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A N T I E N T

METAPHYSICS.

VOLUME FIFTH.

CONTAINING THE

HISTORY OF MAN,

IN THE

CIVILIZED STATE.

EDINBURGH:

JRINTED FOR BELL & BRADFUTE; & T. CADE^^L, JUN. & W. DAVXES, (SUCCESSORS TO

T. CACELL) in the strand, LONDON,

M,DCC,XCVH.

tli

CONTENTS.

BOOK I.

•I

Gompanfon of the Natural and Civilifed States of Man, with Ref-
ped to his Body and Animal Life.

C H A P I.

The progrefs of Man from the Natural Life to the Civilifed, the greateft that he has
undergone. — The difference, therefore, betwixt thofe two Lives to be carefully at-
tended to. — A progrefs of Man in the Matural State as well as in the Civilil'ed. At

firft he is a mere 4>nimil, with only the capacity of Intelle£t. — Hr is then not focial
but fliuns the Societv of other Men — This the cafe of a folitary Savage lately feen
in the Pyrenees — The reafon of this is, th^t it is the ufe of Intellect which Hiakes a
man Social. — The next ftep. in the Natural L-.fe, was Herding But (till me--- con-
tinued to feed upon the natural fruits of the earth, — though, by the nectffirles of
life, they may have been compelled fo kill beafts and catch filh. — i3ut they had no
art of Hunting or Fifhing.— In this ftate of the Natural Life is the Ourang Ojcang.
— He lives entirely upon the Natural Fruits of the Earth — is how;;ver very big and
ftrong. — The moft remarkable people living in the Natural State, are the people of
the Ladrone iflmds — A particular account of them given by Martini rre in his Dic-
tion iry, taken from a hiftory of them written by Father Gaubin a healthy long

lived people— and of great lize and llrength of body, — Another people living in the

natural way, are the inhabitants of North Van Diemens Lmd in N.- v HjilanJ

Tl-ey are the moft indigent people that have yet been difcovered. The Earth pro-
duces no fruit that Man can live upon. — They live therefore upon (hell- fi h, that
they gather upon the fands or in creeks and bays at 'low w.iter. — Th.-y hv/^ no ha-
bitations but in the trunks of trees, which they holiovv, and matces lirei m them lor

a 2 r?afling,

CONTENTS.

roAfting their nfli. — Though fo Indigent they are a very honeft people. — The peo-
ple of Italy, when Safirn came among them, h\ed in the fime manner. — Oi a Man
of Norfolk, known by the rame of the Norfolk Mot who was dire£led by Inftinft to
live in the natural ^way, without Clothes or Houfe.— The pure Natural Life to be
feen only in the Brutes. — They are guided only by Inltinft, not by Intellii^ence ;
though they perform wonderful works for the prelervation of the individual and the
continuation of the kind.-^If Man had been directed in the fame w. y to provide for
the necelTaries of Lite, his inttlk(fl never could have been cultivated, nor Arts and
Sciences invented. — The progrefs of his intcUefl in finding out. firft, the moft ne-
ceflary Arts of Life, then other Arts and Sciences, and fo advanc'oR in his progrefs
towards regaining his former (late. — The wildom and goodnefs of God in this mat-
ter to be much admired, p. I.

CHAP. IL

Of the Civilifed Life of Man— altogether different from his Natural Life. — To be in-
qu red, which of them is molt conducive to the well-being of the Animal Life. —
The Life of the Brute, who lives the pure Animal Life, compared with the Civilifed
Life, and fhown to be more pertedl than the Animal Life of Man in his Civilifed

State. The wiidom and goodnefs of God have ufTigned for every Animal the life

nioft proper for it The Brute enjoys that life, — and is not liable to any difeafe —

not even the plagues produced by a contagion of the air. — The nearer Man comes to
this Natural Life, the healthier, and ilronger, and longer-lived he is. — This proved
by fa(ft as well as reafon ; particularly by the example of the People of the Ladrone
Iflands, — alfo by the example of the Californians, inhabiting the north weft coaft of
America ; — and of the Canbbs inhabiting the Antilles in the Weft Indies j — and,
laftly, by the example ot the Antedeluvian Patriarchs. — The People of the Pelew
Iflands and of New Zealand, though living lei's in the Natural Life, ftill preferve
their health. P- »!•

CHAP. m.

Of the difference betwixt the Natural and Civilifed Life, — The chief articles are Hnufes,
Clothes, the ufe ot Fire, Flefli i)iet, and Strong Liquors. — Of Houles : — Tht-y of
lattr mvcntion ; the firft covering from the weather being Woods, Koiks, or Caves.

Another covering from the weather, ufed by the Rich and Luxurious, viz. Car-

^iagrs. — Clothes a clofTer confinement than Houfes. — Of air, and our intimate con-
nedtion with it, as we live in it and by it — Of the air we take in by our Mouth, Nof-
trils, and alio by our Skin. — Ot what we throw out by our Skin, that is by perfpi-

ration ; —

CONTENTS.

ration •, — and of the necefllty of taking tint in again, as the Skin muft take in as
well as throw out. — To prevent this mifchief the Greeks and Konaus uled the Warni
h^th — This became a piece ot luxury amoni» the 'iomacis. — The ligyptians ufc! ^he
cold bath, which was better than ihc warm; ind they led it tour times in 24 liours.
—Of Anointing ami Frirtion ufed by the Greeks and R m.inb, and the benefit tlit^ie-
of. — Of" the air we rake in by our bodies. -^Tli t fhoui<l be pure air — not air touled
by the cxnalations of our bodies. — ! he advantage the Greeks and Romans had by
performing their exerciles naked, and the Egyptians by firip;-;^ and bathing l"o of-
ten— Of what we fufFer by living in a manner quite different. — G eat attention given
to the relloration of health in Britam — not luffiLitnt to the preftrvation of it. — The
conlequence of the neglf(ff of that in lome parts of tb-:: Highlands of Scotla:id. —
What would prevent thele bad confequences, is the conitant ufe ot the cold tiaih —
For which purpofe baths fliould be ercded in different d.ftri^s, fuch as they have
in the South of France. P 17.

CHAP. IV.

The Diet in the Civilifed Life much more unwholefome than that in the Natural. —
The reafon for which is, that it is of more difficult digeftion — And. firfl, as to the
food of Fiefli, — of more difficult digei^ion than Vegetables. — Fermented Liquors not
a wholefome drink — That both eating Flelh and drinking Itrong Liquors are un-
wholefome, proved by Health being recovered when Men abffain from them. — That
eating- Flefh and drinking Strong Liquors, do not give .Strength, proved by the ex-
ample of tlie People of the Ladrone Iflmds, and of the Porters of BalTora. — Of the
manner of living of the Antient Egyptians, as to eaticig Flelh and drinking Wine —
moderate in both, — but they knew that the Civilifed L'fe, however managed, was
not favourable to Health. — Therefore they took Phvfic to prevent Difeafes, — and
had Doctors for every Difeafe. — Of the Indians, and their manner of living. — They
ear only of the Animals they Sacrifice — drink no Sfroni> Liquors — Bathe and Anoint,
yet are fliorter- lived than we, though lefs Oifeafed, — diminished too, in the fize of
their bodies — The Greeks and Romans preferved their Health by exerciling naked
in the air. — The Romans too, bv Iwimming which was a necelTary part of Educa-
tion among them. — The exercifes of the Greeks, in their Palselfras, too violent j
and the Diet of the Athlets very unnatural. — Thefe exercifes not pra^ifed by the
Egyptians. — Agriculture tlve molt healthy of all occupations. — This pradlifed molt
fuccefsfully by the Romans in the early ages of their State. — What they learned by
the pra£tice of A'^riculture, of great ufe to them in their military ooerations. — Of
the advantage tti^ Ci.ifCcnl Scholar may reap bv learning a better way of living Mian
any prafliled in Europe at prefent, from the example of Antient Nations. — Three

Antient

CONTENTS.

Antient Nations mentioned, the Egyptian, the Gr-ecian, and the Roman. — Thr
Egyp;ian, the moll Antient and Wilelt Nation in the W-'dd. — Governed by Reli-
gion and Philofophy. — Their Nation lalleJ longer than any other Nation, and died
at lad a violent death, that i^, by Conqueft. — Their Families alfo lafted longer than
the Families of any other Country, — zs it appCcirs from the age of the Family of the
High Prleft of Jujjiter in Thebes. — Of their manner of livmg. — They indulged in.
the pleafutes of the Table to a certain degree, — did not practice the Athletic exer-
cifes of the Greeks, bat preferved their healths by bathing in cold water, — and by

violent phyficing every month The reafon they gave for this practice, a good

one — Their bathing in cold water may be praftifed by us, and is pradlifed by the
People of Oitaheite. — Phyfic too, taken to a certain degree, proper for preferving
our Health. — It was fo taken by the People of Rank, in France, 30 y^ars ago — In
fo variable a Climate as ours, air and cxercife abfolutely necelTiry. — The viciffitudes
of Weather and Climate, the Egyptians faiJ were the chief caufes of Difeafes. — In
other Climates, as well as ours, great viciflitudes of Weather, as in the South of
France, in Italy, and in South Carolina in North America, — The Health of Man,
therefore, not to be preferved in any Country, except Egypt, without exercife in the
open air. — Among the Greeks, two Arts relating to the Human Body pradiled, the
Gymnaft.c and Medicinal. — The Gymnaftic pradlifeil naked, and not only for pre-
ferving Health, but for (ur'ng Difeafes, — Thefc exerciies produced what they called
«t/s|'«» ^r t^Je good order 0/ their Bodies. — Tney gave itrength to the Mmd as well as to
the Body : — Exercifes fliould be praftifed in Britain as much as they were formerly.
— They made the Greeks enjoy very much all the plealures of the Table, particular-
ly Drinking The Ro^nan pleafures of the Table confifted chiefly in eating. — Of

the Roman exercife. — In the days of A'lgullus thfy had Paiaeltras luch as the
Greeks, — praflifed Swimming much more than the Greeks — f his a good exercife
both for Health and for Sleep. — Of the Antient IVlanner of living among the Ro-
mans.— Their ruftic Tribes lived in the Country, and came to town only occafionaily,
— cuUivated their lands with their own hands. — The Romans diltinguiflied from all
Civilifed N?tions, of Antient Times, by their application to Agriculture, — and refcm-
bling more the Antient Heroes of Greece. — Of the manner of living of the Spartans
— quite ditferent from that of the R.omans in the firit ages of their State. — They had
lupplied to them not only the neceffiries of life, but the luxuries, by the labour of
others — yet by the regulation of their Diet, and by their Athletic lixercifes, the Peo-
pl were kept Virtuou?, and their State lalted 700 year.-«. — Of their fuperiority in
Ciois fight, even to the Romans j — but the Rouan manner of living, upni the wnole,
better, — particularly as to the prefervat'on of Health, and the num hts of Men. —
Tiiefe decrealid wonderfully among the Spirtans, but increafed very aiuch among
x\\c komaiis. — A reformation of our manner of living may be got, by the ftuuy of

the

CONTENTS.

the manners of the three Nations above mentioned : — Such a rcformatlcn of the
greatert conlequencc for the preiifrvation of our People, and p.irticul'.rly ot our No-
bility and Gentry.— What is to be imitated of the Egyptian manner of livinr.— Tiie
Greek exercifes, though not fo necelTary in War as it is now carried on, are proper
for working ofFour full diet, and rej airing the degeneracy oi the Flumaii Body, pro-
duced by the change of the fyftcm of War — Of the difule of txerciles in Britain,
both among the better fort and the lower. — The ufe of the Greek Regimen, of
Bathing, Anointing, and Fridion, abfolutcly nectfTiry for pref.^rving IleaUh —
Fridlion, without Anointing, may do harm — Tht^ Greek pr::ftice of being n.-ikeJ,
and exercihng naked, contributes very much to Health, — An example ot that in our
own times given. — Of the Roman method of joining Military exerciles with Agri-
culture — This ought to be praflifed in Britain. — The Farms ought to he Imall i;i
Britain as among the Romans, — no great Villages or Towns can make amends fo/
the defolation of the Country by great Farms. — The confequcnce of fmall Farms

among the Romans, as to their Population and rhe Recruiting of their Armies.

After the manners of Rome were ccnupted by Afiatic wealth, it was the Greek
Philofophy that preferved any virtue among them — That Philofophy is wanting
among us; and the queftion is, Whetlier it can be fupplied by other things which
we have ? — But it is certain that our Heahh cannot be prelerved withuut thofe Arts
by which the Antient Nations preferved their Health. — Our hours of E iting, Drink-
ing, and Sleeping, ought to be reformed, and pradifed as they were among the Ro-
mans.— The reformation of our manner of living, of the utmoft importance for pre-
ferving the Health, the Morals, and the Numbers, of the People. — This reiorma-
tion may be brought about by the People of rank fetting an example, and making it
the Falhion. — Fafhion prevails among the vulgar as well as among the better lort. —
Bathing, Friction, and Anointing, might in that way be brought into Fafliion among
the lower fort of People, and alfo wearing fewer Clothes, and not (waddling and
wrapping up their Children. — Of the Diet of the lower fort of People, and particu-
larly of their Drinking Spirits — That ought to be abolifhed altogether, or at leafl
very much reftraincd. — Of the o-vo-jitix in Sparta, by which the Diet of the Peoplj

was regulated. — Something of that kind praiStifed aboard our Ships of War The

efFe£t of it remarkably feen in Captain Cook's Voyages, where, if the Men had been
allowed to live as they would have chofen to do, they never would have brought
home the Ship.— If fuch regulation of Diet was made general in Britain, what a fav-
ing there would be of Men ? — Thefe regulations the more neceflary, that the Peo«
pit are employed in Arts the moft deftru6live of Men ; — and not only they, but their
Children. — This makes the conlumption of Children wonderful. p. 23.

BOOK

CONTENTS.

BOOK II.

Of the Difference of the Minds of Men in the Natural and Civllifed

States.

CHAP. I.

In the preceding Book, the difference is (hown betwixt the' Natural and Civilifed Life,
wi.'h re<p. £1 to .he Body ; — alio the difference betwixt our M inner of Living, and
th-^t of the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans ; — and how much more excellent their
^^Tanrier of Living was than ours. — The greatcft attention Ihould be given to health,
as it is the greatell bleffing in Life.— Without Healrh, Arts and Sciences, Religion
and Philolophy, cannot be cultivated. — If Men, in antient times, had been as dilcaf-
ed ^Tid Ihort lived as we, few Sciences could have been invented. — Of the difference
betwixt the Minds of Men in the Natural and Civilifed States. — That difference
makes the chief difference betwixt the two States — After the neceffary Arts of Life
•were invented, the Arts of Eafe, Convenience, and Pleafure, were invented. — Thefe
produced many bodily appetites, and many paffion? of ttie Mind, — the piffion for
Money p.irticularly. — This peculiar to the Civilifed Life; — more lafting than any
other paflion, — infinite and infatiable : — It produces more Crimes, more Wars, and
greater dcftru£lion of Mankind, than all our other paflions, — not eafy to fay whe-
ther the atquifition or the enjoyment of it produces moft mifchief — The invention
of Coin was by the Lydians — a curious, if not an ufcful invention — eaflly carried
about, tind furnifliing evtry thiing we caii w fh for to gratify our appetites and de-
fines The greaieft mifchief produced by Money is War — All the great Conquefts

in .inticnt times, of Affyriuns, Medes, &c. were for the fake of Money as much as
from ambition. — A Modern War very near as deftrudtive as all the Atitient Wars
put together ; — it is the War of the Spaniards againlt the Inhabitants of the New
difcovered World. — The account of this War contained in a Book written by Las
Cafas Bifliop ot Sciappo in Mexico : — This Bifi-iop hr.d an opportunity of being very
well informed, nor cnly by what he faw liiti felf, but by what he learned from others
whom he n.imes — Fifty Millions, according to him, deflroyed in Peru, Mexico, and
the Weft India Ifl-i ds. — The deftruflion began in thefe Iflands. — In fifty of thofe
Iflands, the Native: rcmainiiig were counted, and found to be only elevtn. — The de-

folation

CONTENTS.

