance of the Wheels, and their Work, as the Appearance of the Stone, Tharfis, or as the Appearance of the Sea ; and one Likenefs to the Quaternion of them ^ and their Appearance, and their Work, as if " there had been a Wheel in the Middle of a ♦' Wheel. ^7- ic U ft for the Wheels are indeed the very fame Sort of four-fided Animals, rounded into Quadrants of the Wheels : So that the flat Side of the vaft Canthm next Ezekicl fliewed, in every Qua- drant, one Face, with its Side, Wings, &c. Perhaps they denote alfo the Orbs or Regions of thefe four States. 30. The Wheel upon the Earth, with its four Faces, denotes the A fiat hie World or Re- gion, inclufive of the other three States, either potentially, or more remifly ; that is, the Souls of that World confidered as to their Revolu- tion. This Wheel is called Ophan in a fpecial Senfe ; and Sandalphon^ by Rabbi Mofes Cor- duerits. 3 I . The Appearance of the Wheels as Thar- fis, or the Sea, denotes the Multitude of Souls in the four States ; as in the Animals the Noife of their Wings, like Waters, did. From this, and the 30th, appears the Identity of the Wheels and Animals, differing only in the Re- volution-State. 32. The APPENDIX. 381 32. The Wheel in the Middle of a Wheel denotes the four concentric Orbs or Regions (Poji. 6) 3 but chiefly the periodic Revolutions of Souls involving each other : e. g. When their Aphelia or Apogea are at the Summit of Aziliith^ and their Perihelia or Perigea are, fome at the Atmofphere of the central Star, Solar or Frigid, others at the Confines of AJia ovjetzirahy others at the Confines of y^/;s/rj^ and Briah^ &c. See Fig, id. 33. The Wheels going by their four Parts, and not returning, denote, as before the Ani- mals did (No. 23.), with the Addition of the Revolution of Souls thro' their four Parts, or concentric Orbs, in PoJi, 6. 34. The Wheels having all one Likenefs, denotes, that nothing pafles, and there is fcarce any thing in the inferior World, but what is fome way or other refembled in the fuperior Worlds This the Foundation of Types and Figures : This the Beauty and Harmony of all God's Works, Uniformity amidft Variety. This is in fome fort fignified by the fame four Faces in every Animal • viz. the fame Employment for the moll: part ; the fame vifible Form of Souls : The human Form, fuppofe, with their vifible perfonal Diftindions 3 and, according to fome Rabbins^ the Diftindlion of Mafculine and Feminine, as to Vefture and Lines of the Face; the fame plailic Natures fafl:iioning the Ve- hicles proper to every V/orld in human Forms, oinijjis omitte?idis. 3^. The 382 APPENDIX. 35-. The dreadful Height of the Canthus, or upper Part of the Convex of the Wheels, denotes thofe vaft Revolutions of Souls, from the Axihitbic World down to the Afiathtc, even to the very Body of the Frigid Star, to live w^ith the Ox in the Mire and Dirt, in Bodies of Flefh and Blood, and back again to Aziliitb : Amazing Viciffitades thefe indeed ! That of Nebuchadnezzar not to be once men- tioned w^ith them ! 36. The Body of the Wheels appearing full of Eyes, fliews them to be an exadl Duplicate of the Animals incurved into Quadrants; the four Sides of one Animal making the flat Side of the Cant bus of one Wheel next Ezekiel -, whence thefe Sides were called Quadrants in the eredt Animal ; and denotes the Worlds conflituted of living feeing Souls in Golgul^ that is, Rotation. 