Two choice and useful treatises the one, Lux orientalis, or, An enquiry into the opinion of the Eastern sages concerning the praeexistence of souls, being a key to unlock the grand mysteries of providence in relation to mans sin and misery : the other, A discourse of truth / by the late Reverend Dr. Rust ... ; with annotations on them both.

W. Faithorne Sculp .

TWO CHOICE and VSEFVL TREATISES : THE ONE LUX ORIENTALIS ; OR An Enquiry into the Opinion of the EASTERN SAGES Concerning the PRAEEXISTENCE of SOVLS . Being a Key to unlock the Grand Mysteries of PROVIDENCE . In Relation to Mans Sin and Misery . THE OTHER , A DISCOVRSE of TRVTH , By the late Reverend Dr. RVST Lord Bishop of Dromore in Ireland . WITH ANNOTATIONS on them both .

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Plato .

LONDON , Printed for James Collins , and Sam. Lowndes over against Exeter Exchange in the Strand , 1682.

TO THE HONOURABLE Sir JOHN FINCH SIR ,

YOV may well be surprized at this unexpected Dedication from one that may seem an utter Stranger to your Person ; but the fame of your singular knowledge in the choicest parts of Philosophy , and all other worthy accomplishments , will make this presumption of me , the Publisher of these two Treatises , as pardonable by your self , so , I hope , justifiable to all the World . Not to say that it is a peice of indispensable justice that one of them be Dedicated to you ; the Author thereof being that Excellent Person the Reverend Dr. Rust , late Bishop of Dromore in Ireland , once fellow of Christs Colledge in Cambridge , to which you lately have been so Noble a Benefactor . Wherefore in hopes that you will be pleased to take the Dedication of this whole Book , the two Treatises , and the Annotations thereon in good part , craving pardon for this boldness I humbly take leave , and am ,

Honoured Sir , Your most obedient and humble Servant . JAMES COLLINS .

The Publisher to the Reader .

THese two Choice and Useful Treatises I present thee with the name of the Author of the latter of them is set down in the Title Page , the Reverend Dr. Rust late Lord Bishop of Dromore in the Kingdom of Ireland ; whose Vertues Parts and Abilities are copiously set out in a Letter of Mr. Jos. Glanvill prefixt to the Discourse it self . And i● thou hast the curiosity to know who is the Author of the former Treatise LVX ORIENTALIS ( who then thought fit to conceal his name as himself takes notice in his Epistle Dedicatory ) I can ass●re thee , that it is the said Mr. Jos. Glanvill , a person reputed one of the most ingenious and florid Writers of his Age. But for my own part I must ingenuously confess , that I am no competent J●dge , and consequently can be no fit Encomiast of the Abi●ities or Performances of Either . Only this I know , that both these Treatises have sold very well , and that there is none to be got of the Discourse of Truth ; though it is not many years since it was Printed . And for LVX ORIENTALIS , which was Printed about twenty years ago , when the Book grew scarce , it was so much valued by the more eager and curious searchers into the profoundest points of Philosophy , that there was given for it by some , four or five times the price for which it was at first Sold.

The considerations whereof coming into my mind , I thought I should both gratifie the learned World and benefit my self , if I reprinted these two Treatises together . Which I do the more willingly , because the former Editions were too too false and corrupt , especially of LVX ORIENTALIS . Which faults of the Press , or MSS. are carefully corrected in this .

And besides that this Edition is more correct than the former , there are also Annotations added to each Treatise by one not unexercized in these kind of Speculations . And in the Annotations upon the Discourse of Truth , there is inserted a DIGRESSION that contains a brief Answer to Mr. Baxters Placid Collation with the learned Dr. Henry More .

And because men usually have a fondness even for the smaller Toyes or Trifles of well esteemed Writers after their decease , I have prefixed a Latin Dedication of LVX ORIENTALIS ( which I opportunely had by me ) before the Epistle Dedicatory : Which Latin Dedication the Author sent so prefixed , in a Copy to the Party it is made , and I have Printed it in the same order it was there found , that it may be one Monument amongst many other of the Authors Wit and Ingenuity . I have also , that nothing may be wanting to thy Content , got a friend to devise an Hieroglyphical Frontispice , intended more especially for LVX ORIENTALIS . But I do not profess my self able to unriddle the meaning thereof . The best Interpreter will be the Book it self . To the reading whereof I leave thee and rest

Your humble Servant JAMES COLLINS .

LUX ORIENTALIS , OR An Enquiry into the Opinion of the Eastern Sages Concerning the PRAEEXISTENCE OF SOULS . Being a Key to unlock the Grand Mysteries of PROVIDENCE , In relation to mans Sin and Misery .

Cardanus . Quid jucundius quàm scire quid simus , quid fuerimus , quid erimus , atque cum his etiam Divina illa atque suprema post obitum mundique Vicissitudines ?

London , Printed for J. Collins , and S. Lowndes over against Exeter Exchange in the Strand , 1682.

Doctissimo viro Domino Doctori HENRICO MORO Maximo Purioris Philosophiae Magistro & Sapientiae ORIENTALIS RESTAURATORI In exiguum Summi Affectûs Testimonium ET Aeternae Observantiae Pignus a suis Flammis mutuatam hanc Orientis Scintillam D. D. D. Humillimus Virtutum ejus Et candoris non minùs Quam Doctrinae Cultor ; Qui ei exoptat Lucem Sempiternam , & petit ut candidè accipiat LUCEM ORIENTALEM .

TO THE Much Honoured and Ingenious FRANCIS WILLOVGHBY ESQUIRE . SIR ,

'T IS likely you will no less wonder at this unexpected sally of my pen ; than at my having prefixt your name to a small Trifle , that owns no Author . Of the former , you will receive an account in the Preface . And the latter , if the considerations following are not of weight , to attone for ; I know you have goodness enough to pardon , what I have not reason sufficient to excuse , or vindicate . Well meaning intentions are Apology enough , where candour , and ingenuity are the Judges . I was not induced then to this Address , because , I thought , I could oblige you ; Worth describes it self in the fairest Character . But reflecting upon that delight and satisfaction , that I have received in discoursing with you on such matters ; and knowing that your Noble Genius is gratisied by such kind of speculations ; I thought , I could not make more suitable payment for my content , or better acknowledge the favour I receive in your acquaintance , then by presenting you a Discourse about Prae-existence ; and giving you a peculiar interest in it , as you have in its Author . Not that I would suggest , that you are a favourer of any strange opinions , or hold any thing in this particular , or any other , that is sit to be discountenanc'd . But I know you love to be dealing in high and generous Theories , even where your self are a dissenter , Nor is it the least evidence of the greatness and Heroick Nobleness of your Spirit ; that amidst the slowing aboundance of the World's Blessings , with which you are encircled , you can yet Dedicate your self to your beloved Contemplations , and look upon the Furniture and accomplishments of the mind , as better riches , than the largest doals of fortune , and the Wealth and Revenues of an ample inheritance . Andmethinks , while most others at the best , do but use the Donatives of Providence , you enjoy them . And , by a Nobler kind of Chymistry , extract from them a pleasure , that is not to be met with in all the trivial sports of empty Gallantry . To be reveiwing the Recesses of Nature , and the Beauteous inside of the Vniverse , is a more Manly , yea Angelick felicity , than the highest gratifications of the senses ; an happiness , that is common to the Youthful Epicure , with his Hounds and Horses ; yea , your ends are more August and generous , then to terminate in the private pleasure you take , even in those Philosophical Researches ; For you are Meditating a more general good in those careful and profound inquiries you are making into Animals , and other concerning affairs of nature , which I hope , one day the World will be advantag'd by . But I must not ingage in an Encomium , in which I cannot be just , but I must be troublesome . For your modesty is no more able to bear it , then my Pen can reach . Wherefore I shall dismiss your eyes from this tiresome Attendance ; and only beg , that you would assure your self that no Man is more your Servant , then

The Authour of Lux Orientalis :

THE PREFACE .

IT is none of the least commendable indulgences of our Church , that she allows us a latitude of judging in points of Speculation ; and ties not up mens Consciences to an implicite assenting to opinions , not necessary or Fundamental ; which favourable and kind permission , is questionless a great obligation upon the ingenuous , submissively to receive and observe her pious appointments for peace and order . Nor is there less Reason in this parental indulgence , than there is of Christian charity and prudence ; since to tie all others up to our opinions , and to impose difficult and disputable matters under the Notion of Confessions of Faith , and fundamentals of Religion , is a most unchristian piece of Tyranny , the foundation of persecution , and very root of Antichristianisme . So that I have often wondred , that those that heretofore would have forced all men to a compliance with their darling notions , and would have made a prey of them , that could not bow down before the Idol of their new-framed Orthodoxy ; should yet have the face to object persecution and unchristian Tyranny to our Church Appointments ; when themselves lie under a deep and Crimson guilt of those very same miscarriages , which they endeavour to affix upon those more innocent Constitutions . For is it not a far more blameable and obnoxious imposition to frame Systems of disputable Opinions , and to require their admittance into our Creeds , in the place of the most sacred , necessary , and fundamental verities ; Than it is to appoint some harmless orders of circumstance and ceremony , which in themselves are indifferent and innocent ? And let any equal Man be Judge , which is the greater superstition , either to Idolize and place Religion in things of dispute and meer opinions ; or conscientiously to observe the Sanctions of that Authority we are bound to obey . But how all those ill applyed reproaches of the Church of England , recoyl upon those that discharge them , I have fully proved in a Discourse on this Subject , which in its due time may see the Light . But for the present I go on with what I was about ; Therefore I say , 't is a most commendable excellency in our Ecclesiastical Constitutions ; which with all due regard ought to be acknowledged ; That they lay stress on few matters of opinion , but such as are of important concernment , or very meridian truths . Which I mention not to this purpose , as if men might therefore indulge themselves in what conceits and dangerous opinions soever their phancies might give birth to , ( This were an unpardonable abuse of that noble and ingenuous Liberty that is afforded us ; ) But that they might see the beauty of those well temper'd Constitutions ; and that the mouth of obloquy might be stopped that slanders our Church , as if it yielded no scope at all for free inquiry ; when I dare say there is not a Church in Christendome , that in this regard is less taxable .

As for the opinion of Praeexistence , the subject of the following Papers , it was never determined against by ours , nor any other Church , that I know of ; And therefore I conceive is left as a matter of School Speculation , which without danger may be problematically argued on either hand . And I have so great confidence in all true Sons of our common Mother , to think , that they will not fix any harsh and severe censures , upon the innocent Speculations of those , though possibly they may be Errours , who own the Authority , Articles , Canons , and Constitutions of that Church which they are so deservedly zealous for .

Therefore let me here premonish once for all , that I intend no Innovation in Religion , or disturbance of our established and received Doctrines , by any thing I have undertaken in this little Treatise ; But only an innocent representation of an Antient and Probable opinion , which I conceive , may contribute somewhat towards the clearing and vindicating the Divine Attributes , and so representing the ever blessed Deity , as a more fit object of Love and Adoration , than the Opinions of the World make him . And what ever may be thought of the thing it self , or the manage of this affair , I 'm sure the end and design is concerning and important , and deserves at least a favourable construction of the undertaking . For there is nothing more for the interest of Religion , than that God be represented to his Creatures as amiable and lovely , which cannot be better done , than by clearing up his Providences and dealings with the Sons of men , and discovering them to be full of Equity , Sweetness and Benignity ; so that though I should be mistaken in the opinion which I endeavour to recommend , yet I expect the candour of the ingenuous , being betray'd into an errour , if it be one , by so pardonable an occasion .

If it be excepted against this undertaking , that the Doctrine of Pr●eexistence hath in a late Discourse been purposely handled ; besides what the learned Dr. More hath written of it ; and therefore that this labour may seem a superfluous , unnecessary Repetition : I answer , that that very Treatise , viz. the Account of Origen , made some such thing as this expedient . For though the proof and management of this affair be there unexceptionable , as far as the Author is by his design ingaged ; yet , he being confined to the reasons of Origen , and to the answering such objections , as the Fathers urged against him ; hath not so fully stated and cleared the business , but that there was room for afterundertakers . And 't is a great disinterest to so strange and unusual a Doctrine as this , to be but partially handled : since so long , it will not be understood , and consequently be but exposed to contempt and ignominy . Nor can we hope that the world will be so favourable to a Paradox , or take so much pains for the understanding of that which they think a gross absurdity , as to collect those Principles that are scatter'd up and down the writings of that great and excellent Restorer of the Platonick Cabbala , and accommodate them to the interest of this opinion . So that I thought that till the Reasons , Answers , Principles , and particular State of the Hypothesis were brought all together , to talk of Praeexistence in Earnest were but to make a mans self ridiculous , and the Doctrine , the common Ludibrium of fools and ignorants .

And yet I must confess my self to be so much a contemner of the half-witted censurers of things they know not , that this Reason alone could not have moved my pen the breadth of a letter ; But some ingenious friends of mine , who were willing to do their Maker right , in a due apprehension of his Attributes and Providences , having read the Letter of Resolution , and thence being induced to think favourably of Prae-existence , were yet not fully satisfied in the proof , nor able to give stop to those objections , which their imperfect knowledge of the Hypothesis occasioned ; wherefore they desired me to draw up a more full and particular Account of that Doctrine , which they had now a kindness for , and which wanted nothing more to recommend it to them , but a clear and full representation . For their satisfaction then , I drew up the following Discourse , intending at first , that it should go no further than their hands , whose interest in mine affections had commanded it ; but they being more than I could well pleasure with written Copies , and perceiving others of my acquaintance also , to whom I owe regard and service , to be in the like condition with these ; I was induced to let this Little Trisle tread a more publick Stage ; and to speak my mind to them from the Press .

If further reason be expected for mine undertaking a business in which others have been ingaged , I would desire them to consider what an infinite of Books are written upon almost all subjects can be named . And I am confident , if they turn o're Libraries , they 'l find no theam , that is of any consideration , less traced than this is . So that no body hath reason to call it a Crambe , who considers , that there are multitudes , even of Scholars that have never seen or heard of any thing of this nature ; And there is not , that I know of , any one Book extant in any language besides this , that purposely , solely , and fully treats of Praeexistence . Wherefore who ever condemns this as a superfluous ingagement , if he will be just , must pass the same censure upon well nigh every Discourse the Press is deliver'd of ; for hee 'l meet with few written on less handled subjects . I might urge also if there were need on 't , that various representations of the same thing , fit the variety of phancies and gusts of perusers ; and that may have force and prevalence to perswade in one , which signifies nothing in another . But 't is enough ; he that will judge me on this account , must pass the same Award on every Sermon he hears , and every Book he looks on ; And such a censure will do me as little hurt , as him good , that passeth it .

Besides this exception , 't is not unlikely that some may object , that I use Arguments that have already been pleaded in behalf of this opinion ; which rightly understood , is no matter of disrepute ; since every one else doth it that deals in a Subject formerly written of . And I would have him that commenceth such a charge against me , to consult divers Authours who have handled the same subject ; and if he find not the same Arguments and Reasons infinitely repeated every where , let him call me plagiary , and spare not . 'T is true therefore I have not baulk't the reasons of Origen , Dr. More , or the Authour of the Letter of Resolution , because they had been used already ; but freely own the assistance of those worthy Authours ; however I think I have so managed , fortified , and secured them against exceptions , especially the most considerable , that I may reasonably expect a pardon , yea and an interest in them also . For 't is the backing of an argument that gives it force and efficacy ; which I have done to the most weighty of them , at my proper cost and charges . Nor should I have been faithful to my cause , had I omitted any thing that I thought confirm'd it , upon any pretence whatever ; since possibly this discourse may fall into the hands of some , who never met with those other Authors . And my design being a full proof , defence , and explication of Praeexistence , it had been an unpardonable defect to have pretermitted those weighty reasons by which its learned assertors have inforced it .

If any yet should criminate me ( as I know some did the account of Origen , ) for using many of the same words , and some of the same phrases and expressions , that those others , who have writ about those matters , have made use of ; I am not very careful to answer them in this matter ; and I doubt this engagement against those little scruples , will but seem importune to the judicious . For no body blames the frequent usage of words of Art ; or those which the first Masters or Restorers of any Doctrine have been wont to express their notions by ; since that such words and expressions are best understood , as have by custome , or the Authority of some great Authors , been appropriated to such Doctrines , as they have imployed them in the service of . And should every man that writes on any subject , be obliged to invent a-new , all the terms he hath need of , and industriously to shun those proper expressive words and phrases that are fitted to his hands , and the business he is about ; all things will be fill'd with impertinency , darkness and confusion .

It must be acknowledged then , that most of the peculiar words and phrases that either I , or any body else that will speak properly and intelligibly in this matter , make use of , are borrowed from the judicious and elegent contriver of them , the profound Restorer and Refiner of almost-extinct Platonism : Whose invention hath been so happy in this kind , that it hath served up those notions in the most apposite , significant , comprehensive and expressive words that could well be thought of . Wherefore 't were an humoursome piece of folly for any man that deals in these matters , industriously to avoid such termes and expressions as are so adapted and fitted to this purpose , and so well known among those that are acquainted with this way of Learning ; when without vanity he could not think to be better furnish't from his own phancy .

If in the following papers I have used any expressions of others , which these considerations will not warrant ; I must beg pardon for my memory , which doth not use to be so serviceable . And where I writ this Discourse , I had not one of my books within my reach , that treated of this , or indeed any other Subject . Nor am I at leasure now to examine them and this , to see whether I can find any such coincidences ; which a mans phancy dealing frequently in such matters , might insensibly occasion . If any there be , let those that find them out , pardon them , as the slips of a too officious imagination ; or however else they treat them , they shall not much displease the Author .

And now that this Discourse may pass with less controul among those that shall light on it , I find my self ingag'd to speak a little to a double sort of Readers , who are like to be offended at my design , and averse to the Doctrine asserted in these Papers . And (1) some will boggle at Praeexistence , and be afraid to entertain it , upon an apprehension that the Admission of this opinion will disorder and change the Frame of Orthodox Divinity ; which , were there cause for such a jealousie , were but a commendable caution ; but there 's hope this may prove but a panick fear , or such a needless terrour as surpriseth Children in the dark , when they take their best friends for some Bug-Bear that would carry them away , or hurt them . For 't is but supposing ( as I have somewhere intimated in the discourse it self ) that God created all souls together as he did the Angels ; That some of them sinned and fell with the other Apostate Spirits ; and for their disobedience were thrust into a state of silence and insensibility ; That the Divine goodness so provided for them , that they should act a part again in terrestrial Bodies , when they should fitly be prepared for them ; And that Adam was set up as our great Protoplast and Representative , who , had he continued in Innocence and Integrity , we had then been sharers in that happiness which he at first was instated in ; but by his unhappy defection and disobedience we lost it ; and became thus miserable in our New life in these earthly bodies . I say the Doctrine of Prae-existence thus stated , is , in nothing that I know of , an enemy to common Theology : all things hence proceeding as in our ordinary Systems ; with this only difference , that this Hypothesis clears the divine Attributes from any shadow of harshness , or breach of equity , since it supposeth us to have sinned and deserved all the misery we suffer in this condition before we came hither : whereas the other which teacheth , that we became both guilty and miserable by the single and sole offence of Adam , whenas we were not then in being , or as to our souls , as much as potentially in our great Progenitour ; bears somewhat hardly upon the repute of the Divine perfections . So that if the wary Reader be afraid to venture upon the Hypothesis , that I have drawn up at the end , ( which , I confess , I would not give him the least incouragement to meddle with ) yet without danger he may admit of Praeexistence as accommodated to the Orthodox Doctrine .

Nor should I indeed have medled with the other scheme , which is built upon the Principles of meer Reason and Philosophy ; but that those friends who drew the rest of the Discour●e from me , ingag'd me to give them an Account of the Philosophical Hypothesis . In which , I know , I have not in every particular , followed the mind of the Masters of the Origenian Cabbala ; but kept my self to the conduct of those Principles , that I judged most rational ; though indeed the things wherein I differ , are very few and inconsiderable . However for that reason I thought fit to intitle no body to the Hypothesis that I have made a draught of , lest I should have affix't on any one , what he would not have owned . But for the main , those that understand it , know the Fountain ; and for others , 't is no great matter if they be ignorant .

Now if any one judge me to be a Proselyte to those opinions , because I call them not all to nought , or damn not those , that have a favour for them ; I know not how to avoid the doom of their severe displeasure ; having said as much in the place where I treat of those matters , to purge my self of such a suspicion , as I thought necessary to clear me , in the opinion of any competently ingenuous . As for others , let me say what I can , I shall be what their wisdoms think fit to call me ; And let that be what it will , I am very well content to bear it . I 'le only add , to take off the ground of this uncharitable jealousie , that among the favourers of Praeexistence , I know none that are adherers to those opinions ; and therefore for me to have declaim'd against any , on this account , had been a piece of Knight-Errantry ; And those Dons that do so make Gyants of the Wind-mills of their own Imaginations .

But , (2) There are another sort of Readers that I have a word to say to , who contemn and laugh at every thing that their narrow noddles comprehend not . This , I confess , is a good easie way of confutation , and if we may take every fool's smile for a Demonstration , Praeexistence will be routed . But the best on 't is , to call things by their right names , this is but a vulgar , childish humour arising from nothing but a fond doating on the opinions we were first instructed in . For having made those the standard of truth and solidity , these prepossest discerners presently conclude every thing that is a stranger to their ears and understandings , and of another stamp from their Education-receptions , ●alse and ridiculous ; just like the common people , who judging all customs and fashions by their own , account those of other Nations absurd and barbarous . 'T is well for those smiling Co●●uters , that they were not bred in Mahumetism , for then without doubt they would have made sport of Christianity . But since they are so disposed , let them laugh at the opinion I have undertaken for , till they understand it ; I know who in the judgment of wise men will prove Ridiculous . It was from this very principle that the most considerable truths , that ever the world was acquainted with , were to the Jews , a stumbling block , and to the Greeks , foolishness ; and 't was such a spirit as reigns in these Children of self-con●idence , that call'd S. Paul a babbler . And methinks till these narrow-scull'd people could boast themselves infallible , and all their opinions , an unerring Canon , common modesty and civility should teach them better manners , than at first dash to judge that a ridiculous absurdity , which the greatest and wisest Sages , that inlightned the antient World , accounted so sound and probable a Conclusion . Especially it being a matter not determin'd against , but rather countenanc't in Scripture , as will appear hereafter . But Opinionative Ignorance is very weak and immoral . And till those slight and Vulgar discerners have learn't that first principle of true wisdom , To judge nothing till they throughly understand it , and have weighed it in the Ballance of impartial Reason ; 't is to no purpose to spend ones breath upon them .

THE CONTENTS OF LVX ORIENTALIS . Chap. 1. THE opinions proposed concerning the original of Souls . pag. 1 Chap. 2. Daily creation of Souls is inconsistent with the Divine Attributes . pag. 3 Chap. 3. (2) Traduction of Souls is impossible , the reason for it weak and frivolous ; The proposal of Praeexistence . pag. 16 Chap. 4. (1) Praeexistence cannot be disproved . Scripture saith nothing against it : It 's silence is no prejudice to this Doctrine , but rather an Argument for it , as the case standeth . Praeexistence was the common opinion of our Saviour's times . How , probably , it came to be lost in the Christian Church . pag. 27 Chap. 5. Reasons against Praeexistence answered . Our forgetting the former state is no argument to disprove it : Nor are the other Reasons that can be produc'd , more conclusive . The proof of the possibility of Praeexistence were enough , all other Hypotheses being absurd and contradictious . But it is prov'd also by positive Arguments . pag. 45 Chap. 6. A second Argument for Praeexistence drawn from the consideration of the Divine Goodness , which alwayes doth what is best . pag. 51 Chap. 7. The first Evasion , that God acts freely , and his meer will is reason enough for his doing , or forbearing any thing , overthrown by four Considerations , Some incident Evasions , viz. that Gods Wisdom , or his glory , may be contrary to this display of his goodness , in our being made of old , clearly taken off . pag. 55 Chap. 8. A second general Evasion , viz. that our Reasons cannot tell what God should do , or what is best , overthrown by several considerations . As is also a third , viz. that by the same Argument God would have been obliged to have made us impeccable , and not liable to Misery . pag. 61 Chap. 9. A fourth Objection against the Argument from Gods goodness , viz. That it will conclude as well that the World is infinite and eternal , Answered . The conclusion of the second Argument for Praeexistence . pag. 71 Chap. 10. A third Argument for Praeexistence , from the great variety of mens speculative inclinations ; and also the diversity of our Genius's , copiously urged . If these Arguments make Praeexistence but probable , 't is enough to gain it the Victory . pag. 74 Chap. 11. Great caution to be used in alledging Scripture for our speculative opinion . The countenance that Praeexistence hath from the sacred writings both of the Old and New Testament ; Reasons of the seeming uncouthness of these allegations . Praeexistence stood in no need of Scripture-proof . pag. 82 Chap. 12. Why the Author thinks himself obliged to descend to some more particular Account of Praeexistence . The presumption positively to determine how it was with us of old . The Authors design in the Hypothesis that follows . pag. 90 Chap. 13. Seven Pillars on which the particular Hypothesis stands . 94 Pillar 1. All the Divine designs and actions are laid and carried on by pure and infinite Goodness . pag. 95 Pillar 2. There is an exact Geometrical Justice that runs through the Vniverse , and is interwoven in the contexture of things . pag. 97 Pillar 3. Things are carried to their proper place and state , by the congruity of their natures ; where this fails , we may suppose some arbitrary managements . pag. 100 Pillar 4. The Souls of men are capable of living in other bodies besides Terrestrial ; And never act but in some body or other . pag. 102 Pillar 5. The Soul in every state hath such a body as is fittest for those faculties and operations that she is most inclined to exercise . pag. 105 Pillar 6. The powers and faculties of the Soul are either (1) Spiritual , and intellectual : or (2) Sensitive : or (3) Plastick . pag. 107 Pillar 7. By the same degrees that the higher powers are invigorated , the lower are consopited and abated , as to their proper exercises , and è contra . pag. 108 Chap. 14. A Philosophical Hypothesis of the Souls Praeexistence . 113 Her Aethereal State . The Aereal State . pag. 102 The Terrestrial State . pag. 122 The next step of Descent , or After-state . pag. 126 The Conflagration of the Earth . pag. 137 The General Restitution . pag. 142

THE ERRATA Correct thus :

In Lux Orientalis . For Read PAg. 9. lin. 6. For * For. pa. 61. l. 3. Reasons Reason . p. 78. l. 1. his this . p. 126. l. 6. course coarse .

IntheAnnotations. pag. 34. l. 28. promptus promptos . p. 38. l. 27. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 p. 45. l. 12. tye lye . p. 51. l. 5. Plaistick Plastick . p. 53. l. 7. Zoophiton's Zoophyton's . p. 54. l. 29. Unluckly Unlucky . p. 56. l. 8. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 p. 62. l. 19. other the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 over the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 p. 74. l. 8. property properly . p. 80. l. 2. doors : for doors for . ibid. l. 21. properly property . p. 84. l. 2. fitted sited . ibid. l. 21. restore resolve . p. 94. l. 15. vigorous rigorous . p. 95. l. 8. this humane his humane . p. 101. l. 30. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 p. 104. l. 28. corporeal incorporeal . p. 106. l. 13. alledged alledge . p. 113. l. 20. Psychopanychites Psychopannychites . ibid. l. 31. to two . p. 119. l. 7. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 p. 144. l. 23. ante . Interiisse ante ●●●●●●sse . p. 184. l. 26. Nymphs Nymph . p. 209. l. 16. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . p. 238. l. 26. slawes flawes . p. 255. l. 11. sesquealtera sesquialtera . p. 265. l. 3. the steady their steady . p. 268. l. 10. to those so those . p. 275. l. 2. Heaven's Haven's .

LUX ORIENTALIS .

CHAP. I.

The opinions proposed concerning the original of Souls .

IT hath always been found a matter of discouraging difficulty , among those that have busied themselves in such Inquiries , To determine the Soul 's original . Insomuch that after all the contests and disputes that have been about it , many of the wisest Inquisitors have concluded it undeterminable : or , if they have sate down in either of the two opinions , viz. of it's immediate Creation , or Traduction ( which of later ages have been the only competitors ) ; they have been driven to it , rather from the absurdities of the opposite opinion , which they have left ; than drawn by any rational alliciency in that which they have taken to . And indeed , if we do but impartially consider the grand inconveniences which each party urgeth against the others Conclusion , it would even tempt one to think , that both are right in their opposition , and neither in their assertion . And since each side so strongly oppugns the other and so weakly defends it self , 't is a shrewd suspicion that they are both mistaken . Wherefore if there be a third that can lay any probable claim to the truth , it deserves to be heard to plead its cause ; and , if it be not chargeable with the contradictions or absurdities either of the one or other , to be admitted .

Now though these later ages have concluded the matter to lie between immediate Creation , and seminal Traduction ; yet I find that the more antient times have pitcht upon Praeexistence , as more likely than either ; For the Platonists , Pythagoreans , the Chaldaean wise men , the Jewish Rabbins , and some of the most learned and antient Fathers were of this opinion . Wherefore I think we owe so much at least to the Memory of those grave Sages , as to examine this Doctrine of theirs , and if neither of the later Hypotheses can ease our anxious minds , or free themselves from absurdities ; and this Grey Dogma fairly clear all doubts , and be obnoxious to no such contradictions ; I see no reason but we may give it a favourable admittance , till something else appear more concinnous and rational . Therefore let us take some account of what the two first opinions alledge one against another , and how they are proved by their promoters and defendants . Now if they be found unable to withstand the shock of one anothers opposition ; we may reasonably cast our eyes upon the third , to see what force it brings to vouch its interest , and how it will behave it self in the encounter .

CHAP. II.

Daily creation of Souls is inconsistent with the Divine Attributes .

THe first of these opinions that offers it self to Tryal is , that God daily creates humane souls , which immediately are united unto the bodies that Generation hath prepared for them . Of this side are our later Divines , and the generality of the Schoolmen . But not to be born down by Authorities , Let us consider what reason stands against it . Therefore ,

(1) If our Souls came immediately out of the hands of God when we came first into these bodies , Whence then are those enormously brutish inclinations , that strong natural proclivity to vice and impiety , that are exstant in the children of men ? All the works of God bear his image , and are perfect in their kind . Purity is his nature , and what comes from him , proportionably to its capacity partakes of his perfections . Every thing in the natural world bears the superscription of his wisdom and goodness ; and the same fountain cannot send forth sweet waters and bitter . Therefore 't is a part of our allegiance to our Maker to believe , * that he made us pure and innocent , and if we were but just then framed by him when we were united with these terrestrial bodies , whence should we contract such degenerate propensions ? Some tell us , that this impurity was immediately derived from the bodies we are united to ; But , how is it possible , that purely passive insensible Matter should transfuse habits or inclinations into a Nature that is quite of another Make and Quality ? How can such a cause produce an effect so disproportionate ? * Matter can do nothing but by motion , and what relation hath that to a moral contagion ? How can a Body that is neither capable of sense nor sin , infect a soul , as soon as 't is united to it , with such vitious debauched dispositions ?

But others think to evade by saying , That we have not these depravities in our natures , but contract them by Custome , education , and evil usages . How then comes it about , that those that have had the same care and industry used upon them , and have been nurtured under the same discipline and severe oversight , do so vastly and even to wonder differ in their inclinations ? * How is it that those that are under continual temptations to vice , are yet kept within the bounds of vertue , and sobriety ? And yet that others , that have strong motives and allurements to the contrary , should violently break out into all kinds of extravagance and impiety ? Sure , there is somewhat more in the matter than those general causes , which may be common to both ; and which many times have quite contrary effects .

( 2. ) This Hypothesis , that God continually Creates humane souls in these bodies , consists not with the honour of the Divine Attributes . For ,

( 1. ) How stands it with the goodness and benignity of that God , who is Love , to put pure and immaculate spirits , who were capable of living to him and with him , into such bodies as will presently defile them , deface his image , pervert all their powers and faculties , incline them to hate what he most loves , and love what his Soul hateth ; and that , without any knowledge or concurrence of theirs , will quite marre them as soon as he hath made them , and of dear Children , render them rebels or enemies , and in a moment from being like Angels transform them into the perfect resemblance of the first Apostates , Devils ?

Is this an effect of those tender mercies that are over all his works ? And

( 2. ) Hath that Wisdom that hath made all things to operate according to their natures , and provided them with whatever is necessary to that end , made myriads of noble Spirits capable of as noble operations , and presently plunged them into such a condition wherein they cannot act at all according to their first and proper dispositions , but shall be necessitated to the quite contrary ; and have other noxious and depraved inclinations fatally imposed upon their pure natures ? Doth that wisdom , that hath made all things in number , weight , and measure , and disposed them in such exact harmony and proportions use to act so ineptly ? And that in the best and noblest pieces of his Creation ? Doth it use to make and presently destroy ? To frame one thing and give it such or such a nature , and then undo what he had done , and make it another ? And if there be no such irregular methods used in the framing of inferiour Creatures , what reason have we to suspect that the Divine Wisdom did so vary from its self in its noblest composures ?

And (3) , Is it not a great affront to the Divine J●stice , to suppose , as we are commonly taught , that as●oon as we are born , yea , and in the Womb , we are obnoxious to eternal wrath and torments , if our Souls are then immediately created out of nothing ? For , To be just is to give every one his due ; and how can endless unsupportable punishments be due to innocent Spirits , who but the last moment came righteous , pure , and immaculate out of their Creators hands ; and have not done or thought any thing since , contrary to his will or Laws , nor were in any the least capacity of sinning ?

I , but the first of our order , our General head and Representative , sinned , and we in him ; thus we contract guilt as soon as we have a Being , and are lyable to the punishment of his disobedience . This is thought to solve all , and to clear God from any shadow of unrighteousness . But whatever truth there is in the thing it self , I think it cannot stand upon the Hypothesis of the Souls immediate Creation , nor yet justifie God in his proceedings . For , ( 1. ) If I was then newly Created when first in this body ; what was Adam to me , who sinned above 5000 years before I came out of nothing ? If he represented me , it must be as I was in his Loins , that is , in him as an effect in a cause . But so I was not , according to this Doctrine ; for my soul owns no Father but God , its immediate progenitour . And what am I concern'd then in his sins , which had never my will or consent , more than in the sins of Mahom●t , or Julius Caesar ? Nay , than in the sins of Beelzebub or Lucifer ? And for my body , 't is most likely , that never an Atom of his , ever came at me ; or , if any did , he was no cause on 't . Besides , that of it self is neither capable of sense , sin , guilt , nor punishment : or , ( 2. ) Admitting that we become thus obnoxious assoon as in the body , upon the account of his default , How doth it comport with the divine Justice , in one moment to make such excellent Creatures , and in the next to render them so miserable , by thrusting them into a condition , so fatally obnoxious ; especially since they were capable of living and acting in bodies more perfect , and more accommodate to their new undefiled natures ? Certainly , could they have been put to their choice whether they would have come into being upon such termes , they would rather have been nothing for ever . And God doth not use to make his Creatures so , as that , without their own fault , they shall have cause to unwish themselves .

Hitherto in this second general Argument I have dealt against those that believe and ass●rt the original depravity of our natures : which those that deny , may think themselves not pin●●'t by or concern'd in ; Since they think they do no such dishonour to the divine Attributes , while they assert , that we were not made in so deplorable and depraved a condition , but have so made our selves by our voluntary aberrations . But neither is this a fit Plaister for the sore , supposing our souls to be immediately created and so sent into these bodies . For still it seems to be a diminutive and disparaging apprehen●ion of the infinite and immense Goodness of God , that he should detrude such excellent creatures as our souls into a state so hazardous , * wherein he seeth it to be ten thousand to one , but that they will corrupt and defile themselves , and so make themselves miserable here , and to eternity hereafter . And certainly , be we as indifferent naturally to good and evil as can be supposed ; yet great are the disadvantages to virtue that all men unavoidably meet with , in this state of imperfection .

For considering , that our infant and growing age is an age of sense , in which our appetites , and passions are very strong , and our reasons weak , and scarce any thing but a chain of imaginations , 't is I say great odds , but that we should be carried to inordinacy , and exceed the bounds the divine laws have set us . So that our lower powers of sense and passions using to have the head , will grow strong and impetuous , and thus 't is an hundred to one but we shall be rooted in vice , before we come to the maturity of our reasons , or are capable of the exercise of virtue . And woful experience teacheth us , that most men run so far before they consider whither they are a-going , that the care and diligence of all their lives after , will scarce reclaim them . Besides , the far greatest part of the world are led into wickedness and all kinds of debauchery , by corrupt and vitious education . And 't is not difficult to observe what an enormous strength , bad education hath to deprave and pervert well dispos'd inclinations . Which things consider'd , this way also methinks reflects a Disparagement on the Divine Attributes : Since by creating souls daily and putting them into such bodies , and such parts of the world as his infinite Wisdom sees will debauch them , and pervert them from the ways of righteousness and happiness , into those of vice and misery ; he deals with them less mercifully than a parent among us would with his Off-spring . And to suppose God to have less goodness than his degenerate creatures , is to have very narrow apprehensions of his perfections , and to rob him of the honour due to his Attributes .

(3) It hath been urged with good probability by great and wise Sages , that 't is an unbecoming apprehension of the Majesty on high , * to suppose him assistant to unlawful and unclean coitions , by creating a soul to animate the impure foetus . And to think , It is in the power of brutish lust to determine Omvipotence to create a Soul , whensoever a couple of unclean Adulterers shall think fit to join in their bestial pleasures ; is methinks to have a very mean apprehension of the divine Majesty and Purity . This is to make him the worst of Servants by supposing him to serve his creature's vices , to wait upon the vilest actions , and to engage the same infinite Power that made the world for the perfecting what was begun by dissolute Wantons . This Argument was used of old by pious and learned Origen , and hath been imployed in the same service since , by his modern defendents . But I foresee an evasion or two , that possibly with some may stand for an answer , the removal of which will clear the business .

It may be pretended that God's attending to create souls for the supply of such generations , is but an act of his justice , for the detection , and consequently punishment , of such lawless offenders ; which therefore will be no more matter of disparagement than the waiting of an Officer of justice to discover and apprehend a Malefactour .

But this Subterfuge cannot elude the force of the Argument , for it hath no place at all in most Adulteries ; yea great injustice and injury is done many times by such illegitimate births ; the Child of a Stranger being by this means admitted to carry away the inheritance from the lawful off-spring . Besides , God useth not ordinarily to put forth his Almighty power to discover secret miscarriages , except sometimes for very remarkable and momentous ends , but leaves hidden iniquities to be the objects of his own castigations . And if discovery of the fault be the main end of such creations , * methinks that might be done at a cheaper rate , that should not have brought so much inconvenience with it , or have exposed his own innocent and harmless off-spring to undeserv'd Reproach and Infamy .

But further it may be suggested , that it is no more indecent for God to create souls to furnish those unlawful Generations , than it is that a man should be nourisht by meat that he hath unlawfully come by , or that the Cattle which he hath stoln should ingender with his own . But the difference of these instances from the case in hand is easily discernable ; in that the nourishment and productions spoken of , proceed in a set orderly way of natural causes , which work fatally and necessarily without respect to moral circumstances ; and there is no reason , it should be in the power of a sinful creature to engage his Maker to pervert or stop the course of nature , when he pleaseth . But in the case of creating souls , God is supposed to act by explicite and immediate Will , the suspending of which , in such a case as this , is far different in point of credit and decorum , from his altering the setled Laws he hath set in the Creation , and turning the world upside down .

I might further add ( 4ly ) , That * it seems very incongruous and unhandsome to suppose , that God should create two souls for the supply of one monstrous body . And of such prodigious productions there is mention in History . That 's a remarkable instance in Sennertus , of a Monster born at Emmaus with two hearts , and two heads ; the diversity of whose appetites , perceptions , and affections , testified that it had two souls within that bi-partite habitation . Now , to conceive the most wise Maker and Contriver of all things , immediately to create two souls , for a single body , rather than suffer that super-plus of matter which constitutes the monstrous excrescence to prove effoete & inanimate , is methinks a derogatory apprehension of his wisdom , and supposeth him to act more ineptly in the great and immediate instances of his power , than in the ordinary course of nature about less noble and accurate productions . Or , if it be pretended , that Souls were sent into them while the bodies were yet distinct , but that afterwards they grew into one : This , I say , will not heal the breach that this Hypothesis makes upon the divine Wisdom ; it tacitely reflecting a shameful oversight upon Omniscience , that he should not be aware of the future coalescence of these bodies into one , when he made souls for them ; or at least , 't is to suppose him , knowingly to act i●eptly . Besides , that the rational soul is not created till the body , as to the main stroaks of it at least , is framed , is the general opinion of the Assertors of daily creation ; So that then there is no room for this evasion .

And now one would think that an opinion so very obnoxious , and so lyable to such grand inconveniences , should not be admitted but upon most pressing reasons and ineludible demonstrations . And yet there is not an argument that I ever heard of from reason to inforce it , but only such as are brought : from the impossibility of the way of Traduction ; which indeed is chargeable with as great absurdities , as that we have been discoursing of . 'T is true , several Scriptures are prest for the service of the cause ; but I doubt much against their intent and inclination . General testimonies there are to prove that God is the Father and Creator of Souls , which is equally true , whether we suppose it made just as it is united to these bodies , or did praeexist , and was before them ; But that it is just then created out of nothing when first it comes into these earthly bodies , I know not a word in the inspired Writings that speaks it . For that saying of our Saviour , My Father worketh hitherto , and I work , is by the most judicious understood of the works of preservation and providence : Those of creation being concluded within the first Hebdomade , accordingly as is exprest in the History , * that God on the seventh day rested from all his works . Nor can there an instance be given of any thing created since , or is there any pretended , but that which hath been the subject of our inquiry ; which is no inconsiderable presumption , that that was not so neither ; since the divine way of working is not parti-colour or humoursome , but uniform and consonant to the laws of exactest wisdom . So that for us to suppose that God , after the compleating of his Creation , and the laws given to all things for their action , and continuance , to be every moment working in a quite other way in one instance of beings , than he doth in all besides ; is methinks a somewhat odd apprehension , especially when no Reason urgeth to it , and Scripture is silent . For such places as this [ the God of the Spirits of all flesh , the Father of Spirits . The spirit returns to God that gave it . The souls which I have made . We are his off-spring . Who formeth the spirit of man within him , and the like ] signifie no more , but that our souls have a nearer relation to God than our bodies , as being his immediate workmanship , made without any creature-interposal , and more especially regarded by him . But to inferr hence , that they were then produced when these bodies were generated , is illogical and inconsequent . So that all that these Scriptures will serve for , is only to disprove the Doctrine of Traduction , but makes not a tittle for the ordinary Hypothesis of Daily Creation against Praeexistence .

CHAP. III.

(2) Traduction of souls is impossible , the reasons for it weak and frivolous , the proposal of Praeexistence .

THus then we have examin'd the ●irst way of stating the Soul's original , that of continual Creation ; and finding no sure resting place for our inquiry here , we remove to the second ,

The way of Traduction or seminal Propagation . And the adherers to this Hypothesis are of two sorts , viz. either such as make the Soul to be nothing but a purer sort of matter , or of those that confess it wholly spiritual and immaterial . I 'le dispatch the former , briefly strike at the root of their misconceit of the Souls production , and shew it cannot be matter , be it as pure as can be conceived .

Therefore (1) If the soul be matter , then whatever perceptions or apprehensions it hath , or is capable of , they were l●● in at the senses . And thus the great Patron of the Hypothesis states it , in his Leviathan , and other writings . But now clear , it is that our Souls have some conceptions , which they never received from external sense : For there are some congenite implicit Principles in us , without which there could be no sensation ▪ * since the images of objects are very small and inconsiderable in our brains , comparatively to the vastness of the things which they represent , and very unlike them in multitudes of other circumstances ; so that 't were impossible we should have the sensible representation of any thing , * were it not that our souls use a kind of Geometry , or mathematick Inference in judging of external objects by those little hints it finds in material impressions . Which Art and the principles thereof were never received from sense , but are pre●upposed to all sensible perceptions . * And , were the soul quite void of all such implicit notions , it would remain as senseless as a stone for ever .

Besides , we find our minds fraught with principles logical , moral , metaphysical , which could never owe their original to sense otherwise , than as it gives us occasions of using them . * For sense teacheth no general propositions , but only affords singulars for Induction ; which being an Inference , must proceed from an higher principle that owns no such dependence on the senses , as being found i● the mind , and not deriv'd from any thing without . Also we find in our selves mathematical notions , and build certain demonstrations on them , which abstract from sense and matter . And therefore never had them from any material power , * but from something more sublime and excellent . But this Argument is of too large a consideration to be treated of here , and therefore I content my self with those brief Touches , and pass on .

(2) If the soul be matter , 't is impossible it should have the sense of any thing : for either the whole image of the object must be received in one point of this sensitive matter ; a thing absurd at first view , that such variety of distinct and orderly representations should be made at once upon a single atom ; or the whole image is imprest upon every point , and then there would be as many objects as there are points in this matter ; and so every thing would be infinitely multiplied in our del●sive senses . Or finally , every part of the soul must receive a proportionable part of the image ; and then , how could those parts communicate their perceptions to each other , and what should perceive the whole ? This Argument is excellently managed by the great Dr. H. More , in whose writings this fond Hypothesis is fully triumpht over , and defeated . Since therefore the very lowest degree of perception , single and simple sense , is incompatible to meer body or matter , we may safely conclude , that the higher and nobler operations of imagining , remembring , reasoning , and willing must have a cause and source that is not Corporeal . Thus therefore those that build the souls traduction upon this ground of its being only body and modified matter , are disappointed in the foundation of their conclusion .

But (2) Another sort of assertors of traduction teach the Soul to be spiritual and incorporeal , and affirm that by a vertue deriv'd from the first benediction , it can propagate its like ; one soul emitting another as the body doth the matter of Generation . The manner of which spiritual production useth to be illustrated by one Candle's lighting another ; and a mans begetting a thought in anothers mind , without diminishing of his own . This is the most favourable representation of this opinion , that I can think on . And yet , if we nearly consider it , it will appear most absu●d and unphilosophical . For if one soul produce another , 't is either out of nothing or something praeexistent . If the former , 't is an absolute creation , which all philosophy concludes impossible for a Creature . And if it be pretended that the Parent doth it not by his proper natural virtue , but by a strength imparted by God in the first blessing , Increase and multiply , so that God is the prime agent , he only the instrument : I rejoin , that then either God hath thereby obliged himself to put forth a new and extraordinary power in every such occasion , distinct from his influence in the ordinary ●ourse of nature : Or else (2) he only concurrs by his providence , as he doth to our other natural actions , we having this Ability bestowed upon our very natures . He that asserts the first , runs upon all the rocks that he would avoid in the former Hypothesis of continual Creation , and God will be made the cause of the sin , and misery of his spotless and blameless Creatures ; which absurdities he cannot shun by saying , that God , by interposing in such productions , doth but follow the rules of acting , which he first made while man was innocent . For certainly , infinite goodness would never have tyed up it self to such Laws of working , as he foresaw would presently bring unavoidable inconvenience , misery , and ruine upon the best part of his workmanship . And for the second way , it supposeth God to have no more to do in this action than in our eating and drinking . Consequently , here is a creation purely natural . And methinks , if we have so vast a power to bring the ends of contradictories together , something out of nothing , ( which some deny to Omnipotence it self ) 't is much we cannot conserve in being our Creature so produced , nor our own intimate selves , since conservation is not more than Creation . And 't is much , that in other things we should give such few specimens of so vast an ability ; or , have a power so divine and excellent , and no faculty to discern it by .

Again , (2) if the Soul be immediately produced out of nothing , be the agent who it will , God or the Parent , it will be pure and sinless . For , supposing our parents to be our Creators ; they make us but as natural agents , * and so can only transmit their natural qualities , but not their moral pravities . Wherefore there can no better account be given from this way how the Soul is so debauched and infected assoon as it comes into the body , than in the former , and therefore it fails in the main end it is designed for .

Thus we see then that the traduction of the Soul , supposing it to be produced out of nothing , cannot be defended .

Nor doth the second general way yield any more relief to this Hypothesis . For if it be made of any thing praeexistent , it is either of matter or spirit . The former we have undermined and overthrown already , in what was said against those , that hold it to be body . And if it be made out of any Spiritual substance , it must be the soul of the parent , ( except we will revive the old enthusiastick conceit of its being a particle of the divine essence ) which supposition is * against the nature of an immaterial being , a chief property of which , is to be indiscerpible . Nor do the similitudes I mentioned in the proposal of the Hypothesis , at all fit the business ; for one candle lights another , * by separable emissions that pass from the flame of that which is kindled , to the wick of the other . And flame is a body whose parts are in continual flux , as a river . But the substance of the soul is stable , permanent , and indivisible , which quite makes it another case . And for a mans informing anothers mind with a thought which he had not conceived , it is not a production of any substance , but only an occasioning him to exert an operation of his mind which he did not before . And therefore makes , nothing to the illustrating , how a Soul can produce a Soul , a substance distinct and without it self : Thus we see how desperate the case of the souls original is in the Hypothesis of Traduction also . But yet to let it have fair play , we 'l give it leave to plead it's cause ; and briefly present what is most material in its behalf .

There are but two reasons that I can think of , worth the naming : (1) A man begets a man , and a man he is not without a Soul , therefore 't is pretended that the soul is begotten . But this argument is easily detected of palpable sophistry , and is as if one should argue , a man is mortal , therefore his Soul is mortal ; or is fat and lusty , therefore his Soul is so . The absurdity of which kinds of reasoning lyes in drawing that into a strict and rigorous affirmation , which is only meant according to vulgar speech , and is true only in some remarkable respect or circumstance . Thus we say , A man begets a man because he doth the visible and only sensible part of him ; The vulgar , to whom common speech is accommodate , not taking so much notice of what is past the ken of their senses . And therefore Body in ordinary speaking is oft put for Person , as here man for the body . Sometimes the noblest part is used for the whole , as when 't is said 70 Souls went down with Jacob into Egypt ; therefore such arguments as the asserters of traduction make use of , which are drawn from vulgar schemes of speech , argue nothing but the desperateness of the cause , that needs such pitiful sophistries to recommend it . Such are these proofs which yet are some of the best I meet with , The seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents head ; Sixty six souls descended out of Jacobs loins ; Adam begat a son in his own likeness , and such like . According to this rate of arguing the scripture may be made speak any thing that our humour some phancies please to dictate . And thus to rack the sacred writings , to force them whether they will or no to bring evidence to our opinions , is an affront to their Authority , that 's next to the denying on 't . I might add (2) that begetting also hath a latitude , and in common speech signifies not a strict and philosophical production ; So that a man ●egets a man , though he only generates the body , into which fitly prepared descends a soul . And he that doth that upon which another thing necessarily follows , is said to be the cause of both .

(2) The adherents to traduction use to urge , that , except the whole man , soul and body , be propagated , there is no account can be given of our original desilement . And scripture gives evident testimony to that early pollution ; for we are said to be conceived in sin , and transgressors from the Womb.

We have already seen that indeed the way of daily creating souls , cannot come off but with vilely aspersing the divine attributes . And it hath been hinted , that neither can Traduction solve the business : for if the Parent beget the soul out of nothing , it will be as pure and clean as if God himself were it's immediate Creator ; for though a clean thing cannot come out of an unclean , when any thing of the substance of the producent is imparted to the effect ; yet where 't is made out of nothing , the reason is very different : Yea , the soul in all the powers that ar● concern'd in this production is now as clean and pure as ever 't was ; for it is suppos'd to do it by a capacity given , at its first creation while pure and innocent ; in which respect it is not capable of moral contagion ; this being an ability meerly natural and plastick , and not at all under the imperium or command of the will , the only seat of moral good and evil . Or , if our souls are but particles and decerptions of our parents , then I must have been guilty of all the sins that ever were committed by my Progenitors ever since Adam ; and by this time , my soul would have been so deprav'd and debauch'd , that it would be now brutish , yea diabolical . Thus then we see , that even upon this reason , 't is necessary , to pitch upon some other Hypothesis , to give an account of the pravity of our natures ; which both these fail in the solution of . And , since the former commits such violence upon the honour of the divine attributes , since the latter is so contrary to the nature of things , and since neither can give any satisfaction in the great affairs of providence and our natures , or have any incouragement from the Sacred Volume ; 'T is I think , very excusable for us to cast our eyes abroad , to see if there be no other way , that may probably unriddle those mysteries , and relieve the minds of anxious and contemplative inquirers . In which search , if we light on any thing that doth sweetly accord with the Attributes of God , the nature of things , and unlocks the intricacies of Providence ; I think we have found , what the two former opinions aim at , but cannot make good their pretences to ; And may salute the truth with a joyful 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Wherefore from the modern disputants , let us look towards the ancient Sages , those Eastern Sophi , that have fill'd the world with the fame of their wisdom ; And since our inquiries are benighted in the West , let us look towards the East , from whence 't is likely the desired light may display it self , and chase away the darkness that covers the face of those theories . Therefore it was the opinion of the Indian Brachmans , the Persian Magi , the Aegyptian Gymnosophists , the Jewish Rabbins , some of the Graecian Philosophers , and Christian Fathers , that the souls of men were created all at first ; and at several times and occasions upon forfeiture of their better life and condition , dropt down into these terrestrial bodies . This the learned among the Jews made a part of their Cabbala , and pretend to have received it from their great Law-giver , Moses ; which Hypothesis , if it appear but probable to an impartial inquiry , will even on that account be preferrible to both the former , which we have seen to be desperate .

CHAP. IV.

(1) Praeexistence cannot be disproved . Scripture saith nothing against it . It 's silence is no prejudice to this Doctrine , but rather an Argument for it , as the case standeth . Praeexistence was the common opinion of our Saviour's times . How , probably , it came to be lost in the Christian Church .

THerefore let us see what title it can shew for our assent , or whether it can prove it self worthy of the Patronage of those great Authors that have owned it .

(1) Then , Whether this Doctrine be true or no ; I 'm confident it cannot be proved false : for if all Souls were not made together , it must be , either because God could not do it ; or because he would not . For the first ; I suppose very few have such narrow Conceptions of the divine power , as to affirm that omnipotence could not produce all those beings at first , which apart he is suppos'd to create daily ; which implies no contradiction , or as much as difficulty , to be conceived ; and which de facto he hath done in the case of Angels . Or , if inconsistence with any Attribute should be pretended , that shall be prov'd quite otherwise hereafter ; And the amicable consistence of this Hypothesis with them , yea , the necessity of it , from this very consideration of the divine Attributes , shall be argued in the process .

Therefore , whoever concludes that God made not all souls of old , when he produced the world out of nothing , must confess the reason of this assertion to be , because he would not . And then I would ask him , how he came to know what he affirms so boldly ? Who acquainted him with the Divine Counsels ? Is there a word said in his revealed Will to the contrary ? or , hath he by his holy pen-men told us that either of the other ways was more sutable to his beneplaciture ? Indeed , 't is very likely that a strong and ready phancy , possest with a perswasion of the falshood of this Hypothesis , might find some half phrases in Scripture , which he might suborn to sing to the tune of his imagination . For , in such a Miscellaneous piece as the Bible is , it will not be difficult for a man that 's strongly resolv'd against an opinion , to find somewhat or other that may seem to him to speak the language of his phancy ; And therefore it shall go hard , but that those whom their education or prejudice have engaged against this Hypothesis , will light on some obscure pieces of texts , and broken sentences or other , that shall seem to condemn what they disapprove of . But I am securely confident , that there is not a sentence in the sacred volume , from end to end , that ever was intended to teach , that all Souls were not made of old ; or that , by a legitimate consequence , would inferr it . And if any there be that seem to look another way , I dare say they are collateral , and were never designed by the divine Authors for the purpose they are made to serve , by the enemies of Praeexistence . Wherefore not to conceal any thing that with the least shew of probability can be pretended from the sacred volume in discountenance of the Doctrine of Praeexistence , I 'le bring into view whatever I know to have the least face of a Testimony to the contrary , in the divine Revelations . That so , when it shall appear that the most specious Texts that can be alledg'd , have nothing at all in them to disprove the souls praeexistence , we may be secure that God hath not discovered to us in his written will , that 't was not his pleasure to create all souls together .

Therefore ( 1. ) , It may be pretended , that the Doctrine of Praeexistence comports not with that innocence and integrity in which the Scripture determines Adam to have been made . Since it supposeth the descent into these bodies to be a culpable lapse from an higher and better state of Life , and this to be a state of incarceration for former delinquencies . To this I answer ,

(1) No one can object any thing to purpose against Praeexistence from the unconceiveableness of it , until he know the particular frame of the Hypothesis , without which , all impugnations relating to the manner of the thing , will be wide of the mark , and but little to the business . Therefore , if the Objector would have patience to wait till we come to that part of our undertaking , he would find that there was but little ground for such a scruple . But however , to prevent all cavillings , in this place I 'le shew the invalidity of this objection . Wherefore ,

(2) There is no necessity from the Doctrine of Praeexistence to suppose Adam a Delinquent , before his noted transgression in a terrestrial body : for considering , that his body had vast advantages above ours , in point of Beauty , Purity , and Serviceableness to the Soul , what harshness is there in conceiving that God might send one of those immaculate Spirits that he had made , into such a Tenement , that he might be his steward in the affairs of this lower Family ; and an overseer , and ruler of those other Creatures that he had ordered to have their dwelling upon earth ? I am sure , there is no more contrariety to any of the Divine Attributes in this supposition , than there is in that , which makes God to have sent a pure spirit , which he had just made , into such a body . Yea ,

(3) Supposing that some Souls fell , when the Angels did ( which the process of our discourse will shew to be no unreasonable supposition ) this was a merciful provision of our Maker , and a generous undertaking for a Seraphick and untainted Spirit . For by this means , fit and congruous matter is prepared for those Souls to reside and act in , who had rendred themselves unfit to live and enjoy themselves in more refined bodies . And so those Spirits that had sinned themselves into a state of silence and inactivity , are by this seasonable means , which the divine Wisdom and Goodness hath contrived for them , put once more into a capacity of acting their parts anew , and coming into play again . Now if it seem hard to any to conceive how so noble a Spirit in such an advantagious body , should have been imposed upon by so gross a delusion , and submit so impotently to the first temptation ; He may please to consider , that the difficulty is the same , supposing him just then to have been made ; if we grant him but that purity and those great perfections both of will , and understanding , which orthodox theology allows him .

Yea , again (4) I might ask , What inconvenience there is in supposing , that Adam himself was one of those delinquent Souls , * which the divine pity and compassion had thus set up again ; that so , so many of his excellent Creatures might not be lost and undone irrecoverably ; but might act anew , though upon a lower stage in the universe ? A due consideration of the infinite foecundity and fulness of the divine goodness will , if not warrant , yet excuse such a supposition .

But now if it be demanded , What advantage Adam's standing had been to his posterity , had he continued in the state of innocence ; and how sin and misery is brought upon us by his Fall , according to this Hypothesis ? I answer , that then among many other great priviledges , he had transmitted downwards by way of natural generation that excellent and blessed temper of body ; which should have been like his own happy crasis . So that our apprehensions should have been more large and free , our affections more regular and governable ; and our inclinations to what is good and vertuous , strong and vigorous . For we cannot but observe in this state , how vast an influence the temper of our bodies hath upon our minds ; both in reference to intellectual and moral dispositions . Thus , daily experience teacheth us , how that , according to the ebb or flow of certain humours in our bodies , our wits are either more quick , free , and sparkling , or else more obtuse , weak , and sluggish . And we find that there are certain clean and healthy dispositions of body which make us cheerful , and contented ; others on the contrary morose , melancholy , and dogged . And 't is easie to observes how age or sickness sowers , and crabbs our natures . I might instance in almost all other qualities of the mind , which are strangely influenc't and modifyed according to the bodies constitution . But none will deny so plain a truth ; and therefore I forbear to insist further on it . Nor need I mention any more advantages ; so many , and such great ones , being consequent upon this . But our great Protoplast and representative , falling through his unhappy disobedience , besides the integrity and rectitude of his mind , he lost also that blessed constitution of Body , which would have been so great a priviledg to his off-spring : so that it became now corrupt , weak , and indisposed for the nobler exercises of the Soul ; and he could transmit no better to us , than himself was owner of . Thus we sell in him , and were made miserable by his transgression . We have bodies conveyed to us , which strangely do bewitch and betray us . And thus we all bear about us the marks of the first apostacy . There are other sad effects of his defection , but this may suffice for my present purpose . Thus we see how that the derivation of original depravity from Adam is as clear in this Hypothesis , as can be pretended in either of the other . And upon other Accounts it seems to have much the advantage of both of them . As will appear to the unprejudiced in what is further to be discoursed of .

Finally , therefore , If the urgers of the Letter of Genesis of either side , against this Hypothesis , would but consider , That the Souls that descend hither , for their praevarication in another state , lye in a long condition of silence and insensibility , before they appear in terrestrial bodies ; each of them then might , from the doctrine of Praeexistence thus stated , gain all the advantages which he supposeth to have by his own opinion , and avoid all those alsurdities which he seeth the other run upon . If the Asserters of daily Creation think it clear from Scripture that God is the Father of Spirits , and immediate maker of Souls , they 'l find the same made good and assented to in this Hypothesis . And if they are unwilling to hold any thing contrary to the Nature of the soul , which is immortal and indiscerpible , the Doctrine of Praeexistence amicably closeth with them in this also .

And if the Patrons of Traduction would have a way , how sin and misery may be propagated from our first Parent without aspersing the divine Attributes , or affirming any thing contrary to the phaenomena of Providence , and Nature ; this Hypothesis will clear the business ; It giving us so fair an Account how we all dye in Adam , without blotting the Wisdom , Justice , or Goodness , of God , or affirming any thing contrary to the Appearances of Nature .

I have been the longer on this Argument , because 't is like to be one main objection ; And we see it is so far from prejudicing , that it is no inconsiderable evidence of the truth of Praeexistence .

And now , besides this that I have named , I cannot think of any Arguments from Scripture against this Doctrine , considerable enough to excuse a mention of them . However , if the candid Reader will pardon the impertinency I 'le present to view what I find most colourable .

Therefore (2) , It may be some are so inadvertent as to urge against our souls having been of old , that , Sacred writ says We are but of Yesterday ; which expression of divine Scripture , is questionless to be understood of our appearance on this stage of Earth . And is no more an Argument against our Praeexistence , than that other phrase of his , Before I go hence , and Be no more , is against our future existence in an other state after the present life is ended . Nor will it prove more the business it is brought for , than the expression of Rachels weeping for her Children because they were not , will inferr , that they were , absolutely nothing . Nor can any thing more be made .

( 3. ) Of that place in Ecclesiastes , Yea , better is he than both they , ( meaning the dead and living ) which hath not yet been ; since , besids that 't is a like scheme of speech with the former , it seems more to favour , than discountenance Praeexistence ; for what is absolutely nothing can neither be worse , nor better . Moreover , we coming from a state of silence and inactivity when we drop into these bodies , we were before , as if we had not been ; and so there is better ground in this case , for such a manner of speaking , than in meer non-appearance ; which yet Scripture phraseth a Not being .

* And now I cannot think of any place in the Sacred volume more that could make a tolerable plea against this Hypothesis , of our Souls having been before they came into these bodies ; except

( 4. ) Any will draw a negative Argument from the History of the Creation , concluding that the Souls of men were not made of old , because there is no mention there , of any such matter . To which I return briefly , That the same Argument concludes against the being of Angels , of whose Creation there is no more say'd in the first story than of this inferiour rank of Spirits , Souls . The reason of which silence is commonly taken to be , because Moses had here to do with a rude and illiterate people , who had few or no apprehensions of any thing beyond their senses , and therefore he takes notice to them of nothing but what was sensible and of common observation . This reason is given also why minerals were omitted . 'T were an easy matter , to shew how the outward cortex , the Letter of this History is adapted to mean and vulgar apprehensions , whose narrowness renders them incapable of sublimer speculations . But that being more than needs for our present purpose , I shall forbear to speak further of it .