folation confirmed — Charlevoix*s account of Las wafiis w 'rk. reduces the number
dellroyed to fifteen Millions^ — But no reafou to believe that Las Cafas H-..ui:l w Jliiig.
ly aver a falfehood. — Phis proved by che charitter of h^m given by Charlevoix ; —
m.iy have exHgt;erated as to the iiuiiibers deflroyed by the Spaniar^b, bu; tiOi as to
the number of the human race at that tioie. — Charlevoix, by ihe account he has
given of tiR del^rudlion made by the Spaniards* in one Ifl^nd iho vs ih^it he hiS fallen
much llir.rt ot the num^erb deltroyed by th m in the whole — l''urther accounts g'v«rn
by Charifvoix. — Of the Depopulation of America by the Spa.. >.;ds, — md ihe :. U
tie:^ they cxtrc fed upon the Indians,— One horrible inltance of tucrir cru it) of
which L.iS Cafas »vas an eye witnefs —The Lidians put the .. leaves to death to -i n.!
th^-'le truciiie*-.— rhe Spaniards, having depopulatec! Hiip.: lola in this way, bro ;?ht
otUt.T Indiatis mto it, of whom they made (laves. — Tl)py realon ot vhe S aniard' d'C-
troying, in America, i'o many more than any other Conquerors we read of in liif.
tory was, that their motive was avarice^ the mo:t cruel and infatiable of all paflions.
— Tnere can be no doubc, therefore, of the truth of what our Scripture tells us,
That the Love of Money is the root of all evil. — It makes Civilifed Men more bar-
barous than any Savages. — The Spaniards employed above 80,000 Indians to work
in their Mines. — They faid they were no better than Brutes, and that they could
not make Ghrillians of them. — The avarice of the Spaniards made them forre the
Indians to dive for Pearls— which confumed prodigious numbers of them. — Difeafes
which the Spaniards introduced among them, luch as the fmall-pox, alfo deitroyed
great numbers of them. — All thefe things confidered. Las Cafas has not fo much
exceeded the truth as Charlevoix has fallen Ihort of it. — Rejfons why the Author
has infilled fo much upon this dclblation of the Earth by the Spaniards. — Other ex-
amples of War produced oy Money — kW Wars, fince the Peace of Utrecht, in
which Britain was engagc;d, derived from that fource. — The American War in par-
ticular;— which was more deftruclivc of Men and Money than any other War on
record. — Computation of the lofs ol Men and th'.- expence of Mor.ey occafioned by
it. — War fliould be avoided in a Trading and Manufafluring Nation fuch as Britain.
— Great praife of our Minift^r, that W. is at pains to avoid War by preparing for it j
—two examples given of this — The prefent War a necefiary W-r, being defenfivej
in which v.'e have every thin^ at 'lake rl'.at is valuable - It is the common caufe o(
Europe, in which, if we had not joined with other Powers, our conduft would have
been both diflionourable and impolitic. p, ro,

C H A P IL

Wealth Is to be acquired by Tride and Manuf;i<Stures,~Our Tnde wonderfully cr.ten-
five, as it is carrieJ on all over the World. — The lofs of I^Ten by fuch a Trade muft

^ be

CONTENTS.

bs very great, efpscially wheo it is carried on by Coloniei, and by a Military force-,
Vfhich we maintain in thffm. — Manufacftures alio carried on in Fa6lor.es and great
Towns, confume a great many Men, particularly the Cotton Manutaiflure. — In all
Trade to diftant Countries, there nvull be a comnierce of dileal'is as well as ot other
things. — in this coinm^.rce the balance is on our fide ; for excejjt from InJia we have
imported no dileaie?, whereas wc have exported vices and dil'eal'es to North Ame-
rica, by which we have delbiated Ibme part of that Continent. —Of our Home Trade.
— It makes every thing venal ; — iMeat, Urink, Cloathing, Houfes, Arts and .Scien-
ces, and even Rehj^ion. — i'hel'e bad etfed'ts to be afterwards enlarged on. — Enough
faid at prefent to prove that the acqullltion of Wealth, by Trade and Manufac-
ture is very deftruftive of Men. — Shown that Religion has been made, by Money,
the iiiftrument of the dellrudlion of many, by producing Perfecutions, Maila-
cie., and Religious Wars — which were rot known till the Chrillian Religion
was eltablillied by Law. — This produced benefices and princely revenue?, which
occafioncd lUifes atid contentions, for thefe benefices and revenues ; and at
laft Perfecutions and MrifTacres unknown in the Heathen World. — The roman-
tic expeditions to the Huly Land infpired by mirtaken zeal, a fource of great
deflru^tion of Men. — But, by thefe calamities, the words of our Saviour fulfill-
ed.— Of the difference betwixt the Confiitution of Antient Rome and of Ajodern
Slates, with refpedt to Salaries annexed to offices Civil and Religious. — In R^ n>e,
no Salary or Perquifites annexed to the higheil Offices.— Arillotle in his Polity fays,
that there is great danger from making offices lucrative. — The reafon jlain. — Ava-
rice will excite Men to contend and flrive for them — Hei.ce, F.scSlion, Sedition, and
fometia>es Civil War. — Of the influence of Wealth in Government j — it was the
ruin of the Heroic Governments of Greece, — and of every Government deftroyed
by internal diforders. — The Antient Qreeks lived upon the natural fruits of the
Earth, particularly the Malloiu-s and y^/)/^;^^.— Lycurgus's wiidom in forbidding the
ufe of Gold and Silver coin in Sparta, and only ptrmitting Iron valued by weight.—
After all, however, Wealth, as the Oracle preji(5led, rumed Sparta —Lj Rome a
diflinclion of Poor and Rich. — This dilbndtion the fource of the ruin of every State
from the time that the Poor get a fhare of the Government — Praile of the Govern-
ment of Antient Egypt.— It guarded againft this evil j and accordingly tafted much
longer than any other Government we read of, and at lall fed by external violence.

X l-.e conqueft of Egypt by the Ptrfians, a people much nearer to the Natural State,

and therefore poflefled of more Natural Strength — The fate of ail Civilifed Nations,
to be conquered by Nations nearer to the Natural State. p. 63.

C H A P. III.

Proved that the acquiwtion of Wealth produces great mifchief. — To be inquired, Whe*
tlier the enjoyment of it does not make up-fbr that mifchief. — The opiniori of Ho-
mer,.,

CONTENTS.

nier, that M^n was the moft miferable of all Animals. — Qusftlon, Whether he be
lefs miferable now, when he has To much more money, than in the days of Homer ?
— God has afli4ned for every Animal an oeconomy and manner of life, that gives
him all the happinefs his nature is capable of. — Man, therefore, in his natural ftate,
is as happy as other Animals in that ftate — The Queftion then is, Whether Money
has made him happier in the Civilifed Stue ? — The enjoyment of Money produces
as much evil as the acqu:fition of it. — Wealth produces Luxury and Vanity, and af-
fords many temptations, that are not to be refifted by a weak intelledl, fuch as that
of Man. — Of the divifion of Men, introduced by Wealth, into thofe who live in
Vanity and Luxury, and thofe who minifter to that Vanity and Luxury. — The effeft
of Wealth upon the Rich, is to make them more difeafed and more miferable — and
upon the Poor, to make them ftill poorer. — This paradox explained, by fhowing
that Wealth raifes the price of the neccfTaries of life, and prompts the Poor to imi-
tate the Luxury and Vanity of the Rich. — The drii^king of Tea an example of this.
— Of the poverty of Manufacturers though their wages be high. — The Poor's rate
of England increafes with the wealth of a Nation. — Wealth makes the Rich poor —
and confequently avaritious. — The confequence of Luxury and Avarice being joined
together in the great Men of a State — The conlpiracy of Cataline, a remarkable in-
ftance of that. — Of the effects of Wealth in England — more confpicuous than in any
Country in England, as the Wealth is greater. — More Crimes, more Vices, and
more Indigence, in England, than in any other Country. — Thefe produce a Colony
of Convidts to Botany Bay. — A particular account of that Colony given. — Indigence
the fource of almofl all the Crimes in England. — The diftin^ion of the Luxurious
and Indolent, and of thofe that minillered to their Luxury and Indolence, not known
among the Greeks in the Heroic age. — A particular account of their domeftic oeco-
nomy.— The fame was the cafe among the Romans in the earlv ages of their State.
— Men, in thefe early ages, being nearer the natural ftate, lived in a more naf ral
way, and therefore were happier than in later times. — In the n-^xt Book an inq'i-ry.
Whether lome means might not be contrived to alleviate thefe mifchiefs of Civi' So-
ciety, p. 70.

BOOK III.

Of the Advantages Derived from Civil Society, and how its Ills may

be Alleviated.

CHAP. I.

Reafon why Man in the Natural State is happier than in the Civilifed. — Li the firft he
is governed by lnftin6t.-«-in the lad by his own inteiligei.ee. — Hia wants and defircs

b 2 few

CONTENTS.

i'ew in the Natural State, — in the Civilifed State innumerable, — particularly when
money furniflies the means of gratifying them. — In the CiviUfed State moft unnatu-
ral uiflions ariie. — Inftance of this in the paffion of males for males. — This a perver-
fion of a natural and necefT.iry p.iflion, — fuppofed to have been invented in Greece
— much praclU'ed in Thebes, particularly by its Sacred Band. — It went from Greece
to Rome — was much refined there, particularly by the Emperor Heliogabalus. — Not
unknown in Modern times. — Still pra£tifed in Italy, — in Ruflia, and even anong the
barbarians of Kamfliatka. — The confequence of Vices in the Civilifed Life, is Dif-
cafes. — The number of thele at prefent in Europe not known. — In Pliny the elder's
time they were reckoned 300. — They muft be now much increafed as many have
been imported. — In England more Difeafes than in moft other parts of Europe, be-
caufe more Wealth. — We have hardly names, much lefs cures for them. — Of the
prevalence of Coniumption- among us. — The death of Children by this difeafe muft
arife from the weaknelTes of Parents. — To the fame caufe is to be attributed the great
mortality of Children in great Towns, fuch as London, — where it is computed, that
not a half of thofe that are born live to be two years old. — Confumption not un-
known to the Antienfs; — but not near fo fatal. — This a proof that their manner of
Life was more Natural than ours. p. 83.

CHAP. IL

Civil Society not necefTarily produftive of mifchief; — on the contrary, if properly ma-
naged, productive of the greateft good. — From Civil Society we derive Arts, Scien-
ces, Religion, and Philofophy. — Without Arts and Sciences Men have the fenfe of
what Is beautiful and becoming. — But the corruption of the beft things becomes the
worrt. — Arts, therefore, of Pleafure and Luxury, and even of moft unnatural Plea-
fures, were produced in procefs of time — i his corruption takes place when Wealth
has got among Men, — and only to be prevented by a Government of Religion and
Philolophy, like thofe of Egypt and Sparta. — No fuch Government now to be found.

A private Man may ftill make himlelf happy by Religion and Philofophy, — This

the cafe of the Philofophers of Alexandria under the worfl: of Governments, that of
the Saracens, — the declared enemies too of all learning. — For the lludy of Religion
and Philofophy Icifure necefTary : — This the opinion of Solomon, Plato, and Arifto-
tle — Leifure only in the Civilifed Life. — The defire of Knowledge pecuUar to that
Liff. — Difference of the progrefs towards Civility, in the New Zealanders and the
People of the Pelew Iflanda : — The former without curiofity of any kind j the later
moft derirou<^ of knowledge. — The firft Phihfophers admired the Heavens ; and, ac-
cordingly, the firft we read of, were Natural Philofophers. — Inquiries after mind
fuccecued. — for the enjoyment of leifure, Money neceffary, — alfo to know how to

employ

CONTENTS.

employ lelfure. — -Ennui a fore difeafo. oeing a Llifeafe of ili? mlnH. — Tt<; eF £ls on
the Rich, who have not the knowl .ge of employing thtir leiiure. — . >' .iofophcr,
with a competent fortune, will enjoy hi^ leiiure more perfcfily than ihe Gymno'o-
ph!<^? of India, who had thfr food to feek. — The more leifure a Man hjs, the more
need has he of occu;)at on — This either Oi 13ody or Mind. — Occupation of th.* Body
neceflary for Heihh. — ')f the emplovment -^f ^ur iv:\i F^^r-nts in Paradife. — C)i the
occupation of Firming, — p .rticulariy in the manntr th^r Horace Farmed. — Of the
pleafures of Walking and Riding, — the e.xercileb of the Aiitient Athkts too violent
for any other ptrfons. p. 89.

CHAP. IIL

Difference betwixt Antient and Modern Philofophy. — Certainty of our knowledge of
Mind from Conkioulnefb. — Uncert<unty of our kii'^wleJ^'.- of th oper 1 ioiis of Body,
as our Senfes often deceive Ub. — Progrels of our Minds from Ideas to Science. — To
know what iScience is, we muft ftudy Ariltotle's Logic. — A Philofopher mufl be
firft a Scholar. — Of the reftoration of Learning in the 15th Centurv. — produced by
an event that leemed at firfl to put aii end to all Anticd Learaing, the taking of
Coi.ftantinople by Barbarians. — The Family of Medicis, protestors of Fupinve Grteks.
— Progrefs of Learning from Italy to other parts of Europe ; — much affiled by the
invention of Printing, — alfo by the invention of P^per, — and, lait of all, by Men of
fnperior Genius, Learning, and Induflry — Religion, as well as Morals, improved
by Antient Learning — The per^esflion of Language <hi wi: by it. Health preferved,
— and Leifure properly and profitably euipioyed. — ihe revival of Antient Learning
produced Schools and Colleges. P«95'

CHAP. IV,

Application to Money, a relief to a perfon who cannot enjoy a learned leifure. — The
leifure of the lower orders of Men Ihould be fpent in exercifirs, not in Drunkt.-^cfs
and Debauchery, as is moft frequently the cafe. — The manner of life of the Greeks
and Romans, compared with ours in Britain. — In the Country, the Romans were
Farmers, and pafled their Holidays m Military and Athletic Exerciles : — In Towns,
they had their Palseftras, their Campus Martius, &.c. — The Spartans cultivp.ted their
lands by Slaves, aod Exerciled themfelvcs only in Palaeftras. — This a moft violent
E-xercife. — The Athenians, befides their Martial Lxercifes, employed their Leifure
in the mod elegant manner -.— xft. In their Tncatre, where the Exhibitions conlilt-
cd of the three Fineft of the Fine Arts, Poetry, Mufic, and D«iJiCiug , — 2^, Xu the

c njoymen

CONTENTS.

enjoyment of the other Fine Arts, fiich as Statuary, Painting, and Architecture j
— And, 2^ly\ In Philofophy, the higheft enjoyment this Earth affords. p. 102.

C H A P. V.

Man Is not a complete Animal while he is in the Natural State, not having the ufe of
Intellc<^. — In the Civilifed State he is completely a Man, and is a Microcofm^ having
in himfdf whatever is in the Great World. — The Civilifed State liable to many er-
rors.— \ hefe errors only to be prevented by his kmtving hhmelf. — This knowledge
to be learned from books of Antient Philofophy. — By this Learnmg our Governing
Principle is formed. — How the Government of our Little World is to be c^rr^ed
on, our Modern Philolophers have not taught us ; but it is to be le-irned in Ant.ent
Books. — The governing power does not perform all the operations, but only direifls
them. — It is chiefly by the Animal Mind that they are performed. — The Organs of
it arc Nerves, Muldes, Sinews, and Bones — which are all moved by our Mind. —
T'<is a Wonderful operation of Mind. — Upon the a£lion of our Animal Life, and
the motion of our Bodies, depend the operations of the other two Minds, the Vege-
table and the lilemental. — To be confidered how the Subje£ls of this Kingdom, with-
in our Cloths, obey their Sovereign : Is it willingly or unwillingly .? — The Vege-
table and i'.lemental Minds obey without any knowledge of what they do ; — but the
Animal Mind hearkens to reafon ; though it has not realon in itfelf. — The Animal
Mind of the Brute is moved by different defires, and dr liberates which of rhem he
fliali comply with. — But the Brute has not reafon, — and that makes the difference
betwixt him and Man. — If realon in Man judges wroi.g, then is the Man wicked. —
He i= weak, if his rsafon does rot judge wrong, but is only overcome by his animal
defires : — But if his animal life (ubmits willingly, then he is a happy Man. p. 107.

CHAP. VI.

The Subje^ of this Chapter is Happinefs ; and the queftion is, What makes the great-'
eft Happmels of men .'* — It is Pleafure that makes Happinefs. — .ind Piealure ariles
from certain energies of body or mind. — No happinefs, therefore, without ener-
gies of one kind or another. — Tiie fc^at of all Pleafure i.-. the "^lind ; — and of
the greatell Pleafure the Intellectual Mind, which ii the nobleft part of our Na-
ture.— The Pirafure of this Mmd m 1 hi tiling, rhat is forming Ideas, and"conte(n-
plating thefc Ideas.— This the Ptciifure of Inell'gence, and confequently of Man,
who is an inttlligcnt creature — B\ thi'hmg v-t- knew; and how knovvleage gives us
delight is elfewhere expl.ined. — Nor tv-rv kind of knowledge gives *he greateft de-
light.— The knowledge of particular objei^ts of Senfc does not. — An account given

how

CONTENTS.

how thefe pfirtinthy IJeis ^vq a':rfi>-'i.led \n.\ generj>lze:l.Si\z\ iJei? of ohjcifli ot
fenfe do nor give the greateft Plealaro. — It is the iJeas of Luelligeace, of iup.-rior
Intelligencps, — of the Supreme — and of the firil principles of things. — Thefe form
an intdle.ftual World in our Minds ; to live in which is our greateil Ilappinefs.—
Of the difference b&twixt this Happinefs and that of the practice of the Ethical Vir-
tues.— vJany things required for the practice of the Ethical Virtues, which the con-
templative life does not need. — The contemplative Piiilofopher vaay be faiJ to liv^
in another World — and that in reipeit his Happinefs comes the neareft to the Divine.
—Example ot fuch a life in Piotinus the Alexandrian Philofopher. — One advantage
which a Man, who lives with himfelf, has, is th^J he is fupcrior to common opinion.

p. 113.