37. The Wheels moving and refting in con- ftant Correfpondence with the Animals, de- notes the fime thing to be fignihed by both ; only that the Wheels moreover denote the Re- volution (Golgiil) of Souls. 38. The Wheels following whither the Spi- rit leads, fhews alfo their Identity with the Animals in Signification (See No. 22.) ; but ftill in GolgLiL This more ftrongly confirmed by their being i^iid to have the Spirit of Life, which agrees not to inanimate Wheels, but to Souls whofe divine Birth is either not loft, or re- covered. 35>. The APPEND IX, 383 59. The Likenefs of the Firmament, as the horrible Appearance of Cryftal, on which ftands the Throne of the Mefliah, denotes the dread- ful and immenfe Expanfe of the sethereal Vor- tex, diaphanous as Cryftal, ftriking the Be- holder with Horror, when he coniiders the Golgul of Souls thro' fuch vaft Spaces. 40. The fapphirine Throne, above the Fir- mament, denotes, by its blue Colour, a certain celeftial and ethereal Nature : 'Tis colour'd to diftinguifli it from the circumfufed diaphanous iEther. By the Hardnefs of Sapphire, the Sta- bility of his Kingdom that fits upon the Throne. Heb, i. 8, &c. (Pofi, 13, 14.) By its Enmity to beftial Impurities, the Azilufhic State. Apoc^ xiv. 4. Thefe not unapt. But moft probably Sapphirine alludes to the cabal iftic Sepbiroth^ or Numbers, efpecially the firft three, named by Rabbi Schab, Corona Siunma^ Sapientia^ In^ telligentia ', and affirmed to be three Minds, therefore neceffarily three Perfons, as having each its own proper perceptive Center. He alfo affirms every one of them to be Mem per fe^ and in equal Dignity to conftitute a Being as it were wholly One -, which approaches nearly to the Catholic and Orthodox Chriftian Faith. I fay, this Throne denotes the Divinity itfelf, to which the Soul of the Meffiah is ele- vated (Poji. 13.) by the Union with the Lo^ gos ; whence the Divinity, being its own Place, Throne, and Support, is become the fame to the Soul of the Meffiah, As 384 APPENDIX. As the three firft Sephiroth comprehend thd Triune Deity, fo the feven others the Uni^ verfality of good created Spirits : So that the Sapphire Throne may allude to all the ten Se^ -phiroth ; upon all which the Soul of the Mef- fiah may be faid to be feated in fome Senfe or other. In like manner the evil Genii may be called his Footflool, or Step to his Throne, he treading them under his Feet, whilft the good he rules by his Spirit. The Meffiah, thus united to the Divine Logos ^ or internal World eternal, rules over the exter- nal Word, the Spirit of Nature, or Sandalphon^ denoted here by Ophan^ qiiafi fandal tou Ophan ; and thereby is able to do all manner of Mi- racles, even to change the very Elements ; for he that has Carried the Daughter of the King (Ckoc??iah, Zi-Js, Nw$), poffefTes alfo her golden Vefture, the Six Days Creation. The King's Daughter in the exalted Tower is Chccmah in Ketber, i. e. Zaro$ rrvpyoi. 41. The Man fitting upon the Throne is the Soul of the Meffiah united to the Divine Logos (Toji, 13. ^poc. xix. 11, 16.), who appeared to the Patriarchs, being the Word, God-Man, tho' not yet God made Flefh ; and alfo to Daniel, God the Father being there called the Antient of Days ; and to Ifaiah vi. I, Qfr. John xii. 41. Hence, ^chn i. 14. the Word ivas made Flep. The Soul is not men- tioned, bccaufe united to the Logos ^ or Word, manv Ages before. 42. The APPENDIX. 