Select Observations Collected out of Several Authors, Century 5
THE Fifth Century.
1. NAture is principium Reſtitutivum, as well as Conſtitutivum. There is a Principle in Natural things to reſtore themſelves from any Corruption fallen upon them. As in Mans body Nature doth often heal it ſelf; and the Fruits of the Earth when dead in the Winter, reſtore themſelves in the Summer, and a Spring when it is muddied, it will purge it ſelf. And ſo Grace, or the Divine Nature is conflicting with Corruption, to reſtore the Soul to its Primitive Purity and rectitude: He that hath this Hope purifies himſelf, 1 Joh. 3.4.
2. The Limits that are in Effects are, becauſe they proceed from limited Cauſes; and therefore that which hath no Cauſe of Being can have no Limits of Being, as the Being of God. And could we ſuppoſe any Entity to give Being to it ſelf, it would not limit it ſelf either to Parts of Being or Period of Being; and therefore God having his Being of himſelf, muſt needs be an Univerſal and Eternal Being.
3. Though God is One, yet we cannot properly ſay he is One thing; as we cannot properly ſay that Whiteneſs is a white thing, or Heat is an hot thing, but that which maketh things hot and white: So God cannot be properly ſaid to be any one thing, but he that maketh all things, and giveth Being to all things.
4. As the Picture of a Man is not properly a Man, but the image or ſhadow of a Man, ſo all Creatures are rather the ſhadows and Images of Being than properly Being. So the Stoicks held nothing worthy the Name of Eſſence or Being which is not foreign, Independent, and ſelf-exiſting. And Plato calls God often foreign, a Real Being.
5. Impoſſibility of not Being cannot be found but in that which hath no Cauſe of Being.
6. The multitude of Viſible Beings is but the multiplyed ſhadow of Inviſible Unity.
7. If all things ſhould ceaſe to be, they might be reſtored again out of the Infinite fulneſs of Gods Being, without any diminution to his own Being, whoſe Eſſence is infinitis realitatibus foeta, pregnant with infinite Realities, as one ſpeaks.
8. Infinitum eſt extra quod nihil eſt: That is Infinite beyond which nothing can be imagin'd to be; whereas Ariſtotle's Infinity is only the Diviſion of Quantity, and the Duration of time, beyond which ſomething may be ſtill imagin'd to extend, and ſo is rather to be call'd Indefiniteneſs than Infinity. Carteſius.
9. Whatever God hath done by ſecond Cauſes, he can do it immediately by himſelf; as to preſerve mans Life without Bread, as Moſes was preſerved Forty dayes in the Mount; to heal diſeaſes without the uſe of Medicines; to make Wine without the help of a Vine, as our Saviour did by his divine Power. And what Nature doth gradually, creating Power doth in an inſtant.
10. God hath not only all the Perfections of the Creatures in himſelf, but infinitely more than they have in themſelves. So that he is more than a meer Univerſal, or Totum to all particular Beings, and created Perfections. He is call'd by Plutarch, foreign, the Ocean of Good. And the Sea is more than the Totum of all the Rivers that flow from it.
11. God was no where from Eternity but in his own Infinity: And not in an infinite ſpace, as ſome have imagined. If there was ſuch a ſpace, it muſt be created, and ſo not Eternal.
12. But rather as Tertullian ſpeaks, Ante omnia erat Deus, & erat ſibi tempus, & locus, & omnia. God was before all things, and was to himſelf Time, and Place, and All things.
13. Deus nuſquam eſt & ubique eſt, ſaith Bernard. He is no where as in a Place, but yet every where preſent.
14. God is All things and yet Nothing: I do not mean Abſolute Nothing, which neither can be Mother to that which is not, nor Nurſe to that which is; for he is All Being; But he is nothing of that which the Creature is, as finite, and paſſive, and dependant, &c. and his Perfections are not like thoſe in Creatures.
15. The Creatures Duration in being, is a continual receipt of Being from the firſt Being, as the Beam from the Sun. Plotin.