CHAP. vir.

Heaiuy is a perfeAion of our Intelle<fl: not our Senfe?.— -Of the difference betwixt oar
IntellefTI: and our Senfes ; — the Intelie^ perceiving only things as they are conneded
together, the Senfes only fingle things — This exemplified in oar perception of a
man, whom we cannot be faid properly to fee. — What Beauty is. — It is both in one
object, and in feveral ohjeds confidered together — Beauty, in one objedt, exemplified
by the cafe of a fingle Animal, but which confiits of io many different parts. — Beau-
ty confifh in order and arrangement ; — the contrary of which is Detormiry. — Of
this we cannot have an Idea, without having at the fame time an Idea of Beiu;y.—
The perception of Beauty is immeJiate, as foon as we perceive order and arrange-
ment In obje<^s ; and therefore the perception of it is called a Scnie. — Tiiat Beauty
is a perception of the Intelleft, proved by the example of the Brutes wao have not
that Senfe. — Of tne univcrlality of the Senfe of the Beautiful aiuong Men.— there
is a right and a wrong Senie of the Beautiful. — The wrong Senle leads to the great-
eft Crimes and Vices — bur the right Senfe to Virtue and to every Good x'Vdtion —
It is the foundation of the principle of Honour, which i.^ a governing principle
among iMen. — It makes them defpife life, and chearfully fabmit to the molt cruel

deaths.— Inltances of this among the Hindoos, — where Men roaft themiclve? ;

and where W )men burn themlelves with the dead bodies of their Hufbands. ihe

reafons for thefe facrifices — Of the penances of the Jougues. — They arilc fro;a a
principle of Honour, and from Religion. — Their Women cannot De reilrainecl from
burning themlelves — This proceeJs from a principle of Honour, not from their rrief
for the death ot their hufb.mdb. — Memorable laying of a dying Hindoo, who rtfuf-
cd to drink wine, wUich would have cured him. — The oenfe of die Beautiful dif-
tinguifhes Man from Brute. — It is the foundation of Love and Fnendlhip amnig
Men, an.l not only of V.rtue but of Religion.— W.ihout the knowledge or the Beau-
tiful, it is impoiUoie that we can be truly Rtiigious ;— Nor, without taat knowledge,

can<

CONTENTS.

can we have any Love for Science or the Fine Arts — There is a Senfe of Beauty
even in our Crimes, but a mil>aken one. — It is fo univerfal, that it direifls Men iu
the praftice of the moft trifling things, fuch as Drefs.— This proved in the example
of Julius Cxlar. — It is to be oblerved in a certain degree, even in fome Brute Ani-
mals, fuch as the Horfe The Author's apology for laying fo much upon the fub-

je6t of the Beautiful in this Volume, when he had faid fo much of it iu a preceding.

It is a fu'ij £t treated of by no Modern Phiiofopher, except Mr Payley j wh'jreas

the Antient Philofophy is full of it, — particularly that of the Stoics. p. 119.

CHAP. viir.

After Virtue, Morals in general to be confidered. — Upon them depends the rlappinefs
of Civil bociety — I he Greeks confidered Mtjrals and Politics as fo clofeiy connedl-
ed, that ihcy beftowed upon both the term Political^ as both applied to Political Socie-
fy^ Pythagoras, the firlt who inquired concerning Virtue. — he explained it by num-
bers, Socrates, more fuccefsful in his inquiries after Virtue, — He held all Virtue to

be Science. — His Syftem alio defective. — He made it a Theoretical Science j whereas
it is a Pradtical Art. — Plato made great improvements upon his Mafler Socrates ; —
but erred by mixing Metaphyfics with Morals. — Other defe(fts in Plato's DofVrme of

Morals. Ariftotlc's excellence in this branch of Philoiophy. — Three works of his

upon this fubje<ft. — Our Faculties, Difpofitions, and Habits, there explained. — He di-
vides our Mind into two parts, the Rational and the Irrational. — The Irrational com-
prehends both the Anmial and Vegetable Minds. — Subdivifion of the Rational Into the
Scitntifc and Logijlic. — Of :rga5j<p5«-«j, a Deliberation — «§!^<;, or Defire — and Tr^x^ti, or
PraB'.ce — Ariftotle's definition of Firtiie, founded on our perception of the Beattti'
<uL — The particular Virtues defined and explained by him moll: accurately — Virtue,
a middle betwixt two extremes of Excefs and Defed, — all Virtues, according to him,
truly Habits^ — and therefore called Ethical. — A fourth work upon Morals by .'irifto-
tle De Virtiitibus et Viiiis. — ihis a Summary of the three other worki. — Praifc of
his works upon Morals — Many nice diftindtions therein made. — Obfervations upon
Arillotle's Doctrine of Morals. ' p. 140.

CHAP. IX.

Continuation of the Eulogium of Arilfotle. — Many Philofophers before him — but he
firll gave a form 10 Phiiofopi.y, ar.d reduced it to Jive heads^ Logic ^Io'•alS, Politics,
Phyfics, and Metaphyiks. — lj)gic prepares the Human Intelleft f.^r tultiva'j.j^ the
Gibers, and is therefore called ;<.n Organic Art. — It analyfcs the fubjedts upon which
intclle<ft operates. This anlylis fomrared with that of thematte.' o Langu gt- in-
to E!en-;ental Sounds, the form of Language into parts of fneech, and Mufic into the

gamut }

CONTENTS.

gamut J and (hown to be more wonderful man all thefe. — Invention begins with the
compound, and reduces it by rfllogifm into propofitions,— and thefe into fimplc
terms.— Here analyfis ends, and teaching begins.— Ariftotle's Logic commences with
fimple terms.— Thefe he reduces to ten claflls, called Catego, Us.— Vroni them he
proceeds to propofitions, which combined produce fyllogifm.— Ot the modes and
figures ot oyllogilm — All Syilogifm reduced to this truth, that the whole is great-
er than any ol its parts, and contains them all —1 he great u.ility of ArilVotle's Lo-
gic — Without Undying it, no Man can give a realon for his belief in any demon-
llration.— Inftance of this.— Likely that I'ontius Pilate had read Ariftotle's Logic,
from the queftion he put to our Saviour, H'ljat is Truth ? — Ariftotle got the princi-
ples of this iyfteni of Logic from the books ot the P*ythagoreans, — and the Py-
thagoreans had it from Egypt— It went alfo to India from Egypt Before Arifto-
tle, the Philolophers of Greece did not know what Science was. Ihey uled the

D'laleBk Art, explained by Ariftotle in his TciorVj-.— His fyftem of Dialeftic a great

efFort of Genius. — Difference betwixt it and the Demonftr^tive Syllogifm. His

Morals fpoken of in the laft chapter. — Ariftotle's Politics a pradlical Science, form-
ed from the ftudy of the Governments of many ftates ; — a wonderful knowledge
here difplayed. — His Phyftcs contain a divifion, unknown to Modern Philofophers,
betwixt the Hiftory and Philofophy of Nature — Praife of his Hiftory of Animals.
— The fubjedt of his Natural Philofophy, Body animated. — In every Body an imma-
terial principle or idea of the thing. — Metaphyfics treat of the firft prin-
ciples of things. — It fupplies the defers of, inferior Sciences. — This exempli-
fied in Geometry and Arithmetic— Ariftotle has faid little of Theology, the
higheft part of Metaphyfics, and the fummit of Human Knowledge.— He was ne-
verthelefs a genuine Theift. — His Philofophy deficient in this branch compared with
Plato's. — But Plato was inftrud\ed in Egypt both in Divinity and the Do(5lrine of
Ideas, and alfo in the anteredent and future States of Man. — By thele States the fyf-
tem of Man reconciled with the Wifdom and Goodnefs of God. — Praife of Arifto-
tle's Poetics and 7?/jf/(?r;V,— particularly of the Poetics — The number of his writinps
in bur a fliort life of 63 years, and part of it fpent in educating the Conqueror of the
World, amazing.— His induftry and application as wonderful as his Genius and
Learning. p, j ^^_

CHAP. X.

No Modern Philofopher has diftirguiflied betwixt the operations of our Intcllc£l in
forming Ideas and in comparing them together.— The knowledge of this diftindtion
necefTary for knowing what Man is — The defign of Ariftotle's Logic being to (how
what Science and Truth are, the ftudy of Logic preparatory to the ftudy of Philofo-
phy— Mr Lockc'^ Efiay on the Human Underftanding, our only bonk of Logir in

Englifh. — Imperfe«n:ions of that work on the operations of the Difmrfus Mentis

.c Mr

CONTENTS.

Mr Locke fays little of Propofitions ; — does not m:ike the diftlnciion betwixt the
Predicate and Subject ; — did not underlland the meaning of the word Sylhgifm ;—
has told us, in a few words, what Truth is, which Arillotle has explained in his Ca-
tegoriesy his Book of Interpretation, and his Analytics. -^^r Locke full on the fubjeift
ot Ideas. — Tliefe to be confidercd in tlus chapter. — The nature of them not ex-
plained by Ari.'lotle nor by Porphyry in his IntroduBion to Ariftotk's Logic. — This
Detect attempted to be fupplied by the Author. — Diftin(Slion betwixt Particular and
General Ideas neccfTTy , — the former produce the latter. — O "" firfi Ideas are of
particular Objefts of Senfe:— Thefe formed by feparating the /^fr////VJr qualities of
Objtdh from the accidental'. — Example of this operation referred to. — Tlie next
flep is abftracling them from the Body in which they are inherent : — Mr Locke ad-
mits Ideas of this kind. — Then generalifing thtm : — Our firft General Ideas of Spe-
cicfes ; — from thefe we afcend to Genufes ; — land from Genufes to the Categories. —
Confufion of Mr Locke on this Subject — Propriety of Plato's Definition of an Idea.
— The CialTrs of the higheft Genufes numbered by Archytas. — The number of
Speciefes and Genufes* infinite with refpe£t to our capacities. — Wonderful how the
infinity of things cati be arranged and made the obje<n: of our contemplation ; —
done by abflra<^ion and generalization. — Mr Locke ignorant of the namre of Ideas:
— He confounds them with Senfations : — Gives them to Children in tlie womb : —
Makes our feelings of Pleafure and Pain Ideas, — and accounts for finging birds re-
taining the tunes they have learned, by their having the Ideas of them in their me-
mories.— Mr Locke's error in not dif^inguifhing a Senfation from an Idea. — He
confounds Action and Paflion, and the Intellectual with the Animal Life : — Igno-
rant even of the nature of Senfations ; — did not know that, with refpe(St to them,
the rdind is pafftve, and with refptcl to Ideas aElive. — Caufe of Mr Locke's error
his not diftinguifhing betwixt the materials of which Ideas are formed, and Ideas
thcnifelves. — Recapitulation of the imperfe«5lions of Mr Locke'* EfTiy ; — neverthe-
lefs taught in fome of our Univerfities as a complete fyftem of Logic, while Arifto-
tle's Logic is neglected. — Of our Phantafii; — a faculty of great ufe in formipg
Ideas ; — different from Memory : — It is the Cul^oJier of our SenOtions : — MetsrOry
the repofitory of Ideas. — Difference betwixt Man and Brute with refpefl to the

PhantaGa Our Ideas of Mind, and of its different kinds, formed in the fame way

that we form Particular and General Ideas of objeds of Senfe. — This elfewhere ex-
plained.— The mjinner how particular Ideas are contaii;ed in general : — It fhows
the relation betwixt the Praedicate and the Subje<^ of Propofitions. — Of the uCe of
a good Logic, which fliows us the progrefs of our Ideas from the moft ilmjJle Ideas
of objeds of Senfe to the moft general Ideas of any, and which are faid to be
Things exijling ; as they contain all other things, and arc continued in the Supreme
:nind. — Thus a good Logic conducts us to Theology. p. 165.

CHAP.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. XI.

That Plato and Arlftotle differed on the Subjefl of Ideas, proted by Phlloponus and
by Ariftotle's own writings.-— The attempt to reconcile the two Philcfophers, found-
ed on a mifreprefentation of their Dodlrines. — Plato's Ideas immaterial fubllances,
— having a feparate exiftence. — Ariftotle fo underftood them, and argues againft
them ; — difliked the word Idea. — Plato's word Idea adopted, but not his Dod^rine:
Ariftotle's the univerfal opinion in modern times. — Individual things only cxifting
according to him : — General Ideas, fuch as Genus and Species, are Creatures of the
Human Underftanding, being only different ways of claffing and arranging things.
— Inconfiftency of his Logic with this opinion ; — Truth and Science can have no
foundation in nature ; — Ideas are mere Efiiia Rathfiir, as much as a Hippocentaur.—'
Arillotle maintains, that from Generals are derived Particulars : — Inconfiftency of
this opinion with the Doctrine that Generals do not exift. — If all things be Indivi-
duals, they muft be inmiediately derived from the firft Caufe j— No progreffion or
fubordination in Nature -, — the Individuals of the Animal, Vegetable, and Mmeral
Kingdoms, have proceeded immediately from him ; — the Ideas of all particular
things are In the Divine Mind ;— but it can have no general Ideas fuch as we have.
— This impious.—Or, if the Divine Mind have fuch Ideas, we muft maintain that
he collects them, as we do, from the particular fenfible objedVs. — If they were ori-
ginally in the Divine Mind, Can we believe that they have no exiflence in Nature,
entire and undivided;, but that only p.irts of them exift incorporated with matter,
and thefe proceeding without order or iubordination ?— Gregory Nazianzen's opi-
nion adopted by the Author, — According to that Philofopher, all the Ideas of the
Divine Mind realifed. — This the fublimeft Theology ; — it gives us, if pollible, the
Idea of Plato's ©so? 'y^ffgov^^f ; — and makes us concei\c how al! things are really and
a£\ually in God. — Exammation of Plato's Doctrine of Meas : — He mamt.uned the
real exiftence, in Nature, both of general and particidar Ide.is \ — that general
Ideas are immaterial iubft.mccs, from which Icfs general Ideas are an er.v.mation ;
— and that they end in indivi-iual ihings. — exemplification of this Do-Ilrine in the
cal'e of the general Idea of Animal. — A reality given to knowledge by this, fyftem ;
— the objects of .our knowledge are things re.dly exifling, not the operations of our
minds colleiltd from corporeal fubftances- — When in a more perfesft Aate, fays Pla-
to, we were converfant with the Ideas themlelves ; — but in ODr prefent flate we are
condemned to dig them out of the matter in which they are buried. — More reality
in our knov/ledge this w.iy conceived j and the truth of the Syllogifm more clearly
perceived, the more Genejral containmg the leQ; General : — Wliilc, by Anlloijc's
Do£trine, the Icfs General produces the more General ; — there i? no fubordination
of caufe and ciFc^, but all things derived at once from the Divine Mind ; — and or-

c 2 dcr

CONTENTS.

dcr and regularity are produced by the Human Mind only. — The be?uty of Plato's
Syftcm confidered Theologically: — It exhibits a com pleat progrefs of things from
the higheO: to the bweft : — It agrees with the UoiStrine of the Trinity, which Plato
learned in Egypt. — Plato's account of the two principles of Intelligence and Vitallitx.
— QueftioD, Whether all things exifting proceed from them immediately, or by in-
termediate emanations ? — The latter opinion adopted by the Author ; and his Rea-
fcns ftated. — Plato's Doctrine of Ideas neceflarily connedted with that of the Trini-
ty,— and no more than carrying it on through Nature : — It agrees with the Pytha-
gorean Philofophy of Timxus, who ufes the term Idea. — ObjecHiion — How can one
immaterial fubftance beget another ? — Anfwered : — firft, From the cafe of Natural
Generation j — fecond, From the Generation of Inferior Intelligences from the
Source of all being. — The Ideas of Plato confidered in this view. — Ejfcplanation of
the difficulty of conceiving the many in one. — Plato's Dodlrine of Ideas connected
alfo with his Doftrine of Reminifcence. — Explanation of it, and of his Doctrine of
Frefcience. p. l8l.

CHAP. XII.