385 42. The EkSlrum or Chafmal^ furrounded by the circumhabitant Fire, fending forth a Brightnefs around, from the Loins both up- wards and downwards, denotes this Chafmal (Inverting the Hebrew Words, it becomes Mei- fiahj Chrift, or Anointed 3 this golden Gar- ment of the King's Daughter, the inward Ve- hicle and Inftrument of the Operations of the Holy Spirit 3 this Divine Element or Amber, the tranfparent Gold of the New JeruJale?Ji ; this Cordial and Cephalic Oil of Amber j this divine Undion, appearing thro' the Hoafe of Fire, Chrift's igneous or aethereal Vehicle, feated at his Heart, and probably alfo flaming from his Eyes and Mouth, with which all holy Souls are anointed, and that of Chrift above his Fel- lows) ; it denotes this Chafmal,, I fay, to be, as it were, a divine Salt or Seafoning included in the Vehicles of holy Souls, but not conflituting the intire Vehicle. Probably the Tree of Life afforded new Supplies of this, where needful, I John ii. 20, 27. 2 Cor, v. i, 2, 3, 4. This bleffed Oil purifies the Heart from Self-love^ and makes it receptive of Love divine ; Blejfed are the Pure in Heart ; for they fiall fee God, Chrift, by his Holy Spirit, is the fole Dif- penfer of this precious Balm, Chafmal and Aer Peiiiel, that is, the Light of the Face of God. 43. The refplendent or circumfplendent Rainbow, that other Glory diftindl from the Vehicle of the Meffiah, defcribed by a Five, C c and 386 APPENDIX. and a Splendor, and a Rainbow, deiK>tes Attic'jomin of the Cabbalifts ; the Antient of Days in Daniely the Firft Sephira, or Firfl Pcrion of the Holy Trinity, Aiitogenes^ caufally containing the Second, the Son, and the Third, the Holy Ghoft, proceeding from both Firft and Second, whofe various Gifts are fignined by the Colours of the Rainbow ; as the Sun by the Splendor of the Fire, denoting the Father. This laft Light or Glory is that of the Father of Lights, tlie Ketber or Corona of the Cabalifts, fo named from this Halo or J//f, very properly, fince we fee now thro' a Glafs, darkly, or thro* a Cloud, the Caput im^ perceptibik', with whofe Glory the Meffiah, his Son the T^heantb-ope^ is here furrounded. Matt. xvi. 27. "John xvii. 5. Thus, the Doxology of our Church to Chriil: : I'hoii only art hol}\ thou only art the Lordy tkoii onh\ O Chrijl^ with the Holy Ghojl^ are mofl high in the Glory of God the Father. 44. The four Animals, faid in the Firfl: Chapter to be like Men, arc in the Tenth called Cherubs, to denote the great Refemblance of human to angelic Souls. 45". The Man cloathed in Linen is fome Prophet or Prieft, whofe Zeal, and the La-^ bours of his Fundlion, are promoted and di- rected by the AiTiliance of the Spirit, and the Miniflry of Angels. 46. Since the Wheels are only the AnimaU incurved, ther:^ is no Caufe for the repeated IncuU APPENDIX. 387 Inculcation in the Tenth Chapter, of Flefh^ Backs, Hands, Wings, and Eyes, belonging to the Wheels, but to (hew the Revolution of Souls. 47. And left Ears (hould be wanting to the Wheels, it is cried to them, in the Hearing of the Prophet, O Wheels! Ezek, x. 13. To the Wheels, O Phannim^ it is cried, O Wheels, Hngalgal^ in my Ears. Here the Galgal, or Re- volution of Souls, is moft exprefly marked out, by the Change of the Hebre%v Word for Wheels, in the fame Sentence, from Ophan to Galgal, this latter more properly denoting Ro- tation or Revolution. None can afcend in this Revolution, but thofe belonging to thefe Wheels in the fpiritual Kingdom of Chrift -, and at the Voice of the Charioteer, under the Con- duft of Chrift. The Wheels being called to, rather than the Animals, confirms this Mean- ing. 48. The four Faces of every Wheel denote the four States of Souls in Rotation ; one, chief or actual, three potential, ormoreremifs in Degree. 