16. The Pleaſures of Life being tranſient, are begotten and dying every moment. And the Creatures enjoy them in a Succeſſion, and therefore ſtill deſire to be, becauſe they cannot poſſeſs them all at once. But God can acquire nothing by Succeſſion, nor have that to morrow which he hath not to day. Or loſe that to morrow which he hath to day. For his Eternity is, Interminabilis, & tota ſimul vitae poſſeſſio. Boetius. The Poſſeſſion of an Eternal Life all at once: Or we may call it A ſimultaneous Life.
17. Homo eſt terrae filius & nihili Nepos. The Son of the Earth, and the Grand-child of Nothing.
18. Some things in the World are apprehended by us as Contingent, others as Neceſſary, and God makes uſe both of Contingency and Neceſſity to accompliſh his own Counſels, wherein appears his incomprehenſible Wiſdom.
19. It is a true Obſervation of Epicurus, That Imbecillity in our ſelves is the uſual Cauſe of Pity towards others, as knowing we our ſelves are liable to the ſame diſtreſſes we ſee in others.
20. What inordinate Deſires the Devils had in their firſt Fall, probably continue with them ſtill, and becauſe they cannot be fulfilled, they torment them, and make the… miſerable. So it may be with the Souls o… wicked men in their future State.
21. Mota faciliùs moventur, is a Rule i… Philoſophy. Motions are eaſier continued tha… begun. But in Divinity, The ſame Powe… that begins, carries on the Soul towards Heaven.
22. As the Sun cannot ſend forth Darkneſs, ſo God cannot be the Author of Sin but by with-holding his Grace, as the Su… makes Darkneſs by withdrawing its Light.
23. As the Sun ſhining upon Chryſtal, make the Chryſtal to give light to other things; … thoſe that partake of Gods goodneſs a… Grace, will be doing good to others.
24. Whatever Moral goodneſs God requires of us, he hath all that eminently i… himſelf, as to love our Enemies, to perfor… our Promiſes, to pity thoſe that are in d… ſtreſs, &c.
25. Earthly things cannot ſatisfie the Se… ſes, much leſs the rational Soul. The Eye … not ſatisfied with ſeeing, nor the Ear with hearing, ſaith the Wiſe man.
26. Time is the Price of Eternity, an… therefore of great value: It may be redeemed, but not bought with a Price. The Gol… and Chryſtal cannot equal it.
27. Pythagoras hearing Pherecides diſcourſing of the Immortality of the Soul, it made him turn from being a Wreſtler in …e Olympian Games to be a Philoſopher. How much more ſhould the Preaching of the Goſpel reform men!
28. When Papilius the Roman, required Antiochus to remove his Army out of Egypt, ſeeing Antiochus delaying it, he made a Circle round about him with his ſtick, and told him he muſt give his Anſwer before he went out of that Circle. So we may make Peace with God while we are in the Circle of Time, but not afterwards.
29. The Lacedemonians were ſlow in inflicting Capital Puniſhments, becauſe Life is not recoverable: So much more is God patient with Sinners, not willing any ſhould periſh, and ſo paſt recovery.
30. Many men live as if the preſent World ſhould never end, and the future World never come.
31. Sometimes Dogs do follow a falſe ſcent, and loſe the Prey: So many having got the ſcent of Earthly things, are led aſide, and loſe the true prize.
32. The two Comparatives uſed by the Apoſtle, Phil. 1.23. foreign, rather, better, amounts to a Superlative. To be with Chriſt is beſt.
33. In Jeruſalem the Dung-gate ſtood fartheſt off from the Temple. We ſhould endeavour Purity in Gods Worſhip.
34. S…me of the wiſer Heathen ſaid, They worſhip… the Supreme God with the Interior Acts of the Mind, and the Inferior Deities with external Sacrifices only: So that they preferr'd the former before the latter.
35. If men are ſolicitous to have their mortal Bodies die a little later, which they know muſt die at laſt; how much more to have their Immortal Souls live for ever, believing their Immortality.
36. Ʋbi benè erit ſine Deo, ubi malè cum Deo? Bern. Where can a man be Well without God, and where Ill with God?