The Materia Prima a fubjedl of moft abftrufe fpeculation, — more abftrufe than that of
the Trinity. — Its exiftencc admitted by all the Antient Philofophers, — called by
them *t/Aii i — held to be different from Body, having none of the qualities of Body.
— Timseus calls it the Mother, and Idea the Father of Body. — Being neither Mind
nor Body, it can only be comprehended ?\»yi<rftM vtu. — It is not treated of by Mo-
dern Philofophy, which has not analyfed farther than to the four Elements — ^Though
none of thefe, it muft be fomething common to them all, and convertible to every
one of them, as they change into one another. — It is a Proteus-like fubftance ; — not
to be very accurately defined ; — is at the lower extremity of the chain of being. —
Neither the lowed nor higheft extremity comprehenfible by us. — Two queftions in
Theology Itated : — Did this firft matter proceed from Deity .-* Or if it did not, Is it
impious to maintain that a thing, not derived from him, can exift from all eternity ?
— Anfwer to firft qucftion — It did not. — Reafons in fupport of the Author's opinion.
— ihe fecond queftion confidered — No impiety in the fuppofition. — The Author
fupported by Antient Philofophy in his opinions on thcfe two queftions, — by Mofes
— by Timaeus— and by Ariftotle. p. 207.

CHAP. XIII.

The Microcofm in Man falls naturally to be explained, after the Conftitutlon of the
Great World, which is confidered in the iaft Chapter.— Our Microcofm confifts of

the

CONTENTS.

the Intelle£lual, Animal, and Vegetable Minds or Lives, and of Body, and joined
to it the Elemental Life. — Man generally confidered by Philolbphers, ac prefent, as
one Suhjlance. coniifting of Mind and Body; and theft different ?/Iinds as no more
than polities of that Subftance. — The Author maintains a difference of Minds in
Man both in their Natures and Operations, — and all thcfe different from Body. —
Our Intellectual Mind, having the power of adling by itfclf, may exirt by itfelf ; —
and in place of being affifted by the Body in its oper^.tions, is impeded. — From a
comparifon of its operations with thofe of the Aniiual and Vegetable Lives, it mufl:
be a fubftance different from both. — By a fimilar comparifon of the energies of the
Animal and Vegetable Lives, thefe L'ves proved to be different fubftanccs from one
another, and not different qualities of the fame Mind. — The Author's doftrine, of
thefe three Minds in Man, learned from Ariflotle — Arguments, in favour of an Ani-
mal Mind, from Conco(5lion, Digeftion, and other Animal fund^ions. — To iuppofc
all this done without Mind, is Materialifm — rhe operations of the Vegetable, as
little to be accounted for from Matter and Mechanifm, as thofe of the Animal ; —
and a perfon, who can believe that to be the cafe of the Vegetable, may believe that
all the operations of Nature proceed from no other caufe. — Similarity betwixt the
Conflitution of Man and that of the Great World. — His compofition as various as
his progrefs from a State of Nature to Civility, Arts, and Sciences. — He is, there-
fore, the moft Wonderful Animal on Earth, and the mofl deferving the attention
of the Philofopher. p. 212.

CHAP. XIV.

Of the Summum Bonum — placed by the Epicureans in Bodily Pieafures, — by the Stoics
in Mental, — ^The latter in the right. — The Intelle<n: perceives the t« K«>#y ; — .he
contemplation of which, according to the Stoics, is man's only good, — and is what
gives delight to the Intelleft. — The Pains and Pleafures of Intellc<ft arifc from Think-
ing.— Our thoughts, therefore, to give us Pleafure, mufl have Beauty for their Ob-
ject i — and the more Beauty the greater Pleafure. — The Univerfe the mofl Beautiful
of all things exifting j — and the perception of its Beauty, as far as our limited capa-
city will permit, our greateft Pleafure. — Of the Beauty of our own Works. — By rc-
fle^ing on the Wifdom and Goodncfs of fuch, we enjoy, in part, the Pleafure of
the Creator of the Univerfe. — The contemplation of our actions, as they are Good
or 111, afource of conftant Delight or Pain. — Of the Pleafure derived from the good
actions of others ; — of Parents, Relations, and Friends : — The Author's peculiar
Happ'nefs in thefe refpc£ls — The Plcafure^of Friendfhip very great. — Of the Pleafure
derived from works of Art, Science, and Philofophy. — The fludy of thefe a necef-
fary part of the Summum Sonum.-~-Th\s the Exercife of Intelleil : — Epiercife neccffary

CONTENTS.

to the Mind as well as to the Body Phllofophy the Author's greateft Pleafure in his

old age. — This Philofophy from Greece and Egypt. — Cultivated by Families of
Priefts in Egypt, and by Sedls of Philofophers in Greece; — there ftudied by Young
Men as well as Old. — From Greece it went to Rome, but did not make fuch pro-
grefs thtre. — To be better learned now from the Greek Commentators upon Arifto-
tle, of the Alexandrian School, than from Cicero and Seneca. — The Romans excel-
led only in Arms and Government ; — inferior to the Greeks in Language and the
Writing Art. — Their Hiftory better learned from the Haiicarnaffian and Polybius
than from Livy. — Their moft valuable literary work the Corpus Juris. — The prof-
pc(Sl: of a much happier Life in the next World ; and a defire, when we become old,
to be delivered from the burden of this Body, added to the Pleafures already e-
imnierattd, compleat the eijoyment of the Summum Bomw:, and render us as happy
as we can be in this ftate of Trial a: d Pilgrimage. — Conclufion of the Comparifon of
the Natural with the Civililed State of Man — With refpeft to the Body, the Natu-
ral State preferable :— With refpeft to the Mind, the Civilifed. — The Civihfed,
therefore, the happier State when Governed by Philofophy and Religion, p. 218.

CHAP. XV.

Obfervations on the difference betwixt Man and other Animals. — Intelligence, which
is peculiar to Man, thecaufe of that difference — Brutes and other Animals only fen-

fitive Mr Locke, by confounding Senjations with IdeaSy has confounded InttUigetice

with ^enfcy and confequenily given laeas ox Knoivledge \q -nW K\\\\W7\%, — i hat the
Brute has a comparative faculty, admitted by Anftotle. — He compares not only Sen-
lations, but the images of fenfible ohjefts in his. Phantafia. — If, therefore, Senfjtions
be the fame with Idcas^ he poffeffes the Difcurfive Faculty^ forms Propofition^, and
is an Intelledual Creature : — If fuch, his Intdledl mufl be much fuperior to ours -, —
his economy agreeable to natur^^^ — does every thing for the prefervation of the indivi-
dual ai.d continuation of the Species : — Inftances of this in the Bee and Ant — The
Brute is diredled by Intelligence^ but does not act <with InttUigetice, — Confequcce of
the contrary fuppolition. — It the Brute has not Ideas, lie cat. not havt .he Difiu.-fwe

Faculty, forms no opinion of Good or Li — and has not coi.lcioufnelt or r;flc'cti(jn.

— The Divine Intelligence directs th Brute. — The Author's opinion in thii matter,

not to be confounded with thofe Philofophers who make Brutes j^m/'/wf/ — The

Aijmal mind, in the Brute, ciircdtcL. by Ij'vine W'lldom. — ihat direction called /«-

^m^.— InlUncl in Man alfo.— Itjflances of this. p. 227.

BOOK

CONTENTS.

BOOK IV.

Of the End of the Civilifcd State of Man»

CHAP. I.

An end of the Civilifed Life, and a Change of this Scene of Man, in not many Ge-
nerations.— This to be proved by Arguments and Fadts. — Arguments aprioii, —
from the Wifdom and Goodnefs of God, which has allotted to all Animals a pro-
per manner of Life. — The Civilifed Life of Man being an Unnatural Life, he mufl:
decline in health, and at laft the Race will die out. — This would be a piinful and
miferable death : — To be prevented, through the Divine Mercy, by {bme convul-
fion in Nature, as we are taught by Revelation. — A new Heaven and a new Earth

to fucceed, — and a more Righteous and Pious Race to inhabit the new Earth.

Agreement, on this fubjedl, of Revelation with Realbn and the Nature of I hipgs.
— Impoffible that Man, fo various an Animal, and liable to fo many changes, (hould
laft for ever, — or for a great number of years. — Other Animals, while in tiieir na.
tural ftate, liable to no change in Size and Strength, or in Longevity : Tney ex-
hibit no fymptoms of decay or extindlion, except by the operations of Man. Man

in Civil Society, exhibits every fymptom of change in thcfe particulars. — Without
a total change of our Species, it muft come to an end. — Proof from Scripture, that
the Latter Daysy therein mentioned, are not far off. p. 2?c

CHAP. IL

In the Natural State Man increafes in numbers.— This the cafe of all Animals in that
State.— But the multiplication of Man rtdl greater m the firft ages of Civility.— Two

Reafons of this: — >Jl, The warmth of Clothes, Houles, and Firct. C.utlc, that

run out Summer and Winter, lefs prolific than thofe that are Houled. Why the

Orang Outang does not Increafe much accounted for. — 2^, The want of Vice and
'Difeafc in the firft ages of Civility, and of the unhealthy occupations which it in-
vents

CONTENTS.

vents and introduces. — Frequent Migrations of Nations in Antient times, the confe-
quence of the great increafe of Men in the firft: ages of Civility. — Account of feme
of thefe Migrations — from Egypt — from Greece to Italy — from Rome — from Gaul
into Italy, Greece, and AGa Mmor — Of the Migration of the Cimbers and Teu-
tons into luly, — and of the Goths, Vandals, Sec. into the Roman Empire — All
thele Migrations occafioned by want of fubllftence at home. — Colonies fent out for
the lame realon. — The only exception to this, the cafe of the Helvetii as defcribed
by Julius Caefar : — Their conduct accounted for. — The multiplication of Men, a
grievance in the firll ages of Civility. — Cure for this grievance in Crete — praftifcd
alfo at Thebes. — Though more numerous in the firft ages of Civility than in the
Natural State, Men were not then Bigger and Stronger. — The cafe of Giants, fuch
as the Sons of Anak, a peculiarity of a few Families, who had lived longer in the
Natural State. — Men, in the firft ages of Civility, Stronger, Bigger, and Longer
Lived than thofe of latter times. — This accounts for the Superior Size of Men in the
Heroic age of Greece. — ^Of the true Heroic age of a Nation. — Vice and Difeafe the
' NaturaTconfequcnces of Society as it grows old. — Thele render the progeny worfc
and lefs abundant. — The numbers of men depend upon Health, Morals, and Occu-
pation.— The bad effedls upon Health and Morals by Vice, Difeafe, and Unwhole-
I'ome Occupations. — Horace's opinion of the gradual decline of the Species in Civil
Society. — ImpolHble, by the nature of things, that Man can fubfift long in that
State. p. 242.

CHAP. iir.

In the pure Natural State the multiplication of the Species fmall. — In the Domcftic
State the multiplication great. — Vices and Difeafes, Wars and Conquefts, in the ad-
vanced Stages of Society, produce great deftru6lion of Men. — To be inquired, Whe-
ther, in fuch Stages, the Species multiplies or decreafes .'' — Already proved that
Man falls oft' in Size and Strength. — He muft, therefore, alfo be ftiorter lived, and
decreafe in numbers. — This to be proved by Fa(Sts. — \Ji^ From the State of Man be-
fore the coming of our Saviour. — ^dl^^ From the State of Man at his coming. —
And, 3^/)!, From his State lince that time. — Of the State of the Jewilh Nation in
Antient Times. — f heir increafe wonderlul both in Egypt and Canaan. — The num-
ber of Men in Canaan, when conquered by the Ifraelites, alfo very great. — Of the
number of People in Egypt. — In the reign of Amalis it contained 20,000 Cities ;
and after being conquered by the Perfians and Macedonians, it had no lefs than
25,000 Cities. — The Populoufnefs of Antient Egypt, one of the caufes of the ex >e-
ditions of Oiiris and Sefoftris, — whofe Armies amounted to Millions of Men, — Of

the

CONTENTS.

the Population of the Aflyrian Empire. — Ninus invaded Ba£lriana with an Army of
1,700,000 foot, 210,000 horfe, and 10,600 chariots; Semiramis, with an Army of
3,000,000 foot, 500,000 horfe, and 100,000 chariots. — Of the Armies of Darius
and Xerxes, — Phe number of Dionyfius of Syracufe's Army, and of that of the Ro-
mans when invaded by Hannibal. — Of the Population of the Earth at our Saviour's
coming ; — not fo great as in more Anticnt Times. — Egypt and Greece then depo-
pulated.— The Roman Empire, though the moft extenfive of any in territory, had
produced great depopulation by their Conq^uefts, Vices, and Difeafes. — Italy irfelf
a delart compared to what it was in former times. — Antient Larium very populous.
— Antient States, iuch as the Volfci, the Equi, &c. annihilated. — Importation of
28 Colonies by Auguftus, and of 300 000 Sarmatians by Conftantine, neccflary. —
— Sicily alfo greatly depopulated. — The deftrudtion of People in Gaul, by Juli-
us Caefar, very great —The Conquefts of the Romans tended to depopulate. — So
do all great Empires — -The Earth, therefore, more populous before the firft great:
Empire, the Aflyrian — Fne profligate Lives of the Roman Emperors fpread defo-
lation over the whole Empire. — Neceflity of the appearance of Jefus Chrift at this
deiperate State of Mankind, p. 25 »'.

CHAP. IV.

Of the State of Man, with refpedl to Population, fince the coming of Chrift. — Dif-
eafes much increafed in number: — Of the Small-Pox, Great-l'(^x, and IVIeaflcs. —
Vices alfo much increaled, — inilance of thif. in Spirit Drinking — a moft deftrudlive
Vice. — North America aimoft Depopulated by it and the Small-Pox. — Of the De-
population of Italy in later timeS, compared with Antient Italy, — the number of Ci-
ties much fewer. — Many Cities deftroyed by the Romans — r\nd great Depopulation
produced by their Conquefis — The ''epopulation compSfte.; by the ravages of the
Goths and other barbarous Nations. — Of the Population of Antient Latium — many
Colonies fent out from Rome. — Greece much Depopulated fince the days of Pau-
fanias. — The Author informed of its prefent (late by a late traveller. — Afia very
populous in antient times : — Its WeAern Kin-doms now bur thinly peopled : — Great
part of Tartary a dcfart, according to Mr Bell of Antermoney : — Great decreafe of
the numbers of men in India ; — this occafioned by the conquefts of Gcnchis Chan,
Tamerlane, Kouli Chan, and the Britifh. — China twice conquered by the Tartars;
— highly probable, therefore, that its numbers are diminilhed ; — and alfo thofc of
Japan : — ^Prudence of thofe Countries in avoiding much intercourle with Eurofacin'?.
— South America and the Weft Indies dreadfully Depopulated by the Spani.utis ; —
and North Amer'ca by the Britifli. p. 264.

d C II A V.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. V.

Cf the Population of Spain In antient and modern times: — In Cicero's time very great;
— but now, notwitbftanding the addition of Goths, Vandals, Heruli, and IVloors, its
Population very fmall. — France fuppofed about 30 years ago, when the Author was
there, to have decreafed 2 millions fince the days of Lewis XIV. — The Author par-
ticularly informed about the thinncfs of the Population of France at that time, and
of the caufes of it. — Not likely that their numbers are of late increafed. p. 270.

C H A P. VI.

Of the Population of Britain. — Population one of the three great Articles of the Poli-
tical Syftem. — i/?, the Population of England confidered j not fo great now as when
Julius Caefar was in the Ifland : — According to him England was very Populous, and

even more Populous than Gaul. — Our great towns, no proof of great Population :

—They, on the contrary, confume great numbers of people. — Little knowledge of
the ftate of Population during the Saxon Government. — Reafons for concluding,
that after the Norman conqueft, the Population was greater than at prefent : — The
feudal fyftem introduced by it, favourable to Population —Our wars, trade, and ma-
nufadlures, attended with great wafte of men. — An inquiry, therefore, into the Po-
pulation of England at prefent, and whether it be increasing or decreafing, a quertion
of the greateft political importance: — Oppofite opinions on this point maintained by
Mr Howlet and Dr Price. — Mr Howlet contends, that we have doubled our num-
bers fince 1740 i — arguments againft this opinion :^--Dr Price holds, that ever fince
the revolution in i(588, we have been decreafing in numbers : — Probable that the
Dodtor is in the right, from the caufes he affijns. — Enumeration of thefe. p. 273.

CHAP. VIL

Impofllble to dlfcover, but by an aclual numeration of the people, whether they are at
prefent increafing or diminilhing in numbers. — No Cenfus in Britain : — Not likely
that fuch a meafure would fhow that we are at prefent on the incrcafe, like the
kingdoms of Sweden and Naples, which have, of late, been adlually numbered. —
The queftion only to be anfwered by an inveftlgation into its caufes ; — advantages of
this mode of inquiry, that if we are decreafing in numbers we Ihall difcover a re-
medy for the evil.— Numbers of a people depend upoTi their morals, health, and oc-
cupations.—

CONTENTS.

cupatlons.— Much corruption of morals in England :— Without good morals, no
people can be numerous : — Proof of the degeneracy of Morals in Britain from our
colonies of convids at Botany Bay : — Our crimes proceed not from bad natural dif-
pofitions, but are the confequejice of our wealth : — Of the wealth of the people of
England. — No country, in the world, where there is more difeafe — Of the fatal ef-
fects of the confumption : — Little known to the antients. — Great mortality of our
children, particularly in London : — No fuch mortality in antient times, as we learn
from the writings of Mofes, Homer, and Pliny. — Of the occupations of men in En-
gland ; all arts praflifed there; — many of thefe very hurtful to health : — Inftanccs
of thefe in mining and fmelting, glafs making, gilding, and pin making.— Our great-
eft confumption of men, by manufactures and foreign trade. — Better to be employed
in agriculture, the moft healthy of all occupations. — Bad confequences at prefent
of the negledt of agriculture. — No argument to be drawn from the increafe ot great
towns.— VVifdom of Queen Elifabeth and her miniftcrs, who deliberated about ref-
training the growth of London. . p. 280.