49. One Face only being mentioned to every Wheel, notwithftanding the Identity of the Wheels, and four -faced Animals, plain upon other Accounts, confirms No. 19. and therefore their Refemblance to the Animals ftill more complete. 50. The four Animals are called one Animal, Chap. X. ao. to fhevv that the four Worlds C c 2 . are 388 APPENDIX. are compofed of the fame individual Souls an- gelic and human, tho' not all at once in the iame World always, under Chriil: their Head. The River Chebar, mentioned here, to (hew the Identity of this Vifion with the firft, is twice repeated to intimate a Myflery ; viz. that thefe four Worlds are fucceffive, and flow like a River ; three being part, and none belonging to the flill fteady Eternity of God, or immaterial. ^i. From the foregoing Obfervations it ap- pears, that the God of Ifrael, taken precifely, is the Eternal Logos^ united with the Soul of theMelTiah, Ij'aiah vi. i. 2, &c. John xii. 41. Many Places of Scripture naturally indicate the fame to have been the peculiar God, and guardian Angel, of the People of IJrael, as I Cor. X. 4, 9. H^b. xiii. 8. Chrift over- came the Serpent in Heaven Rephaim^ in the Sea Pkaracb, in the Earth, apocalyptic, the Reman Empire; this faid to the Hebrews^ that they may conftanily fuffer Afflidions for Chrift. The fame gave tlie Law to Jj'rael in the Defert, incognito, as the Angel of the Covennnt. Banich iii. 36. Ways of Know- lege, that is, both the Law and Cabala, John i. 14. xiv. ii. He appeared to the Pa- triarchs, was called Jehovah, again ; the Angel of Jehovah, Zech. iii. i, 2. Thefe, and the like, plainly ihew the Eternal Logo^ to have been united with the Soul of the Mcffiah be- iQie the Incarnation APPENDIX. 389 5-2. The Glory of this God of Ifrael, John xvii. 4. f. is his fulfilling his Compadl with the Father, by fufFering for the Redemption of his People, on this Earth, Afmh, the low- eft Region of the Worlds committed to his Care : Therefore he prays, that he may return into thofe upper Regions, to be glorified by the Father with the Glory he poffeffed when he reigned with him, in the Father's Glory^ before the Foundations of this AfyUthic World were laid. Here ends the Theofophic Inter- pretation of the Merc^va^ the moft precious Repofitory of the antient Cabala, the Pytba-^ goric Denary, the Judaic Sephiroth. Catechifmus Cabalijlicia Mercavceus Se^ phirothicus, I. Tn H E proper adequate Subjed: of the M^r- ^ cava, or triumphal Afiathic Chariot of the God of Ifrael^ i^^n by Ezekiel^ is the fpiritual Kingdom of Chrift, not yet incarnate 3 Jehovah^ the God of Ifrael, as God of Ijrael\ Malcuth^ as particularly refpeding the ^ews ; Kofmos^ the tenth Sephira Pythagoric^ as re- garding the Afiathic World. 2. The God of Ifrael is the Soul of the Mef- fiah, united with the fecond Partxuph (derived from Trpo-oco'zzroj^) of the Deity into One Perfon, 3. Three Perfons in the Deity. 4. The Firft Perfon, or Firft Sephi?^a^ called Kether, or Corona^ ^nd Attic-jomin^ i. e. the Antient of Days. C c 3 5. 390 APPENDIX. f. The Second Perfon, called Chocma^ Sa- pientia^ and Filia Regis in Turre cum Vejie aurea^ as Theanthrope, Second Sephira, 6. The Third Perfon, the Third Sephira, called Bifiaby Prudeiitia^ Phronefis, Zoe^ John i. 4. unde Zan-logos of St. John -, Ruach in the Mercava, The three preceding Aric-Anpin or Ma^ croprofopon. The i^siQH following, Dfeir- Anpin, Microp7'ofopon. 