(f) Contrary to its own Na- ture, Sec ] This was borrowed from the Peripatetick Philofo- phy, by this great Man; which luppofed the Water in a Pump.to afcend for fear of a Vacuum; wher«is it is now granted by all, to be done by the Seft. 7. the Chrijiian Religion. 1 1 ieft by a Vacuum there fhould be a Gap in the Strudure of the Univerle, which is uphdd by the continued Union of its Parts. Now the Good of the ¥/hole could not polTibly be defigned, nor a Power pur into Things to tend towards it, but by an inteUigent Being, to whom the Univerfe is fubje(51:. There are moreover fome Adlions, even of the Beads, fo ordered and direded, as plainly difcover them to be the Effc6ts of fome fmall degree of Reafon: As is moft manifeft in Ants and Bees, and alfo in fome others, which, before they have experienced them, will avoid Things hurtful, and feek thofe that are pro- fitable to them. That this Power of fearching out and diftinguiftiing, is not properly in them- felves, is apparent from hence, becaufe they a6b always alike, and are unable to do other Things which don't require more Pains; [a) wherefore ; they are aded upon by fome foreign Reafon -, and "what they do, muft of neceflity proceed from the Efficiency of that Reafon imprelTed upon them: Which Reafon is no other than what we call God.
Next, Next, the Preflure of the Air. But by the Laws of Gravitation, as the Moderns explain them, the Order of the Univerfe, and the Wifdom of its Creator, is no lefs confpicuous Le Clerc. [a] Wherefore they are aSled upon, &c ] No, they are done by the Soul of thofe Bealls, •whi'ch is fo far reafonable, as to be able to do fuch Things, and not others. Otherwife God himfelf, would a(5l in them inftead of a Soul, which a good Philofopherwill hardly be perfuaded of. Nothing hinders but that there may be a great many Ranks of fenfi- ble and intelligent Natures, the lowefl of which may be in the Bodies of Brute Creatures; for no Body I think, really be- lieves with Ren. Cartes, that Brutes are mere corporeal Ma- chines. But you will fay, when Brute Creatures die, what becomes of their Souls? That indeed I know not, but it is neverthelcfs true that Souls refide in them. There is no neceflity that we ftiould know all Things, nor are we therefore prefently to deny any thing, becaufe we cannot give account of it. We are to re- ceive thofe Things that are e- vident, and be content to be ignorant of thofe Things S^hich we cannot know. Ls }k 1 2 Of the Truth of. Book I.
Next the Heavenly Conflellations, but more efpe-. cially.thofe eminent ones, the Sun and Moon, have their Courfes fo exactly accommodated to the Fruit- fulnefs of the Earth, and to the Health of Ani- mals, that nothing can be imagined more conve- nient: For though otherwife, the mod fimple Mo- tion had been along the Equator, yet are they direded in an oblique Circle, that the Benefit of them might extend to more Places of the Earth. And as othe;* Animals are allowed the Ufe of the Earth •, fo Mankind are permitted to ufe thofc Ani- mals, and can by the Power of his Reafon tame the fierceft of them. Whence it was that the {a) Sto- icks concluded that the World was made for the Sake of Man. But fince the Power of Man does not extend fo far as to compel the Heavenly Lu- minaries to ferve Him, nor is it likely they fhould of their own accord fubmit themfelves to him \ hence it follows, that there is a fuperior Underftand- ing^ at whofe Command thofe beautiful Bodies af- ford their perpetual AlTiflance to Man, who is pla- ced fo far beneath them: Which Underftanding is none other than the Maker of the Stars and of the Univerfe. {b) The Eccentrick Motions of the Stars, and the Epicycles, as they term them, ma- nifeftly fhow, that they are not the Effeds of Matter, ' {a)The^:toickscrj}icluded,Scz.^ the Efficacy of tTic.Divine S*e TuUy in hh firll Book ot Powtr, is equally Teen in the Offices, p.nd his fecOnd of'tke 'cpnf^ant Modpn of the Planets Nature of the Gods. '•'•:-'^- "''JJi Eilipfes, about the Sun [b) The Eccenf rick Motion, thVotigh the moft fluid Vor- ^c ] This Argument is leatn- tex; in fuch a manner as not cdly handled by Maimonides, to recede from, or approach jn his DuSlor DuhitarJium, to their Centre, more than Part 11 c. 4- And if you 'their wonted Limits, but alfjppofe die Earth to be moved, ways cut the Sun's Equator at 't amounts to the fame thing liUe Obliquity: Le Clerc. Sir in orher Words.. Ifanc Nezvton has demonllrat- Ibid. Thefe and fome of the ed chnt there are no fuch Forfollowing Things are accord- trxesy but that their Motions ir>g to the vulgar Opinion, are better explained vviiliQiiC wiiich ib now exploded j but them.