CHAP. VII.

The inhabitants of the country confift of three orders of men ; — The nobility and
gentry ; the farmers and the cottagers.— Land formerly divided among a great
number of nobility and gentry, but now in the hands of a few great proprietors : —
In fome countries hardly an eftate of 500 /, per annum. — The farmers now as much
diminiflied in number, from the increafe of farms ; — of which there are forae in
England of 3000 /. rent. — The Author, from his frequent journies to London, on
horleback, qualified to judge of the number and fize of farms. — Inftance of a fingle
houfe in a parifh. — Of the number of cottagers in England ; — their great utility :
—They are the brted of fervants, labourers, mechanics, tradefmen, foldiers, and
failors : — Few cottages to be feen in England ; — and thefe confined to hamlets ; —
proof of cottages bemg once more frequent. — The numbers of England infuffi-
cient to the demand of trade, manufadtures, and war : — A ftatute of population,
like thai of Henry the Vll. neceflary. — Small farms conducive to population ; ex-
emplified in the original fize of the Roman iirms of two Jiigera. — The great quan-
tity of pafiure ground in E'igland which is ncceflTary for feeding cattle, to fupply the
immenfe conlumption of flclh, muft prevent the increafe of the Population of that
kingdom, even were farms le(is. — Another caufe, the quantity of ground employed
in raifing barley for diftillation ; — A third caufe, the keeping fo many horfcs for ru-
ral occupations, which might be better performed by oxen ; and alfo for luxury,
vanity, and indolence. — Thefe three caulcs tonfiJc.-cd. — A fourth, the great quan-
tity of wafte lauds and commons.—Conclufion, that the number of inhabitants muft
be diminifhing. ' p. 201

CHAP.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. VIII.

TThe population of Scotland confidered : — Much, on this fubje^l, to be learned from
Sir John Sinclair's Statiftical Account oj Scotland. — 1 he work not yet complete : — It
comprehends the numbers of people in the towns as well as in the country. — Towns,
of late, much increafed : — But thefe diminifh the numbers in the country — Uncer-
tam whether the numbers in the country are increafed : — They are diminifhed in
the parifh of Fordoun fince 1771. — For a general view of the population of Scot-
land, its inhabitants muft be confidered feparately, as landholders, farmers, and cot-
tagers i — The landholders much decrealed. — The great eftates, in antient times, no
objection to this, as they were poflefTcd by vaflals : — Of vafTals was compofed the
army of 20,oco horfe, that invaded England in Robert Bruce's time, under the Earls
■of Douglas and Murray : — Thefe vaflals had their lands pofl^efl'ed by farmers and

cottagers. To the military vaflals (ucceeded fcuers and wadfetters : — But thefe now

all bought up or redeemed. — The landholders of fuperior rank, our nobility, and
oentry, alfo much diminifhcd : — Not much above a half of our nobility, at the
Union exifting ; — and our gentry very much decre^fed by extinfkion of families, by
female fccceflion, and by fales of their eftates to great proprietors : — Proof of this
from Ragman's roll.^ — ^The extinction of men of antient families not to be repaired :

The King may make a man noble, but he cannot make him a gentleman. — ihe

lofs of men of family not to be repaired by any wealth :— They were the govern-
ing men in Scotland in antient times :— So much diminiflied of late, that if :hey
continue to diminifh, the King will not get ofliccrs from among them for his fleet
and army.— The farmers in Scotland much decreafed in number :— Formerly few
farms exceeding 20 1. of rent ; now farms of 300 1. of 500 1. and even of looo 1 —
Sheep farms, of great extent, pofl"efl:ed by one tenant, which formerly employed 35
families -—Cottagers ought to be much more numerous than both the landholders or

dParmers. In Scotland cottagers, formerly very numerous j— were almoft the only

farm iervants : Now they are difmifTed from moft farms, and the work performed

by unmarried houfe-fervants :— Inftance the defolation of one farm by this method.

I'he fcarclty of the fervants and their high wages, are in part tending to correa:

this abufe. Cafe of a farm of the Author's, where only a boy is kept in the houfe;

and, though the tenant does not pay above 30 1. of rent, there are 13 families of
cottagers: Another tenant, who pofl^efles only 8 acres of arable land, keeps 3 fami-
lies of cottagers :— A fmall village of the Author's poflieflfed by 7 tenants, who oc-
cupy 3 acres a piece. — Confequences of fuch great population ; — 200 Individuals in
a traft of eround of the Author's not paying 100 1. a year.— State of the Author's

own

CONTENTS.

own farm as to population ; — cultivated by one utmiarried fervant and a boy In the
houfe, and by 27 cottagers and fmall tenants. — Advantages rel'u!ting from the popu-
lation of a country. — Many great improvers depopulate their eftates. — Praife of Mr
Barclay of Urie : — An account of his improvements, and of the benefits he has
thereby conferred on the county of Kincardine. — Cottagers, though much diminifh-
ed in Scotland, ftill more fo in England. — The number of houfe iervants, kept by
the rich and great, multiply little :— Very different among the antitnt Romans ; and,
in former times, in Great Britain. — Service Itill an mheritance in fonv. p^rts of the
Highlands of Scotland. — Our (landing armies contribute nothmg to popuUtion.— .
Population a moft material part of the pohtical fyftem, and, therefore, much miill-
ed on. — Proof, from our prefent exertions by fea and land, that our po.ul.stion
is very confidcrable : — It might be increafed by proper means. — Our lituatiou. with
refpecl to population and finance, much better than that of France : — Favourable
inference from thence deduced. p. 299.

C H A P. IX.

The continual decreafe of the numbers of men, from the earlieft times, mufl: end in
their extindion. — The extindion of particular families proved : — And nations, be-
ing compofed of families, muft end with them. — Inftances of nations being extin-
guifhed ; fuch as many nations that were, of old, in Italy, and fuch as the antient
Egyptian nation. — The unnatural life of man in the civilized (late, and the vices and
difeales it produces, the caufe of this extindlion : — The (ilence of antient authors on
this fubjeft accounted for : — Some of them maintained that a renovation of things
was to take place — Uncertain, if a calculation of the time of the extinftion of the
fpecies can be made. — An end of this fcene of things, a dodlnne of Chridianity j
and the chief end of the mifEon of Jelus Chrift to reveal it to men, and to perfuade
them to prepare for the world to come : — Proof of this from Scripture. — Agreement
of hiftory with revelation — Our prefent mifery not fo much the (liortnefs of our
lives as the length of our deaths. — Revealed to us, that a lingering death of the fpe-
cies is to be prevented by fome convulfion in nature. — No neceffity for fuppofing the
convulfion general :— It may happen in different countries at different times ;— In-
flances of this from antient and modern hiftory — The goodnefs of God reconciled
with the mifery of man in civiUty.-— An end of man as well as of his woiks. — Con-
clufion of this volume, , o. -^i^.

ERRATA.

Page 67.

1. 19. for Solon read

Lycurgus.

Ibid.

1. 23. Kings

Kingdoms,

84.

Note * Helia

Gabalus.

85.

Same midake.

184.

1. 12. Thing

Think,

309*

1. 16. Propofitioa

Thing.

A N T I E N T

METAPHYSICS.

BOOK L

Comparifon of the Natural and Civilifed States of
Man, with Refped to his Body and Animal Life.

C H A P. L

The progrefs of Man from the Natural Lfe to the Civilifed^ the great*
efl that he has undergone, — The dlffcrcncey therefore^ betwixt thofe
two Lives to be carefully attended to, — A progrefs of Man in the
Natural State as ivell as in the Civilifed. — At frf he is a mere
Animal^ with only the capacity of Intelled, — He is then not facial^
but f duns the Society of other Men, '^T his the cafe of a folitary Sa-
vage lately feen in the Pyrenees, — The reafon of this is, that it is
the lfe of IntelleEi which makes a man Social. — The next fep in the
Natural Life, was Herding, — But fill men continued to feed upon
the natural fruits of the earth,— though, by the neccffitics of life,
they may have been compelled to kill beafs and catch ffh, — But they
had no art of Hunting or Fifiing. — In this fate of the Natural Life
is the Ourang Outaug, — He lives entirely upon the Natural Fruits of
Vol. V. A the

^ ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book L

the "Earth --is however very big and Jlrong, — The mojl remarkable
. people living in the Natural State^ are the people of the Ladrone
JJlands, — A particular account of them given by Mar tinier re in his
Dictionary ^ taken from a h'fory of them -written by Father Gaubien
"—a healthy long lived people-^and of great fi%e and frength of
body. — Another people living in the natural ivay. are the inhabi-
tants of North Van Dicmens Land in New Holland. — They are the
mofl indigent people that have yet been dfcuvered. — The Earth pro^
duces no fruit that Man can live upon, — They live therefore upon
fjdl-ffi^ that they gather upon the /ands or in creeks and bays
at low water. — They have no habitations but in the trunks of
trees ^ which they hollow.^ and make fires in them for roafing their
fifh. — Though fo indigent^ they are a very honeft people. — The peo^
pie of Italy ^ ".vhen Saturn came among theni^ lived in the fame man-
ner.— Of a Man of Norfolk., known by the name of the Norfolk
Idiot, W)ho was dire&ed by Infiintl to live in the natural -way.,
without Clothes or Houfe. — The pure Natural Life to be fcen only ifr
the Brutes. — They are guided only by hiflinSi^ not by Intelligence ;
though they perform wonderful works for the prefervation of the
individual and the continuation of the kind. — If Man had been di-
redfed in the fame way to provide for the neceffaries of Life .^ his in-
telle ^ never could have been cultivated, nor Arts and Sciences i?r-
vented. — The pro^refs of his intelleB in finding out, firfi., the mofi
neceffary Arts of Life., then other Arts and Sciences., and fo advanc-
ing in his progrefs toivards regaining his. former fiate. — The wi/dom
and good nefs of God in this matter to be much admired,

Ihave fald a great deal of the natural (late of man, enough, I hope,
to convince my readers that it did once exift, and that it was very-
different from a life of civility and arts. It is the greateft change
that man has undergone in this life, and therefore the difference be-
twixt it and the ftate of nature ought to be carefully attended to.

Chap. I. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. j

As there is a progreffion of man in all the ftates in which he has
exifted, fo there is alfo a progreffion in his natural ftate as well as
his civilifed. He was at firft a quadruped, as I think, I have prov-
ed very clearly in the preceding volume * : And if there were any
doubt in the matter, the progrefs from the quadruped to the biped,
which is yet to be feen among fome people, who, having been but
lately erected, go ftill at times upon all four, puts the matter out of
all doubt f. This firft ftate of man I call the animal Hate; for, in
that ftate, I confider him as a mere animal, with only the capaciiy
of intelled:, but not the ufe of it. And, in that ftate, he does not
appear to be a gregarious or focial animal, but of that clafs of ani-
mals, who do not affociate, and whom we call wild, AnJ, accor-
dingly, all men that have been difcovered in that ftate, were found
folitary: And particularly one of them, who was found in the Py-
renees, as late as 1774, appeared to fhun all communication with
men, and fled from thofe who wanted to lay hold of him ; and was
fo fvvift of foot, that even their dogs could not come up with him J.
It appears, therefore, that it is only the ufe of intelled, which makes
man focial ; and it is natural that it fhould be fo, as he is not ac-
tually a man till he has the exercife of that faculty. But, when he
has got that, he is by nature prompted to affociate with his fellow
creatures, by which only he could improve his intelled:, and fo make
fome progrefs, in this life, towards recovering from his fallen ftate.

The next ftep of man's progrefs is to the herding life§, when he

has got fo much of the ufe of intelledl as direcSts him to affociate

wuth creatures of his own fpecies %. But ftill, I fay, he is in the

A 2 natural

* See Vol. IV. p. 21. and the paflages there referred to.
f Ibid. p. 31.

:j: See Vol. III. of this work, p. 46. and the Annual Reg'iA^er for 1778.
§ See what I have faid of the progrefs of man from the folitary flate to the gregari-
ous, p. 62. of the preceding volume.

^ See with refpcdl to the herding (late, ibid.

^ ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book I.

natural flate ; for he has not the ufe of clothes, houfes, fire, nor
of any ftrong liquor; And though the neceffities of life may oblige
him to kill fifh or terreftrial animals, yet he has no art of fifhing or
hunting. His chief food was the natural fruits of the earth, fuch as.
herbs and roots ; for he did not at firft climb trees in order to eat
their fruit. In this way the Arcadians fed, till they were taught, by
their leader Pelafgus, to feed on beech mart. This was a tradition
among the Pelafgi, the moft antient people of Greece, which Pau-
fanias has preierved to us *. It is a ftep in the human progrefs, the
memory of which only appears to have been preferved among thofe
very anrient people of Greece : And Peter the Wild Boy, while he
was a quadruped in the woods of Hanover, fed as the Arcadians did
before they were taught to eat beech maft'|"'

In this ftage of the natural life is the Ourang Outang, who, though
he affociates and herds with his fellow creatures, feeds altogether
upon the natural fruits of the earth: And though he may have the
uic of fire, hemuil have learned it from fome civilifed nation in his
neighbourhood. But he has not yet learned the ufe of language.
Though his diet, being altogether upon vegetables, we ihould think
a very poor diet, yet he appears to enjoy both health and ftrengtii.
There is a difference in his fize, as well as among civilifed nations;
for fome of them are of very fmall fize, fuch as thofe they call Chim^
penza's, who are only about five or fix feet when they are eredted :
Whereas the Pongos, or Impongos, are of ver)^ great fize, betwixt
fcven and nine feet high, and prodigioufly ftrong f .

The

■* Lib. 8. clmp. I.

f See what I have further fald upon this fubje^l in the preceding volume, p. ^9'
where I have quoted Diodorus Siculus, who gives an account of a people in Ethiopia,
who hvcd entirely upon the roots of reeds that grew in the marlhes. And he mentions
.^^ipther people, in the fame country, whom he calls 'yA»^;ty,<, that is ivood-caters^ who
lived upon the fmall branches of trees, whidi they ate. — Lib. 3. cap. 24,

t Vol. IV. of this work, p. 51.

Chap. I. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. f^

...The mod remarkable nation, in this ftate, were the people of the
Ladrone Iflands, or the Marianne Iflands, as the French call them;
who, before they were difccvered by the Spaniards, had not the ufe-
of firei and, who, when they hrft law it, fled from it as from a
devouring monfter. Their only food was fuch herb, as their ifland
afforded, and wl.at fifh they could catch ; but they ate no fle;h, nor
indeed were there any beaft^ i^^.ti^eir iflands that they could eat, ex-
cept fome bird3 refeml)ling turkeys but, inftead of killing and eat-
W them they tamed them and taught them to Ipeak. '1 hey were,
kowever,' of great fize and great ftreugth of body, being about ieven
foot high, and of wonderful agility as well as llrength. They had
the ufe'^of language; and had a race of uobles among them, to whom
they paid a wonderful refped, and by whom they appear to have
been governed, though there was nothing like an eftablifhed form
of government among them; nor had they the, leaft idea of religion,
tilldie Jefuits came among them, who made Chriftians of fome of
them, but with fo much difficulty and danger, thiu no l^fs than ten
miffionaries fuffered martyrdom in the caufe *. They were very
healthy; and the few difeafes they had, they had learned to cure by
fome herbs they found in the country. They commonly lived to the
ao-e of loo. This account, of fo extraordinary people, Martinierre,.
in his Diaionary, tells us, he took from Father Gaubienf, a Jefuit;
who having been, no doubt, in thofe iflands, and I fuppofe em-
ployed in converting the people, mufl have been very well mformed.
concerning them.

I will mention only one other people, more (I think) in the na-
tural ftate, than any 1 have yet mentioned i but to whom nature is

* See an account of this people in Churchill's colkaion of voyages, volume iv: But
a much more full and accurate account of them, is to be found ui a French Hiftorical,
Geographical, and Critical, Diaionary, by Martinierre, volume vii. p. 123. and foliowuig.