37. Many are ſo employ'd to ſeek after what they know not, that they do not practice what they know: And there is a certain Sweetneſs in Divine Knowledge, that is not taſted but in Practice.
38. If nothing is too hard for God, then nothing is too high for Faith: All things are poſſible to him that believeth, becauſe Nothing is impoſſible to God.
39. Gods Promiſes are the Life of Faith, and Faith gives Life to the Promiſes: They are as a full Veſſel, but Faith Pierceth the Veſſel, and draws them forth. Faith believes the Truth of them, and then God ſends forth his Truth in fulfilling them.
40. To walk according to the Goſpel is to walk according to the Precepts and Rules of it. 2. To walk in the Spirit of the New Teſtament. 3. To make Chriſt our Pattern. 4. To be acted by Goſpel Motives and Arguments. As the Love of Chriſt, Hope of Heaven, Relation to God as a Father, &c. Dr. Bates.
41. Homo eſt omnium animalium foreign, ſaith Jamblicus. Of all living Creatures man is moſt prone to Imitation. And therefore Examples are ſo prevalent upon Humane Nature.
42. Pherecides made a Circle to be a Symbol or Repreſentation of God; and therefore Pythagoras taught his Scholars to worſhip God with a Circular motion of their Bodies. And ſo Numa Pompilius gave this Rule, Ʋt priuſquam aliquis coleret verteret ſe in Orbem. That before any man worſhipt God, he ſhould turn his Body round; which was to repreſent God's Eternity.
43. I find this excellent paſſage in Mr. Gale's Idea Theologiae. In Deo omne imperfectum eſt perfectiſſimum, omnis compoſitio ſimplicitas, omnis di…erſitas Idemitas, omnis alteritas unitas, omnis…oſſibilitas Inſinitus actus, omnis motus quies. What good is imperfect in the Creature, is in its greateſt Perfection in God; what is compounded in the Creature, is in God without Compoſition; what is divers in the Creature, is one thing in God: Alterity is Unity. All that is in potentiâ, or Poſſibility in the Creature, is a pure and Infinite Act in God. And what is in the Creature by way of motion, is in God in a way of Reſt.
44. I have read of a certain Perſian Embaſſador, who worſhipt the Sun, and to diſſemble his Idolatry, would ſay, Soli Deo gloria; which may be rendred in a double ſence, Glory to God the Sun, or Glory to God alone: And I have read of ſome of theſe Sun-worſhippers, that they would revel in the night when the Sun was down, and thought their God did not ſee them.
45. An Heathen Poet tells us, how he pray'd to Jupiter his god, That he would deny him what he askt, if it was not for his good; and beſtow what he askt not, if i… was for his good.
foreign
foreign.
46. The Apoſtle tells us, that we are juſtified foreign, but not foreign propser fidem. Juſtified by Faith, but not becauſe of Faith.
47. What a man ſuffers in his Purſe ma… be reſtored, but not what he ſuffered in hi… Perſon. And therefore Chriſt was certain … the enjoying the Fruit of his ſuffering, he ſuffering in his Perſon.
48. Two things eſpecially ariſe from Sin, Fear and Shame, as was ſeen in our firſt Parents. Fear ariſeth from the Guilt of Sin, and Shame from the Filth of it.
49. The Law being made with Man in his State of Integrity, doth in it ſelf ſtill require Obedience with that frame of Soul as Man had in that State. And therefore is not fulſilled only by external Acts of Obedience, as ſome have ſaid; and that by the Righteouſneſs of the Law the Apoſtle means no more. And the New Covenant is accommodated to man in his weak and fall'n Eſtate. And there had been no Grace in the New Covenant, if God might not in Juſtice have held man to the terms of the firſt Covenant.
50. The Greek words uſed by the Apoſtle, Rom. 8.3. foreign, which we render for ſin, ſhould be rendred, a Sacrifice for ſin: So the Seventy uſe the words in many places, as in Lev. 4.3, &c. whence it's probable the Apoſtle took the Phraſe.