\ Matter, but the Appointment of a free Agent; and the fame AlTurance we have from the Pofition of the Stars, fome in one Part of the Heavens, and fome in another; and from the unequal Form of the Earth. and Seas: Nor can we attribute the Mo- tion of the Stars, in fuch a Diredlion, rather than another, to any thing elfe. The very Jhigure of the World, which is the moft perfect, viz. round, and all the Parts of it inclofed, as it were, in the Bo- fom of the Heavens, and placed in wonderful Or- der, fufliciently declare, that thefe Things were not the Refult of Chance, but the Appointment of the moft excellent Underftanding: For can any one be fo foolilh, as to exped: any thing fo accurate from Chance? He may as foon believe, that pieces of Timber, and Stones, ihould frame themfeives into a Houfe; {a) or that from Letters thrown at a ven- ture, there fhould arifc a Poem; when the Philofo* pher, who faw only fome Geometrical Figures on the Sea- (ho re, thought them plain Indications of a Man's having been there, fuch Things not looking as if they proceeded from Chance. Befides, that Mankind were not from Eternity, but date their Original from a certain Period of Time, is clear, as from ©ther- Arguments, foiiioffi'i^iei^lnnpravemenc {a) Into a Houfe, Sec ] or And a little after', T/je World Ship, or Engine. nmnifejiiy irr.pco-Jes every Da\\ * The Impro'vement of ArtSy. and groavs nvifer than if ivas, &c.] Tertuiiian treats of this Thefe two Arguments caufed Matter, from Hiftory, in Jiis Jlrifiotle\ Opinion, (who Book concerning the Soul, Sed..\vo,utd not allow Mankind any 30. IFe fnd [{d.ys he) in ifU Beginning) to be rejeded b>' -.Commentaries, efpeciuliy of the the, learned Hiitorian?, efpe- Antiquitiei of Mertythat Man- cially the Epicureans. La-- kind increafe by Degrees, &C. cretlus, Book V.
If Heauen and Earth had no Original^ ' Ho^v is it, that before the "^rrojati If ar.
No Poets Jung of Memorable ''Ihings; But Deeds of Hero'' s dydfo oft nxiith them; And no 'where. Monuments rats'' d to their Praife?
%his fhews the World is young and lateiy madt* ' ' Wbena 14 Of tk Truth of Book L of Arts, and thofe defart Places, which came af- terwards Whence Wis that Arts are e'very Day encreas'd^ * » Orfrejh reneived i and Ships fo much mpro<ved. And Mujick, to delight the Ear.
With a great deal more to the fame purpofe.
Virgil, Eclogue VI. ■' From thefe Jirji Frinciples All 'Things arofe, hence fprung the tender World, And in his Georgicks. Ufe firji produced thofe various Arts <vje fee^ By fmall degrees; this taitght the Hujhandman To plonv andfo^jj his Fields; from the hard Flint To fetch the hidden Sparks; then Men began With hollonx) Boats to crofs the Stream; Pihis CaWd Hyades and Pleides, their SignSt '■' ' • '■^' And Charles V Wain: Then Sportfmen fpread their Nets To catch <vuild Beajis^ and Dogs purfud their Game. Some drain the Ri<vers, arid fame feek the Main^ Stretching their Nets to inclofe the finny Prey: Others ivith Iron Forge ivhet Infiruments To clea've the yielding Woody Then Arts arofe.