•>- Ibidem.

f ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book I.

more a ftepmother, than to any other people we hear of. It is the
people of Dicmens Land in the northern part of New Holland, of
whom we have a very particular account §-om Dampier. They are
the people who live with lefs affiftance from nature or art, than any
other people we have heard of. The land where they live produces
nothing which men can live upon, nor any bird or beaft, which
they can catch for food] for they are wholly unprovided with inftru-
ments for that purpofe, not having the ufe of weapons of any kind.
The fea they have not the ufe of by navigation, for they have not
canoes, nor by fifhing with nets or lines. Neither do they dive and
take them with their hands, like the people of the country from
whence the Wild Girl came. But they catch fifh by making dykes
acrofs bays or inlets of the fea, over which the fea, when the tide
flows, carries the fifh, and leaves them, when it ebbs, to be catched
by men. Befides that, they live very much upon oyfters, mufcles,
cockles, and other fliell-fiih, which they gather upon the beach. The'
only arts of life which they have are language, by which they are
enabled to live together in fmall herds; but which we muft fuppofe
to^be as barbarous a language as can well be imagined, but fome-
thing more than mere animal cries, as we know from fome words,
which the travellers give of it; and even words better than thofe of the'
Chinefe ; for they are words of feveral fyllables. They have alfo
the ufe of fire, with which they roaft their Ihell-fifh; for they do not
need it to keep themfelves warm, enjoying fo mild a climate. This
fire they produce, by twirling betwixt their hands, upon a piece of
flat wood, a ftick blunt at the end which is upon the wood, in the man
ner defcribed by Dampier. They have no houfes at all, not even huts
of the rudeft conftrudion, fo that they lie in the open air; nor have
they any kind of cloathing. And thus thev 'ive without houfes
clothes, or any food from the earth; and alfo witiK.ut any art of na'
vigation, catchmg filh only in the way mat 1 have '...ntioned or
gathering them upon the beach. They... ^V^efore, as 1 have

faid,

Chap.g A'nTIENT METAPHYSICS. f

laid, of all the people that hrive^feeen difcovered, thofe \vh6'live with

the leaft afTiftance either from nature or art. And, as they are fo
fimple in their way of living, they are as fimple in their manners,
being perfectly gentle, without fraud or deceit, and without any
thing favage or fierce in their difpofirions. They were, at firft,
afraid of Dampier and his people, and jBed from them ; but, when
they faw that there was no danger from them, they alTociated with
them in the moft friendly manner. N-- did they attempt to pilfer
or fteel any thing from Dampier; nor, n leed, did any of the inha-
bitants of New Holland do any thing o\ ii at kind, though nothing,
be more common among other barbaroub nations.

The inhabitants of Antony Vaa Diemen' Land, which is upon
the fouth coaft of New Holland, do not live in a manner al-
together io fim.ple, as the iniiabltants of the other Diemen's
Land. Their country is not fo barren as that land, though they
live very much, as Captain Cook informs us, upon fhell-fiih. But
they have no ufe of canoes, any more than the inhabitants of North
Diemen*s Land. They have fome wretched huts made of iHcks
covered with bark ; but thefe are only eredled for temporary pur-
pofes. Their fixed habitations are ot a very extraordinary kind,
made by fire out of the trunks of trees, as Cc:ptain Cook tells us.
In thefe they lodge themfelves and families, and even make fires in
them for roafting their fifti ; but they preferve, very carefully, the
reft of the trunk of the tree. The people of Latium lived in that
way, when Saturn came am.ong them and introduced arts and civi-
lity, which gave rife to the fable, that they were

— ex truncis et duro robore nati *.

and, indeed, it was natural enough, that men who were not acquaint-

* Sec Vol. III. of this work; p. 3 j*

;uin3*Sfc:

ft ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book L

ed with tlicir manner of living, feeing them and their families com-
ing out of a tree, fhould imagine that they were produced by a tree.
And this is the meaning of what Homer, fpeaking of men of family,
fays, that they were

—tvK cent ogye; '!tx>\c.i<Pxr*v •vo «5T» ^riTgjjs*.

There were other antient nations who lived in the natural way,
in Ethiopia, mentioned by Diodorus Siculus ; but it is not necef-
fary, I think, to fpeak of any more fuch nations. But I will give
an inftance of an individual, in our time, who lived in that way.
He was of the county of Norfolk, and was very well known by the
name of the Norfolk Idiot. The firft information I had of him, was
from the late Mr John Hunter, furgeon in London ; and I after-
wards learned, from others, many particulars concerning him ; fo
that what I here relate of him may be depended on. He had the
figure of a man, but not the ufe of fpeech, nor the underftanding of
a man : So that he was not governed by intelledl, as men are, but
byinftind; and that directed him to wear no clothes, fo that it was
only by compulfion that he covered his nudities. As to a houfe, he
would never enter one except to feed ; and, in the night time, he
always lay without doors, even in the worft nights. In this re-
fped, he refembled a herd of horfes which I had one winter run-
ning out: They, as I have in a former volume related f, never came
into the ftable except to feed ; and always v>^ent out, even in the
ftormieft nights, if the door was left open, immediately after feeding.
And, in the fame place, I have alfo mentioned fome horfes, which, in
the fevereft wind and rain, when a Ihade was before them, would
only cover their heads with it, leaving their bodies expofed to the.
wind and weather. It is not many years fince the Idiot was alive,

and

* See Vol. III. of this work, p. 31.
t Ibid. p. 79.

Chap. I. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 9

and he is probably yet alive; for he was fubje^ to no direafe, as I
was informed. My letter, from Mr Hunter, is dated in 178^

The example of this man, who, with the figure of a man, was
really a brute, leads me to fpeak of brutes that live in the pure ,
natural ftate, which is not the cafe of the nations that I have men-
tioned; for they have the ufe of intelledt to a certain degree, by
which they are enabled to invent fome few of what we call the nc-
cefTary arts of life, fuch as making habitations for themfelvef^, and
contriving ways of catching fifh. But the pure natural life is to be
found, at prefent, only among the brutes, fome of which perform
very great works of art, for their fubfiftance and the propagation of
their kind : But in thefe they are direded not by intelled:, which
they do not poflefs, but by what we call inJlitiB^ that is the wifdom
of God, which has framed their minds in fuch a way as to be guid-
ed by certain impulfes upon certain occafions, by which they are led
to do every thing that is neceffary for the prefervation of the indivi-
dual and the continuation of the kind. Man, when he was in the
beginning of his natural ftate, was, I am perluaded, guided in ma-
ny things by inftind:, as the brutes are. But, if he had continued to
be fo, and had been direded by that inftind, to make fuch artificial
works for his fubfiftance and the continuation of the kind, as the
bees, the ants, the beavers, and the birds, make, he never could
have cultivated his intelled, nor invented arts and fciences ; for it
was, firft, his fenfes, and the neceffities of life, which roufed his in-
telled from the lethargic ftate it was in after his fall, and excited it
to invent thofe arts which were neceftary for his fubfiftance. And
thus it appears, that every thing, relating to the reftoration of man
from his fallen ftate, has been fo ordained by a wife and good God, as
to go on in the moft regular and natural way, beginning with the
neceftary arts of life, and only very few of them at firft j and fo go-
ing on, ftill cultivating his intelled by the invention of more of the
Vol. V. B necelfary

lo ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book L

neceflary arts, till at laft he forms civil focieties ; in which men,
joining their wits together, by the coiimunicauon of fpeech invent-
ed all the neceflary arts, then arts of convenience and pleafure, and,
laft of all, fciences. Now, it is only by arts and fciences, as I have
faid in more than one place, that man can make anv progrefs,
in this life, towards regaining the ftaie from which he fell.

CHAP.

Chap, IL ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. n

CHAP. II.

Of the Civilifed Life of Man — altogether different from his Natural
Lf. — To be inquired^ which of them is mof conducive to the well-
being of the Animal Life, — The Life of the Brute, who lives the
pure Animal Lfe^ coinpared with the Civilifed Life, and f own to
be more ptrfedl than the Animal Life of Man in his Civilifed State,
— The wi/iiom and Goodnefs of God have affignedfor every Animal
the life mof proper for it. — The Brute enjoys that life, — and is not
liable to any difeafe — not even the plagues produced by a contagion
of the air. — The nearer Man comes to this Natural Lite, the heal-
thier, and [Ironger, and longer-lived he is. — This proved by faEi
as well as reafon ; particularly by the example of the People of the
Ladrone Ifands, — alfo by the example of the Calif ornians, inhabit-
ing the north wef coaf of America; — and of the Caribbs inhabit^
ing the Antilles in the Wef Indies ;-^and, lafly, by the example of
the Antedeluvian Patriarchs. — The People of the Pelew I/lands
and of New Zealand, though living lefs in the Natural Life, Rill
preferve their health.

IN the preceding chapter I have fhown what the natural life of
man is. What his civilifed life is, we all know very well. It is
a life with the ufe of clothes, houfes, fire, flefh diet prepared by
fire, and even the vegetables we eat prepared in that way; with the
ufe, too, of fermented and even diiUlled liquors. How different
this manner of living is fom the natural, is evident at lirll light;
And we are now to inquire, which of them is moft conducive to the

B 2 well-being

12 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book I.

well-being of the animal life of man; for it is only concerning this
life of man, that we are at prefent inquiring, not his intelledual.

This inquiry naturally leads us to compare the life of the brute,
who lives in the pure natural ftate, with the animal life of man in
the civilifed ftate. And I hold it to be certain, that his life is much
more perfect, of the kind, than the fame life in civilifed man.

And, in the firft place, every man, who believes in God, muft
likewife believe that his wifdom and goodnefs has appointed for
every animal the life the moft fuitable to his nature, and fuch as will
preferve and continue his health longer than any other : Nor do I
know, that any philofophers, not even thofe philofophers of modern
times, who appear to be difl'atistied with the providence of God,
have maintained, that any way of life, of the feveral fpeciefes of brute
animals, could be contrived to make them more happy than the
life in which God and Nature has deftined they Ihould Hve. If,
therefore, the natural life of man be fuch as I have defcribed it, it is
evident, that, in a ftate of nature, he muft be healthier, bigger,
ftronger of , body, and longer-lived, than in the civilifed ftate j for
it is impofhble to luppofe that he could have invented any better
life, than that aftlgned him by God and Nature. The brutes, who
live that natural life, and are not under our dominion, by which
they are often made almoft as difcafed as . we are, enjoy much
better health than we do: And, indeed, it does not appear, that
they are liable to any difeafes, not even that difeafe which we call a
plague, and which muft proceed from fome contagion of the air;
for the greateft plagues that have been known, one of which is faid
to have deftroyed one half of the human fpecies, did not aire<ft the
wild animals'*. The nearer, therefore, we come to this natural life,
the ftronger and healthier we muft be.

•*' See Vol. in. of this work, p. 79. — See alfo p. 186. and following.

Chap. II. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 13

If there were any doubt, as to the reafon of the thing, it is proved
by fads inconteftable, and particularly by the example of the people
of the Ladrone Iflands, who were fo near the natural ftate, when
the Spaniards firft came among them, that they had not even the ufe
of fire, nor of clothes or houfes; and they fed upon the natural herbs
and roots, which their iflands produced, and upon what fifh they could
catch. Yet they were much healthier and longer-lived, and had a
fize and ftrength of body, fuch as are not to be found in any civilifed
nation. In the preceding chapter, I have given a very particular ac-
count of them, taken from Father Gaubien, who muft be fuppofed to
have known them very well*; which I think deferves to be attended to,
as it is the beft account we have of any nation fo near the natural fl:ate.
There is another nation, that are fo much in the natural flate that
they would not accept of clothes from the Spaniards ; and were
fo fond of living in the open air, that they could not be perfuaded
by the Jefuits, who went to their country to convert them, to fleep
in their huts, but chofe rather to lie all night at the doors of them,
though, in every other refped, they were very docile and tradable.
The people, I mean, are the Californians, who live upon the north
weft coaft of America, in a country fo cold, that fome Spaniards
have been there frozen to death f . How long theie Californians
live, we are not fufficiently acquainted with them to be able to t^ll.
But there is a favage people, called Caribbs^ who inhabit the An-
tilles Iflands in the Wefl: Indies, and who have the misfortune to
have difcovered an herb, of which they make a ftrong liquor, of
which they drink very plentifully ; yet they live very long, to the
age of 100 and upwards; which Father Raymond Breton, from
whom we have this account of them, afcribes to their bathing in the
rivers three times every day t: And there is another author, Mr

Rochforti

* Page 5. of this vol.

f Gemelli Carren's Voyages, in Churchill's CoUeflion, vol. 4. p. 369. Sc 470.

X Sec what I have faid of this people in vol. 3. of this work, p. 83.

14 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book L

Rochfort, in his hillory of thefe Antilles Ifl:inds, who fays, that the
ordinary life of the Caribbs is 150 years. This author is quoted by
Mr Ray^ in his work upon the JV'i/dom of God^'K

If any of my readers fliould doubt the fadls which I have collecfl-
ed, from antient authors and modern travellers, concerning the health
and longevity of men living in the natural ftate or near to that ftate,
I mud refer him to an authority which no Chriftian will difpute, I
mean Mofes's account of the lives of the antient Patriarchs. Thefe
lives, while men lived in the natural way, upon vegetables, and
drank no ftrong liquor, lafted for a period betwixt 900 and 1000
years; which to many may appear quite incredible, but to me is not
fo, when I confider that they Uved in the moft natural way, and
in one of the beft clhiiates of the world. And, indeed, I fhould
think it would be fomething incongruous in nature, if man, the
nobleft animal on this earth, and who is fuperior to all the other
animals in fo many other things, fhould not alfo exceed them in
longevity, when he lives in the way which God and nature have
deftined he fhould live. The account of their generations, and the
length of their lives, are given us fo accurately and diftindly by
Mofes, that there can be no miftake in the matter ; for he has not
only told us the length of the lives of the firft Patriarchs, while they
abftained from the ufe of flefli and wine, but he has informed us
how much the lives of their pofterity were fliortened, when they
came to ufe the unnatural diet of fleih and wine. But here I will
fay no more upon this fubjedt, unlefs to refer to what I have faid
of it, at confiderable length, in volume third of this work f .

There are other two nations, that we have lately difcovered, more
advanced in civility and arts than the people of the Ladrone Iflands,

but
* Page 232.
f Page 1 20. and following.

Chap.II. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. i^-

but who appear to be much healthier than any nation of Furope,
The nations, I m:an, are the inhabitants of the new difcovered
Iflands of Pelew, and the people of New Zealand. Of both thofc
people, I have fpoken at fome length in the fourth volume of this
work*; where I have obferved the generous way in which the
Pelev/ men make war, and their kindnefs and hofpitality to us ; and
the noble, and, I m-ay fay, heroic behaviour of the people of New
Zealand to us. What I will fay here, only regards their bodies and
the ftate of their health. T .e Pelew men live almoft altogether upon
vegetables, fuch as yams and cocoa nuts, eating only the fleih of a few
birds that they kill: For they have no four-footed beads in their coun-
try ; and they wear no clothes, and drink no ftrong liquors. I,
therefore, think it is neceflary, that they fhould live a long and
healthful life; though we were not long enough among them to ob-
ferve how long they lived, or whether they v/ere liable to any dif-
eafe, other than fome of the fcrophulous kind. As to the people of
New Zealand, they live mtirely upon the roots of ferns and the
fifh they can catch ; and ufe no ftrong liquors, any more than the
people of Pelew. I do not think, therefore, that Dr Hawkefworth,
in the account of Captain Cook's firft voyage to New Zealand, and
which was written from the Captain's Journals, has exaggerated much,
when he has faid, * That human nature is not there tainted with dii-
' eafet.' But, notwithftanding, the poornefs of their diet, 1 was told
by Mr Mattra, w^ho w^as there with Captain Cook, that they had great
ftrength of body, one of them being as ftrong as any two ^t our
failors. And their leading men were fo dignified in their appear-
ance, that they were immediately diftinguilhed by our people, and
known to be governing men.

Who
• Page 55. and following.
f See book 2. chap. 9. of Cook's firft voyagf .

i6 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book I.

Who would defire to know more of the difFerence betwixt the
natural and civilifed life, with refped: to the body and animal life
of man, may read what I have written in the firft five chapters of
the 2d book of vol. 3, of this work, where, I think, I may venture
to fay, that there are more fa£ts colledted, concerning men in the
natural ftate, and in the firft ages of civility, than are to be found
in any other book antient or modern.

CHAP.