I might (2) further add , that great and learned Interpreters tell us , that all sorts of Spirits , Angels , and Souls are symbollically meant by the creation of heaven , and light . And , if it were directly in the way of our present business , it might be made appear to be no improbable conjecture . But I referr him that is curious in this particular to the great Restorer of the antient Cabbala , the Learned Dr. H. More in his conjectura Cabbalistica .

And now from the consideration of the silence of the first History , we descend to the last and most likely to be urged scruple , which is to this purpose .

( 5. ) We are not to step beyond the divine Revalations , and since God hath made known no such Doctrine as this , of the Souls Praeexistence any where in his word , we may reasonably deny it , or at least have no ground to imbrace it . This is the most important objection of all the rest , and most likely to prepossess timorous and wary inquirers against this Hypothesis ; wherefore I conceive that a full answer to this doubt , will prevent many scrupulous Haesitations , and make way for an unprejudic'd hearing of what I have further to alledge in the behalf of this opinion . And

( 1. ) I wish that those that urge Scripture silence to disprove praeexistence would consider , how silent it is both in the case of Daily Creation , and Traduction ; we have seen already that there is nothing in Sacred writ to warrant either , but only such Generals from which the respective Patrons of either Doctrine would inferr their own conclusion , though indeed they all of them with better right and congruity prove Praeexistence .

( 2. ) I suppose those that argue from Scripture-silence in such cases mistake the design of Scripture , which is not to determine points of speculation , but to be a rule of Life and Manners . Nor doth it otherwise design the teaching of Doctrinals , than as they have a tendency to promote the divine life , righteousness and Holiness . It was never intended by it's inspired Authors to fill our Heads with notions , but to regulate our disorderly appetites and affections , and to direct us the way to a nobler happiness . Therefore those that look for a systeme of opinions in those otherways-designed writings , do like him that should see for a body of natural Philosophy , in Epictetus his morals , or Seneca's Epistles .

( 3. ) Christ and his Apostles spoke and writ as the condition of the persons with whom they dealt administred occasion , as as did also the other pen-men . Therefore doubtless there were many noble Theories which they could have made the world acquainted with , which yet for want of a fit occasion to draw them forth were never upon Record . And we know , sew speculative truths are deliver'ed in Scripture , but such as were called forth by the controversies of those times : And Praeexistence was none of them , it being the constant opinion of the Jews , as appears by that Question , Master , was it for this man's sin or his Fathers , that he was born blind , which supposeth it of the Disciples also . Wherefore

( 4. ) There was little need of more teaching of that , which those times were sufficiently instructed in : And indeed , as the case stands , if Scripture-silence be Argumentative , 't wil be for the advantage of Praeexistence ; since it being the then common opinion , and the disciples themselves being of that belief , 't is very likely , had it been an errour , that our Saviour or his Apostles would have witnest against it . But there being not a word let fall from them in disapproval of that opinon , though sometimes occasions were administred ( as by the Question of the Disciples , and some other occurrences ) 't is a good presumption of the soundness of it .

Now that Praeexistence was the common opinion of the Jews , in those times might be made good with full and convictive evidence , were it worth our labour to insist much upon this Inquiry ; but this being only a by-consideration , a brief touch of it will suffice us . One of the great Rabbins therefore , * Mr. Ben Israel in his Problems de Creatione , assures us , that Praeexistence was the common belief of all wise men among the Jews , without exception . And the Author of the Book of Wisdom , who certainly was a Jew , probably Philo , plainly supposeth the same Doctrine in that Speech , For I was a witty Child , and had a good Spirit , wherefore the rather being good , I came into a body undefiled . As also did the Disciples in their Foremention'd Question to our Saviour ; For except they supposed , that he might have sinned before he was born , the Question had been sensless and impertinent . Again , when Christ askt them , whom men said he was they answered , that some said John the Baptist , others Elias , others Jeremias or one of the Prophets , which sayings of theirs suppose their belief of a Metempsychosis and consequently of Praeexistence . These , one would think , were very proper occasions for our Saviour to have rectified his mistaken followers , had their supposition been an errour , as he was wont to do in cases not more considerable . Therefore if the enemies of Praeexistence will needs urge Scriptures supposed silence against it ; they have no reason to take it amiss if I shew them how their Argument recoyls upon themselves , and destroy their own cause , instead of their Adversaries .

( 5. ) Besides , there were doubtless many Doctrines entertain'd by the Apostles and the more learned of their followers , which were disproportion'd to the capacities of the generality , who hold but little Theory .

There was strong meat for the more grown and manly Christians , as well as milk for babes , and weaker Constitutions . Now Scripture was designed for the benefit of the most , and they could little understand , and less make use of a speculation so remote from common conceit , as Praeexistence . Among us , wise men count it not so proper to deal forth deep and mysterious points in Divinity to common and promiscuous Auditories . Wherefore the Apostles and others of their more improv'd and capable disciples might have had such a Doctrine among them , though it were never expresly defined in their publick writings . And the Learned Origen and some other of the Antients affirm that Praeexistence was a Cabbala which was handed down from the Apostolick ages , to their times ; and we know those were early , and had therefore better advantages of knowing the certainty of such a Tradition , than we at so vast a distance .

Nor need any wonder how it came at length to be lost , or at least kept but among a few , who considers the grossness of succeeding ages , when such multitudes could swallow the dull and course Anthropomorphite Doctrines ; much less , if he reflects upon that black night of barbarick ignorance which spread it self over this western world , upon the incursion of those rude and unciviliz'd Nations that ' ore-ran the Empire : out of which darkness , 't was the work of some Centuries to recover the then obscured Region of Civility and Letters . Moreover , it would allay the admiration of any one inquisitive in such researches , when he shall have taken notice of the starting up and prevailing of School-Divinity in the world , which was but Aristotles Philosophy theologiz'd . And we know that Philosophy had the luck to swim in the general esteem and credit , when Platonism and the more antient wisdom , a branch of which , Praeexistence was , were almost quite sunk and buried . So that a Theology being now made , out of Aristotelian principles , 't is no wonder that Praeexistence was left out , nothing being supposed to have been said of it , by the great Author of that Philosophy ; and his admiring Sectators were loath to borrow so considerable a Theory , from their Masters neglected Rival , Plato .

But (6) at once to remove this stone of offence out of the way , I think Scripture is not so silent in this matter as is imagin'd . And I 'm confident , more can be said from those divine writings in behalf of Praeexistence , than for many opinions , that it's opposers are very fond of , and think to be there evidently asserted . And had this been a commonly received Doctrine , and mens Wits as much exercised for the defence on 't , as they have been for the common dogmata , I nothing doubt , but that Scriptures would have been heaped up in abundance for it's justification , and it would have been thought to have been plainly witnest too , in the inspired volume . For , as mens , phancies will readily furnish them with a proof of that , of whose truth they are strongly prepossessed ; So , on the contrary , they 'l be very backward to see any evidence of that which is strange to them , and which hath alwaies been reputed an Absurdity . But my Scripture-evidence is not so proper for this place , I intending to make it an Argument by it self . Therefore if the urger of this objection , will but have a little patience till I come so far on the way of my discourse , I hope he may be satisfied that Praeexistence is not such a stranger to Scripture as he conceits it .

CHAP. V.

Reasons against Praeexistence answered . Our forgetting the former state is no argument to disprove it : nor are the other Reasons that can be produc'd , more conclusive . The proof of the possibility of Praeexistence were enough , all other Hypotheses being absurd and contradictious . But it is prov'd also by positive Arguments .

NOw therefore to proceed , let us look back upon our progress , and so enter on what remains . We have seen , that God could have created all Souls at first had he so pleased , and that he hath revealed nothing in his written Will to the contrary . And now if it be found also , that he hath not made it known to our Reasons that 't was not his will to do so , we may conclude this first particular , That no one can say , that the Doctrine of Praeexistence is a falshhood . Therefore let us call to Account the most momentous reasons that can be laid against it , and we shall find that they all have not weight enough in the least to move so rational and solid an opinion .

( 1. ) Then , 't is likely to be urged , that had we lived and acted in a former state , * we should doubtless have retain'd some remembrance of that condition ; But we having no memory of any thing backwards before our appearance upon this present stage , it will be thought to be a considerable praesumption , that Praeexistence is but a phancy .

But I would desire such kind of reasoners to tell me , how much they remember of their state and condition in the womb , or of the Actions of their first infancy . And I could wish they would consider , that not one passage in an hundred is remembred of their grown and riper age . Nor doth there scarce a night pass but we dream of many things which our waking Memories can give us no Account of ; yea , old age and some kinds of diseases blot out all the images of things past , and even in this state cause a total oblivion . * Now if the Reasons why we should lose the remembrance of our former life be greater , than are the causes of forgetfulness in the instances we have produced , I think it will be clear , that this Argument hath but little force against the opinion we are inquiring into . Therefore if we do but reflect upon that long state of silence and inactivity that we emerged from , when we came into these bodies ; and the vast change we under-went by our sinking into this new and unwonted habitation , it will appear to the considerate , that there is greater reason why we should have forgotten our former Life , than any thing in this . And if a disease or old age can rase out the memory of past actions , even while we are in one and the same condition of Life , certainly so long and deep a swoon as is absolute insensibility and inertness , may much more reasonably be thought to blot out the memory of an other Life , whose passages probably were nothing like the transactions of this .

And this also might be given as an other Reason of our forgetting our former state , since usually things are brought to our remembrance by some like occurrences . But

( 2. ) Some will argue , If this be a state of punishment for former miscarriages , how comes it about then , that 't is a better condition than that we last came from , viz. the state of silence and insensibility ? I answer , That if we look upon our present terrestrial condition as an effect of our defection from the higher Life , and in reference to our former happiness lost by our own default , 't is then a misery and a punishment . But if we compare our now-being with the state of inactivity we were delivered from , it may then be called an After-Game of the divine Goodness , and a Mercy . As a Malefactor , that is at first put into a dark and disconsolate dungeon , and afterwards is remov'd to a more comfortable and lightsome prison , may acknowledge his remove to be a favour and deliverance compared with the place he was last consined to ; though with respect to his fault and former liberty , even this condition is both a mulct and a misery . It is just thus in the present ca●e , and any one may make the application .

But it will be said , (3) If our Souls liv'd in a former state , did they act in bodies , or without them ? The former they 'l say is absurd , and the latter incongruous and unlikely ; since then all the powers the Soul hath to exert in a body , would have been idle and to no purpose . But (1) the most that can be argued from such like objections , is , that we know not the manner of the thing ; and are no Arguments against the assertion it self . And were it granted that the paticular state of the Soul before it came hither is inconceivable , yet this makes no more against it , than it doth against it's after-condition ; which these very objectors hold to be so , as to the particular modus . But (2) Why is it so absurd that the Soul should have actuated another kind of body , before it came into this ? Even here 't is immediately united to a purer vehicle , moves and acts the grosser body by it ; And why then might it not in its former and purer state of Life have been joyn'd only to such a refined body , which should have been suitable to its own perfection and purity ? I 'me sure , many , if not the most of the Antient Fathers , thought Angels themselves to be embodied , and therefore they reputed not this such a gross absurdity . But an occasion hereafter will draw our pen this way again , and therefore I pass it to a third return to this objection .

( 3. ) Therefore , though it were granted that the Soul lived afore-times without a body , what greater incongruity ▪ is there in such a supposition , than that it should live and act after death without any union with matter or any body whatsoever , as the objectors themselves conceive it doth ? But all such objections as these will fly away as mists before the Sun , when we shall come particularly to state the Hypothesis . And therefore I may be excused from further troubling my self and the Reader about them here . Especially since , as hath been intimated , they prove nothing at all , but that the objectors cannot conceive what manner of state that of Praeexistence was , which is no prejudice to the opinion it self ; that our Souls were extant before these earthly bodies .

Thus then I hope I have clearly enough made good that all Souls might have been Created from the beginning ; for ought any thing that is made known , either in the Scriptures or our reasons to the contrary . * And thereby have removed those prejudices that Would have stood in the way of our conclusion . Wherefore we may now without controul , from our proof of , That it may be so ; pass on to enquire , whether indeed , it is so ; and see , whether it may as well be asserted , as defended .

And truly considering that both the other ways are impossible , and this third not at all unreasonable , it may be thought needless to bring more forces into the field to gain it the victory , after its enemies are quite scattered and defeated . Yet however , for the pomp and triumph of truth , though it need not their service , we shall add some positive Arguments , whereby it may appear , that not only all other ways are dangerous and unpassable , and this irreproveable ; but also that there is direct evidence enough to prove it solid and rational . And I make my first consideration of this kind , a second Argument .

CHAP. VI.

A second Argument for Praeexistence drawn from the consideration of the Divine Goodness , which always doth what is best .

(2) THen , whoever conceives rightly of God , apprehends him to be infinite and immense Goodness , who is alwayes shedding abroad of his own exuberant ●ulness : There is no straitness in the Deity , no bounds to the ocean of Love . Now the divine Goodness referrs not to himself , as ours extends not unto him . He acts nothing for any self-accomplishment , being essentially and absolutely compleat and perfect . But the object and term of his goodness is his creatures good and happiness , in their respective capacities . He is that infinite fountain that is continually overflowing ; and can no more cease to shed his influences upon his indigent dependents than the sun to shine at noon . * Now as the infinite Goodness of the deity , obligeth him always to do good , so by the same reason to do that which is best ; since to omit any degrees of good would argue a defect in goodness , supposing wisdom to order , and power to execute . He therefore that supposeth God not always to do what is best , and best for his Creatures ( for he cannot act for his own Good ) apprehends him to be less good than can be conceived , and consequently not infinitely so . For what is infinite , is beyond measure and apprehension .

Therefore to direct this to our purpose , God being infinitely good , and that to his Creatures , and therefore doing always what is best for them , methinks it roundly follows that our souls lived and 'njoy'd themselves of old before they came into these bodies . For since they were capable of living , and that in a much better and happier state long before they descended into this region of death and misery ; and since that condition of life and self-enjoyment would have been better , than absolute not-being ; may we not safely conclude from a due consideration of the divine goodness , that it was so ? What was it that gave us our being , but the immense goodness of our Maker ? And why were we drawn out of our nothings , but because it was better for us to be , than not to be ? Why were our souls put into these bodies , and not into some more squalid and ugly ; but because we are capable of such , and 't is better for us to live in these , than in those that are less sutable to our natures ? And had it not been better for us , to have injoy'd our selves and the bounty and favours of our Maker of old , as did the other order of intellectual creatures , than to have layn in the comfortless night of nothing till t'other day ? Had we not been better on 't to have lived and acted in the joyful regions of light and blessedness with those Spirits that at first had being , than just now to jump into this sad plight , and state of sin and wretchedness ?

Insinite Power could as well have made us all at once , as the Angels ; and with as good congruity to our natures we might have liv'd and been happy without these bodies , as we shall be in the state of separation : since therefore it was best for us , and as easie for our Creator so to have effected it , where was the defect , if it was not so ? Is not this to ●lurr his goodness , and to strait-lace the divine beneficence ? And doth not the contrary Hypothesis to what I am pleading for , represent the God of Love as less good and bountiful , than a charitable Mortal , who would neglect no opportunity within his reach of doing what good he could to those that want his help and assistance ?

I confess , the world generally have such Narrow and unbecoming apprehensions of God , and draw his picture in their imaginations so like themselves , that few I doubt will feel the force of this Argument ; and mine own observation makes me enter the same suspicion of its success that some others have who have used it . 'T is only a very deep sense of the divine goodness can give it any perswasive energy . And this noble sentiment there are very few that are possest of . However to lend it what strength I can , I shall endeavour to remove some prejudices that hinder it's force and efficacy ; And when those spots and scum are wiped away , that mistake and inadvertency have fastned on it , 't will be illustrious by its own brightness .

CHAP. VII .

This first Evasion , that God acts freely , and his meer will is reason enough for his doing , or forbearing any thing , overthrown by four Considerations . Some incident Evasions , viz. that Gods Wisdom , or his glory , may be contrary to this display of the divine goodness , in our being made of old , clearly taken off .

( 1. ) THerefore , will some say , God worketh freely , nor can he be obliged to act but when he pleaseth . And this will and pleasure of his is the reason of our beings , and of the determinate time of our beginning . Therefore if God would not that we should have been made sooner , and in a better state of life , his will is reason enough , and we need look no further . To this evasion , I thus Reply .

( 1. ) 'T is true indeed , God is the most Free Agent , because none can compel him to act , none can hinder him from acting . Nor can his Creatures oblige him to any thing . But then

( 2. ) The divine liberty and freedom consists not in his acting by meer arbitrarious will , as disjunct from his other Attributes . For he is said to act according to the Counsel of his own will . So that his wisdom and goodness are as it were the Rules whereby his will is directed . Therefore though he cannot be obliged to act by any thing without himself , yet he may be the Laws of his own essential rectitude and perfection . Wherefore I conceive he is said , not to be able to do those things ( which he might well enough by absolute power ) that consist not with his ever blessed Attributes . Nor by the same reason can he omit that which the eternal Law of his most persect nature obligeth him to . The summ is , * God never acts by meer will or groundless humour , that is a weakness in his impersect Creatures ; but according to the immutable Rules of his ever blessed essence . And therefore ,

(3) 'T is a derogation from his infinite Majesty to assert any thing contrary to his Goodness upon pretence of his will and pleasure . For whatever is most sutable to this most blessed Attribute , and contradicts no other , that be sure he willeth . Wherefore

(4) If it be better , and more agreeable to the divine goodness that we should have been in an happier state , before we came into these bodies , Gods will cannot then be pretended to the contrary , ( especially it having been proved already , that he hath no way revealed any such will of his ) but rather it is demonstratively clear that his will was , it should be so . Since as God never acts in the absence of his wisdom and goodness , so neither doth he abstain from acting when those great Attributes require it .

Now if it be excepted again (2) That 't is tr●e that this Hypothesis is most sutable to the divine goodness , and the consideration of that alone would inferr it : But how know we but his Wisdom contradicts it ? I return briefly , That if it be confest to be so correspondent to , and inferrible from one Attribute , and cannot be prov'd inconsistent with another , my business is determined . Therefore let those that pretend an inconsistence , prove it . (2) The Wisdom of God is that Attribute and essential perfection , whereby the divine actions are directed to their end , which is always good , and best : Therefore to do that which is best , cannot thwart the divine wisdom , but always includes and supposeth it : Whence it follows , that what so comports with goodness , cannot stand opposite to Wisdom . Wisdom in God being indeed nothing else but goodness , contriving and directing for the Creature 's good and happiness . For we must remember , what was said above , that what is infinitely full and perfect , can have no ends for any self-advantage ; and therefore the ends of the divine wisdom are something without himself , and consequently the good and perfection of his Creatures . So that unless it can be proved to have been contrary to ours , or any other Creatures good , that we should have been extant as soon as the Light , it cannot be concluded to have any contradiction to the divine wisdom .

But it will be said again , (3) Gods glory is his great end , for the promoting of which his wisdom directs all his Actions ; and consequently , that which may be best for the Creature , may not be so conducive to the divine Glory , and therefore not agreeable with his wisdom .

Now , though I think the world hath a very mistaken apprehension of Gods glory , yet I shall not here ingage in more controversies , than I must needs . 'T is enough for my present purpose to intimate ; That Gods glory is no by-end or self-accumulation , nor an addition of anything to Him which he was not eternally possest of ; nor yet is it any thing that stands in opposition to the good of his Creation ; But the display and communication of his excellencies ; among the which , his goodness is not the least considerable , if it be not that most divine and fundamental Attribute which gives perfection to all the rest . So that we may assure our selves , that when ever his goodness obligeth him to action , his glory never stands in opposition . For even this is his glory , to communicate to his creatures sutably to his own absolute fulness , and to act according to the direction of his essential perfections ; yea , though we should state his glory to consist alone , in the honour and renown of his Attributes , yet even then the Hypothesis of our having been made in the beginning will accumulate to his praises , and represent him to his creatures as more illustrious ; since it is a more magnificent apprehension of his goodness , and clears his other Attributes from those stains of dis-repute that all other suppositions cast upon them . And though his glory should consist , as too many fondly imagine , in being praised and admired by his creatures , even on this account also it would have obliged him to have made us all of old , rather than opposed it ; since , then , his excellencies had been sung forth by a more numerous Quire , in continual Hallelujahs . Now if it should be urged , * that God made all things for himself , and therefore is not obliged to consult the good of his creatures in all his Actions : I rejoyn , that God's making all things for himself , can argue no more than his making all things for his own ends , viz. the ends of goodness . Besides , the best Criticks make that place to speak no more but this , That God orders all things according to himself ; that is , according to the rules of his own nature and perfections .

Thus then , we see that for God to do that which is best for his Creatures , is neither contrary to his will and pleasure , his wisdom , nor his glory , but most consonant to all of them . And therefore since the Praeexistence of Souls , is so agreeable to the divine goodness , and since nothing else in the Deity opposeth , but rather sweetly conspires with it , methinks this argument were enough to conclude it . But yet there are other Evasions which would elude this Demonstration ; I shall name the most considerable and leave it to the judicious to determine , whether they can disable it .

CHAP. VIII .

A second general Evasion , viz. that our Reasons cannot tell what God should do , or what is best , overthrown by several considerations . As is also a third , viz. that by the same Argument God would have been obliged to have made us impeccable , and not liable to Misery .

WHerefore the second general evasion is , That our Reasons cannot conclude what God should do , there being vast fetches in the divine wisdom which we comprehend not , nor can our natural light determine what is best . I answer (1) Our Saviour himself , who was the best Judge in the case , teacheth us , that the Reason of a man may in some things conclude what God will do , in that saying of his , If ye being evil , know how to give good things to your Children , much more shall your Father which is in Heaven give his Spirit to them that ask him : Plainly intimating , that we may securely argue from any thing that is a perfection in our selves , to the same in God . And if we , who are imperfectly good , will yet do as much good as we can , for those we love and tender ; with greater confidence may we conclude , that God , who is infinitely so , will confer upon his creatures whatever good they are capable of . Thus we see our Saviour owns the capacity of reason in a case that is very near the same that we are dealing in .

And God himself appeals to the reasons of men to judge of the righteousness and equity of his ways . Ye men of Israel and inhabitants of Jerusalem , judge between me and my vineyard ; which place I bring to shew that meer natural reason is able to judge in some cases what is fit for God to do , and what is sutable to his essence and perfections . And if in any ,

Methinks (2) its capacity in the case before us should be own'd as soon as in any . For if reason cannot determine and assure us , that a blessed and happy Being is better than None at all ; and consequently , that it was best for our souls to have been , before they were in this state of wretchedness ; and thence conclude , that it was very congruous to the divine goodness to have made us in a former and better condition ; I think then (1) That it cannot give us the assurance of any thing , since there is not any principle in Metaphy●icks or Geometry more clear than this , viz. That an happy Being , is better than absolute Not●eing . And if our reasons can securely determine this , 't is as much as we need at present . Or ●f this be not certain , how vain are those Learned men that dispute whether a state of the extremest misery a creature is capable ●of , and that everlasting , be not better than Non●entity ? ▪ (2) If we cannot certainly know that it had been Better that we should have existed in a life of happiness , proportion'd to our natures of old , than have been meer nothing , till some few years since ; we can never then own and acknowledg the divine goodness to us in any thing we enjoy . For if it might have been as good for us not to Be , as to Be , and happily ; Then it might have been as good for us to have wanted any thing else that we enjoy , as to have it ; and consequently , we cannot own it as an effect of God's goodness that he hath bestowed any blessing on us . For if Being be not better than Not-being , then 't is no effect of goodness that we are ; and if so , then 't is not from goodness that we have any thing else , * since all other things are inferiour to the good of Being . If it be said , It had been better indeed for us , to have lived in a former and happier state ; but it may be , it had not been so for the universe ; and the general good is to be preferr'd before that of particulars ;

I say then , and it may serve for a (3) answer to the general objection : If we may deny that to be done by almighty goodness , which is undoubtedly best for a whole species of his creatures , meerly on this account , that , for ought we know , it may be for the advantage of some others , though there be not the least appearance of any such matter ; we can never then argue any thing from the divine goodness . It can never then be prov'd from that glorious Attribute , that he hath not made some of his creatures on purpose that they might be miserable ; nor can it be concluded thence , that he will not annihilate all the pure and spotless Angels ; both which I suppose , any sober inquirer will think congruously deducible from the divine goodness . And if to say , for ought we know , It may be best for some other creatures , that those should be miserable , and these annihilated , be enough to disable the Argument ; on the same account we shall never be able to prove ought from this , or any other Attribute . I might add ,

(2) There is not the least colourable pretence for any such suspicion . For , would the world have been too little to have contain'd those souls , without justling with some others ? or , would they by violence have taken any of the priviledges of the other intellectual Creatures from them ? If so , how comes it about that at last they can all so well consist together ? And , could other Creatures have been more disadvantag'd by them , when they were pure and innocent , than they will at last , when they are so many of them debauched and depraved ?

(3) If this be enough to answer an Argument , to say , for ought we know , it may be thus and thus , when there is not the least sign or appearance of any such thing , then nothing can ever be proved , and we are condemned to everlasting Scepticism . We should never , for instance , from the order , beauty , and wise contrivance of the things that do appear , prove there is a God , if it were sufficient to answer , That things are indeed so made in this earth , on which we are extant ; but , it may be , they are framed very odly , ridiculously , and ineptly in some other worlds , which we know nothing of . If this be answering , any thing might be answered . But there is yet another objection against mine Argument from the Divine Goodness , which looks very formidably at a distance , though when we come near it , we shall find , it will not bear the tryal . And it may thus be urged .

(3) If the Goodness of God always obligeth him to do what is best , and best for his Creatures , How is it then , that we were not made impeccable , and so not obnoxious to misery ? Or how doth it consist with that overflowing Goodness of the Deity , that we were let to lie in a long state of silence and insensibility , before we came into these bodies ? This seems a pressing difficulty , but yet there 's hopes we may dispatch it . Therefore ,

(1) Had we been made impeccable , we should have been another kind of Creatures than now ; since we had then wanted the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or liberty of will to good and evil , which is one of our essential Attributes . Consequently , there would have been one species of beings wanting to compleat the universe ; and it would have been a slurre to the divine Goodness not to have given being to such Creatures as in the Idea were fairly possible , and contradicted no other Attribute . Yea , though he foresaw that some would sin and make themselves miserable , yet the foreseen lapse and misery of those , was not an evil great enough to over-ballance the good the species would reap by being partakers of the divine Goodness in the land of the Living ; Therefore however 't was goodness to give such Creatures being . But it will be urged upon us , If Liberty to good and ●vil be so essential to our natures , what think we then of the ●lessed souls after the Resurrection ; are not they the same Creatures , though without the liberty of sinning ? To return to this ; I think those that affirm , that the blessed have not this natural liberty , as long as they are united to a body , and are capable of resenting it's pleasures , should do well to prove it . * Inde●d they may be morally immutable and illapsible : but this is grace , not nature ; a reward of obedience , not a necessary annex of our Beings . But will it be said , why did not the divine Goodness endue us all with this moral ●ability ? Had it not been better for us to have been made in this condition of security , than in a state so dangerous ? My return to this doubt will be a second Answer to the main Objection .

Therefore Secondly , * I doubt not , but that 't is much better for rational Creatures , that this supream happiness should be the Reward of vertue , rather than entail'd upon our natures . For the procurement of that which we might have mist of , is far more sensibly gratifying , than any necessary and unacquired injoyment ; we find a greater pleasure in what we gain by industry , art , or vertue , than in the things we were born to . And had we been made secure from sin and misery from the first moment of our Being , we should not have put so high a rate and value upon that priviledge .

(3) Had we been at first establisht in an imp●ssibility of lapsing into evil ; Then many choice vertues , excellent branches of the divine Life had never been exercis'd , or indeed have been at all . Such are Patience , Faith , and Hope ; the objects of which are , evil , futurity , and uncertainty . Yea ,

(4) Had we been so sixt in an inamissible happiness from the beginning , there had then been no vertue in the world ; nor any of that matchless pleasure which attends the exercise thereof . For vertue is a kind of victory , and supposeth a conflict . Therefore we say , that God is good and holy , but not vertuous . Take away a possibility of evil , and in the Creature there is no moral goodness . And then no Reward , no Pleasure , no Happiness .

Therefore in sum ( 5ly ) , The divine Goodness is manifested in making all Creatures sutably to those Idea's of their natures , which he hath in his All-comprehensive Wisdom . And their good and happiness consists in acting according to those natures , and in being furnisht with all things necessary for such actions . Now the divine Wisdom is no arbitrary thing , that can change , or alter those setled immutable Idea's of things that are there represented . It lopps not off essential Attributes of some Beings , to in●culate them upon others : But distinctly comprehending all things , assigns each Being its proper nature , and qualities . And the Divine goodness , according to the wise direction of the eternal Intellect , in like distinct and orderly manner produceth all things : viz. according to all the variety of their respective Idea's in the divine wisdom . * Wherefore as the goodness of God obligeth him not to make every Planet a fixt Star , or every Star a Sun ; So neither doth it oblige him to make every degree of Life , a rational Soul , or every Soul , an impeccable Angel . * For this were to tye him to contradictions . Since therefore , such an order of Beings , as rational and happy , though free , and therefore mutable creatures , were distinctly comprehended in the Divine Wisdom ; It was an effect of God's Goodness , to bring them into being , even in such a condition , and in such manner , as in their eternal Idea's they were represented .

Thus then we see , it is not contrary to the infinite plenitude of the Divine Goodness * that we should have been made peccable and lyable to defection . And being thus in our very essential constitutions lapsible ; 't was no defect in the goodness of our Maker that he did not interpose by his absolute omnipotence to prevent our actual praevarication and apostasie . Since his goodness obligeth him not to secure us upon any terms whatever , but upon such , as may most promote the general good and advantage . And questionless , 't was much better that such , as would wilfully depart from the laws of their blessed natures , and break through all restraints of the divine commands , should feel the smart of their disobedience ; than that providence should disorder the constitution of nature to prevent the punishment , which they drew upon themselves : Since those apostate spirits remain instances to those that stand , of the divine justice , and severity against sinners , and so may contribute not a little to their security . And for that long night of silence , in which multitudes ofsouls are buried before they descend into terrestrial matter , it is but the due reward of their former disobedience ; for which , considering the happy circumstances in which they were made , they deserv'd to be nothing for ever . And their re-instating in a condition of life and self-injoyment after so highly culpable delinquencies , is a great instance of the over-flowing fulness of the divine compassion and benignity .

Thus then we see , That Gods making us lapsible and permitting us to fall , is no prejudice in the least to the infinite fecundity of his goodness , and his making all things best . So that mine Argument for Praeexistence bottom'd on this Foundation , stands yet firm and immoveable , notwithstanding the rude assault of this objection . From which I pass to a fourth .

CHAP. IX .

A ( 4th . ) Objection against the Argument from God's goodness , viz. That it will conclude as well that the World is infinite and eternal , Answered . The conclusion of the second Argument for Praeexistence .

THerefore fourthly , it will be excepted , If we may argue from the divine goodness , which always doth what is best , for the Praeexistence of Souls ; then we may as reasonably thence conclude , that the world is both infinite and eternal , since an infinite communication of goodness is better than a finite . To this , because I doubt I have distrest the Readers patience already , I answer briefly .

(1) Every one that believes the infiniteness of Gods goodness is as much obliged to answer this objection , as I am . For it will be said , infinite goodness doth good infinitely , and consequently the effects to which it doth communicate are infinite . For if they are not so , it might have communicated to more , and thereby have done more good , than now 't is supposed to do , and by consequence now is not infinite . And to affirm that goodness is infinite , where what it doth and intends to do is but finite , will be said to be a contradiction , since goodness is a relative term , and in God always respects somewhat ad extra . For he cannot be said to be good to himself , he being a nature that can receive no additional perfection . Wherefore this Objection makes no more against mine Argument , than it doth against the Infinity of the Divine Goodness , and therefore I am no more concern'd in i● than others . Yea ( 2 ly . ) the Scripture affirms that which is the very strength of mine Argument , viz. That God made all things best ; Very Good , saith our Translation : but the Original , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is a particle of the Superlative . And therefore every one that owns its sacred Authority is interested against this Objection . For it urgeth , it had been far more splendid , glorious , and magnificent for God to have made the universe commensurate to his own immensity ; and to have produced effects of his power and greatness , where ever he himself is , viz. in infinite space and duration , than to have confined his omnipotence to work only in one little spot of an infinite inane capacity , and to begin to act but t●other day . Thus then the late creation , and finiteness , of the World , seem to conflict with the undoubted oracle of truth as well as with mine Argument , and therefore the Objection drawn thence is of no validity . (3) Those that have most strenuously defended the orthodox doctrine against the old opinion of the eternity and infinity of the world , * have asserted it to be impossible in the nature of the thing . And sure the divine benignity obligeth him not to do contradictions ; or such things , as in the very notion of them , are impossible . But in the case of Praeexistence , no such thing can be reasonably pretended , as above hath been declared ; and therefore there is no escaping by this Evasion neither . Nor can there any thing else be urged to this purpose , but what whoever believes the infinity of the divine bounty will be concern'd to answer ; And therefore 't will make no more against me , than against a truth on all hands confessed . Let me only add this , That 't is more becoming us , to inlarge our apprehensions of things so , as that they may suit the Divine Beneficence , than to draw it down to a complyance with our little schemes , and narrow models .

Thus then I have done with the Argument for Praeexistence drawn from the Divine Goodness . And I have been the longer on it , because I thought 't was in vain to propose it , without taking to task the principal of those objections , that must needs arise in the minds of those that are not used to this way of arguing . And while there was no provision made to stop up those Evasions , that I saw this Argument obnoxious to ; the using of it , I was afraid , would have been a prejudice , rather than a furtherance of the cause I ingaged it in . And therefore I hope the ingenious will pardon this so necessary piece of tediousness .

CHAP. X.

A third Argument for Praeexistence , from the great variety of mens speculative inclinations ; and also the diversity of our Genius's , copiously urged . If these Arguments make Praeexistence but probable , 't is enough to gain it the Victory .

BUt now I proceed to another Argument . Therefore , Thirdly , If we do but re●●ect upon what was said above , against the Souls daily Creation , from that enormous pravity which is so deeply rooted in some mens natures , we may thence have a considerable evidence of Praeexistence . For as this strong natural propensity to vice and impiety cannot possibly consist with the Hypothesis of the souls coming just out of Gods hands pure and immaculate ; so doth it most aptly suit with the doctrine of its praeexistence : which gives a most clear and apposite account of the phaenomenon . For let us but conceive the Souls of men to have grown degenerate in a former condition of life , * to have contracted strong and inveterate habits to vice and lewdness , and that in various manners and degrees ; we may then easily apprehend , when some mens natures had so incredibly a depraved tincture , and such impetuous , ungovernable , irreclaimable inclinations to what is vitious ; while others have nothing near such wretched propensions , but by good education and good discipline are mouldable to vertue ; This shews a clear way to unriddle this amazing mystery , without blemishing any of the divine Attributes , or doing the least violence to our faculties .

Nor is it more difficult to conceive , how a soul should awaken out of the state of inactivity we speak of , with those radical inclinations that by long practice it had contracted , * than how a Swallow should return to her old trade of living after her winter sleep and silence ; for those customs it hath been addicted to in the other state , are now so deeply fastened and rooted in the soul , that they are become even another nature .

Now then , if Praeexistence be not the truth , 't is very strange that it should so exactly answer the Phaenomena of our natures , when as no other Hypothesis doth any whit tolerably suit them . And if we may conclude that false , which is so correspondent to all appearances , when we know nothing else that can yield any probable account of them , and which is not in the least repugnant to any inducement of belief , we then strangely forget our selves when we determine any thing . We can never for instance , conclude the Moon to be the cause of the flux and reflux of the Sea , from the answering of her approaches and recesses to its ebbs and swellings . Nor at this rate can the cause of any thing else be determined in nature .

But yet besides , (2) we might another way inforce this Argument , from the strange difference and diversity that there is in mens wits and intellectual craseis , as well as in the dispositions of their wills and appetites . Even the natural tempers of mens minds are as vastly different , as the qualities of their bodies . And 't is easie to observe in things purely speculative and intellectual , even where neither education or custom have interposed to sophisticate the natural 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that some men are strangely propense to some opinions , which they greedily drink in , as soon as they are duly represented ; yea , and find themselves burthened and opprest , while their education hath kept them in a contrary belief , * when as others are as fatally set against these opinions , and can never be brought favourably to resent them .

Every Soul brings a kind of sense with it into the world , whereby it tastes and relisheth what is suitable to its peculiar temper . And notions will never lie easily in a mind , that they are not fitted to ; some can never apprehend that for other than an Absurdity , which others are so clear in , that they almost take it for a First Principle . And yet the former hath all the same evidence as the latter . This I have remarkably taken notice of , in the opinion of the extension of a spirit . Some that I know , and those inquisitive , free , and ingenuous , by all the proof and evidence that is , cannot be reconciled to it . Nor can they conceive any thing extended , but as a Body . Whereas other deep and impartial searchers into nature , cannot apprehend it any thing at all , if not extended ; but think it must then be a mathematical point , or a meer non-entity .

I could instance in other speculations , which I have observ'd some to be passionate Embracers of upon the first proposal ; when as no arguments could prevail on others , to think them tolerable . But there needs no proof of a manifest observation .

Therefore before I go further , I would demand , whence comes this meer notional or speculative variety ? * Were his difference about sensibles , yea , or about things depending on the imagination , the influence of the body might then be suspected for a cause . But since it is in the most abstracted Theories that have nothing to do with the grosser phantasmes ; since this diversity is found in minds that have the greatest care to free themselves from the deceptions of sense , and intanglements of the body , what can we conclude , but that the soul it self is the immediate subject of all this variety , and that it came praejudiced and praepossessed into this body with some implicit notions that it had learnt in another ? And if this congruity to some opinions , and averseness to others be congenial to us , and not advenient from any thing in this state , 't is methinks clear that we were in a former . * For the Soul in its first and pure nature hath no idiosyncrasies , that is , hath no proper natural inclinations which are not competent to others of the same kind and condition . Be sure , they are not fatally determin'd by their natures to false and erroneous apprehensions . And therefore since we find this determination to one or other falshood in many , if not most in this state , and since 't is very unlikely 't is derived only from the body , custom , or education , what can we conceive on 't , but that our Souls were tainted with these peculiar and wrong corruptions before we were extant upon this stage of Earth ?

Besides , 't is easie to observe the strange and wonderful variety of our genius's ; one mans nature inclining him to one kind of study and imployment , anothers to what is very different . Some almost from their very cradles will be addicted to the making of figures , and in little mechanical contrivances ; others love to be riming almost as soon as they can speak plainly , and are taken up in small essays of Poetry . Some will be scrawling Pictures , and others take as great delight in some pretty offers at Musick and vocal harmony . Infinite almost are the ways in which this pure natural diversity doth discover it self . * Now to say that all this variety proceeds primarily from the meer temper of our bodies , is me thinks a very poor and unsatisfying Account . * For those that are the most like in the Temper , Air , Complexion of their bodies , are yet of a vastly differing Genius . Yea , they that have been made of the same clay , cast in the same mould , and have layn at once in the same natural bed , the womb ; yea whose bodies have been as like as their state and fortunes , and their education and usages the same , yet even they do not unfrequently differ as much from each other in their genius and dispositions of the mind , as those that in all these particulars are of very different condition . Besides , there are all kind of makes , forms , dispositions , tempers , and complexions of body , that are addicted by their natures to the same exercises and imployments : so that to ascribe this to any peculiarity in the body , is me seems a very improbable solution of the Phaenomenon . And to say all these inclinations are from custom or education , is the way not to be believed , since all experience testifies the contrary .

What then can we conjecture is the cause of all this diversity , but that we had taken a great delight and pleasure in some things like and analogous unto these , in a former condition , which now again begins to put forth it self , when we are awakened out of our silent recess into a state of action ? And though the imployments , pleasures and exercises of our former life , were without question very different from these in the present estate ; yet 't is no doubt , but that some of them were more confamiliar and analogous to some of our transactions , than others : so that as any exercise or imployment here is more suitable to the particular dispositions that were praedominant in the other state , with the more peculiar kindness is it regarded by us , and the more greedily do our inclinations now fasten on it . Thus if a Musician should be interdicted the use of all musical instruments , and yet might have his choice of any other Art or Profession , 't is likely he would betake himself to Limning or Poetry ; these exercises requiring the same disposition of wil and genius , as his beloved Musick did . And we in like manner , being by the ●ate of our wretched descent hindred from the direct exercising our selves about the objects of our former delights and pleasures , do yet as soon as we are able , take to those things which do most correspond to that genius that formerly inspired us .

And now 't is time to take leave of the Arguments from Reason that give evidence for Praeexistence . If any one think that they are not so demonstrative , but that they may be answered , or at least evaded ; I pray him to consider how many demonstrations he ever met with , that a good wit , resolv'd in a contrary cause , could not shu●●le from the edge of . Or , let it be granted , that the Arguments I have alledged are no infallible or necessary proofs ; yet if they render my cause but probable , yea but possible , I have won what I contended for . For it having been made manifest by as good evidence as I think can be brought for any thing , that the way of new creations is most inconsistent with the honor of the blessed Attributes of God : And that the other of Traduction is most impossible and contradictio●s in the nature of things : * There being now no other way left but Prae-existence , if that be probable or but barely possible , 't is enough to give it the victory . And whether all that hath been said prove so much or no , I leave to the indifferent to determine . I think he that will say it doth not , can bring few proofs for any thing , which according to his way of judging will deserve to be called Demonstrations .

CHAP. XI .

Great caution to be used in alledging Scripture for our speculative opinions . The countenance that Praeexistence hath from the sacred writings both of the old and new Testament ; Reasons of the seeming uncouthness of these allegations . Praeexistence stood in no need of Scripture-proof .

IT will be next expected , that I should now prove the Doctrine I have undertaken for , by Scripture evidence , and make good what I said above , That the divine oracles are not so silent in this matter as is imagined . But truly I have so tender a sense of the sacred Authority of that Holy volume , that I dare not be so bold with it , as to force it to speak what I think it intends not ; A presumption , that is too common among our confident opinionists , and that hath occasioned great troubles to the Church , and di●●epute to the inspired writings . For , for men to ascribe the odd notions of their over-heated imaginations to the Spirit of God , and eternal truth , is me thinks a very bold and impudent belying it . Wherefore I dare not but be very cautious what I speak in this matter , nor would I willingly urge Scripture as a proof of any thing , but what I am sure by the whole tenor of it , is therein contained : And would I take the liberty to fetch in every thing for a Scripture-evidence , that with a little industry a man might make serviceable to his design ; I doubt not but I should be able to ●ill my Margent with Quotations , which should be as much to purpose as have been cited in general CATECHISMS and CONFESSIONS of FAITH , and that in points that must forsooth be dignified with the sacred title of FVNDAMENTAL . But Reverend ASSEMBLIES may make more bold with Scripture than private persons ; And therefore I confess I 'm so timorous that I durst not follow their example : Though in a matter that I would never have imposed upon the belief of any man , though I were certain on 't , and had absolute power to enjoyn it . I think the only way to preserve the reverence due to the oracles of Truth , is never to urge their Authority but in things very momentous , and such as the whole current of them gives an evident suffrage to . But to make them speak every trivial conceit that our sick brains can imagine or dream of , ( as I intimated ) is to vilifie and deflowre them . Therefore though I think that several Texts of Scripture look very fairly upon Praeexistence , and would encourage a man , that considers what strong Reasons it hath to back it , to think , that very probably they mean some thing in favour of this Hypothesis ; yet I 'le not urge them as an irrefutable proof , being not willing to lay more stress upon any thing than it will bear . Yea , I am most willing to confess the weakness of my Cause in what joynt soever I shall discover it . And yet I must needs say , that whoever compares the Texts that follow , with some particulars mention'd in the answer to the objection of Scripture-silence , will not chuse but acknowledge that there is very fair probability for Praeexistence in the written word of God , as there is in that which is engraven upon our rational natures . Therefore to bring together here what Scripture saith in this matter ,

1. I 'le lightly touch an expression or two of the old Testament , which not improperly may be applyed to the business we are in search of . And methinks God himself in his posing the great instance of patience , Job , seems to intimate somewhat to this purpose , viz. that all spirits were in being when the Foundations of the earth were laid : when saith he , the morning stars sang together , and all the Sons of God shouted for joy . By the former very likely were meant the Angels , and 't is not improbable but by the latter may be intended the blessed untainted Souls . At least the particle All me thinks should comprize this order of spirits also . And within the same period of discourse , having question'd Job about the nature and place of the Light , he adds , I know that thou wast then born , for the number of thy days are many , as the Septuagint render it . * And we know our Saviour and his Apostles have given credit to that Translation by their so constant following it . Nor doth that saying of God to Jeremias in the beginning of his charge seem to intimate less , Before I formed thee in the Belly I knew thee , and before thou camest out of the womb I gave thee wisdom ; * as reads a very creditable version . Now though each of these places might be drawn to another sense , yet that only argues that they are no necessary proof for Praeexistence , which I readily acknowledge ; nor do I intend any such matter by alledging them . However I hope they will be confest to be applicable to this sense ; and if there be other grounds that swade this Hypothesis to be the truth , 't is I think very probable that these Texts intend it favour , which whether it be so or no , we have seen already .

2. For the Texts of the New Testament that seem to look pleasingly upon Praeexistence , I shall as briefly hint them as I did the former . * And me thinks that passage of our Saviours prayer , Father , Glori●ie me with the same glory I had with thee before the world began , sounds somewhat to this purpose .

The glory which he prays to be restored to , seems to concern his humane nature only ; for the divine could never lose it . And therefore it supposeth that he was in his humanity existent before : And that his soul was of old before his appearance in a Terrestrial body . Which seems also to be intimated * by the expressions of his coming from the Father , descending from Heaven , and returning thither again , which he very frequently makes use of . And we know the Divinity that ●ills all things , cannot move to , or quit a place , it being a manifest imperfection , and contrary to his Immensity .

I might add those other expressions of our Saviour's taking upon him the ●orm of a Servant , of rich for our sakes becoming poor , and many others of like import , all which are very clear if we admit the doctrine of Praeexistence , but without it somewhat p●rplex and intricate : since these things , applyed to him as God , are very improper and disagreeing , but appositely suit his Humanity , to which if we refer them , we must suppose our Hypothesis of Praeexistence . But I omit further prosecution of this matter , * since these places have been more diffusely urged in a late discourse to this purpose .

Moreover the Question of the Disciples , * Was it for this mans sin , or for his Fathers that he was born blind ? and that answer of theirs to our Saviours demand , whom men said he was ; in that some said he was John the Baptist , some Elias , or one of the Prophets ; both which I have mentioned before ; do clearly enough argue , that both the Disciples and the Jews believed Praeexistence . And our Saviour saith not a word to disprove their opinion . But I spake of this above .

Now however uncouth these allegations may seem to those that never heard these Scriptures thus interpreted ; yet I am confident , had the opinion of Praeexistence been a received Doctrine , and had these Texts been wont to be applyed to the proof on 't , they would then have been thought to assert it , with clear and convictive evidence . But many having never heard of this Hypothesis , and those that have , seldom meeting it mentioned but as a silly dream or antiquated absurdity , 't is no wonder that they never suspect it to be lodg'd in the Sacred volume , so that any attempt to confirm it thence , must needs seem rather an offer of wit than serious judgment . And the places that are cited to that purpose having been frequently read and heard of , by those that never discerned them to breath the least air of any such matter as Praeexistence , their new and unexpected application to a thing so little thought of , must needs seem a wild fetch of an extravagant imagination . But however unconclusive the Texts alledged may seem to those a strong prejudice hath shut up against the Hypothesis ; The learned Jews , who were perswaded of this Doctrine , thought it clearly enough contain'd in the Old Volume of holy writ , and took the citations , named above , for current Evidence . And though I cannot warrant for their Judgment in things , yet doubtless they were the best Judges of their own Language . Nor would our School-Doctors have thought it so much a stranger to the New , had it had the luck to have been one of their opinions , or did they not too frequently apply the sacred Oracles to their own fore-conceived notions .

But whether what I have brought from Scripture prove any thing or nothing , 't is not very material , since the Hypothesis of Prae-existence stands secure enough upon those P●llars of Reason , which have their Foundation in the Attributes of God , and the Phaenomena of the world . And the Right Reason of a Man , is one of the Divine volumes , in which are written the indeleble Idea's of eternal Truth : so that what it dictates , is as much the voice of God , as if in so many words it were clearly exprest in the written Revelations . It is enough therefore for my purpose , if there be nothing in the sacred writings contrary to this Hypothesis ; which I think is made clear enough already ; and though it be granted that Scripture is absolutely silent as to any assertion of Prae-existence , yet we have made it appear that its having said nothing of it , is no prejudice , but an advantage to the cause .

CHAP. XII .

Why the Author thinks himself obliged to descend to some more particular Account of Praeexistence . 'T is presumption positively to determine how it was with us of Old . The Authors design in the Hypothesis that follows .

NOw because inability to apprehend the manner of a Thing is a great prejudice against the belief on 't ; I find my self obliged to go a little further than the bare proof , and defence of Praeexistence . For though what I have said , may possibly induce some to think favourably of our conclusion , That the souls of men were made before they came into these bodies ; yet while they shall think that nothing can be conceived of that former state , and that our Praeexistent condition cannot be represented to Humane Understanding , but as a dark black solitude : it must needs weaken the perswasion of those that are less confirmed , and ●ill the minds of the inquisitive with a dubious trouble and Anxiety . For searching and contemplative Heads cannot be satisfied to be told , That our souls have lived and acted in a former condition , except they can be helpt to some more particular apprehension of that State ; How we lived and acted of old , and how probably we fell from that better life , into this Region of misery and imperfection .

Now though indeed my Charity would prompt me to do what I can for the relief and ease of any modest Inquirer ; yet shall I not attempt to satisfie punctual and eager curiosity in things hidden and unsearchable . Much less shall I positively determine any thing in matters so lubricous and uncertain . And indeed considering how imperfect our now state is , how miserable shallow our understandings are , and how little we know of our present selves , and the things about us , it may seem a desperate undertaking to attempt any thing in this matter . Yea , when we contemplate the vast circuits of the Divine Wisdom , and think how much the thoughts and actions of Eternity and Omniscience are beyond ours , who are but of Yesterday , and know nothing , it must needs discourage Considence it self from determining , how the Oeconomy of the world of life was order'd , in the day the Heavens and Earth were framed . There are doubtless infinite ways and methods according to which the unsearchable wisdom of our Maker could have disposed of us , which we can have no conceit of ; And we are little more capable of unerringly resolving our selves now , how it was with us of old , than a Child in the womb is to determine , what kind of life it shall live when it is set at liberty from that dark inclosure . Therefore let shame and blushing cover his face that shall confidently affirm that 't was thus or thus with us in the state of our Fore-Beings .

However , to shew that it may have been that our Souls did Praeexist , though we cannot punctually and certainly conclude upon the Particular State , I shall presume to draw up a conceivable Scheme of the Hypothesis ; And if our narrow minds can think of a way how it might have been , I hope no body will deny that the divine wisdom could have contriv'd it so , or infinitely better than we can imagin in our little models .

And now I would not have it thought that I go about to insinuate or represent any opinions of my own , or that I am a votary to all the notions I make use of , whether of the Antient , or more modern Philosophers . For I seriously profess against all determinations in this kind . But my business only is , by some imperfect hints and guesses to help to apprehend a little how the state of Praeexistence might have been , and so to let in some beams of ancient and modern light upon this immense darkness . * Therefore let the Reader if he please call it a Romantick Scheme , or imaginary Hypothesis , or what name else best fits his Phancy , and he 'l not offend me ; Nor do I hold my self concern'd at all to vindicate the truth of any thing here that is the fruit of mine own invention or composure ; Though I confess I could beg civilities at least for the notions I have borrowed from great and worthy Sages . And indeed the Hypothesis as to the main , is derived to us from the Platonists : though in their writings 't is but Gold in Oar , less pure and perfect : But a late great Artist hath excellently refined it . And I have not much work to do , but to bring together what he up and down hath scattered , and by a method-order , and some connexions and notions of mine own , to work it into an intire and uniform mass .

Now because the Frame of the particular Hypothesis is originally Philosophical , I shall therefore not deprave it by mingling with it the opinions of modern Theologers , or distort any thing to make it accommodate to their dogmata , but solely and sincerely follow the light of Reason and Philosophy . For I intend not to endeavour the late alteration of the ordinary systeme of Divinity , nor design any thing in this place but a representation of some harmless Philosophical conjectures : In which I shall continually guide my self by the Attributes of God , the Phaenomena of the world , and the best discoveries of the nature of the soul .

CHAP. XIII .

(7) Pillars on which the particular Hypothesis stands .

NOw the Fabrick we are going to build , will stand like as the House of Wisdom upon seven Pillars ; which I shall first erect and establish , that the Hypothesis may be firm and sure like a House that hath Foundations . Therefore the first Fundamental Principle I shall lay , is this

First Pillar .

(1) All the Divine designs and actions are laid and carried on by pure and infinite Goodness .

AND methinks this should be owned by all for a manifest and indisputable Truth ; But some odd opinions in the world are an interest against it , and therefore I must be fain to prove it . Briefly then , Every rational Being acts towards some end or other ; That end where the Agent acts regularly and wisely , is either some self-good or accomplishment , or 't is the good and perfection of some thing else , at least in the intention . Now God being an absolute and immense fulness , that is incapable of any the least shadow of new perfection , cannot act for any good that may accrue to his immutable self ; and consequently , whatever he acts , is for the good of some other Being : so that all the divine actions are the communications of his perfections , and the issues of his Goodness ; which , being without the base alloy of self-interest , or partial fondness , and not comprised within any bounds or limits , as his other perfections are not , but far beyond our narrow conception , we may well call it pure and infinite benignity . This is the original and root of all things , so that this blessed , ever blessed Attribute being the Spring and Fountain of all the Actions of the Deity , his designs can be no other but the contrivances of Love for the compassing the good and perfection of the universe . Therefore to suppose God to act or design any thing that is not for the good of his Creatures , is either to phancy him to act for no end at all , or for an end that is contrary to his benign Nature . Finally therefore , the very notion of infinite fulness is to be communicating and overflowing ; And the most congruous apprehension that we can entertain of the Infinite and eternal Deity , is * to conceive him as an immense and all glorious Sun , that is continually communicating and sending abroad its beams and brightness ; which conception of our Maker , if 't were deeply imprinted on us , would I am confident set our apprehensions right in many Theories , and chase away those black and dismal notions which too many have given harbour to . But I come to erect the

Second Pillar .

(2) Then , There is an exact Geometrical Justice that runs through the Vniverse , and is interwoven in the contexture of things :

THis is a result of that wise and Almighty Goodness that praesides over all things . For this Justice is but the distributing to every thing according to the requirements of its nature . And that benign wisdom that contrived and framed the natures of all Beings , doubtless so provided that they should be suitably furnisht with all things proper for their respective conditions .

And that this Nemesis should be twisted into the very natural constitutions of things themselves , is methinks very reasonable ; since questionless , Almighty Wisdom could so perfectly have formed his works at first , as that all things that he saw were regular , just , and for the good of the Vniverse , should have been brought about by those stated Laws , which we call nature ; without an ordinary engagement of absolute power to effect the● . And it seems to me to be very becoming the wise Author of all things so to have made them in the beginning , as that by their own internal spring and wheels , they should orderly bring about whatever he intended them for , without his often immediate interposal . For this looks like a more magnificent apprehension of the Divine power and Prescience , since it supposeth him from everlasting ages to have foreseen all future occurrences , and so wonderfully to have seen and constituted the great machina of the world , that the infinite variety of motions therein , should effect nothing but what in his eternal wisdom he had concluded fit and decorous : But as for that which was so , it should as certainly be compast by the Laws he appointed long ago , as if his omnipotence were at work every moment . On the contrary , to engage Gods absolute and extraordinary power , in all events and occurrences of things , is m●s●●ms to think meanly of his wisdom ; as if he had made the world so , as that it should need omnipotence every now and then to mend it , or to bring about those his destinations , which by a shorter way he could have effected , by his instrument Nature . Can any one say that our supposition derogates from the Divine concourse or Providence ? For on these , depend continually both the being and operations of all things , since without them they would cease to act , and return to their old nothing . And doubtless God hath not given the ordering of things out of his own hands ; but holds the power , to alter , innovate , or change the course of nature as he pleaseth . And to act by extraordinary means , by absolute omnipotence , when he thinks fit to do so .

The sum of what I intend , is , that Gods works are perfect ; and as his Goodness is discover'd in them , so is his Justice wrought into their very essential constitutions : so that we need not suppose him to be immediately engaged in every event and all distributions of things in the world , or upon all occasions to exercise his power in extraordinary actions , but that he leaves such managements to the Oeconomy of second causes . And now next to this , ( for they are of k●n ) I raise

The third Pillar .

(3) Things are carried to their proper place and state , by the congruity of their natures ; where this fails , we may suppose some arbitrary managements .

THE Congruity of things is their suitableness to such or such a state or condition ; And 't is a great Law in the Divine and first constitutions , that things should incline and move to what is suitable to their natures . This in sensibles is evident in the motions of consent and sympathy . And the ascent of light , and descent of heavy bodies , must I doubt when all is done , * be resolv'd into a principle that is not meerly corporeal . Yea , supposing all such things to be done by the Laws of Mechanicks , why may we not conceive , that the other rank of Beings , Spirits , which are not subject to corporeal motions , are also dispos'd of by a Law proper to their natures , which since we have no other name to express it by , we may call congruity ? We read in the sacred History that Judas went to his own place ; And 't is very probable that Spirits are conveyed to their proper states and residence , * as naturally as the fire mounts , or a stone descends . The Platonists would have the Soul of the world to be the great Instrument of all such distributions , as also of the Phaenomena , that are beyond the powers of matter : And 't is no unlikely Hypothesis : But I have no need to ingage further about this : nor yet to speak more of this first part of my Principle , since it so nearly depends on what was said in behalf of the former Maxim . Yet of the latter we need a word or two .

When therefore we cannot give account of things either by the Laws of Mechanicks or conceivable Congruities , ( * as likely some things relating to the States of Spirits , and immaterial Beings can be resolv'd by neither ) I say then , we may have recourse to the Arbitrary managements of those invisible Ministers of Equity and Justice , which without doubt the world is plentifully stored with . For it cannot be conceived that those active Spirits are idle or unimployed in the momentous concerns of the Vniverse . Yea , the sacred volume gives evidence of their interposals in our affairs . I shall need mention but that remarkable instance in Daniel , of the indeavours of the Prince of Persia , and of Grecia , to hinder Michael , and the other Angel , that were ingaged for the affairs of Judea ; Or if any would evade this , what think they of all the apparitions of Angels in the old Testament , of their pitching their Tents about us , and being Ministring Spirits for our good . To name no more such passages . Now if those noble Spirits will ingage themselves in our trifling concernments , doubtless they are very sedulous in those affairs that t●nd to the good and perfection of the Vniverse . But to be brief ; I advance .

The Fourth Pillar .

(4) * The Souls of men are capable of living in other bodies besides Terrestrial ; And never act but in some body or other .

FOr ( 1. ) when I consider how deeply in this state we are immersed in the body , I can methinks scarce imagin , that presently upon the quitting on 't , we shall be stript of all corporeity ; for this would be such a jump as is seldom or never made in nature ; since by almost all instances that come under our observation 't is manifest , that she useth to act by due and orderly gradations , and takes no precipitous leaps from one extream to another . 'T is very probable therefore , that in our immediately next state we shall have another vehicle . And then , ( 2. ) considering that our Souls are immediately united to a more tenuious and subtile body here , than this gross outside ; 'T is methinks a good presumption , that we shall not be stript and divested of our inward stole also , when we leave this dull Earth behind us . Especially (3) if we take notice how the highest and noblest faculties and operations of the Soul are help'd on by somewhat that is corporeal , and that it imployeth the bodily Spirits in its sublimest exercises ; we might then be perswaded , that it always useth some body or other , and never acts without one . And (4) since we cannot conceive a Soul to live or act that is insensible , and since we know not how there can be sense where there is no union with matter , we should me seems be induc'd to think , that when 't is disjunct from all body , 't is inert and silent . * For in all sensations there is corporeal motion , as all Philosophy and Experience testifies : And these motions become sensible representations , by virtue of the union between the Soul and its confederate matter ; so that when it is loose and dis-united from any body whatsoever , it will be unconcern'd in all corporeal motions , ( being a penetrable substance ) and no sense or perception will be conveyed by them .

Nor will it make any thing at all against this Argument to urge , that there are N●● and purely unembodied Spirits in the Vniverse , which live and act without relation to any body , and yet these are not insensible : For what they know , and how they know we are very incompetent Judges of , they being a sort of Spirits specifically distinct from our order : and therefore their faculties and operations are of a very diverse consideration from ours . So that for us to deny what we may reasonably argue from the contemplation of our own natures , because we cannot comprehend the natures of a species of creatures that are far above us , is a great mistake in the way of reasoning .

Now how strange soever this Principle may seem to those , whom customary opinions have seasoned with another belief , yet considering the Reasons I have alledged , I cannot forbear concluding it very probable ; and if it prove hereafter serviceable for the helping us in some concerning Theories , I think the most wary and timerous may admit it , till upon good grounds they can disprove it .

The Fifth Pillar .

(5) The Soul in every state hath such a body as is fittest for those faculties and operations that it is most inclined to exercise .

'T Is a known Maxim , That every thing that is , is for its operation ; and the Contriver and Maker of the World hath been so bountiful to all Beings , as to furnish them with all suitable and necessary requisites for their respective actions ; for there are no propensities and dispositions in nature , but some way or other are brought into actual exercise , otherwise they were meer nullities , and impertinent appendices . Now for the imployment of all kinds of faculties , and the exerting all manner of operations , all kinds of instruments will not suffice , but only such , as are proportion'd and adapted to the exercises they are to be used in , and the Agents that imploy them . 'T is clear therefore , that the Soul of Man , a noble and vigorous Agent , must be fitted with a suitable body , according to the Laws of that exact distributive Justice that runs through the Vniverse ; and such a one is most suitable , as is fittest for those exercises it propends to ; for the body is the Souls instrument , and a necessary requisite of action : Whereas should it be otherwise , God would then have provided worse for his worthiest Creatures , than he hath for those that are of a much inferiour rank and order . For if we look about us upon all the Creatures of God , that are exposed to our Observation , we may seal this Truth with an infallible Induction ; That there is nothing but what is sitted with all suitable requisites to act according to its nature . The Bird hath wings to waft it aloft in the thin and subtile aire ; the Fish is furnisht with fins , to move in her liquid element ; and all other Animals have Instruments that are proper for their peculiar inclinations : So that should it be otherwise in the case of Souls , it would be a great blot to the wise managements of Providence ; and contrary to its usual methods ; and thus we should be dis-furnisht of the best and most convictive Argument , that we have to prove that a Prinoiple of exactest wisdom hath made and ordered all things .

The Sixth Pillar :

(6) The Powers and Faculties of the Soul , are either (1) Spiritual , and Intellectual : (2) Sensitive : Or , (3) Plastick .

NOw (1) by the intellectual powers I mean all those that relate to the soul , in its naked and abstracted conception , as it is a spirit , and are exercised about immaterial Objects ; as , vertue , knowledge , and divine love : This is the Platonical N●● ; and that which we call the mind : The two other more immediately relate to its espoused matter : For (2) the sensitive are exercised about all the objects of sense , and are concerned in all such things as either gratifie , or disgust the body . And (3) the Plastick are those faculties of the soul , whereby it moves and forms the body , and are without sense or Animadversion : The exercise of the former , I call the Higher life ; and the operations of the latter , the lower ; and the life of the body . Now that there are such faculties belonging to our natures , and that they are exercised upon such and such objects respectively , plain experience avoucheth , and therefore I may be excused from going about to prove so universally acknowledged a truth : Wherefore I pass to

The Seventh Pillar .