7. The Magnitude of this Kingdom called Gedhulah^ Baruch iii. 24. &c. O Ifrael, ho'm great is the Houfe of thy God ! How ampk the- Hoiife of his Fojeffion ! Tho' but one Solar Syftem : And the following feexns to regard the Jetzirathic Part of one : There were thofe Giants, of Name Rephaim^ fo called from the Relaxation of the Aziluthic Attention, that were very great in the Beginning, and expert in War 3 whom the Meffiah overthrew in the Confines of Briah and Jet^irah^ thofe did not the Lord choofe (but the Mefliah to be married or united to Chocmd) ; neither gave he the Way of Knowlege {Chocmd) to them, Ver. 37. Chocma afterwards incarnate (Nous Demitirgos), Gedhulah comprehends Azilutb^ Briah^ Jetzi^, rahy Afmh, and perhaps the recoverable Parts of other lapfed Syftems, if fuch there be, and- infinite Wifdom varies not its Methods. 8. The Forces and Powers of this fpirrtual Kingdom Gebhurah, the Fifth Sephira, Kordia- tis^ Robur^ Ruach \ Hacajiah (living Spirit), its Gifts and Graces, Pfalm xviii> and 1 Cor, xii. APPENDIX. 391 kii. T, &i\ viz. Sophia [Cabaliftic) Gnoftis^ f'Knowlege), Faith, Healings, Miracles, Pro- phecies, Hence Gebhurah is the Spirit of Chrirt dwelling in all his Members, thro* whom they extinguifh all evil Defires, and live only to Chriit, and publifli on various proper Occafions, in various Manners, illuftrious Spe- cimens of the Power of him that calls them to his wonderful Light; for, feeing every one, according to his Capacity, has the fame holy Uncftion, Cbajmal, or golden Vefture, with his Prince, he fliall furcly, in all the Worlds, command the outward Elements, by virtue of this divine Magic, as Chrill: did the Winds and Wave?) and as FJias divided the Waters of 'Jordan with his myftical Gown [Chafmal Ve-- hiculi Intimi)^ with which the Spirit of Elias re (led upon EliJJ:a^ when Eli as went to Heaven in a fiery Chariot. If thus, in thefe earthy, Afuitbic Bodies, fuch Wonders be v/rought thro' Faith in the Name and Power of Chrill:,how much more, in the heavenly Bodies, and heavenly Regions, (hall the Saints com- mand all Things needful in the outward Ele- ments, and their own proper Vehicles (lumi- nous and ornamental as they defire) for their prefent Delight, and future Defence, by Chaf- 7nalinc Armature^ againll the Jjiathic noxious Impreflions, and poifonous Vapours, when they (hall defcend thither ! 9» Eufaxia Politic a & Mi li far is, the Sixth Sephira, Tipbereth, Pulchritudo^ Dlar- throjis toil pantos : The Head is Chriil:, CoL i. Cc4 15, 392 APPENDIX. 15, 16* KtifiSy Creation political. The Law, Love divine, 'The?nis^ not Nomos Dike, 10. The Wars and Vidory of this Kingdom, Netzacby the Seventh Sephirdj Adrajieia, thofe of the Mefliah and his FoUov^xrs, againft the old Serpent in Heaven, Rephaim ; in the Sea, Pharaoh -y in the Earth, Rome^ T?agan and Pagano Chrijlian^ the Rephaim firft expelled out oi Jetzirah^ mX^o Afia fupe-^ rior^ then caft down to the Earth, then chain- ed, and fliut up for a thoufand Years, perhaps in the Abyfs w^ithin the Earth ; and, at the Clofe of the laft Trumpet, to be caft into the Lake of Fire and Brimftone, in the final Con- flagration, with all other wicked and obdurate Souls. Here alfo the Apotheofis of the Mef- fiah (hewn in the Apocalypfe, being revealed to ^ohn by an Angel fent from Chrift : It is Part of the prophetic Mercavcean Cabala^ in the Keeping of Angels, from the mofl early Ages, and now-and-then communicated fparingly to the antient Prophets, but as to the State of the Church, from Chrift's Incarna- tion to the final Conflagration, rellored, and per- haps inlarged, i Cor. xv. 5-4. Ronta?2S viii. 37. 