Horace, Book I. Sat. III. When firfl Mankind began to fpread the Earth, hike Animals denjoid of Speech y they fir o've With utmofi Strength of Hands, for Dens and Acorns;;] Fro?n thence to Clubs, and then to Arms they came. Taught by Experience; ''Till Words exprefs'd Their Meaning, and ganje proper Names to Things: Then ended Wars; Cities ivere built y andhanjo^'wefe^rtiadefor Thie^veSy Adulterers, atid Rogues. ^, Pliny in his third Book of fore Appetite and Paffionfvjay- Natural Hiftory, about the Be- ed them, linjed ^without Bribes, ^xnnm^; Wherefore I ^vould be and 'without Iniquity i and fo underfioody as the Words them- needed not to be refirained from fel^ves fignify, ^without the flou- E<vil by Punifhment: Neither rifh of Men; and as they 'were did they fiand in need of Re- underfiood at the Beginning, be- luard, every one naturally pur- fore any great Exploits voere fuing Virtue \ for fo long as no- performed. The fame Author thing nvas defined contrary to affirms, that the Hercinlan Morality, they nuanted not to be Wood (in Germany) wascoaival refirained by Fear: But after with the World, Book XVI. they laid afide Equity; andVi- Seneca, in Lad ant ins, "'TIS not olence and Ambition fucceeded a Thoufand Tears fince Wifdom in the Room of Honefiy and Hu- had a Beginning. Tacitus\ mility \ then began that Poller Annals III. ThefirfiMen,be- nuhicb has alwayi continued amongfi Se6l. 7* the Chrijlian Religion. 15 terwards to be inhabited •, and is further evidenced by the Language of Iflands, plainly derived from the neighbouring Continents. There are moreover certain Ordinances fo univerfal amongft Men, that they they of Maggots, or to ha^ve come from Eggs. After his Expli- cation of each of thefe. He adds, If therefore Anirnahhad any Beginnings it is manifeft it muji be one of thefe tnvo ivays. The hme.JriJiotie, in the Firll oihA^Topicks, Chap. XI. There are fome ^ejiions agaittfi tvhich 'very goodArgumetUs may be brought; {it being <very doubtful ivhich fide is in the rights there being great Proba- bility on either hand,) tve ha-ve no Certainty of them: and tho" they be of great njjeight^ nve find it niery difficult to deter- mine the Caufe and Manner of their Exijlence', asforlnjlance, ^whether the World n,vere from Eternity, or no: For fuch Things as thefe are dif put able ^ And again, difputingabout the fame thing in his FirllBookof the Heavens, Chap. lo. VFhat ff^all be faid, 'Txill be the more credible, if nve allonv the Dif- putanfs Arguments their due ^weight. Trt//^^ therefore did well not to pafs by this, where he brings his Reafons for the Belief of the Scriptures, That tvhat they deliver concerning the Creation of the Uni-verfe, is k-vel to every onz's Capacity, If you take VldtOy tor the World's having a Beginning, and Ariflotle fof its having had none; yoa will have feen both the Jev/iih and Chriftian Opinions.
viongjl fome People. But others immediatelyy or at leaf after they grenv nxeary of Kings, preferred a legal Go^jernment. And Arijlotle could not fully perfuade himfelf, any more than others, of the truth of his own Hypothefis, that Mankind never had any Beginning. For he fpeaks very doubtfully of the Matter in many places, as Mofes Maimonides obferves in his Du6ior Dubitantiurn, Fart II. In the Prologue to his Se- cond Book, concerning the Heavens, he calls his Pofition, only a Perfuafion, and not a Demonftration; and there is a Saying of the fame Philofo- pher in the third Book of the Soul; Chap. III. That Per- fuafion is a Confequence of Opi- nion. But his principal Argu- ment is drawn from the Abfur- dity of the contrary Opinion, "which fuppofes the Heavens and the Univerfe not to be created, but generated; which is inconfillent. Book XI. of his Metaphyficks,, Chap, 8. he fays, Uis 'very likely that Arts have 6ft en beenlofl, andi?t-vent- ed again. And in the lall Chap, of the Third Book of the Generation of Animals, he has thefe Words, It ^voould not be afoolijh ConjeSIure concern- ing the fir ft Rife of Men, and Beafts, if any 6ne fijould ima- gine, that of oldtheyfprung out of the Earth one of thefe ttvo luays, either after thi^ Manner 1 6 Of the "Truth of Book L they don't feem io much to owe their Inftitution to the Inftind of Nature, or the Dedudlions of plain Reafon -, as to a conftant Tradition, fcarce inter- rupted in any Place, either by Wickednefs or Mif- fortune: Of which fort were formerly Sacrifices, a- mongft holy Rites; and now Shame in Venereal Things, the Solemnity of Marriage, and the Ab- horrence of Inceft.