(7) By the same degrees that the higher powers are invigorated , the lower are consopited and abated , as to their proper exercises , & è contra .

(1) THat those Powers should each of them have a tendency to action and in their turns be exercised , is but rational to conceive , since otherwise they had been supers●uous . And (2) that they should be inconsistent in the supremest exercise and inactuation , is to me as probable . For the Soul is a finite and limited Being , and therefore cannot operate diverse ways with equal intention at once . That is , cannot at the same time imploy all her faculties in the highest degree of exercise that each of them is capable of . For doubtless did it ingage but one of those alone , the operations thereof would be more strong and vigorous , than when they are conjunctly exercis'd , their Acts and Objects being very divers . So that I say , that these faculties should act together in the highest way they are capable of , seems to be contrary to the nature of the Soul . And I am sure it comports not with experience ; for those that are endowed with an high degree of exercise of one faculty , are seldom , if ever , as well provided in the rest . 'T is a common and daily observation , that those that are of most heightned and strong Imaginations , are defective in Judgment , and the faculty of close reasoning . And your very larg and capacious Memories , have seldom or never any great share of either of the other perfections . Nor do the deepest Judgments use to have any thing considerable either of Memory or Phancy . And as there are fair instances even in this state of the inconsistence of the faculties in the highest exercise ; so also are there others that suggest untous ,

(3) That by the same degrees that some Faculties fail in their strength and vigour , others gain and are improved . We know that the shutting up of the senses , is the letting loose and inlarging of the Phancy . And we seldom have such strong imaginations waking , as in our dreams in the silence of our other saculties . As the Sun recedes , the Moon and Stars discover themselves ; and when it returns , they draw in their baffled beams , and hide their heads in obscurity . But to urge what is more close and pressing ; It is an unerring remarque , that those that want the use of some one natural part or faculty , are wont to have very liberal amends made them by an excellency in some others . Thus those that nature hath deprived of sight , use to have wonderfully tenacious memories . And the deaf and dumb have many times a strange kind of sagacity , and very remarkable mechanical ingenies : Not to mention other instances ; for I 'le say no more than I must needs . Thus then experience gives us incouraging probability of the truth of the Theorem asserted . And in its self 't is very reasonable ; for ( as we have seen ) the Soul being an active nature , is always propending to the exercising of one faculty or other , and that to the utmost it is able , and yet being of a limited capacity , it can imploy but one in hight of exercise at once ; which when it loseth and abates of its strength and supream vigour ; some other , whose improvement was all this while hindred by this its ingrossing Rival , must by consequence begin now to display it self , and awaken into a more vigorous actuation : so that as the former loseth , the latter proportionably gaineth .

And indeed 't is a great instance of the divine wisdom , that our faculties ▪ are made in so regular and equilibrious an order . For were the same powers still uppermost in the greatest hight of activity , and so unalterably constituted , there would want the beauty of variety , and the other faculties would never act to that pitch of perfection that they are capable of . There would be no Liberty of Will , and consequently no Humane Nature . Or if the Higher Powers might have lessen'd , and fail'd without a proportionable increase of the lower , and they likewise have been remitted , without any advantage to the other faculties , the Soul might then at length fall into an irrecoverable recess and inactivity .

But all these inconveniences are avoided by supposing the principle we have here insisted on ; And it is the last that I shall mention .

Briefly then , and if it may be more plainly , the higher faculties are those , where by the Soul acts towards spiritual and immaterial objects : and the lower whereby it acts towards the Body . Now it cannot with equal vigour exercise it self both ways together ; and consequently the more it is taken up in the higher operations , the more prompt and vigorous it will be in these exercises , and less so about those that concern the body , & è Converso .

Thus when we are very deeply ingaged in intellectual contemplations , our outward senses are in a manner shrunk up and cramped : And when our senses are highly exercised and gratified , those operations monopolize and imploy us . Nor is this less observable in relation to the Plastick . For frequent and severe Meditations do much mortifie and weaken the body ; And we are most nourisht in our sleep in the silence of our senses . Now what is thus true in respect of acts and particular exercises , is as much so in states and habits . Moreover , 't is apparent that the Plastick is then most strong and vigorous when our other faculties are wholly unimployed , from the state of the womb . For nature when she is at her Plastick work , ceaseth all other operations . The same we may take notice of , in Silk-worms and other Insects , which lie as if they were dead and insensible , while their lower powers are forming them into another appearance . All which things put together , give good evidence to the truth of our Axiom .

I 'le conclude this with one Remark more , to prevent mistake ; Therefore briefly ; As the Soul always acts by the Body ; so in its highest exercises it useth some of the inferiour powers ; which , therefore must operate also . So that some senses , as sight and somewhat analagous to hearing may be imployed in considerable degree , even when the highest life is most predominant ; but then it is at the command and in the services of those nobler powers ; wherefore the sensitive life cannot for this cause be said to be invigorated , since 't is under servitude and subjection , and its gusts and pleasures are very weak and flaccid . And this is the reason of that clause in the Principle ( as to their proper exercises . )

Having thus laid the Foundation , and fixt the Pillars of our building , I now come to advance the Superstructure .

CHAP. XIV .

A Philosophical Hypothesis of the Souls Praeexistence .

THE Eternal and Almighty Goodness , the blessed spring and root of all things , made all his creatures , in the best , happiest , and most perfect condition , that their respective natures rendred them capable of , By Axiom the first ; and therefore they were then constituted in the inactuation and exercise of their noblest and most perfect powers . Consequently , the souls of men , a considerable part of the divine workmanship , were at first made in the highest invigoration of the spiritual and intellective faculties which were exercised in vertue , and in blisful contemplation of the supream Deity ; wherefore now by Axiom 6 and 7 , * the ignobler and lower powers , or the life of the body , were languid and remiss .

So that the most tenuious , pure and simple matter being the fittest instrument for the most vigorous and spiritual faculties according to Principle 2 , 4 , and 5. The Soul in this condition was united with the most subtile and aethereal matter that it was capable of inacting ; and the inferior powers , those relating to the body , being at a very low ebb of exercise , were wholly subservient to the superiour , and imployed in nothing but what was serviceable to that higher life : So that the senses did but present occasions for divine love , and objects for contemplation ; * and the plastick had nothing to do , but to move this passive and easie body , accordingly as the concerns of the higher faculties required . Thus then did we at first live and act in a pure and aethereal body ; and consequently in a place of light and blessedness , by Principle 3d. But particularly to describe and point at this paradisaical residence , can be done only by those that live in those serene regions of lightsome glory : Some Philosophers indeed have adventured * to pronounce the place to be the Sun , that vast Orb of splendor and brightness ; though it may be 't is more probable , that those immense tracts of pure and quiet aether that are above Saturn , are the joyous place of our ancient celestial abode : But there is no determination in matters of such lubricous uncertainty , where ever it is , 't is doubtless a place and state of wonderful bliss and happiness , and the highest that our natures had fitted us to .

In this state we may be supposed to have lived in the blissful exercise of vertue , divine love and contemplation , through very long tracts of duration .

But though we were thus unconceivably happy , * yet were we not immutably so ; for our highest perfections and noblest faculties being but finite , may after long and vigorous exercise , somewhat abate and remit in their sublimest operations , and Adam may fall asleep ; In which time of remission of the higher powers , the lower may advance and more livelily display themselves than they could before , by Axiom 7 ; for the soul being a little slackt in its pursuits of immaterial objects , the lower powers which before were almost wholly taken up and imployed in those high services , are somewhat more releast to follow a little the tendencies of their proper natures . And now they begin to convert towards the body , and warmly to resent the delights and pleasures thereof ; Thus is Eve brought forth , while Adam sleepeth . The lower life , that of the body is now considerably awakened , and the operations of the higher , proportionably abated . However , there is yet no anomy or disobedience , for all this is but an innocent exercise of those faculties which God hath given us to imploy , and as far as is consistent with the divine laws to gratifie . For it was no fault of ours that we did not uncessantly keep our spiritual powers upon the most intense exercises that they were capable of exerting ; * we were made on set purpose defatigable , that so all degrees of life might have their exercise ; and our Maker designed that we should feel and taste the joys of our congenite bodies , as well as the pleasures of those seraphick aspires and injoyments .

And me thinks it adds to the felicity of that state , that our happiness was not one uniform piece , or continual repetition of the same , but consisted in a most grateful variety , viz. in the pleasure of all our faculties , the lower as well as the higher ; for those are as much gratified by suitable exercises and enjoyments as these ; and consequently according to their proportion capable of as great an happiness : Nor is it any more derogation from the divine goodness , that the noblest and highest life was not always exercised to the height of its capacity , than that we were not made all Angels , all the Planets so many Suns and all the variety of the Creatures formed into one Species : Yea , as was intimated above ; 't is an instance of the divine benignity , that he produced things into being , according to the vast plenitude of Forms that were in his all-knowing mind ; and gave them operations suitable to their respective natures ; so that it had rather seemed a defect in the divine dispensations , if we had not had the pleasure of the proper exercise of the lower faculties as well as of the higher . * Yea , me thinks 't is but a reasonable reward to the body , that it should have its delights and gratifications also , whereby it will be fitted for further serviceableness . For doubtless it would be in time spent and exhausted were it continually imployed in those high and less proportioned operations .

Wherefore God himself having so order'd the matter , that the inferiour life should have its turn of invigoration ; it can be no evil in us , * that that is executed which he hath so determined , as long as we pass not the bounds that he hath set us . Adam therefore was yet innocent , though he joyed in his beloved Spouse , yea , and was permitted to feed upon all the fruits of this Paradise , the various results of corporeal pleasure , as long as he followed not his own will and appetites contrarily to the divine commands and appointments .

But at length unhappily the delights of the body betray us , through our over indulgence to them , and lead us captive to anomy and disobedience . The sense of what is grateful and pleasant by insensible degrees g●ts head over the apprehension of what is just and good ; the Serpent and Eve prove successful tempters ; * Adam cannot withstand the inordinate appetite , but feeds on the forbidden fruit , viz. the dictates of his debauched will , and sensual pleasure . And thus now the body is gotten uppermost , the lower faculties have greater exercise and command than the higher , those being very vigorously awakened , and these proportionably shrunk up , and consopited ; wherefore by Axiom 3. and 5. the soul contracts a less pure body , which may be more accommodate to sensitive operations ; and thus we fall from the highest Paradise the blissful regions of life and glory , and become Inhabitants of the Air.

Not that we are presently quite divested of our Aethereal state , as soon as we descend into this less perfect condition of life , for retaining still considerable exercises of the higher life , though not so ruling and vigorous ones as before , the soul must retain part of its former vehicle , to serve it as its instrument , in those its operations : For the aethereal body contracts crasness and impurity by the same degrees as the immaterial faculties abate in their exercise ; so that we are not immediately upon the expiring of the highest congruity wholly stript of all remains of our celestial bodies , but still hold some portion of them , within the grosser vehicle , while the spirit , or higher life is in any degree of actuation .

Nor are we to suppose that every slip or indulgence to the body can detrude us from our aethereal happiness ; but such a change must be wrought in the soul , as may spoil its congruity to a celestial body , which in time by degrees is effected : Thus we may probably be supposed to have fallen from our supream felicity .

But others of our order have made better use of their injoyments , and the indulgences of their Maker ; and though they have had their Perigae's as well as their Apogae's : I mean their Verges towards the body and its joys , as well as their Aspires to nobler and sublimer objects , yet they kept the station of their Natures , and made their orderly returns , without so remarkable a defection : And though possibly some of them may sometimes have had their slips , and have waded further into the pleasures of the body than they ought to have done , yet partly by their own timely care and consideration , and partly by the divine assistance , they recover themselves again to their condition of primigenial innocence . But we must leave them to their felicity , and go on with the History of our own descent . Therefore after we are detruded from our aethereal condition , we next descend into the Aereal .

The Aereal State .

NOw our bodies are more or less pure in this condition , proportionably to the degrees of our apostacy : So that we are not absolutely miserable in our first step of descent ; but indeed happy in comparison of our now condition : As yet there may be very considerable remains of vertue and divine love , though indeed the lower life , that of the body be grown very strong and rampant : So that as yet we may be supposed to have lapst no lower than the best and purest Regions of the Air , by Axiom 2 and 3. And doubtless there are some , who by striving against the inordinacy of their Appetites , may at length get the victory again over their bodies , and so by the assistance of the Divine Spirit , who is always ready to promote and assist good beginnings , may re-enkindle the higher life , and so be translated again to their old celestial habitations without descending lower .

But others irreclaimably persisting in their Rebellion , and sinking more and more into the body , and the relish of its joys and pleasures , these are still verging to a lower and more degenerate state ; so that at the last the higher powers of the Soul being almost quite laid asleep and consopited , and the sensitive also by long and tedious exercises being much tired , and abated in their vigour , * the plastick faculties begin now fully to awaken ; so that a body of thin and subtile air will not suffice its now so highly exalted energy , no more than the subtile Aether can suffice us terrestrial animals for respiration ; wherefore the aereal-congruity of life expires also , and thus are we ready for an earthly body .

But now since a soul cannot unite with any body , but with such only as is fitly prepared for it , by Principle ▪ 3. and there being in all likelyhood more expirations in the Air , than there are prepared bodies upon earth , it must needs be , that for some time it must be destitute of any congruous matter that might be joyned with it ; And consequently by Principle 4. 't will lye in a state of inactivity and silence . Not that it will for ever be lost in that forgotten recess and solitude , * for it hath an aptness and prope●sity to act in a terrestrial body , which will be reduced into actual exercise , when fit matter is prepared . The Souls therefore , that are now laid up in the black night of stupidity and inertness will in their proper seasons be awakened into life and operation in such bodies and places of the earth , as by their dispositions they are fitted for . So that no sooner is there any matter of due vital temper , afforded by generation , but immediately a soul that is suitable to such a body , * either by meer natural congruity , the disposition of the soul of the world , or some more spontaneous agent is attracted , or sent into this so befitting tenement , according to Axiom 2 and 3.

Terrestrial State .

NOw because in this state too we use our sensitive faculties , and have some , though very small reliques of the higher life also ; therefore the soul first makes it self a vehicle out of the most spiritous and yielding parts of this spumous terrestrial matter , which hath some analogy both with its aethereal and aereal state . This is as it were its inward vest , and immediate instrument in all its operations . By the help of this it understands , reasons , and remembers , yea forms and moves the body . And that we have such a subtile aery vehicle within this terrestrial , our manifest sympathizing with that element , and the necessity we have of it to all the functions of life , as is palpable in respiration , is me thinks good ground for conjecture . And 't is not improbable but even within this it may have a purer fire and aether to which it is united , being some little remain of what it had of old .

In this state we grow up merly into the life of sense , having little left of the higher life , * but some apish shews and imitations of reason , vertue , and religion : By which alone with speech , we seem to be distinguisht from Beasts , while in reality the brutish nature is predominant , and the concernments of the body are our great end , our only God and happiness ; this is the condition of our now degenerate , lost natures . However , that ever over-flowing goodness that always aims at the happiness of his creatures , hath not left us without all means of recovery , but by the gracious and benign dispensations which he hath afforded us , hath provided for our restauration ; which some ( though but very few ) make so good use of , that being assisted in their well meant and sincere indeavours by the divine spirit , they in good degree mortifie and subdue the body , conquer self-will , unruly appetites , and disorderly passions , and so in some measure by Principle 7. awaken the higher life , which still directs them upwards to vertue and divine love ; which , where they are perfectly kindled , carry the Soul , when dismist from this prison , * to it s old celestial abode : For the spirit and noblest faculties being so recovered to life and exercise require an aethereal body to be united to , and that an aethereal place of residence , both which , the divine Nemesis that is wrought into the very nature of things bestoweth on them by Principle the second .

But they are very few that are thus immediately restored to the celestial paradise , upon the quitting of their earthly bodies . For others that are but in the way of recovery , and dye imperfectly vertuous , meer Philosophy and natural reason ( within the bounds of which we are now discoursing ) can determin no more , * but that they step forth again into aery vehicles ; that congruity of life immediately awakening in them after this is expired . In this state their happiness will be more or less , proportionably to their vertues , in which if they persevere , ( we shall see anon how they will be recover'd . But for the present we must not break off the clue of our account , by going backwards before we have arriv'd to the utmost verge of descent in this Philosophical Romance , or History ; the Reader is at his choice to call it which he pleaseth .

Wherefore let us cast our eyes upon the Most , in whom their life on earth hath but confirmed and strengthened , their degenerate sensual , and brutish propensions ; And see what is like to become of them , when they take their leave of these terrestrial bodies .

Only first a word of the state of dying Infants , and I come immediately to the next step of descent . * Those therefore that pass out of these bodies ▪ before the terrestrial congruity be spoil'd , weakened , or orderly unwound ; according to the tenour of this Hypothesis , must return into the state of inactivity .

For the Plastick in them is too highly awakened , to inactuate only an aereal body ; And , there being no other more congruous , ready , and at hand for it to enter , it must needs step back into its former state of insensibility , and there wait its turn , till befitting matter call it forth again into life and action . This is a conjecture that Philosophy dictates , which I vouch not for a truth ; * but only follow the clue of this Hypothesis . Nor can there any danger be hence conceived that those whose congruities orderly expire , should fall back again into a state of ●ilence and inertness ; * since by long and hard exercises in this body , the plastick life is well tamed and debilitated , so that now its activity is proportioned to a more tenuious and passive vehicle , which it cannot fail to meet with in its next condition . For 't is only the terrestrial body is so long a preparing . But to

The next step of Descent , or After-state .

TO give an Account of the After-state of the more degenerate and yet descending souls , some fancy a very odd Hypothesis , imagining that they pass hence into some other more course and inferior Planet , in which , they are provided with bodies suitable to their so depraved natures ; But I shall be thought extravagant for the mention of such a supposition ; Wherefore I come to what is less obnoxious .

When our souls go out of these bodies therefore , they are not presently discharged of all the matter that belonged to this condition , but carry away their inward and aereal state to be partakers with them of their after fortunes ; only leaving the useless earth behind them . For they have a congruity to their aery bodies , though that which they had to a terrestrial , is worn out and defaced .

Nor need we to wonder how it can now have an aereal aptitude , when as that congruity expired before we descended hither ; If we consider the reason of the expiration of its former vital aptitude , which was not so much through any defect of power to actuate such a body , but through the excess of invigoration of the Plastick , which was then grown so strong , * that an aereal body was not enough for it to display its force upon . But now the case is altered , these lower powers are worn and wearied out , by the toylsome exercise of dragging about and managing such a load of flesh ; wherefore being so castigated , they are duly attemper'd to the more easie body of air again , as was intimated before ; to which they being already united , they cannot miss of a proper habitation .

But considering the stupor , dulness and inactivity of our declining age , it may seem unlikely to some , that after death we should immediately be resuscitated into so lively and vigorous a condition , as is the aereal , especially , since all the faculties of sense and action , are observed gradually to fail and abate as we draw nearer to our exit from this Stage ; which seems to threaten , that we shall next descend into a state of more stupor and inertness . But this is a groundless jealousie ; for the weakness and lethargick inactivity of old age , ariseth from a defect of those Spirits , that are the instruments of all our operations , which by long exercise are at last spent and scattered . So that the remains can scarce any longer stand under their unweildy burthen ; much less , can they perform all functions of life so vigorously as they were wont to do , when they were in their due temper , strength , and plenty . However notwithstanding this inability to manage a sluggish , stubborn , and exhausted terrestrial body , there is no doubt , but the Soul can with great ●ase , when it is discharged of its former load , actuate its thin aery vehicle ; and that with a brisk vigour and activity . As a man that is overladen , may be ready to faint and sink , till he be relieved of his burthen ; and then , he can run away with a cheerful vivacity . So that this decrepit condition of our decayed natures cannot justly prejudice our belief , that we shall be erected again , into a state of life and action in aereal bodies , after this congruity is expired .

But if all alike live in bodies of air in the next condition , * where is then the difference between the just and the wicked , in state , place and body ? For the just we have said already ; that some of them are reinstated in their pristine happiness and felicity ; and others are in a middle state , within the confines of the Air , perfecting the inchoations of a better life , which commenc'd in this : As for the state and place of those that have lived in a continual course of sensuality and forgetfulness of God ; I come now to declare what we may fancy of it , by the help of natural light , and the conduct of Philosophy .

And in order to this discovery I must premise somewhat concerning the Earth , this Globe we live upon ; which is , that we are not to conceive it to be a full bulky mass to the center , but rather that 't is somewhat like ▪ a suckt Egg , in great part , an hollow sphere , so that what we tread upon , is but as it were , an Arch or Bridge , to divide between the upper and the lower regions : Not that this ▪ inward hollowness is a meer void capacity , for there are no such chasms in nature , but doubtless replenisht it is with some fluid bodies or other , and it may be a kind of air , fire and water : Now this Hypothesis will help us easily to imagin how the earth may move , notwithstanding the pretended indisposition of its Bulk , and on that account I believe it will be somewhat the more acceptable with the free and ingenious .

Those that understand the Cartesian Philosophy , will readily admit the Hypothesis , at least as much of it as I shall have need of : But for others , I have little hopes of perswading them to any thing , and therefore I 'le spare my labour of going about to prove what they are either uncapable of , or at first dash judge ridiculous : And it may be most will grant as much as is requisite for my purpose , which is , That there are huge vast cavities within the body of the Earth ; and it were as needless , as presumptuous , for me to go about to determinemore . Only I shall mention a probability , that this gross crust which we call earth , is not of so vast a profundity as is supposed , and so come more press to my business .

'T is an ordinary observation among them that are imployed in Mines and subterraneous vaults of any depth , that heavy bodies lose much of their gravity in those hollow caverns : So that what the strength of several men cannot stir above ground , is easily moved by the single force of one under it : Now to improve this experiment , 't is very likely that gravity proceeds from a kind of magnetism and attractive vertue in the earth , which is by so much the more strong and vigorous , by how much more of the attrahent contributes to the action , and proportionably weaker , where less of the magnetick Element exerts its operation ; so that supposing the solid earth , to reach but to a certain , and that not very great distance from the surface , and 't is obvious this way to give an account of the Phaenomenon .

* For according to this Hypothesis the gravity of those bodies is less , because the quantity of the earth that draws them is so ; whereas were it of the same nature and solidity to the center , this diminution of its bulk , and consequently vertue would not be at all considerable , nor in the least sensible : Now though there are other causes pretended for this effect , yet there is none so likely , and easie a solution as this , though I know it also is obnoxious to exceptions , which I cannot now stand to meddle with ; all that I would have , is , that 't is a probability , * and the mention of the fountains of the great deep in the sacred History , as also the flaming Vulcano's and smoaking mountains that all relations speak of , are others .

* Now I intend not that after a certain distance all is fluid matter to the center . For the Cartesian Hypothesis distributes the subterranean space into distinct regions of divers matter , which are divided from each other by as solid walls , as is the open air from the inferiour Atmosphere : Therefore I suppose only that under this thick outside , there is next a vast and large region of fluid matter , * which for the most part very likely is a gross and fetid kind of air , as also considerable proportions of fire and water , under all which , there may be other solid floors , that may incompass and cover more vaults , and vast hollows , the contents of which 't were vanity to go about to determine ; only 't is very likely , that as the admirable Philosophy of Des Cartes supposeth , * the lowest and central Regions may be filled with flame and aether , which suppositions , though they may seem to some to be but the groundless excursions of busie imaginations ; yet those that know the French Philosophy , and see there the Reasons of them , will be more candid in their censures , and not so severe to those not ill-framed conjectures .

Now then being thus provided , I return again to prosecute my main intendment ; Wherefore 't is very probable , that the wicked and degenerate part of mankind , * are after death committed to those squalid subterraneous habitations ; in which dark prisons , they do severe penance for their past impieties , and have their senses , which upon earth they did so fondly indulge , and took such care to gratifie , now persecuted with darkness , stench , and horror . Thus doth the divine justice triumph in punishing those vile Apostates suitably to their delinquencies .

Now if those vicious souls are not carried down to the infernal caverns by the meer congruity of their natures , as is not so easie to imagine ; we may then reasonably conceive , * that they are driven into those dungeons by the invisible Ministers of Justice , that manage the affairs of the world by Axiom 3. For those pure Spirits doubtless have a deep sense of what is just , and for the good of the universe ; and therefore will not let those inexcusable wretches to escape their deserved castigations ; or permit them to reside among the good , lest they should infect and poyson the better world , by their examples . Wherefore , I say , they are disposed of into those black under-Abysses , where they are suited with company like themselves , and match't unto bodies as impure , as are their depraved inclinations . Not that they are all in the same place , and under the like torments ; but are variously distributed according to the merits of their natures and actions ; some only into the upper prisons , * others to the Dungeon : And some to the most intolerable Hell , the Abyss of fire . Thus doth a just Nemesis visit all the quarters of the Vniverse .

Now those miserable prisoners cannot escape from the places of their confinement ; for 't is very likely that those watchful spirits that were instrumental in committing them , * have a strict and careful eye upon them to keep them within the confines of their goal , that they rove not out into the regions of light and liberty , yea , 't is probable that the bodies they have contracted in those squalid mansions , may by a kind of fatal magnetisme be chained down to this their proper element . Or , they having now a congruity only to such fetid vehicles , may be no more able to abide the clear and lightsome Air ; than the Bat or Owl are able to bear the Suns noon-day beams ; or , the fish to live in these thinner Regions . This may be the reason of the unfrequency of their appearance ; and that they most commonly get them away at the approach of light . Besides all this , some there are who suppose that there is a kind of polity among themselves , which may * under severe penalties , prohibit all unlicensed excursions into the upper world ; though I confess this seems nor so probable , and we stand in no need of the supposition . For though the laws of their natures should not detain them within their proper residences ; yet the care and oversight of those watchful Spirits , who first committed them , will do it effectually . And very oft when they do appear , they signifie that they are under restraint , and come not abroad , but by permission ; as by several credible Stories I could make good : But for brevity I omit them .

Now though I intend not this Hypothesis , either for a discovery of infallible truth , or declarement of mine own opinions , yet I cannot forbear to note the strange coincidence that there is between Scripture expressions in this matter , some main stroaks of the Orthodox Doctrine , and this Philosophical conjecture of the state and place of the wicked . 'T is represented in the Divine Oracles as a deep pit , a prison , a place of darkness , fire , and brimstone ; and the going thither , is named a descent . All which most appositely agree with the representation we have made ; And the usual Periphrasis of Hell torments , fire , and brimstone , is wonderfully applicable to the place we have been describing ; since it abounds with fuliginous flames , and sulphureous stench and vapours ; And , as we have conjectur'd , the lowest cavity , is nothing else but a vault of ●●re . For the other expressions mentioned , every one can make the application . So that when a man considers this , he will almost be tempted to think , that the inspired writers had some such thing in their fancies . And we are not to run to tropes and figures for the interpretation of plain and literal descriptions ; except some weighty reason force us to such a Refuge .

Moreover Hell is believed among the Orthodox to have degrees of torments , to be a place of uncomfortable horror , and to stand at the greatest distance from the seat and habitation of the blessed . All which , and more that I could reckon up , cannot more clearly be made out and explained , than they are in this Hypothesis .

Thus then we see the irreclaimably wicked lodg'd in a place and condition very wretched and calamitous . If any of them should be taught by their miseries to renounce and forsake their impieties ; or should have any dispositions to vertue and divine love re-inkindled in them ; meer Philosophy would conclude , that in time they might then be delivered from their sad durance ; But we know what Theology hath determined . And indeed those brutish Apostates are so fixt and rooted in their sensual and rebellious propensions , that those who are not yet as far distant from their Maker as they can be , are still verging downwards ; And possibly being quite void of the divine grace , and any considerable exercises of reason and conscience , they may never stop till they have run through all the infernal stages , and are arriv'd to the extremest degree of misery , that as yet any are obnoxious to .

Wherefore the earth and all the infernal Regions being thus monstrously depraved ; 't is time for the Divine Justice to shew some remarkable and more than ordinary severity upon those remorseless Rebels ; and his goodness is as ready to deliver the virtuous from this stage of wretchedness and impiety . When therefore those have compleated the number of their iniquities , and these are sit for the mercy of so great a deliverance ; then shall the great decree for judgment be executed ; which though it cannot be expected that meer Philosophy should give an unerring and punctual account of , yet we shall follow this light as far as it will lead us ; not intrenching upon the sacred rights of Divinity , nor yet baulking what the ancient Eastern Cabbala , assisted by later discoveries into nature , will dictate ; But sincerely following the Hypothesis , we shall leave all its errours and misguidances to be corrected by the more sacred Canons . So that where we shall discern the wisdom of the World to have misdirected the most knowing and sedulous inquirers , we may duly acknowledge the great benefit of that light which we have received to guide us in matters of such vast and concerning speculation ,

The Conflagration of the Earth .

THerefore at length , when the time preappointed by the divine wisdom for this execution , is come ; * The internal , central fire shall have got such strength and irresistible vigour , that it shall easily melt and dissolve that fence that hath all this while inclosed it ; And all those other smaller fires , which are lodged in several parts of the lower Regions joyning themselves with this mighty flame , shall prey upon what ever is combustible , and so rage first within the bowels of the earth , beginning the tragick execution upon those damned spirits that are there confined ; these having been reserved in the chains of darkness to the judgment of this great day ; and now shall their hell and misery be compleated , and they receive the full reward of their impieties , which doubtless will be the most intolerable and severe torment that can be imagined , these fierce and merciless flames sticking close to , yea , piercing through and through their bodies , which can remove no where to avoid this fiery over-spreading vengeance .

And now the subterranean vaults being thus all on fire , it cannot be long ere this prevailing cumbustion take hold of the upper regions , wherefore at last with irresistible violence it breaks forth upon these also : So that the great pyre is now kindled , smoak , fire , darkness , horror and confusion , cover the face of all things . Wherefore the miserable inhabitants of the earth and inferiour air , will be seized on by the devouring Element , and suffer in that fire that was reserved for the perdition of ungodly men .

But shall the righteous perish with the wicked ? And shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ? Will not the sincere and vertuous both in the Earth and Air be secured from this sad fate ? And how can their deliverance be effected ? Doubtless Providence that in all things else hath been righteous and equal , will not fail in this last scene ; but provision will be made for their recovery from this vengeance that hath taken hold of the wicked . But all natural causes failing here , since their bodies are not pure enough to waft them up the quiet regions of the un infested aether ; and the higher congruity of life , being yet but imperfectly inchoated ; they would be detained prisoners here below by the chains of their unhappy natures , were there not some extraordinary interposure for their rescue and inlargement ; wherefore when we contemplate the infinite fertility of the divine goodness , we cannot think , that he will let those seeds of piety and vertue , which himself hath sown and given some increase to , to come to nought ; or the honest possessors of them , fatally to miscarry : But that he will imploy his power for the compleating what he hath begun , and the deliverance of those , who have relyed upon his mercies . But for the particular way and method how this great transaction will be accomplisht , Philosophy cannot determine it .

Happy therefore are we , who have the discoveries of a more certain Light , which doth not only secure us of the thing , but acquaints us with the way and means , that the Divine Wisdom hath resolv'd on , for the delivery of the righteous . So that hereby we are assured that our ever blessed Redeemer shall appear in the clouds before this fiery Fate shall have quite taken hold of the Earth , and its condemned inhabitants . The Glory of his appearance with his Coelestial Legions , shall raise such strong love , joy , and triumph in his now passionately enamoured expectants , as shall again enkindle that high and potent principle , the Spirit , which being throughly awakened and excited , will melt the grossest consistence into liquid Aether , so that our bodies being thus turned into the purest flame , we shall ascend in those fiery Chariots with our Glorious Redeemer , and his illustrious and blessed Attendants to the Coelestial habitations . This is the Resurrection of the just , and the Recovery of our antient blessedness .

Thus have some represented this great transaction ; But I dare warrant nothing in this matter beyond the declarations of the Sacred Scriptures ; therefore to proceed in our Philosophical conjectures , However the good shall be delivered , be sure the wicked shall be made a prey to the Scorching Element , which now rageth every where , and suffer the Judgment threatned . But yet the most degenerate part of Mankind ( if we consult meer Reason and the Antient Eastern Cabbala ) who are detained Prisoners in the now inflamed Atmosphere , shall not for ever be abandon'd to misery and ruin . For they are still pretended to be under the eye and tender care of that Almighty goodness , that made and preserveth all things , that punisheth not out of malice or revenge , and therefore will not pursue them to their utter undoing for ever : But hath set bounds to their destruction , and in infinite Wisdom hath so ordered the matter that none of his Creatures shall be lost eternally , or indure such an endless misery , than which not Being it self were more eligible . Wherefore those curious contemplators phancy , that the unsupportable pain and anguish which hath long stuck to those miserable creatures , will at length so consume and destroy that insensible pleasure and congruity that unites Soul and Body , that the thus miserably cruciated Spirit must needs quit it's unfit habitation ; and there being no other body within its reach that is capable of a vital union , according to the tenor of this Hypothesis , it must become senseless and unactive by Axiom , 4. And so be buried in a state of silence and inertness .

At length when these greedy flames shall have devoured what ever was combustible , and converted into a smoak and vapour all grosser concretions , that great orb of fire that the Cartesian Philosophy supposeth to constitute the center of this Globe , shall perfectly have recovered its pristine nature , * and so following the Laws of its proper motion , shall fly away out of this vortex , and become a wandring Comet , till it settle in some other .

But if the next Conflagration reach not so low as the inmost regions of the Earth , * so that the central fire remains unconcern'd , and unimploy'd in this combustion , this Globe will then retain its wonted place among the Planets . And that so it may happen , is not improbable , since there is plenty enough both of fiery principles and materials in those Regions that are nearer to the surface , to set the Earth into a Lightsome flame , and to do all that execution that we have spoken of . Some conceive therefore , that the conflagration will not be so deep and universal as this opinion supposeth it ; But that it may take beginning from a less distance , and spend it self upwards . And to this purpose they represent the sequel of their Hypothesis .

The General Restitution .

THose thick and clammy vapours which erstwhile ascended in such vast measures , and had fill'd the vault of Heaven with smoak and darkness , must at length obey the Laws of their nature and gravity , and so descend again in abundant showres , and mingle with the subsiding ashes , which will constitute a mudd vegetative and fertile . For those warm and benign beams , that now again begin to visit the desolate Earth , will excite those seminal principles into action , which the Divine Wisdom and goodness hath mingled with all things . Wherefore they operating according to their natures , and the dispositions which they find in the restored matter , will shoot forth in all sorts of flowers , herbs , and trees ; making the whole Earth a Garden of delight and pleasure ; And erecting all the Phaenomena proper to this Element . By this time the Air will be grown vital again and far more pure and pleasant , than before the fiery purgation . Wherefore they conceive , that the disbodyed Souls shall return from their unactive and silent recess , and be joyned again to bodies of purified and duly prepared Air. For their radical aptitude to matter still remained , though they fell asleep for want of bodies of fit temper to unite with .

This is the summ of the Hypothesis as it is represented by the profoundly Learned Dr. H. More , with a copious and pompous eloquence .

Now supposing such a recess of any Souls into a state of inactivity , such a Restitution of them to life and action is very reasonable ; since it is much better for them to live and operate again , than to be useless in the universe , and as it were nothing for ever . And we have seen above , that the Divine goodness doth always what is best , and his wisdom is not so shallow as to make his Creatures so as that he should be fain to banish them into a state that is next to non-entity , there to remain through all duration . Thus then will those lately tormented Souls , having smarted for their past iniquities , be recovered both from their state of wretchedness and insensibility ; and by the unspeakable benignity of their Maker , placed once more in such conditions , wherein by their own endeavours , and the divine assistance they may amend what was formerly amiss in them , and pursue any good Resolutions that they took while under the lash of the fiery tortures ; Which those that do , when their good inclinations are perfected , and the Divine Life again enkindled , they shall in due time re-ascend the Thrones they so unhappily fell from , and be circled about with unexpressible felicity . But those that for all this , follow the same ways of sensuality and rebellion against their merciful deliverer , they shall be sure to be met with by the same methods of punishment ; and at length be as miserable as ever .

Thus we see the Air will be re-peopled after the conflagration : but how the Earth will so soon be restored to Inhabitants , is a matter of some difficulty to determine , since it useth to be furnisht from the Aereal regions , which now will have none left that are fit to plant it . For the good were delivered thence before the conflagration : And those that are newly come from under the ●iery lash and latter state of silence , are in a hopeful way of recovery ; At least , their aereal congruity cannot be so soon expired , as to fit them for an early return to their terrestrial prisons . Wherefore to help our selves in this rencounter , we must remember , that there are continually multitudes of souls in a state of inactivity , for want of suitable bodies to unite with , there being more that dye to the aery state , than are born into this terrestrial . In this condition were myriads , when the general Fever seiz'd this great destemper'd body ; who therefore were unconcern'd in the conflagration , and are now as ready to return into life and action upon the Earth's happy restauration , as if no such thing had hapned .

Wherefore they will not fail to descend into fitly prepared matter , and to exercise all the functions proper to this condition . Nor will they alone be inhabitants of the Earth . For all the variety of other Animals , shall ●●ve and act upon this stage with them ; all sorts of souls insinuating themselves into those bodies , which are ●it for their respective natures .

Thus then supposing habitable congruous bodies , there is no doubt , but there will be humane Souls to actuate and inform them ; but all the difficulty is to conceive how the matter shall be prepared . For who shall be the common Seeds-man of succeeding Humanity , when all mankind is swept away by the fiery deluge ? And to take Sanctuary in a Miracle is unphilosophical and desperate . I think therefore , it is not improbable ( I mean according to the duct of this Hypothesis ) but that in this renewed youth , of the so lately calcined and purified Earth , there may be some pure efflorescences of balmy matter , not to be found now in its exhausted and decrepit Age , that may be proper vehicles of life , into which souls may descend without further preparation ; And so orderly shape and form them , as we see to this day several sorts of other creatures do , without the help of generation . For doubtless there will be great plenty of unctuous spirituous matter , when the most inward and recondite spirits of all things , shall be dislodg'd from their old close residences , and scatter'd into the Air ; where they will at length , when the fierce agitation of the fire is over , gather in considerable proportious of tenuious vapours ; which at length descending in a crystalline liquor , and mingling with the finest parts of the newly modified Earth , will doubtless compose as genital a matter as any can be prepared in the bodies of Animals . And the calm and wholesome Air which now is duly purged from its noxious reeks and vapours , and abounds with their saline spirituous humidity , will questionless be very propitious to those tender inchoations of life ; and by the help of the Sun 's favourable and gentle beams , supply them with all necessary materials .

Nor need we puzzle our selves to phancy , how those Terrae Filii , those young sons of the Earth will be fortified against the injuries of weather , or be able to provide for themselves in their first and tender infancy ; since doubtless , if the supposition be admitted , * those immediate births of unassisted nature will not be so tender and helpless as we , into whose very constitutions delicacy and effeminateness is now twisted . For those masculine productions which were always exposed to the open Air , and not cloyster'd up as we , will feel no more incommodity from it , than the young fry of fishes do from the coldness of the water they are spawn'd in . And even now much of our tenderness and delicacy is not natural but contracted . For poor Children will indure that hardship that would quickly dispatch those that have had a more careful and officious nurture . And without question we should do many things for self-preservation and provision , which now we yield no signs of ; had not custom prevented the endeavours of nature , and made it expect assistance . For the Indian Infants will swim currently , when assoon as they are born , they are thrown into the water . And nature put to her shifts , will do many things more than we can suspect her able for the performance of ; which consider'd , 't is not hard to apprehend , but that those Infant Aborigines are of a very different temper and condition from the weak products of now decayed nature ; having questionless , more pure and serviceable bodies , senses and other faculties more active and vigorous , and nature better exercised ; so that they may by a like sense to that which carries all creatures to their proper food , pursue and take hold of that nutriment which the free and willing Earth now offer'd to their mouths ; till being advantaged by Age and growth , they can move about to make their choice . * But all this is but the frolick exercise of my pen chusing a Paradox ; And 't is time to give over the pursuit .

To make an end then , we see that after the Conflagration the earth will be inhabited again , and all things proceed much-what in like manner as before . But whether the Catastrophe of this shall be like the former or no , I think is not to be determined . For as one world hath perish't by water , and this present shall by fire , 't is possible the next period may be by the Extinction of the Sun . But I am come to the end of the line , and shall not go beyond this present Stage of Providence , or wander into an Abysse of uncertainties , where there is neither Sun nor Star to guide my notions .

Now of all that hath been represented of this Hypothesis , there is nothing that seems more extravagant and Romantick than those notions that come under the two last Generals ; And yet so it falls out , that the main matters contained under them , one would think to have a strange consonancy with some expressions in the Sacred Oracles . For clear it is from the divine Volume , that the wicked and the Devils themselves are reserved to a further and more severe Judgment than yet afflicteth them ; It is as plainly declared to be a vengeance of fire that abides them , as a compleatment of their torments : And that the Earth shall be burnt , is as explicitely affirmed , as any thing can be spoken . Now if we put all these together , they look like a probability , that the conflagration of the Earth shall consummate the Hell of the wicked . And * those other expressions of Death , Destruction , Perdition of the ungodly , and the like , seem to show a favourable regard to the State of silence and inactivity . Nor is there less appearing countenance given to the Hypothesis of Restitution , * in those passages which predict New Heavens and a New Earth , and seem to intimate only a change of the present .

And yet I would have no body be so credulous as to be taken with little appearances , nor do I mention these with an intent that they should with full consent be delivered to intend the asserting any such Doctrines ; But that there is shew enough both in Reason and Scripture for these Opinions to give an occasion for an Hypothesis , and therefore that they are not meer arbitrary and idle imaginations .

Now whatever becomes of this particular draught of the Souls several conditions of life and action , * the main Opinion of Prae-existence is not at all concerned . This Scheme is only to shew , that natural and imperfect Reason can frame an Intelligible Idea of it ; And therefore questionless the Divine Wisdom could form and order it , either so , or with infinitely more accuracy and exactness . How it was with us therefore of Old , I know not ; But yet that we may have been , and acted before we descended hither , I think is very probable . And I see no reason but why Praeexistence may be admitted without altering any thing considerable of the ordinary Systeme of Theology . But I shut up with that modest conclusion of the Great Des Cartes :

That although these matters seem hardly otherwise intelligible than as I have here explained them :

Yet nevertheless remembring I am not infallible , I assert nothing ; * but submit all I have written to the Authority of the Church of England , and to the matured judgments of graver and wiser men ; Earnestly desiring that nothing else may be entertained with credit by any persons , but what is able to win it by the force of evident and victorious reason . Des Cartes Princ. Philos. lib. 4. ss. CVII .

FINIS .

A DISCOURSE OF TRUTH . BY THE Reverend Doctor RUST , Late LORD BISHOP of DROMORE in IRELAND .

LONDON , Printed for J. Collins , and S. Louns over against Exeter Exchange in the Strand , 1682.

A LETTER Concerning the Subject and the Author . SIR ,

I Have now perused , and returned the Manuscript you sent me ; it had contracted many and great Errours in the Transcription , which I have corrected : I was enabled to do it by a written Copy of the same Discourse , which I have had divers years in my Hands . The Subject is of great and weighty importance , and the Acknowledgment of the Truths here asserted and made good , will lay a Foundation for right conceptions in the Doctrines that concern the Decrees of God . For the first Errour , which is the ground of the rest , is , That things are good and just , because God Wills them so to be ; and if that be granted , we are disabled from using the arguments taken from natural Notions , and the Attributes and Perfections of the Divine Nature , against the Blackest and most Blasphemous Opinions that ever were entertained concerning Gods proceedings with the Sons of Men. If there be no settled Good and Evil , Immutable and Independent on any Will or Vnderstanding , then God may have made his reasonable Creatures on purpose to damn them for ever . He may have absolutely decreed that they should sin , that he may damn them justly ; He may most solemnly and earnestly prohibit Sin by his Laws , and declare great displeasure against it ; and yet by his ineluctable Decrees force men to all the sin that is committed in the World : He may vehemently protest his unfeigned desire of their Life and Happiness , and at the same time secretly resolve their Eternal Destruction ; He may make it his Glory and Pleasure to triumph eternally in the torments of poor Worms , which himself hath by his unalterable and irresistible Will made miserable ; yea , ( as the discourse instanceth ) he may after his Decrees concerning the Salvation of the Elect , after the death of his Son for them , and the mission of his Spirit to them , and after all the promises he hath made to assure them ; thrust them also at last into the dreadful Regions of Death and Woe ; I say if there be no immutable respects in things , but Just and Vnjust , Honourable and Dishonourable , Good and Cruel , Faithful and Deceitful , are respects made by meer arbitrarious Will , it will be in vain to dispute from Them against any such dismal Opinions : yea it will be great folly to argue for the Simplicity of the Divine Nature against the vile conceits of the old Anthropomorphites , and the Blasphemies of the present Muggletonians , of God's having a Corporal shape , Parts and Members , if there be no necessary Independent Connexion , betwixt Immensity , Spirituality and Perfection . But this being established , that there are immutable respects in things , and that such and such are Perfections , and their contrary , Defects and imperfections ; hence it will follow , that it is impossible the forementioned Doctrines can be true concerning God , who cannot lye , cannot deny himself : viz. He being Absolute and Infinite Perfection , cannot act any thing that is Evil or imperfect ; But all the expressions in Scripture , that at first sight look towards such a sense , must be interpreted by the general Analogy and course of them , which declares his Infinite , Immutable Excellencies , and these Notions of himself , which he hath written on the Souls of Men.

So that the Subject of this little Discourse , is of vast Moment , and the truth asserted in it , is , I think , confirmed with an irresistible Strength and force of Reasoning ; and not to be convinced by it , will argue either great weakness of Vnderstanding , in not perceiving consequences that are so close and plain ; or great obstinacy of Will , in being shut up by prejudices , and preconceiv'd Opinions against Light that is so clear and manifest .

The Author was a Person with whom I had the Honour and Happiness of a very particular acquaintance ; a man he was of a clear Mind , a deep Judgment and searching Wit : greatly learned in all the best sorts of Knowledge , old and new , a thoughtful and diligent Enquirer , of a free Vnderstanding , and vast Capacity , joyn'd with singular Modesty , and unusual Sweetness of Temper , which made him the Darling of all that knew him : He was a person of great Piety and Generosity ; a hearty Lover of God and Men : An excellent Preacher , a wise Governour , a profound Philosopher , a quick , forcible , and close Reasoner , and above all , a true and exemplary Christian . In short , he was one who had all the Qualifications of a Primitive Bishop , and of an extraordinary Man . This I say not out of kindness to my Friend , but out of Justice to a Person of whom no Commendation can be extravagant . He was bred in Cambridge , and Fellow of Christ's Colledge , where he lived in great Esteem and Reputation for his eminent Learning and Vertues ; he was one of the first that overcame the prejudices of the Education of the late unhappy Times , in that Vniversity , and was very Instrumental to enlarge others . He had too great a Soul for the trifles of that Age , and saw early the nakedness of Phrases and Phancies ; He out-grew the pretended O●thodoxy of those days , and addicted himself to the Primitive Learning and Theology , in which he even then became a great Master .

After the return of the Government , the excellent Bishop Taylor , foreseeing the vacancy in the Deanery of Connor , sent to Cambridge , for some Learned and Ingenious Man , who might be fit for that Dignity . The motion was made to Dr. Rust , which corresponding with the great Inclination he had to be conversant with that incomparable Person , he gladly accepted of it , and hastn'd into Ireland , where he langed at Dublin about August 1661. He was received with much Respect and Kindness by that great and good Bishop , who knew how to value such Jewels ; and preferr'd to the Deanery as soon as it was void , which was shortly after . He continued in that Preferment during the Bishops Life , always dearly lov'd , and even admir'd by him .

At his Death ( that sad stroke to all the Lovers of Religion and Learning ) he was chosen for the last solemn Office to his Deceased Father and Friend ; and he Preach't such a Funeral Sermon as became that extraordinary Person and himself . It hath been since published , and I suppose you may have seen it , upon the lamented Death of Bishop Taylor , which hapned August 13th . 1667. The Bishopricks were divided ; Dr. Boyle Dean of Cork , was nominated Bishop of Downe and Connor ; and Dr. Rust Dean of Connor , Bishop of Dromore ; he lived in the Deanery about six years , in the Bishoprick but three ; for in December 1670 , he dyed of a Fever ( in the prime of his years ) to the unspeakable grief of all that knew his Worth , and especially of such of them as had been blest by his Friendship , and most sweet and indearing Conversation . He was buried in the Quire of his own Cathedral Church of Dromore , in a Vault made for his Predecessour Bishop Taylor , whose Sacred Dust is deposited also there : and what Dormitory hath two such Tenants ?

This is the best account I can give you of the Work and the Author : and by it you may perceive his Memory deserves to live , and this product of him : but there is so much reverence due to the Manes of so venerable a Person , that nothing should be hastily published under his honour'd name . I know , had he designed this Exercitation for the Publick , he would have made it much more compleat and exact than we now have it ; but as it is , the Discourse is weighty , and substantial , and may be of great use . As it goes about now in written Copies ▪ it , is ( I perceive ) exceedingly depraved ▪ and in danger of being still worse abused ; The Publication would preserve it from further corruptions . However I dare not advise any thing in it , but this , that you take the judgment of that Reverend Doctor you mention ( the deceased Authors Friend and mine , ) and act according as he shall direct . I am ,

Your real Friend , Jos. Glanvil .

A DISCOURSE OF TRUTH .

SECT. I.

That Truth is twofold ; In the Object , and in the Subject . That in the Object what it is ; And that it is antecedent to and independent of any Will or Vnderstanding whatever .

TRUTH is of aequivocal signification , and therefore cannot be defined before it be distinguish't . It is twofold ; Truth in things , which you may call Truth in the Object : and Truth in the Vnderstanding , which is Truth in the Subject . By the first I mean nothing else but that Things necessarily are what they are : And that there are necessary mutual respects and relations of Things one unto another . Now that things are what they are , and that there are mutual Respects and Relations eternal , and immutable , and in order of Nature * antecedent to any Understanding either created or uncreated , is a thing very plain and evident ; For it 's clearer than the Meridian Light , that such Propositions as these , Homo est animal rationale , Triangulum est quod habet tres angulos , are not arbitrarious dependencies upon the Will , Decree , or Understanding of God , but are necessary and eternal Truths ; and wherein 't is as impossible to divide the Subject , and what is spoken of it , as it is for a thing not to be what it is , which is no less than a Contradiction ; And as indispensible are the mutual respects and relations of things both in Speculatives and Morals .

SECT. II.

The necessity of there being certain Arguments , Means and Objects for certain Conclusions , Ends and Faculties ; and that every thing will not suit every thing .

FOR can it be imagin'd that every Argument can be made a proportioned Medium to prove every Conclusion ? * that any thing may be a suitable means to any end ? that any Object may be conformable to any Faculty ? Can Omnipotence it self make these Propositions , That twice two are four , or that Parallels cannot intersect , clear and convincing Arguments to prove these grand Truths , That Christ came into the World to dye for Sinners , and is now exalted as a Prince and a Saviour at the Right Hand of God ? * Is it possible that there should be such a kind of Geometry , wherein any problemes should be demonstrated by any Principles ; quidlibet ex quolibet ; as that a Quadrangle is that which is comprehended of four right Lines : * Therefore the three Angles of a Triangle are equal to two right ones ?

SECT. III.

An Instance or two of gross and horrid Absurdities , consequent to the denying the mutual respects and relations of things to be eternal and indispensible .

CAN the infinite Wisdom it self make the damning of all the Innocent and the unspotted Angels in Heaven a proportionate means to declare and manifest the unmeasureableness of his Grace and Love , and goodness towards them ? Can Lying , Swearing , Envy , Malice , nay Hatred of God and Goodness it self , be made the most acceptable Service of God , and the readiest way to a mans Happiness ? And yet all these must be true , and infinitely more such contradiction● than we can possibly imagin , if the mutual respects and relations of things be not eternal and indispensible : which that they are , I shall endeavour to prove .

SECT. IV.

The Entrance into the first part of the Discourse , which is of Truth in the Object . That the Divine Understanding does not make the Respects and Relations of its Objects , but finds them or observes them .

First , we must premise that * Divine Vnderstanding cannot be the Fountain of the Truth of things ; * nor the Foundation of the references of one to another . For it is against the nature of all Understanding , to make its Objects . * It is the nature of Understanding , ut moveatur , illuminetur , formetur , &c. Of its Object , ut moveat , illuminet , formet . Intellectus in actu primo hath it self unto its object , as the Eye unto the Sun ; it is irradiated , inlightned and actuated by it : And Intellectus in actu secundo , hath it self unto its Object , as the Image to that it represents ; and the perfection of Understanding consists in being actuated by , and in an adaequate Conformity to its object , according to the nature of all Idea's , Images or Representations of things . The Sum is this , * No Idea's or Representations are or make the things they represent ; all Understanding is such ; therefore no Understanding doth make the Natures , Respects and Relations of its Objects .

SECT. V.

That the Divine Will does not determine the References and Dependencies of things , because that would subvert his other Attributes .

* IT remains then , that absolute , arbitrarious and independent Will must be the Fountain of all Truth ; and must determine the References and Dependencies of things : * which assertion would in the First place destroy the nature of God , * and rob him of all his Attributes . For then it 's impossible that there should be such a thing as Divine Wisdom and Knowledge , which is nothing else but an apprehension of common notions , and the natures and mutual respects and relations of things . For if the Nature of God be such , that his arbitrarious imagination that such and such things have such and such natures and Dependencies , doth make those things to have those Natures or Dependencies , he may as easily Unimagine that Imagination ; and then they that before had a mutual Harmony , Sympathy and Agreement with one another , shall now stand at as great a distance and opposition . And thus the Divine Understanding will be a mere Protaean Chimaera , a Casual Conflux of intellectual Atomes : Contradictions are true , if God will understand them so , and then the foundation of all Knowledge is taken away , and God may as truly be said to know nothing as every thing ; nay , * any Angel or Man may as truly be said to know all things , as God himself ; for then every thing will be alike certain , and every apprehension equally conformable to Truth . These are infallible consequences , and a thousand more as absurd as these , if contradictory Propositions may be both true : and whether they be so or no , it 's a meer casual Dependence upon the Arbitrarious pleasure of God , if there be not a necessary immutability and eternal opposition betwixt the being and the not being of the same thing , at the same time and in the same respect . Likewise all those Truths we call Common Notions , ( the Systeme and Comprehensions of which , is the very Essence of Divine Wisdom ; as the conclusions issuing from them , not by any operose dèduction , but a clear intuitive light , are the very Nature of Divine Knowledge , * if we distinguish those two Attributes in God ) I say , all these propositions of immediate and indemonstrable Truth , if these be only so , because so understood by God , and so understood by God because he pleased so to have them , and not because there is an indispensible relation of Harmony and Proportion betwixt the Terms themselves ; then it is a thing meerly casual , and at the pleasure of God to change his former apprehensions , and Idea's of those Truths , and to make their contradictories as Evident , Radical and Fundamental as themselves but even now were ; and so Divine Wisdom and Knowledge will be a various , sickle and mutable thing , a meer tumult and confusion . All these consequences infallibly flow from this certain Principle , That upon a changeable and uncertain Cause , Effects must needs have a changeable and uncertain Dependence . And there is nothing imaginable in it self , more changeable and uncertain than Will not regulated by the dictates of Reason and Understanding .

SECT. VI.

The avoidance of the foregoing ill consequences by making God immutable , with an Answer thereto .

IF any deny these Consequences and Deductions , * because they suppose that God is mutable and changeable ; I answer , by bringing this as another absurdity , that if there be no indispensible and eternal respects of things , it will rob God of his Immutability , and unchangeableness : for if there be no necessary dependence betwixt Vnchangeablness and Perfection , what should hinder , but that if God please to think it so , it will be his perfection to be changeable ? and if Will , as such , be the only principle of his Actions , it is infallibly his Perfection to be so . For 't is the Perfection of every Being to act according to the principle of its Nature , and it is the nature of an arbitrarious Principle to act or not , to do or undo upon no account but its own will and pleasure ; to be determined , and tied up , either by it self , or from abroad , is violent and contranatural .

SECT. VII .

An hideous , but genuine Inference of a Pamphleteer from this principle , that absolute and Sovereign Will is the Spring and Fountain of all Gods actions .

AND therefore from this principle , that absolute and Soveraign Will is the Spring and Fountain of all Gods Actions , it was rightly inferr'd by a late Pamphleteer , that God will one day damn all Mankind , Good and Bad , Believers and Unbelievers , notwithstanding all his Promises , Pretensions or Engagements to the contrary ; because this damning all mankind in despight of his Faithfulness , Justice , Mercy and Goodness will be the greatest advancement of his Soveraignty , Will and Prerogative imaginable . His words are , God hath stored up Destruction both for the perfect and the wicked , and this does wonderfully set forth his Soveraignty ; his exercising whereof is so perfect , that when he hath tied himself up fast as may be , by never so many promises , yet it should still have its scope , and be able to do what it will , when it will , as it will : Here you have this principle improved to the height . And however you may look upon this Author as some new Light , or Ignis fatuus of the times , yet I assure you in some pieces by him set forth , he is very sober and rational .

SECT. VIII .

That the Denial of the mutual Respects and Relations of things unto one another to be eternal and unchangeable , despoils God of that universal Rectitude of his Nature .

IN the next place , to deny the mutual respects and rationes rerum to be immutable and indispensible , * will spoil God of that universal rectitude which is the greatest Perfection of his Nature : For then Justice , Faithfulness , Mercy , Goodness &c. will be but contingent and arbitrarious Issues of the Divine Will. This is a clear and undeniable Consequence . For if you say these be indispensible perfections in God , for instance , if Justice be so , then there is an eternal relation of Right and Equity betwixt every Being and the giving of it that which is its propriety ; if Faithfulness , then there is an indispensible agreement betwixt a promise and the performance of it ; if Mercy , then there is an immutable and unalterable suitableness and harmony between an indigent Creature , and pity and commiseration ; if Goodness , then there is an everlasting Proporti●n and symmetry between fulness and its overflowing and dispreading of it self , which yet is the thing denyed : * For to say they are indispensibly so , because God understands them so , seems to me extream incogitancy ; for that is against the nature of all understanding , which is but the Idea and Representation of things , and is then a true and perfect Image , when it is exactly conformed to its Object : And therefore , if things have not mutual respects and relations eternal and indispensible , then all those perfections do solely and purely depend upon absolute and independent Will , as Will ; And consequently , it was and is indifferent in it self that the contrary to these , as , Injustice , Vnfaithfulness , Cruelty , Malice , Hatred , Spite , Revenge , Fury ; and whatever goes to the constitution of Hell it self , should have been made the top and highest perfections of the Divine Nature : which is such Blasphemy as cannot well be named without horror and trembling . For instead of being a God , such a nature as this is , joyned with Omnipotency , would be a worse Devil than any is in Hell . And yet this is a necessary and infallible consequence from the denial of these mutual respects and relations of things unto one another , to be eternal and unchangeable .

SECT. IX .

That the Denial of the unchangeableness of the said mutual Respects and Relations of things to one another , takes away all Knowledge of God and of our own Happiness , and lays a Foundation of the most incurable Scepticism imaginable .

AND as by the denial of these , the Nature of God is wholly destroyed , so in the second place , the mind of Man would have no certainty of Knowledge , or assurance of Happiness . He can never come to know there is a God , and consequently not the Will and Mind of God , which if there be no intrinsecal and indispensible respects and relations of things , must be the ground and foundation of all Knowledge ; for what means or arguments should we use to find out , or prove a Divine Nature ? It were folly and madness to sit down and consider the admirable contrivement and artifice of this great Fabrick of the Universe ; how that all natural things seem to act for some end , though themselves take no Cognizance of it : How the Sun by its motion and situation , or ( which is all one ) by being a Centre of the Earths Motion , provides Light and Heat , and Life for this inferiour World , how living Creatures bring forth a most apt composure and structure of parts and members , and with that a being endued with admirable Faculties , and yet themselves have no insight into , nor consultation about this incomparable Workmanship ; how they are furnished with Powers and Inclinations for the preservation of this Body when it is once brought into the World ; how without praevious deliberation they naturally take in that Food which without their intention or animadversion is concocted in their Ventricle , turned into Chyle , that Chyle into Bloud , that Bloud diffused through the Veins and Arteries , and therewith the several Members nourished , and decays of strength repaired ; I say , the gathering from all these ( which one would think were a very natural consequence ) that there is a wise Principle which directs all these Beings unknown to you , in their several motions , to their several ends , ( supposing the dependence and relations of things to be contingent and arbitrarious ) were a piece of folly and incogitancy ; For how can the Order of those things speak a wise and understanding Being , which have no relation or respect unto one another , but their whole agreement , suitableness and proportion is a meer casual issue of absolute and independent Will ? If any thing may be the cause of any effect , and a proportionate mean to any end , who can infer infinite Wisdom from the dependence of things and their relations unto one another ? * For we are to know that there is a God , and the Will of that God before we can know the mutual Harmony , or Disproportion of things ; and yet , if we do not know these principal respects that things have among themselves , it is impossible we should ever come to the knowledge of a God : For these are the only arguments that any Logick in the world can make use of to prove any conclusion . But suppose we should come to know that there is a God , which , as I have demonstrated , denying the necessary and immutable truth of common Notions , and the indispensible and eternal relations of things , is altogether impossible : However , let it be supposed ; yet how shall we know that these common Notions , and principles of natural instinct , which are the foundation of all Discourse and Argumentation , are certain and infallible Truths ; and that our Senses , ( which with these former Principles , we suppose this Divine Nature to have given us to converse with this outward world ) were not on purpose bestowed upon us , to befool , delude and cheat us ; if we be not first assured of the Veracity of God ? And how can we be assured of that , if we know not that Veracity is a perfection ? and how shall we know it is so , unless there be an intrinsecal relation betwixt Veracity and Perfection ? For if it be an arbitrarious respect depending upon the Will of God , there is no way possible left whereby we should come to know that it is in God at all ; And therefore we have fully as much reason to believe that all our common Notions and Principles of natural instinct , whereupon we ground all our reasonings and discourse , are meer Chimaera's to delude and abuse our faculties ; and all those Idea's , Phantasms and Apprehensions of our external senses , we imagine are occasioned in us by the pre●ence of outward objects , are meer Spectrums and Gulleries , wherewith poor mortals are befooled and cheated ; as that they are given us by the first Goodness and Truth to lead us into the Knowledge of himself and Nature .

This is a clear and evident consequence , and cannot be denyed by any that doth not complain of darkness in the brightest and most Meridian Light . And here you have the foundations laid of the highest Scepticism ; for who can say he knows any thing , when he hath no basis on which he can raise any true conclusions ?

SECT. X.

That the denying the Eternal and immutable Respects of things frustrates all the noble Essays of the mind or understanding of man .

THus you see the noble faculties of man , his Mind and Understanding , will be to no end and purpose , but for a Rack and Torture ; for what greater unhappiness or torment can there be imagined , than to have Faculties , whose Accomplishment and Perfection consists in a due conformation unto their objects , and yet to have no objects unto which they may be conformed ; to have a Soul unmeasurably breathing after the embraces of Truth and Goodness , and after a search and enquiry after one and the other , and to find at last they are but ●iery , empty and uncertain Notions , depending upon the arbitrarious determinations of boundless and independent Will ; which determinations she sees it beyond her reach ever to come to any knowledge of ?

SECT. XI .

That in the abovesaid denial are lad the Foundations of Rantism , Debauchery , and all Dissoluteness of Life .

HEre you have likewise the true Foundations of that we call Rantism ; for if there be no distinction 'twixt Truth and Falshood , Good and Evil , in the nature of the things themselves , and we never can be assured what is the mind and pleasure of the supream and absolute Will ( because Veracity is not intrinsecally and ex natura re● , a Perfection , but only an Arbitrarious , if any Attribute in the Deity ) * then it infallibly follows , that it is all one what I do , or how I live ; and I have as much reason to believe that I am as pleasing unto God , when I give up my self unto all F●●thiness , Uncleanness and Sin ; when I swell with Pride , Envy , Hatred and Malice , &c. as when I endeavour with all my Might and Strength to purge and purifie my Soul from all pollution and de●ilement both o● Flesh and Spirit ; and when I pursue the mortification of all my ●arnal Lusts and Inclinations : And I have fully as much ground and assurance , that the one is the ready Way to Happiness , as the other .