1 1 . The Pomps and Triumphs, the Eighth Sephira^ Hod^ Gloria, Panarmonia ; by mufi- cal Inftruments and ProcefTions, as the Song of Mofes and Miriam, Exod. xv. The Song of the Lamb, Apoc. xv. probably alfo thus in Aziliith and Briah, by Choirs of x^ngels, Luke ii. 13, 14. Chrifl afcended in Pomp, attended by many redeemed from the Grave and APPENDIX. 393 and Hades ; thus re-entering into the Glory he had with the Father before this World was. Thus alfo Elijah, in a fiery Chariot. Elijha's Boy faw what Numbers were ready to guard the Servant of the Lord, The Plaflic can eafily furnifh thefe Pomps with Drefs and Equipage, luminous and glorious, infinitely beyond the moft brilliant Diamonds, and more magnificent than \ve can now conceive. For the Splendor of private Perfons, {Q^Apoc, iii. 5. Ecclef.vm, i. 1 2. Its Stabihty and Duration, Ninth *?(?/?/?/>/?, yefod^ Fiindamentiim Edrafma^ Pfalm xlv. 6. Ixxii. 5-, 6, 7. It endured with the Sun, that is, before it cooled into a Chaos, and was reform- ed, by the Soul of the Mefiiah united to the Logos, into this habitable Earth -, and before the Moon became opaque, or attended our Earth as a Satellite. Thefe Things are too grand to be wholly meant of Solomon^ the Type of the Meffiah:'The Soul of the MelTiah is heredefcri^ bed defcending into the Matter prepared for his Body at his Incarnation, as the Rain into a Fleece of Wool on the Skin, as a Drop drop- ping upon the Earthy feeming to allude to the Coats of Skins [Adam's), and to the Lamb of God. So Syiiefius defcribes a human Soul de- fcending into the Body, in the viith Verfe, Tht Millenniu?n^ until the Moon depart, that is, till the BlefTed leave the Earth, her Com- panion ; hence Aneikia, Here probably ends the Kingdom of the Meffiah at the Confummatioa of all Things, 6 when 394. APPENDIX. when he delivers up his Kingdom to God the Father, Matt. xiii. 42, 43. xxvi. 29. i Cor, XV. 24, 2 8. having fubdued all his Enemies, even Death and Sin > left the Earth in Flames with the irreclaimably Wicked ^ eftablifhed a univerfal and lafting Peace, after the laft Re- furreftion, and general Judgment ; and afcended to the higheft Heavens, accompanied with al- moft infinite Numbers of the heavenly Hoft, and bleffed Souls, in the utmoft Pomp and Splendor. Indeed this may be rather called the com- pleting and perfecting of Chrifl's Kingdom, than the finishing of it 5 therefore it may be faid to laft i?i fecula fecuIo?'u?7i, Amen* The Fnlgarations of the Merca^a indicate triumphal Pomps after Vidlories obtained ; the Sapphirine Throne, Durability and Stability^ Dent, xxxii. 8. (according to the Septuagint) the Nations under the Guardianfliip of Angeis ; Ifrad under that of God himfelf; his Sou Chrift, the Way, the Truth, and the Life -, and (in Baruch) the Way of Knowlege {Zech. xii. 10. 11.); the Converfion of the Jews^ and their Mourning for having crucified the Meffiah. FINIS, ERRATA. Page 16. line 27. for idejiniie read indefinite. P. 31. L 13. for pajftte read tnacbine. P. 94. 1, 9. alter ii^ith add tkm. P. 103. J. 7. dele a. P. 243. J. 31, and p. 244. 1. 8, II, and 25. for Bofponn r:ad Bjfphi,ruu P. 24.7. 1. 15. for Hird read Kind. P. i(3&. 1, 7. toi ff^idsm read iV:j\i^m. 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