Cliap, III. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS, 17

CHAP. Ill,

Of the difference betwixt the Natural and CivUifed Life. — The chief
articles are Houfes^ Clothe Sy the ufe of Fire ^ Fief) Diet^ and Strong
Liquors. — Of Houfes : — Thejy of later invention ; the frf covering
from the weather^ being Woods ^ Rocks ^ or Caves. — Another covering
from the weather^ ufcd by the Rich and Luxurious, viz. Carriages,
— Clothes a cloffer confinement than Houfes. — Of air, and our in-
timate connexion with it, as we live in it and by it. — Of the air
ive take in by our Mouth, Nqftrils, and alfo by- our Skin. — Of what
we throw out by our Skin, that is by perfpiration ; — and of the
jiecefity of our taking that in again, as the Skin mujl take in as
well as throw out. — To prevent this mifchief the Greeks and Ro-
mans ufed the warm bath. — This became a piece of luxury amotig
the Romans. — The Egyptians ufed the cold bath, which was better
than the warm; and they ufed it four times in 24 hours. — Of A'
nointing and Fri^ion ufed by the Greeks and Romans, and the be-
lief t thereof — Of the air we take in by our bodies. — That foould be
pure air — not air fouled by the exhalations of our bodies. — The ad-
vantage the Greeks and Romans had by performing their exercifes
naked, and the Egyptians by Jlriping and bathing fo often. — Of
what wefuffer by living in a manner quite d'fferent. — Great atten-
tion given to the ref oration of health in Britain — not fifficient to the
prefervation of it. — The confequence of the neglect of that in fame
parts of the Highlands of Scotland. — What would prevent thcfe bad
confequences, is the conjlant ufe of the cold bath. — For which pur-
pofe baths fjould be eredled in different difri6ls, fuch as they have
in the fouth of France.

Vol. V. G IN

i8 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book I.

IN the preceding chapter, I think, I have proved, not only by
. arguments, but by fadis, that the natural ftate of man, or his
life when near to that ftate, is more beneficial to his body and his
animal life, concerning which the only queftion is at prefent, than
the civilifed life. But, as every intelligent reader will defire to know
what makes this difference, I will endeavour, in this chapter, to fa*
tisi'y him.

The chief articles in which the natural life differs from the civilifed,
is in the ufe of houfes, clothes, fire, of flefh for food, and of wine»
or any other ftrong liquor, for drink. Of each of thefe particulars
I will fpeak, beginning with houfes and clothes.

That houfes .are the invention of art, and do not belong to the
natural Hfe, is a fad that is not to be difputed. At firft, men ihel-
tered themfelves from the injuries of the weather by thickets, rocks,
and caves: Or, where nature did not furnilh them that protection,
they dug caverns in rocks, or lodged in the hollows of trees; and
it was not till later times that men eredled, above ground, thofe ar-
tificial coverings from the weather, which we call houfes^. But the
luxurious and indolent among us, not content with that covering
while they remain at home, go abroad in what may be called a little
houfe ; fo that at no time they enjoy the free airf. — Clothes are a
much clofer houfc than any thing we can make of ftones or cement;
and, indeed, they feparate the body entirely from the air. We are,
therefore, to confider, whether fo great an alteration of the natural

life,

* See what I have faid upon this fubjeifl in the preceding volume, p. 43. and fol-
iating;— aUb what I have faid at more length, on the fame fubjedt, in vol. 3. p.

83.

-i- Sec what I have faid at greater length, on this fubjc<ft, in the preceding volume

cf this work, p. 52. & 53.

Chap. in. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 19

life, made by houfes and clothes, is not hurtful to the human body;
and, whether a free communication with the air does not contribute
very much to the well-being of the animal life. Air is the element
in which we live, as lifh do in the water; nor can we be a few mi-
nutes without the ufe of it. It is that part of nature with which we
have the mofl intimate connection, a connection that does not ceafe
any moment of our lives; for it is in conftant contact with our bodies,
if we will allow it to be fo, and we are always taking it in either by
our mouths or noftrils, or by the pores of our fkin. Upon the pro-
per ufe, therefore, we make of air, muft depend our health, and
the length of our lives.

That air may be corrupted and fouled in many different ways,
every body acknowledges, and that to take in fuch air by our mouths
is very unwholefome ; but the other way of taking it in, by the
pores of our fkin, is not fo much attended to. By our fkin we both
take in a great deal and throw out a great deal. We take in, as I
have faid, the air without us; and we throw out a great deal of
filth from our own bodies, more, as is now well known, than by
flool or urine ; and there are different veffels in the fkin fet apart
for each of thefe purpofes *. The care, therefore, of the fkin is an
cffential part of the cura corporis^ as the antients called it. The vef-
fels that throw out, perform that operation which is called perfpira-
tion; and if there be any flop of it, the body, as is natural, is in a
difeafed flate. And what is thrown out by thefe veffels, mud not be
allowed to flick upon the fkin, or be anywife kept about it, other-
wife perfpiration would be obflruCled, and we fhould live in the
filth of our own bodies. If we live naked, and in the open air, the
air or wind carries this filth off; but by clothes it is kept about

C 3 us.

* This T was informed of by Doctor Monro, ProfcfTor of An?.tomy In the Univer-
fity of Edinburgh, and nioft eminent in his profcflion: From him I have learned a great
deal concerning the confl:ru<ftion and oeconomy of that nioft wonderful machine, the
human body, which I take this opportunity of publicly acknowledging.

20 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book I.

us. And as the other kind of veflels, the ahforling as they are called,
muft likewife perform their office, they take in as the other throw
out. If, therefore, they have not frefh unpolluted air to take in, they
muft neceffarily take in the filth thrown out by the other veffels; fo
that here we have a circulation of filth in our bodies. In fuch a
ftate, it is impofTible, by the nature of things, that any man can
continue fo long in health as he would otherwife do.

To prevent this, the Greeks and Romans ufed the warm bath once
in 24 liours, by which, no doubt, they cleanfed their bodies from
anv filch that had been thrown out in the preceding 24 hours, but
the next 24 hours they lived ^gain in the filth of their own bodies. I,
thereioie, approve much more of the pradice of the Egvptians, who
bathed twice every day, and as often at nig'.it, and with cold water,
which, I know from my own experience, is much better than w^arm;
for it braces as well as cleanfes, whereas the conftant ufe of the warm
bath muft relax too much. It is, however, more pleafiuit than the
cold- fo that the Romans made it a part of their luxury, and par-
ticularly Titus, the moft amiable Emperor they ever had, killed
himfelf, as we are told, by the too frequent ufe of it; for he batlied
as often as he ate. I, therefore, approve of the Egyptian bathing
more than of the Greek and Roman ; and, 1 am perfuaded, it waste
their bathing chiefly that they owed their being the healthieft nation
known, except the Lybians who were favages, wearing no clothes,
and ufing no houfes nor even tents. This Herodotus tells us, who
thereby acknowledges that the natur.d life is the healthieft of any.
There were two other parts of the Greek and Roman regimen, which
I approve very much of, and alfo pradice ; that is anointing and rub-
bing. By the one, they prevented the ikin from becoming rough
and hard, which it is very apt to do when men grow old; but the oil,
by making it foft and fmooth, made it bo:h throw out and take in
more eafily'^: And by \\\z\xp'igil, which was a kind of curry comb,

they

* See upon the ufe cf oil, vol. 3. p. 87.

Chap.III. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 2r

they opened the pores of it, and gave a free paflage both to what
was taken in and thrown out. That the Egyptians pradifed thcfe
two things, there is no author that I know who has afErmed : But,
as they w^ere fo learned in the fcience of heahh, I think it is higlily
probable that they did fo ; and Herodotus has exprefsly told us that
they ufed oil ; nor, indeed, does it appear to me, that there was
any antient nation that did not anoint. — And thus much may fuf-
fice for what we throw out by our veifels of perfpiration.

But ;t is as neceffary that the fkin foould take in, as that it fhould
throw out; and the air, if taken in, auft be good air, as well as
the air we take in by the mouth. Ki > ^nat cannot be, if we are
to take in the air kept about us by our ^= ^, which muft neccifa-
rily be fouled by the exhalations of our ow dy. It muft, there-

fore, be the pure circumambient air. This the .: ked favage is con-
tinually taking in; but the clothed man cannot take m, exci-pt when
he ftrlps. And here the Greeks and Rcnnans had a great advantage
over us; for they performed all their exercifcs naked; and the Egyp-
tians, too, by ftriping and bathing 4 times in the 24 hours, muft
have taken in a great deal of good air.

If thefe propofuions, which 1 have mentioned, of the neceiTity of
not keeping about us the excremens, as they may be called, of our
bodies, and of taking in, by the i ores of our fkin, the frelh air, as
well as by our mouth, be well founded, what Ihall we fav of thofc
millions of people, in Great Britain, wiio never bathe, but live con-
ftantly in the filth of their own bodies ; and who never ftrip unlefs
to put on a clean Ihirt, in a clofe room, and very often, before a fire.

The people of England have been at more pains, and more ex-
pence, than, I believe, any other people of the world, to reftoro
health after it is loft, not only by phyficians, furgeons, and apothe-
caries.

12 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book I.

caries, and all forts of drugs and medicines, but by erecting hofpi-
tals, more, I am perfuaded, than are to be found in any other coun-
try. Yet difeafe, in England, ftill continues to increafe; and it is fur-
prifmg how many of thofe, that are put into hofpitals, die there, and
particularly children. Of this I have given an example in the third
volume of this work*, where I have mentioned an hofpital for chil-
dren in London, in which, out of 74, there died 7 1 in a year. But the
people of England have not been fo attentive to the preferving health,
a thing of much more value than the reftoring it after it is loft. One
of the things that preferves health, more than any thing elfe I know,
is the daily ufe of the cold bath, by which, as I have faid, we are pre-
vented from living in the filth of our own bodies, and having that filth
again taken in by our fkins. This preventive of difeafe is particu-
larly necefTary among the common people, who cannot afford a clean
Ihirt every day, and wear the fame fliirt, not only for days, but
for weeks together. There is a part of the Highlands of Scotland,
where as I was informed by a clergyman, who was a native there,
the country people wear their fhirts, without fhifting, till they
are in rags; the confequence of which is, that they are all overrun
with the itch, and mufl be liable to many more difeafes. Now,
this mifchief might be in a great meafure prevented by the frequent
ufe of the cold bath; and, I think, it is worth the attention of Go-
vernment, to give the people of Scotland, and particularly thofe of
the Highlands, an opportunity of ufmg it, by ereding public baths,
fuch as they have in the fouth of France, and which, I am perfuad-
ed contributes very much to the health of the people there. The
baths might be erected and kept going at a very fmall expence, which
might be furnilbed by a trifling tax on the people of the feveral dif-
trids where the baths are ere<Sted.

CHAP.

♦ Page 194- ■

Chap, IV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. i^

CHAP. IV,

The Diet m the Civilifed Life much more unwholefome than that in
the Natural. — The reafon for which is, that it is of more difficult
digeflio7i, — And^firfl, as to the food of Flcfld^—of more dijicult di-
gejlion than Vegetables. — Fermented Liquors not a ivhole/oine drink.
— 1 hat both eating Flefj and drinking Strong Liquors are unwhoh"
Jovie^ proved by Health bei?ig recovered when Men abflain from
them, — That eating Fleflj^ and drinking IS i rang Lic^uors.^ do not give
Strength., proved by the example of the People oftht Ladrone IJlands
and of the Porters of Baffora. — Of the m inner of living of the
antient Fgyptians^ as to eating Fleflj and drinking Wine — moderate
in both., — but they knew that the Civiiifed Life, however inanaged
was not favourable to Health. — Therefore they took Phyfic to pre-
vent Dijea/es.^ — a?id had Dodlors for every Difcafe. — Of the Lidi-
ans^ and their manner of living. — They eat only of the Animals
they Sacrifice — drink no Strong Liquors — Bathe and Anoint^ yet
are fhorttr-Uved than we, though lefs Dijeafed, — diminifjed too, in
the ftze of their bodies. — The Greeks and Romans preferved the'w
Health by exercifing naked in the air. — The Romans too^ by fwim-

ming, which was a neceffary part of Education afnong them. The

exercijes of the Greeks, in their PaUvflras, too violent; and the Diet
of the Athlets very utinatural. — The/e excrcifes not praciifed by the

Egyptians. — Agriculture the nio/l healthy of all occupations. This

pra£li/ed mofl fuccef fully by the Romans in the early ages of their

State. — What they learned by the practice of Agriculture, of (rrcat

ife to them in their military operations. —Of the advantage the Claf-

fical Scholar may reap by learning a better way of living than any

pra&ifcd-

it4 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book I.

praElifed in Europe at prefent^from the example of Aiit'ient Nations.
Three Antient Nations mentioned^ the Egyptian^ the Grecian, and
the Roman. — The Egyptian^ the mojl Antient and Wifejl Nation in
the World, — Governed by Religion and Philo/ophy. — Their Nation
lajlcd longer than any other Nation, and died at lajl a violent deaths
that is, by Conquejl. — Their Families al/o lajlcd longer than the Fa-
milies of any other Country, — as it appears from the age of the Fa-
mily of the High Prieji of Jupiter in Thebes. — Of their manner of
living. — They indulged in the pleafures of the Table to a certain de-
gree,— did not pradice the Athletic exercifes of the Greeks, but pre-
fcrved their healths by bathing in cold water, — a?id by violent phy-
ficking every month. — The reafon they gave for this pradfice, a good
one. — Their bathing in cold water may he pradlifed by us, and is
praciifed by the People of Ottaheite. — Phjfic too, taken to a cer-
tain degree, proper for prefer ving our Health. — // was fo taken by
the People of Rank, in France, 30 years ago. — In fo variable a
Climate as ours, air and exercife abfolutely iieceffary. — The vicijji-
tudes of Weather and Climate, the Egyptians faid, were the chief
caufes of Difeafes. — In other Climates, as well as ours, great vicif
fitudes of Vieather, as in the South of France, in Italy, and in
South Carolina in North America. — The Health of Man, therefore,
not to be preferved in any Country, except Egypt, without exercife
in the open air. — Among the Greeks, two Arts relating to the Hu-
man Body praBifed, the Gymnaftic and Medicinal. — The Gyinnaflc
pra&ifed naked, and not only for prefer ving Health, but J or curmg
Dfeafes. — Thefc exercifes produced what they called svi^iu, or the
good order of their Bodies. — They gave ftrength to the Mind as
well as to the Body: — Exercifes fdoidd be praBifed in Britain as much
as they were formerly. — They made the Greeks enjoy very much all
the pleafures of the Table, parlicidarly Drinking.— The Roman
pleafures of the Table confjled chief y in eating.—^Of the Roman
exercife. — In the days of Augufus they had Palafras fuch as the

Greeks.

Chap. IV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 25

Greeks^ — -pradifed Swimming much more than the Greeks, — This a
good exercife both for Health and for Sleep, — Of the Ant'unt Man-
ner of living among the Romans. — Their rufic Tribes lived in the
Country^ and came to Town only occaftonallvy — cultivated their
lands with their own hands, — The Romans difinguifhed from all
Civilifed Nations^ of Antieiit Times^ by their application to Agri-
culture^— and refembling more the Antient Heroes of Greece, — Of
the manner of living of the Spartans — quite different from that of
the Romans in the frfl ages of their State, — They had fupplied to
them not only the neceffaries oj life^ but the luxuries^ by the labour
cf others — yet by the regulation of their Diet^ and by their Athletic
Exercifes^ the People were kept Virtuous^ and their State la/led 700
years, — Of their fuperiority in clofs fight, even to the Romans; —
but the Roman manner of livings upon the whole, better, — particu-
larly as to the prefervation of Health, and the numbers of Men.
— Thefe decreafed wonderfully among the Spartans, but increafed
very much among the Romans. — A refrmation of our manner of
living may be got, by the Jludy of the manners of the three Nations
above mentioned: — Such a reformation of the great efl co?ifequencefor
the prefervation of our People, and particularly of our Nobility and
Gentry. — What is to be imitated of the Egyptian manntr of living.
— The Greek exercifes^ though not fo neceffary in War as it is now
carried on, are proper for working off our full diet, and repairing
the degeneracy of the Human Body^ produced by the change of the
fyjlem of War. --Of the difufe of exercifes in Britain, both anwno-
the better fort and the lower. The ufe of the Greek Rc^rlmen of
Bathing, Anointing, and FriSIion, abfolutely neceffary for p refer v-

ing Health. — Fri^ion, without Anointing, inay do harm. The

. Greek praaice of being naked, and exercifing naked, coniribrftcs vcrv
much to Health. — An example of that in our own times given. — Of

the Roman method ofjoi?iing Military exercifes with Agriculture,

This ought to be pra^ifcd in Britain. — The Far??is ought f^ br fmall
Vol. V, D

,26 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. ^Book L

zV/ Britabi as among the Romans^ — 7io great Villages or Towns can
771 ake amends for the defolation of the Country by great Farms.—"
The confequence of f mall Farms among the Romans^ as to their Po-
pulation and the Recruiting of their Armies, — After the manners of
Rome ivcre corrupted by Afiatic ivealth, it was the Greek Philofo'
phy that preferved any virtue among them. — That Fhilofophy is
wanting amotig us ; and the quefion isy Whether it can be fupplied
by other t hi figs which we have? — But it is certain that our Health
cannot be preferved without thofe Arts by which the Antient Na-'
tions preferved their Health. — Our hours of Eatings Drinking^
xind Sleeping, ought to be reformed, and pra&ifed as they were
among the Romans. — The reformation of our manner of livings
of the utmof importance for preferving the Health, the Morals, and
the Numbers, of tht People. — This reformation may be brought a-
bout by the People of rank fetting an example, and making it the
Fafjion, — Fafoion prevails among the vulgar as well as among the
better fort. — Bathing, FriElion, and Anointing, might in that way
be brought into Fafhion among the lower fort of People, and alfo
wearing fewer Clothes, and not fwaddling and wrapping up their
Children. — Of the Diet of the lozverfort of People, and particular-
ly of their Drinking Spirits, — That ought to be abolifoed altogether,
or at leaf very much refrained. — Of the e-vtrtriria in Sparta, by
which the Diet of the People was regulated. — Something of that
kind praBifcd aboard our Ships of War. — The eJfcSl of it re-
markably feen in Captain Cook^s Voyages, where, if the Men had
been allowed to live as they would have chofen to do, they never
would have brought home the Ship. — If fuch regulation of Diet
was made general in Britain, what a fiving there would be of
Men f — Thfe regulations the more neceffary, that the People are
employed in Arts the mrf defru5live of Men; — and 7iot only they,
but their Children, — This makes the cojfumption of Children won-
derful,

THUS,

Chap. IV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 27

TFIUS, I think, I have fhown, that clothes and houfes, which
have been always ufed in the civilifed life, are hurtful to the
body, and therefore muft produce difeafes, and confequently fhorten
life : And I am now to account, why the diet in the civililed life,
is more unwholefome than the diet in the natural life. And I will
begin with the eating fleih, which, I fay, is food for a man, not fo
natural nor fo wholefome as vegetables.