SECT. XII .

That our assurance of future Happiness is quite cut off by the Denying of the Eternal and immutable respects of things .

ANd this is another branch of this second Absurdity , from the denial o● the intrinfecal and eternal respects and relations of things , that a man would not have any assurance of future Happiness ; for though it be true indeed , or at least we fancy to our selves that God hath sent Jesus Christ into the world , and by him hath made very large and ample promises , that whosoever believes in him and conforms his life unto his precepts , shall be made heir of the same Inheritance and Glory which Christ is now possessed of and invested with in the Kingdom , of his Father ; yet what ground have we to believe that God does not intend only to play with and abuse our Faculties , and in conclusion to damn all those that believe and live as is above expressed ; and to take them only into the Injoyments of Heaven and H●ppiness , who have been the great Opposers of the Truth , and Gospel , and Life and Nature of Jesus Christ in the world ? For if there be no eternal and indispensible Relation of Things , then there 's no intrinsecal Evil in Deceiving and Falsifying , in the damning the Good , or saving obstinate and contumacious Sinners ( whilst such ) notwithstanding any promises or threatnings to the contrary : and if the things be in themselves indifferent , it is an unadvised Confidence to pronounce determinately on either side . Yea further , suppose we should be assured that God is Verax , and that the Scripture doth declare what is his Mind and Pleasure ; yet if there be not an intrinsecal opposition betwixt the Being and not Being of a thing at the same time , and in the same respect ; then God can make a thing that hath been done , undone ; and that whatever hath been done or spoken either by himself , or Christ , or his Prophets , or Apostles , should never be done , or spoken by him or them ; though He hath come into the world , yet that He should not be come ; though he hath made these promises , yet that they should not be made ; though God hath given us Faculties , that are capable of the enjoyment of himself , yet that he should not have given them us ; and that yet we should have no Being , nor think a thought while we fancy and speak of all these contradictions : In fine , it were impossible we should know any thing , * if the opposition of contradictory terms depend upon the arbitrarious resolves of any Being whatsoever . If any should affirm , that the terms of common Notions have an eternal and indispensible relation unto one another , and deny it of other truths , he exceedingly betrays his folly and incogitancy ; for these common Notions and principles are foundations , and radical truths upon which are built all the deductions of reason and Discourse , and with which , so far as they have any truth in them , they are inseparably united . All these consequences are plain and undeniable , and therefore I shall travel no further in the confirmation of them .

SECT. XIII .

Several Objections propounded , against the scope of this Discourse hitherto , from the Independency of the Divine Understanding and Will.

AGainst this Discourse will be objected , that it destroys God's Independency and Self-sufficiency ; * for if there be truth antecedently to the Divine Understanding , the Divine Understanding will be a meer passive principle , acted and inlightened by something without itself , as the Eyes , by the Sun , and lesser Objects , which the Sun irradiates : and if there be mutual congruities , and dependencies of things in a moral sense , and so , that such and such means have a natural and intrinsecal tendency , or repugnance to such and such ends , then will God be determined in his actions from something without himself , * which is to take away his independency , and Self-sufficiency . The pardoning of Sin to repenting Sinners seems to be a thing very suitable to infinite Goodness and Mercy , if there be any suitableness , or agreement in things antecedently to Gods Will ; therefore in this case will God be moved from abroad , and as it were determined to an act of Grace . This will also undermine and shake many principles and opinions which are look'd upon as Fundamentals , and necessary to be believed : It will unlink and break that chain and method of Gods Decrees , which is generally believed amongst us . God's great plot , and design from all Eternity , as it is usually held forth , was to advance his Mercy and Justice in the Salvation of some , and Damnation of others ; We shall speak only of that part of Gods design , the advancement of his Justice in the Damnation of the greatest part of Mankind , as being most pertinent for the improving of the strength of the Objection against our former Discourse .

SECT. XIV .

A main Objection more fully insisted on , namely how well the advancement of Gods Justice in the Damnation of the greatest part of Mankind consists with the scope of this Discourse , especially it being stated as is here set down .

THat God may do this , He decrees to create man , and being created , decrees that man should sin ; and because , as some say , man is a meer passive principle , not able , no not in the presence of objects , to reduce himself into action ; Or because in the moment of his creation , as others , he was impowered with an indifferency to stand or fall ; Therefore , ●est there should be a frustration of God's great des●gn ; he decrees in the next place , infallibly to determine the Will of man unto ●●n , that having sinned he might accomplish his Damnation ; and what he had first , and from all eternity in his intentions , the advancement of his Justice . Now if there be such an intrinsecal relation of things , as our former Discourse pretends unto , this Design of God will be wholly frustrated . For it may seem clear to every mans understanding , that it is not for the Honour and Advancement of Justice to determine the Will of man to sin , and then to punish him for that sin unto which he was so determined ; Whereas if God's Will , as such , be the only Rule and Principle of Actions , this will be an accommodate means ( if God so please to have it ) unto his design . The Summ is , We have seemed in our former discourse to bind and tye up God , who is an absolute and independent Being , to the petty formalities of Good and Evil , * and to fetter and imprison freedom , and liberty it self , in the fatal and immutable chains , and re●pects of things .

SECT. XV.

An Answer to that Objection that concerns the Understanding of God , shewing that the Divine Vnderstanding does not depend upon the natures and mutual respects of things , though they be its Objects .

I Answer ▪ This objection concerns partly the Understanding of God , and partly his Will ; As for the divine understanding , the Case is thus ; There are certain Beings , or natures of things which are Logically possible ; it implyes no contradiction that they should be , although it were supposed , there were no power that could bring them into being ; which natures , or things , supposing they were in being , would have mutual relations of agreement or opposition unto one another , which would be no more distinguished from the things themselves , than Relations are from that which founds them . Now the Divine Understanding is a representation , o● comprehension of all those natures or beings thus logically , and in respect of God absolutely possible , and consequently it must needs be also a comprehension of all these Sympathies , and Antipathies , either in a natural or a moral way , which they have one unto another : for they , as I said , do necessarily , and immediately flow from the things themselves , as relations do , posito fundamento , & termino . Now the Divine understanding doth not at all depend upon these natures , or relations , though they be its Objects ; for the nature of an Object doth not consist in being motivum facultatis , as it is usually with us , whose apprehensions are awakened by their presence ; but its whole nature is sufficiently comprehended in this , that it is termination● Facultatis ; and this precisely doth not speak any dependency of the faculty upon it , especially in the divine understanding ; where this objective , terminative presence flows from the foecundity of the Divine Nature : for the things themselves are so far from having any being antecedently to the Divine Understanding ; that had not it been their exemplary pattern , and Idea , they had never been created , and being created they would lye in darkness ; ( I speak of things that have not in them a Principle of understanding , not conscious of their own natures , and that beauteous harmony they have among themselves ) were they not irradiated by the Divine Understanding , which is as it were an universal Sun that discovers and displays the natures and respects of things , and does as it were draw them up into its beams .

SECT. XVI .

An Answer to that Objection which concerns the Will of God , shewing , that Liberty in the Power or Principle , is no where a Perfection , where there is not an Indifferency in the things or actions about which it is conversant .

TO the second part of the Objection , the strength whereof is , that * to tye up God in his actions to the reason of things , destroys his Liberty , Absoluteness , and Independency . I answer , it is no imperfection for God to be determined to Good ; It is no bondage , slavery , or contraction , to be bound up to the eternal Laws of Right and Justice : It is the greatest impotency and weakness in the world to have a power to evil , and there is nothing so diametrically opposite to the very being and nature of God . Stat pro ratione voluntas , unless it be as a redargution and check to impudent and daring Inquirers , is an account no where justifiable . The more any Being partakes of reason and understanding , the worse is the imputation of acting arbitrariously , & pro imperio . We can pardon it in Women and Children , as those from whom we do not expect that they should act upon any higher principle ; but for a man of reason and understanding , that hath the Laws of goodness and rectitude ( which are as the Laws of the Medes and Persians that cannot be altered ) engraven upon his mind , for him to cast off these golden reins , and to set up arbitrarious Will for his Rule and Guide , is a piece of intolerable rashness and presumption . This is an infallible rule , that liberty in the power or principle is no where a perfection , where there is not an indifferency in the things or actions about which it is conver●ant : And therefore it is a piece of our weakness and imbecillity , that we have nature so indetermined to what is good . These things need no proof , indeed cannot well be proved , otherwise than they prove themselves : for they are of immediate truth , and prove themselves they will , to a pure unprejudiced mind .

SECT. XVII .

That the Discourse hitherto does not infer any dependency of God upon any thing without himself ; But only occasions are offered to him of acting according to his own intimate nature and essence .

2. * OUR former Discourse doth not infer any dependency of God , upon any thing without himself ; for God is not excited to his actions by any forreign , or extrinsecal motives ; what he does , proceeds from the eternal immutable respects , and relations , or reasons of things , and where are these to be found , but in the eternal and divine Wisdom ? For what can infinite Wisdom be , but a steady , and immoveable comprehension of all those natures and relations ? and therefore God in his actions , does not look abroad , but only consults , ( if I may so speak ) the Idea's of his own mind . What Creatures do , is but the offering a particular case , for the reducement of a general principle into a particular action : or the presentment of an occasion for God to act according to the principles of his own nature ; when we say that God pardoneth Sin upon repentance , God is not moved to an act of Grace from any thing without himself ; for this is a Principle in the divine Wisdom , that pardon of Sin to repenting Sinners , is a thing very suitable to infinite goodness , and this Principle is a piece of the Divine Nature : Therefore when God upon a particular act of repentance puts forth a particular act of grace , it is but as it were a particular instance to the general rule , which is a portion of Divine Perfection , when 't is said , to him that hath shall be given , and he shall have abundance ; the meaning is , He that walks up unto that light , and improves that strength , that God hath already communicated unto him , shall have more abundant Incomes of light and strength from God : It doth not follow that God is moved from without to impart his Grace . For this is a branch of Divine Wisdom ; it is agreeable to the infinite goodness of God , to take notice of , and reward the sincere , though weak endeavours of his Creatures , after him ; so that what is from abroad , is but a particular occasion to those Divine Principles to exert , and put forth themselves .

SECT. XVIII .

The second part of the Discourse , which briefly treats of Truth in the Subject ; what it is : What in God , and what in the Creature ; And that in both it is , A Representation or Conception in the mind , conformable to the unchangeable Natures and mutual Respects of things .

THus have we spoken concerning the truth of things , or Truth in the Object . It follows that we speak

Concerning Truth in the power , or faculty , which we called Truth in the Subject ; which we shall dispatch in a few words .

* Truth in the power , or faculty is nothing else but a conformity of its conceptions or Idea's unto the natures and relations of things , which in God we may call an actual , steady , immoveable , eternal Omniformity , as Plotinus calls the Divine Intellect , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which you have largely described by him . And this the Platonists truly call the Intellectual World , for here are the natures of all things pure , and unmix'd , purged from all those dregs , refined from all that dross and alloy which cleave unto them in their particular instances . All inferiour and sublunary things , not excluding Man himself , have their excrescences , and defects ; Exorbitances , or privations are moulded up in their very frames and constitutions . There is somewhat extraneous , heterogeneous , and preternatural in all things here below , as they exist amongst us ; but in that other world , like the most purely fined gold , they shine in their native and proper glory . Here is the first goodness , the benign Parent of the whole Creation , with his numerous off-spring , the infinite throng of Created Beings : Here is the fountain of Eternal Love , with all its streams , and rivulets : Here is the Sun of uncreated glory , surrounded with all his rayes , and beams : Here are the eternal , and indispensible Laws of right and Justice , the immediate and indemonstrable principles of Truth , and goodness : Here are steady and immoveable rules , for all cases and actions , however circumstantiated , from which the Will of God , though never so absolute , and independent , from everlasting to everlasting , shall never depart one Tittle . * Now all that Truth that is in any Created Being , is by participation and derivation from this first understanding , and fountain of intellectual light . And that truth in the power of faculty is nothing but the conformity or its conceptions , or Ideas with the natures and relations of things , is clear and evident in it self , and necessarily follows from what hath been formerly proved concerning the truth of things themselves , * antecedently to any understanding , or will ; * for things are what they are , and cannot be otherwise without a contradiction , and their mutual respects and dependences Eternal and unchangeable , as hath been already shew'd : so that the conceptions and Ideas of these natures and their relations , can be only so far true * as they conform and agree with the things themselves , and the harmony which they have one to another .

FINIS .

THE CONTENTS OF THE DISCOURSE of TRUTH . Sect. 1. THAT Truth is twofold ; In the Object and in the Subject . That in the Object , what it is ; And that it is antecedent to and independent of any Will or Vnderstanding whatever . p. 165 Sect. 2. The necessity of there being certain Arguments , Means and Objects for certain Conclusions , Ends and Faculties ; And that every thing will not suit every thing . p. 166 Sect. 3. An Instance or two of the gross and horrid Absurdities , consequent to the denying the mutual respects and relations of things to be eternal and indispensible . p. 167 Sect. 4. The Entrance into the first part of the Discourse , which is , of Truth in the Object : That the Divine Understanding does not make the Respects and Relations of its Objects , but finds them or observes them . p. 168 Sect. 5. That the Divine Will does not determine the References and Dependences of things , because that would subvert his other Attributes . p. 169 Sect. 6. The avoidance of the foregoing ill consequences by making God immutable , with an Answer thereto . p. 172 Sect. 7. An hideous , but genuine Inference of a Pamphleteer from this principle , That absolute and Sovereign Will is the Spring and Fountain of all Gods actions . p. 173 Sect. 8. That the Denial of the mutual Respects and Relations of things unto one another to be eternal and unchangeable , despoils God of that universal Rectitude of his Nature . p. 174 Sect. 9. That the Denial of the unchangeableness of the said mutual Respects and Relations of things to one another , takes away the Knowledge of God and of our own Happiness , and lays a foundation of the most incurable Scepticism imaginable . p. 176 Sect. 10. That the denying the Eternal and Immutable Respects of things , frustrates all the noble Essays of the mind or understanding of man . p. 180 Sect. 11. That in the abovesaid Denial are laid the Foundations of Rantism , Debauchery , and of all Dissoluteness of Life . p. 181 Sect. 12. That our Assurance of future Happiness is quite ●ut off by the denying of the Eternal and Immutable Respects of Things . p. 182 Sect. 13. Several Objections propounded , against the scope of this Discourse hitherto , from the Independency of the Divine Understanding and Will . p. 184 Sect. 14. A main Objection more fully insisted upon , namely , How well the Advancement of Gods Justice in the Damnation of the greatest part of Mankind , consists with the scope of this Discourse , especially it being so stated as is here set down . p. 186 Sect. 15. An Answer to that Objection that concerns the Understanding of God , shewing hat the Divine Vnderstanding does not depend upon the natures and mutual Respects of things , though they be its Objects . p. 187 Sect. 16. An Answer to that Objection which concerns the Will of God , shewing , That Liberty in the Power or Principle , is no where a Perfection , where there is not an Indifferency in the things or actions about which it is conversant . p. 189 Sect. 17. That the Discourse hitherto does not infer any Dependency of God upon any thing without himself ; But only occasions are offered to him of acting according to his own intimate Nature and Essence . p. 191 Sect. 18. The second part of the Discourse which briefly treats of Truth in the Subject : What it is . What in God , and what in the Creature . And that in both it is , A representation or conception in the mind conformable to the unchangeable natures and mutual Respects of things . p. 193

Annotations UPON THE Two foregoing TREATISES , LVX ORIENTALIS , OR , An Enquiry into the OPINION OF THE EASTERN SAGES Concerning the Prae-existence of Souls ; AND THE Discourse of TRUTH . Written for the more fully clearing and further confirming the main DOCTRINES in each TREATISE . By one not unexercized in these kinds of SPECULATION .

LONDON : Printed for J. Collins , and S. Lounds , over against Exeter-Change in the Strand . 1682.

Annotations UPON LVX ORIENTALIS .

THese two Books , Lux Orientalis and the Discourse of Truth , are luckily put together by the Publisher , there being that suitableness between them , and mutual support of one another . And the Arguments they treat of being of the greatest importance that the Mind of man can entertain herself with , the consideration thereof has excited so sluggish a Genius as mine to bestow some few Annotations thereon , not very anxious or operose , but such as the places easily suggest ; and may serve either to rectifie what may seem any how oblique , or illustrate what may seem less clear , or make a supply or adde strength where there may seem any further need . In which I would not be so understood as that I had such an anxiety and fondness for the Opinions they maintain , as if all were gone if they should fail ; but that the Dogmata being more fully ; clearly , and precisely propounded , men may more safely and considerately give their Judgments thereon ; but with that modesty as to admit nothing that is contrary to the Judgment of the truly Catholick and Apostolick Church .

Chap. 2. p. 4. That he made us pure and innocent , &c. This is plainly signified in the general Mosaick History of the Creation , that all that God made he saw it was good ; and it is particularly declared of Adam and Eve , that they were created or made in a state of Innocency .

Pag. 4. Matter can do nothing but by motion , and what relation hath that to a moral Contagion ? We must either grant that the figures of the particles of Matter and their motion , have a power to affect the Soul united with the Body , ( and I remember Josephus somewhere speaking of Wine , says , it does 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , regenerate , as it were , the Soul into another life and sense of things ) or else we must acknowledge that the parts of Matter are alterable into qualifications , that cannot be resolved into mere mechanical motion and figure ; whether they be thus altered by the vital power of the Spirit of Nature , or however it comes to pass . But that Matter has a considerable influence upon a Soul united thereto , the Author himself does copiously acknowledge in his fourth Chapter of this Book ; where he tells us , that according to the disposition of the Body , our Wits are either more quick , free , and sparkling , or more obtuse , weak , and sluggish ; and our Mind more chearful and contented , or else more morose , melancholick , or dogged , &c. Wherefore that he may appear the more consistent with himself , it is likely he understands by this Moral Contagion the very venome and malignity of vitious Inclinations , how that can be derived from Matter , especially its power consisting in mere motion and figuration of parts . The Psalmist's description is very apposite to this purpose , Psal. 58. The ungodly are froward even from their mothers womb ; as soon as they are born they go astray and speak lyes . They are as venomous as the poyson of a serpent , even like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear . That there should be such a difference in the Nativity of some from that of others , and haply begot also of the same Parents , is no slight intimation that their difference is not from their Bodies , but their Souls ; in which there is so sudden Eruptions of vitious Inclinations which they had contracted in their former state , not repressed nor extinct in this , by reason of Adam's lapse , and his losing the Paradisiacal body in which he was created , and which should , if it had not been for his Fall , been transmitted to his Posterity ; but that being lost , the several measures of the pristine Vitiosity of humane Souls discover themselves in this life , according to the just Laws of the Divine Nemesis essentially interwoven into the nature of things .

Pag. 5. How is it that those that are under continual temptations to Vice , are yet kept within the bounds of Vertue , &c. That those that are continually under temptations to Vice from their Childhood , should keep within the bounds of Vertue , and those that have perpetual outward advantages from their Childhood to be vertuous , should prove vitious notwithstanding , is not rationally resolved into their free will ; for in this they are both of them equal : and if they had been equal also in their external advantages or disadvantages , the different event might well be imputed to the freedom of their Will. But now that one , notwithstanding all the disadvantages to Vertue should prove vertuous , and the other , notwithstanding all the advantages to Vertue should prove vitious ; the reason of this certainly to the considerate will seem to lie deeper than the meer liberty of Will in man . But it can be attributed to nothing , with a more due and tender regard to the Divine Attributes , than to the pre-existent state of humane Souls , according to the Scope of the Author .

Pag. 9. For still it s●●ms to be a diminutive and disparaging apprehension of the infinite and immense goodness of God , that he should detrude such excellent Creatures , &c. To enervate this reason , there is framed by an ingenious hand this Hypothesis , to vie with that of Pre-existence : That Mankind is an Order of Beings placed in a middle state between Angels and Brutes , made up of contrary Principles , viz. Matter and Spirit , indued with contrary faculties , viz. Animal and Rational , and encompassed with contrary Objects proportioned to their respective faculties , that so they may be in a capacity to exercise the Vertues proper and peculiar to their compounded and heterogeneal nature . And therefore though humane Souls be capable of subsisting by themselves , yet God has placed them in Bodies full of brutish and unreasonable Propensions , that they may be capable of exercising many choice and excellent Vertues , which otherwise could never have been at all ; such as Temperance , Sobriety , Chastity , Patience , Meekness , Equanimity , and all other Vertues that consist in the Empire of Reason over Passion and Appetite . And therefore he conceives that the creating of humane Souls , though pure and immaculate , and uniting them with such brutish Bodies , is but the constituting and continuing such a Species of Being , which is an Order betwixt Brutes and Angels ; into which latter Order , if men use their faculties of the Spiritual Principle in them well , they may ascend : Forasmuch as God has given them in their Spiritual Principle ( containing Free Will , and Reason to discern what is best ) a power and faculty of overcoming all their inordinate Appetites .

This is his Hypothesis , mostwhat in his own words , and all to his own sence , as near as I could with brevity express it : And it seems so reasonable to himself , that he professes himself apt to be positive and dogmatical therein . And it might very well seem so to him , if there were a sufficient faculty in the Souls of men in this World , to command and keep in order the Passions and Appetites of their Body , and to be and do what their Reason and Conscience tells them they should be and do , and blames them for not being and doing . So that they know more by far than they find an ability in themselves to perform . Extreamly few there are , if any , but this is their condition : Whence all Philosophers ( that had any sense of Vertue and Holiness ) as well as Jews and Christians , have looked upon Man as in a lapsed state , not blaming God , but deploring the sad condition they found themselves in by some foregoing lapse or fault in Mankind . And it is strange that our own Consciences should flie in our faces for what we could never have helped .

It is witty indeed which is alleadged in the behalf of this Hypothesis , viz. That the Rational part of man is able to command the lower Appetites ; because if the superiour part be not strong enough to govern the inferiour , it destroys the very being of moral Good and Evil : Forasmuch as those acts that proceed out of necessity cannot be moral , nor can the superiour Faculties be obliged to govern the inferiour , if they are not able , because nothing is obliged to impossibilities . But I answer , if inabilities come upon us by our own fault , the defects of action then are upon the former account moral , or rather immoral . And our Consciences rightly charge us with the Vitiosities of our Inclinations and Actions , even before we can mend them here , because they are the consequences of our former Guilt .

Wherefore it is no wonder that there is found a flaw in a subtilty that would conclude against the universal Experience of men , who all of them , more or less , that have any sense of Morality left in them , complain that the inferiour powers of the Soul , at least for a time , were too hard for the superiour . And the whole mass of Mankind is so generally corrupt and abominable , that it would argue the wise and just God a very unequal Matcher of innocent Souls with brutish Bodies , they being universally so hugely foiled or overcome in the conflict , if he indeed were the immediate Matcher of them . For how can that be the effect of an equilibrious or sufficient Free Will and Power , that is in a manner perpetual and constant ? But there would be near as many Examples one way as the other , if the Souls of men in this state were not by some precedent lapse become unable to govern , as they ought , all in them or about them that is to be subjected to their Reason . No fine Fetches of Wit can demolish the steady and weighty structure of sound and general Experience .

Pag. 9. Wherein he seeth it , ten thousand to one but that they will corrupt , &c. The Expression [ ten thousand to one ] is figurative , and signifies how hugely more like it is that the Souls would be corrupted by their Incorporation in these Animal or ▪ Brutish Bodies , than escape Corruption . And the effect makes good the Assertion : for David of old ( to say nothing of the days of Noah ) and Paul after him , declare of Mankind in general , that they are altogether become abominable ; there is none that doth good , no not one . Wherefore we see what efficacy these Bodies have , if innocent Souls be put into them by the immediate hand of God , as also the force of Custom and corrupt Education to debauch them ; and therefore how unlikely it is that God should create innocent Souls to thrust them into such ill circumstances .

Pag. 10. To suppose him assistent to unlawful and unclean Coitions , by creating a Soul to animate the impure Foetus , &c. This seemed ever to those that had any sense of the Divine Purity and Sanctity , or were themselves endued with any due sensibleness and discernment of things , to be an Argument of no small weight . But how one of the more rude and unhewen Opposers of Pre-existence swaggers it out of countenance , I think it not amiss to set down for a pleasant Entertainment of the Reader .

Admit , says he , that Gods watchful Providence waits upon dissolute Voluptuaries in their unmeet Conjunctions , and sends down fresh created Spirits to actuate their obscene Emissions , what is here done which is not very high and becoming God , and most congruous and proportionable to his immense Grandeur and Majesty , viz. To bear a part amongst Pimps and Bawds , and pocky Whores and Woremasters , to rise out of his Seat for them , and by a free Act of Creation of a Soul , to set his Seal of Connivance to their Villanies ; who yet is said to be of more pure Eyes than to endure to behold Wickedness . So that if he does ( as his Phrase is ) pop in a Soul in these unclean Coitions , certainly he does it winking . But he goes on : For in the first place , says he , his condescension is hereby made signal and eximious ; he is gloriously humble beyond a parallel , and by his own Example lessons us to perform the meanest works , if fit and profitable , and to be content even to drudge for the common bénefit of the World . Good God! what a Rapture has this impure Scene of Venerie put this young Theologer into , that it should thus drive him out of his little Wits and Senses , and make him speak inconsistences with such an affected Grace and lofty Eloquence ! If the act of Gods freely creating Souls , and so of assisting wretched Sinners in their foul acts of Adultery and Whoredom , be a glorious action , how is it an Abasement of him , how is it his Humiliation ? and if it be an humbling and debasing of him , how is it glorious ? The joyning of two such 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , are indeed without parallel . The creating of an humane Soul immortal and immaculate , and such as bears the Image of God in it , as all immaculate Souls do , is one of the most glorious actions that God can perform ; such a Creature is it , as the Schools have judged more of value than the frame of the whole visible World . But to joyn such a Creature as this to such impure corporeal matter , is furthermore a most transcendent Specimen of both his Skill and Soveraignty ; so that this is an act of further Super-exaltation of himself , not of Humiliation . What remains then to be his Humiliation , but the condescending to assist and countenance the unclean endeavours of Adulterers and Adulteresses ? Which therefore can be no Lessons to us for Humility , but a Cordial for the faint-hearted in Debauchery , and degeneracy of Life ; wherein they may plead , so instructed by this rural Theolog , that they are content to drudge for the common profit of the World . But he proceeds .

And secondly , says he , hereby he elicits Good out of Evil , causing famous and heroick persons to take their Origine from base occasions ; and so converts the Lusts of sensual Varlets to nobler ends than they designed them . As if an ▪ heroick Off-spring were the genuine effect of Adultery or Fornication , and the most likely way to People the World with worthy Personages . How this raw Philosopher will make this comply with his Profession of Divinity , I know not ; whenas , it teaches us , that Marriage is honourable , but Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge ; and that he punishes the Iniquities of the Parents on their Children . But this bold Sophist ▪ makes God adjudge the noblest Off-spring to the defiled Bed , and not to punish , but reward the Adultery or Whoredom of debauched persons , by giving them the best and bravest Children : Which the more true it could be found in experience , it would be the stronger Argument for Pre-existence ; it being incredible that God , if he created Souls on purpose , should crown Adultery and Whoredom with the choicest Off-spring .

And then thirdly and lastly , says he , hereby he often detects the lewdness of Sinners , which otherwise would be smothered , &c. As if the All-wise God could find no better nor juster means than this to discover this Villany . If he be thus immediately and in an extraordinary way assistant in these Coitions , were it not as easie for him , and infinitely more decorous , to charge the Womb with some Mola or Ephemerous Monster , than to plunge an immaculato humane Soul into it ? This would as effectually discover the Villany committed , and besides prevent the charge Parishes are put to in maintaining Bastards . And now that we have thus seen what a mere nothing it is that this Strutter has pronounced with such sonorous Rhetorick , yet he is not ashamed to conclude with this Appeal to I know not what blind Judges : Now , says he , are not all these Actions and Concerns very graceful and agreeable to God ? Which words in these circumstances no man could utter , were he not of a crass , insensible , and injudicious Constitution , or else made no Conscience of speaking against his Judgment . But if he speak according to his Conscience , it is manifest he puts Sophisms upon himself , in arguing so weakly .

As he does a little before in the same place , where that he may make the coming of a Soul into a base begotten Body in such a series of time and order of things as the Pre-existentiaries suppose , and Gods putting it immediately upon his creating it into such a Body , to be equally passable , he uses this slight Illustration : Imagine , saith he , God should create one Soul , and so soon as he had done , instantly pop it into a base begotten Body ; and then create another the matter of an hours space before ▪ its precipitation into such a Receptacle : which of these Actions would be the most dimin●tive of the Creators honour ? would not the difference be insensible , and the scandal , if any , the same in both ? Yet thus lies the case just betwixt the Pre-existentiaries and us . Let the Reader consider how senseless this Author is in saying the case betwixt the Pre-existentiaries and him is just thus , when they are just nothing akin : for his two Souls are both unlapsed , but one of the Pre-existentiaries lapsed , and so subjected to the Laws of Nature . In his case God acts freely , raising himself , as it were , out of his Seat to create an immaculate Soul , and put into a foul Body ; but in the other case God onely is a looker on , there is onely his Permission , not his Action . And the vast difference of time , he salves it with such a Quibble as this , as if it were nothing , because thousands of Ages ago , in respect of God and his Eternity , is not an hour before . He might as well say the difference betwixt the most glorious Angel and a Flea is nothing , because in comparison of God both are so indeed . Wherefore this Anti-Pre-existentiary is such a Trifler , that I am half ashamed that I have brought him upon the Stage .

But yet I will commend his Craft , though not his Faithfulness , that he had the wit to omit the proposing of Buggery as well as of Adultery , and the endeavouring to shew how graceful and agreeable to God , how congruous and proportionate it were to his immense Grandeur and Majesty , to create a Soul on purpose ( immaculate and undefiled ) to actuate the obscene Emissions of a Brute having to do with a Woman , or of a Man having to do with a Brute : For both Women and Brutes ▪ have been thus impregnated , and brought forth humane Births , as you may see abundantly testified in Fortunius Licetus ; it would be too long to produce Instances .

This Opinion of Gods creating Souls , and putting them into Bodies upon incestuous and adulterous Coitions , how exceeding absurd and unbecoming the Sanctity of the Divine Majesty it seemed to the Churches of Aethiopia , you may see in the History of Jobus Ludolphus . How intolerable therefore and execrable would this Doctrine have appeared unto them , if they had thought of the prodigious fruits of successful Buggery ? The words of Ludolfus are these : Perabsurdum esse si quis Deum astrictum dicat pro adulterinis & incestuo●is partubus animas quotidie novas creare . Hist. Aethiop . lib. 3. cap. 5. What would they then say of creating a new Soul , for the Womb of a Beast bugger'd by a Man , or of a Woman bugger'd by a Beast !

Pag. 12. Methinks that may be done at a cheaper rate , &c. How it may be done with more agreeableness to the Goodness , Wisdom , and Justice of God , has been even now hinted by me , nor need I repeat it .

Pag. 13. It seems very incongruous and unhandsome , to suppose that God should create two Souls for the supply of one monstrous Body . And there is the same reason for several other Monstrosities , which you may take notice of in Fortunius Licetus , lib. 2. cap. 58. One with seven humane heads and arms , and Ox-feet ; others with Mens bodies , but with a head the one of a Goose , the other of an Elephant , &c. In which it is a strong presumption humane Souls lodged , but in several others certain . How does this consist with Gods fresh creating humane Souls pure and innocent , and putting them into Bodies ? This is by the aforesaid Anti-Pre-existentiary at first answered onely by a wide gape or yawn of Admiration . And indeed it would make any one stare and wonder how this can consist with Gods immediately and freely intermeddling with the Generation of Men , as he did at first in the Creation . For out of his holy hands all things come clean and neat . Many little efforts he makes afterwards to salve this difficulty of Monsters , but yet in his own judgment the surest is the last ; That God did purposely tye fresh created Souls to these monstroûs shapes , that they whose Souls sped better , might humbly thank him . Which is as wisely argued , as if one should first with himself take it for granted that God determines some men to monstrous Debaucheries and Impieties , and then fancy this the use of it , that the Spectators of them may with better pretence than the Pharisee , cry out , Lord , we thank thee that we are not as these men are . There is nothing permitted by God , but it has its use some way or other ; and therefore it cannot be concluded , because that an Event has this or that use , therefore God by his immediate and free Omnipotence effected it . A Pre-existentiary easily discerns that these Monstrosities plainly imply that God does not create Souls still for every humane Coition , but that having pre-existed , they are left to the great Laws of the Vniverse and Spirit of Nature ; but yet dares not conclude that God by his free Omnipotence determines those monstrous Births , as serviceable as they seem for the evincing so noble a Theory .

Pag. 15. That God on the seventh day rested from all his works . This one would think were an Argument clear enough that he creates nothing since the celebration of the first seventh days rest . For if all his works are rested from , then the creation of Souls ( which is a work , nay a Master-piece amongst his works scarce inferiour to any ) is rested from also . But the above-mentioned Opposer of Pre-existence is not at a loss for an Answer ; ( for his Answers being slight , are cheap and easie to come by : ) He says therefore , That this supposeth onely that after that time he ceased from creating new Species . A witty Invention ! As if God had got such an easie habit by once creating the things he created in the six days , that if he but contained himself within those kinds of things , though he did hold on still creating them , that it was not Work , but mere Play or Rest to him , in comparison of his former labour . What will not these men fancy , rather than abate of their prejudice against an opinion they have once taken a toy against ! When the Author to the Hebrews says , He that has entred into his rest , has ceased from his own works , as God ceased from his ; verily this is small comfort or instruction , if it were as this Anti-Pre-existentiary would have it : for if God ceased onely from creating new Species , we may , notwithstanding our promised Rest , be tyed to run through new instances of labours or sins , provided they be but of those kinds we experienced before . To any unprejudiced understanding , this sence must needs seem forced and unnatural , thus to restrain Gods Rest to the Species of things , and to engage him to the dayly task of creating Individuals . The whole Aethiopian Church is of another mind : Qui animam humanam quotidiè non creari hoc argumento asserunt , quòd Deus sexto die perfecerit totum opus Creationis . See Ludolfus in the place above-cited .

Chap. 3. pag. 17. Since the Images of Objects are very small and inconsiderable in our brains , &c. I suppose he mainly relates to the Objects of Sight , whose chief , if not onely Images , are in the fund of the Eye ; and thence in vertue of the Spirituality of our Soul extended thither also , and of the due qualification of the Animal Spirits are transmitted to the Perceptive of the Soul within the brain . But how the bignesses and distances of Objects are conveyed to our cognoscence , it would be too tedious to signifie here . See Dr. H. Moore 's Enchiridion Metaphysicum , cap. 19.

Pag. 17. Were it not that our Souls use a kind of Geometry , &c. This alludes to that pretty conceit of Des Cartes in his Dioptricks , the solidity of which I must confess I never understood . For I understand not but that if my Soul should use any such Geometry , I should be conscious thereof , which I do not find my self . And therefore I think those things are better understood out of that Chapter of the Book even now mentioned .

Pag. 17. And were the Soul quite void of all such implicit Notions , it would remain as senseless , &c. There is no sensitive Perception indeed , without Reflection ; but the Reflection is an immediate attention of the Soul to that which affects her , without any circumstance of Notions intervening for enabling her for sensitive Operations . But these are witty and ingenious Conjectures , which the Author by reading Des Cartes , or otherhow , might be encouraged to entertain . To all sensitive Objects the Soul is an Abrasa Tabula , but for Moral and Intellectual Principles , their Idea's or Notions are essential to the Soul .

Pag. 18. For Sense teacheth no general Propositions , &c. Nor need it do any thing else but exhibit some particular Object , which our Understanding being an Ectypon of the Divine Intellect necessarily , when it has throughly sifted it , concludes it to answer such a determinate Idea eternally and unalterably one and the same , as it stands in the Divine Intellect , which cannot change ; and therefore that Idea must have the same properties and respects for ever . But of this , enough here . It will be better understood by reading the Discourse of Truth , and the Annotations thereon .

Pag. 18. But from something more sublime and excellent . From the Divine or Archetypal Intellect , of which our Understanding is the Ectypon , as was said before .

Pag. 21. And so can onely transmit their natural qualities . They are so far from transmitting their Moral Pravities , that they transmit from themselves no qualities at all . For to create a Soul , is to concreate the qualities or properties of it , not out of the Creator , but out of nothing . So that the substance and all the properties of it are out of nothing .

Pag. 22. Against the nature of an immaterial Being , a chief property of which is to be indiscerpible . The evasion to the force of this Argument by some Anti-Pre-existentiaries is , that it is to philosophize at too high a rate of confidence , to presume to know what the nature of a Soul or Spirit is . But for brevities sake , I will refer such Answerers as these to Dr. H. Moore 's brief Discourse of the true Notion of a Spirit , printed lately with Saducismus Triumphatus ; and I think he may be thence as sure that Indiscerpibility is an essential property of a Spirit , as that there are any Spirits in the Universe : and this methinks should suffice any ingenuous and modest Opposer . But to think there is no knowledge but what comes in at our Senses , is a poor , beggarly , and precarious Principle , and more becoming the dotage of Hobbianism , than men of clearer Parts and more serene Judgments .

Pag. 22. By separable Emissions that pass from the flame , &c. And so set the Wick and Tallow on motion . But these separable Emissions that pass from the flame of the lighted Candle , pass quite away , and so are no part of the flame enkindled . So weak an Illustration is this of what these Traducters would have .

Chap. 4. pag. 32. Which the Divine Piety and Compassion hath set up again , that so , so many of his excellent Creatures might not be lost and undone irrecoverably , but might act anew , &c. To this a more elegant Pen and refined Wit objects thus : Now is it not highly derogatory to the infinite and unbounded Wisdom of God , that he should detrude those Souls which he so seriously designes to make happy , into a state so hazardous , wherein he seeth it to be ten thousand to one but that they will corrupt and defile themselves , and so make them more miserable here and to eternity hereafter ? A strange method of recovering this , to put them into such a fatal necessity of perishing : 't is but an odd contrivance for their restauration to Happiness , to use such means to compass it which 't is ten thousand to one but will make them infinitely more miserable . This he objects in reference to what the Author of Lux Orientalis writes , chap. 2. where he says , It is a thousand to one but Souls detruded into these bodies will corrupt and defile themselves , and so make themselves miserable here and to eternity hereafter .

And much he quotes to the same purpose out of the Account of Origen . Where the Souls great disadvantages to Vertue and Holiness , what from the strong inclinations of the Body , and what from National Customs & Education in this Terrestrial State , are lively set out with a most moving and tragical Eloquence , to shew how unlikely it is that God should put innocent and immaculate Souls of his own creation immediately , into such Bodies , and so hard and even almost fatal condition of miscarrying . Upon which this subtile Anti-Pre-existentiary : Thus you see , saith he , what strong Objections and Arguments the Pre-existentiaries urge with most noise and clamour , are against themselves . If therefore these Phaenomena be inexplicable , without the Origenian Hypothesis , they are so too with it ; and if so , then the result of all is , that they are not so much Arguments of Pre-existence as Aspersions of Providence . This is smartly and surprizingly spoken . But let us consider more punctually the state of the matter .

Here then we are first to observe , how cunningly this shrewd Antagonist conceals a main stroke of the Supposition , viz. That the Divine Pity and Compassion to lapsed Souls , that had otherwise fallen into an eternal state of Silence and Death , had set up Adam for their relief , and endued him with such a Paradisiacal body of so excellent a constitution to be transmitted to all his Posterity , and invested him , in vertue of this , with so full power non peccandi , that if he and his Posterity were not in an happy flourishing condition as to their eternal interest of Holiness and Vertue , it would be long of himself . And what could God do more correspondently to his Wisdom and Goodness , dealing with free Agents , such as humane Souls are , than this ? And the thing being thus stated , no Objections can be brought against the Hypothesis , but such as will invade the inviolable Truths of Faith and Orthodox Divinity .

Secondly , We are to observe , how this cunning Objector has got these two Pre-existentiaries upon the hip for their youthful flowers of Rhetorick , when one says , it is hundreds to one ; the other , ten thousand to one , that Souls will miscarry put into these disadvantages of the Terrestrial state , by which no candid Reader will understand any more , than that it is exceeding difficult for them to escape the pollutions of this lower World once incorporated into Terrestrial Bodies . But it being granted possible for them to emerge , this is a great grace and favour of the Divine Goodness to such peccant wretches , that they are brought out of the state of eternal Silence and Death , to try their Fortunes once more , though incumbred with so great difficulties which the Divine Nemesis suffers to return upon them . That therefore they are at all in a condition of recovery , is from the Goodness and Mercy of God ; that their condition is so hard , from his Justice , they having been so foully peccant . And his wisdom being only to contrive what is most agreeable to his Mercy and Justice , it is not at all derogatory to the infinite and unbounded Wisdom of God thus to deal with lapsed Souls . For though he does seriously intend to make them happy , yet it must be in a way correspondent to his Justice as well as Mercy .

Thirdly and Lastly , Besides that the Spirit of the Lord pervades the whole Earth ready to assist the sincere ; there is moreover a mighty weight of mercy added in the Revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ to the world , so that the retriving of the Souls of men out of their Death and Silence into this Terrestrial state , in which there is these helps to the sincere , it is manifestly worthy the Divine Wisdom and Goodness . For those it takes no effect with , ( they beginning the world again on this stage ) they shall be judged onely according to what they have done here , there being an eternal obliteration as well as oblivion of the acts of their Pre-existent state ; but those that this merciful Dispensation of God has taken any effect upon here , their sincere desires may grow into higher accomplishments in the future state . Which may something mitigate the horrour of that seeming universal squalid estate of the Sons of men upon earth . Which in that it is so ill , is rightly imputed by both Jews and Christians and the divinest Philosophers to a Lapse , and to the Mercy and Grace of God that it is no worse . From whence it may appear , that that argument for Pre-existence , that God does not put newly created innocent Souls into such disadvantageous circumstances of a terrestrial Incorporation , though partly out of Mercy , partly out of Justice , he has thought fit lapsed Souls should be so disposed of , that this I say is no aspersion of Divine Providence .

Pag. 36. And now I cannot think of any place in the sacred Volume more , that could make a tolerable plea against this Hypothesis , &c. It is much that the ingenious Author thought not of Rom. 9. 11. [ For the Children being not yet born , neither having done either good or evil , that the purpose of God according to Election might stand , not of works , but of him that calleth . ] This is urged by Anti-pre-existentiaries , as a notable place against Pre-existence . For , say they , how could Esau and Jacob. be said neither to have done good nor evil , if they pre-existed before they came into this world ? For if they pre-existed , they acted ; and if they acted , they being rational Souls , they must have done either good or evil . This makes an handsome shew at first sight ; but if we consult Gen. 25. we shall plainly see that this is spoke of Jacob and Esau yet strugling in the Womb ; as it is said in this Text , For the Children being not yet born ; but strugling in the Womb , as you may see in the other . Which plainly therefore respects their actions in this life , upon which certainly the mind of St. Paul was fix'd . As if he should have expresly said : For the Children being not yet born , but strugling in the Womb , neither having done either good or evil in this life as being still in the Womb , it was said of them to Rebeckah , The elder shall serve the younger . Which sufficiently illustrates the matter in hand with St. Paul ; that as Jacob was preferred before Esau in the Womb , before either of them was born to act here on the Earth , and that therefore done without any respect to their actions ; so the purpose of God touching his people should be of free Election , not of Works .

That of Zachary also , Chap. 12. 1. I have heard alledged by some as a place on which no small stress may be laid . The Lord is there said to be the Former of the Spirit of Man within him . Wherefore they argue , If the Spirit of Man be formed within him , it did never pre-exist without him . But we answer , That 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 is but the same that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . And then the sence is easie and natural , that the Spirit that is in man , God is the Former or Creator of it . But this Text defines nothing of the time of forming it . There are several other Texts alledged , but it is so easie to answer them , and would take up so much time and room , that I think fit to omit them , remembring my scope to be short Annotations , not a tedious Commentary .

Pag. 41. Mr. Ben Israel in his Problems De Creatione assures us , that Pre-existence was the common belief , &c. That this was the common opinion of the wiser men amongst the Jews , R. Menasse Ben Israel himself told me at London with great freedom and assurance , and that there was a constant tradition thereof ; which he said in some sence was also true concerning the Trinity , but that more obscure . But this of Pre-existence is manifest up and down in the Writings of that very ancient and learned Jew Philo Judaeus ; as also something toward a Trinity , if I remember aright .

Chap. 5. Pag. 46. We should doubtless have retained some remembrance of that condition . And the rather , as one ingeniously argues , because our state in this life is a state of punishment . Upon which he concludes , That if the calamities of this life were inflicted upon us only as a punishment of sins committed in another , Providence would have provided some effectual means to preserve them in our memories . And therefore , because we find no remainders of any such Records in our minds , 't is , says he , sufficient evidence to all sober and impartial inquirers , that our living and sinning in a former state is as false as inevident .

But to this it may be answered , That the state we are put in , is not a state only of punishment , but of a merciful trial ; and it is sufficient that we find our selves in a lapsed and sinful condition , our own Consciences telling us when we do amiss , and calling upon us to amend . So that it is needless particularly to remember our faults in the other world , but the time is better spent in faithfully endeavouring to amend our selves in this , and to keep our selves from all faults of what nature soever . Which is a needless thing our memory should discover to us to have been of old committed by us , when our Consciences urge to us that they are never to be committed ; and the Laws of holy Law-givers and divine Instructers , or wise Sages over all the world , assist also our Conscience in her office . So that the end of Gods Justice by these inward and outward Monitors , and by the cross and afflicting Rancounters in this present state , is to be attained to , viz. the amendment of Delinquents if they be not refractory .

And we were placed on this stage as it were to begin the world again , so as if we had not existed before . Whence it seems meet , that there should be an utter obliteration of all that is past , so as not to be able by memory to connect the former life and this together . The memory whereof , if we were capable of it , would be inconsistent with the orderly proceedings of this , and overdoze us and make us half moped to the present Scene of things . Whenas the Divine Purpose seems to be , that we should also experience the natural pleasures and satisfactions of this life , but in an orderly and obedient way , keeping to the prescribed rules of Virtue and Holiness . And thus our faithfulness being exercised 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in those things which are more estranged from our nobler and diviner nature , God may at last restore us to what is more properly our own .

But in the mean time , that saying which the Poet puts in the mouth of Jupiter , touching the inferiour Deities , may not misbeseem the mercy and wisdom of the true God concerning lapsed Souls incorporate into terrestrial Bodies .

Has quoniam coeli nondum dignamur honore . Quas dedimus certè terras habitare sinamus .

Let them not be distracted betwixt a sensible remembrance of the Joys and Glories of our exteriour Heaven above , and the present fruition of things below , but let them live an holy and heavenly life upon Earth , exercising their Graces and Vertues in the use and enjoyment of these lower earthly Objects , till I call them up again to Heaven , where , after this long swoond they are fallen into , they will more seasonably remember their former Paradisiacal state upon its recovery , and reagnize their ancient home . Wherefore if the remembring or forgetting of the former state depend absolutely upon the free contrivance of the Divine Wisdom , Goodness , and Justice , as this ingenious Opposer seems to suppose , I should even upon that very point of fitness conceive that an utter oblivion of the former state is interwoven into the fate and nature of lapsed Souls by a Divine Nemesis , though we do not conceive explicitely the manner how . And yet the natural reasons the Author of Lux Orientalis produces in the sequel of his Discourse , seem highly probable .

For first , As we had forgot some lively Dream we dreamt but last night , unless we had met with something in the day of a peculiar vertue to remind us of it , so we meeting with nothing in this lower stage of things that lively resembles those things in our former state , and has a peculiar fitness to rub up our Memory , we continue in an utter oblivion of them . As suppose a man was lively entertain'd in his sleep with the pleasure of dreaming of a fair Crystal River , whose Banks were adorned with Trees and Flags in the flower , and those large Flies with blue and golden-colour'd Bodies , and broad thin Wings curiously wrought and transparent , hovering over them , with Birds also singing on the Trees , Sun and Clouds above , and sweet breezes of Air , and Swans in the River with their wings sometimes lifted up like sails against the wind . Thus he passed the night , thinks of no such thing in the morning , but rising goes about his occasions . But towards evening a Servant of a Friend of his presents him with a couple of Swans from his Master . The sight of which Swans striking his Perceptive as sensibly as those in his Dream , and being one of the most extraordinary and eximious Objects of his Night-vision , presently reminds him of the whole scene of things represented in his sleep . But neither Sun , nor Clouds , nor Trees , nor any such ordinary thing could in any likelihood have reminded him of his Dream . And besides , it was the lively resemblance betwixt the Swans he saw in his sleep , and those he saw waking , that did so effectually rub up his memory . The want therefore of such occurrences in this life to remind us of the passages of the former , is a very reasonable account why we remember nothing of the former state .

But here the Opposers of Pre-existence pretend that the joyous and glorious Objects in the other state do so pierce and transport the Soul , and that she was inured to them so long , that though there were nothing that resembled them here , the impression they make must be indelible , and that it is impossible she should forget them . And moreover , that there is a similitude betwixt the things of the upper World and the lower , which therefore must be an help to memory .

But here , as touching the first , they do not consider what a Weapon they have given into my hand against themselves . For the long inuredness to those Celestial Objects abates the piercingness of their transport ; and before they leave those Regions , according to the Platonick or Origenian Hypothesis , they grow cooler to such enjoyments : so that all the advantages of that piercing transport for memory , are lost . And besides , in vertue of that piercing Transport , no Soul can call into memory what she enjoyed formerly , but by recalling herself into such a Transport , which her Terrestrial Vehicle makes her uncapable of .

For the memory of external Transactions is sealed upon us by some passionate corporeal impress in conjunction with them ( which makes them whip Boys sometimes at the boundaries of their Parish , that they may better remember it when they are old men ; ) which Impress if it be lost , the memory of the thing it self is lost . And we may be sure it is lost in Souls incorporate in Terrestrial Vehicles , they having lost their Aereal and Celestial , and being fatally incapacitated so much as to conceit how they were affected by the External Objects of the other World , and so to remember how they felt them . And therefore all the descriptions that men of a more Aethereal and Entheous temper adventure on in this life , are but the Roamings of their Minds in vertue of their Constitution towards the nature of the heavenly things in general , not a recovery of the memory of past Experience ; this State not affording so lively a representment of the Pathos that accompanied the actual sense of those things , as to make us think that we once really enjoyed them before . That is onely to be collected by Reason ; the noble exercise of which faculty , in the discovering of this Arcanum of our Pre-existence , had been lost , if it could have been detected by a compendious Memory . But if ever we recover the memory of our former State , it will be when we are re-entred into it ; we then being in a capacity of being really struck with the same Pathos we were before , in vertue whereof the Soul may remember this was her pristine condition .

And therefore to answer to the second , Though there may be some faintness of resemblance betwixt the things of the other State and this , yet other peculiarities also being required , and the former sensible Pathos to be recovered , which is impossible in this State , it is likewise impossible for us to remember the other in this .

The second Argument of the Author for the proving the unlikeliness of our remembring the other State is , the long intermission and discontinuance from thinking of those things . For 't is plain that such discontinuance or desuetude bereaves us of the memory of such things as we were acquainted with in this World . Insomuch as if an ancient man should read the Verses or Themes he made when he was a School-boy , without his name subscribed to them , though he pumpt and sweat for them when he made them , could not tell they were his own . How then should the Soul remember what she did or observ'd many hundreds , nay thousands of years ago ?

But yet our Authors Antagonist has the face to make nothing of this Argument neither : Because , forsooth , it is not so much the desuetude of thinking of one thing , but the thinking of others , that makes us forget that one thing . What a shuffle is this ! For if the Soul thought on that one thing as well as on other things , it would remember it as well as them . Therefore it is not the thinking of other things , but the not thinking of that , that makes it forgotten . Vsus promptus facit , as in general , so in particular . And therefore disuse in any particular slackens at first , and after abolishes the readiness of the Mind to think thereof . Whence sleepiness and sluggishness is the Mother of Forgetfulness , because it disuses the Soul from thinking of things . And as for those seven Chronical Sleepers that slept in a Cave from Decius his time to the reign of Theodosius junior , I dare say it would have besotted them without a Miracle , and they would have rose out of their sleep no more wise than a Wisp ; I am sure not altogether so wise as this awkward Arguer for memory of Souls in their Pre-existent state after so hugely long a discontinuance from it . But for their immediately coming out of an Aethereal Vehicle into a Terrestrial , and yet forgetting their former state , what Example can be imagined of such a thing , unless that of the Messias , who yet seems to remember his former glorious condition , and to pray that he may return to it again ? Though , for my part I think it was rather Divine Inspiration than Memory , that enabled him to know that matter , supposing his Soul did pre-exist .

Our Authors third and last Argument to prove that lapsed Souls in their Terrestrial condition forget their former state , is from observation how deteriorating changes in this earthly Body spoils or quite destroys the Memory , the Soul still abiding therein ; such as Casualties , Diseases , and old Age , which changes the tenour of the Spirits , and makes them less useful for memory , as also 't is likely the Brain it self . Wherefore there being a more deteriorating change to the Soul in coming into an earthly Body , instead of an aereal or aethereal , the more certainly will her memory of things which she experienced in that state , be washed out or obliterated in this .

Here our Authors Antagonist answers , That though changes in body may often weaken , and sometimes utterly spoil the memory of things past , yet it is not necessary that the Souls changing of her body should therefore do so , because it is not so injurious to her faculties . Which if it were , not onely our Memory , but Reason also should have been casheered and lost by our migration out of those Vehicles we formerly actuated , into these we now enliven ; but that still remaining sound and entire , it is a signe that our Memory would do so too , if we had pre-existed in other bodies before , and had any thing to remember . And besides , if the bare translocation of our Souls out of one body into another , would destroy the memory of things the Soul has experienced , it would follow , that when People by death are summoned hence into the other state , that they shall be quite bereaved of their Memory , and so carry neither applause nor remorse of Conscience into the other World ; which is monstrously absurd and impious . This is the main of his Answer , and mostwhat in his own words . But of what small force it is , we shall now discover , and how little pertinent to the business .

For first , we are to take notice that the deteriorating change in the Body , or deteriorating state by change of Bodies , is understood of a debilitative , diminutive , or privative , not depravative deterioration ; the latter of which may be more injurious to the faculties of the Soul , though in the same Body , such a deteriorating change causing Phrensies and outragious Madness . But as for diminutive or privative deterioration by change , the Soul by changing her Aereal Vehicle for a Terrestrial , is ( comparing her latter state with her former ) much injured in her faculties or operations of them ; all of them are more slow and stupid , and their aptitude to exert the same Phantasms of things that occurred to them in the other State , quite taken away , by reason of the heavy and dull , though orderly constitution of the Terrestrial Tenement ; which weight and stupor utterly indisposes the Soul to recall into her mind the scene of her former state , this load perpetually swaying down her thoughts to the Objects of this .

Nor does it at all follow , because Reason is not lost , therefore Memory , if there were any such thing as Pre-existence , would still abide . For the universal principles of Reason and Morality are essential to the Soul , and cannot be obliterated , no not by any death : but the knowledge of any particular external Objects is not at all essential to the Soul , nor consequently the memory of them ; and therefore the Soul in the state of silence being stript of them , cannot recover them in her incorporation into a Terrestrial Body . But her Reason , with the general principles thereof , being essential to her , she can , as well as this State will permit , exercise them upon the Objects of this Scene of the Earth and visible World , so far as it is discovered by her outward senses , she looking out at those windows of this her earthly Prison , to contemplate them . And she has the faculty and exercise of Memory still , in such a sense as she has of sensitive Perception , whose Objects she does remember , being yet to all former impresses in the other state a mere Abrasa Tabula .

And lastly , it is a mere mistake of the Opposer , or worse , that he makes the Pre-existentiaries to impute the loss of memory in Souls of their former state , merely to their coming into other Bodies ; when it is not bare change of Bodies , but their descent into worser Bodies more dull and obstupifying , to which they impute this loss of memory in lapsed Souls . This is a real death to them , according to that ancient Aenigm of that abstruse Sage , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 We live their death , namely of separate Souls , but are dead to their life . But the changing of our Earthly Body for an Aereal or Aethereal , this is not Death , but Reviviscency , in which all the energies of the Soul are ( not depressed , but ) exalted , and our Memory with the rest quickened ; as it was in Esdras after he had drunk down that Cup offered to him by the Angel , full of Liquor like Fire , which filled his Heart with Understanding , and strengthned his Memory , as the Text says .

Thus we see how all Objections against the three Reasons of lapsed Souls losing the memory of the things of the other state , vanish into smoak . Wherefore they every one of them single being so sound , all three put together methinks should not fail of convincing the most refractory of this Truth , That though the Soul did pre-exist and act in another state , yet she may utterly forget all the Scenes thereof in this .

Pag. 46. Now if the reasons why we lose the remembrance of our former life be greater , &c. And that they are so , does appear in our Answer to the Objections made against the said Reasons , if the Reader will consider them .

Pag. 50. And thereby have removed all prejudices , &c. But there is yet one Reason against Pre-existence which the ingenious Author never thought of , urged by the Anti-Pre-existentiaries , namely , That it implies the rest of the Planets peopled with Mankind , it being unreasonable to think that all Souls descended in their lapse to this onely Earth of Ours . And if there be lapsed Souls there , how shall they be recovered ? shall Christ undergo another and another death for them ? But I believe the ingenious Author would have looked upon this but as a mean and trifling Argument , there being no force in any part thereof . For why may not this Earth be the onely Hospital , Nosocomium or Coemeterium , speaking Platonically , of sinfully lapsed Souls ? And then suppose others lapsed in other Planets , what need Christ die again for them , when one drop of his Bloud is sufficient to save myriads of Worlds ? Whence it may seem a pity there is not more Worlds than this Earth to be redeemed by it . Nor is it necessary they should historically know it . And if it be , the Eclipse of the Sun at his Passion by some inspired Prophets might give them notice of it , and describe to them as orderly an account of the Redemption , as Moses does of the Creation , though he stood not by while the World was framed , but it was revealed to him by God . And lastly , it is but a rash and precarious Position , to say that the infinite Wisdom of God has no more ways than one to save lapsed Souls . It is sufficient that we are assured that this is the onely way for the saving of the Sons of Adam ; and these are the fixt bounds of revealed Truth in the Holy Scripture which appertains to us Inhabitants on Earth . But as for the Oeconomy of his infinite Wisdom in the other Planets , if we did but reflect upon our absolute ignorance thereof , we would have the discretion not to touch upon that Topick , unless we intended to make our selves ridiculous , while we endeavour to make others so .

Chap. 6. pag. 51. Now as the infinite goodness of the Deity obligeth him always to do good , so by the same to do that which is best , &c. To elude the force of this chief Argument of the Pre-existentiaries , an ingenious Opposer has devised a way which seems worth our considering , which is this ; viz. By making the Idea of God to consist mainly in Dominion and Soveraignty , the Scriptures representing him under no other notion than as the Supream Lord and Soveraign of the Universe . Wherefore nothing is to be attributed to him that enterferes with the uncontroulableness of his Dominion . And therefore , says he , they that assert Goodness to be a necessary Agent that cannot but do that which is best , directly supplant and destroy all the Rights of his Power and Dominion . Nay , he adds afterwards , That this notion of Gods goodness is most apparently inconsistent , not onely with his Power and Dominion , but with all his other moral Perfections . And for a further explication of his mind in this matter , he adds afterwards , That the Divine Will is indued with the highest kind of liberty , as it imports a freedom not onely from foreign Violence , but also from inward Necessity : For spontaneity , or immunity from coaction , without indifferency , carries in it as great necessity as those motions that proceed from Violence or Mechanism . From whence he concludes , That the Divine Will cannot otherwise be determined than by its own intrinsick energie . And lastly , Forasmuch as no Courtisie can oblige , but what is received from one that had a power not to bestow them , if God necessarily acted according to his Goodness , and not out of mere choice and liberty of Will , there were no thanks nor praise due to him ; which therefore would take away the duties of Religion . This is the main of his Hypothesis , whereby he would defeat the force of this Argument for the Pre-existence of Souls , taken from the Goodness of God . Which this Hypothesis certainly would do , if it were true ; and therefore we will briefly examine it .

First therefore I answer , That though the Scriptures do frequently represent God as the Lord and Soveraign of the Universe , yet it does not conceal his other Attributes of Goodness and Mercy , and the like . But that the former should be so much inculcated , is in reference to the begetting in the People Awe and Obedience to him . But it is an invalid consequence , to draw from hence that the Idea of God does mainly consist in Dominion and Soveraignty ; which abstracted from his other Attributes of Wisdom and Goodness , would be a very black and dark representation of him , and such as this ingenious Writer could not himself contemplate without aversation and horror . How then can the Idea of God chiefly consist in this ? It is the most terrifying indeed , but not the most noble and accomplishing part in the Idea of the Deity .

This Soveraignty then is such as is either bounded or not bounded by any other Attributes of God . If bounded by none , then he may do as well unwisely as wisely , unjustly as justly . If bounded by Wisdom and Justice , why is it bounded by them , but that it is better so to be than otherwise ? And Goodness being as essential to God as Wisdom and Justice , why may not his Soveraignty be bounded by that as well as by the other , and so he be bound from himself of himself to do as well what is best as what is better . This consists with his absolute Soveraignty , as well as the other . And indeed what can be absolute Soveraignty in an intelligent Being , if this be not ? viz. fully and entirely to follow the will and inclinations of its own nature , without any check or controul of any one touching those over whom he rules .

Whence , in the second place , it appears that the asserting that Gods goodness is a necessary Agent ( in such a sense as Gods Wisdom and Justice are , which can do nothing but what is wise and just ) the asserting , I say , that it cannot but do that which is the best , does neither directly nor indirectly supplant or destroy any Rights of his Power or Dominion , forasmuch as he does fully and plenarily act according to his own inclinations and will touching those that are under his Dominion . But that his Will is always inclined or determined to what is best , it is the Prerogative of the Divine Nature to have no other Wills nor Inclinations but such .

And as for that in the third place , That this notion of Gods Goodness is inconsistent with all his other moral Perfections , I say , that it is so far from being inconsistent with them , that they cannot subsist without it , as they respect the dealings of God with his Creatures . For what a kind of Wisdom or Justice would that be that tended to no good ? But I suspect his meaning is by moral Perfections , Perfections that imply such a power of doing or not doing , as is in humane actions ; which if it be not allowed in God , his Perfections are not moral . And what great matter is it if they be not , provided they be as they are and ought to be , Divine ? But to fancy moral actions in God , is to admit a second kind of Anthropomorphitism , and to have unworthy conceits of the Divine Nature . When it was just and wise for God to do so or so , and the contrary to do otherwise , had he a freedom to decline the doing so ? Then he had a freedom to do unjustly and unwisely .

And yet in the fourth place he contends for the highest kind of liberty in the Divine Will , such as imports a freedom not onely from forreign Violence , but also from inward Necessity , as if the Divine Will could be no otherwise determined , than by its own intrinsick Energie , as if it willed so because it willed so ; which is a sad principle . And yet I believe this learned Writer will not stick to say , that God cannot tye , cannot condemn myriads of innocent Souls to eternal Torments . And what difference betwixt Impossibility and Necessity ? For Impossibility it self is onely a Necessity of not doing ; which is here internal , arising from the excellency and absolute perfection of the Divine Nature . Which is nothing like Mechanism for all that ; Forasmuch as it is from a clear understanding of what is best , and an unbyassed Will , which will most certainly follow it , nor is determined by its own intrinsick Energy . That it is otherwise with us , is our imperfection .