51. There were certain Offerings in the Ceremonial Law, which the Rabbins call gnolch vejored, aſcending and deſcending; where a leſſer was accepted, if there was not ability for the greater. As a pair of Turtle Doves inſtead of a Lamb where the Perſon was poor.
52. If God loved the World ſo as to fend his Son, what need he die to reconcile the World, ſay the Socinians ignorantly enough? For God will have his love run forth in ſuch a way as may be to the Honour of his Juſtice. Gods Love and Chriſts Propitiation are put together by the Apoſtle, 1 Joh. 4.10.
53. The Apoſtle ſaith, Pray continually. As the Morning and Evening Sacrifice is call'd, The continual Burnt-Offering. Numb. 29.11.
54. The Hiſtorian, ſaith of Charles the 5th. that he was ſo much converſant with God in his private Devotions, and ſo little with men, that he did, Soepius cum Deo quan cum hominibus loqui. Speak oftner with God than men.
55. Prayer hinders not buſineſs; Alms-deeds never impoveriſh, nor unjuſt gain enrich. Three good Proverbs.
56. There was a Grate upon the Altar of Burnt-Offering, that the Aſhes might paſs through, and the Fire burn the clearer. Which may teach us Fervency and Purity it our Serving of God.
57. It's ſaid of one Du Verger Abbot of S. Cyran, that he laboured as much not to ſeem Eminent as to be ſo.
58. Dulcia non meruit qui non guſtavit amara, is an old Proverb. He deſerves not ſweet whonever taſted of bitter.
59. Scriptura quò magis legitur, eò magis dulceſcit. Baſil. The more the Scripture is read, the ſweeter it is.
60. Multò honeſtius eſt à veritate vinci quam Erroris trtumphos agere. Dr. Tully. It is more honourable to be Conquered by Truth than to triumph in Error.
61. A natural Cannot will excuſe a man, but not a Moral. As a man that hath Power to do this and that good, and yet cannot obtain of himſelf to be willing to do it; as to give Alms to the Poor, to help a man in diſtreſs, to hear the Word, this is a moral Cannot.
62. The Impotency that is come upon Man …y the Fall, is eſpecially in his Will: If he was able truly to will that which is good, he would know more, and live better. If men …ave no power to come to Chriſt except the Father draw them, it is becauſe they have …ot power to be willing. And the defect in …ans Obedience ariſeth from the defect of his Will. And even in the regenerate the Will …s ſanctified but in part, and ſo commands …ot with that ſtrength in the Soul as elſe it …ould do. Non ex toto imperat quia non ex …to vult, as Auguſtin ſpeaks concerning the Will. And when the Apoſtle Paul ſaith, To …ill is preſent with me, but how to do, I find not, … was chiefly becauſe his Will was ſanctified …ut in part.
63. The Law condemns men for every cannot in our Duty, but the Goſpel for our Wi… not. And mans Conſcience doth not condem… a man for his Natural but his Moral cannot, which is the ſame with his will not. Mr. Truman.
64. There is both a good and an evil cannot. A good cannot, as in Joſeph, How can … do this Wickedneſs? and in the Apoſtle Paul, We can do nothing againſt the Truth, but for th… Truth. And an evil cannot, when a man cannot do good, and cannot but do that which is evil. Can a Black-moor change his skin, Jer. 13.23.
65. No man can be confuted of Error, but by ſome Truth that he holds contrary to it.
66. The Heathen were careful to preſerw the Myſteries of their Religion, wherein they worſhipt their Gods, from Prophanation: An… therefore appointed a Cryer to proclaim t… the People, foreign. Holy things are fo… holy Perſons. And foreign. Pr… cul hinc, procul ite prophani. Let prophane Perſons be gone. Although their gods were br… Idols, and their Myſteries the Inventions o… men. How much more ſhould the Myſterie… of the true Religion, in the Worſhip of th… true God, and of his own Inſtitution, be kep… ſacred.