^^di. VIII. Hhe Ohje^ion concerning the Caiife of Evil^ anfwered.
Nor ought we to be in the leall fhaken in what has been faid, becaufe we fee many Evils happen, the Original of which cannot be afcribed to God, who, as was affirmed of Him, is perfedly good. For when we fay, that God is the Caufe of all Things, we mean of all fuch Things as have a real Exiftence •, which is no Reafon why thofe Things themfelves jfhould not be the Cauie of fome Acci- dents, fuch as Adions are. God created Man, and fome other Intelligences fuperior to Man, with a Liberty of A6ling; which Liberty of Adting is not in itfelf Evil, but may be {a) the Caufe of fome- thing that is Evil. And to make God the Author of Evils of this kind, which are called Moral Evils, is the higheft Wickednefs. But there are other Sorts {a) The Caufe of fome thing eft Power of the Creator, God that is E'vi/, &c ] God indeed was unwilling to prevent thofe forefaw, that free Agents Jnconveniencies which proceed would abufe their Liberty, and from the Mutability of their that many natural and moral Nature; becaufe He can a- Evils would arife from hence; mend them as He pleafes, to yet did not this hinder him all Eternity; in fuch a manfrom permitting fuch Abufe, ner as is agreeable to his own nnd the Confequences thereof; Goodnefs, tho' he has not yet any more than it hindred his revealed it to us. Concerning creating Beings endued with which we have largely treated fuch Liberty, '^i he Reafon is in French, in a Book wrote aplain. Becaufe a free Agent be- gainft P^/. 5^^-/^, the feeming ing the moll Excellent Crea- Advocate of the Manichees, lure, which difcovers the high- he Clerc, Sed::'^, lo. the CfMfttan 'Religion. ly Sorts of Evils, fuch as Lofs or Pain infli6i:cd upon a Perfon, which may be allowed to come from God, fuppofe for the Reiormation of the M^n, or as a Pumlhment which his Sins deferve: For here is no Inconfiftency with Goodnefs $ But on the contrary, thefe proceed from Goodneis itfelf, in the fame manner ^s PhyOck, iinple^farlt to the Tafte, does from a good Phyfician.
And here, by the way, we ought to rejedl their Opinion^ who imagine that there are {a) two Adlive Principles, the one Good, and the other Evil. For from Two Principles^ that are contradidlbry to each other, can arile no regular Order, but only Ruin and Deftrudlion: Neither can there be a lelf-exi- ftent Being perfedtly Evil, as there is One Self- €xiftent perfedly Good: Becaufe Evil is a Defcdl, which cannot refide but in fomething which has a Being; {h) and the very having a Being is to be teckoned amongft the Things which are Good.
Se6l. X. That Goli governs t'h'e Univerfe.
That the World is governed by the Providence bf God, is evident from hence: That not only Men, who are endued with Underftanding 5 but Birds, and both Wild and Tame Beafls, (who are lead by Inflinft, which fer-t^e them inftead of Un- derftanding) take Care ^/, and provide for their Young. Which Perfections as it is a Branch of Goodnefs, ought not to be excluded from God: And fo rhuch the rather, becaufe He is All- wife, and All-powerful, and cannot but know every thing that C is {a) Two aUtve Principles, Author) was fpeaking ofmoral &c.] This has refpe^ to the an- and not of natural Good. I: cient Difciples of Zoroajlres, had therefore been better to and to the Manichees. Le Clerc have forborn fuch khid of Rea- (b) And the 'very haviftg a fonir.g. Le Cierc. ^iing^ &c.] But here, (the J 3 Of the "Truth of Book I.
is done, or is to be done, and with the greatell Fa- cility dired and govern them •, To which we may- add, what was before hinted, concerning the Mo- tion of particular Things, contrary to their own Nature, to promote the Good of the Whole.
Sedl. XL And the Affairs of this lower World.