And lastly , That Beneficence does not oblige the Receiver of it to either Praise or Thanksgiving when it is received from one that is so essentially good , and constantly acts according to that principle , when due occasion is offered , as if it were as absurd as to give thanks to the Sun for shining when he can do no otherwise ; I say , the case is not alike , because the Sun is an inanimate Being , and has neither Understanding nor Will to approve his own action in the exerting of it . And he being but a Creature , if his shining depended upon his Will , it is a greater perfection than we can be assured would belong to him , that he would unfailingly administer Light to the World with such a steadiness of Will , as God sustains the Creation .

Undoubtedly all Thanks and Praise is due to God from us , although he be so necessarily good , that he could not but create us and provide for us ; forasmuch as he has done this for our sakes merely ( he wanting nothing ) not for his own . Suppose a rich Christian so inured to the works of Charity , that the Poor were as certain of getting an Alms from him , as a Traveller is to quench his thirst at a publick Spring near the Highway ; would those that received Alms from him think themselves not obliged to Thanks ? It may be you will say , they will thank him , that they may not forfeit his Favour another time . Which Answer discovers the spring of this Misconceit , which seems founded in self-love , as if all Duty were to be resolved into that , and as if there were nothing owing to another , but what implied our own profit . But though the Divine Goodness acts necessarily yet it does not blindly , but according to the Laws of Decorum and Justice ; which those that are unthankful to the Deity , may find the smart of . But I cannot believe the ingenious Writer much in earnest in these points , he so expresly declaring what methinks is not well consistent with them . For his very words are these : God can never act contrary to his necessary and essential properties , as because he is essentially wise , just and holy , he can do nothing that is foolish , unjust , and wicked . Here therefore I demand , Are we not to thank him and praise him for his actions of Wisdom , Justice , and Holiness , though they be necessary ?

And if Justice , Wisdom , and Holiness , be the essential properties of God , according to which he does necessarily act and abstain from acting , why is not his Goodness ? when it is expresly said by the Wisdom of God incarnate , None is good save one , that is God . Which must needs be understood of his essential Goodness . Which therefore being an essential property as well as the rest , he must necessarily act according to it . And when he acts in the Scheme of Anger and Severity , it is in the behalf of Goodness ; and when he imparts his Goodness in lesser measures as well as in greater , it is for the good of the Whole , or of the Vniverse . If all were Eye , where were the Hearing , &c. as the Apostle argues ? So that his Wisdom moderates the prompt outflowings of his Goodness , that it may not outflow so , but that in the general it is for the best . And therefore it will follow , that if the Pre-existence of Souls comply with the Wisdom , Justice , and Holiness of God , that none of these restrain his prompt and parturient Goodness , that it must have caused humane Souls to pre-exist or exist so soon as the Spirits of Angels did . And he must have a strange quick-sightedness that can discern any clashing of that act of Goodness with any of the abovesaid Attributes .

Chap. 7. pag. 56. God never acts by mere Will or groundless Humour , &c. We men have unaccountable inclinations in our irregular and depraved Composition , have blind lusts or desires to do this or that , and it is our present ease and pleasure to fulfil them ; and therefore we fancy it a priviledge to be able to execute these blind inclinations of which we can give no rational account , but that we are pleased by fulfilling them . But it is against the Purity , Sanctity , and Perfection of the Divine Nature , to conceive any such thing in Him ; and therefore a weakness in our Judgments to fancy so of him , like that of the Anthropomorphites , that imagined God to be of Humane shape .

Pag. 59. That God made all things for himself . It is ignorance and ill nature that has made some men abuse this Text to the proving that God acts out of either an humourous or selfish principle , as if he did things merely to please himself as self , not as he is that soveraign unself-inreressed Goodness , and perfect Rectitude , which ought to be the measure of all things . But the Text implies no such matter : For if you make 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 a Compound of a Preposition and Pronoun , that so it may signifie [ for himself ] which is no more than propter se , it then will import that he made all things to satisfie his own Will and Pleasure , whose Will and Pleasure results from the richness of his eternal Goodness and Benignity of Nature , which is infinite and ineffable , provided always that it be moderated by Wisdom , Justice , and Decorum . For from hence his Goodness is so stinted or modified , that though he has made all things for his own Will and Pleasure who is infinite Goodness and Benignity , yet there is a day of Evil for the Wicked , as it follows in the Text , because they have not walked answerably to the Goodness that God has offered them ; and therefore their punishment is in behalf of abused Goodness . And Bayns expresly interprets this Text thus : Vniversa propter seipsum fecit Dominus ; that is , says he , Propter bonitatem suam ; juxta illud Augustini , DE DOCTRINA CHRISTIANA , Quia bonus est Deus , sumus & in quantum sumus boni sumus .

But 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 may be a Compound of a Participle and a Pronoun , and then it may signifie [ for them that answer him ] that is , walk anserably to his Goodness which he affords them , or [ for them that obey him ] either way it is very good sence . And then in opposition to these , it is declared , that the Wicked , that is , the Disobedient or Despisers of his Goodness , he has ( not made them wicked , but they having made themselves so ) appointed them for the day of Evil. For some such Verb is to be supplied as is agreeable to the matter , as in that passage in the Psalms ; The Sun shall not burn thee by day , neither the Moon by night . Where [ burn ] cannot be repeated , but some other more suitable Verb is to be supplied .

Chap. 8. pag. 63. Since all other things are inferiour to the good of Being . This I suppose is to be understood in such a sence as that saying in Job , Skin for skin , and all that a man has , will he give for his life . Otherwise the condition of Being may be such , as it were better not to be at all , whatever any dry-fancied Metaphysicians may dispute to the contrary .

Pag. 67. Indeed they may be morally immutable and illapsable ; but this is Grace , not Nature , &c. Not unless the Divine Wisdom has essentially interwoven it into the natural constitution of our Souls , that as after such a time of the exercise of their Plaistick on these Terrestrial Bodies , they , according to the course of Nature , emerge into a plain use of their Reason , when for a time they little differed from Brutes ; so after certain periods of time well improved to the perfecting their Nature in the sense and adherence to Divine things , there may be awakened in them such a Divine Plaistick faculty , as I may so speak , as may eternally fix them to their Celestial or Angelical Vehicles , that they shall never relapse again . Which Faculty may be also awakened by the free Grace of the Omnipotent more maturely : Which if it be , Grace and Nature conspire together to make a Soul everlastingly happy . Which actual Immutability does no more change the species of a Soul , than the actual exercise of Reason does after the time of her stupour in Infancy and in the Womb.

Pag. 67. I doubt not but that it is much better for rational Creatures , &c. Namely , such as we experience our humane Souls to be . But for such kind of Intellectual Creatures as have nothing to do with matter , they best understand the priviledges of their own state , and we can say nothing of them . But for us under the conduct of our faith●ul and victorious Captain , the Soul of the promised Messias , through many Conflicts and Tryals to emerge out of this lapsed state , and regain again the possession of true Holyness and Vertue , and therewith the Kingdom of Heaven with all its Beauty and Glories , will be such a gratification to us , that we had never been capable of such an excess thereof , had we not experienced the evils of this life , and the vain pleasures of it , and had the remembrance of the endearing sufferings of our blessed Saviour , of his Aids and Supports , and of our sincere and conscientious adhering to him , of our Conflicts and Victories to be enrolled in the eternal Records of the other World .

Pag. 69. Wherefore as the Goodness of God obligeth him not to make every Planet a fixt Star , or every Star a Sun , &c. In all likelihood , as Galilaeus had first observed , every fixed Star is a Sun . But the comparison is framed according to the conceit of the Vulgar . A thing neither unusual with , nor misbecoming Philosophers .

Pag. 69. For this were to tye him to Contradictions , viz. to turn one specifical form or essence into another . Matter indeed may receive several modifications , but is still real Matter , nor can be turned into a Spirit ; and so Spirits specifically different , are untransmutable one into another , according to the distinct Idea's in the eternal Intellect of God . For else it would imply that their essential properties were not essential properties , but loose adventitious Accidents , and such as the essence and substance of such a Spirit , could subsist as well without as with them , or as well with any others as with these .

Pag. 69. That we should have been made pe●cable and liable to defection . And this may the more easily be allowed , because this defection is rather the affecting of a less good , than any pursuing of what is really and absolutely evil . To cavil against Providence for creating a Creature of such a double capacity , seems as unreasonable as to blame her for maki●g Zoophiton's , or rather Amphibion's . And they are both to be permitted to live according to the nature which is given them . For to make a Creature fit for either capacity , and to tye him up to one , is for God to do repugnantly to the Workmanship of his own hands . And how little hurt there is done by experiencing the things of either Element to Souls that are reclaimable , has been hinted above . But those that are wilfully obstinate , and do despite to the Divine Goodness , it is not at all inconsistent with this Goodness , that they bear the smart of their obstinacy , as the ingenious Author argues very well .

Chap. 9. pag. 73. Have asserted it to be impossible in the nature of the thing , &c. And this is the most solid and unexceptionable Answer to this Objection , That it is a Repugnancy in Nature , that this visible World that consists in the motion and succession of things , should be either ab aeterno , or infinite in extension . This is made out clearly and amply in Dr. H. Moore 's Enchiridion Metaphysicum , cap. 10. which is also more briefly toucht upon in his Advertisements upon Mr. Jos Glanvil's Letter written to him upon the occasion of the Stirs at Tedworth , and is printed with the second Edition of his Saducismus Triumphatus . We have now seen the most considerable Objections against this Argument from the Goodness of God for proving the Pre-existence of Souls , produced and answered by our learned Author .

But because I find some others in an Impugner of the Opinion of Pre-existence urged with great confidence and clamour , I think it not amiss to bring them into view also , after I have taken notice of his acknowledgment of the peculiar strength of this Topick , which he does not onely profess to be in truth the strongest that is made use of , but seems not at all to envy it its strength , while he writes thus .

That God is infinitely good , is a Position as true as himself ; nor can he that is furnished with the Reason of a man , offer to dispute it . Goodness constitutes his very Deity , making him to be himself : for could he be arayed with all his other Attributes separate and abstract from this , they would be so far from denominating him a God , that he would be but a prodigious Fiend , and plenipotentiary Devil . This is something a rude and uncourtly Asseveration , and unluckly divulsion of the Godhead into two parts , and calling one part a Devil . But it is not to be imputed to any impiety in the Author of No-Pre-existence , but to the roughness and boarishness of his style , the texture whereof is not onely Fustian , but over-often hard and stiff Buckram . He is not content to deny his assent to an Opinion , but he must give it disgraceful Names . As in his Epistle to the Reader , this darling Opinion of the greatest and divinest Sages of the World visiting of late the Studies of some of more than ordinary Wit and learning , he compares it to a Bug and sturdy Mendicant , that pretends to be some Person of Quality ; but he like a skilful Beadle of Beggars , lifting up the skirts of her Veil , as his Phrase is , shews her to be a Counterfeit . How this busie Beadle would have behaved himself , if he had had the opportunity of lifting up the skirts of Moses's Veil when he had descended the Mount , I know not . I dare not undertake for him , but that according to the coarsness of his phancy he would have mistaken that lucid Spirit shining through the skin of Moses's face , for some fiery Fiend , as he has somewhere the Spirit of Nature for an Hobgobling . But there is no pleasure in insisting upon the rudenesses of his style ; he is best where he is most unlike himself , as he is here in the residue of his Description of the Divine Goodness .

'T is Goodness , says he , that is the Head and Glory of Gods perfect Essence ; and therefore when Moses importuned him for a Vision of his Glory , he engaged to display his Goodness to him . Could a man think that one that had engaged thus far for the infiniteness of Gods Goodness , for its Headship over the other Attributes , for its Glory above the rest , nay for its Constitutiveness of the very Deity , as if this were the onely 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or God himself , the rest of Him divided from this , a prodigious Fiend , or plenipotentiary Devil , should prove the Author of No-Pre-existence a very contradiction to this Declaration ? For to be able to hold No-Pre-existence , he must desert the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of God , and betake himself to the Devil-part of him , as he has rudely called it , to avoid this pregnant proof for Pre-existence taken from the infinite Goodness of God . And indeed he has pickt out the very worst of that black part of God to serve his turn , and that is Self-will in the worst sence . Otherwise Goodness making God to be himself , if it were his true and genuine Self-will , it were the Will of his infinite Goodness , and so would necessarily imply Pre-existence .

But to avoid the dint of this Argument , he declares in the very same Section for the Supremacy of the Will over the Goodness of the Divine Nature . Which is manifestly to contradict what he said before , That Goodness is the Head and Glory of Gods perfect Essence . For thus Will must have a Supremacy over the Head of the Deity . So that there will be an Head over an Head , to make the Godhead a Monster . And what is most insufferable of all , That he has chosen an Head out of the Devil-part of the Deity , to use his own rude expression , to controul and lord it over what is the onely God himself , the rest a Fiend separate from this , according to his own acknowledgment . These things are so infinitely absurd , that one would think that he could have no heart to go about to prove them ; and yet he adventures on it , and we shall briefly propose and answer what he produceth .

And this Supremacy of the Will , saith he , over the Goodness of the Divine Nature , may be made out both by Scripture and other forcible Evidences . The Scriptures are three ; the first , Psal. 135. 6. Whatsoever the Lord pleased , that did he in heaven , and in the earth , and in the seas , and in all deep places . Now if we remember but who this Lord is , viz. he whom Goodness makes to be himself , we may easily be assured what pleased him , namely , that which his Wisdom discerned to be the best to be done ; and therefore it is very right , that whatsoever he pleased he should do throughout the whole Universe . The second place is Mat. 20. 15. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own ? Yes I trow , every one must acknowledge that God has an 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( for the word is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in the Original ) to dispose of what is his own ; and indeed all is his . No one has either a right or power to controul him . But this does not prove that he ever disposes of any thing otherwise than according to his Wisdom and Goodness . If his Goodness be ever limited , it is limited by his Wisdom , but so then as discerning such a limitation to be for the best . So that the measure of Wisdoms determination is still Goodness , the only Head in the Divine Nature , to which all the rest is subordinate . For that there are different degrees of the Communication of the Divine Goodness in the Universe , is for the good of the Whole . It is sufficient to hint these things ; it would require a Volume to enlarge upon them . And then for the last place , Exod. 33. 19. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious . This onely implies that he does pro suo jure , and without any motive from any one but himself , communicate more of his Goodness to some Men or Nations than others . But that his Wisdom has not discovered this to be best for the whole constitution of things , I challenge any one to prove . But of this we shall have occasion to speak more afterward . These are the Scriptures .

The other forcible Evidences are these : The first , The late Production of the World . The second , The patefaction of the Law but to one single People , namely , the Jews . The third , The timing the Messias's Nativity , and bringing it to pass , not in the Worlds Infancy or Adolescence , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Heb. 1. 2. in its declining Age. The fourth , the perpetuity of Hell , and interminableness of those Tortures which after this life shall incessantly vex the impious . The fifth and last , God 's not perpetuating the Station of Pre-existent Souls , and hindering them from lapsing into these Regions of Sin and Death . These he pretends to be forcible Evidences of the Soveraignty of Gods Will over his Goodness , forasmuch as if the contrary to all these had been , it had been much more agreeable to the Goodness of God .

As for the first of these forcible Arguments , we have disarmed the strength thereof already , by intimating that the World could not be ab oeterno . And if it could not be ab oeterno , but must commence on this side of Eternity , and be of finite years , I leave to the Opposer to prove that it has not been created as soon as it could be ; and that is sufficient to prove that its late Production is not inconsistent with that principle , that Gods Goodness always is the measure of his Actions . For suppose the World of as little continuance as you will , if it was not ab oeterno , it was once of as little ; and how can we discern but that this is that very time which seems so little to us ?

As for the second , which seems to have such force in it , that he appeals to any competent Judge , if it had not been infinitely better that God should have apertly dispensed his Ordinances to all Mankind , than have committed them onely to Israel in so private and clancular a manner ; I say ▪ it is impossible for any one to be assured that it is at all better . For first , If this Priviledge which was peculiar , had been a Favour common to all , it had lost its enforcement that it had upon that lesser number . Secondly , It had had also the less surprizing power with it upon others that were not Jews , who might after converse with that Nation , and set a more high price upon the Truths they had travelled for , and were communicated to them from that People . Thirdly , The nature of the thing was not fitted for the universality of Mankind , who could not be congregated together to see the Wonders wrought by Moses , and receive the Law with those awful circumstances from Mount Sinai or any Mount else . Fourthly , All things happened to them in Types , and them●elves were a Type of the true Israel of God to be redeemed out of their Captivity under Sin and Satan , which was worse than any Aegyptian Servitude : Wherefore it must be some peculiar People which must be made such a Type , not the whole World . Fifthly , Considering the great load of the Ceremonial Law which came along with other more proper Priviledges of the Jews , setting one against another , and considering the freedom of other Nations from it , unless they brought any thing like it upon themselves , the difference of their Conditions will rather seem several Modifications of the communicated Goodness of God to his Creatures , than the neglecting of any : Forasmuch as , sixthly and lastly , though all Nations be in a lapsed condition , yet there are the Reliques of the Eternal Law of Life in them . And that things are no better with any of them than they are , that is a thousand times more rationally resolved into their demerits in their pre-existent state than into the bare Will of God , that he will have things for many Ages thus squalid and forlorn , merely because he will . Which is a Womans Reason , and which to conceive to belong to God , the Author of No-Pre-existence has no reason , unless he will alleadge that he was styled 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the Ancients for this very cause .

Wherefore the Divine Nemesis lying upon the lapsed Souls of men in this Terrestrial State , whose several Delinquencies in the other World and the degrees thereof God alone knows , and according to his Wisdom and Justice disposes of them in this : It is impossible for any one that is not half crazed in his Intellectuals , to pretend that any Acts of Providence that have been s●nce this Stage of the Earth was erected , might have been infinitely better otherwise than they have been , or indeed better at all .

Power , Wisdom , Goodness , sure did frame This Vniverse , and still guide the same ; But thoughts from Passion sprung , deceive Vain Mortals : No man can contrive A better course than what 's been run Since the first circuit of the Sun .

This Poetical Rapture has more solid truth in it than the dry Dreams and distorted Fancies , or Chimerical Metamorphoses of earthly either Philosophers or Theologs , that prescinding the rest of the Godhead from his Goodness , make that remaining part a foul Fiend or Devil ; and yet almost with the same breath pronounce the Will of this Devil of their own making , which is the most poysonous part of him , to have a Supremacy other the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , over the Divine Goodness ; which makes God to be Himself , that is , to be God , and not a plenipotentiary Devil . Wherefore we see from these few small hints , ( for it were an infinite Argument fully to prosecute ) how feeble or nothing forcible this second Evidence is .

Now for the third Evidence , The timing of the Messiah's Nativity , That it was not in the Infancy of the World , but rather in its declining Age , or in the latter times . In which times the Ancient of Days , according to his counsel and purpose , ( which the Eternal Wisdom that was to be incarnate assented and subscribed to ) sent his Son into the World , the promised Messiah . This did the Ancient of Days and the Eternal Wisdom agree upon . But oh the immense Priviledge of Youth and Confidence ! The Author of No-Pre-existence says , it had been better by far , if they had agreed upon the Infancy of the World . As if this young Divine were wiser than the Ancient of Days , or the Eternal Wisdom itself . I , but he will modestly reply , That he acknowledges that the Ancient of Days and the Eternal Wisdom are wiser than he , but that they would not make use of their Wisdom . They saw as clearly as could be , that it was far better that the Messiah should come in the Infancy of the World ; but the Father would not send him then , merely because he would not send him : That his Will might act freely as mere Will prescinded from Wisdom and Goodness . This is the plain state of the business , and yet admitted by him , who with that open freeness and fulness professes , that prescind the Divine Goodness from the Godhead , what remains is a prodigious Fiend or Devil . What is then : mere Will and Power left alone , but a blind Hurricane of Hell ? which yet must have the Supremacy , and over-power the Divine Wisdom and Goodness itself . His Zeal against Pre-existence has thus infatuated and blinded this young Writers Intellectuals , otherwise he had not been driven to these Absurdities , if he had been pleased to admit that Hypothesis .

As also that Wisdom and Justice , and Fitness and Decorum attend the Dispensation of Divine Goodness ; so that it is not to be communicated to every Subject after the most ample manner , nor at every time , but at such times , and to such Subjects , and in such measures as , respecting the whole compages of things , is for the best . So that Goodness bears the Soveraignty , and according to that Rule , perpetually all things are administred , though there be a different Scene of things and particulars in themselves vastly varying in Goodness and Perfection one from another as the parts of the Body do . And so for Times and Ages , every season of the year yield disserent Commodities : nor are we to expect Roses in Winter , nor Apples and Apricocks in Spring . Now the infinite and incomprehensible Wisdom of God comprehending the whole entire Scene of his Providence , and what references there are of one thing to another , that this must be thus and thus , because such and such things preceded ; and because such things are , such and such must be consequent ; which things past and to come lie not under our eye : I say , if this hasty Writer had considered this , he need not have been driven to such a rude solution of this present Problem , why the Messiah came no sooner into the World , viz. Merely because God willed it should be so , though it had been far better if it had been otherwise ; but he would have roundly confessed , that undoubtedly this was the best time and the fittest , though it was past his reach to discover the reasons of the fitness thereof .

This as it had been the more modest , so it had been the more solid solution of this hard Problem . I but then it had not put a bar to this irrefragable Argument from the Goodness of God , for proving Pre-existence : Which he is perswaded in his own Conscience is no less than a demonstration , unless it be acknowledged that the Will of God has a Supremacy over his Goodness ; and therefore in spight to that abhorred Dogma of Pre-existence , he had rather broach such wild stuff against the glory of God , than not to purchase to himself the sweet conceit of a glorious victory over such an Opinion that he has taken a groundless toy against , and had rather adventure upon gross Blasphemies than entertain it .

The devout Psalmist , Psal. 36. speaking of the Decrees of God and his Providence over the Creation , Thy righteousness , says he , is as the great mountains , thy judgments are a great deep . And St. Paul , Rom. 11. after he has treated of intricate and amazing points , cries out , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments , and his ways past finding out ! Now according to the rudeness of our young Writer , there is no such depth of Wisdom , or unsearchableness in the Judgments and Decrees of God and his Providences in the World that most amaze us , but the reasons of them lie very obvious and shallow . Where we fancy that things might have been better otherwise , ( though of never so grand import , as the coming of the Messiah is ) it is easily resolved into the Supremacy of the Will of God , which it has over his Wisdom and Goodness . He willed it should be so , because he would it should be so , though it had been sar better if the Messiah had come sooner . But see the difference betwixt an inspired Apostle , and a young hot-headed Theologist : This latter resolves these unsearchable and unintelligible Decrees of God and passages of Providence , into the mere Will of God , lording it over the Divine Wisdom and Goodness : But the Apostle , by how much more unsearchable his Judgments and Decrees are , and the ways of his Providence past finding out , the greater he declares the depth of the richness of his Wisdom , which is so ample , that it reaches into ways and methods of doing for the best beyond the Understandings of men . For most assuredly , while the depth of the Wisdom of God is acknowledged to carry on the ways of Providence , it must be also acknowledged that it acts like itself , and chuseth such ways as are best , and most comporting with the Divine Goodness ; or else it is not an act of Wisdom , but of Humour or Oversight .

But it may be the Reader may have the curiosity to hear briefly what those great Arguments are , that should induce this young Writer so confidently to pronounce , that it had been far better that the Messiah should have come in the Infancy of the World , than in the times he came . The very quintessence of the force of his arguing extracted out of the verbosity of his affected style , is neither more nor less than this : That the World be●ore the coming of Christ , who was to be the Light of the World , was in very great Darkness ; and therefore the sooner he came , the better . But to break the assurance of this Arguer for the more early coming o● Christ ,

First , we may take notice out of himself , chap. 3. That the Light of Nature is near akin not onely to the Mosaick Law , but to the Gospel itself ; and that even then there were the assistances of the Holy Ghost to carry men on to such vertuous Accomplishments as might avail them to eternal Salvation . This he acknowledges probable , and I have set it down in his own words . Whence considering what a various Scene of things there was to be ●rom the Fall of Adam to the end of the World , it became the great and wise Dramatist not to bring upon the Stage the best things in the first Act , but to carry on things pompously and by degrees ; something like that Saying of Elias , Two thousand years under the Light of Nature , two thousand under the Law , and then comes the Nativity of the Messiah , and after a due space the happy Millennium , and then the Final Judgment , the compleated Happiness of the Righteous in Heaven , and the Punishment of the Wicked in Hell-fire . But to hasten too suddenly to the best , is to expect Autumn in Spring , and Virility or Old Age in Infancy or Childhood , or the Catastrophe of a Comedy in the first Act.

Secondly , we may observe what a weak Disprover he is of Pre-existence , which like a Gyant would break in upon him , were it not that he kept him out by this false Sconce of the Supremacy of the Divine Will over his Wisdom and Goodness ; which Conceit , how odious and impious it is , has been often enough hinted already . But letting Pre-existence take place , and admitting that there is , according to Divine Providence , an orderly insemination of lapsed Souls into humane Bodies , through the several Ages of the World , whose lapses had several circumstantial differences , and that men therefore become differently fitted Objects of Grace and Favour ; how easie is it to conceive God according to the fitnesses of the generality of Souls in such or such periods of times , as it was more just , agreeable , or needful for them , so and in such measures to have dispensed the Gifts of his ever-watchful and all-comprehending Providence to them , for both time and place . This one would think were more tolerable than to say , That God wills merely because he wills ; which is the Character of a frail Woman , rather than of a God , or else , as this Writer himself acknowledges , of a Fiend or Devil . For such , says he , is God in the rest of his Attributes , if you seclude his Goodness . What then is that action which proceeds onely from that part from which Goodness is secluded ? So that himself has dug down the Sconce he would entrench himself in , and lets Pre-existence come in upon him , whether he will or no , like an armed Giant ; whom let him abhor as much as he will , he is utterly unable to resist .

And thirdly and lastly , Suppose there were no particular probable account to be given by us , by reason of the shortness of our Understandings , and the vast fetches of the all-comprehensive Providence of God , why the coming of the Messiah was no earlier than it was ; yet according to that excellent Aphorism in Morality and Politicks , Optimè praesumendum est de Magistratu , we should hope , nay be assured it was the best that he came when he did , it being by the appointment of the infinite good and all-wise God , and cry out with St. Paul , Oh the depth of the riches of both the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments , and his ways past finding out ! And in the Psalmist , Thy judgments are like a great deep , O Lord , thou preservest man and , beast . And so acknowledge his Wisdom and Goodness in the ordering his Creatures , even there where his ways are to our weak and scant Understandings most inexplicable and unsearchable . Which Wisdom and Goodness as we have all reason to acknowledge in all matters , so most of all in matters of the greatest concernment , that there most assuredly God wills not thus or thus merely because he wills , but because his Wisdom discerns that it is for the best . And this is sufficient to shew the weakness of this third Evidence for proving the Supremacy of the Divine Will over his Wisdom and Goodness .

His fourth Evidence is , The Perpetuity of Hell , and interminableness of those Tortures which after this life vex the Wicked . For , says he , had the penalties of mens sins here been rated by pure Goodness , free and uncontrouled by any other principle , it is not probable that they should have been punished by an eternal Calamity , the pleasures of them being so transient and fugitive . Thus he argues , and almost in the very same words ; and therefore concludes , that the authority of Gods Will interposed , and pro suo jure , having the Supremacy over his Goodness , over-swayed the more benign Decree ; and Will , because it would have it so , doomed sinners to these eternal Torments . But I would ask this Sophister , Did the Will of God in good earnest sentence sinners thus in Decree , merely because he willed it , not because it was either good or just ? What a black and dismal Reproach is here cast upon the Divine Majesty ! That he sentences sinners thus because he will , not because it is just . The sence whereof is , So he will do , right or wrong . But the Patriarch Abraham was of another mind , Shall not the Judge of the whole Earth do right ? This he said even to Gods face , as I may so speak . Wherefore God doing nothing but what is just , does nothing but what is also good . For Justice is nothing but Goodness modified .

Nor is it asserted by those that make Goodness the measure of Gods Providence , that the modification and moderation thereof is not by his Wisdom and Justice . So that this Sophister puts [ pure ] to Goodness , merely to obscure the sence , and put a Fallacy upon his Reader . The sins of men here are not rated by pure Goodness , but by that modification of Goodness which is termed Justice ; which is not a distinct principle from Goodness , but a branch thereof , or Goodness it self under such a modification , not mere Will acting because it will , right or wrong , good or evil . Wherefore the state of the Question is not , whether the eternal Torments of Hell are consistent with the pure Goodness of God , but with his Justice . But if they are eternal merely from his Will , without any respect to Justice , his Will does will what is infinitely beyond the bounds of what is just , because endless is infinitely beyond that which has an end . Such gross Absurdities does this Opposer of Pre-existence run into , to fetch an Argument from the supposititious Supremacy of the Will of God over his Wisdom and Goodness .

But as touching the Question rightly proposed , whether the Perpetuity of Hell to sinners consists with the Justice of God , a man ought to be chary and wary how he pronounces in this point , that he slip not into what may prove disadvantageous to the Hearer . For there are that will be scandalized , and make it serve to an ill end , whether one declare for eternal Torments of Hell , or against them . Some being ready to conclude from their Eternity , that Religion itself is a mere Scarecrow that frights us with such an incredible Mormo ; others to indulge to their Pleasures , because the Commination is not frightful enough to deter them from extravagant Enjoyments , if Hell Torments be not eternal . But yet I cannot but deem it a piece of great levity in him that decided the Controversie , as the complesant Parson did that about the May-pole ; they of his Parish that were for a May-pole , let them have a May-pole ; but they that were not for a May-pole , let them have no May-pole . But this in sobriety one may say , that the use of 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in Scripture is indifferent to signifie either that which is properly everlasting , or that which lasts a long time . So that by any immediate infallible Oracle , we are not able to pronounce for the Eternity or Perpetuity of Hell-torments . And the Creeds use the phrase of Scripture , and so some may think that they have the same latitude of interpretation . But it is the safest to adhere to the sence of the Catholick Church , for those that be bewilder'd in such Speculations .

But what the Writer of No-Pre-existence argues from his own private Spirit , though it be not inept , yet it is not over-firm and solid . But that the Penancies of Reprobates are endless , I shall ever thus perswade my self , saith he , either the Torments of Hell are eternal , or the Felicities of Heaven are but temporary ( which I am sure they shall never be : ) for the very same word that is used to express the permanence of the one , measures out the continuance of the other ; and if 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 denotes everlasting life , a blessedness that shall never end , ( Mat. 25. ult. ) what can 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in the same verse signifie , but perpetual punishment , a misery that shall never cease ? This is pretty handsomly put together , but as I said , does not conclude firmly what is driven at . For it being undeniably true that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 signifies as well that which onely is of a long continuance , as what is properly everlasting ; and it being altogether rational , that when words have more significations than one , that signification is to be applied that is most agreeable to the subject it is predicated of , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in that higher sence of property and absolutely everlasting , not being applicable to 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but upon this Writers monstrous supposition that the Will of God has a Supremacy over his Wisdom , Goodness , and Justice ( as if the righteous God could act against his own Conscience , which no honest man can do ) it is plain , that though 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 signifie properly everlasting , that there is no necessity that it should signifie so in 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but have that other signification of long continuance , though not of everlastingness , and that continuance so long , as if considered , would effectually rouze any man out of his sins ; and Eternity not considered , will not move him . This one would think were enough to repress the confidence of this young Writer .

But I will adde something more out of his fellow Anti-Pre-existentiary . That Comminations are not , though Promises be obligatory . Forasmuch as in Comminations the Comminator is the Creditor , and he that is menaced the Debtor that owes the punishment ( with which that Latine Phrase well agrees , dare poenas ) but in Promises , he that promiseth becomes Debtor , and he to whom the Promise is made , Creditor . Whence the Promiser is plainly obliged to make good his Promise , as being the Debtor : But the Comminator , as being the Creditor , is not obliged to exact the punishment , it being in the power of any Creditor to remit the Debt owing him if he will . Wherefore in this Commination of eternal fire , or everlasting punishment , though 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 signifie here properly everlasting , as well as in everlasting life , yet because this latter is a Promise , the other onely a Commination , it does not follow , that as surely as the Righteous shall be rewarded with everlasting life , so surely shall the Wicked be punished with everlasting fire , in the most proper and highest extent of the signification of the word . Because God in his Comminations to the Wicked is onely a Creditor , and has still a right and power to remit either part or the whole Debt ; but to the Righteous , by vertue of his Promise , he becomes a Debtor , and cannot recede , but must punctually keep his word .

To all which I adde this Challenge : Let this Writer , or any else if they can , demonstrate that a Soul may not behave herself so perversely , obstinately , and despightfully against the Spirit of Grace , that she may deserve to be made an everlasting Hackstock of the Divine Nemesis , even for ever and ever . And if she deserve it , it is but just that she have it ; and if it be just , it is likewise good . For Justice is nothing else but Goodness modified in such sort , as Wisdom and sense of Decorum sees fittest . But the Election of Wisdom being always for the best , all things considered , it is plain that Justice and the execution thereof , is for the best ; and that so Goodness , not mere Will upon pretence of having a Supremacy over Goodness , would be the measure of this sentencing such obdurate sinners to eternal punishment . And this eternal punishment as it is a piece of vindicative Justice upon these obdurate sinners , so it naturally contributes to the establishment of the Righteous in their Celestial Happiness . Which , this Opposer of Pre-existence objects somewhere , if Souls ever fell from , they may fall from it again . But these eternal Torments of Hell , if they needed it , would put a sure bar thereto . So that the Wisdom and Goodness also of God is upon this account concerned in the eternal punishments of Hell , as well as his Justice . That it be to the unreclaimable , as that Orphick Hemistichium calls it , — 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

The fifth and last forcible Argument , as he calls them , for the proving the Soveraignty of Gods Will over his Goodness , is this . If Gods Goodness , saith he , be not under the command of his Will , but does always what is best , why did it not perpetuate the Station of Pre-existent Souls , and hinder us ( if ever we were happy in a sublimer state ) from lapsing into these Regions of Sin and Death ? But who does not at first sight discern the weakness of this Allegation ? For it is plainly 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , an absurd thing , and contrary to Reason , to create such a species of Being , whose nature is free and mutable , and at the first dash to dam up or stop the exercise of that freedom and capacity of change , by confining it to a fixt Station . As ridiculous as to suppose a living Creature made with wings and feet , and yet that the Maker thereof should take special care it should never slie nor go . And so likewise , that the mere making of such an Order of Beings as have a freedom of Will , and choice of their Actions , that this is misbecoming the Goodness of God , is as dull and idiotical a conceit , and such as implies that God should have made but one kind of Creature , and that the most absolutely and immutably happy that can be , or else did not act according to his Goodness , or for the best : Which is so obvious a Falshood , that I will not confute it . But it is not hard to conceive that he making such a free-willed Creature as the Souls of men , simul cum mundo condito , and that in an happy condition , and yet not ●ixing them in that Station , may excellently well accord with the Soveraignty of his Goodness , nor any one be constrained to have recourse to the Supremacy of his Will over his Goodness , as if he did it because he would do it , and not because it was best .

For what can this freedom of Will consist in so much as in a temptableness by other Objects that are of an inferiour nature , not so divine and holy as the other , to which it were the security of the Soul to adhere with all due constancy , and therefore her duty . But in that she is temptable by other Objects , it is a signe that her present enjoyment of the more Divine and Heavenly Objects , are not received of her according to their excellency , but according to the measure and capacity of her present state , which though very happy , may be improved at the long run , and in an orderly series of times and things , whether the Soul lapse into sin or no. For accession of new improvements increaseth Happiness and Joy . Now therefore , I say , suppose several , and that great numbers , even innumerable myriads of pre-existent Souls , to lapse into the Regions of Sin and Death , provided that they do not sin perversely and obstinately , nor do despight to the Spirit of Grace , nor refuse the advantageous offers that Divine Providence makes them even in these sad Regions , why may not their once having descended hither tend to their greater enjoyment , when they shall have returned to their pristine Station ? And why may not the specifical nature of the Soul be such , that it be essentially interwoven into our Being , that after a certain period of times or ages , whether she sin or no , she may arrive to a fixedness at last in her heavenly Station with greater advantage to such a Creature , than if she had been fixed in that state at first .

The thing may seem least probable in those that descend into these Regions of Sin and Mortality . But in those that are not obstinate and refractorie , but close with the gracious means that is offered them for their recoverie , their having been here in this lower State , and retaining the memorie ( as doubtless they do ) of the transactions of this Terrestrial Stage , it naturally enhances all the enjoyments of the pristine felicitie they had lost , and makes them for ever have a more deep and vivid resentment of them . So that through the richness of the Wisdom and Goodness of God , and through the Merits and conduct of the Captain of their Salvation , our Saviour Jesus Christ , they are , after the strong conflicts here with sin and the corruptions of this lower Region , made more than Conquerours , and greater gainers upon the losses they sustained before from their own folly . And in this most advantageous state of things , they become Pillars in the Temple of God , there to remain for ever and ever . So that unless straying Souls be exceedingly perverse and obstinate , the exitus of things will be but as in a Tragick Comedy , and their perverseness and obstinacie lies at their own doors : for those that finally miscarrie , whose number this confident Writer is to prove to be so considerable that the enhanced happiness of the standing part of pre-existent Souls and the recovered does not far preponderate the infelicitie of the others condition . Which if he cannot do , as I am confident he cannot , he must acknowledge , That God in not forcibly fixing pre-existent Souls in the state they were first created , but leaving them to themselves , acted not from the Supremacy of his Will over his Goodness , but did what was best , and according to that Soveraign Principle of Goodness in the Deitie .

And now for that snitling Dilemma of this eager Opposer of Pre-existence , touching the freedom of acting and mutabilitie in humane Souls , whether this mutabilitie be a Specifick properly and essential to them , or a separable Accident . For if it were essential , says he , then how was Christ a perfect man , his humane nature being ever void of that lapsabilitie which is essential to humanitie ? and how come men to retain their specifick nature still , that are translated to Celestial happiness , and made unalterable in the condition they then are ? To this I answer , That the Pre-existentiaries will admit , that the Soul of the Messiah was created as the rest , though in an happie condition , yet in a lapsable ; and that it was his peculiar merit , in that he so faithfully , constantly , and entirely adhered to the Divine Principle , incomparably above what was done by others of his Classis , notwithstanding that he might have done otherwise ; and therefore they will be forward to extend that of the Author to the Hebrews , chap. 1. v. 8. ( Thy Throne , O God , is for ever and ever , the Scepter of Righteousness is the Scepter of thy Kingdom . Thou hast loved Righteousness , and hated Iniquity ; therefore God , even thy God , hath anointed thee with the Oyl of Gladness above thy Fellows ) to his behaviour in his pre-existent state , as well as in this . And whenever the Soul of Christ did exist , if he was like us in all things , sin onely excepted , he must have a capacitie of sinning , though he would not sin ; that capacitie not put into act being no sin , but an Argument of his Vertue , and such as if he was always devoid of , he could not be like us in all things , sin onely excepted . For posse peccare non est peccatum .

And as for humane Souls changing their Species in their unalterable heavenly happiness , the Species is not then changed , but perfected and compleated ; namely , that facultie or measure of it in their Plastick , essentially latitant there , is by the Divine Grace so awakened , after such a series of time and things , which they have experienced , that now they are ●irmly united to an heavenly Body or ethereal Vehicle for ever . And now we need say little to the other member of the Dilemma , but to declare , that free will , or mutability in humane Souls , is no separable Accident , but of the essential contexture of them ; so as it might have its turn in the series of things . And how consistent it was with the Goodness of God and his Wisdom , not to suppress it in the beginning , has been sufficiently intimated above . Wherefore now forasmuch as there is no pretext that either the Wisdom or Justice of God should streighten the time of the creation of humane Souls , so that their existence may not commence with that of Angels , or of the Universe , and that this figment of the Supremacy of Gods mere Will over his other Attributes is blown away , it is manifest that the Argument for the Pre-existence of Souls drawn from the Divine Goodness , holds firm and irrefragable against whatever Opposers .

We have been the more copious on this Argument , because the Opposer and others look upon it as the strongest proof the Pre existentiaries produce for their Opinion . And the other Party have nothing to set against it but a fictitious Supremacy of the Will of God over his Goodness and other Attributes . Which being their onely Bulwark , and they taking Sanctuary nowhere but here , in my apprehension they plainly herein give up the cause , and establish the Opinion which they seem to have such an antipathy against . But it is high time now to pass to the next Chapter .

Chap. 10. p. 75. To have contracted strong and inveterate habits to Vice and Lewdness , and that in various manners and degrees , &c. To the unbyassed this must needs seem a considerable Argument , especially when the Parties thus irreclaimably profligate from their Youth , some as to one Vice , others to another , are found such in equal circumstances with others , and advantages , to be good ; born of the same Parents , educated in the same Family , and the like . Wherefore having the same bodily Extraction , and the same advantages of Education , what must make this great difference as they grow up in the Body , but that their Souls were different before they came into it ? And how should they have such a vast difference in the proclivity to Vice , but that they lived before in the state of Pre-existence , and that some were much deeper in rebellion against God and the Divine Reason , than others were , and so brought their different conditions with them into these Terrestrial Bodies ?

Pag. 75. Then how a Swallow should return to her òld trade of living after her Winter sleep , &c. Indeed the Swallow has the advantages of Memory , which the incorporate Soul has not in her incorporation into a Terrestrial Body after her state of Silence . But the vital inclinations , which are mainly if not onely fitted in the Plastick , being not onely revived , but ( signally vitious of themselves ) revived with advantage , by reason of the corruption of this coarse earthly Body into which the Soul is incorporate , they cannot fail of discovering themselves in a most signal manner , without any help of memory , but from the mere pregnancie of a corrupt Body , and formerly more than ordinarily debauched Plastick in the state of Pre-existence .

Pag. 76. Whenas others are as fatally set against the Opinions , &c. And this is done , as the ingenious Author takes notice , even where neither Education nor Custom have interposed to sophisticate their Judgments or Sentiments . Nay , it is most certain , that they sometime have Sentiments and entertain Opinions quite contrary to their Education . So that that is but a slight account , to restore this Phaenomenon into Education and Custom , whenas Opinions are entertained and stiffly maintained in despight of them . This I must confess implies that the aerial Inhabitants philosophize , but conjecturally onely , as well as the Inhabitants of the Earth . And it is no wonder that such Spirits as are lapsed in their Morals , should be at a loss also in their Intellectuals ▪ and though they have a desire to know the truth in Speculations , it suiting so well with their pride , that yet they should be subject to various errours and hallucinations as well as we , and that there should be different , yea opposite Schools of Philosophie among them . And if there be any credit to be given to Cardans story of his Father Facius Cardanus , things are thus de facto in the aereal Regions . And two of the Spirits which Facius Cardanus saw in that Vision ( left upon Record by him , and of which he often told his Son Hieronymus while he was living ) were two Professors of Philosophie in different Academies , and were of different Opinions ; one of them apertly professing himself to be an Aven-Roist . The story is too long to insert here . See Dr. H. Moore his Immortality of the Soul , book 3. chap. 17.

So that lapsed Souls philosophizing in their Aerial State , and being divided into Sects , and consequently maintaining their different or opposite Opinions with heat and affection which reaches the Plastick , this may leave a great propension in them to the same Opinions here , and make them almost as prone to such and such Errours , as to such and such Vices . This , I suppose , the ingenious Author propounds as an Argument credible and plausible , though he does not esteem it of like force with those he produced before . Nor does his Opposer urge any thing to any purpose against it . The main thing is , That these Propensities to some one Opinion are not universal , and blended with the constitution of every person , but are thin sown ▪ and grow up sparingly . Where there are five , says he , naturally bent to any one Opinion , there are many millions that are free to all . If some , says he , descend into this life big with aptnesses and proclivities to peculiar Theories , why then should not all , supposing they pre-existed together , do the like ? As if all in the other Aereal State were Professors of Philosophie , or zealous Followers of them that were . The solution of this difficulty is so easie , that I need not insist on it .

Pag. 78. Were this difference about sensibles , the influence of the body might then be suspected for a cause , &c. This is very rationally alleadged by our Author , and yet his Antagonist has ▪ the face from the observation of the diversity of mens Palates and Appetites , of their being differently affected by such and such strains of Musick , some being pleased with one kind of Melodie , and others with another , some pl●ased with Aromatick Odours , others offended with them , to reason thus : If the Bodie can thus cause us to love and dislike Sensibles , why not as well to approve and dislike Opinions and Theories ? But the reason is obvious why not ; because the liking or disliking of these Sensibles depends upon the grateful or ungrateful motion of the Nerves of the Bodie , which may be otherwise constituted or qualified in some complexions than in other some But for Philosophical Opinions and Theories ' what have they to do with the motion of the Nerves ? It is the Soul herself that judges of those abstractedly from the Senses , or any use of the Nerves or corporeal Organ . If the difference of our Judgment in Philosophical Theories be resolvible into the mere constitution of our Bodie , our Understanding itself will hazard to be resolved into the same Principle also : And Bodie will prove the onely difference betwixt Men and Brutes . We have more intellectual Souls because we have better Bodies , which I hope our Authors Antagonist will not allow .

Pag. 78. For the Soul in her first and pure nature has no Idiosyncrasies , &c. Whether there may not be certain different Characters proper to such and such Classes of Souls , but all of them natural and without blemish , and this for the better order of things in the Universe , I will not rashly decide in the Negative . But as the Author himself seems to insinuate , if there be any such , they are not such as fatally determine Souls to false and erroneous apprehensions . For that would be a corruption and a blemish in the very natural Character . Wherefore if the Soul in Philosophical Speculations is fatally determined to falshood in this life , it is credible it is the effect of its being inured thereto in the other .

Pag. 79. Now to say that all this variety proceeds primarily from the mere temper of our Bodies , &c. This Argument is the less valid for Pre-existence , I mean that which is drawn from the wonderful variety of our Genius's , or natural inclinations to the employments of life , because we cannot be assured but that the Divine Providence may have essentially , as it were , impressed such Classical Characters on humane Souls , as I noted before . And besides , if that be true which Menander says , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . That every man , as soon as he is born , has a Genius appointed him to be his Instructer and Guide of his Life : That some are carried with such an impetus to some things rather than others , may be from the instigations of his assisting Genius . And for that Objection of the Author's Antagonist against his Opinion touching those inclinations to Trades , ( which may equally concern this Hypothesis of Menander ) that it would then be more universal , every one having such a Genius ; this truth may be smothered by the putting young people promiscuously to any Trade , without observing their Genius . But the Chineses suppose this truth , they commonly shewing a Child all the Employs of the Citie , that he may make his own choice before they put him to any .

But if the Opinion of Menander be true , that every man has his guardian Genius , under whose conduct he lives ; the Merchant , the Musician , the Plowman , and the rest ; it is manifest that these Genii cannot but receive considerable impressions of such things as they guide their Clients in . And pre-existent Souls in their aereal estate being of the same nature with these Daemons or Genii , they are capable of the same Employment , and so tincture themselves deep enough with the affairs of those parties they preside over . And therefore when they themselves , after the state of Silence , are incorporated into earthly Bodies , they may have a proneness from their former tincture to such methods of life as they lived over whom they did preside . Which quite spoils the best Argument our Author's Antagonist has against this Topick ; which is , That there are several things here below which the Geniusses of men pursue and follow with the hottest chase , which have no similitude with the things in the other state , as Planting , Building , Husbandrie , the working of Manufactures , &c. This best Argument of his , by Menander's Hypothesis , which is hard to confute , is quite defeated .

And to deny nothing to this Opposer of Pre-existence which is his due , himself seems unsatisfied , in resolving these odd Phaenomena into the temper of Bodie . And therefore at last hath recourse to a secret Causality , that is , to he knows not what . But at last he pitches upon some such Principle as that whereby the Birds build their Nest , the Spider weaves her Webs , the Bees make their Combs , &c. Some such thing he says ( though he cannot think it that prodigious Hobgoblin the Spirit of Nature ) may produce these strange effects , may byass also the fancies of men in making choice of their Employments and Occupations . If it be not the Spirit of Nature , then it must be that Classical Character I spoke of above . But if not this , nor the preponderancies of the Pre-existent state , nor Menander's Hypothesis , the Spirit of Nature will bid the fairest for it of any besides , for determining the inclinations of all living Creatures in these Regions of Generation , as having in itself vitally , though not intellectually , all the Laws of the Divine Providence implanted into its essence by God the Creator of it . And speaking in the Ethnick Dialect , the same description may belong to it that Varro gives to their God Genius . Genius est Deus qui proepositus est , ac vim habet omnium rerum gignendarum , and that is the Genius of every Creature that is congenit to it in vertue of its generation . And that there is such a Spirit of Nature ( not a God , as Varro vainly makes it , but an unintelligent Creature ) to which belongs the Nascency or Generation of things , and has the management of the whole matter of the Universe , is copiously proved to be the Opinion of the Noblest and Ancientest Philosophers , by the learned Dr. R. Cudworth in his System of the Intellectual World , and is demonstrated to be a true Theorem in Philosophie by Dr. H. Moore in his Euchiridion Metaphysicum , by many , and those irrefutable Arguments ; and yet I dare say both can easily pardon the mistake and bluntness of this rude Writer , nor are at all surprized at it as a Noveltie , that any ignorant rural Hobthurst should call the Spirit of Nature ( a thing so much beyond his capacitie to judge of ) a prodigious Hobgoblin .

But to conclude , be it so that there may be other causes besides the pristine inurements of the Pre-existent Soul , that may something forcibly determine her to one course of life here , yet when she is most forcibly determined , if there be such a thing as Pre-existence , this may be rationally supposed to concur in the efficiencie . But that it is not so strong an Argument as others to prove Pre-existence , I have hinted alreadie .

Pag. 79. For those that are most like in the Temper , Air , Complexion of their Bodies , &c. If this prove true , and I know nothing to the contrarie , this vast difference of Genius's , were it not for the Hypothesis of their Classical Character imprinted on Souls at their very creation , would be a considerably tight Argument . But certainly it is more honest than for the avoiding Pre-existence to resolve the Phaenomenon into a secret Causality , that is to say , into one knows not what .

Pag. 82. There being now no other way left but Pre-existence , &c. This is a just excuse for his bringing in any Argument by way of overplus that is not so apodictically concluding . If it be but such as will look like a plausible solution of a Phaenomenon ( as this of such a vast difference of Genius's ) Pre-existence once admitted , or otherwise undeniably demonstrated , the proposing thereof should be accepted with favour .

Chap. 11. pag. 85. And we know our Saviour and his Apostles have given credit to that Translation , &c. And it was the authentick Text with the Fathers of the Primitive Church . And besides this , if we read according to the Hebrew Text , there being no object of Job's knowledge expressed , this is the most easie and natural sence : Knowest thou that thou wast then , and that the number of thy days are many ? This therefore was reckoned amongst the rest of his ignorances , that though he was created so early , he now knew nothing of it . And this easie sence of the Hebrew Text , as well as that Version of the Septuagint , made the Jews draw it in to the countenancing of the Tradition of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that is , the Pre-existence of Souls , as Grotius has noted of them .

Pag. 85. As reads a very credible Version . R. Menasse Ben Israel reads it so : [ I gave thee Wisdom , ] which Version , if it were sure and authentick , this place would be fit for the defence of the Opinion it is produced for . But no Interpreters besides , that I can find , following him , nor any going before him , whom he might follow , I ingenuously confess the place seems not of force enough to me to infer the conclusion .

He read , I suppose , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in Piel , whence he translated it , Indidi tibi Sapientiam ; but the rest read it in Cal.

Pag. 86. And methinks that passage of our Saviours Prayer , Father , glorifie me with the glorie I had before the World began , &c. This Text , without exceeding great violence , cannot be evaded . As for that of Grotius interpreting [ that I had ] that which was intended for me to have , though it make good sence , yet it is such Grammar as that there is no School-boy but would be ashamed of it ; nor is there , for all his pretences , any place in Scripture to countenance such an extravagant Exposition by way of Parallelism , as it may appear to any one that will compare the places which he alleadges , with this ; which I leave the Reader to do at his leisure . Let us consider the Context , Joh. 17. 4. I have glorified thee upon earth , during this my Pilgrimage and absence from thee , being sent hither by thee . I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do , and for the doing of which I was sent , and am thus long absent . And now , O Father , glorifie me , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , apud teipsum , in thine own presence , with the glorie which I had before the world was , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , apud te , or in thy presence . What can be more expressive of a Glorie which Christ had apud Patrem , or at his Fathers home , or in his presence before the world was , and from which for such a time he had been absent ?

Now for others that would salve the business by communication of Idioms , I will set down the words of an ingenious Writer that goes that way : Those Predicates , says he , that in a strict and vigorous acception agreed onely to his Divine Nature , might by a communication of Idioms ( as they phrase it ) be attributed to his Humane , or at least to the whole Person compounded of them both , than which nothing is more ordinarie in things of a mixt and heterogeneous nature , as the whole man is stiled immortal from the deathlessness of his Soul : thus he . And there is the same reason if he had said that man was stiled mortal ( which certainly is far the more ordinarie ) from the real death of his Bodie , though his Soul be immortal . This is wittily excogitated . But now let us apply it to the Text , expounding it according to his communication of Idioms , affording to the Humane Nature what is onely proper to the Divine , thus .

Father , glorifie me [ my Humane Nature ] with the glorie that I [ my Divine Nature ] had before the world was . Which indeed was to be the Eternal , Infinite , and Omnipotent brightness of the Glory of the Father 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . This is the Glory which his Divine Nature had before the World was . But how can this Humane Nature be glorified with that Glory his Divine Nature had before the world was , unless it should become the Divine Nature , that it might be said to have pre-existed ? ( But that it cannot be . For there is no confusion of the Humane and Divine Nature in the Hypostasis of Christ : ) Or else because it is hypostatically united with the Divine Nature ; but if that be the Glory , that he then had already , and had it not ( according to the Opposers of Pre-existence ) before the world was . So we see there is no sence to be made of this Text by communication of Idioms , and therefore no sence to be made of it without the Pre-existence of the Humane Nature of Christ . And if you paraphrase [ me ] thus , My Hypostasis consisting of my Humane and Divine Nature , it will be as untoward sence . For if the Divine Nature be included in [ me ] then Christ prays for what he has aleady , as I noted above . For the Glory of the eternal Logos from everlasting to everlasting , is the same , as sure as he is the same with himself .

Pag. 86. By his expressions of coming from the Father , descending from Heaven , and returning thither again , &c. I suppose these Scriptures are alluded to , John 3. 13. 6. 38. 16. 28. I came down from Heaven not to do my own will , but the will of him that sent me . I came forth from the Father , and am come into the world ; again I leave the world , and go to the Father . Whereupon his Disciples said unto him , Lo now speakest thou plainly , and speakest no Parable . But it were a very great Parable , or Aenigm , that one should say truly of himself , that he came from Heaven , when he never was there . And as impossible a thing is it to conceive how God can properly be said to come down from Heaven , who is alwaies present every where . Wherefore that in Christ which was not God , namely his Soul , or Humane Nature , was in Heaven before he appeared on Earth , and consequently his Soul did pre-exist . Nor is there any refuge here in the communication of Idioms . For that cannot be attributed to the whole Hypostasis , which is competent to neither part that constitutes it . For it was neither true of the Humane Nature of Christ , if you take away Pre-existence , nor of the Divine , that they descended from Heaven , &c. And yet John 3. 13 , 14. where Christ prophesying of his Crucifixion and Ascension , saith , No man hath ascended up to Heaven , but he that came down from Heaven , even the Son of man , [ 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ] who was in Heaven . So Erasmus saith , it may be rendred a Participle of the present tense , having a capacity to signifie the time past , if the sence require it , as it seems to do here . Qui erat in Coelo , viz. antequam descenderat . So Erasmus upon the place .

Wherefore these places of Scripture touching Christ being such inexpugnable Arguments of the Pre-existence of the Soul of the Messiah ; the Writer of No Pre-existence , methinks , is no where so civil or discreet as in this point . Where , he saies , he will not squabble about this , but readily yield that the Soul of Christ was long extant before it was incarnate . But then he presently flings dirt upon the Pre-existentiaries , as guilty of a shameful presumption and inconsequence , to conclude the Pre-existence of all other Humane Souls from the Pre-existence of his . Because he was a peculiar favourite of God , was to undergo bitter sufferings for Mankind ; and therefore should enjoy an happy Pre-existence for an Anti-praemium . And since he was to purchase a Church with his own most precious Bloud , it was fit he should pre-exist from the beginning of the world , that he might preside over his Church as Guide and Governour thereof ; which is a thing that cannot be said of any other soul beside .

This is a device which , I believe , the Pre-existentiaries , good men , never dreamt of , but they took it for granted , that the creation of all Humane Souls was alike , and that the Soul of Christ was like ours in all things , sin onely excepted ; as the Emperour Justinian , in his Discourse to Menas Patriarch of Constantinople , argues from this very Topick to prove the Non-pre-existence of our Souls , from the Non-pre-existence of Christs , he being like us in all things , sin onely excepted . And therefore as to Existence and Essence there was no difference . Thus one would have verily thought to have been most safe and most natural to conclude , as being so punctual according to the declaration of Scripture , and order of things . For it seems almost as harsh and repugnant to give Angelical Existence to a Species not Angelical , as Angelical Essence . For according to them , it belongs to Angels onely to exist a mundo condito , not to Humane souls . Let us therefore see what great and urgent occasions there are , that the Almighty should break this order .

The first is , That he may remonstrate the Soul of the Messiah to be his most special Favourite . Why ? That is sufficiently done , and more opportunely , if other souls pre-existed to be his corrivals . But his faithful adhesion above the rest to the Law of his Maker , as it might make him so great a Favourite : so that transcendent priviledge of being hypostatically united with the Godhead , or Eternal Logos , would , I trow , be a sufficient Testimony of Gods special Favour to him above all his fellow Pre-existent Souls .

And then , which is the second thing for his Anti-praemial Happiness ( though it is but an Hysteron Proteron , and preposterous conceit , to fancie wages before the work ) had he less of this by the coexistence of other souls with him , or was it not rather the more highly encreased by their coexistencie ? And how oddly does it look , that one solitary Individual of a Species should exist for God knows how many ages alone ? But suppose the soul of the Messiah , and all other souls created together , and several of them fallen , and the Soul of the Messiah to undertake their recovery by his sufferings , and this declared amongst them ; surely this must hugely inhance his Happiness and Glory through all the whole order of Humane souls , being thus constituted or designed Head and Prince over them all . And thus , though he was rejected by the Jews and despised , he could not but be caressed and adored by his fellowsouls above , before his descent to this state of humiliation . And who knows but this might be part at least of that Glory which , he says , he had before the world was ? And which this ungrateful world denied him , while he was in it , who crucified the Lord of life .

And as for the third and last , That the Soul of the Messiah was to pre-exist , that he might preside over the Church all along from the beginning of it : What necessity is there of that ? Could not the Eternal Logos and the Ministry of Angels sufficiently discharge that Province ? But you conceive a congruity therein ; and so may another conceive a congruity that he should not enter upon his Office till there were a considerable lapse of Humane Souls which should be his care to recover ; which implies their Pre-existence before this stage of the Earth : And if the Soul of the Messiah , united with the Logos , presided so early over the Church ; that it was meet that other unlapsed souls , they being of his own tribe , should be his Satellitium , and be part of those ministring Spirits that watch for the Churches good , and zealously endeavour the recovery of their sister-souls , under the conduct of the great Soul of the Messiah , out of their captivity of sin and death .

So that every way Pre-existence of other souls will handsomly fall in with the Pre-existence of the soul of the Messiah , that there may be no breach of order , wherias there is no occasion for it , nor violence done to the Holy Writ , which expressly declares Christ to have been like to us in all things ( as well in Existence as Essence ) sin onely excepted ; as the Emperour earnestly urges to the Patriarch Menas . Wherefore we finding no necessity of his particular pre-existing , nor convenience , but what will be doubled if other Souls pre-exist with him ; it is plain , if he pre-exist , it is as he is an Humane soul , not as such a particular soul ; and therefore what proves his soul to pre-exist , proves others to pre-exist also .

Pag. 87. Since these places have been more diffusely urged in a late discourse to this purpose . I suppose he means in the Letter of Resolution concerning Origen , Where the Author opens the sense of Philip. 2. 6. learnedly and judiciously , especially when he acknowledges Christs being in the form of God , to be understood of his Physical Union with the Divine Logos . Which is the Ancient Orthodox Exposition of the Primitive Fathers , they taking this for one notable Testimony of Scripture , for the Divinity of Christ . Whenas they that understand it Politically of Christs Power and Authority onely , take an excellent weapon out of the hands of the Church wherewith she used to oppose the Impugners of Christs Divinity . But how can Christ being God ( verus Deus , as Vatablus expounds 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ) empty himself , or any way deteriorate himself as to his Divinity , by being incarnate , and taking upon him 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 the form of the terrestrial Adam ? For every earthly man is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Apostle seems to intimate , Rom. 8. 21. as this ingenious Writer has noted ; and the Apostle likewise seems so to expound it in the Text , by adding presently by way of Exegesis , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and was made in the likeness of men ; like that Gen. 5. 3. Adam begot a son in his own likeness , a terrestrial man as himself was . Wherefore the Incarnation of Christ being no exinanition to his Divinity , there was an Humanity of Christ , viz. his Soul , in a glorious state of Pre-existence , to which this voluntary exinanition belonged .

Pag. 87. Was it for this mans sin , or his fathers , that he was born blind ? For the avoiding the force of this Argument for proving that Pre-existence was the Opinion of the Jews ; and that Christ when it was so plainly implied in the Question , by his silence , or not reproving it , seemed to admit it , or at least to esteem it no hurtful Opinion : They alledge these two things : First , That these Enquirers having some notions of the Divine Prescience , might suppose that God foreknowing what kind of person this blind man would prove , had antedated his punishment . The other is , That the Enquirers may be conceived to understand the blind mans original sin . So that when they enquired whether the man was born blind for his own or his Parents sin , they might onely ask whether that particular Judgment was the effect of his Parents , or of his own original pravity . This is Camerons .

But see what forced conceits Learned men will entertain , rather than not to say something on a Text. What a distorted and preposterous account is that found , that God should punish men before they sin , because he foresees they will sin ? And he onely produces this example , and a slight one too , That Jeroboams hand was dried up as he stretched it forth to give a sign to apprehend the Prophet . And the other is as fond an account , That God should send such severe Judgments on men for their original Pravity , which they cannot help . And original Pravity being so common to all , it could be no reason why this particular man should be born blind , more than others . Wherefore Grotius far more ingenuously writes thus upon the place : Quoerunt ergo an ipse peccaverit , quia multi Judoeorum credebant 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 animarum . And as our Saviour Christ passed it for an innocent Opinion , so did the Primitive Church , the Book of Wisdom being an allowable book with them , and read in publick , though it plainly declare for Pre-existence , Chap. 8. 20.

Chap. 12. p. 93. Therefore let the Reader , if he please , call it a Romantick Scheme , or imaginary Hypothesis , &c. This is very discreetly and judiciously done of the Author , to propose such things as are not necessary members or branches of Pre-existence , and are but at the best conjectural , as no part of that otherwise-useful Theory . For by tacking too fast these unnecessary tufts or tassels to the main Truth , it will but give occasion to wanton or wrathful whelps to worry her , and tug her into the dirt by them . And we may easily observe how greedily they catch at such occasions , though it be not much that they can make out of them , as we may observe in the next Chapter .

Chap. 13. pag. 96. Pill . 1. To conceive him as an immense and all-glorious Sun , that is continually communicating , &c. And this as certainly as the Sun does his light , and as restrainedly . For the Suns light is not equally imparted to all subjects , but according to the measure of their capacity . And as Nature limits here in natural things , so does the Wisdom and Justice of God in free Creatures . He imparts to them as they capacitate themselves by improving or abusing their Freedom .