67. The Platoniſts ſay of the Soul of Man that it had loſt its wings, which they call foreign, whereby it is fallen down to the Earth. And Plato repreſents the preſent ſtate of the Soul, to a man fallen into a ſubterraneous Cave, with his Back towards a Light ſet up behind him, and ſo bound, that he cannot turn his Face to the Light, whereby he ſees only the Shadows of things before him, and takes them for Subſtances.
68. De nihilo nihil, in nihilum nil poſſe reverti; was a famous Axiom among the old Philoſophers: Nothing can come out of nothing, and nothing can turn to nothing.
69. The Philoſophers that held the Souls Immortality did generally hold its praeexiſtence: And that neither the Souls of Men or Beaſts are generated or corrupted, but were all educed out of the firſt matter, in the beginning of the Creation, and paſs'd out of one body into another.
70. And ſome of them held the World to be a wiſe underſtanding Animal, that Order'd and govern'd it ſelf after the beſt Manner: And this they call'd God. And that the Chaos out of which this World was made, was the ruins of a preceding World.
71. The Epicurean Atheiſts argued againſt a Supreme Deity making the World, becauſe they ſaid, there were many Faults and Defects in the Creation. As Lucretius ſaith, Nequaquam nobis divinitùs eſſe paratam Naturam rerum, tantâ ſtat praedita Culpâ. That Nature was not framed by a divine hand, it is ſo ful… of Faults: And they inſtance in poyſonous Herbs and hurtfull Beaſts, and that a part of the World is not habitable. Whereby they manifeſted their Ignorance and Arrogance both together.
72. Yet theſe Philoſophers held a multiplicity of aethereal gods; and that they concerned not themſelves with Mankind; and that their Happineſs lay in Omnium vocat tone munerum, in a Freedom from all charge of Buſineſs; as Judging it inconſiſtent with the Happineſs of a Deity to be Curioſus rerum Inſpector, and Negotii plenus, to be a curious Inſpector, and full of Buſineſs.
73. They ſaid, that this notion of a Deity was injurious to Civil Government, by ſetting up a Fear of God in mens Minds above the Fear of Princes. And ſo Hobbs. And it enſlaved and debaſed men. As the Epicurean Poet tells us of them who affirm any Deity ruling the World,
Efficiunt animos humiles formidine Divûm,
Depreſſoſque premunt ad terram.
They debaſe and depreſs mens Minds by the Fear of a Deity, and ſo deſerved ill of Mankind.
74. Ariſtotle ſaid of Anaxagoras, That he would never acknowledge, that things were acted and moved by an Eternal Mind, but when he could find out no other Cauſe to impute things to, which forc'd him to acknowledge a Deity.
75. The Philoſophers ſpeak much of Plaſtick Nature, the forming Vertue that is in Nature, which, they ſay, is as if the Stones and Timber had in themſelves the Art of the Artificer to frame themſelves into an Houſe. And we acknowledge with them ſuch a Plaſtick Nature, if they ſet it not up as God: Whom we muſt acknowledge to be above Nature, and that Natura naturans, that giveth motion and Laws to Nature. And therefore Ariſtotle doth well in joyning foreign and foreign together, a Mind working with Nature.
76. Thoſe Philoſophers that made things ſuperiour, as the Heavens, the Souls of men, and their very gods alſo, ſuch as they were, to be formed out of Corporeal matter, they Invert the Syſtem of the Univerſe, ſaith Dr. Cudworth; who treats largely of things of this Nature in his Intellectual Syſtem.
77. It was a pretty Notion of ſome of the Heathen, that Love and Chaos were the firſt Principles of all things. Chaos was the matter, and Love formed All things out of it. And that Jupiter was turn'd all into Love when he made the World. Pherecides Syrus. The Creation ſprang from Infinite Goodneſs and Love, and all the Good of it is but the Heat of this Infinite eternal Fire of Love. Baxter.
78. Plato ſpeaks more diſtinctly and truly, That infinite Goodneſs, infinite Wiſdom, and infinite active Power were the three Archical hypoſtaſes, as he calls them, that produced All things. And much more truly, than the Valentinians in their notion of 30 Aeons ſpringing from one Supreme Being, whom they ſtyled Bythos, or Bathos, which ſignifies Depth, by whom all things were made.