And They are under a very great Miflake, who confine this Providence {a) to the Heavenly Bo- dies; As appears from the foregoing Reafon, which holds as ftrong for all created Beings i and moreover from this Confideration, that there is an efpecial Re- gard had to {h) the Good of Man, in the Regula- tion of theCourfe of the Stars, as is confefTed by the beft Phiiofophers, and evident from Experience. And it is reafonable to conceive, that greater Care fhould be taken of ihat^ for whofe Sake the other was made, than of that which is only fubfervient to it.
And the Particulars in it.
-Neither is their Error lefs, {c) who allow the Univerfe to be governed by Him, but not the parti- [a] To the Heavenly Botlies^ it was made upon our account; &c ] This was the Opinion unlefs we can imagine that oi Arijiotle. See P/utarcD con- Chance provided every Thing cerning the Opinions of the that is neceflary for us; which Phiiofophers, Book H ch. 3. is very abfurd: Juft like a ^nd J/ fi( us InEurfli/is^Go^^d Man, who happening upon a Preparation, Book V. ch, 5. Houfe well furnifhed, fhould Le Clerc. deny that it was built for the \J)) The Good of "Man, &c.] Convenience of Men, who are Though not for iVJanonly, (for alone capable of enjoying it.
it doth not appear, that there Le Clerc.
are no other Intelligent Beings, [c) Who alloiv the U/ilverfe, in other Planets,) yet partly for cl'c] This was the Opinion Him, and fo far as He makes of the Stoicks; Sec Arrlus's ufe of them without any Detri- Difiertations upon Epi'^etui^ ment t0 other Creatures. Be- Book I. ch. 12. and Jtijfm Up" c.iufe we cannot live without Jhis in his Sioical Ph\Jirolog-., trie Sun J wt may well conclude Le Clerc, Sed:. II, 12. the Chrlfii an Religion, 19 particular Things in it. For if He were ignorant of any particular Thing (as fome of them fay,) He would not be thoroughly acquainted with him- felf. Neither will his Knowledge be Infinite (as we have before proved it to be) if it does not ex- tend to Individuals. Now if God knows all Things, what ihould hinder his taking care of them; Efpe- cially fince Individuals, as fuch, are appointed for fome certain End, either Particular or General: And Things in General (which they themfelves acknowledge to be preferved by God) cannot fub- fift but in their Individuals: So that if the Particu- lars be deftroyed by Providence's forfaking them, the Whole mull be deftroyed too.
Sedc. XII. ^his is further proved by the Prefervation of Empires, * The Prefervation of Commonwealths hath been acknowledged, both by Philofophers and Hiftori- ans, to be no mean Argument for the Divine Pro- vidence over Human Affairs. Firft^ in General; {a) becaufe wherever good Order in Government and Obedience, hath been once admitted, it has been always retained; and in particular, certain Forms of Government have continued for many Ages; as that of Kings among the Afjyrians^ M- gyptians and Franks; and that of Arijiocracy TiXnong the Venetians, Now tho' Humane Wifdom may go a good way towards this; yet if it be duly confidered, what a Multitude of wicked Men ther« are, how many external E^als, how liable Things are in their own Nature to change j we can hard- {a) Becaufe nvherenjer good ledl, that Men were created by Or^4-},&c.] Becaufe without it, divine Providence, that they there is no iuch thing as hu- might live inSociety,andmake man Society; and without So- ufe of Laws, without which ciety Mankind cannot be pre- there neither is, nor can be ferved: Whence we may col- ZT\y Socie":/. Le CIsrc.
20 Of the '\Criifh of Book L ly imagine any Government fhould fubfiil fo long without the peculiar Care of the Deity. And this is more vifible where it has pleafed God (a) to change a Government; For all Things (eventhofe which do not depend upon Humane Prudence) fucceed beyond their Wifh, (which they do not ordinarily in the variety of Humane Events, J to thofe whom God has appointed Inftruments for this Purpofe, as it were, deftined by him; (fuppofe 'Cyrus^ Alexander^ C^far the Didlator, (b) the Cingi amongft the 'Tartars^ (e) Namcaa amongft xhtChi- nefe:) Which wonderful Agreeablenefs of Events, and all confpiring to a certain End, is a manifeft Indication of a Provident Diredion. For though a Man may now and then throw a particular Gait on a Die by Chance; yet if he fhould do it a hundred times together, every Body would conclude there was feme Art in it.