Pag. 100. Pill . 3. Be resolved into a Principle that is not meerly corporeal . He suspects that the descent of heavy bodies , when all is said and done , must be resolved into such a Principle . But I think he that without prejudice peruses the Eleventh and Thirteenth Chapters ( with their Scholia ) of Dr. Mores Enchiridion Metaphysicum , will find it beyond suspition , that the Descent of heavy bodies is to be resolved into some corporeal Principle ; and that the Spirit of Nature , though you should call it with the Cabalists by that astartling name of Sandalphon , is no such prodigious Hobgoblin , as rudeness and presumptuous ignorance has made that Buckeram Writer in contempt and derision to call it .

Pag. 101. As naturally as the fire mounts , and a stone descends . And as these do not so ( though naturally ) meerly from their own intrinsick nature , but in vertue of the Spirit of the Vniverse ; so the same reason there is in the disposal of Spirits . The Spirit of Nature will range their Plasticks as certainly and orderly in the Regions of the World , as it does the matter it self in all places . Whence that of Plotinus may fitly be understood , That a Soul enveigled in vitiousness , both here and after death , according to her nature 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , is thrust into the state and place she is , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as if she were drawn thither by certain invisible or Magical strings of Natures own pulling . Thus is he pleased to express this power or vertue of the Spirit of Nature in the Universe . But I think that transposition she makes of them is rather 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , than either 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a transvection of them , rather than pulsion or traction . But these are overn●ce Curiosities .

Pag. 101. As likely some things relating to the state of Spirits , &c. That is to say , Spirits by the ministry of other Spirits may be carried into such regions as the Spirit of Nature would not have transmitted them to , from the place where they were before , whether for good or evil . Of the latter kind whereof , I shall have occasion to speak more particularly in my Notes on the next Chapter .

Pag. 102. Pill . 4. The souls of men are capable of living in other bodies besides terrestrial , &c. For the Pre-existentiaries allow her successively to have lived , first , in an Ethereal body , then in an Aereal ; and lastly , after the state of Silence , to live in a Terrestrial . And here I think , though it be something early , it will not be amiss to take notice what the Anti-pre-existentiaries alledged against this Hypothesis ; for we shall have the less trouble afterwards .

First , therefore , they say , That it does not become the Goodness of God to make Mans Soul with a triple Vital Congruity , that will fit as well an Aereal and Terrestrial condition , as an Aethereal . For from hence it appears , that their Will was not so much in fault that they sinned , as the constitution of their Essence : And they have the face to quote the account of Origen , pag. 49. for to strengthen this their first Argument . The words are these : They being originally made with a capacity to joyn with this terrestrial matter , it seems necessary according to the course of nature that they should sink into it , & so appear terrestrial men . And therefore , say they , there being no descending into these earthly bodies without a lapse or previous sin , their very constitution necessitated them to sin .

The second Argument is , That this Hypothesis is inconsistent with the bodies Resurrection . For the Aereal bodie immediately succeeding the Terrestrial , and the Aethereal the Aereal , the business is done , there needs no resuscitation of the Terrestrial body to be glorified . Nor is it the same numerical body or flesh still , as it ought to be , if the Resurrection-body be Aethereal .

The third is touching the Aereal Body ; That if the soul after death be tyed to an Aereal body ( and few or none attain to the Aethereal immediately after death ) the souls of very good men will be forced to have their abode amongst the very Devils . For their Prince is the Prince of the Air , as the Apostle calls him ; and where can his subjects be , but where he is ? So that they will be enforced to endure the companie of these foul Fiends ; besides all the incommodious changes in the Air , of Clouds , of Vapours , of Rain , Hail , Thunder , tearing Tempests and Storms ; and what is an Image of Hell it self , the darkness of Night will overwhelm them every four and twenty hours .

The fourth Argument is touching the Aethereal state of Pre-existence . For if souls when they were in so Heavenly and happy an estate could lapse from it , what assurance can we have , when we are returned thither , that we shall abide in it ? it being but the same Happiness we were in before : and we having the same Plastick with its triple Vital Congruity , as we had before . Why therefore may we not lapse as before ?

The fifth and last Argument is taken from the state of Silence . Wherein the Soul is supposed devoid of perception . And therefore their number being many , and their attraction to the place of conception in the Womb being merely Magical , and reaching many at a time , there would be many attracted at once ; so that scarce a Foetus could be formed which would not be a multiform Monster , or a cluster of Humane Foetus's , not one single Foetus . And these are thought such weighty Arguments , that Pre-existence must sink and perish under their pressure . But , I believe , when we have weighed them in the balance of unprejudiced Reason , we shall find them light enough .

And truly , for the first ; It is not only weak and slight , but wretchedly disingenuous . The strength of it is nothing but a maimed and fraudulent Quotation , which makes ashew as if the Author of the Account of Origen , bluntly affirmed , without any thing more to do , that souls being originally made with a capacity to joyn with this terrestrial matter , it seems necessary , according to the course of nature , that they should sink into it , and so appear terrestrial men : Whenas if we take the whole Paragraph as it lies , before they cast themselves into this fatal necessity , they are declared to have a freedom of will , whereby they might have so managed their happy Estate they were created in , that they need never have faln . His words are these : What then remains , but that through the faulty and negligent use of themselves , whilst they were in some better condition of life , they rendred themselves less pure in the whole extent of their powers , both Intellectual and Animal ; and so by degrees became disposed for the susception of such a degree of corporeal life , as was less pure , indeed , than the former ; but exactly answerable to their present disposition of Spirit . So that after certain Periods of time they might become far less fit to actuate any sort of body , than the terrestrial ; and being originally made with a capacity to joyn with this too , and in it to exercise the Powers and functions of life , it seems necessary , &c.

These are the very words of the Author of the Account of Origen , wherein he plainly affirms , that it was the fault of the Souls themselves , that they did not order themselves then right when they might have done so , that cast them into this terrestrial condition . But what an Opposer of Pre-existence is this , that will thus shamelesly falsifie and corrupt a Quotation of an ingenious Author , rather than he will seem to want an Argument against his Opinion ! Wherefore briefly to answer to this Argument , It does as much become the Goodness of God to create souls with a triple Vital Congruity , as to have created Adam in Paradise with free Will , and a capacity of sinning .

To the Second , the Pre-existentiaries will answer , That it is no more absurd to conceive ( nor so much ) that the soul after death hath an Airy body , or it may be some an Ethereal one , than to imagine them so highly happy after death without any body at all . For if they can act so fully and beatifically without any body , what need there be any Resurrection of the body at all ? And if it be most natural to the soul to act in some body , in what a long unnatural estate has Adams soul been , that so many thousand years has been without a body ? But for the soul to have a body , of which she may be the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , certainly is most natural , or else she will be in an unnatural state after the Resurrection to all Eternitie . Whence it is manifest , that it is most natural for the soul , if she act at all , to have a body to act in . And therefore , unless we will be so dull as to fall into the drouzie dream of the Pyschopannychites , we are to allow the soul to have some kind of body or other till the very Resurrection .

But those now that are not Psychopannychites , but allow good Souls the joys and glories of Paradise before the Resurrection of the Body , let them be demanded to what end the soul should have a Resurrection-body ; and what they would answer for themselves , the Pre-existentiaries will answer for their position that holds the Soul has an Aethereal body already , or an Aereal one which may be changed into an Aethereal body . If they will alledge any Concinnity in the business , or the firm promise of more highly compleating our Happiness at the union of our terrestrial bodies with our souls at the Resurrection ; This , I say , may be done as well supposing them to have bodies in the mean time as if they had none . For those bodies they have made use of in the interval betwixt their Death and Resurrection , may be so thin and dilute , that they may be no more considerable than an Interula is to a Royal Robe lined with rich Furrs , and embroidered with Gold . For suppose every mans bodie at the Resurrection framed again out of its own dust , bones , sinews and flesh , by the miraculous Power of God , were it not as easie for these subtile Spirits , as it is in the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to enter these bodies , and by the Divine Power assisting , so to inactuate them , that that little of their Vehicle they brought in with them , shall no more destroy the individuation of the Body , than a draught of wine drunk in , does the individuation of our body now , though it were , immediately upon the drinking , actuated by the Soul . And the soul at the same instant actuating the whole Aggregate , it is exquisitely the same numerical bodie , even to the utmost curiosity of the Schoolmen . But the Divine Assistance working in this , it is not to be thought that the soul will loose by resuming this Resurrection-body , but that all will be turned into a more full and saturate Brightness and Glory , and that the whole will become an heavenly , spiritual , and truly glorified Body , immortal and incorruptible .

Nor does the being thus turned into an heavenly or spiritual Body , hinder it from being still the same Numerical body , forasmuch as one and the same Numerical matter , let it be under what modifications it will , is still the same numerical matter or body ; and it is gross ignorance in Philosophie that makes any conceive otherwise .

But a rude and ill-natured Opposer of Pre-existence is not content that it be the same numerical body , but that this same numerical body be still flesh , peevishly and invidiously thereby to expose the Author of the Account of Origen , who , pag. 120. writes thus : That the bodie we now have , is therefore corruptible and mortal , because it is flesh ; and therefore if it put on incorruption and immortality , it must put off it self first , and cease to be flesh . But questionless that ingenious Writer understood this of natural ●lesh and bloud , of which the Apostle declares , That flesh and bloud cannot inherit the Kingdom of God . But as he says 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body : So if he had made application of the several kinds of Flesh he mentions , of Men , of Beasts , of Fishes , and Birds , he would have presently subjoyned . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , There is a natural flesh and there is a spiritual flesh . And 't is this spiritual Flesh to which belongs incorruption and immortality , and which is capable of the Kingdom of Heaven . But for the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the natural flesh , it must put off it self , and cease to be natural flesh , before it can put on immortality and incorruption .

So little inconsistency is there of this Hypothesis ( as touching the souls acting in either an Aereal or Aethereal Vehicle , during the interval betwixt the Resurrection and her departure hence ) with the Resurrection of the bodie . But in the mean time , there is a strong bar thereby put to the dull dream of the Psychopanychiles , and other harshnesses also eased or smoothed by it .

Now as for the third Argument , which must needs seem a great Scare-crow to the illiterate , there is very little weight or none at all in it . For if we take but notice of the whole Atmosphere , what is the dimension thereof , and of the three Regions into which it is distributed , all these Bugbears will vanish . As for the Dimension of the whole Atmosphere , it is by the skilful reputed about fifty to Italick miles high , the Convex of the middle Region thereof about four such miles , the Concave about half a mile . Now this distribution of the Air into these three Regions being thus made , and the Hebrew tongue having no other name to call the Expansum about us , but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Heaven , here is according to them a distribution of Heaven into three , and the highest Region will be part of the third Heaven .

This therefore premised , I answer , That though the souls of good men after death be detained within the Atmosphere of the Air , ( and the Air it self haply may reach much higher than this Atmosphere that is bounded by the mere ascent of exhalations and vapours ) yet there is no necessity at all that they should be put to those inconveniencies , which this Argument pretends , from the company of Devils , or incommodious changes and disturbances of the Air. For suppose such inconveniencies in the middle and lowest Region , yet the upper Region , which is also part of the third Heaven , those parts are ever calm and serene . And the Devils Principality reaching no further than through the middle and lowest Region next the earth , ( not to advertise that his quarters may be restrained there also ) the souls of the departed that are good , are not liable to be pester'd and haunted with the ungrateful Presence or Occursions of the deformed and grim Retinue , or of the vagrant vassals of that foul Feind , that is Prince of the Air , he being onely so of these lower parts thereof , and the good souls having room enough to consociate together in the upper Region of it .

Nor does that promise of our Saviour to the thief on the Cross , that that very day he should be with him in Paradise , at all clash with this Hypothesis of Aereal Bodies , both because Christ by his miraculous power might confer that upon the penitent thief his fellow-sufferer , which would not fall to the share of other penitents in a natural course of things ; and also because this third Region of the Air may be part of Paradise it self : ( In my Fathers house there are many Mansions ) and some learned men have declared Paradise to be in the Air , but such a part of the Air as is free from gross Vapours and Clouds ; and such is the third Region thereof . In the mean time we see the souls of good men departed , freed from those Panick fears of being infested either by the unwelcome company of Fiends and Devils , or incommodated by any dull cloudy obscurations , or violent and tempestuous motions of the Air.

Onely the shadowy Vale of the Night will be cast over them once in a Nycthemeron . But what incommodation is that , after the brisk active heat of the Sun in the day-time , to have the variety of the more mild beams of the Moon , or gentle , though more quick and chearful , scintillations of the twinkling Stars ? This variety may well seem an addition to the felicity of their state . And the shadowyness of the Night may help them in the more composing Introversions of their contemplative mind , and cast the soul into ineffably pleasing slumbers and Divine extasies ; so that the transactions of the Night may prove more solacing and beatifick sometimes , than those of the day . Such things we may guess at afar off , but in the mean time be sure , that these good and serious Souls know how to turn all that God sends to them to the improvement of their Happiness .

To the fourth Argument we answer , That there are not a few reasons from the nature of the thing that may beget in us a strong presumption that souls recovered into their Celestial Happiness will never again relapse , though they did once .

For first , it may be a mistake that the Happiness is altogether the same that it was before . For our first Paradisiacal Bodies from which we lapsed , might be of a more crude and dilute Aether , not so full and saturate with Heavenly glory and perfection as our Resurrection-body is .

Secondly , The soul was then unexperienced , and lightly coming by that Happiness she was in , did the more heedlessly forgo it , before she was well aware ; and her mind roved after new adventures , though she knew not what .

Thirdly , It is to be considered , whether Regeneration be not a stronger tenour for enduring Happiness , than the being created happie . For this being wrought so by degrees upon the Plastick , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with ineffable groans and piercing desires after that Divine Life , that the Spirit of God co-operating exciteth in us ; when Regeneration is perfected and wrought to the full by these strong Agonies , this may rationally be deemed a deeper tincture in the soul than that she had by mere Creation , whereby the soul did indeed become Holy , innocent and happie , but not coming to it with any such strong previous conflicts and eager workings and thirstings after that state , it might not be so firmly rooted by far as in Regeneration begun and accomplished by the operation of Gods Spirit , gradually but more deeply renewing the Divine Image in us .

Fourthly , It being a renovation of our Nature into a pristine state of ours , the strength and depth of impression seems increased upon that account also .

Fifthly , The remembrance of all the hardships we underwent in our lapsed condition , whether of Mortification or cross Rancounters , this must likewise help us to persevere when once returned to our former Happiness .

Sixthly , The comparing of the evanid pleasures of our lapsed or terrestrial life , with the fulness of those Joys that we find still in our heavenly , will keep us from ever having any hankering after them any more .

Seventhly , The certain knowledge of everlasting punishment , which if not true , they could not know , must be also another sure bar to any such negligencies as would hazard their setled felicity . Which may be one reason why the irreclaimable are eternally punished , namely , that it may the better secure eternal Happiness to others .

Eighthly , Though we have our triple Vital Congruity still , yet the Plastick life is so throughly satisfied with the Resurrection-body , which is so considerably more full and saturate with all the heavenly richness and Glorie than the former , that the Plastick of the soul is as entirely taken up with this one Bodie , as if she enjoyed the pleasures of all three bodies at once , Aethereal , Aereal , and Terrestrial .

And lastly , Which will strike all sure , He that is able to save to the utmost , and has promised us eternal life , is as true as able , and therefore cannot fail to perform it . And who can deny but that we in this State I have described , are as capable of being fixed there , and confirmed therein , as the Angels were after Lucifer and others had faln ?

And now to the fifth and last Argument against the state of Silence , I say it is raised out of mere ignorance of the most rational as well as most Platonical way of the souls immediate descent 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . For the first Mover or stirrer in this matter , I mean in the formation of the Foetus , is the Spirit of Nature , the great 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the Universe , to whom Plotinus somewhere attributes 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 The first Predelineations and prodrome Irradiations into the matter , before the particular soul , it is preparing for , come into it . Now the Spirit of Nature being such a spirit as contains Spermatically or Vitally all the Laws contrived by the Divine Intellect , for the management of the Matter of the World , and of all Essences else unperceptive , or quatenus unperceptive , for the good of the Universe ; we have all the reason in the world to suppose this Vital or Spermatical Law is amongst the rest , viz. That it transmit but one soul to one prepared conception . Which will therefore be as certainly done , unless some rare and odd casualty intervene , as if the Divine Intellect it self did do it . Wherefore one and the same Spirit of Nature which prepares the matter by some general Predelineation , does at the due time transmit some one soul in the state of Silence by some particularizing Laws ( that fetch in such a soul rather than such , but most sure but one , unless as I said some special casualty happen ) into the prepared Matter , acting at two places at once according to its Synenergetical vertue or power .

Hence therefore it is plain , that there will be no such clusters of Foetus's and monstrous deformities from this Hypothesis of the souls being in a state of Silence . But for one to shuffle off so fair a satisfaction to this difficulty , by a precarious supposing there is no such Being as the Spirit of Nature , when it is demonstrable by so many irrefragable Arguments that there is , is a Symptome of one that philosophizes at random , not as Reason guides . For that is no reason against the existence of the Spirit of Nature , because some define it A Substance incorporeal , but without sense and animadversion , &c. as if a spirit without sense and animadversion were a contradiction . For that there is a Spirit of Nature is demonstrable , though whether it have no sense at all is more dubitable . But though it have no sense or perception , it is no contradiction to its being a Spirit , as may appear from Dr. H. Mores Brief Discourse of the true Notion of a Spirit . To which I direct the Reader for satisfaction , I having already been more prolix in answering these Arguments than I intended . But I hope I have made my presage true , that they would be found to have no force in them to overthrow the Hypothesis of a threefold Vital Congruity in the Plastick of the soul . So that this fourth Pillar , for any execution they can do , will stand unshaken .

Pag. 103. For in all sensation there is corporeal motion , &c. And besides , there seems an essential relation of the Soul to Body , according to Aristotles definition thereof , he defining it 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that which actuates the body . Which therefore must be idle when it has nothing to actuate , as a Piper must be silent , as to piping , if he have no Pipe to play on .

Chap. 14. pag. 113. The ignobler and lower properties or the life of the body were languid and remiss , viz. as to their proper exercises or acting for themselves , or as to their being regarded much by the Soul that is taken up with greater matters , or as to their being much relished , but in subserviency to the enjoyment of those more Divine and sublime Objects ; as the Author intimates towards the end of his last Pillar .

Pag. 114. And the Plastick had nothing to do but to move this passive and easie body , &c. It may be added , and keep it in its due form and shape . And it is well added [ accordingly as the concerns of the higher faculties required ] For the Plastick by reason of its Vital Union with the vehicle , is indeed the main instrument of the motion thereof . But it is the Imperium of the Perceptive that both excites and guides its motion . Which is no wonder it can do , they being both but one soul .

Pag. 114. To pronounce the place to be the Sun , &c. Which is as rationally guessed by them , as if one should fancy all the Fellows and Students Chambers in a Colledge to be contained within the area of the Hearth in the Hall , and the rest of the Colledge uninhabited . For the Sun is but a common Focus of a Vortex , and is less by far to the Vortex , than the Hearth to the Ichnographie of the whole Colledge , that I may not say little more than a Tennis-ball to the bigness of the earth .

Pag. 115. Yet were we not immutably so , &c. But this mutability we were placed in , was not without a prospect of a more full confirmation and greater accumulation of Happiness at the long run , as I intimated above .

Pag. 116. We were made on set purpose defatigable , that so all degrees of life , &c. We being such Creatures as we are and finite , and taking in the enjoyment of those infinitely perfect and glorious Objects onely pro modulo nostro , according to the scantness of our capacity , diversion to other Objects may be an ease and relief . From whence the promise of a glorified body in the Christian Religion , as it is most grateful , so appears most rational . But in the mean time it would appear most irrational to believe we shall have eyes and ears and other organs of external sense , and have no suitable Objects to entertain them .

Pag. 117. Yea , methinks 't is but a reasonable reward to the body , &c. This is spoken something popularly and to the sense of the vulgar , that imagine the body to feel pleasure and pain , whenas it is the soul onely that is perceptive and capable of feeling either . But 't is fit the body should be kept in due plight for the lawful and allowable corporeal enjoyments the soul may reap therefrom for seasonable diversion .

Pag. 117 , That that is executed which he hath so determined , &c. Some fancy this may be extended to the enjoying of the fruits of the Invigouration of all the three Vital Congruities of the Plastick , and that for a soul orderly and in due time and course to pass through all these dispensations , provided she keep her self sincere towards her Maker , is not properly any lapse or sin , but an harmless experiencing all the capacities of enjoying themselves that God has bestowed upon them . Which will open a door to a further Answer touching the rest of the Planets being inhabited , namely , That they may be inhabited by such kind of ●ouls as these , who therefore want not the Knowledge and assistance of a Redeemer . And so the earth may be the onely Nosocomium of sinfully lapsed souls . This may be an answer to such far-fetched Objections till they can prove the contrarie .

Pag. 118. Adam cannot withstand the inordinate appetite , &c. Namely , after his own remissness and heedlessness in ordering himself , he had brought himself to such a wretched weakness .

Pag. 121. The Plastick faculties begin now fully to awaken , &c. There are three Vital Congruities belonging to the Plastick of the Soul , and they are to awake orderly , that is , to operate one after another downward and upward , that is to say , In the lapse , the Aereal follows the Aethereal , the Terrestrial the Aereal . But in their Recovery or Emergency out of the lapse , The Aereal follows the Terrestrial , and the Aethereal the Aereal . But however , a more gross turgency to Plastick operation may haply arise at the latter end of the Aereal Period , which may be as it were the disease of the soul in that state , and which may help to turn her out of it into the state of Silence , and is it self for the present silenced therewith . For where there is no union with bodie , there is no operation of the Soul .

Pag. 121. For it hath an aptness and propensity to act in a Terrestrial body , &c. This aptness and fitness it has in the state of Silence ▪ according to that essential order of things interwoven into its own nature , and into the nature of the Spirit of the World , or great Archeus of the Universe , according to the eternal counsel of the Divine Wisdom . By which Law and appoyntment the soul will as certainly have a fitness and propensity at its leaving the Terrestrial body to actuate an Aereal one .

Pag. 122. Either by mere natural Congruity , the disposition of the soul of the world , or some more spontaneous agent , &c. Natural Congruity and the disposal of the Plastick soul of the world ( which others call the Spirit of Nature ) may be joyned well together in this Feat , the Spirit of Nature attracting such a soul as is most congruous to the predelineated Matter which it has prepared for her . But as for the spontaneous Agent , I suppose , he may understand his ministry in some supernatural Birth . Unless he thinks that some Angels or Genii may be imployed in putting souls into bodies , as Gardiners are in setting Pease and Beans in the beds of Gardens . But certainly they must be no good Genii then that have any hand in assisting or setting souls in such wombs as have had to do with Adulterie , Incest , and Buggery .

Pag. 123. But some apish shews and imitations of Reason , Vertue and Religion , &c. The Reason of the unregenerate in Divine things is little better than thus , and Vertue and Religion which is not from that Principle which revives in us in real Regeneration , are , though much better than scandalous vice and profaness , mere pictures and shadows of what they pretend to .

Pag. 123. To its old celestial abode , &c. For we are Pilgrims and strangers here on the earth , as the holy Patriarchs of old declared . And they that speak such things , saith the Apostle , plainly shew 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that they seek their native country , for so 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 properly signifies . And truly if they had been mindful of that earthly country out of which they came , they might , saith he , have had opportunity of returning . But now they desire a better , to wit , an heavenly , Hebr. 11.

Pag. 124. But that they step forth again into Airy Vehicles . This is their natural course , as I noted above . But the examples of Enoch and Elias , and much more of our ever Blessed Saviour , are extraordinary and supernatural .

Pag. 125. Those therefore that pass out of these bodies before their Terrestrial Congruity be spoyled , weakened , or orderly unwound , according to the tenour of this Hypothesis , &c. By the favour of this ingenious Writer , this Hypothesis does not need any such obnoxious Appendage as this , viz. That souls that are outed these Terrestrial bodies before their Terrestrial Congruity be spoiled , weakned , or orderly unwound , return into the state of Inactivity . But this is far more consonant both to Reason and Experience or Storie , that though the Terrestrial Congruity be still vigorous , as not having run out it may be the half part , no not the tenth part of its Period , the soul immediately upon the quitting of this body is invested with a bodie of Air , and is in the state of Activity not of Silence in no sense . For some being murdered have in all likelyhood in their own persons complained of their murderers , as it is in that story of Anne Walker ; and there are many others of the same nature .

And besides , it is far more reasonable , there being such numerous multitudes of silent souls , that their least continuance in these Terrestrial bodies should at their departure be as it were a Magical Kue or Tessera forthwith to the Aereal Congruity of life to begin to act its part upon the ceasing of the other , that more souls may be rid out of the state of Silence . Which makes it more probable that every soul that is once besmeared with the unctuous moisture of the Womb , should as it were by a Magick Oyntment be carried into the Air ( though it be of a still-born Infant ) than that any should return into the state of Silence or Inactivity upon the pretence of the remaining vigour of the Terrestrial Congruity of life . For these Laws are not by any consequential necessity , but by the free counsel of the Eternal Wisdom of God consulting for the best .

And therefore this being so apparently for the best , this Law is interwoven into the Spirit of the World and every particular soul , that upon the ceasing of her Terrestrial Union , her Aereal Congruity of life should immediately operate , and the Spirit of Nature assisting , she should be drest in Aereal robes , and be found among the Inhabitants of those Regions . If souls should be remanded back into the state of Silence that depart before the Terrestrial Period of Vital Congruity be orderly unwound , so very few reach the end of that Period , that they must in a manner all be turned into the state of Inactivity . Which would be to weave Penelope's Web , to do and undo because the day is long enough , as the Proverb is , when ▪ as it rather seems too short , by reason of the numerosity of Silent souls that expect their turn of Recovery into Life .

Pag. 125. But onely follow the clew of this Hypothesis . The Hypothesis requires no such thing , but it rather clashes with the first and chiefest Pillar thereof , viz. That all the Divine designs and actions are laid and carried on by Infinite Goodness . And I have already intimated how much better it is to be this way that I am pleading for , than that of this otherwise-ingenious Writer .

Pag. 125. Since by long and hard exercise in this body , the Plastick Life is well tamed and debilitated , &c. But this is not at all necessary ▪ no not in those souls whose Plastick may be deemed the most rampant . Dis-union from this Terrestrial body immediately tames it , I mean , the Terrestrial Congruity of Life ; and it● operation is stopt , as surely as a string of a Lut● never so smartly vibrated is streightways silenced by a gentle touch of the finger , and another single string may be immediately made to sound alone , while the other is mute and silent . For , I say , these are the free Laws of the Eternal Wisdom , but fatally and vitally , not intellectually implanted in the Spirit of Nature , and in all Humane Souls or Spirits . The whole Universe is as it were the Automatal Harp of that great and true Apollo ; and as for the general striking of the strings and stopping their vibrations , they are done with as exquisite art as if a free intellectual Agent plaid upon them . But the Plastick powers in the world are not such , but onely Vital and Fatal , as I said before .

Pag. 126. That an Aereal body was not enough for it to display its force upon , &c. It is far more safe and rational to say , that the soul deserts her Aereal Estate by reason that the Period of the Vital Congruity is expired , which according to those fatal Laws I spoke of before is determined by the Divine Wisdom . But whether a soul may do any thing to abbreviate this Period , and excite such symptoms in the Plastick as may shorten her continuance in that state , let it be left to the more inquisitive to define .

Pag. 128. Where is then the difference betwixt the just and the wicked , in state , place , and body ? Their difference in place I have sufficiently shewn , in my Answer to the third Argument against the triple Congruity of Life in the Plastick of Humane Souls , how fitly they may be disposed of in the Air. But to the rude Buffoonry of that crude Opposer of the Opinion of Pre-existence , I made no Answer . It being methinks sufficiently answered in the Scholia upon Sect. 12. Cap. 3. Lib. 3. of Dr. H. Mores Immortalitas Animae , if the Reader think it worth his while to consult the place ▪ Now for State and Body the difference is obvious . The Vehicle is of more pure Air , and the Conscience more pure of the one than of the other .

Pag. 130. For according to this Hypothesis , the gravity of those bodies is less , because the quantity of the earth that draws them is so , &c. This is an ingenious invention both to salve that Phaenomenon , why Bodies in Mines and other deep subterraneous places should seem not so heavy nor hard to lift there , as they are in the superiour Air above the earth ; and also to prove that the crust of the earth is not of so considerable a thickness as men usually conceive it is . I say , it is ingenious , but not so firm and sure . The Quick-silver in a Torricellian Tube will sink deeper in an higher or clearer Air , though there be the same Magnetism of the earth under it that was before . But this is not altogether so fit an illustration , there being another cause than I drive at conjoyned thereto .

But that which I drive at is sufficient of it self to salve this Phaenomenon . A Bucket of water , while it is in the water comes up with ease to him that draws it at the Well ; but so soon as it comes into the Air , though there be the same earth under it that there was before , it feels now exceeding more weighty . Of which I conceive the genuine reason is , because the Spirit of Nature , which ranges all things in their due order , acts proportionately strongly to reduce them thereto , as they are more heterogeniously and disproportionately placed as to their consistencies . And therefore by how much more crass and solid a body is above that in which it is placed , by so much the stronger effort the Spirit of Nature uses to reduce it to its right place ; but the less it exceeds the crassness of the Element it is in , the effort is the less or weaker .

Hence therefore it is , that a stone or such like body in those subterraneous depths seems less heavy , because the air there is so gross and thick , and is not so much disproportionate to the grossness of the stone as our air above the earth here is ; nor do I make any doubt , but if the earth were all cut away to the very bottom of any of these Mines , so that the Air might be of the same consistency with ours , the stone would then be as heavy as it is usually to us in this superioor surface of the earth . So that this is no certain Argument for the proving that the crust of the earth is of such thinness as this Author would have it , though I do not question but that it is thin enough .

Pag. 131. And the mention of the Fountains of the great Deep in the Sacred History , &c. This is a more considerable Argument for the thinness of the crust of the earth ; and I must confess I think it not improbable but that there is an Aqueous hollow Sphaericum , which is the Basis of this habitable earth , according to that of Psalm 24. 2. For he hath founded it upon the seas , and established it upon the flouds .

Pag. 131. Now I intend not that after a certain distance all is fluid matter to the Centre ; That is to say , After a certain distance of earthly Matter , that the rest should be fluid Matter , namely , Water and Air , to the Centre , &c. But here his intention is directed by that veneration he has for Des Cartes . Otherwise I believe if he had freely examined the thing to the bottom , he would have found it more reasonable to conclude all fluid betwixt the Concave of the Terrestrial Crust and the Centre of the Earth , as we usually phrase it , though nothing be properly Earth but that Crust .

Pag. 131. Which for the most part very likely is a gross and foetid kind of air , &c. On this side of the Concave of the Terrestrial Crust there may be several Hollows of foetid air and stagnant water , which may be so many particular lodgings for lapsed and unruly Spirits But there is moreover a considerable Aqueous Sphaericum upon which the earth is founded , and is most properly the Abyss ; but in a more comprehensive notion , all from the Convex thereof to the Centre may be termed the Abyss , or the Deepest place that touches our imagination .

Pag. 131. The lowest and central Regions may be filled with flame and aether , &c. That there was the Reliques of a Sun after the Incrustation of the Earth and Aqueous Orb , is according to this Hypothesis reasonable enough . And a kind of Air and Aether betwixt this diminished Sun and the Concave of this Aqueous Orb , but no crass and opake concamerations of hard Matter interposed betwixt .

Which is an Hypothesis the most kind to the ingenious Author of Telluris Theoria Sacra , that he could wish . For he holding that there was for almost two thousand years an opake earthy Crust over this Aqueous Orb unbroke till the Deluge , which he ascribes to the breaking thereof , it was necessary there should be no opake Orb betwixt the Central Fire and this Aqueous Orb ; for else the Fishes for so long a time had lived in utter darkness , having eyes to no purpose , nor ability to guide their way or hunt their prey . Onely it is supposed , which is easie to do , that they then swam with their backs toward the Centre , whenas as now they swim with their bellies thitherward ; they then plying near the Concave , as now near the Convex of this watry Abyss . Which being admitted , the difference of their posture will necessarilly follow according to the Laws of Nature , as were easie to make out , but that I intend brevity in these Annotations .

Onely I cannot forbear by the way to advertise how probable it is that this Central Fire which shone clear enough to give light to the Fishes swimming near the Concave of this Watry Orb , might in process of time grow dimmer and dimmer , and exceeding much abate of its light , by that time the Crust of the Earth broke and let in the light of the Sun of this great Vortex into this Watry Region , within which , viz. in the Air or Aether there , there has been still a decay of light , the Air or Aether growing more thick as well as that little Central Fire or Sun , being more and more inveloped with fuliginous stuff about it . So that the whole Concavity may seem most like a vast duskish Vault , and this dwindling over-clouded Sun a Sepulchral Lamp , such as , if I remember right , was found in the Monuments of Olybius and Tulliola . An hideous dismal forlorn Place , and fit Receptacle for the Methim and Rephaim .

And the Latin Translation , Job 26. 5. excellently well accords with this sad Phaenomenon . Ecce Gigantes gemunt sub Aquis , & qui habitant cum eis . Here is that 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Symmachus translates the word . And it follows in the verse , Nudus est Infernus coram eo , Hell is naked before God . And Symmachus in other places of the Proverbs puts 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 together , which therefore is the most proper and the nethermost Hell . And it will be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in the highest sense , whenever this lurid Light ( as it seems probable to me it sometime will be ) is quite extinct , and this Central Fire turned into a Terrella , as it may seem to have already happened in Saturn . But we must remember , as the Author sometimes reminds us , that we are embellishing but a Romantick Hypothesis , and be sure we admit no more than Reason , Scripture , and the Apostolick Faith will allow .

Pag. 132. Are after death committed to those squalid subterraneous Habitations , &c. He seems to suppose that all the wicked and degerate souls are committed hither , that they may be less troublesom to better souls in this air above the earth . But considering the Devil is call'd the Prince of the Air , & that he has his Clients and Subjects in the same place with him ; we may well allow the lower Regions of the Air to him , and to some wicked or unregenerate souls promiscuously with him , though there be subterraneous Receptacles for the worst and most rebellious of them , and not send them all packing thither .

Pag. 132. That they are driven into those Dungeons by the invisible Ministers of Justice , &c. He speaks of such Dungeons as are in the broken Caverns of the Farth , which may be so many vexatious Receptacles for rebellious Spirits which these invisible Ministers of Justice may drive them into , and see them commited ; and being confined there upon far severer penalties if they submit not to that present punishment which they are sentenced to , they will out of fear of greater Calamity be in as safe custody as if they were under lock and key . But the most dismal penalty is to be carried into the Abyss , the place of the Rephaim I above described . This is a most astonishing commination to them , and they extreamly dread that sentence . Which makes the Devils , Luke 8. 31. so earnestly beseech Christ that he would not command them 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 to pack away into the Abyss .

This punishment therefore of the Abyss where the Rephaim or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 groan , is door and lock that makes them , whether they will or no , submit to all other punishments and confinements on this side of it . Michael Psellus takes special notice how the Daemons are frighted with the menaces 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , with the menaces of the sending them away packing into the Abyss and subterraneous places . But these may signifie no more than Cavities that are in the ruptues of the earth , and they may steal out again if they will adventure , unless they were perpetually watched , which is not so probable . Wherefore they are imprisoned through fear of that great horrid Abyss above described , and which as I said is an iron lock and door of brass upon them .

But then you will say , What is the door and lock to this terrible place ? I answer , The inviolable Adamantine Laws of the great Sandalphon or Spirit of the Vniverse . When once a rebellious Spirit is carried down by a Minister of Justice into this Abyss , he can no more return of himself , than a man put into a Well fortie ●athoms deep is able of himself to ascend out of it .

The unlapsed Spirits , it is their priviledge that their Vehicles are wholly obedient to the will of the Spirit that inactuates them , and therefore they have free ingress and egress every where ; and being so little passive as they are , and so quick and swift in their motions , can perform any Ministries with little or no incommodation to themselves . But the Vehicles of lapsed Spirits are more passive , and they are the very chains whereby they are tyed to certain Regions by the iron Laws of the Spirit of the Universe , or Hylarchick Principle , that unfailingly ranges the Matter everie where according to certain orders . Wherefore this Serjeant of Justice having once deposited his Prisoner within the Concave of the Aqueous Orb , he will be as certainly kept there , and never of himself get out again , as the man in the bottom of the Well above-mentioned , For the Laws of the same Spirit of Nature that keeps the man at the bottom of the Well ( that everie thing may be placed according to the measure of its consistencie ) will inhibit this Captive from ever returning to this Superiour Air again , because his Vehicle is , though foul enough , yet much thinner than the Water ; and there will be the the same ranging of things on the Concave side of the Aqueous Orb , as there is on the Convex .

So that if we could suppose the Ring about Saturn inhabited with any living creatures , they would be born toward the Concave of the Ring as well as toward the Convex , and walk as steadily as we and our Antipodes do with our feet on this and that side of the earth one against another . This may serve for a brief intimation of the reason of the thing , and the intelligent will easily make out the rest themselves , and understand what an ineluctable fate and calamity it is to be carried into that duskish place of dread and horrour , when once the Angel that has the Keys of the Abyss or bottomless pit has shut a rebellious Spirit up there , & chained him in that hideous Dungeon .

Pag. 133. Others to the Dungeon , and some to the most intolerable Hell the Abyss of fire . The Dungeon here , if it wer● understood with an Emphasis , would most properly denote the Dungeon of the Rephaim , of which those parts nearest the Centre may be called the Abyss of Fire more properly than any Vulcano's in the Crust of the earth . Those souls therefore that have been of a more fierce and fiery nature , and the Causers of Violence and Bloodshed , and of furious Wars and cruel Persecutions of innocent and harmless men , when they are committed to this Dungeon of the Rephaim , by those inevitable Laws of the sub●eraqueous Sandalphon , or Demogorgon if you will , they will be ranged nearest the Central Fire of this Hellish Vault . For the Vehicles of ●ouls symbolizing with the temper of the mind , those who are most haughty , ambitious , fier●e , and fiery , and therefore , out of Pride and contempt of others in respect of themselves and their own Interest , make nothing of shedding innocent bloud , or cruelly handling those that are not for their turn , but are faithful adherers to their Maker , the Vehicles of these being more thin and fiery than theirs who have transgressed in the Concap●●c●ble , they must needs surmount such in order of place , and be most remote from the Concave of the Aqueous Orb under which the Rephaim groan , and so be placed at least the nearest to that Abyss of Fire , which our Author terms the most intolerable Hell .

Pag. 133. Have a strict and careful eye upon them , to keep them within the confines of their Goal , &c. That this , as it is a more tedious Province , so a needless one , I have intimated above , by reason that the fear of being carried into the Abyss will effectually detain them in their confinements . From whence if they be not released in time , the very place they are in may so change their Vehicles , that it may in a manner grow natural to them , and make them as uncapable of the Superiour Air as Bats and Owls are , as the ingenious Author notes , to bear the Suns Noon-day-Beams , or the Fish to live in these thinner Regions .

Pag. 134. Vnder severe penalties prohibit all unlicensed excursions into the upper World , though I confess this seems not so probable , &c. The Author seems to reserve all the Air above the earth to good souls onely , and that if any ●ad ones appear , it must ●e by either stealth or license . But why bad souls may not be in this lower Region of the Air as well as Devils , I understand not . Nor do I conceive but that the Kingdom of Darkness may make such Laws amongst themselves , as may tend to the ease and safety of those of the Kingdom of Light . Not out of any good-will to them , but that themselves may not further smart for it if they give license to such and such exorbitancies . For they are capable of pain and punishment , and though they are permitted in the world , yet they are absolutely under the power of the Almighty , and of the Grand Minister of his Kingdom , the glorious Soul of the Messiah .

Pag. 137. The internal Central Fire should have got such strength and irresistible vigour , &c. But how or from whence , is very hard to concei●e : I should rather suspect , as I noted above , that the Fire will more and more decay till it turn at last to a kind of Terrella , like that observed within the Ring of Saturn , and the Dungeon become utter Darkness , where there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth , as well as in the furnace of Fire .

Pag. 141. And so following the Laws of its proper motion shall fly away out of this Vortex , &c. This looks like an ●eedless mistake of this ingenious Writer , who though he speak the language of Cartesius , seems here not to have recalled to mind his Principles . For the Earth according to his Principles is never like to become a Sun again . Nor if it had so become , would it then become a Comet . Forasmuch as Comets according to his Philosophie are incr●stated Suns , and Planets or Earths in a manner , and so to be deemed so soon as they settle in any Vortex , and take their course about the Centre thereof . Nor if the Earth become a Sun again , is it like to leave our Vortex according to the Cartesian Principles , but rather be swallowed down into the Sun of our Vortex , and increase his magnitude ; the ranging of the Planets according to Des Cartes Mechanical Laws being from the difference of their solidities , and the least solid next to the Sun . Whither then can this Sol redivivus or the Earth turned wholly into the Materia subtilissima again be carried , but into the Sun it self ? This seems most likely , especially if we consider this Sol Redivious or the Earth turned all into the Materia subtilissima , in itself . But if we take into our consideration its particular Vortex which carries about the Moon , the business may bear a further debate which will require more time than to be entred upon here . But it seems plain at first sight , that though this Sol Redivivus should by vertue of its particular Vortex be kept from being swallowed down into the Sun and Centre of the great Vortex , yet it will never be able to get out of this great Vortex , according to the frame of Des Cartes Philosophy . So that there will be two Suns in one Vortex , a Planetary one and a fixt one . Which unexpected monstrositie in Nature will make any cautious Cartesian more wary how he admits of the Earths ever being turned into a Sun again ; but rather to be content to let its Central Fire to incrustrate it self into a Terrella , there seeming to be an example of this in that little Globe in the midst of the Ring of Saturn ; but of an Earth turned into a Sun no example at all that I know of .

Pag. 142. So that the Central Fire remains unconcerned , &c. And so ●t well may , it being so considerable a distance from the Concave of the Aqueous Orb , and the Aqueous Orb it self betwixt the Crust of the Earth and it . But the Prisoners of this Gaol of the Rephaim will not be a little concerned . This Hell of a suddain growing so smothering hot to them all , though the Central Fire no more than it was . And whatever becomes of those Spirits that suffer in the very Conflagration it self , yet Ab hoc Inferno nulla est redemptio .

Pag. 147. Those immediate births of unassisted nature will not be so tender , &c. Besides , the Air being replenisht with benign Daemons or Genii , to whom it cannot but be a pleasant Spectacle to behold the inchoations and progresses of reviving Nature , they having the Curiositie to contemplate these births , may also in all likelihood exercise their kindness in helping them in their wants ; and when they are grown up , assist them also in the methods of Life , and impart as they shall find fit the Arcana of Arts and Sciences and Religion unto them , nor suffer them to symbolize overmuch in their way of living with the rest of their fellow terrestrial Creatures . If it be true that some hold , that even now when there is no such need , every one has his 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , his Genius or Guardian Angel , it is much more likely that at such a season as this , every tender Foetus of their common Mother the Earth , would be taken into the care of some good Daemon or other , even at their very first budding out into life .

Pag. 148. But all this is but the frolick exercise of my Pen choosing a Paradox . And let the same be said of the Pen of the Annotator , who has bestowed these pains not to gain Proselytes to the Opinions treated of in this Discourse , but to entertain the Readers Intellectuals with what may something inlarge his thoughts ; and if he be curious and anxious , help him at a pinch to some ease of mind touching the ways of God and his wonderful Providence in the World .

Pag. 149. Those other expressions of Death , Destruction , Perdition of the ungodly , &c. How the entring into the state of Silence may well be deemed a real Death , Destruction and Perdition , that passage in Lucretius does marvelously well set out .

Nam si tantopere est animi mutata potestas , Omnis ut actarum exciderit retinentia rerum , Non , ut opinor , ea ab letho jam longiter errat Quapropter fateare necesse est , quoe fuit ante . Interiisse , &c. De Rerum Natura , Lib. 3.

And again in the same book he says , though we were again just as we were before , yet we having no memory thereof , it is all one as if we were perfectly lost . And yet this is the condition of the soul which the Divine Nemesis sends into the state of Silence , because afterwards she remembers nothing of her former life . His words are these :

Nec , si materiam nostram collegerit oetas Post obitum , rursúmque redegerit ut sita nunc est , Atque iterum nobis fuerint data lumina vitoe , Pertineat quicquam tamen ad nos id quoque factum Interrupta semel quom sit retinentia nostri .

Pag. 150. In those passages which predict new Heavens and a new Earth , &c. I suppose he alludes especially to that place in the Apocalypse , Chap. 21. where presently upon the Description of the Lake of Fire in the precedent Chapter which answers to the Conslagration , it is said , And I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth . But questionless that passage , as in other places , is Politically to be understood , not Physically , unless this may be the ingenious Authors meaning , That the Writer of the Apocalypse adorning his style with allusions to the most rouzing and most notable real or Physical Objects ( which is observable all along the Apocalypse ) it may be a sign that a new Heaven and a new Earth succeeding the Conflagration , is one of those noble Phaenomena true and real amongst the rest , which he thought fit to adorn his style with by alluding thereto . So that though the chief intended sense of the Apocalypse be Political , yet by its allusions it may countenance many noble and weighty Truths whether Physical or Metaphysical . As , The existence of Angels , which is so perpertually inculcated all along the Book from the beginning to the ending : The Divine Shechina in the celestial Regions : The Dreadful Abyss in which rebellious Spirits are chained , and at the commination whereof they so much tremble : The Conflagration of the Earth ; and lastly , The renewing and restoring this Earth and Heaven after the Conflagration .

Pag. 150. The main Opinion of Pre-existence is not at all concerned , &c. This is very judiciously and soberly noted by him . And therefore it is by no means fairly done by the Opposers of Pre-existence , while they make such a pudder to confute any passages in this Hypothesis , which is acknowledged by the Pre-existentiaries themselves to be no necessary or essential part of that Dogma . But this they do , that they may seem by their Cavils ( for most of them are no better ) against some parts of this unnecessarie Appendage of Pre-existence , to have done some execution upon the Opinion it self ; which how far it extends , may be in some measure discovered by these Notes we have made upon it . Which stated as they direct , the Hypothesis is at least possible ; but that it is absolutely the true one , or should be thought so , is not intended . But as the ingenious Author suggests , it is either this way or some better , as the infinite Wisdom of God may have ordered . But this possible way shews Pre-existence to be neither impossible nor improbable .

Pag. 151. But submit all that I have written to the Authority of the Church of England , &c. And this I am perswaded he heartily did , as it is the duty of every one , in things that they cannot confirm by either a plain demonstration , clear authority of Scripture , Manifestation of their outward Senses , or some rouzing Miracle , to compromise with the Decisions of the National Church where Providence has cast them , for common peace and settlement , and for the ease and security of Governours . But because a fancy has taken a man in the head , that he knows greater Arcana than others , or has a more orthodox belief in things not necessarie to Salvation than others have , for him to affect to make others Proselytes to his Opinion , and to wear his badge of Wisdom , as of an extraordinarie Master in matters of Theory , is a mere vanitie of Spirit , a ridiculous piece of pride and levitie , and unbeseeming either a sober and stanched man or a good Christian . But upon such pretences to gather a Sect , or set up a Church or Independent Congregation , is intolerable Faction and Schism , nor can ever bear a free and strict examination according to the measures of the truest Morals and Politicks .

But because it is the fate of some men to believe Opinions , to others but probable , nor it may be so much ( as the motion of the Earth suppose , and Des Cartes his Vortices , and the like ) to be certain Science , it is the interest of every National Church to define the truth of no more Theories than are plainly necessary for Faith and good manners ; because if they either be really , or seem to be mistaken in their unnecessary Decisions or Definitions , this with those that are more knowing than ingenuous will certainly lessen the Authority and Reverence due to the Church , and hazard a secret enmity of such against her . But to adventure upon no Decisions but what have the Authority of Scripture ( which they have that were the Decisions of General Councils before the Apostasie ) and plain usefulness as well as Reason of their side , this is the greatest Conservative of the Honour and Authority of a Church ( especially joyned with an exemplary life ) that the greatest Prudence or Politicks can ever excogitate . Which true Politicks the Church of Rome having a long time ago deserted , has been fain , an horrid thing to think of it ! to support her Authority and extort Reverence by mere Violence and Bloud . Whenas , if she had followed these more true and Christian Politicks , she would never have made herself so obnoxious , but for ought one knows , she might have stood and retained her Authority for ever .

In the mean time , this is suitable enough , and very well worth our noting , That forasmuch as there is no assurance of the Holy Ghost's assisting unnecessary Decisions , though it were of the Universal Church , much less of any National one , so that if such a point be determined , it is uncertainly determined , and that there may be several ways of holding a necessary Point , some more accommodate to one kind of men , others to another , and that the Decisions of the Church are for the Edification of the people , that either their Faith may be more firm , or their Lives more irreprehensible : these things , I say , being premised , it seems most prudent and Christian in a Church to decline the Decision of the circumstances of any necessary point , forasmuch as by deciding and determining the thing one way , those other handles by which others might take more fast hold on it are thereby cut off , and so their assent made less firm thereto .

We need not go far for an example , if we but remember what we have been about all this time . It is necessarie to believe that we have in us an Immortal Spirit capable of Salvation and Damnation , according as we shall behave ourselves . This is certainly revealed to us , and is of indispensable usefulness . But though this Opinion or rather Article of Faith be but o●e , yet there are several waies of holding it . And it lies more easie in some mens minds , if they suppose it created by God at every conception in the Womb ; in othersome , if they conceive it to be ex Traduce ; and lastly in others , if it pre-exist . But the waies of holding this Article signifie nothing but as they are subservient to the making us the more firmly hold the same . For the more firmly we believe it , the greater influence will it have upon our lives , to cause us to live in the fear of God , and in the waies of Righteousness like good Christians .

Wherefore now it being supposed that it will stick more firm and fixt in some mens minds by some one of these three waies , rather than by either of the other two , and thus of any one of the three ; It is manifest , it is much more prudently done of the Church not to cut off two of these three handles by a needless , nay , a harmful Decision , but let every one choose that handle that he can hold the Article fastest by , for his own support and Edification . For thus every one laying firm hold on that handle that is best fitted for his own grasp , the Article will carry all these three sorts of believers sa●e up to Heaven , they living accordingly ; whenas two sorts of them would have more slippery or uncertain hold , if they had no handle offered to them but those which are less suitable to their grasp and Genius .

Which shews the Prudence , Care , and Accuracy of Judgment in the Church of England , that as in other things , so in this , she has made no such needless and indeed hurtful Decisions , but left the modes of conceiving things of the greatest moment , to every ones self , to take it that way that he can lay the fastest hold of it , and it will lie the most easily in his mind without doubt and wavering . And therefore there being no one of these handles but what may be useful to some or other for the more easie and undoubted holding that there is in us an Immaterial and Immortal Soul or Spirit , my having taken this small pains to wipe off the soil , and further the usefulness of one of them by these Annotations , if it may not merit thanks , it must , I hope , at least deserve excuse with all those that are not of too sowre and tetrick a Genius , and prefer their own humours and sentiments before the real benefit of others .

But now if any one shall invidiously object , that I prefer the Christian Discretion of my own Church the Church of England , before the Judgment and Wisdom of a General Council , namely , the fifth Oecumenical Council held at Constantinople in Justinians time under the Patriarch Eutychius , who succeeded Menas lately deceased , to whom Justinian sent that Discourse of his against Origen and his errours , amongst which Pre-existence is reckoned one : In answer to this , several things are to be considered , that right may be done our Mother .

First , What number of Bishops make a general Council , so that from their Numerosity we may rely upon their Authority and infallibility that they will not conclude what is false .

Secondly , Whether in whatsoever matters of debate , though nothing to the Salvation of mens souls , but of curious ▪ Speculation , fitter for the Schools of Philosophers than Articles of Faith for the edification of the people ( whose memory and conscience ought to be charged with no notions that are not subservient to the rightly and duly honouring God and his onely begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ , and to the faithful discharging their duty to man ) the assistance of the Spirit of God can rationally be expected ; or onely in such things as are necessary to be professed by the people , and very useful for the promoting of Life and Godliness . And as Moses has circumscribed his Narrative of the Creation within the limits of Mundus Plebeiorum , and also the Chronology of time according to Scripture is bounded from the first Adam to the coming again of the second to Judgment , and Sentencing the wicked to everlasting punishment , and the righteous to life everlasting : so whether the Decisions of the Church are not the most safely contained within these bounds , and they faithfully discharge themselves in the conduct of Souls , if they do but instruct them in such truths only as are within this compass revealed in sacred Scripture . And whether it does not make for the Interest and Dignity of the Church to decline the medling with other things , as unprofitable and unnecessary to be decided .

Thirdly , Whether if a General Council meet not together in via Spiritus Sancti , but some stickling imbitter'd Grandees of the Church out of a pique that they have taken against some persons get through their interest a General Council called , whether is the assistance of the Holy Ghost to be expected in such a meeting , so that they shall conclude nothing against truth .

Fourthly , Whether the Authority of such General Councils as Providence by some notable prodigie may seem to have intimated a dislike of , be not thereby justly suspected , and not easily to be admitted as infallible deciders .

Fifthly , Whether a General Council that is found mistaken in one point , anathematizing that for an Heresie which is a truth , forfeits not its Authority in other points , which then whether falshoods or truths , are not to be deemed so from the Authority of that Council , but from other Topicks .

Sixthly , Since there can be no commerce betwixt God and man , nor he communicate his mind and will to us but by supposition , That our senses rightly circumstantiated are true , That there is skill in us to understand words and Grammar , and schemes of speech , as also common notions and clear inferences of Reason , whether if a General Council conclude any thing plainly repugnant to these , is the Conclusion of such a Council true and valid ; and whether the indeleble Notices of truth in our mind that all Mankind is possessed of , whether Logical , Moral , or Metaphysical , be not more the dictates of God , than those of any Council that are against them .

Seventhly , If a Council , as general as any has been called , had in the very midnight of the Churches Apostasie and ignorance met , and concluded all those Corruptions that now are obtruded by the Church of Rome , as Transubstantiation , Invocation of Saints , Worshipping of Images , and the like , whether the Decisions of such a Council could be held infallible or valid . What our own excellently well Reformed Church holds in this case , is evident out of her Articles . For ,

Eighthly , The Church of England plainly declares . That General Councils when they be gathered together , forasmuch as they be an Assembly of men whereof all are not governed with the Spirit and Word of God , they may err , and sometimes have erred even in things pertaining to God . Wherefore , saith she ▪ things ordained by them as necessary to Salvation have neither strength nor Authority , unless it may be declared that they be taken out of Holy Scripture . Artic 21.

Ninthly , And again , Artic. 20. where she allows the Church to have power to decree Rites and Ceremonies , and Authority in Controversies of Faith , but with this restriction , That it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to Gods Word written , neither may it so expound one place of Scripture that it be repugnant to another : she concludes : Wherefore although the Church be a Witness and Keeper of Holy Writ , yet as it ought not to decree any thing against the same , so besides the same ought it not to inforce any thing to be believed for necessity of Salvation . What then , does she null the Authority of all the General Councils , and have no deference for any thing but the mere Word of God to convince men of Heresie ▪ No such matter . What her sense of these things is , you will find in 1 Eliz. cap. 1. Wherefore ,

Tenthly and lastly , What General Councils the Church of England allows of for the conviction of Hereticks you may understand out of these words of the Statute : They shall not adjudge any matter or cause to be Heresies , but onely such as heretofore have been adjudged to be Heresie by the Authority of the Canonical Scriptures , or by the first four General Councils or any of them , or by any other General Council wherein the same was declared Heresie by the express and plain words of the said Canonical Scriptures .

By brief reflections upon some of these ten Heads , I shall endeavour to lessen the Invidiousness of my seeming to prefer the Discretion of the Church of England before the Judgment of a General Council , I mean of such a General Council as is so unexceptionable that we may relie on the Authority of their Decisions , that they will not fail to be true . Of which sort whether the fifth reputed General Council be , we will briefly first consider .

For reflecting on the first head , It seems scarcely numerous enough for a General Council . The first General Council of Nice had above three hundred Bishops ; That of Chalcedon above six hundred : This fifth Council held at Constantinople had but an hundred sixty odd . And which still makes it more unlike a General Council , in the very same year , viz. 553 , the Western Bishops held a Council at Aquileia , and condemned this fifth Council held at Constantinople .

Secondly , The Pre-existence of Souls being a mere Philosophical Speculation , and indeed held by all Philosophers in the affirmative that held the Soul incorporeal ; we are to consider whether we may not justly deem this case referrible to the second Head , and to look something like Pope Zacharies appointing a Council to condemn Virgilius as an Heretick , for holding Antipodes .

Thirdly , We may very well doubt whether this Council proceeded in via Spiritus Sancti , this not being the first time that the lovers and admirers of Origen for his great Piety and Knowledge , and singular good service he had done to the Church of Christ in his time , had foul play plai'd them . Witness the story of Theophilus Bishop of Antioch , who to revenge himself on Dioscorus and two others that were lovers of Origen and Anti-Anthropomorphites , stickled so , that he caused Epiphanius in his See , as he did in his own , to condemn the Books of Origen in a Synod . To which condemnation Epiphanius an Anthropomorphite , and one of more Zeal than Knowledge , would have got the subscription of Chrysostome the Patriarch of Constantinople ; but he had more Wisdom and Honesty than to listen to such an injurious demand .

And as it was with those Synods called by Theophilus and Epiphanius , so it seems to be with the fifth Council . Piques and Heart-burnings amongst the Grandees of the Church seemed to be at the bottom of the business . Binius in his History of this fifth Council takes notice of the enmity betwixt Pelagius , Pope Vigilius's Apocrisiarie , and Theodorus Bishop of Caesarea Cappadociae an Origenist . And Spondanus likewise mentions the same , who says , touching the business of Origen , that Pelagius the Popes Apocrisiarie , eam quaestionem in ipsius Theodori odium movisse existimabatur . And truly it seems to me altogether incredible , unless there were some hellish spight at the bottom , that they should not have contented themselves to condemn the errours supposed to be Origens ( but after so long a time after his death , there being in his writings such choppings and changings and interpolations , hard to prove to be his ) but have spared his name , for that unspeakable good service he did the Church in his life-time . See Dr. H. Mores Preface to his Collectio Philosophica , Sect. 18. where Origens true Character is described out of Eusebius . Wherefore whether this be to begin or carry on things in via Spiritus Sancti , so that we may rely on the Authority of such a Council , I leave to the impartial and judicious to consider .

Fourthly , In reference to the fourth Head , That true wisdom and moderation , and the holy assistance of Gods Spirit did not guide the affairs of this Council , seems to be indicated by the Divine Providence , who to shew the effect of their unwise proceedings in the self-same year the Council sate , sent a most terrible Earthquake for forty days together upon the City of Constantinople where the Council was held , and upon other Regions of the East , even upon Alexandria it self and other places , so that many Cities were levelled to the ground . Upon which Spondanus writes thus : Haec verò praesagia fuisse malorum quae sunt praedictam Synodum consecuta , nemo negare poterit quicunque ab eventis facta noverit judicare .

This also reminds me of a Prodigy as it was thought that happened at the sixth reputed General Council , where nigh three hundred Fathers were gathered together to decide this nice and subtile Point , namely , whether an operation or volition of Christ were to be deemed , Vna operatio sive volitio 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , according to that Axiom of some Metaphysicians , that Actio est suppositi , and so the Humane and Divine Nature of Christ being coalescent into one person , his volition and operation be accounted one as his person is but one ; or because of the two Natures , though but one person , there are to be conceived two operations or two volitions . This latter Dogma obtained , and the other was condemned by this third Constantinopolitan Council : whereupon , as Paulus Diaconus writes , abundance of Cobwebs or Spiders webs fell or rained , as it were , down upon the heads of the people , to their very great astonishment . Some interpret the Cobwebs of Heresies ; others haply more rightfully of troubling the Church of Christ with over-great niceties and curiosities of subtile Speculation , which tend nothing to the corroborating her Faith , and promoting a good Life ; and are so obscure , subtile , and lubricous , that look on them one way they seem thus , and another way thus .

To this sixth General Council there seemed two Operations and two Wills in Christ , because of his two Natures . To a Council called after by Philippicus the Emperour , and John Patriarch of Constantinople , considering Christ as one person , there appeared Numerosissimo Orientalium Episcoporum collecto Conventui ▪ as Spondanus has it : but as Binius , Innumerae Orientalium Episcoporum multitudini congregatae , but one will and one operation . And certainly this numerous or innumerable company of Bishops must put as fair for a General Council as that of less than three hundred . But that the Authority of both these Councils are lessened upon the account of the second Head , in that the matter they consulted about tended nothing to the corroboration of our Faith , or the promotion of a good Life , I have already intimated .

These things I was tempted to note , in reference to the tenth Head . For it seems to mean undeniable Argument , that our First Reformers , which are the Risen Witnesses , were either exquisitely well seen in Ecclesiastick History , or the good Hand of God was upon them that they absolutely admitted onely the four first General Councils ; but after them , they knew not where to be , or what to call a General Council , and therefore would not adventure of any so called for the adjudging any matters Heresie . But if any pretended to be such , their Authority should no further prevail , than as they made out things by express and plain words of Canonical Scripture . And for other Synods , whether the Seventh , which is the second of Nice , or any other that the Church of Rome would have to be General in defence of their own exorbitant points of Faith or Practice , they will be found of no validity , if we have recourse to the sixth , seventh , eighth and ninth Heads .

Fifthly , In reference to the fifth Head . This fifth Council loseth its Authority in anathematizing what in Origen seems to be true according to that express Text of Scripture , John 16. 28. ( especially compared with others . See Notes on Chap. 11. ) I came forth from the Father , and am come into the world ; again I leave the world , and go to the Father . He came forth from his Father which is in Heaven , accordingly as he taught us to pray to him ( the Divine Shechina being in a peculiar manner there ) He leaves the world and goes to the Father , which all understand of his Ascension into Heaven , whence his coming from the Father must have the same sense , or else the Antithesis will plainly fail . Wherefore it is plain he came down from Heaven ( as he signifies also in other places ) as well as returns thither . But he can neither be truly said to come from heaven , nor return thither , according to his Divine Nature . For it never left Heaven , nor removes from one place to another ; and therefore this Scripture does plainly imply the Pre existence of the Soul of the Messiah , according to the Doctrine of the Jews , before it was incarnate . And this stricture of the old Cabala may give light to more places of St. Johns Writings than is fit to recite in this haste ; I will onely name one by the by , 1 John 4. 2. Every Spirit that confesseth 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that Jesus is the Christ come in the flesh , that is to say , is the Christ incarnate , is of God . For the Messiah did exist , viz. his Soul , before he came into the flesh , according to the Doctrine of the Jews . Which was so well known , that upon the above-cited saying ( John 16. 28. ) of our Saviour , they presently answered , Lo , now speakest thou plainly , and speakest no Parable ; because he clearly discovers himself by this Character to be the expected Messias incarnate . Nor is there any possible evasion out of the clearness of this Text ●rom the communication of Idioms , because Christ cannot be said to come down from Heaven according to his Humane Nature before it was there , therefore his Humane Nature was there before it was incarnate .

And lastly , The Authority of the Decision of this Council ( if it did so decide ) is lessened , in that contrary to the second Head ( as was hinted above ) it decides a point that Faith and Godliness is not at all concerned in . For the Divinity of Christ , which is the great point of Faith , is as firmly held supposing the Soul of the Messias united with the Logos before his incarnation , as in it . So that the spight onely of Pelagius against Theodorus to multiply Anathematisms against Origen , no use or necessity of the Church required any such thing . Whence again their Authority is lessened upon the account of the third Head .

These things may very well suspend a careful mind , and loth to be imposed upon , from relying much upon the Authority of this fifth Council . But suppose its Authority entire , yet the Acts against Origen are not to be found in the Council . And the sixth Council in its Anathematisms , though it mention Theodorets Writings , the Epistle of Ibas and Theodarus Mopsuestenus who were concerned in the fifth Council ; yet I find not there a syllable touching Origen . And therefore those that talk of his being condemned by that fifth Council , have an eye , I suppose , to the Anathematisms at the end of that Discourse which Justinian the Emperour sent to Menas . Patriarch of Constantinople , according to which form they suppose the errours of Origen condemned . Which if it were true , yet simple Pre-existence will escape well enough .