79. The Manichees, the Marcionites, and the Perſian Magi, they all held two Supreme Principles in the Univerſe. And that all Good did ſpring from One, and all Evil from the other, and were ſtill oppoſing one another; but the good Principle was predominant. And Plutarch calls them foreign, of two contrary Trades: Others ſaid, That Evil ſprang from the imperfection of the firſt matter out of which all things came.
80. Socrates affirming the Heathen Deities to be no Gods, the Athenians thought he denyed a Deity; and put him to death. And they baniſht Protagoras, and burnt his Book for one paſſage in it; I have nothing to ſay concerning the Gods, whether they be, or be not: which ſhew'd how forcible the belief of a Deity was upon their Minds.
81. But Plato ſaid truly, that in every Age there were ſome ſick of the Atheiſtick Diſeaſe, and therefore there were Atheiſts before Democritus or Leucippus. And there is too much of this Diſeaſe in our preſent Age. And ſome endeavour to be Atheiſts, ſaid Plato, that they may be more Vicious; and ſome that they may be thought wiſer than the reſt of Mankind, who all generally own a Deity.
82. Empedocles ſaith of the Souls of Men in their preſent State, that they are foreign. Wanderers, Strangers, and Fugitives from God. A ſad State.
83. Celſus ſtyles his Book againſt Chriſt, foreign: And Hierocles wrote a Book againſt Chriſtianity, and call'd it foreign, A Lover of Truth. How often do we find ſpecious Titles to wicked Books.
84. Some Philoſophers call'd the World, Deum explicatum, God unfolded; and the Creatures, radios deitatis, the Beams of the Godhead. And the Idea's of all things are in God, ſaith Orpheus, and he is Sun, Moon and Stars, and all things upon that Account. And the ſeveral Gods they Worſhipt were but to ſet forth the ſame God in the univerſality of his Dominion, and in the ſeveral Perfections of his Being; as Minerva, which ſignifies his Wiſdom, and Hercules his Strength, and Neptune his Dominion over the Sea, and Juno over the Air, and Ceres over Corn, Bacchus over Wine, and Vulcan over Fire, and Mars over War, &c. As the ſame Object in a Polyedrous glaſs appears manifold, ſo the ſame God was variouſly repreſented by them. But they might have done all this prudentiore compendio, in a more wiſe Compendium, in ſerving one God, ſaith Auſtin.
85. The Jews out of their Enmity againſt Chriſt ſought to Eclipſe the glory of his Miracles, the Truth whereof they could not deny: And ſometimes they ſaid he had a Devil, and wrought them by his Power; and again, that he learned the right pronunciation of the Name Jehova, which they called Nomen Tetragammaton, and wore it upon his Thigh, and by Virtue of that did work Miracles: As they fabled, That the Name Jehovah was written upon Moſes his Rod, by which he wrought ſo many Miracles. And the Heathen boaſted of their Apollonius Tianeus, that he did as great Miracles as our Saviour did: Whereas this Apolonius was a known Magician and Impoſtor.
86. Though the Devil is a Liar from the beginning, yet hath ſometimes ſpoken truth. He made a true Confeſſion of Chriſt, That he was the Son of the living God: And when one was ſent to the Clarian Oracle, to know who of the Gods was Supream? The Devil anſwered in the Oracle, according to truth: foreign. That is, Declare Jehovah to be the Supream God; for he is meant by Jao. Macrobious. But in this God over-ruled the Devil.
87. The Egyptians had an Opinion, That the Souls of Evil Men at death paſs'd into the Bodies of Brute Beaſts; but of Good Men, into Celeſtial Bodies. But was it not a better Opinion of the Indian Brachmans, aſſerting, foreign: That Death is a Birth into a true Life: which is Life indeed.