Sea. XIII. And by Miracks. •., Bi^T|the moft'; certain Proof of Divine Provi- dence is From Miracles, and the Predidcions we find in Hiftories: It is true indeed^ that a great many of thofe Relations ar^ fabulous; but there is no Reafon to dif- believe thofe which are attefted by Credible WitnelTes, to have been in their Time, „Men whofe Judgment and Integrity have never ment, k<:.\ [{y}"} LiureHi4ji\ off the leifcr Tdrtary. Kis ,thcByffUh'i,ofMen..^.^iM{,:.'^ publiflied at PariSy in 1710.
[hy IJjp. Cingi among fi^Mhe Le Clerc.
^la^tnrf^r^'^^. He. iccms to (f) Kamcaa amongji the Chi^ out,0f E'tllern Tartan, and f/',f(.«/'/j'c'«/ ought ro be named, out of theCity C.j/-«r-rt, o;=w', and who was the founder of the fuhducd not only ^ art dry y but Empire of T'iiu. (vSee Garjialfo fhe NorLhern."/'w^?, and Jwz.t.l de la Vega^ in Incarkin India, jr'rom him fprang the Hijloria.)
Sed:. 13, 14. the Chrl ft i an Religion, 21 knowing and AlJ-powerful, why fliould we think him not able to fignify his knowledge or his Re- folution to A61, out ot" the ordinary Courfe of Na- ture, which is his Appointment, and lubjed to hi^ Diredion and Government? If any one fliould objed againft this, that inferior intelligent Agent§ may be the Caufe of them, it is readily granted; and this tends to niake us believe it the more eafi- ly of God: Befide, whatever of thjs Nature is done by fuch Beings, we conceive God does by them, or wifely permits them to do then) •, in the fame man- ner as in well regulated Kingdoms, nothing is done otherwife than the Law diraS:s, but by the Will of the Supreme Governor.
Sed. XIV. But more efpecially amcngft the Jews^ who Gught to he credited upon the account of the long Continuance of their Religion, Now that fome Miracles have really been feen, (though it fliould feem doubtful from the Credit of all other Hidories) the JewiJJj Religion alone may eafiiy convince us: which though it has been a long time deflitute of Humane Affiftance, nay expofed to Contempt and Mockery, yet it remains (^)tothis very Day, in al mod ail parts of the World ^ C 3 when [a) To this very Bay, &c.] preferved this plnce, In his firij //f-cv/^-^/v; conceniing the'/civ'/, Book i\<^x\\i\\. Afibion, and he which lived before the Time acids anorher Example out of o^ Alexander, ha<; thefe Words; the fame Hecat-riis^ rehiting to *' Though they be feverely Re- Alexanders Time, wherein ** pro ached by their Neigh- the y^Tu//& Soldiers perempto^ ** bours and by Strangers, and rily rcfafed to afliil at the Re- " many times harfn^y treated pairing the Temple of the God ** by the Verfian Kings and Belu^. And the fame Jofephus •' Nobility; yet cannot they has very well fliown, in his ** be brought off from their other Book agiinlty//);>/«?;;, thai *' Opinion, but will undergo the firm Perfnafion of the /^wj •' the moil cruel Torments of old, concerning God's be- *' and fh irpeft Death, rather ing the Author of their Law, *' than forfake the Religion of is from hence evident, becaufe .*' their Country." "jofcphm they have not dared, like other 22 Of the "trufh of Book I.
when (a) all other Religions (except the Chriftian, which is as it were the Perfedion of- the J^ie^i/??) have either difappeared as foon as they were forfaken by the Civil.Power and Authority, (as all the Pagan Religions did;) or elfe they are yet maintained by the lame Power as Mahojnetamfm is: For if any one fhould afl<:, whence it is that the Jewijh ReH- gion hath taken fo deep Root in the Minds of all the Heh'ewsy as never to be forced out \ there can be no other pofTible Caufe afligned or imagined than this •, That the prefent Jews received it from their Parents, and they from theirs, and fo on, till you come to the Age in which Mofes and Jojhua lived \ they received, I fay, {h) by a certain and un- interrupted Tradition, the Miracles which were v/orked, as in other Places, fo more efpecially at their coming cut o^ Egypt ^ in their Journey, and at their Entrance into Canaan; of all which, their Anceftors themfelves were Witnefies. Nor is it in the lead- credible, that a People of fo obflinate a Difpofition, could ever be purfuaded any otherwife, to fubmit to a Law loaded with fo many Rites and Cere- People to alrer any thing in delivered about the Conftancy their Lftws; not even then, of the ^^-cw, in his Second and when in long Banifhments, un- Fourth Books againll Eating der foreign Princes, they have of living Creatutes; where he been tryed by all forts of mentions Antiachus, and parti- Threatnidgs and Flatteries. To cidarly the Ccnilancy of the this we may add fomething of BJfenes amongft the Je^s. Tncitus, about the Profelytes: [a) All other Religions, &c.]