Nor do I think that learned and intelligent Patriarch Photius would have called the simple Opinion of Pre-existence of souls 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but for those Appendages that the injudiciousness and rashness of some had affixed to it . Partly therefore re●lecting upon that first Anathematism in the Emperours Discourse that makes the pre-existent souls of men first to be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 as if their highest felicity consisted in having no body to inactuate ( which plainly clashes with both sound Philosophy and Christianity , as if the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and Rephaim were all one , and they were not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 till they were 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , grown cold to the Divine Love , and onely gathered body as they gathered corruption , and were alienated from the Life of God ; which is point-blank against the Christian Faith , which has promised us , as the highest prize , a glorified body : ) And partly what himself adds , that one soul goes into several bodies ; Which are impertinent Appendages of the Pre-existence of the soul , false , useless and unnecessary ; and therefore those that add these Appendages thereto , violate the sincerity of the Divine Tradition to no good purpose .

But this simple Doctrine of Pre-existence is so unexceptionable and harmless , that the third collection of Councils in Justellus , which is called 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , though it reckon the other errours of Origen condemned in the fifth Council , omits this of Pre-existence . Certainly that Ecclesiastick that framed that Discourse for the Emperour , if he did it not himself , had not fully , deliberately and impartially considered the Dogma of Pre-existence taken in its self , nor does once offer to answer any Reasons out of Scripture or Philosophy that are produced for it . Which if it had been done , and this had been the onely errour to be alledged against Origen , I cannot think it credible , nay scarce possible , though their spight had been never so much against some lovers of Origen , that they could have got any General Council to have condemned so holy , so able , so victorious a Champion for the Christian Church in his life-time for an Heretick , upon so tolerable a punctilio , about three hundred years after his death . What Father that wrote before the first four General Councils , but might by the Malevolent , for some odd passage or other , be doomed an Heretick , if such severity were admittable amongst Christians ?

But I have gone out further than I was aware , and it is time for me to bethink me what I intended . Which was the justifying of my self in my seeming to prefer the Discretion of our own Church in leaving us free to hold the Incorporeity and Immortality of the soul by any of the three handles that best fitted every mans Genius , before the Judgment of the fifth General Council , that would abridge us of this liberty . From which Charge I have endeavoured to free my self , briefly by these two ways : First , by shewing how hard it is to prove the fifth Oecumenical Council so called , to be a legitimate General or Oecumenical Council , and such as whose Authority we may relie on . And secondly , if it was such , by shewing that it did not condemn simply the Pre-existence of souls , but Pre-existence with such and such Appendages . So that there is no real clashing betwixt our Church and that Council in this .

But however this is , from the eighth and ninth Heads it's plain enough that the Church of England is no favourer of the Conclusions of any General Council that are enjoyned as necessary to Salvation , that be either repugnant to Holy Scripture , or are not clearly to be made out from the same ; which Non-pre-existence of Souls certainly is not , but rather the contrary . But being the point is not sufficiently clear from Scripture either way to all , and the Immortality of the Soul and subsistence after death is the main useful point ; that way which men can hold it with most firmness and ease , her Candour and Prudence has left it free to them to make use of .

And as for General Councils , though she does not in a fit of Zeal , which Theodosius a Prior in Palestine is said to have done , anathematize from the Pulpit all people that do not give as much belief to the four first General Councils as to the four . Gospels themselves ; yet , as you may see in the tenth Head , she makes the Authority of the first four General Councils so great , that nothing is to be adjudged Heresie but what may be proved to be so either from the Scripture or from these four Councils . Which Encomium might be made with less skill and more confidence by that Prior , there having been no more than four General Councils in his time . But it was singular Learning and Judgment , or else a kind of Divine Sagacity in our first Reformers , that they laid so great stress on the first four General Councils , and so little on any others pretended so to be .

But in all likelihood they being perswaded of the truth of the prediction of the Apostasie of the Church under Antichrist how universal in a manner it would be , they had the most confidence in those General Councils which were the earliest , and that were held within those times of the Church which some call Symmetral . And without all question , the two first General Councils , that of Nice , and that other of Constantinople , were within those times , viz. within four hundred years after Christ ; and the third and fourth within the time that the ten-horned Beast had his horns growing up , according to Mr. Mede's computation . But the Definitions of the third and fourth Councils , that of Ephesus , and that other of Chalcedon ( which are to establish the Divinity of Christ , which is not to be conceived without the Union of both Natures into one person ; as also his Theanthropy , which cannot consist with the confusion of both Natures into one ) were vertually contained in the Definitions of the first and second Councils . So that in this regard they are all of equal Authority , and that unexceptionable . First , because their Decisions were concerning points necessary to be decided one way or other , for the settlement of the Church in the objects of their Divine Worship . And therefore they might be the better assured that the assistance of the Holy Ghost would not be wanting upon so weighty an occasion . And secondly , in that those two first Councils were called while the Church was Symmetral , and before the Apostasie came in , according to the testimony of the Spirit in the Visions of the Apocalypse .

Which Visions plainly demonstrate , that the Definitions of those Councils touching the Triunity of the Godhead and Divinity of Christ are not Idolatrous , else the Apostasie had begun before the time these Oracles declare it did ; and if not Idolatrous , then they are most certainly true . And all these four Councils driving at nothing else but these necessary points to be decided , and their decision being thus plainly approved by the suffrage of the Holy Ghost in the Apocalypse , I appeal to any man of sense and judgment if they have not a peculiar prerogative to be believed above what other pretended General Council soever ; and consequently with what special or rather Divine sagacity our first Reformers have laid so peculiar a stress on these four , and how consistent our Mother the Church of England is to herself , that the decisions of General Councils have neither strength nor Authority further than the matter may be cleared out of the Holy Scriptures . For here we see , that out of the Holy Scriptures there is a most ample testimony given to the Decisions of these four General Councils . So that if one should with Theodosius the Prior of Palestine in a fit of Zeal anathematize all those that did not believe them as true as the four Evangelists , he would not want a fair Plea for his religious fury .

But for men after the Symmetral times of the Church , upon Piques and private quarrels of Parties , to get General Councils called as they fancy them , to conclude matters that tend neither to the confirmation of the real Articles of the Christian Faith , or of such a sense of them as are truly useful to life and godliness , and herein to expect the infallible assistances of the Holy Spirit , either upon such terms as these , or for rank worldly interest , is such a presumption as to a free Judgment will look little better than Simony , as if they could hire the assistance of the Holy Ghost for money .

Thus have I run further into the consideration of General Councils , and the measure of their Authority , than was requisite upon so small an occasion ; and yet I think there is nothing said , but if seriously weighed may be useful to the intelligent Reader , whether he favour Pre-existence or not . Which is no further to be favoured than is consistent with the known and approved Doctrines of the Christian Faith , nor clashes any thing with the soundest Systemes of Divinity , as Dr. H. More shews his way of exhibiting the Theorie does not , in his General Preface to his Collectio Philosophica , Sect. 19. whose cautious and castigate method I have imitated as near as I could in these my Annotations . And he has indeed been so careful of admitting any thing in the Hypothesis that may justly be suspected or excepted against , that his Friend Mr. Glanvil m●ght have enlarged his Dedication by one word more , and called him Repurgatorem Sapientiae Orientalis , as well as Restauratorem , unless Restaurator imply both : It being a piece of Restauration , to free an Hypothesis from the errours some may have corrupted it with , and to recover it to its primeval purity and sincerity .

And yet when the business is reduced to this harmless and unexceptionable state , such is the modesty of that Writer , that he declares that if he were as certain of the Opinion as of any demonstration in Mathematicks , yet he holds not himself bound in conscience to profess it any further than is with the good-liking or permission of his Superiours . Of which temper if all men were , it would infinitely contribute to the peace of the Church . And as for my self , I do freely profess that I am altogether of the self-same Opinion and Judgment with him .

Annotations UPON THE Discourse of TRUTH . Into which is inserted By way of DIGRESSION , A brief Return To M r. BAXTER's Reply , Which he calls A Placid COLLATION With the Learned Dr. HENRY MORE , Occasioned by the Doctors ANSWER to a LETTER of the Learned Psychopyrist . Whereunto is annexed A DEVOTIONAL HYMN , Translated for the use of the sincere Lovers of true PIETY .

LONDON : Printed for J. Collins , and S. Lownds , over against Exeter-Change in the Strand . 1683.

THE Annotatour TO THE READER .

ABout a fortnight or three weeks ago , while my Annotations upon the two foregoing Treatises were a printing , there came to my hands Mr. Baxter's Reply to Dr. Mores Answer to a Letter of the learned Psychopyrist , printed in the second Edition of Saducismus Triumphatus : Which Reply he styles a Placid Collation with the Learned Dr. Henry More . I being fully at leasure , presently fell upon reading this Placid Collation ; which I must confess is so writ , that I was much surprized in the reading of it , I expecting by the Title thereof nothing but fairness and freeness of Judgment , and calmness of Spirit , and love and desire of Truth , and the prosperous success thereof in the World , whether our selves have the luck to light on it , or where ever it is found .

But instead of this , I found a Magisterial loftiness of Spirit , and a studie of obscuring and suppressing of the Truth by petty crooked Artifices , strange distortions of the sense of the Doctors Arguments , and Falsifications of Passages in his Answer to the Letter of the Psychopyrist . Which surprize moved me , I confess , to a competent measure of Indignation in the behalf of the injured Doctor , and of the Truth he contends for : And that Indignation , according to the Idiosyncrasie of my Genius , stirred up the merry Humour in me , I being more prone to laugh than to be severely angry or surly at those that do things unhandsomely ; And this merry humour stirred up , prevailing so much upon my Judgment as to make me think that this Placid Collation was not to be answered , but by one in a pleasant and jocular humor ; And I finding my self something so disposed , and judging the matter not of that moment as to be buzzed upon long , and that this more lightsome , brisk and jocular way of answering the Placid Collation might better befit an unknown Annotatour , than the known Pen and Person of the Doctor , I presently betook my self to this little Province , thinking at first onely to take notice of Mr. Baxters Disingenuities towards the Doctor ; but one thing drawing on another , and that which followed being carefully managed and apparently useful , I mean the Answering all Mr. Baxters pretended Objections against the Penetrability or Indiscerpibility of a Spirit , and all his smaller Criticisms upon the Doctors Definition thereof , in finishing these three Parts , I quickly completed the whole little Work of what I call the Digression , ( inserted into my Annotations upon Bishop Rusts ingenious Discourse of Truth ) which , with my Annotations , and the serious Hymn annexed at the end ( to recompose thy Spirits , if any thing over-ludicrous may chance to have discomposed them ) I offer , courteous Reader , to thy candid perusal ; and so in some hast take leave , and rest

Your humble Servant , The ANNOTATOUR .

Annotations UPON THE Discourse of TRUTH .

Sect. 1. pag. 165. AND that there are necessary mutual respects , &c. Here was a gross mistake in the former Impression . For this clause there ran thus : By the first I mean nothing else , but that things necessarily are what they are . By the second , that there are necessary mutual Respects and Relations of things one unto another . As if these mutual Respects and Relations of Things one to another were Truth in the Subject , and not Truth in the Object ; the latter of which he handles from the fourth Section to the eighteenth , in which last Section alone he treats of Truth in the Subject or Understanding . The former part of the Discourse is spent in treating of Truth in the Object ; that is to say , of Truth in the nature of things , and their necessary Respects and mutual Relations one to another . Both which are antecedent in the order of nature to all Understandings , and therefore both put together make up the first branch of the Division of Truth . So grosly had the Authours MS. been depraved by passing through the hands of unskilful Transcribers , as Mr. J. Glanvil complains at the end of his Letter prefixed to this Discourse . And so far as I see , that MS. by which he corrected that according to which the former Impression was made , was corrupt it self in this place . And it running glibly , and they expecting so suddainly the proposal of the other member of the Division , the errour , though so great , was overseen . But it being now so seasonably corrected , it gives great light to the Discourse , and makes things more easie and intelligible .

Sect. 2. pag. 166. That any thing may be a suitable means to any end , &c. It may seem a monstrous thing to the sober , that any mans Understanding should be so depraved as to think so . And yet I have met with one that took himself to be no small Philosopher , but to be wiser than both the Universities , and the Royal Society to boot , that did earnestly affirm to me , that there is no natural adaptation of means to ends , but that one means would be as good as another for any end if God would have it so , in whose power alone every thing has that effect it has upon another . Whereupon I asked him , whether if God would a Foot-ball might not be as good an Instrument to make or mend a Pen withal , as a Pen-knife . He was surprized ; but whether he was convinced of his madness and folly , I do not well remember .

Pag. 167. Is it possible there should be such a kind of Geometry , wherein any Problem should be demonstrated by any Principles ? Some of the Cartesians bid fair towards this Freakishness , whenas they do not stick to assert , that , If God would , he could have made that the whole should be lesser than the part , and the part bigger than the whole . Which I suppose they were animated to , by a piece of raillery of Des Cartes , in answering a certain Objection ; where , that he may not seem to violate the absolute Power of God for making what Laws he pleased for the ordering of the matter of the Universe ( though himself seems to have framed the world out of certain inevitable and necessary Mechanical Laws ) does affirm , that those Laws that seem so necessary , are by the arbitrarious appointment of God , who , if he would , could have appointed other Laws , and indeed framed another Geometry than we have , and made the power of the Hypotenusa of a Right-angled Triangle unequal to the powers of the Basis and Cathetus . This piece of Drollery of Des Cartes some of his followers have very gravely improved to what I said above of the Whole and Part. As if some superstitious Fop , upon the hearing one being demanded , whether he did believe the real and corporeal presence of Christ in the Sacrament , to answer roundly that he believed him there booted and spurred as he rode in triumph to Jerusalem , should become of the same Faith that the other seemed to profess , and glory in the improvement thereof by adding that the Ass was also in the Sacrament , which he spurred and rid upon . But in the mean time , while there is this Phrensie amongst them that are no small pretenders to Philosophy , this does not a little set off the value and usefulness of this present Discourse of Truth , to undeceive them if they be not wilfully blind .

Pag. 167. Therefore the three Angles of a Triangle are equal to two right ones ; namely , Because a Quadrangle is that which is comprehended of four right lines . It is at least a more operose and ambagious Inference , if any at all . The more immediate and expedite is this , That the two internal alternate Angles made by a right line cutting two parallels , are equal to one another : Therefore the three Angles of a Triangle are equal to two right ones , P. Ram. Geom. Lib. 6. Prop. 9. If the reasoning had been thus : A Quadrangle is that which is comprehended of four right lines , Therefore the three Angles of a Triangle are not equal to two right ones ; as the Conclusion is grosly false , so the proof had been egregiously alien and impertinent . And the intention of the Author seems to be carried to Instances that are most extravagant and surprizing ; which makes me doubt whether [ equal ] was read in the true MS. or [ not equal ] but the sense is well enough either way .

Sect. 4. pag. 168. The Divine Vnderstanding cannot be the fountain of the Truth of things , &c. This seems at first sight to be a very harsh Paradox , and against the current Doctrine of Metaphysicians , who define Transcendental or Metaphysical Truth to be nothing else but the relation of the Conformity of things to the Theoretical ( not Practical ) Intellect of God ; His Practical Intellect being that by which he knows things as produced or to be produced by him , but his Theoretical that , by which he knows things as they are : but yet in an Objective manner , as Existent objectively , not really . And hence they make Transcendental Truth to depend upon the Intellectual Truth of God , which alone is most properly Truth , and indeed the fountain and origine of all Truth . This in brief is the sense of the Metaphysical Schools . With which this passage of our Author seems to clash , in denying the Divine Intellect to be the fountain of the Truth of things , and in driving rather at this , That the things themselves in their Objective Existence , such as they appear there unalterably and unchangeably to the Divine Intellect , and not at pleasure contrived by it ( for as he says , it is against the nature of all understanding to make its Object ) are the measure and fountain of Truth . That in these , I say , consists the Truth in the Object , and that the Truth in the Subject is a conception conformable to these , or to the Truth of them whether in the uncreated or created Understanding .

So that the niceness of the point is this : Whether the Transcendental Truth of things exhibited in their Objective Existence to the Theoretical Intellect of God consists in their Conformity to that Intellect , or the Truth of that Intellect in its Conformity with the immutable natures and Relations or Respects of things exhibited in their Objective Existence , which the Divine Intellect finds to be unalterably such , not contrives them at its own pleasure . This though it be no 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or strife about mere words , yet it seems to be such a contest , that there is no harm done whethersoever side carries the Cause , the two seeming sides being but one and the same Intellect of God necessarily and immutably representing to it self the natures , Respects , and Aptitudes of all things such as they appear in their Objective Existence , and such as they will prove whenever produced into act .

As for example , The Divine Understanding quatenns exhibitive of Idea's ( which a Platonist would call 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) does of its infinite pregnancy and fecundity necessarily exhibit certain and unalterable Idea's of such and such determinate things , as suppose of a Cylinder , a Globe and a Pyramid , which have a setled and unalterable nature , as also immutable properties , references and aptitudes immediately consequential thereto , and not arbitrariously added unto them , which are thus necessarily extant in the Divine Intellect , as exhibitive of such Idea's . So likewise a Fish , a Fowl , and a four-footed beast , an Ox , Bear , Horse , or the like , they have a setled nature exhibited in their Idea's , and the properties and aptitudes immediately ●lowing therefrom . As also have all the Elements , Earth , Water and Air , determinate natures , with properties and aptitudes immediately issuing from them . Nor is a Whale fitted to fly in the Air , nor an Eagle to live under the Water , nor an Ox or Bear to do either , nor any of them to live in the Fire . But the Idea's of those things which we call by those names being unchangeable ( for there are di●ferences indeed of Idea's , but no changing of one Idea into another state , but their natures are distinctly setled ; and to add or take away any thing from an Idea , is not to make an alteration in the same Idea , but to constitute a new one ; As Aristotle somewhere in his Metaphysicks speaks of Numbers , where he says , that the adding or taking away of an Unite quite varies the species . And therefore as every number , suppose , Binary , Quinary , Ternary , Denary , is such a setled number and no other , and has such properties in it self , and references immediately accrewing to it , and aptitudes which no other number besides it self has ; so it is with Idea's ) the Idea's I say therefore of those things which we call by those names above-recited being unchangeable , the aptitudes and references immediately issuing from their nature represented in the Idea , must be also unalterable and necessary . Thus it is with Mathematical and Physical Idea's ; and there is the same reason concerning such Idea's as may be called Moral . Forasmuch as they respect the rectitude of Will in whatever Mind , created or uncreated .

And thus , lastly , it is with Metaphysical Idea's , as for example ; As the Physical Idea of Body , Matter or Substance Material contains in it immediately of its own nature or intimate specifick Essence real Divisibility or Discerpibility , Impenetrability and mere Passivity or Actuability , as the proper fruit of the Essential Difference and intimate Form thereof , unalterably and immutably as in its Idea in the Divine Intellect , so in any Body or Material Substance that does exist : So the Idea of a Spirit , or of a Substance Immaterial , the opposite Idea to the other , contains in it immediately of its own nature Indiscerpibility , Penetrability , and Self-Activity , as the inseparable fruit of the essential difference or intimate form thereof unalterably and immutably , as in its Idea in the Divine Intellect , so in any Immaterial Substance properly so called that doth exist . So that as it is a contradiction in the Idea that it should be the Idea of Substance Immaterial , and yet not include in it Indiscerpibility , &c. so it is in the being really existent , that it should be Substance Immaterial , and yet not be Indiscerpible , &c. For were it so , it would not answer to the Truth of its Idea , nor be what it pretendeth to be , and is indeed , an existent Being Indiscerpible ; which existent Being would not be Indiscerpible , if any could discerp it .

And so likewise it is with the Idea of Ens summè & absolutè perfectum , which is a setled determinate and immutable Idea in the Divine Intellect , whereby , were not God himself that Ens summè & absolutè perfectum , he would discern there were something better than Himself , and consequently that he were not God . But he discerns Himself to be this Ens summè & absolutè perfectum , and we cannot but discern that to such a Being belongs Spirituality , which implies Indiscerpibility , ( and who but a mad man can imagine the Divine Essence discerpible into parts ? ) Infinity of Essence , or Essential Omnipresence , Self-Causality , or necessary Existence immediately of it self or from it self ▪ resulting from the absolute and peculiar perfection of its own nature , whereby we understand that nothing can exist ab aeterno of it self but He. And lastly , Omniscience and Omnipotence , whereby it can do any thing that implies no contradiction to be done . Whence it necessarily follows , that all things were Created by Him , and that he were not God , or Ens summè perfectum , if it were not so : And that amongst other things he created Spirits ( as sure as there are any Spirits in the world ) indiscerpible as himself is , though of finite Essences and Metaphysical Amplitudes ; and that it is no derogation to his Omnipotence that he cannot discerp a Spirit once created , it being a contradiction that he should : Nor therefore any argument that he cannot create a Spirit , because he would then puzzle his own Omnipotence to discerp it . For it would then follow , that he cannot create any thing , no not Metaphysical Monads , nor Matter , unless it be Physically divisible in infinitum ; and God Himself could never divide it into parts Physically indivisible ; whereby yet his Omnipotence would be puzzled : And if he can divide matter into Physical Monads no further divisible , there his Omnipotence is puzzled again ; And by such sophistical Reasoning , God shall be able to create nothing , neither Matter nor Spirit , nor consequently be God , or Ens summè & absolutè perfectum , the Creator and Essentiator of all things .

This is so Mathematically clear and true , that I wonder that Mr. Rich. Baxter should not rather exult , ( in his Placid Collation ) at the discovery of so plain and useful a truth , than put himself , p. 79. into an Histrionical ( as the Latin ) or ( as the Greek would express it ) Hypocritical fit of trembling , to amuze the populacy , as if the Doctor in his serious and solid reasoning had verged towards something hugely exorbitant or prophane . The ignorant fear where no fear is , but God is in the generation of the knowing and upright . It 's plain , this Reasoning brings not the existence of God into any doubt , ( For it is no repugnance to either his nature or existence , not to be able to do what is a contradiction to be done ) but it puts the Indiscerpibility of Spirits ( which is a Notion mainly useful ) out of all doubt . And yet Mr. Baxter his phancie stalking upon wooden stilts , and getting more than a spit and a stride before his Reason , very magisterially pronounces , It 's a thing so high , as required some shew of proof to intimate that God cannot be God if he be Almighty , and cannot conquer his own Omnipotency . Ans. This is an expression so high and in the Clouds , that no sense thereof is to be seen , unless this be it : That God cannot be God , unless he be not Almighty ; as he would discover himself not to be , if he could not discerp a Spirit of a Metaphysical amplitude when he has created it . But it plainly appears from what has been said above , that this discerping of a Spirit , which is immediately and essentially of its own nature indiscerpible , as well as a Physical Monad is , implying a contradiction , it is no derogation to the Almightiness of God that he cannot do it ; all Philosophers and Theologers being agreed on that Maxim , That what implies a contradiction to be done , is no Object of Gods Almightiness . Nor is he less Almighty for not being able to do it . So that the prick-●ar'd Acuteness of that trim and smug saying , that seemed before to shoot up into the Sky , flags now like the flaccid lugs of the over-laden Animal old Silenus rid on when he had a Plot upon the Nymphs by Moon-shine . Pardon the tediousness of the Periphrasis : For though the Poet was pleased to put old Silenus on the Ass , yet I thought it not so civil to put the Ass upon old Mr. Baxter .

But he proceeds , pag. 80. Your words , says he , like an intended Reason , are [ For that cannot be God from whom all other things are not produced and created ] to which he answers , ( 1. ) Relatively , says he , ( as a God to us ) it 's true , though quoad existentiam Essentiae , he was God before the Creation . But , I say , if he had not had the power of creating , he had been so defective a Being , that he had not been God . But he says ( 2. ) But did you take this for any shew of a proof ? The sense implyed is this [ All things are not produced and created by God , if a spiritual ample substance be divisible by his Omnipotencie that made it : Yea ; Then he is not God . Negatur consequentia . Ans. Very scholastically disputed ! Would one think that Reverend Mr. Baxter , whom Dr. More for his Function and Grandevity sake handles so respectfully , and forbears all such Juvenilities as he had used toward Eugenius Philalethes , should play the Doctor such horse-play , having been used so civilly by him before ? What Buffoon or Antick Mime could have distorted their bodies more ill-favour'dly and ridiculously , than he has the Doctors solid and well-composed Argument ? And then as if he had done it in pure innocency and simplicity , he adds a Quaker-like [ Yea ] thereunto . And after all , like a bold Scholastick Champion , or Polemick Divine , couragiously cries out , Negatur consequentia . What a fardle of freaks is there here , and illiberal Artifices to hide the Doctors sound Reasoning in the 28th Section of his Answer to the Psychopyrists Letter ? Where having plainly proved that God can create an Indiscerpible Being though of a large Metaphysical amplitude , and that there is nothing objected against it , nor indeed can be , but that then he would seem to puzzle his own Omnipotency , which could not discerp such a Being ; the Doctor shews the vanity of that Objection in these very words ▪ The same , says he , may be said of the Metaphysical Monads ( namely , that God cannot discerp them ) and at that rate he shall be allow'd to create nothing , no not so much as Matter ( which consists of Physical Monads ) nor himself indeed to be . For that cannot be God from whom all other things are not produced and created . What reason can be more clear or more convincing , That God can create a Spirit in the proper sense thereof , which includes Indiscerpibility ? there being no reason against it but what is false , it plainly implying that he can create nothing , and consequently that he cannot be God . Wherefore that Objection being thus clearly removed , God , as sure as himself is , can create a Spirit , penetrable and indiscerpible , as himself is , and is expresly acknowledged to be so by Mr. Baxter himself , pag. 5● . And he having created Spirits or Immaterial Substances of an opposite Species to Material , which are impenetrable and discerpible of their immediate nature how can these Immaterial substances be any other than Penetrable and Indiscerpible ? Which is a very useful Dogma for assuring the souls personal subsistence after Death . And therefore it is a piece of grand Disingenuity in Mr. Baxter , to endeavour thus to slur and obscure so plain and edifying a Truth , by mere Antick Distortions of words and sense , by alterations and mu●ilations , and by a kind of sophistick Buffoonry . This is one specimen of his Difingenuity towards the Doctor , who in his Answer has been so civil to him . And now I have got into this Digression , I shall not stick to exemplifie it in several others .

As secondly , pag. 4. in those words : And when I presume most , I do but most lose my self , and misuse my understanding . Nothing is good for that which it was not made for . Our Vnderstandings , as our Eyes , are made onely for things revealed . In many of your Books I take this for an excess . So Mr. Baxter ▪ Let me now interpose a word or two in the behalf of the Doctor . Is not this a plain piece of Disingenuity against the Doctor , who has spent so great a part of his time in Philosophie ( which the mere Letter of the Scripture very rarely reveals any thing of ) to reproach him for his having used his understanding so much about things not revealed in Scripture ? Where should he use his Understanding and Reason , if not in things unrevealed in Scripture ; that is , in Philosophical things ? Things revealed in Scripture are Objects rather of Faith than of Science and Understanding . And what a Paradox is this , that our Understandings , as our Eyes , are made onely for things revealed ? When our Eyes are shut , all the whole visible world , by the closing of the palpebrae is vailed from us , but it is revealed to us again by the opening of our eyes ; and so it is with the eye of the Understanding . If it be shut through Pride , Prejudice , or Sensuality , the mysteries of Philosophy are thereby vailed from it ; but if by true vertue and unfeigned sanctity of mind that eye be opened , the Mysteries of Philosophy are the more clearly discovered to it , especially if points be studied with singular industry , which Mr. Baxter himself acknowledges of the Doctor , pag. 21. onely he would there pin upon his back an Humble Ignoramus in some things , which the Doctor , I dare say , will easily admit in many things , yea in most ; and yet , I believe , this he will stand upon , that in those things which he professes to know , he will challenge all the world to disprove if they can . And for probable Opinions , especially if they be useless , which many Books are too much stuffed withal , he ca●●s them out as the lumber of the mind , and would willingly give them no room in his thoughts . Firmness and soundness of Life is much better than the multiplicitie of uncertain Conceits .

And lastly , whereas Mr. Baxter speaking of himself , says , And when I presume most , I do but most lose my self ; He has so bewildered and lost himself in the multifarious , and most-what needless points in Philosophy or Scholastick Divinity , that if we can collect the measures of the Cause from the amplitude of the Effect , he must certainly have been very presumptuous . He had better have set up his Staff in his Saints everlasting Rest , and such other edifying and useful Books as those , than to have set up for either a Philosopher or Polemick Divine . But it is the infelicity of too many , that they are ignorant — Quid valeant humeri , quid ferre recusent , as the Poet speaks , or as the Pythagoreans — 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . And so taking upon them a part in a Play which they are unfit for , they both neglect that which they are fit for , and miscarry , by reason of their unfitness , in their acting that Part they have rashly undertaken ; as Epictetus somewhere judiciously observes .

But if that passage , And when I presume most , I do but most lose my self , was intended by him as an oblique Socratical reproof to the Doctor ; let him instance if he can , where the Doctor has presumed above his strength . He has medled but with a few things , and therefore he need not envie his success therein , especially they being of manifest use to the serious world , so many as God has fitted for the reception of them . Certainly there was some grand occasion for so grave a preliminary monition as he has given the Doctor . You have it in the following Page , p. 5. This premised , says he , I say , undoubtedly it is utterly unrevealed either as to any certainty or probability , That all Spirits are Souls , and actuate Matter . See what Heat and Hast , or some worse Principle has engaged Mr. Baxter to do ; to father a down-right falshood upon the Doctor , that he may thence take occasion to bestow a grave admonition on him , and so place himself on the higher ground . I am certain it is neither the Doctors opinion , That all Spirits are Souls , and actuate Matter , nor has he writ so any where . He onely says in his Preface to the Reader , That all created Spirits are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 [ Souls ] in all probability , and actuate some matter . And his expression herein is both modest and true . For though it is not certain or necessary , yet it is very probable . For if there were of the highest Orders of the Angels that fell , it is very probable that they had corporeal Vehicles , without which it is hard to conceive they could run into disorder . And our Saviour Christs Soul , which actuates a glorified spiritual Bodie , being set above all the Orders of Angels , it is likely that there is none of them is so refined above his Humane Nature , as to have no bodies at all . Not to add , that at the Resurrection we become 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , though we have bodies then ; which is a shrewd intimation that the Angels have so too , and that there are no created Spirits but have so .

Thirdly , Mr. Baxter , pag. 6. wrongfully blames the Doctor for being so defective in his studies as not to have read over Dr. Glisson De Vita Naturae ; and says he has talk'd with diverse high pretenders to Philosophie , and askt their judgment of that Book , and found that none of them understood it , but neglected it , as too hard for them ; and yet contemned it . His words to Dr. More are these : I marvel that ●hen you have dealt with so many sorts of Dissenters , you meddle not with so subtile a piece as that of old Dr. Glissons , De Vita Naturae . He thinks the subtilty of the Book has deterred the Doctor from reading it , as something above his Capacity , as also of other high Pretenders to Philosophie .

This is a Book it seems calculated onely for the elevation of Mr. Baxters subtile and sublime wit . And indeed by the benefit of reading this Book he is most dreadfully armed with the affrightful terms of Quoddities and Quiddities , of Conceptus formalis and fundamentalis , of Conceptus adaequatus and inadaequatus , and the like . In vertue of which thwacking expressions he has fancied himself able to play at Scholastick or Philosophick Quarter-staff with the most doughty and best appointed Wits that dare enter the Lists with him ; and as over-neglectful of his flock , like some conceited Shepherds , that think themselves no small fools at the use of the Staff or Cudgil-play , take Vagaries to Fairs or Wakes to give a specimen of their skill ; so he ever and anon makes his Polemick sallies in Philosophie or Divinity to entertain the Spectators , though very oft he is so rapt upon the knuckles , that he is forced to let fall his wooden Instrument , and blow his fingers . Which is but a just Nemesis upon him , and he would do well to interpret it as a seasonable reproof from the great Pastor of Souls , to whom we are all accountable .

But to return to his speech to the Doctor ; I will adventure to answer in his behalf , That I marvel that whenas Mr. Baxter has had the curiosity to read so many Writers , and some of them sure but of small concern , that he has not read that sound and solid piece of Dr. More , viz. his Epistola altera ad V. C. with the Scholia thereon , where Spinozius is confuted . Which if he had read he might have seen Volum . Philosoph . Tom. 1. pag. 604 , 605 , &c. that the Doctor has not onely read that subtile Piece of Doctor Glissons , but understands so throughly his Hypothesis , that he has solidly and substantially confuted it . Which he did in a faithful regard to Religion . For that Hypothesis , if it were true , were as safe , if not a safer Refuge for Atheists , than the mere Mechanick Philosophie is : And therefore you may see there , how Cuperus , brought up amongst the Atheists from his very childhood , does confess , how the Atheists now-a-daies explode the Mechanick Philosophie as not being for their turn , and betake themselves wholly to such an Hypothesis as Dr. Glissons Vita Naturae . But , God be thanked , Dr. H. More in the fore-cited place has perfectly routed that fond and foul Hypothesis of Dr. Glisson , and I dare say is sorry that so good and old a Knight errant in Theologie and Philosophie as Mr. Richard Baxter seems to be , should become benighted , as in a wood , at the Close of his daies , in this most horrid dark Harbour and dismal Receptacle or Randevouz of wretched Atheists . But I dare say for him , it is his ignorance , not choice , that has lodged him there .

The fourth Disingenuity of Mr. Baxter towards the Doctor is , in complaining of him as if he had wronged him by the Title of his Answer to his Letter , in calling it an Answer to a Psychopyrist , pag. 2. 82. As if he had asserted that materiality of Spirits which belongs to bodies , pag. 94. In complaining also of his inconsistency with himself , pag. 10. as if he one while said that Mr. Baxter made Spirits to be Fire or material , and another while said he made them not Fire or material . But to the first part of this Accusation it may be answered , That if it is Mr. Baxter that is called the Learned Psychopyrist , how is the thing known to the world but by himself ? It looks as if he were ambitious of the Title , and proud of the ●ivil treating he has had at the hands of the Doctor , though he has but ill repai'd his civility in his Reply . And besides this , there is no more harshness in calling him Psychopyrist , than if he had called him Psycho-Hylist , there being nothing absurd in Psychopyrism but so far forth as it includes Psycho-Hylism , and makes the Soul material .

Which Psycho-Hylism that Mr. Baxter does admit , it is made evident in the Doctors Answer , Sect. 16. And Mr. Baxter in his Placid Collation ( as he mis-calls it , for assuredly his mind was turbid when he wrote it ) pag. 2. allows that Spirits may be called Fire Analogicè and Eminenter , and the Doctor in his Preface intimates that the sense is to be no further stretched , than the Psychopyrist himself will allow .

But now that Mr. Baxter does assert that Materiality in created Spirits that belongs to bodies in the common sense of all Philosophers , appears Sect. 16. where his words are these : But custom having ▪ made MATERIA , but especially CORPVS to signifie onely such grosser Substance as the three passive Elements are ( he means Earth , Water , Air ) I yield , says he , so to say , that Spirits are not Corporeal or Material . Which plainly implies that Spirits are in no other sense Immaterial , than Fire and Aether are , viz. than in this , that they are thinner matter .

And therefore to the last point it may be answered in the Doctors behalf , that he assuredly does nowhere say , That Mr. Baxter does not say that Spirits are Material , as Material is taken in the common sense of all Philosophers for what is impenetrable and discerpible . Which is Materia Physica , and in opposition to which , a Spirit is said to be Immaterial . And which briefly and distinctly states the Question . Which if Mr. Baxter would have taken notice of , he might have saved himself the labour of a great deal of needless verbosity in his Placid Collation , where he does over-frequently , under the pretence of more distinctness , in the multitude of words obscure knowledge .

Fifthly , Upon Sect. 10. pag. 21. where Mr. Baxters Question is , How a man may tell how that God that can make many out of one , cannot make many into one , &c. To which the Doctor there answers : If the meaning be of substantial Spirits , it has been already noted , that God acting in Nature does not make many substances out of one , the substance remaining still entire ; for then Generation would be Creation . And no sober man believes that God assists any creature so in a natural course , as to enable it to create : And then I suppose that he that believes not this , is not bound to puzzle himself why God may not as well make many substances into one , as many out of one , whenas he holds he does not the latter , &c. These are the Doctors own words in that Section . In reply to which , Mr. Baxter : But to my Question , saies he , why God cannot make two of one , or one of two , you put me off with this lean Answer , that we be not bound to puzzle our selves about it . I think , saies he , that Answer might serve to much of your Philosophical disputes . Here Mr. Baxter plainly deals very disingenuously with the Doctor in perverting his words , which affirm onely , That he that denies that God can make two substances of one in the sense above-declared , need not puzzle himself how he may make one of those two again . Which is no lean , but full and apposite Answer to the Question there propounded .

And yet in this his Placid Collation , as if he were wroth , he gives ill language , and insinuates , That much of the Doctors Philosophical Disputes are such as are not worth a mans puzling himself about them ; whenas it is well known to all that know him or his Writings , that he concerns himself in no Theories but such as are weighty and useful , as this of the Indiscerpibility of Spirits is , touching which he further slanders the Doctor , as if it were his mere Assertion without any Proof . As if Mr. Baxter had never read , or forgot the Doctors Discourse of the true Notion of a Spirit , or what he has writ in the further Defence thereof . See Sect. 26 , 28 , 30 , 31. Thus to say any thing in an angry mood , verily does not become the Title of a Placid Collation .

Sixthly , The Doctor in Sect. 11. of his Defence of his Notion of a Spirit , writes thus : I desire you to consider the nature of Light throughly , and you shall find it nothing but a certain motion of a Medium , whose parts or particles are so or so qualified , some such way as Cartesianism drives at . To this Mr. Baxter replies against the Doctor , pag. 59. Really , saies he , when I read how far you have escaped the delusions of Cartesianism , I am sorry you yet stick in so gross a part of it as this is ; when he that knoweth no more than motion in the nature of Fire , which is the Active Principle by which Mental and Sensitive Nature operateth on Man and Brutes and Vegetables , and all the Passive Elements ; and all the visible actions in this lower world are performed , what can that mans Philosophie be worth ? I therefore return your Counsel , study more throughly the nature of Ethereal Fire .

Satis pro imperio ! very Magisterially spoken ! and in such an igneous Rapture , that it is not continuedly sense . Does Mental and Sensitive Nature act on Brutes and Vegetables and all the Passive Elements ? But to let go that : Is all the Doctors Philosophie worth nothing if he hold with Des Cartes touching the Phaenomenon of Light as to the Material part thereof ? It is the ignorance of Mr. Baxter , that he rejects all in Des Cartes , and Judiciousness in the Doctor , that he retains some things , and supplies where his Philosophie is deficient . He names here onely the Mechanical Cause of Light , viz. Motion , and duly modified Particles . But in his Enchiridium he intimates an higher principle than either Fire or Aether , or any thing that is Material , be it as fine and pure as you please to fancie it . See his Enchirid. Metaphys . Cap. 19. where he shews plainly , that Light would not be Light , were there not a Spiritus Mundanus , or Spirit of Nature , which pervades the whole Universe ; Mr. Baxters ignorance whereof has cast him into so deep a dotage upon Fire and Light , and fine discerpible Corporeities , which he would by his Magisterial Prerogative dubb Spirits , when to nothing that Title is due , but what is Penetrable and Indiscerpible by reason of the immediate Oneness of its Essence , even as God the Father and Creator of all Spirits is one Indiscerpible Substance or Being . And therefore I would advise Mr. Baxter to studie more throughly the true nature of a Spirit , and to let go these Ignes Fatui that would seduce him into thick mists and bogs . For that universal Spirit of Nature is most certainly the Mover of the matter of the world , and the Modifier thereof , and thence exhibits to us not onely the Phaenomena of Light and Fire , but of Earth and Water , and frames all Vegetables into shape and growth ; and Fire of it self is but a dead Instrument in its hand , as all is in the hand of God , who is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ! and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Synesius , if I well remember , somewhere calls him in his Hymns .

Seventhly , That is also less ingenuously done of Mr. Baxter , when the Doctor so friendly and faithfully puts him in a way of undeceiving himself , Sect. 17. touching the Doctrine of Atoms , that he puts it off so slightly . And so Sect. 18. where he earnestly exhorts him to studie the nature of Water , as Mr. Baxter does others to studie the nature of Fire ; he , as if he had been bitten , and thence taken with that disease the Physicians call 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , and which signifies the fear of Water , has slunk away and quite neglected the Doctors friendly monition ; and is so small a Proficient in Hydrostaticks , that pag. 68. he understands not what greater wonder there is in the rising of the Dr.'s Rundle , than in the rising of a piece of Timber from the bottom of the Sea . Which is a sign he never read the 13th Chapter of the Dr.'s Enchiridion Metaphysicum , much less the Scholia thereon . For if he had , he would discern the difference , and the vast usefulness of the one above that of the other to prove a Principium Hylarchicum distinct from the matter of the Universe , against all evasions and tergiversations whatsoever . But these things cannot be insisted on here .

Eighthly , Mr. Baxter , pag. 76. charges the Doctor with such a strange Paradox as to half of it , that I cannot imagine from whence he should fetch it . You seem , says he , to make all substance Atoms , Spiritual Atoms and Material Atoms . The latter part of the charge the Doctor I doubt not but will acknowledge to be true : But may easily prove out of Mr. Baxter , pag. 65. that he must hold so too . For his words there are these : Tha● God is able to divide all matter into Atoms or indivisible parts I doubt not . And can they be Physically divided into parts of which they don't consist ? But Mr. Baxter by the same reason making Spirits divisible by God , though not by any Creature , makes them consist of Spiritual Atoms , for they cannot but consist of such parts as they are divisible into . And if they be divisible by God into larger shreds onely but not into Atoms , then every created Spirit , especially particular ones , are so many subtil living Puppets made up of spiritual rags and clouts . But if God can divide them neither into spiritual Atoms nor larger spiritual parcels , he can't divide them at all . And so according to what the Doctor contends for , they will be , as they ought to be , absolutely indiscerpible .

I omit here to take notice of another absurdity of Mr. Baxters , That though the substance of a Spirit he will have to be divisible , yet he will have the form indivisible , pag. 50 , 99. and yet both parts to be Spirit still ; which implies a contradiction . For then one of the parts will be without the form of a Spirit , and consequently be no Spirit , and yet be a Spirit according to Mr. Baxter , who makes Spirits divisible into parts of the same denomination , as when water is divided into two parts , each part is still water , pag. 53.

Ninthly . That which occurrs pag. 48. is a gross Disingenuity against the Doctor , where Mr. Baxter says , And when you make all Spirits to be Souls and to animate some matter , you seem to make God to be but Anima Mundi . How unfair and harsh is this for you Mr. Baxter , who has been so tenderly and civilly handled by the Doctor in his Answer to your Letter , he constantly hiding or mollifying any thing that occurred therein that might overmuch expose you , to represent him as a favourer of so gross a Paradox as this , That there is no God but an Anima Mundi , which is the Position of the Vaninian Atheists , which himself has expresly confuted in his Mystery of Godliness , and declared against lately in his Advertisements on Jos Glanvils Letter to himself , in the second Edition of Saducismus Triumphatus ? This looks like the breaking out of unchristian rancour , in a Reply which bears the Specious Title of a Placid Collation . Which is yet exceedingly more aggravable , for that this odious Collection is not made from any words of the Doctor , but from a fiction of Mr. Baxter . For the Doctor has nowhere Written , nor ever thought that all Spirits , but only all Created Spirits , might probably be Souls , that is to say , actuate some matter or other . And those words are in his Preface to his Answer to the Letter of the Psychopyrist , as I noted before . I might reckon up several other Disingenuities of Mr. Baxters towards the Doctor in this his Placid Collation ; but I have enumerated enough already to weary the Reader , and I must remember I am but in a Digression .

I shall onely name one Disingenuity more , which was antecedent to them all , and gave occasion both to Mr. Baxters Letter , and to the Doctors Answer thereto , and to this Reply of Mr. Baxter . And that was , That Mr. Baxter in his Methodus Theologiae ( as he has done also in a little Pamphlet touching Judge Hales ) without giving any reasons , which is the worst way of traducing any man or his s●ntiments , slighted and slurred those two essential Attributes of a Spirit , Penetrability and Indiscerpibility , which for their certain Truth and usefulness the Doctor thought fit to communicate to the World .

But forasmuch as Mr. Baxter has in this his Reply produced his Reasons against them , I doubt not but the Doctor will accept it for an amends . And I , as I must disallow of the Disingenuity of the omission before , yet to be just to Mr. Baxter , I must commend his discretion and judgment in being willing to omit them ; they appearing to me now they are produced , so weak and invalid . But such as they are , I shall gather them out of his Reply , and bring them into view .

First then , pag. 13. It is alledged , That nothing hath two forms univocally so called . But if Penetrabilitie and Indiscerpibilitie be added to the Virtus Vitalis , to the Vital Power of a Spirit , it will have two forms . Therefore Penetrabilitie and Indiscerpibilitie are to be omitted in the notion of a Spirit . See also p. 22.

Secondly , pag. 14. Penetrable and Indiscerpible can be no otherwise a form to Spirits , than Impenetrable and Discerpible are a form to Matter . But Impenetrable is onely a modal Conceptus of Matter , and Discerpible a Relative notion thereof , and neither one nor both contrary to Virtus vitalis in a Spirit .

Thirdly , pag. 14. He sees no reason why Quantity , and the Trina Dimensio , may not as well be part of the form of Matter as Discerpibilitie and Impenetrabilitie .

Fourthly , pag. 15 , 16. Nothing is to be known without the mediation of Sense , except the immediate sensation itself , and the acts of intellection and volition or nolition , and what the Intellect inferreth of the like , by the perception of these . Wherefore as to the modification of the substance of Spirits which is contrary to Impenetrabilitie and Divisibilitie , I may grope , says he , but I cannot know it positively for want of sensation .

Fifthly , pag. 16 , 17. If Indiscerpibilitie be the essential character of a Spirit , then an Atom of matter is a Spirit , it being acknowledged to be Indiscerpible . Wherefore Indiscerpibilitie is a false character of a Spirit .

Sixthly , pag. 17 , 18. [ Penetrable ] whether actively or passively understood , can be no proper Character of a Spirit , forasmuch as Matter can penetrate a Spirit , as well as a Spirit Matter , it possessing the same place . See pag. 23.

Seventhly , pag. 40 , 41. Immaterialitie , says he , Penetrabilitie and Indiscerpibilitie , in your own judgment I think are none of them proper to Spirit . For they are common to diverse Accidents in your account , viz. to Light , Heat , Cold. And again in his own words ,

Eighthly , pag. 77. If your Penetrabilitie , says he , imply not that all the singular Spirits can contract themselves into a Punctum , yea that all the Spirits of the world may be so contracted , I find it not yet sufficiently explained . See also pag. 52 , 78 , 89 , 90.

Ninthly , pag. 50. Seeing , says he , you ascribe Amplitude , Quantitie , and Dimensions and Logical Materialitie to the Substantialitie of Spirits , I see not but that you make them Intellectually divisible , that is , that one may think of one part as here , and another there . And if so , though man cannot separate and divide them , if it be no contradiction , God can .

Tenthly , and lastly , pag. 90. The putting of Penetrability and Indiscerpibility into the notion of a Spirit , is needless , and hazardous , it being sufficient to hold that God hath made Spirits of no kind of parts but what do Naturally abhor Separation , and so are inseparable unless God will separate them , and so there is no fear of losing our Personality in the other State . But Penetrability and Indiscerpibility being hard and doubtful words , they are better left out , lest they tempt all to believe that the very Being of Spirits is as doubtful as those words are .

Thus have I faithfully though briefly brought into view all Mr. Baxters Arguments against the Penetrability and Indiscerpibility of Spirits , which I shall answer in order as they have been recited .

To the first therefore I say , that the Doctors Definition of a Spirit , which is [ A Substance immaterial intrinsecally indued with life and a faculty of motion ] where Substance is the Genus , and the rest of the terms comprize the Differentia ( which Mr. Baxter calls Conceptus formalis and Forma ) I say , that this Difference or Form though it consist of many terms , yet these terms are not Heterogeneal , as he would insinuate , pag. 22. but Congenerous , and one in order to another , and essentially and inseparably united in that one substance which is rightly and properly called Spirit , and in vertue of that one substance , though their Notions and Operations differ , they are really one inseparable specifick Difference or Form , as much as Mr. Baxters Virtus vitalis un a-trina is ; that is to say , they are specifick knowable terms , succedaneous to the true intimate specifick Form that is utterly unknowable ; and therefore I say , in this sen●e these knowable terms are one inseparable specifick Difference or Form whereby Spirit is distinguished from Bodie or Matter in a Physical acception . Which the Universality of Philosophers hold to consist in Impenetrability , and Discerpibilitie , and Self-inactivitie . Which if Mr. Baxter would have been pleased to take notice of , viz. that a Spirit is said to be a Substance Immaterial in opposition to Matter Physical , he might have saved himself the labour of a deal of tedious trisling in explication of words to no purpose .

But to shew that this Pretence of more Forms than one in one Substance is but a Cavil , I will offer really the same Definition in a more succinct way , and more to Mr. Baxters tooth , and say , As Corpus is Substantia Materialis ( where Materialis is the specifick Difference of Corpus comprized in one term : ) so Spiritus is Substantia Immaterialis ( where Immaterialis the specifick Difference of Spiritus is likewise comprized in one term , to please the humour of Mr. Baxter . ) But now as under that one term [ Materialis ] are comprized Impenetrabilitie , Discerpibilitie , and Self-Inactivity ; so also under that one term [ Immaterialis ] are comprized , as under one head , Penetrability , Indiscerpibility , and Intrinsecal life and motion , that is , an essential facultie of life and motion , which in one word may be called Self-Activity . Whence Penetrability , Indiscerpibility , and Self-Activity are as much one Form of a Spirit , as Mr. Baxters Vita , Perceptio , and Appetitus , is one Form thereo● . For though in both places they are three distinct notions , at least as Mr. Baxter would have it , yet they are the essential and inseparable Attributes of one substance , and the immediate fruit and result of the Specifick nature thereof . They are inseparably one in their Source and Subject .

And this I think is more than enough to take off this first little Cavil of Mr. Baxters against the Doctors including Penetrability and Inseparability in the Form or Specifick difference of a Spirit . For all that same is to be called Form , by which a thing is that which it is , as far as our Cognitive faculties will reach , and by which it is essentially distinguished from other things . And if it were not for Penetrabilitie and Indiscerpibilitie , Spirit would be confounded with Body and Matter . And Body or Physical Matter might be Self-Active , Sentient , and Intelligent .

To the Second I answer , That whosoever searches things to the bottom , he will find this a sound Principle in Philosophie , That there is nothing in the whole Universe but what is either Substantia or Modus . And when a Mode or several Modes put together are immediately and essentially inseparable from a Substance , they are lookt upon as the Form , or the onely knowable Specifick difference of that Substance . So that Impenetrability and Discerpibility , which are immediately essential to , and inseparable from Body or Matter , and Self-Inactivitie , ( as Irrational is made the specifick difference of a Brute ) may be added also : These , I say , are as truly the Form or Specifick difference of Body or Matter , as any thing knowable is of any thing in the world . And Self-Inactivity at least , is contrary to the Virtus vitalis of a Spirit , though Impenetrability and Discerpibility were not . So that according to this oeconomy , you see how plainly and exquisitely Body and Spirit are made opposite Species one to another . And 't is these Modal differences of Substances which we only know , but the Specifick Substance of any thing is utterly unknown to us , however Mr. Baxter is pleased to swagger to the contrarie , p. 44 , 62. Where he seems to mis-understand the Doctor , as if by Essence he did not understand Substance , as both 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and Essentia usually signifie ( especially with the Ancients ) but any Being at large .

But of Substance it is most true , we know it onely by its essential Modes , but the Modes are not the Substance it self of which they are Modes ; otherwise the Substance would want Modes , or every Substance would be more substances than one . And Mr. Baxter himself saith , pag. 62. To know an essential Attribute , and to know ipsam essentiam scientiâ inadaequatâ , is all one . Which inadequate or partial knowledge , say I , is this , the knowing of the Essential Mode of the Substance , and not knowing the Substance it self ; Otherwise if both the Essential Modes were known , and also the Specifick Substance to which the Modes belong ( more than that those Modes belong to that Substance ) the knowledge would be full and adequate , and stretcht through the whole Object . So that Mr. Baxters Scientia inadoequata , and the Doctors denying the bare Substance it self to be known , may very well consist together , and be judged a mere 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Which is an exercise more grateful it 's likely to Mr. Baxter , than to the Doctor .

To the third I say , Any one that considers may find a necessarie reason why Quantitie or Trina Dimensio should be left out in the Form of Body or Matter , especially why the Doctor should leave it out , because he does professedly hold , That whatever is , has Metaphysical Quantitie or Metaphysical Trina Dimensio ; Which no man can denie that holds God is Essentially present every-where . And no man , I think , that does not dote can denie that . Wherefore allowing Matter to be Substance ; in that Generical nature , Trina Dimensio is comprized , and need not be again repeated in the Form . But when in the Forma or Differentia , Discerpible and Impenetrable is added , this is that which makes the Trina Dimensio ( included in the Genus , Substantia ) of a Corporeal kind , and does constitute that Species of things , which we call Corpora . This is so plain a business , that we need insist no longer upon it .

Now to the fourth , I answer briefly , That from what knowledge we have by the mediation of the Senses and inference of the Intellect , we arrive not onely to the knowledge of like things , but of unlike , or rather contrary : As in this very example , we being competently well instructed , indeed assured by our Senses , that there is such a kind of thing as Body , whose nature is to be Impenetrable and Discerpible , and our Reason certainly informing us , as was noted even now , that whatever is , has a kind of Amplitude more or less , or else it would be nothing ; hence we are confirmed , that not Extension or Trina Dimensio , but Impenetrabilitie and Discerpibilitie is the determinate and adequate nature of what we call Body ; and if there be any opposite species to Body , our Reason tells us it must have opposite Modes or Attributes , which are Penetrability and Indiscerpibility . This is a plain truth not to be groped after with our fingers in the dark , but clearly to be discerned by the eye of our understanding in the light of Reason . And thus we see ( and many examples more we might accumulate ) That by the help of our Senses and Inference of our Vnderstanding , we are able to conclude not onely concerning like things , but their contraries or opposites . I must confess I look upon this allegation of Mr. Baxter as very weak and faint .

And as for his fifth , I do a little marvel that so grave and grandaevous a person as he should please himself in such little ●●irts of Wit and Sophistry as this of the Indiscerpibility of an Atom or Physical Monad . As if Indiscerpibility could be none of the essential or specifical Modes or Attributes of a Spirit , because a Physical Monad or Atom is Indiscerpible also , which is no Spirit . But those very Indiscerpibilities are Specifically different . For that of a Spirit is an Indiscerpibility that arises from the positive perfection and Oneness of the Essence , be it never so ample ; that of an Atom or Physical Monad , from imperfection and privativeness , from the mere littleness or smalness thereof , so small that it is impossible to be smaller , and thence onely is Indiscerpible .

The sixth also is a pretty juvenile Ferk of Wit for a grave ancient Divine to use , That Penetrability can be no proper Character of a Spirit , because Matter can penetrate Spirit as well as Spirit Matter , they both possessing the same space . Suppose the bodie A. of the same amplitude with the bodie B. and thrust the bodie A. against the bodie B. the bodie A. will not nor can penetrate into the same space that the bodie B. actually occupies . But suppose the bodie A. a Spirit of that amplitude , and according to its nature piercing into the same space which the bodie B. occupies , how plain is it that that active piercing into the same space that the bodie B. occupies , is to be attributed to the Spirit A. & not to the bodie B ? For the bodie A. could not get in . These are prettie forc'd distortions of Wit , but no solid methods of due Reason . And besides , it is to be noted , that the main Character of a Spirit is , as to Penetrability , that Spirit can penetrate Spirit , but not Matter Matter .

And now the Seventh is as slight as the Fifth . Diverse Accidents , saith he , penetrate their Subjects , as Heat , Cold , &c. Therefore Penetrabilitie is no proper Character of a Spirit . But what a vast difference is there here ! The one pierce the matter , ( or rather are in the matter merely as continued Modes thereof ) the other enters into the matter as a distinct Substance therefrom . Penetration therefore is here understood in this Character of a Spirit , of Penetratio Substantialis , when a substance penetrates substance , as a Spirit does Spirit and matter , which Matter cannot do . This is a certain Character of a Spirit . And his instancing in Light as Indiscerpible , is as little to the purpose . For the substance of Light , viz. the Materia subtilissima and Globuli , are discerpible . And the motion of them is but a Modus , but the point in hand is Indiscerpibilitie of Substance .

To the Eighth I Answer , That Mr. Baxter here is hugely unreasonable in his demands , as if Penetrabilitie of Spirits were not sufficiently explained , unless it can be made out , that all the Spirits in the world , Universal and particular , may be contracted into one Punctum : But this is a Theme that he loves to enlarge upon , and to declaim on very Tragically , as pag. 52. If Spirits have parts which may be extended and contracted , you will hardly so easily prove as say , that God cannot divide them . And when in your Writings shall I find satisfaction into how much space one Spirit may be extended , and into how little it may be contracted , and whether the whole Spirit of the World may be contracted into a Nut-shell or a Box , and the Spirit of a Flea may be extended to the Convex of all the world ? And again , pag. 78. You never tell into how little parts onely it may be contracted ; And if you put any limits , I will suppose that one Spirit hath contracted itself into the least compass possible ; and then I ask , Cannot another and another Spirit be in the same compass by their Penetration ? If not ; Spirits may have a contracted Spissitude which is not Penetrable , and Spirits cannot penetrate contracted Spirits , but onely dilated ones . If yea ; then quaero , whether all created Spirits may not be so contracted . And I should hope that the Definition of a Spirit excludeth not God , and yet that you do not think that his Essence may be contracted and dilated . O that we knew how little we know !

This grave moral Epiphonema with a sorrowful shaking of the Head is not in good truth much misbecoming the sly insinuating cunning of Mr. Richard Baxter , who here makes a shew , speaking in the first person [ We ] of lamenting and bewailing the ignorance of his own ignorance , but friendly hooks in , by expressing himself in the plural number , the Doctor also into the same condemnation . Solamen miseris — as if He neither did understand his own ignorance in the things he Writes of , but will be strangely surprised at the hard Riddles Mr. Baxter has propounded , as if no Oedipus were able to solve them . And I believe the Doctor if he be called to an account will freely confess of himself , That in the things he positively pronounces of , so far as he pronounces , that he is indeed altogether ignorant of any ignorance of his own therein ; But that this is by reason that he according to the cautiousness of his Genius does not adventure further than he clearly sees ground , and the notion appears useful for the Publick . As it is indeed useful to understand that Spirits can both Penetrate matter and Penetrate one another , else God could not be Essentially present in all the parts of the Corporeal Universe , nor the Spirits of Men and Angels be in God . Both which notwithstanding are most certainly true , to say nothing of the Spirit of Nature , which particular Spirits also Penetrate , and are Penetrated by it .

But now for the Contraction and Dilatation of Spirits , that is not a propertie of Spirits in general as the other are , but of particular created Spirits , as the Doctor has declared in his Treatise of the Immortalitie of the Soul . So that that hard Question is easily answered concerning Gods contracting and dilating himself ; That he does neither , he being no created Spirit , and being more absolutely perfect than that any such properties should be competible to him . And it is reasonable to conceive that there is little actually of that propertie in the Spirit of Nature , it being no particular Spirit , though created , but an Universal one , and having no need thereof . For the corporeal world did not grow from a small Embryo into that vast amplitude it is now of , but was produced of the same largeness it now has , though there was a successive delineation and orderly polishing and perfecting the vast distended parts thereof . And to speak compendiously and at once , That God that has Created all things in number , weight & measure , has given such measures of Spiritual Essence and of the facultie of contracting and dilating the same , as also of Spiritual Subtilty of substance , as serves the ends of his Wisdom and Goodness in creating such a species of Spirit . So that it is fond , unskilful , and ridiculous , to ask if the whole Spirit of the world can be contracted into a Nut-shell , and the Spirit of a Flea extended to the Convex of the Universe . They that talk at this rate err , as Aliens from the Wisdome of God , and ignorant of the Laws of Nature , and indeed of the voice of Scripture itself . Why should God make the Spirit of a Flea , which was intended for the constituting of such a small Animal , large enough to fill the whole world ? Or what need of such a contraction in the Spirit of Nature or Plastick Soul of the corporeal Universe , that it may be contrived into a Nut-shell ?

That it has such Spiritual subtiltie as that particular Spirits may contract themselves in it so close together , as to be commensurate to the first Inchoations of a Foetus , which is but very small , stands to good reason , and Effects prove it to be so . As also this smalness of a Foetus or Embryo that particular Spirits are so far contracted at first , and expand themselves leisurely afterwards with the growth of the bodie which they regulate . But into how much lesser space they can or do contract themselves at any time , is needless to know or enquire . And there is no Repugnancie at all , but the Spirit of Nature might be contracted to the like Essential Spissitude that some particular Spirits are ; but there is no reason to conceit that it ever was or ever will be so contracted , while the World stands .

Nor lastly is there any Inconvenience in putting indefinite limits of Contraction in a Spirit , and to allow that after such a measure of Contraction , though we cannot say just what that is , it naturally contracts no further , nor does another so contracted naturally penetrate this thus contracted Spirit . For as the usefulness of that measure of Self-Penetrability and Contraction is plain , so it is as plain , that the admitting of it is no incongruitie nor incommoditie to the Universe , nor any confusion to the Specifick modes of Spirit and Bodie . For these two Spirits , suppose , contracted to the utmost of their natural limits , may naturally avoid the entring one another , not by a dead 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 as in Bodies or Matter , but by a vital Saturitie , or natural Uneasiness in so doing . Besides that , though at such a contracted pitch they are naturally impenetrable to one another , yet they demonstrate still their Spirituality , by Self-Penetration , haply a thousand and a thousand times repeated . And though by a Law of life ( not by a dead 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) , they are kept from penetrating one another , yet they both in the mean time necessarily penetrate Matter , as undergoing the diverse measures of essential Spissitude in the same . So that by the increase of that essential Spissitude , they may approach near to a kind of Hylopathick disposition of Impenetrability , and thence , by the Matter of the Universe ( out of which they never are ) be curb'd from contracting themselves any further , than to such a degree ; and I noted at first , that spiritual Subtilty , as well as Amplitude , is given in measure to created Spirits . So that Penetrabilitie is still a steadie Character of a Spiritual Essence or Substance , to th● utmost sense thereof . And to argue against Impenetrability its being the propertie of Matter from this kind of Impenetrability of contracted Spirits , is like that quibbling Sophistrie against Indiscerpibility being the propertie of a Spirit , because a Physical Monad is also indiscerpible .

The ninth Objection is against the Indiscerpibility of Spirits , and would infer , that because the Doctor makes them intellectually divisible , therefore by Divine Power , if it imply no contradiction , a Spirit is Discerpible into Physical parts . But this is so fully satisfied already by the Doctor in his Discourse of the true Notion of a Spirit , and its Defence , to say nothing of what I have said already above to prove it does imply a contradiction , that I will let it go , and proceed .