88. Theſe Egyptians alſo put the Image of Sphinx at their Temple-door; which was made partly in the form of a Man, and partly of a Lion; who gave his Anſwers in Riddles. Which either ſhewed that there were hidden Myſteries in their Religion, not to be ſearch'd into: Or that their Gods which they worſhipped, were to be both lov'd and fear'd, ſignified by the Man and Lion.
89. And upon the Temple of Sais, in Egypt, there was this ſtrange Inſcription, foreign. That is, I am all that hath been, is, and ſhall be, and no mortal Man ever took off my bleneſs, the Univerſality, and Eternity of the Being of God. And the Altar they dedicated to Iſis the Goddeſs, had this Inſcription, Tibi una, quae es omnia: O thou that art One and All things, to thee is this Altar.
90. Plato gives an account of Socrates his Prayer; one part whereof was, That his External Condition may be ſuch as may be moſt ſuitable to a good mind.
91. Plutarch tells a ſtrange ſtory, often quoted by other Authors, That in the times of Tiberius, when Chriſt died, certain Mariners, as they ſailed, heard a voice from ſhore, bidding them, when they came to a place call'd Palodes, to cry, foreign, The grea… Pan is dead: Which they did, and there was heard a great howling of Devils: As knowing the death of Chriſt would deſtroy their Kingdom. By which Pan is meant Chriſt.
92. The Egyptians Hieroglyphick of God, was a winged Globe, and a Serpent coming out of it. The Globe to ſignifie his Eternity; the Wings, his active Power through the …niverſe, and the Serpent, his Wiſdom. And they call'd the firſt Principle of all things, foreign: unknown darkneſs. As the Altar at Athens had this Inſcription, To the unknown God, Act. 17.23.
93. In Furipides there are theſe devotional Verſes, which in Engliſh run thus:
Thou ſelf-ſprung Being that doſt all infold,
And in thine Arms Heavens whirling Fabrick hold;
Who art encircled with reſplendent Light,
And yet lyeſt mantled o're in ſhady night:
About whom the exultant ſtarry Fires
Dance nimbly round in everlaſting Gyres.
94. Heraclitus held both the Pre-exiſtence and Immortality of Souls; as appears by his ſaying thus, My Soul is looking out at the Crannies of my Body, as its Priſon, towards its native Region, from whence it deſcended. And ſpeaking of his Labours, ſaith he, I have had my labours as Hercules; for I have conquered the Riches, Honours and Pleaſures of the World; I have conquer'd Flattery, Cowardice, Grief, Anger, Fear, and am now Maſter of my ſelf.
95. When one Ariſtodemus ſaid, If God be ſo magnificent and glorious a Being, he needs not any Worſhip and Service. Socrates replied, Seeing God is ſuch a Being, you have more need to adore and worſhip him.
96. Diogenes ſeeing a Woman very devout toward an Image that was before her, adviſed her not to carry it unſeemly to the God that was behind her; meaning the true God, who is every where.
97. Plato ſpeaks of a foreign, that was the foreign, or Maker of the World, as St. John doth, John 1.1, 2, 3.
98. Epictetus tells us, Every Man is ſent to act ſome part in the World, ſome to act the part of Poor Men, others of Rich Men; ſome of Publick, others of Private Men; ſome of Free Men, others of Bond Men: But ſaith he to God, Lead me whither thou wilt, let me act what part thou wilt, if thou wilt enable me to act it well.
99. If the Finite Mind of Man can take care of the things concerning himſelf; ſo an Infinite Mind can take care of the whole Univerſe.
100. Though the Perſians worſhip'd the Sun and Fire, yet it appears by Cyrus his Proclamation, who was a Perſian, That they owned One Supream God, Ezra 1. ver. 2. Some Creatures the Heathen worſhip'd as God's Miniſters or Servants; others, as bearing ſome likeneſs of God upon them; others, as Memorials of him; thinking the Honour they gave to them would reflect upon God himſelf, and be acceptable to him. So that they owned a Supream Deity, and did not terminate their worſhip in Creatures or Images; yet notwithſtanding are by the Apoſtle charged with Idolatry and Folly, Rom. 1. Let the Roman-Catholicks conſider this in their Image-Worſhip.