" All that are coiiverted to Even thofe fo highly com- " tjiem, do the like; for the mended Laws of Lycurgus, as *' firft Prr^.iciple they are in- is obferved by Jofei>hus and ** flru<rted in, is \o have a Con- Theo'dorei. " tempt of the Gods; to lay {b) By a certain anduninter- *' afide their Love to their rupted 'Tradition, &f.] 7'o ** Country, and to have no which we give credit, becaufe *^' Regard for their Parents or it was worthy of God to infti- •' Brethren.'* That is, when tute a Religion in which it was the Law of God comes in com- taught, that there was one God petition with them; which this the Creator of all Things, who profane Author unjiiftly blames, is a fpiritual Being, and is alon^ bee farther what torphyrj has to be worfhipped. Le Clerc, Seft. ly th Chrijli an Religion, 23 Ceremonies; or that wifeMen, amongft the many Diflindtions of Religion which Humane Reafon might invent, fhould chufe Circumcifion -, which could not be performed {a) without great Pain, and {h) was laughed at by all Strangers, and had nothing to recommend it but the Authority of God.
Se6t. XV. From the Truth and Ayitlqiuty of Mofes. This alfo gives the greateft Credit imaginable to the Writings o^ Mofes^ in which thefe Miracles are recorded to Pofterity; that there was not only a fettled Opinion and conftant Tradition amongft: the Jezvs^ that this Mofes was appointed by the exprefs Command of God himfelf to be the Lea- der and Captain of this People •, but alfo becaufe (as is very evident) he did not make his own Glo- ry and Advantage his principal Aim, but He him- felf relates thofe Errors of his own, which He could have concealed; and delivered the Regal and Sacerdotal Dignity to others (permitting his own Pofterity to be reduced only to common Le- vites). All which plainly fhew, that he had no occafion to falfify in his Hiftory •, as the Style of it further evinces, it being free from that Varniili and Colour, which ufes to give Credit to Roman- ces j and is very natural andeafy, and agreeable to the Matter of which it treats. Moreover, another Argument for the undoubted Antiquity qf M?/^/s Writings, which no other Writings can pretend to, is this; That the Greeks (from whom all other Na- tions derived their Learning^ own, that they (c) had their Letters from Foreigioer^r:.!: which Letters {a) Without great Pam.kz.^ J^ ^ Whence t"h'e je^o; by the P/j/7c7 fay?, It was done ov///) Poets,.ar£. c-al led ^ropt, Cir- tery great Pain. cumcifed, Fore-flynned.^ [b) Was laughed at, kc ] (0 fi^'^ /^^^''- Letters, kc] The fame PLIIo fays, // ivas a Htyodotuf i,a hWTerpfuhore,{d:y?,, Ihivg laughed at by fvery Bo- ** Th^t}he Jgifmf.M^ ^^^^^ 24 Of the Truth of Book I.
of theirs, have the fame Order, Name {a) and Shape, as the Syriack or Hebrew: And further ftill, the moil antient {h) Attkk Laws, from whence the Roman ** Letters from the Ple^ftici- ** cia», (as they ought to be) *'■ anSf and ufed them, with *' from tht. Ph^lf»ici a n s hr'mg- *' very little variation; which '* ing them.into Greece,'''' He ** afterwards appearing, thoff caj[is thetn. *•' Letters, were called Phcsnt- 'the Vh.'sninan Charailen of Cadmns. And Calimochui.
Qadmiu, from 'whom the GreekSj, ^keir tfivitten Books dsrvve.