To the tenth and last Allegation , which pretends , That these two terms Penetrable and Indiscerpible are needless and hazardous in the Notion of a Spirit . But how useful or needful Penetrability is , is manifest from what we have said to the eighth Objection . And the needfulness of Indiscerpibility is also sufficiently shewn by the Doctor in his Defence of the true Notion of a Spirit , Sect. 30. But now for the Hazardousness of these terms , as if they were so hard , that it would discourage men from the admitting of the Existence of Spirits ; It appears from what has been said to the eighth Objection , That Penetrability is not onely intelligible and admittable , but necessarily to be admitted , in the Notion of a Spirit , as sure as God is a Spirit , and that there are Spirits of men and Angels , and that the Souls of men are not made of Shreds , but actuate their whole grown bodie , though at first they were contracted into the compass of a very small Foetus . And that there is no Repugnancie that an Essence may be ample , and yet indiscerpible , Mr. Baxter himself must allow , who , pag. 51. plainly declares , That it is the vilest contradiction to say that God is capable of division . So that I wonder that he will call [ Penetrable ] and [ Indiscerpible ] hard and doubtful words , and such as might stumble mens belief of the Existence of Spirits , when they are terms so plain and necessary . Nor can that Vnitie that belongs to a Spirit be conceived or understood without them , especially without Indiscerpibilitie . And indeed if we do not allow Penetrability , the Soul of a man will be far from being one , but a thing discontinued , and scatter'd in the pores of his corporeal consistencie .

We will conclude with Mr. Baxters Conceit of the Indivisibleness of a Spirit , and see how that will corroborate mens faith of their Existence , and put all out of hazard . Various Elements , saith he , pag. 50. vary in Divisibility ; Earth is most divisible ; Water more hardly , the parts more inclining to the closest contact ; Air yet more hardly ; and in Fire , no doubt the Discerpibility is yet harder : And if God have made a Creature so strongly inclined to the unitie of all the parts , that no Creature can separate them but God onely , as if a Soul were such , it is plain that such a Being need not fear a dissolution by Separation of parts . Ans. This is well said for an heedless and credulous multitude ; but this is not to Philosophize , but to tell us that God works a perpetual Miracle in holding the small tenuious parts of the Soul together , more pure and ●ine than those of Fire or Aether ; but here is no natural cause ●●om the thing it self offered , unless it be , that in every Substance , or rather Matter , the parts according to the tenuitie and puritie of the Substance , incline to a closer Contact and inseparable Union one with another ; which is a conceit repugnant to experience , and easily confuted by that ordinarie accident of a Spinner hanging by its weak thread from the brim of ones Hat ; which ●eeble line yet is of force enough to divide the Air , and for that very reason , because it consists of thinner parts than Water or Earth . As also , we can more easily run in the Air than wade in the Water , for the very same reason . These things are so plain , that they are not to be dwelt upon .

But Mr. Baxter is thus pleased to shew his Wit in maintaining a weak ●ause , which I am perswaded he has not so little judgment as that he can have any great confidence in . And therefore in sundry places he intimates that he does allow or at least not deny but that Penetrabilitie and Indiscerpibilitie is contained in the Notion of a Spirit ; but not as part of the Conceptus formalis , but as Dispositio or Modus substantiae , but yet withal such a Dispositio as is essential to the substance that with the Conceptus formalis added , makes up the true Notion of a Spirit . See pag. 30 , 32 , 61 , 85. And truly if Mr. Baxter be in good earnest and sincere in this agreement without all equivocation , that Penetrabilitie and Indiscerpibilitie is Essential to the true Notion of a Spirit , onely they are to be admitted as Dispositio Substantiae , not as Pars Formae , I confess , as he declares pag. 94. That the di●●erence betwixt him and the Doctor lyeth in a much smaller matter than was thought ; and the Doctor I believe will easily allow him to please his own fancy in that . But then he must understand the terms of Penetrabilitie and Indiscerpibilitie in the Doctors sense , viz , of a Spirits penetrating not inter partes , but per partes materi●● , and possessing the same space with them . And of an Indiscerpibleness not arising from thinner and thinner parts of matter , as he imagines Air to be more hardly discerpible than Earth or Water , forasmuch as by reason of its thinness its parts lye closer together , as was above noted ; but from the immediate essential Oneness of substance in a Spirit , according to the true Idea of an Indiscerpible Being in the Divine Intellect , which , whether in Idea or in Actual Existence , it would cease to be , or rather never was such , if it were discerpible , and therefore implies a contradiction it should be so . But if a Spirit be not Penetrable in the Doctors sense , it is really Impenetrable ; and if not Indiscerpible in his sense , it is really Discerpible , and consequently divisible into Physical Monads or Atoms , and therefore constituted of them , and the last Inference will be that of the Epigrammatist :

〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 .

To this sense :

All a vain Jest , All Dust , All Nothing deem , For of mere Atoms all composed been .

And thus the fairest and firmest structures of Philosophical Theorems in the behalf of the Providence of God , the Existence of Spirits , and the Immortality of the Soul , will become a Castle of Come-Down , and fall quite to the ground . Whence it was rightfully done of the Doctor to lay such stress upon these two terms Penetrabilitie and Indiscerpibilitie , they being the essential Characteristicks of what is truly a Spirit , and which if they were taken out of the world , all would necessarily be Matter , I mean Physical Matter ( to prevent all quibblings and fiddlings about words and phrases ) and this Physical Matter would be the Subject and Source of all Life whatever , Intellective , Sensitive and Vegetative . And Mr. Baxter did ill in not onely omitting these terms himself in his Notion of a Spirit , but in publickly slighting and disgracing of the Doctors using of them , and afterwards in so stomaching his vindication of the same in publick , whenas we see that without them there can be nothing but Physical Matter in the world , and God and Angels and the Souls of men must be such Matter , if they be any thing a● all : and therefore in such an errour as this , Mr. Baxter with Christian patience might well have born with the Doctors calling it , not onely a Mistake , but a Mischief . And I hope by this time he is such a proficient in that Vertue , that he will chearfully bear the publication of this my Answer in the behalf of the Doctor to all his Objections against these two essential and necessarie Characters of a Spirit ; and not be offended if I briefly run over his smaller Criticisms upon the Doctors Definition of the same , which do occur , pag. 80 , 81. and elsewhere , as I shall advertise .

The Doctors Definition of a Spirit in his Discourse of that Subject , Sect. 29. is this [ A Spirit is a Substance immaterial intrinsecally indued with life and the facultie of motion ] where he notes that Immaterial contains virtually in it Penetrability and Indiscerpibility . Now let us hear how Mr. Baxter criticizes on this Definition .

First , saies he , pag. 80. Your Definition is common , good and true , allowing for its little imperfections , and the common imperfection of mans knowledge of Spirits . If by [ Immaterial ] you mean not [ without Substance ] it signifieth truth , but a negation speaketh not a formal Essence . Ans. How very little these imperfections are , I shall note by passing through them all ; and for the common imperfection of mans knowledge of Spirits , what an unskilful or hypocritical pretence that is , the Doctor hath so clearly shewn in his Discourse of the true Notion of a Spirit , Sect. 16 , 17 , 18 , 19. that it is enough to send the Reader thither for satisfaction . But as for [ Immaterial ] how can any one think that thereby is meant [ without Substance ] but those that think there is nothing but Matter in the Physical sense of the word , in the world ? As if [ Substance Immaterial ] was intended to signifie [ Substance without Substance ] ! And lastly , the Doctor will denie that [ In ] in Immaterial signifies negatively here more than in Immortal , Incorruptible , or Infinite , but that it is the indication of opposite properties to those of Physical Matter , viz. Impenetrability and Discerpibility , and that therefore Immaterial here includes Indiscerpibility and Penetrability .

Secondly , pag. 81. Spirit it self , saies he , is but a metaphor . Ans. Though the word first signified other things before it was used in the sense it is here defined , yet use has made it as good as if it were originally proper . With your Logicians , in those Definitions , Materia est Causa ex qua res est , Forma est Causa per quam res est id quod est ; Materia and Forma are Metaphorical words , but use has made them in those Definitions as good as proper ; nor does any sober and knowing man move the least scruple touching those Definitions on this account . To which you may add , that Aristotles caution against Metaphors in defining things , is to be understood of the Definition it self , not the Definitum ; but Spirit is the Definitum here , not the Definition .

Thirdly , [ Intrinsecally indued with lise ] tells us not that it is the Form . Qualities , and proper Accidents are intrinsecal . Ans . Mr. Baxter , I suppose , for clearness sake , would have had Form written over the head of this part of the Definition , as the old bungling painters were wont to write , This is a Cock , and this a Bull ; or as one wittily perstringed a young Preacher that would name the Logical Topicks he took his Arguments from , saying he was like a Shoemaker that offered his Shoes to sale with the Lasts in them . I thought Mr. Baxter had been a more nimble Logician than to need such helps to discern what is the Genus in the Definition , what the Differentia or Forma . And for [ intrinsecally indued ] I perceive he is ignorant of the proper force and sense of the word Intrinsecùs , which signifies as much as 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 onely , which implies that this life is from the intimate Essence of a Spirit quatenus a Spirit , and therefore can be no common qualitie nor a facultie clarted on , as Mr. Baxter fancies God may clart on Life the specifick Form of Spirit , as he himself acknowledges , on Matter , though Materia quatenus Materia implies no such thing ; but , I say ; Spiritus quatenus Spiritus does , which is both the Source and proper Subject of life . But it is the effect of an ill perturbed sight , to fancie flaws where there are really none . And to fancie that a Vis Vitalis , or Power of living can belong to Materia Physica immediately , which power must necessarily be the Result of an Essence specifically distinct from Physical Matter , I think may justly be called clarting of this Power on a Subject it belongs not to , nor is intrinsecal to it , there being no new specifick Essence from whence it should spring .

Fourthly , The [ Facultie of motion ] saies he , is either a Tautologie included in Life , or else if explicatorie of Life , it is defective . Ans. It is neither Tautological nor Exegetical , no more than if a man should define Homo , Animal rationale risibile . [ Risibile ] there , is neither Tautological , though included in Animal rationale ; nor Exegetical , it signifying not the same with Rationale . And the Definition is as true with Risibile added to it , as if omitted . But the addition of Risibile being needless , is indeed ridiculous . But it is not Ridiculous to add the faculty of motion in this Definition of a Spirit , because it is not needless , but is added on purpose to instruct such as Mr. Baxter , that an intrinsecal facultie of motion belongs to Spirit quatenus Spirit , and indued with Life ; whenas yet he , pag. 35. will not admit that self-motion is an indication of Life in the subject that moves itself , although it is the very prime argument that his beloved and admired Dr. Glisson useth to prove , that there is universally life in Matter . But it is the symptome of an over - Polemical Fencer , to deny a thing merely because he finds it not for his turn . In the mean time it is plain the Doctor has not added [ the facultie of motion ] rashly out of over sight , but for the instructing the ignorant in so important a truth , That there is no 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 but there is Life and Spirit . This is so great a truth , that the Platonists make it to be the main Character of Soul or Spirit , to be 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as you may see in Proclus .

Fifthly , No man , saith he , can understand that the Negative [ Immaterial ] , by the terms , includeth Penetrabilitie and Indiscerpibilitie . Ans . No man that rightly understands himself but must conceive that [ Immaterial ] signifies an opposite or contrary condition to [ Material ] : and he knowing ( as who is ignorant of it ? ) that the proper and essential characters of [ Material ] in substantia materialis , is to be Impenetrable and Discerpible , he will necessarily , even whether he will or no , discover that [ Immaterial ] which signifies the opposite to these in substantia immaterialis , must denote Penetrability and Indiscerpibility .

Sixthly , You do not say here , saith he , that they are the Form , but elsewhere you do ; and the Form should be exprest , and not onely vertually contained , as you speak . Ans. What would you have him in the very Definition it self , which is so clear an one , say , This is the Genus , this the Form , as those bunglers I mentioned above writ the names of the Animals they had so badly drawn ? And that the Form should be exprest is true , but it is sufficient it be exprest in such a comprehensive term as contains under it all that belongs to such a Species . As when we have divided Vivens into Planta and Animal , if we then define Animal to be Vivens sensu praeditum , that one word sensus , is sufficient , because it reaches any Species of Animal , and none but Animals . And yet here the Doctor is not so niggardly as to pinch the expression of all the Form or Difference , into that one word Immaterial , whereby he here onely intimates Penetrability and Indiscerpibility ; but for fuller explication addeth , Intrinsecally indued with Life and the facultie of motion . But lastly , For his elsewhere calling Penetrability and Indiscerpibility the Form of a Spirit , he nowhere makes them the whole Form of a Spirit , but makes the Logical Form or Differentia of a Spirit , to be all that which he has expressed in this Definition , viz. [ Immaterial ] which denotes Penetrability and Indiscerpibility , and [ Intrinsecal life and motion ] . And it is evident that when he calls this Differentia in his Definition , Form , that he does not mean the very specifick Substance or Essence , whereby a Spirit is a Spirit , but onely essential or inseparable Attributes , which onely are known to us , and which are only in an improper sense said to be the Form it self , or specifick Nature . They are onely the Result of the Form and Notes of an Essence or Substance Specifically distinct from some other Substance .

It is not so in substantial Forms as in Geometrical Forms or Figures , as to Visibilitie or Perceptibilitie . Dic tu formam hujus lapidis , says Scaliger to Cardan , & Phyllida solus habeto . But there are inseparable and essential Properties of a substantial Form , necessarily resulting from the Form it self , as there are in external Forms or Figures . As for example , from the form of a Globe , which is a round Form , defined from the equalitie of all lines from one point drawn thence to the Superficies . From this form does necessarily and inseparably result the Character of an easie rouling Mobilitie . That a bodie of this Form is the most easily moved upon a Plain , of any bodie in the world . And so from the Form of a piece of Iron made into what we call a Sword ; Fitness for striking , for cutting , for stabbing , and for defending of the hand , is the necessarie result from this Form thereof . And so I say that from the intimate and essential Form of a Spirit , suppose , essentially and inseparably result such and such properties by which we know that a Spirit is a distinct Species from other things , though we do not know the very specifick essence thereof . And therefore here I note by the by , that when the Doctor saies any such or such Attributes are the Form of a Spirit , he does datâ operâ balbutire cum balbutientibus , and expresses himself in the language of the Vulgar , and speaks to Mr. Baxter in his own Dialect . For it is the declared opinion of the Doctor , that the intimate Form of no Essence or Substance is knowable , but onely the inseparable Fruits or Results thereof . Which is a Principle wants no proof , but an appeal to every mans faculties that has ordinarie wit and sinceritie .

Seventhly , They are not the Form , saith he , but the Dispositio vel Conditio ad formam . Ans. You may understand out of what was said even now , that Penetrabilitie and Indiscerpibilitie are so far from being Dispositio ad formam , that they are the Fruits and Results of the intimate and Specifick Form of a Spirit , and that they suppose this Specifick Form in order of nature to precede them , as the Form of a Globe precedes the rouling mobilitie thereof . In vertue of a Spirits being such a Specifick substance , it has such inseparable attributes resulting from it , as a Globe has mobilitie . And as the Globe is conceived first , and mobilitie inseparably resulting from it ; so the Specifick Nature of a Spirit , which is its true and intimate Form , and made such according to the eternal Idea thereof in the Intellect of God , being one simple Specifick substance or Essence , has resulting from it those essential or inseparable properties which we attribute to a Spirit , itself in the mean time remaining but one simple self-subsistent Actus Entitativus , whose Penetrabilitie and Indivisibilitie Mr. Baxter himself , pag. 99. says is easily defendible . And the Doctor , who understands himself , I dare say for him , defends the Penetrabilitie and Indivisibilitie of no Essences but such .

Eighthly , If such Modalities , says he , or Consistence were the Form , more such should be added which are left out . Ans. He should have nominated those which are left out . He means , I suppose , Quantity and Trina Dimensio , which it was his discretion to omit , they being so impertinent as I have shewn above , in my Answer to his third Objection against the Penetrabilitie and Indiscerpibilitie of a Spirit .

Ninthly , Penetrabilitie and Indiscerpibilitie are two Notions , and you should not give us , says he , a compound Form . Ans. This implies that Penetrability and Indiscerpibility are the Form of a Spirit ; but I have said again and again , they are but the Fruits and Result of the Form . A Spirit is one simple Specifick Essence or substance , and that true Specifickness in its Essence , is the real and intimate Form , or Conceptus formalis thereof , but that which we know not ( as I noted above out of Julius Scaliger ) though we know the essential and inseparable Attributes thereof , which may be many , though in one simple specifick Substance , as there are many Attributes in God immediately and inseparably resulting from his most simple specifick Nature .

Tenthly , Yea you compound , saith he , Pe●etrabilitie and Indiscerpibilitie with a quite different notion [ life and the faculty of motion ] , which is truly the Form , and is one thing , and not compounded of notions so different as Consistence and Vertue or Power . Ans. I say again as I said before , that neither Penetrability nor Indiscerpibility , nor Life nor Motion , are the specifick Form it self of a Spirit , which is a simple Substance , but the Fruits and Results of this specifick Form ; and all these have a proper Cognation with one another , as agreeing in Immateriality or Spirituality : and how the common sagacitie of mankind has presaged , that the most noble functions of life are performed by that which is most subtile and most one , as Penetrability and Indiscerpibility makes the consistence of a Spirit to be , the Doctor has noted in his Discourse of the true notion of a Spirit . Mr. Baxter in reading Theological Systems may observe , That Attributes as much differing among themselves as these , are given to the most simple Essence of God .

Eleventhly , You say , says he , pag. 82. Life intrinsecally issues from this Immaterial Substance : But the Form is concreated with it , and issues not from it . Ans. I grant that the Form is concreated with the Spirit . For a Spirit is nothing else but such a specifick simple Substance or Essence , the Specifickness of whose nature onely is its real intimate Form . And if we could reach by our Conception that very Form it self , it would be but the Conceptus inadaequatus of one simple Substance , and be the true Conceptus formalis thereof ; and the Conceptus fundamentalis , to speak in Mr. Baxters or Dr. Glissons language , would be Substance in general , which is contracted into this Species by this real intimate Form ; which both considered together , being but one simple Essence , they must needs be created together , according to that Idea of a Spirit which God has conceived in his eternal mind . And life will as naturally and necessarily issue from such a Species or Specifick Essence , or from Substance contracted into such a Species by the abovesaid Form , as Mobility does issue from the form of a Globe . From whence it is plainly understood how Life does intrinsecally issue from immaterial Substance , nor is the Form it self but the Fruit thereof . And as it were but trifling to say that the power of easie rolling every way on a Plain were the very Form of a Globe , the word Power or Vertue being but a dark , loose , general , dilute term , and which belongs to every thing , and is restrained onely by its Operation and Object ; but it is the Form or Figure of the Globe that is the immediate cause that that Vertue or Power in general is so restrained to this easie rolling : so it is in Mr. Baxters pretended Form of a Spirit , which he makes Virtus vitalis , a power of living : Power there , is such a dark dilute term , loose and general . But that it is determined to life , it is by that intimate specifick Form , which we know not ; but onely this we know , That it is to the Power of living as the Figure of a Globe is to the Power of easie rolling , and that in neither , one can be without the other . There must be a Specifick Essence , which is the root of those Powers , Properties , or Operations from whence we conclude distinct Species of things : For 't is too coarse and slovenly to conceit , that these are clarted on them , but the Specifick Powers arise immediately , and inseparably from the Specifick Nature of the thing ; else why might they not be other powers as well as these ?

Twelfthly and lastly , pag. 32. But do you verily believe , saith he , that Penetrability or Subtility is a sufficient Efficient or Formal cause of Vitalitie , Perception and Appetite , and so of Intellection and Volition ? I hope you do not . Ans. I hope so of the Doctor too ; and before this , I hoped that Mr. Baxter had more insight into the nature of a Formal cause and into the Laws of Logick , than once to imagine that any one in his Wits could take Penetrability to be the Formal cause of Intellection and Volition . For then every Spirit being Penetrable , every Spirit even of a plant , at least of the vilest Animalonium , would have Intellection and Volition . Nor , for the same reason , can any body think that Penetrability is a sufficient Efficient cause of Intellection and Volition . Nor is it so much as the Efficient cause of Vitality , Perception , Appetite , much less the Formal . So infinitely is Mr. Baxter out in these things . But the case stands thus : The Substance of that species of things which we call a Spirit , and is so by that intimate specifick Form which I named before , this substance is the cause of Vitality in such a sense as the round Form of a Globe , or any matter of that Form is , quatenus of that Form , the cause of its own rolling Mobilitie . I say therefore , that Vitality is as immediate and necessarie a Fruit or Effect of the real and intimate Form of a Spirit , as that easie mobilitie is of the Form of a Sphere or Globe ; And such a kind of Vitality , Vegetative , Sensitive , Intellective of such a Species of Spirit : These kinds of Vitalities are the Fruits or Effects necessarie and immediate of the abovesaid so specificated Substances ; that is to say , they are immediately Self-living , and all of them Penetrable and Indiscerpible of themselves , quatenus Spirits , all these essential attributes arising from the simple essence or specificated substance of every Spirit , of what Classis soever , created according to its own Idea eternally shining in the Divine Intellect .

As for example ; In the Idea of a Plastick Spirit onely ; Penetrability , Indiscerpibility , and Plastick Vitality , whereby it is able to organize Matter thus and thus , are not three Essences clarted upon some fourth Essence , or glewed together one to another , to make up such an Idea : But the Divine Intellect conceives in itself one simple specifick Essence immediately and intrinsecally of it self , indued with these essential Properties or Attributes . So that when any thing does exist according to this Idea , those three properties are as immediately Consequential to it , and as effectually , as Mobility to the Form of a Globe . It is the specifick Substance that is the necessary Source of them , and that acts by them as its own connate or natural instruments , fitted for the ends that the eternal Wisdom and Goodness of God has conceived or contrived them for .

For it is manifest , that those essential Attributes of a Spirit contrarie to Matter are not in vain . For whenas a Plastick Spirit is to actuate and organize Matter , and inwardly dispose it into certain forms , Penetrability is needful , that it may possess the Matter , and order it throughout ; As also that Oneness of Essence and Indiscerpibility , that it may hold it together . For what should make any mass of Matter one , but that which has a special Oneness of Essence in it self , quite different from that of Matter ? And forasmuch as all Souls are indued with the Plastick whether of Brutes or Men , not to add the Spirits of Angels ; still there holds the same reason in all ranks , that Spirits should be as well Penetrable and Indiscerpible as Vital . And if there be any Platonick 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that have no Plastick , yet Penetrability must belong to them , and is of use to them , if they be found to be within the verges of the Corporeal Universe ( and why not they as well as God himself ? ) and Indiscerpibility maintains their Supposital Unitie , as it does in all Spirits that have to do with Matter , and are capable of a vital coalescencie therewith . But I have accumulated here more Theorie than is needful . And I must remember that I am in a Digression .

To return therefore to the particular point we have been about all this while . I hope by this time I have made it good , that the Dr.'s Definition of a Spirit is so clear , so true , so express , and usefully instructive ( and that is the scope of the Doctors Writings ) that neither he himself , nor any body else , let them consider as much as they can , will ever be able to mend it . And that these affected Cavils of Mr. Baxter argue no defects or slaws in the Doctors Definition , but the ignorance and impotencie of Mr. Baxters Spirit , and the undue elation of his mind , when notwithstanding this unexceptionableness of the Definition , he , pag. 82. out of his Magisterial Chair of Judicature pronounces with a gracious nod , You mean well — but all our Conceptions here must have their ALLOWANCES , and we must confess their weakness . This is the Sentence which grave Mr. Baxter , alto supercilio , gives of the Doctors accurate Definition of a Spirit , to humble him , and exalt himself , in the sight of the populacie . But is it not a great weakness , or worse , to talk of favourable allowances , and not to allow that to be unexceptionable against which no just exception is found ?

But to give Mr. Baxter his due , though the extream or extimate parts of this Paragraph , pag. 82. which you may fancie as the skin thereof , may seem to have something of bitterness and toughness in it , yet the Belly of the Paragraph is full of plums and sweet things . For he saies , And we are all greatly beholden to the Doctor for his so industrious calling foolish Sensualists to the study and notion of invisible Beings , without which , what a carcass or nothing were the world ?

But is it not pity then , while the Doctor does discharge this Province with that faithfulness and industrie , that Mr. Baxter should disturb him in his work , and hazzard the fruits and efficacie thereof , by eclipsing the clearness of his Notions of Spiritual Beings , ( for Bodies may be also invisible ) by the interposition or opposition of his own great Name against them , who , as himself tells the world in his Church-History , has wrote fourscore Books , even as old Dr. Glisson his Patron or rather Pattern in Philosophy arrived to at least fourscore Years of age ? And Mr. Baxter it seems is for the common Proverb , The older the wiser ; though Elihu in Job be of another mind , who saies there , I said Days should speak , and multitude of Years should teach Wisdom ; But there is a Spirit in man , and the Inspiration of the Almighty giveth him Vnderstanding . But whither am I going ?

I would conclude here according to promise , having rescued the Doctors Definition of a Spirit from Mr. Baxters numerous little Criticisms , like so many shrill busie Gnats trumpeting about it , and attempting to insix their feeble Proboscides into it ; and I hope I have silenced them all .

But there is something in the very next Paragraph which is so wrongfully charged upon the Doctor , that I cannot forbear standing up in his justification . The Charge is this : That he has fathered upon Mr. Baxter an Opinion he never owned , and nick-named him Psychopyrist from his own fiction . As if , says he , we said that Souls are Fire , and also took Fire , as the Doctor does , for Candles and hot Irons , &c. onely . But I answer in behalf of the Doctor , as I have a little toucht on this matter before , That he does indeed entitle a certain Letter ( which he answers ) to a Learned Psychopyrist as the Author thereof : But Mr. Baxters name is with all imaginable care concealed . So that he by his needless owning the Letter , has notched that nick-name ( as he calls it ) of Psychopyrist upon himself , whether out of greediness after that alluring Epithet it is baited with , I know not ; but that he hangs thus by the gills like a Fish upon the Hook , he may thank his own self for it , nor ought to blame the Doctor . Much less accuse him for saying , that Mr. Baxter took Fire in no other sense than that in Candles and hot Iron , and the like . For in his Preface , he expresly declares on the Psychopyrists behalf , that he does not make this crass and visible Fire the Essence of a Spirit , but that his meaning is more subtile and refined . With what conscience then can Mr. Baxter say , that the Doctor affirms that he took Fire in no other sense than that in Candles and hot Iron , and the like , and that he held all Souls to be such Fire ? whenas the Doctor is so modest and cautious , that he does not affirm that Mr. Baxter thinks any to be such ; though even in this Placid Collation , he professes his inclination towards the Opinion , that Ignis and Vegetative Spirit is all one , pag. 20 , 21. I have oft professed , saith he , that I am ignorant whether Ignis and Vegetative Spirit be all one , ( to which I most incline ) or whether Ignis be an active nature made to be the instrument , by which the three spiritual natures , Vegetative , Sensitive , and Mental work on the three passive natures , Earth , Water , Air.

And again , pag. 66. If it be the Spirit of the world that is the nearest cause of illumination , by way of natural activity , then that which you call the Spirit of the World , I call Fire ; and so we differ but de nomine . But I have ( saith he as before ) professed my ignorance , whether Fire and the Vegetative nature be all one , ( which I incline to think ) or whether Fire be a middle active nature between the spiritual and the mere Passive , by which Spirits work on bodie . And , pag. 71. I doubt not but Fire is a Substance permeant and existent in all mixt bodies on Earth . In your bloud it is the prime part of that called the Spirits , which are nothing but the igneous principle in a pure Aereal Vehicle , and is the organ of the Sensitive faculties of the Soul . And if the Soul carry any Vehicle with it , it 's like to be some of this . I doubt you take the same thing to be the Spirit of the world , though you seem to vilifie it . And , pag. 74. I suppose you will say , the Spirit of the world does this . But call it by what name you will , it is a pure active Substance , whose form is the Virtus motiva , illuminativa & calefactiva , I think the same which when it operateth on due seminal Matter is Vegetative . And lastly , pag. 86. I still profess my self in this also uncertain , whether Natura Vegetativa and Ignea be all one , or whether Ignis be Natura Organica by which the three Superiour ( he means the Vegetative , Sensitive , and Intellective Natures ) operate on the Passive . But I incline most to think they are all one , when I see what a glorious Fire the Sun is , and what operation it hath on Earth , and how unlikely it is that so glorious a Substance should not have as noble a formal nature as a Plant.

This is more than enough to prove that Mr. Baxter in the most proper sense is inclined to Psychopyrism as to the Spirit of the world , or Vegetative soul of the Vniverse ; that that Soul or Spirit is Fire : And that all created Spirits are Fire , analogicè and eminenter , I have noted above that he does freely confess .

But certainly if it had not been for his ignorance in the Atomick Philosophie which he so greatly despiseth , he would never have taken the Fire it self , a Congeries of agitated particles of such figures and dimensions , for the Spirit of the world . But without further doubt have concluded it onely the instrument of that Spirit in its operations , as also of all other created Spirits , accordingly as the Doctor has declared a long time since in his Immortalitas Animae , Lib. 2. Cap. 8. Sect. 6. And finding that there is one such universal Vegetative Spirit ( properly so called ) or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of the world , he could not miss of concluding the whole Vniverse one great Plant , or if some obscure degree of sense be given to it , one large Zoophyton or Plant-animal , whence the Sun will be endued or actuated as much by a Vegetative Nature as any particular Plant whatsoever ; whereby Mr. Baxter might have took away his own difficultie he was entangled in . But the truth is , Mr. Baxters defectiveness in the right understanding of the Atomick Philosophy , and his Aversness therefrom , as also from the true System of the world , which necessarily includes the motion of the Earth , we will cast in also his abhorrence from the Pre-existence of Souls ( which three Theories are hugely necessary to him that would Philosophize with any success in the deepest points of natural Religion and Divine Providence ) makes him utter many things that will by no means bear the Test of severer Reason .

But in the mean time this Desectiveness in sound Philosophie neither hinders him nor any one else from being able Instruments in the Gospel-Ministrie , if they have 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in a due measure ; If they have a firm Faith in the revealed Truths of the Gospel , and skill in History , Tongues and Criticism , to explain the Text to the people , and there be added a sincere Zeal to instruct their Charge , and ( that they may appear in good earnest to believe what they teach ) they lead a life devoid of scandal and offence , as regulated by those Gospel-Rules they propose to others ; this , though they have little of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 properly so called , that reaches to the deepest account of things , ( but instead thereof , Prudence and Ingenuity ) will sufficiently enable them to be Guides to the people , especially by adhering in Matters of moment to the Ancient Apostolick and unapostatized Church , and presuming nothing upon their private spirit against the same . Such , questionless , will prove able and safe Pastors , and will not fail of being approved of by our Lord Jesus the great Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls .

But if any such , as I noted above , for that they conceit themselves also dapper fellows at Cudgils or Quarter-staff , shall , leaving their Flocks solitary in the fields , out of an itch after applause from the Country-Fry , gad to Wakes and Fairs to give a proof of their dexterity at those Rural exercises ; if they shall , I say , for their pains return with a bruised knuckle or broken pate , who can help it ? it will learn them more wit another time . Thus much by way of Digression I thought fit to speak , not out of the least ill-will to Mr. Baxter , but onely in behalf of the Doctor , hoping , though it is far from all that may be said , that yet it is so much , and so much also to the purpose , that it will save the Doctor the labour of adding any thing more thereto . So that he may either enjoy his Repose , or betake himself to some design of more use and moment .

In the mean time , I having dispatcht my Digression , I shall return to the main business in hand . I think it may plainly appear from what has been said , that it is no such harsh thing to adventure to conclude , That the Truth of the Divine Intellect quatenus conceptive , speculative , or observative , which a Platonist would be apt to call 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Divine Intellect exhibitive 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , ( for though it be but one and the same Intellect , yet for distinctness sake we are fain to speak as of two ) does consist in its Conformity with the Divine Intellect exhibitive , with the immutable Idea's , Respects and References of things there . In conceiving and observing them ( as I may so speak ) to be such as they are represented in the said Intellect quatenus necessarily and unalterably representing such Idea's with the immediate Respects and References of them . In this consists the Truth of the Divine Intellect Speculative . But the Transcendental Truth of things consists in their Conformity to the Divine Intellect Exhibitive . For every thing is true as it answers to the immutable Idea of its own nature discovered in the Divine Intellect Exhibitive . To which also the same Divine Intellect quatenus Conceptive , Speculative , or Observative , gives its suffrage steadily and unalterably , conceiving these immutable Idea's of things in their Objective Existence what their natures will be , with their necessary references , aptitudes or ineptitudes to other things when they are produced into act .

From whence we may discern , how that saying of this ingenious Author of the Discourse of Truth is to be understood . Where he writes , It is against the nature of all Vnderstanding to make its Object . Which if we will candidly interpret , must be understood of all understanding quatenus merely conceptive , speculative or observative , and of framing of its Object at its pleasure . Which as it is not done in the setled Idea of a Sphere , Cylinder and Pyramid , no more is it in any other Idea's with their properties and aptitudes immediately issuing from them , but all the Idea's with their inevitable properties , aptitudes , or ineptitudes are necessarily represented in the Divine Intellect Exhibitive , immutably such as they are , a Triangle with its three Angles equal to two right ones , a right-angled Triangle with the power of its Hypotenusa equal to the powers of the Basis and Cathetus both put together : Which things seem necessary to every sober man and rightly in his wits , our understanding being an Abstract or Copy of the Divine Understanding . But those that say that if God would , he might have made the three Angles of a Triangle unequal to two right ones , and also the powers of the Basis and Cathetus of a right-angled Triangle unequal to the power of the Hypotenusa , are either Buffoons and Quibblers , or their Understandings being but creatural huffiness of mind and an ambition of approving themselves the Broachers and maintainers of strange Paradoxes , has crazed their Intellectuals , and they have already entred the suburbs of down-right Phrensie and Madness .

And to conclude ; Out of what has been insinuated , we may reconcile this harsh sounding Paradox of our Author , that seems so point-blank against the current doctrine of the Metaphysical Schools , who make Transcendental Truth to depend upon the Intellectual Truth of God , which they rightly deem the Fountain and Origine of all Truth , whenas he plainly declares , That the Divine Vnderstanding cannot be the Fountain of the Truth of things : But the seeming absurdity will be easily wiped away , if we take notice of our distinction touching the Divine Understanding quatenus merely conceptive , speculative or observative , and quatenus necessarily ( through its own infinite and immutable pregnancie and foecundity ) Exhibitive of the distinct and determinate Idea's or natures of things , with their immediate Properties , Respects or Habitudes in their Objective Existence , representing them such as they certainly will be if reduced into act . His assertion is not to be understood of the Divine Understanding in this latter sense , but in the former . But being it is one and the same Understanding , though considered under this twofold Notion , our Author , as well as the ordinarie Metaphysicians , will agree to this truth in the sense explained ; That the Divine Understanding is the Fountain of the truth of things , and that they are truly what they are , as they answer to their Idea's represented in the Exhibitive Intellect of God . How the Author himself comes off in this point , you will better understand when you have read the fifteenth , sixteenth and seventeenth Sections of his Discourse . Let this suffice in the mean time for the removing all stumbling-blocks from before the Reader .

Pag. 168. Nor the foundation of the references one to another ; that is to say , The Divine Understanding quatenus Conceptive or Speculative , is most certainly not the Foundation of the references of things one to another ; but the Divine Understanding quatenus Exhibitive , that represents the Idea's or natures of things in their Objective Existence such as they would be if reduced really into act , represents therewith all the references and habitudes they have one to another . Which habitudes are represented not as flowing from or arbitrariously founded in any Intellect whatsoever , but as resulting from the natures of the things themselves that respect one another , and are represented in the Exhibitive Understanding of God . Which is the main thing that this ingenious Author would be at , and such as will serve all his intents and purposes .

Pag. 168. It is the nature of Vnderstanding ut moveatur , illuminetur , &c. namely , of Understanding quatenus Conceptive or Speculative , not quatenus Exhibitive .

Pag. 169. No Idea's or Representations either are or make the things they represent , &c. This Assertion is most certainly true . But yet they may be such Idea's and Representations as may be the measure of the Truth of those things they represent : And such are all the Idea's in the Divine Intellect Exhibitive , their setled distinct natures necessarily exhibited there in vertue of the absolute perfection of the Deitie , though onely in their Objective Existence , are the measures of the Truth of those things when they are reduced into act , as I have noted above ; but they are not the things themselves reduced into act , no more than an Autographon is the very Copy .

Ibid. All Vnderstanding is such ; that is , Idea's and Representations of the natures of things in their Objective Existence , the Patterns of what and how they are when they Exist , and what references and aptitudes they have . I suppose he means here by Understanding , not any power of the mind to conceive any thing , but Understanding properly so called , viz. that , whose Objects are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as the Platonists speak , the Idea's or Representations of such things as are necessarily and unalterably such , not fictions at pleasure . Let the Intellect Speculative be such Idea's or Representations as these , and then what it perceives , conceives , or observes , it does not make , but it is made to its hand , as not being able to be otherwise , nor it self to think otherwise . And therefore it is rightly inferred as follows : That no Speculative Understanding in that restrict sense above-named makes at pleasure the natures , respects and relations of its Objects represented in the Intellect Exhibitive in their Objective Existence , but finds them there . Nor does any Intellect whatsoever make them at pleasure , but they are necessarily and unalterably represented in the Exhibitive Intellect of the Deitie , both their natures , respects , and habitudes , as I noted above .

Sect. 5. pag. 169. It remains then that absolute , arbitrarious and independent Will must be the Fountain of all Truth , &c. It being supposed that the Divine Understanding and the independent Will of God are the onely competitours who should be the Fountain of all Truth , and the former Section proving in a sense rightly understood , that the Divine Understanding cannot be the Fountain of Truth , it remains that the mere Will of God should be the Fountain of Truth , and that things are true onely because he wills they be so . As if four bore a double proportion to two because God would have it so ; but if he would that Two should bear a double proportion to Four , it would immediately be so .

Ibid. Which Assertion would in the first place destroy the nature of God , &c. Nay , if he will , it destroys his very Existence . For if all Truths depend upon Gods Will , then this Truth , That God Exists , does . And if he will the contrary to be true , namely , That he does not Exist , what becomes of him then ?

Ibid. And rob him of all his Attributes . That it robs him of Science and assured Knowledge , whose Objects are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Things immutable and necessary , this Section makes good . And that it despoils him of his Rectitude of Nature , the Eighth Section will shew .

Pag. 170. Any Angel or man may as truly be said to know all things as God himself , &c. Because this supposition takes away all the steadie and scientifick Knowableness in things , it taking away their setled , fixt and necessary habitudes one to another , as if double proportion of Four to Two did no more belong to it in Truth and Reality than Sub-double , and that Four in Truth were no more the Quaternarie number than the Binary , but indifferently either , as the Will of God will have it . This plainly pulls up by the roots all pretence of Science or Knowledge in God , Angels , and Men. And much more , flatly to assert , That if God will , contradictions may be true . For this plainly implies that there is really no Repugnancy nor Connection of one thing with another , and that therefore no one thing can be proved or disproved from another .

Pag. 171. If we distinguish those two Attributes in God , &c. namely , of Wisdom and Knowledge , as if the one were Noematical , the other Dianoetical ; although that discursiveness is more quick than lightning , or rather an eternal intuitive discernment of the consequence or cohesion of things at once .

Sect. 6. pag. 172. Because they suppose that God is mutable and changeable , &c. This can be no allegation against the other Arguings , because we cannot be assured of the Immutability or Unchangeableness of God , but by admitting of what those arguings drive at , namely , That there is an immutable , necessary and unchangeable reference and respect or connection of things one with another . As for example , of Immutableness or ▪ Unchangeableness with Perfection , and of Perfection with God . For to fancie God an imperfect Being is nonsense to all men that are not delirant ; and to fancie him Perfect , and yet Changeable in such a sense as is here understood , is as arrant a Contradiction or Repugnancie . Wherefore they that would oppose the fore-going Alguings by supposing God Unchangeable , must acknowledge what is aimed at , That there is a necessary and unchangeable respect and connection betwixt things , or else their opposition is plainly weak and vain . But if they grant this , they grant the Cause , and so Truth has its just victory and triumph . This Section is abundantly clear of it self .

Sect. 8. pag. 174. Will spoil God of that universal Rectitude which is the greatest perfection of his nature , &c. In the fifth Section it was said , That the making the Will of God the Fountain of all Truth robs him of all his Attributes . And there it is proved how it robs him of his Wisdom and Knowledge . Here it is shewn how it robs him of his Justice , Mercy , Faithfulness , Goodness , &c.

Pag. 175. For to say they are indispensably so because God understands them so , &c. This , as the Author saies , must be extream Incogitancy . For the Truth of the Divine Understanding Speculative consists in its Conformitie with the Idea's of things and their Respects and Habitudes in the Divine Understanding Exhibitive , which necessarily , unchangeably and unalterably represents the natures of things with their Respects and Habitudes in their Objective Existence , such as they necessarily are when they do really exist . As of a Sphere , Pyramid , Cube and Cylinder . And there is the same reason of all natures else with their Respects and Habitudes , that they are as necessarily exhibited as the Cube and Cylinder , and their Habitudes and Respects one to another , as the proportion that a Cylinder bears to a Sphere or Globe of the same altitude and equal diameter . Which Archimedes with incomparable clearness and subtiltie of wit has demonstrated in his Treatise De Sphaera & Cylindro , to be ratio sesquealtera , as also the Superficies of the Cylinder with its Bases to bear the same proportion to the Supersicies of the Sphere . And as these Idea's are necessarily and unalterably with their Respects and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 represented , so are all Idea's else , Physical and Moral , as I have noted above . And the nature of Justice , Mercy , Faithfulness and Goodness are with their habitudes and respects as sixedly , determinately and unalterably represented in their Idea's , as the Sphere and Cylinder , or any other Form or Being whatsoever .

Sect. 9. pag. 178. For we are to know that there is a God , and the Will of God , &c. That is to say , If there be no setled natures and respects and habitudes of things in the order of Nature antecedent to any Will whatever , Meditation or Contrivance , nor there be any certain nature , respects , habitudes , and connections of things in themselves ; it will be necessary that we first know there is a God , and what his Will is touching the natures , respects and habitudes of things . Whether these which we seem to discern and do argue from are the same he means and wills , or some other . And so there will be a necessity of knowing God and his Will , before we have any means to know him ; or , which is all one , we shall never have any means to know him upon this false and absurd Hypothesis .

Sect. 11. pag. 181. Then it infallibly follows that it is all one what I do or how I live , &c. This , as the following words intimate , is to be understood in reference to the pleasing God , and to our own future Happiness . But it is manifest it is not all one what I do or how I live ( though I did suppose there were no real distinction betwixt Truth and Falshood , Good and Evil in the sense here intended ) in reference to this present condition in this World , where the sense of pain and ease , of imprisonment and liberty , and of the security or sasety of a mans own person will oblige him to order his life in such a manner as hath at least the imitation of Temperance , Faithfulness , and Justice .

Sect. 12. pag. 183. If the opposition of Contradictory Terms depend upon the arbitrarious resolves of any Being whatsoever . The plainness and irrefragableness of this Truth , that the opposition of contradictory Terms is an affection , habitude or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 betwixt those terms that no power in Heaven or Earth can abolish , methinks should assure any that are not pure Sots or crazie Fantasticks , that there may be many other such unalterable and immutable habitudes of Terms , Natures or Things that are every jot as unabolishable as this . Which is no derogation to the Divine Perfection , but an Argument of it ; unless we should conceit that it is the height of the Perfection of Divine Omnipotence to be able to destroy himself . And truly to fancie an ability in him of destroying or abolishing those eternal , necessary and immutable habitudes or respects of the natures of things represented in their Idea's by the Divine Intellect Exhibitive , is little less than the admitting in God an ability of destroying or abolishing the Divine Nature it self , because ipso facto the Divine Wisdom and Knowledge would be destroyed , as was shewn in the fifth Section , and what a God would that be that is destitute thereof !

Wherefore it is no wonder that those men that are sober and in their wits , find it so impossible in themselves but to conceive that such and such natures are steadily such and no other , and betwixt such and such natures there are steadily and immutably such habitudes and respects and no others . Forasmuch as the Intellect of man is as it were a small compendious Transcript of the Divine Intellect , and we feel in a manner in our own Intellects the firmness and immutability of the Divine , and of the eternal and immutable Truths exhibited there . So that those that have their minds so crackt and shatter'd as to be able to fancy that if God would , he could change the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or common notions into their Contradictories , as The whole is less than its Part , &c. must have very crazy Intellectuals , and have taken their lodging at least in the suburbs of downright dotage or Phrensie , as I noted above .

Pag. 184. If any one should affirm that the Terms of common notions have an eternal and indispensable relation to one another , &c. That this priviledge is not confined to the common notions they are abundantly convinced of , that have bestowed any competent study upon Mathematicks , where the connection of every link of the demonstration is discerned to be as firmly and indiflolubly knit , as the Terms of a common notion are the one with the other . And it is our Impatience , Carelesness or Prejudices that we have not more conclusions of such certitude than we have in other studies also .

Sect. 13. pag. 184. For if there be Truth antecedently to the Divine Vnderstanding , &c. This Objection of the Adversaries is framed something perversly and invidiously , as if the other party held , That there were Truth antecedently to the Divine Understanding , and as if from thence the Divine Understanding would be a mere passive Principle actuated by something without , as the Eye by the Sun . But it is a plain case , out of what has been declared , that the Divine Understanding ( though there be such eternal Natures and unchangeable respects and habitudes of them represented in the Idea's that are in the Exhibitive Intellect of the Deity ) that it is , I say , before any external Object whatever , and yet always had exhibited to it self the eternal and unalterable natures and respects of things in their Idea's . And it was noted moreover , that the Truth of the external Objects , when brought into act , is measured by their Conformity to these Idea's .

Besides , the Divine Understanding being before all things , how could there be any Truth before it , there being neither Understanding nor Things in which this Truth might reside ? Or the Divine Understanding be a mere passive Principle actuated by something without , as the eye by the Sun , whenas questionless the Divine Intellect quatenus Exhibitive is the most active Principle conceivable ; nay , indeed Actus purissimus , the most pure Act , as Aristotle has defined God ? It is an eternal , necessary , and immutable Energy , whose very Essence is a true and fixt Ideal Representation of the natures of all things , with their respects and habitudes resulting eternally from the Divine foecundity at once . How then can this , which is so pure and pregnant an Energy , be a mere passive Principle , or be actuated by any external Object , when it was before any thing was ? But a further Answer is to be found of the Authour himself in the Fifteenth Section .

Pag. 185. Which is to take away his independency and self sufficiency . Namely , If there be mutual and unalterable Congruities and Incongruities of things , as if they would determine God in his actions by something without himself . Which is a mere mistake . For the pregnant fulness of the Divine Essence and perfection eternally and necessarily exerting itself into an Ideal display of all the natures , properties , respects and habitudes of things , whether Congruities or Incogruities , and these fixt , immutable , necessary and unchangeable in their Ideal or Objective Existence ; And in time producing things according to these Paradigms or Patterns into actual Existence by his Omnipotence , and ever sustaining , supporting and governing them by his unfailing Power and steady and unchangeable Wisdom and Counsel ; I say , when all things are thus from God , sustained by God , and regulated according to the natures he has given them , which answer the Patterns and Paradigms in him , how can any such determination of his Will any way clash with his Self-sufficiency or Independency , whenas we see thus , that all things are from God and depend of him , and his actions guided by the immutable Idea's in his own nature , according to which all external things are what they are , and their Truth measured by their Conformity with them . But there is a fuller answer of the Author's , to this Objection , in the sixteenth and seventeenth Sections .

Sect. 14. pag. 187. And to fetter and imprison Freedom and Liberty it self in the fatal and immutable chains and respects of things , &c. This is a misconceit that savours something of a more refined Anthropomorphitism , that is to say , Though they do not make the Essence of God finite and of an Humane figure or shape , yet they imagine him to have two different Principles in him , an extravagant and undetermined lust or appetite , as it is in man , and an Intellectual or rational Principle , whose Laws are to correct the luxuriancies and impetuosities of the other , and to bridle and regulate them . But this is a gross mistake ; For there is no such blind and impetuous will in God upon which any Intellectual Laws were to lay a restraint , but his whole nature being pure and Intellectual , and he acting according to his own nature , which contains those Idea's and immutable respects , Congruities and Incongruities of things there eternally and unalterably represented , he acts with all freedom imaginable , nor has any chains of restraint laid upon him , but is at perfect liberty to do as his own nature requires and suggests . Which is the most absolute liberty that has any sound or shew of Perfection with it , that can be conceived in any Being .

Sect. 15. pag. 189. And does as it were draw them up into its own beams . This is something a sublime and elevate expression . But I suppose the meaning thereof is , That the natures and respects of the things of this lower Creation , the Divine Understanding applies to the bright shining Idea's found in his own exalted nature , and observes their Conformity therewith , and acknowledges them true and right as they answer to their eternal Patterns .

Sect. 16. pag. 189. To tie up God in his actions to the reason of things , destroys his Liberty , Absoluteness , and Independency . This is said , but it is a very vain and weak allegation , as may appear out of what has been suggested above . For reasons of things and their habitudes and references represented in the eternal Idea's in their Objective Existence , which is the Pattern of their natures when they exist actually , is the very life and nature of the Divine Understanding ; And as I noted above , the most true and perfective libertie that can be conceived in any Being is , that without any check or tug , or lubricity and unsteadiness , it act according to its own life and nature . And what greater Absoluteness than this ? For that which acts according to its own nature , acts also according to its own will or appetite . And what greater Independencie than to have a power upon which there is no restraint , nor any modification of the exercise thereof , but what is taken from that which has this power ? For the eternal and immutable reasons of things are originally and Paradigmatically in the Divine Understanding , of which those in the Creatures are but the Types and transitorie Shadows . The Author in this Section has spoke so well to this present Point , that it is needless to superadd any thing more .

Sect. 17. pag. 191. In this seventeenth Section the Author more fully answers that Objection , As if Gods acting according to the reasons of things inferred a dependency of him upon something without himself ; Which he does with that clearness and satisfaction , that it is enough to commend it to the perusal of the Reader .

Sect. 18. pag. 193. Truth in the power or faculty is nothing else but a Conformity of its conceptions or Idea's unto the natures and relations of things which in God we may call , &c. The Description which follows is ( though the Author nowhere takes notice of that distinction ) a Description of the Divine Understanding quatenus Exhibitive , not Conceptive or Speculative . The Truth of which latter does indeed consist in the Conformity of its Conception unto the natures and relations of things , but not of things ad extra , but unto the natures , habitudes and respects of things as they are necessarily , eternally and immutably represented in the Divine Understanding Exhibitive , which is the Intellectual World , which the Author here describes , and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 the vast Champion or boundless field of Truth . So that in those words [ unto the natures and relations of things which in God we call an actual , steady , immoveable , eternal omniformity , &c. ] Which is to be referred to [ the Natures and Relations of things ] as is evident to any that well considers the place . And with this sense that which follows the description is very coherent .

Pag. 194. Now all that Truth that is in any created Being , is by participation and derivation from this first Vnderstanding ( that is , from the Divine Understanding quatenus Exhibitive ) and Fountain of Intellectual Light . That is , according to the Platonick Dialect , of those steady , unalterable and eternal Idea's ( 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ) of the natures and respects of things represented there in the Divine Understanding Exhibitive in their Objective Existence ; In conformity to which the Truth in all created things and Understandings doth necessarily consist .

Pag. 195. Antecedently to any Vnderstanding or Will , &c. That is , Antecedently to any Understanding Conceptive , Observative or Speculative whatsoever , or to any Will ; but not antecedently to the Divine Understanding Exhibitive . For that is antecedent to all created things , and contains the steady , fixt , eternal , and unalterable natures and respects or habitudes , before they had or could have any Being . I say it contains the Truth and measure of them ; nor can they be said to be truly what they are , any further than they are found conformable to these eternal , immutable Idea's , Patterns and Paradigms , which necessarily and eternally are exerted , and immutably in the Divine Understanding Exhibitive . And of these Paradigmatical things there , what follows is most truly affirmed .

Pag. 195. For things are what they are , and cannot be otherwise without a Contradiction , &c. This was true before any external or created things did exist . True of every Form in that eternal Omniformity , which the Platonists call the Intellectual World , as the Author has observed above in this Section . A Circle is a Circle , and a Triangle a Triangle there , nor can be otherwise without a Contradiction . And so of a Globe , Cylinder , Horse , Eagle , Whale , Fire , Water , Earth , their Ideal fixt and determinate natures , habitudes , aptitudes , and respects necessarily and immutably there exhibited , are such as they are , nor can be otherwise without a contradiction . And because it is thus in the Divine Nature or Essence , which is the root and fountain of the exteriour Creation , the same is true in the created Beings themselves . Things are there also what they are , nor can they be a Globe suppose , or a Cylinder , and yet not be a Globe or a Cylinder at once , or be both a Globe and Cylinder at once ; and so of the rest . As this is a contradiction in the Intellectual World , so is it in the Exteriour or Material World , and so , because it is so in the Intellectual . For the steadiness and immutableness of the nature of all things , and of their respects and habitudes , arise from the necessity , immutability , and unchangeableness of the Divine Essence and Life , which is that serene , unclouded , undisturbed , and unalterable Eternity , where all things with their respects and aptitudes , their order and series , are necessarily , steadily and immutably exhibited at once .

P. 195. As they conform & agree with the things themselves , &c. The more Platonical sense , and more conformable to that we have given of other passages of this learned and ingenious Author is , if we understand the things themselves , at least primarily , to be the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Plato , which is the term which he bestows upon his Idea's , which are the Patterns or Paradigms according to which every thing is made , and is truly such so far forth as it is found to agree with the Patterns or Originals in which all Archetypal Truth is immutably lodged . All created things are but the Copies of these , these the Original , the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or Writing it self , from whence Plato calls them 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as if those Archetypal Forms were the forms or things themselves , but the numerous created Beings here below , only the Copies or Imitations of them . Wherefore no Conception or Idea's that we frame , or any Intellect else as Conceptive merely and Speculative , can be true , but so far as they agree with these 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in that sense we have declared , or with cre●ted things so far as they are answerable to the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or Archetypal things themselves . And from hence is sufficiently understood the nature of Truth in the Subject .

These few cursory Notes I thought worth the while to make upon these two learned and ingenious Writers , the Subjects they have written on being of no mean importance and use , and the things written in such a time of their age , as if men be born under an auspicious Planet , best fits their minds for the relishing and ruminating upon such noble Theories . For I dare say , when they wrote these Discourses or Treatises , they had neither of them reached so much as half the age of man as it is ordinarily computed . Which has made them write upon these Subjects with that vigour and briskness of Spirit that they have .

For the constitution of Youth , in those that have not an unhappy Nativity , is far more heavenly and Angelical than that of more grown age , in which the Spirit of the World is more usually awakened , and then begins that Scene which the Poet describes in his De Arte Poetica ,

Quaerit opes & amicitias , inservit honori .

their mind then begins to be wholly intent to get wealth and riches , to enlarge their Interest by the friendship of great Persons , and to hunt after Dignities and Preferments , Honours and Imployments in Church or State , and to those more heavenly and Divine Sentiments through disuse and the presence of more strong and filling Impressions are laid asleep , and their Spirits thickened and clouded with the gross fumes and steams that arise from the desire of earthly things ; and it may so fall out , if there be not special care taken , that this mud they have drawn in by their coarse desires , may come to that opaque hardness and incrustation , that their Terrestrial body may prove a real dungeon , & cast them into an utter oblivion of their chiefest concerns in the other State . — Nec auras Respicient clausi tenebris & carcere caeco . Which I thought fit to take notice of , as well for the instruction of others , as for a due Appretiation of these two brief Treatises of these florid Writers , they being as it were the Virgin-Honey of these two Attick Bees , the Primitiae of their intemerated Youth , where an happy natural complexion , and the first Rudiments of Christian Regeneration may seem to have conspired to the writing of two such useful Treatises .

Vseful , I say , and not a little grateful to men of refined Fancies and gay Intellectuals , of benign and Philosophical tempers , and Lovers of great Truths and Goodness . Which natural constitution were a transcendent priviledge indeed , were there not one great danger in it to those that know not how to use it skilfully . For it does so nearly ape , as I may so speak , the Divine Benignity it self , and that unself-interessed Love that does truly arise from no other seed than that of real Regeneration ( which Self-mortification and a serious endeavour of abolishing or utterly demolishing our own will , and quitting any thing that would captivate us , and hinder our union with God and his Christ , does necessarily precede ) that too hastily setting up our rest in these mere complexional attainments , which is not Spirit but Flesh , though it appear marvellous sweet and goodly to the owner , if there be not due care taken to advance higher in that Divine and Eternal Principle of real Regeneration , by a constant mortification of our own will , the●e may be a perpetual hazzard of this Flesh growing corrupt and fly-blown , and sending up at last no sweet savour into the nostrils of the Almighty . That which is born of the flesh is flesh , and that which is born of the spirit is spirit ; And all flesh is grass , and the beauty thereof as the flower of the field ; but that which is born of the eternal Seed of the living Word , abideth for ever and ever .

And therefore there is no safe Anchorage for the Soul , but in a perpetual endeavour of annihilating of her own Will , that we may be one with Christ , as Christ is with God . Otherwise if we follow the sweet enticing Counsels of mere Nature , though it look never so smugly on it , it will seduce us into a false liberty , and at last so corrupt our Judgment , and blind us , that we shall scarce be able to discern him that is that great Light that was sent into the world , but become every man an Ignis Fatuus to himself , or be so silly as to be led about by other Ignes Fatui , whenas it is most certain that Christ is the only way , the Truth and the Life , and he that does not clearly see that , when he has opportunity to know it , let his pretence to other knowledge be what it will , it is a demonstration that as to Divine things he is stark blind . But no man can really adhere to Christ , and unwaveringly , but by union to him through his Spirit ; nor obtain that Spirit of life , but by resolved Mortification of his own will , and a deadness to all worldly vanities , that we may be restored at last to our solid happiness which is through Christ in God , without whose Communion no soul can possibly be happy .

And therefore I think it not amiss to close these my Theoretical Annotations on these two Treatises , with that more Practical and Devotional Hymn of A. B. that runs much upon the mortification of our own Wills , and of our Union and Communion with God , translated into English by a Lover of the Life of our Lord Jesus .

THE Devotional HYMN . 1. O Heavenly Light ! my Spirit to Thee draw , With powerful touch my senses smite , Thine arrows of Love into me throw . With flaming dart Deep wound my heart , And wounded seize for ever , as thy right . 2. O sweetest Sweet ! descend into my Soul , And sink into its low'st abyss , That all false Sweets Thou mayst controul , Or rather kill , So that Thy will Alone may be my pleasure and my bliss . 3. Do thou my faculties all captivate Vnto thy self with strongest tye ; My will entirely regulate : Make me thy Slave , Nought else I crave , For this I know is perfect Liberty , 4. Thou art a Life the sweetest of all Lives , Nought sweeter can thy Creature taste ; 'T is this alone the Soul revives . Be Thou not here , All other chear Will turn to dull satiety at last . 5. O limpid Fountain of all vertuous Leare ! O well-spring of true Joy and Mirth ! The root of all contentments dear ! O endless Good ! Break like a floud Into my Soul , and water my dry earth , 6. That by this Mighty power I being reft Of every Thing that is not ONE , To Thee alone I may be left By a firm will Fixt to Thee still , And inwardly united into one . 7. And so let all my Essence , I Thee pray , Be wholly fill'd with thy dear Son , That thou thy Splendour mayst display With blissful rays In these hid ways WhereinGods nature by frail Man is won . 8. For joyned thus to Thee by thy sole aid And working ( whilst all silent stands In mine own Soul , nor ought's assay'd From Self-desire ) I 'm made entire An instrument fit for thy glorious Hands . 9. And thus henceforwards shall all workings cease , Vnless't be those Thou dost excite To perfect that Sabbatick Peace Which doth arise When Self-will dies , And the new Creature is restored quite . 10. And so shall I with all thy Children dear , While nought debars Thy workings free , Be closely joyn'd in union near , Nay with thy Son Shall I be one , And with thine own adored Deitie . 11. So that at last I being quite releas'd From this strait-lac'd Egoity , My soul will vastly be encreas'd Into that ALL Which ONE we call , And one in 't self alone doth all imply . 12. Here 's Rest , here 's Peace , here 's Joy and holy Love , The Heaven 's here of true Content , For those that hither sincerely move , Here 's the true Light Of Wisdom bright , And Prudence pure with no self-seeking mient . 13. Here Spirit , Soul and cleansed Body may Bathe in this Fountain of true Bliss Of Pleasures that will ne're decay , All joyful Sights And hid Delights ; The sense of these renew'd here daily is . 14. Come therefore come , and take an higher flight , Things perishing leave here below , Mount up with winged Soul and Spright , Quick let 's be gone To him that 's One , But in this One to us can all things show . 15. Thus shall you be united with that ONE , That ONE where 's no Duality ; For from this perfect GOOD alone Ever doth spring Each pleasant thing , The hungry Soul to feed and satisfie . 16. Wherefore , O man ! consider well what 's said , To what is best thy Soul incline , And leave off every evil trade . Do not despise What I advise : Finish thy Work before the Sun decline .

FINIS .

Books Printed for , or Sold by Samuel Lownds , over against Exeter Exchange in the Strand .

PArthenissa , that Fam'd Romance . Written by the Right Honourable the Earl of Orrery .

Clelia , an Excellent new Romance , the whole Work in Five Books . Written in French , by the exquisite pen of Monsieur de Scudery .

The Holy Court . Written by N. Causinus .

Bishop Saundersons Sermons .

Herberts Travels , with large Additions .

The Compleat Horseman , and Expert Farrier , in Two Books : 1. Shewing the best manner of breeding good Horses , with their Choice , Nature , Riding and Dieting , as well for Running as Hunting ; as also , Teaching the Groom and Keeper his true Office . 2. Directing the most exact and approved manner how to know and Cure all Diseases in Horses : a Work containing the Secrets and best Skill belonging either to Farrier or Horse-Leach : the Cures placed Alphabetically , with Hundreds of Medicines never before imprinted in any Author . By Thomas de Grey .

Claudius Mauger's French and English Letters upon all Subjects enlarged , with Fifty new Letters , many of which are on the late great Occurrences and Revolutions of Europe ; all much Amended and Refined , according to the most quaint and Courtly Mode ; wherein yet the Idiom and Elegancy of both Tongues are far more exactly suited than formerly . Very useful to those who aspire to good Language , and would know what Addresses become them to all sorts of persons . Besides many Notes in the end of the Book , which are very necessary for Commerce .

Paul Festeau's French Grammar , being the newest and exactest Method now extant , for the attaining to the Elegancy and Purity of the French Tongue .

The Great Law of Consideration ; a Discourse shewing the Nature , Usefulness , and absolute necessity of Consideration , in order to a truly serious and Religious Life . The Third Edition , Corrected and much Enlarged , by Anthony Horneck , D. D.

The Mirror of Fortune , or the true Characters of Fate and Destiny , Treating of the Growth and Fall of Empires , the Misfortunes of Kings and Great Men , and the ill fate of Virtuous and handsome Ladies .

Saducismus Triumphatus : or full & plain Evidence concerning Witches and Apparitions , in Two parts , the first Treating of their Possibility , the second of their Real Existence ; by Joseph Glanvil , late Chaplain to His Majesty , and Fellow of the Royal Society . The Second Edition . The advantages whereof above the former , the Reader may understand out of Dr. Henry More 's Account prefixt thereunto . With two Authentick but wonderful stories of Swedish Witches , done into English by Anthony Horneck , D. D.

French Rogue , being a pleasant History of his Life and Fortune , adorned with variety of other Adventures of no less rarity .

Of Credulity and Incredulity in things Divine and Spiritual , wherein ( among other things ) a true and faithful account is given of Platonick Philosophy , as it hath reference to Christianity . As also the business of Witches and Witchcraft , against a late Writer , fully argued and disputed . By Merick Causabon , D. D. one of the Prebends of Canterhury .

Cicero against Catiline , in Four Invective Orations , containing the whole manner of discovering that notorious Conspiracy . By Christopher Wase .

Cambridge Jests , being Witty Alarms for Melancholy Spirits . By a Lover of Ha , Ha , He.

FINIS .