That flefh is of more difficult dlgeftion than vegetables, every
man's experience muft convince him. When 1 was in France, a-
bout 30 years ago, the moft of the difeafes of which the French-
died, proceeded from indigeftion of the great variety of flefli which
they ate; and it is well known in this country, that men are often
recovered from dangerous dileafes, and their lives faved, by the ve-
getable diet. Now, any diet that is good for reftoring health when
loft, muft be at leaft as good for preferving it. — And fo much for the
food in the civilifed life.

As to the drink in this life, it is commonly wine, or fome fer*
mented liquor of one kind or another. That the excefs in fuch li-
quors is pernicious, no body difputes : But, I fiiy, even the mo-
derate ufe of them is not favourable to health; And the fame argu-
ment, which proves the unwholefomciiefs of fiefti, proves likewife
that wine and other ftrong liquors are alfo unwholefome ; for men
recover their health by a diet in which the ufe of ftrong liquors
as well as of flefti, is forbid. As to fpirits, they are the moft un-
natural drink, and confequently the moft pernicious, that can be
imagined; but of this I have faid enough already*. It is common-
ly thought, that the eating flcfti, and drinking ftrong liquor, give
flrength to the body: But the people of the Ladrone Illands are

D2 a.

* See vol. 3. p. 181.

id ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book L

a proof of the contrary; and if we want a proof nearer home, we
have that of the Arabian porters of Baflbra, who can carry a much
greater burthen than any porter in Europe, and yet they eat no-
thing but dates, (and fifh when they can get them), and drink no
flrong Uquors*.

The Egyptians, of all antient nations, appear to have been the
moft moderate fle(h-eaters ; for they did not kill to eat, as we do
and as other antient nations did, but they ate only of what was fa-
criliced; and, I fuppofe, of that the Priefts had the chief fhare.
They were moderate, too, in the ufe of wine, of which Egypt pro-
duced none ; for they got their wine from the mountainous part of
Arabia, divided from the reft of Arabia by the Arabian Gulph, or
Red Sea as we call it. Of this part of Arabia they were in pofleflion,
fo that they had wine growing in their own territory; for they made
it a rule to import nothing from any other country, nor to export
to any other, fo that they had no trade at all ; and the ftrong liquor
they chiefly ufed was ale, which, the Greek authors fay, was a very
pleafant drink, not much inferior to wine in tafte and flavour. But
their philofophy appears to have taught them, that the civilifed life,
however well managed, was not favourable to health ; and, there-
fore, they ftudied phyfic more, I believe, than any other people
ever did, having a Doctor for every difeafe, and taking phyfic in
great quantities every month, for three days fucceflively, to prevent
difeafes; and, from my own experience, I find, that phyfic taken
for that purpofe is very beneficial, though I do not take it in fo vio-
lent a way as the Egyptians did, but much oftener.

The Indians, who, as I have fliownf, have taken fo much of the
E^^yptian manners, have imitated them as to eating flcfli ; for they

eat

* See vol. 3. of this work, p. 173.

I Vol. 4. of this work, book 3. chap. 2. and 3.

Chap. IV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 29

€at only of what they offer to the Gods; and it is only the Bramins,
their Priefts, that eat of that. And they do more for health than the
antient Egyptians did ; for they drink no ftrong liquors. Tiieir diet,
therefore, is as natural as any diet can be; for they eat nothing but
rice, and drink nothing but water: Befides all that, they ufe bathing
and anointing conftantly ; yet they are fhorter lived than we are,
though they be lefs difeafed ; for they are old at the age of 50, and
very few of them exceed the age of 60. But they are houfed,
clothed, and ufe fire, with which they prepare their vidluals, and
ufe no phyfic to prevent difeafe; and as they are the old eft nation
now in the world, fmce the Egyptian nation is now no more, they
have been in that ftate for feveral thoufand years. This fmgle in-
ftance, joined with the obfervations I have made upon the civilifed
life compared with the natural, demonftrates as much as any thing
of the kind can be demonftrated by fact and argument, that the ci-
vilifed and domefticated life, though conducted with the greateft
care and caution, tends to impair health, ftrength, and longevity,
and, I may add, fize of body : For the Indians, when Alexander
was among them, were men of 5 cubits, and their Princes, fuch as
Porus, taller ; but now they are men about our ftature.

Before I quit this fubje(3:, of the comparifon of the natural diet
with the diet of our civilifed life, I will give an advice to my read-
ers, that I take to myfelf: Which is, to join together the two kinds
of diet, fo as never to eat flcfh without vegetables, (I mean roots or
greens, befides bread, which every perfon eats with flefli), and never
to drink wine without a mixture of water, of which the antients al-
ways put fome even into their fmalleft wines*. This pradicc, I am
perfuaded, will make both the eating flefli, and drinking wine, lefs
unwholefome.

I will only fay one thing more upon the fubje<£l oi the bodies of

men

* See Barry on the Wines of the Antionts.

30 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book L

men in the civilifed life, that they can only preferve any degree of
health and ftrength by exercifes in the open air, and the pradice of
bathing, anointing, and fridlion : The Greeks, certainly, preferved
their health and flrength very much by exercifmg naked in their
Palasftra; and the Romans by their exercifes in the Campus Martins^
and by fwimming in the Tyber: For fvvimming I hold to be a very
healthy and ftrengthening exercife; and it was fo neceflary a part of
education among the Romans, that it was compared to learning letters j
and they defcribed a man perfectly untaught, by faying, 7ieque I'lteras
tieque natart dld'icit. As to the Greek exercifes of the Palaeftra, they
were too violent, and pra-itifed too conftantly; and though they might
give health and ftrength for the time, they certainly wore out the
body before its time, efpecially fuch as were prad:ifed by thofe who
afpired to be vigors in the public games, where not only their ex-
ercifes were prefcribed by the maflers of the academy, but alfo their
diet, one extraordinary part of which was the ct.va.yx,cLio<pcx.yia,y ox for C"
hig them/elves to eat. Such athlets could not be healthy or long liv-
ed ; and, accordingly, we hear of fome of the vidtors, in thofe
games, dying iuddenly after being crowned ; and, I believe, it was
for that reafon, that the Egyptians did not approve of fuch exercifes
or pradife them.

The moft healthy of all occupations I hold to be agriculture, and
the moft ufeful too, efpecially as it was managed by the Romans in
the beginning of their ftate; for it not only produced corn, fufficient
to maintain the Romans in the early times of the Comm.onwealth,
but it trained the farmers to arms, by the practice of military ex-
ercifes upon their holidays; of which we have a beautiful defcription
in Virgil, concluding with thefe lines,

Hanc vitam veteres oHm coluere Sabini;
Hanc Remus et frater: fic fort is Etruria crcvit,
Scilicet et rerum fafta eft pulcherrima Roma.

Georg. II. V. 53 li

Chap. IV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 31

It was in this way that the rujlicorum mufcula militum proles ^ was
reared, with which the Romans conquered the world. Horace adds,
in the paflage I have quoted, Sabellis doSla ligotiibus ver/are glebas:
And it was this pradice which made them the moil: expert in mak-
ing ramparts and intrenchments, of all foldiers, antient or mo-
dern, of whom we read. This was of fignal fervice to the Romans
in their foreign conquefts, particularly in the conquefl of Gaul,
which Julius Csefar may be faid to have conquered, not by the fword
only, but likewife by the fpade. By this education were produced
thofe heroes, fuch as Regulus, Fabricius, and the others mentioned
by Horace in thefe beautiful lines ;

Reguluin, et Scauros, animseque magnse
Prodigum Paulum, fuperante Poeno,
Gratus infigni referam Camoena,

Fabriciumque.
Hunc, ct incomtis Curium cap'ilUs
Utilem bello tulit, et Camlllum
SsEva paupertas, et avitus apto
Cum lare fundus f.

and in fhort made the Romans mafters of the world, and Rome,
truly what Virgil calls it, rerum pulcherrima. It was by their ap-
plication to this moft ufeful art, and, at the fame time, the mod
conducive to health, as I have obferved, that the Romans were
diftinguiflied from all the civilifed nations in later times, and more
refembled the heroic race of Greece, who, as it appears, from the
OdyfTey of Homer, cultivated their lands with their own hands, as
the Romans did in the early ages of their ftate.

Before I conclude this book, upon the fubjed of the body and
animal life of man, I think it is proper to recommend to the claflical

fcholar,

* Horat. Lib. 3. Ode 6.
■\ Ibid. Lib. I. Ode 12.

r.2

ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book L

fcholar, to ftudy the way of living of the antient clvilifed nations,
that were famous for arts and fciences. By that ftudy, without be-
ing a philofopher, or able to diftingulfh accurately betwixt the na-
tural .and civilifed life, and to know that the natural is much more
conducive to health than the civiliied, he will learn, by example, a
manner of living much better than any that is pradifed at prefent in
Britain or in Europe; for there is no modern nation, at prefent in
Europe, that I know, whofe manner of Uving I could recommend.
But it is the great advantage of claffical learning to carry us back to
antient times, and to make us live, as it were, in the antient world;
where, among other arts and fciences that are to be learned, the
moft ufeful art of any is to be learned, I mean the art of living, and of
enjoying all the advantages, and all the pleafures, of the civilifed and
domefticated life, with many fewer difeafes and pains than thofe to
which our civilifed life is Uable. And I will mention three nations,
from whom I think a great deal of the art of living is to be learned;
the Egyptian, Grecian, and Roman. Of the way of living of thefe
three nations, I have faid a good deal already, but I will hear men-
tion fomething more particular with regard to each of them.

The Egyptians, as they were the moft antient nation in the world,
and therefore nearer the Gods than we, (to ufe an exprefTion of
Plato), fo they were the wife ft nation in the world. They were go-
verned by religion and philofophy; and therefore their nation, and
their families, lafted longer than any other. As to their nation,
though they do not appear to have multiplied in later times fo much
as in older, when they fent colonies all over the world then known*,
they do not appear ever to have been in any immediate hazard of
dying out, as we fee the modern nations are, and therefore the
death they died was a violent one, fuch as any nation in the courfe
of human affairs may die, I mean by conqueft ; and as to their fa-

milieSj

* Vol. 4- p. 235.

Chap. IV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 33

milies, Herodotus only mentions the duration of one of them,
that of the family of the High Prieft of Jupiter in Thebes, which
lafted above 11,000 years, in the male line, from father to fon, and
this vouched by a chronological monument, fuch as, I believe, was
not to be feen in any other country of the world *. Of their govern-
ment and laws I am not to fpeak at prefent, (having faid enough on
that fubje(5l in volume iv. of this workf ), but only of their manner of
living, of which Herodotus has given us a very particular defcription.
From his account it appears that they lived full, and indulged them-
felves, to a certain degree, in the pleafures of the table. At the
fame time, they did not pradife the gymnaftic exercifes of the
Greeks: But they bathed more than they did, twice in the daytime,
and as often in the night; and in cold water, which, I think, was
very proper ; for, not ufmg the Greek Athletic exercifes, the w^arm
bath would have relaxed them too much ; though I am not fure but
the practice of the Heroes in Homer J, who ufed bathing after fa-
tigue, beginning with the cold bath, and then ufmg the warm, after
which they anointed, was ftill better than the more modern Greek
practice, of ufmg the warm bath only. But what was moft fmgular
in the Egyptian regimen, and muft have had a very great efFed upon
their health, was the phyfic they t©ok, and their regular evacua-
tions, by vomiting, purging, and clyftering, for three days fuccef-
fively in the beginning of each month: And they gave, what I
think, a good reafon for this practice; namely, that in a country fuch
as Egypt, where the human body could not be hurt by vIci/Titudcs
of weather, there could be no caufe of difeafe but intemperance.

By Uving in this way, Herodotus fays, they were the healtlii-

eft of all the men then known, the Lybians only excepted, whom

Vol. V. E (as

* Vol I. of Origin of Language, p. C27. 2d edition.
-|- Chap. 10. of Book 2.
X Iliad 10. V 572.

ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book L

(as I have fiiid) I conlider as favages rather than civilifed men.
One part of their regimen we ought certainly to imitate ; and that
is their frequent bathing in cold water, which ferves the double pur-
pofe both of cleanling and bracing. The people of Otaheite pradlife
it twice a day; which makes them fo clean and fweet, compared
with us, that Omai, the Otaheite man, who was in England fome
years ago, thought all the people of England flunk ; And I can
eafily believe, that a man, born and brought up in fo cleanly a coun-
try, would have the fenfe of fmelling much more delicate than the peo-
ple of Great Britain, the greater part of whom not only do not bathe
once a day, but live conftantly in the filth of their own bodies, and
fo may be f^ud, compared with the people of Otaheite, to live in a
houfe of oflice. Further, I think, if we will live indolently and lux-
vn-ioufly, w^e fhould take phyfic, as the Egyptians did, and as the
French people of quality did, when I was among them, about 30
years ago ; the confequence of which was, that, according to my
obfervation, they kept their health better, and lived longer, if they
kept free of the venereal difeafe, than the people of the fame rank
in Britain. But I would hardly advife fo fevere a purgation as the
Egyptian; becaufe I am afraid our weak bodies could not bear it, any
more than the Monks of the Grande Chartreufe could at prefent
bear bleeding five times a year, which was a rule of the order, and
was pradifed three or four hundred years ago**

But in a climate fo variable as ours, and fo different in every re-
fpe<St from that of Egypt, we mufl not trufl to phyfic only for
health, but mufl take air and exercife, otherwife the vicifTitudes of
the weather will lay hold of us: For, I am perfuaded, the Egyptians

were

* This is related in a book which I faw in London two or three years ago; but
which is very rare, and not to be found in Scotland. It is entitled A/males Ordinis Car-
thufiiiti^y written by a Superior of the order. The author of this work fays, that if the
Monks now were to be blooded as often, it would kill the greater part of them.

Chap. VI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 35

were in the right, when they thought that thefe vicifTitudes produ-
ced a great part of the difeafes to which the human body is liable; *
and which we, in this country, cannot otherwife efcape, than by
living hardily, and expofing ourfelves to the weather, inftead of
Shrinking from it, and creeping into holes, fuch as houfes, clofe
rooms, and the ftill clofer boxes in which we are carried about, and
deprived of the benefit of air even when we go out. Such men
fhould take the advice which Dr Armftrong gives them in his Poem,
*' The Art of Preferving Health ;"

If indolence would wifh to live,

Go yawn and loiter out the long flow year
In fairer climes.

And, even in fome of thefe fairer climes, there are vicifTitudes of
weather more violent than any we experience here. In the fouth
of France, there come fevere gulls of cold wind from the Alps : In
Rome, the winter, though much fhorter, is commonly more fe-
vere than in Britain ; and even in the fpring, there come very cold
blafts of wind from the Appennines; and I was told, by a gentle-
man lately come from Italy, who had gone thither on account of
his health, that he could fcarcely bear the cold of Rome, even in the
month of April. On the other fide of the Atlantic, there are flill
more violent changes of weather. In fome of the fouthern provinces
of North America, particularly in South Carolina, as I was told by
a very intelligent phyfician, Dodor Garden, who lived there thirty
years, the thermometer, in the fpace of 30 hours, has been known
to vary from 15 degrees to 74 ; the confequence of which was,
that the Europeans, who lived delicately, were very much afre(5led
but the wild animals and the Indians not at all.

E 2 And

* This Herodotus has told us in the paffage where he gircs an account of the phy-
fuking of the Egyptians.

^6 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book L

And thus it appears, that man is not by God and Nature deftlned
to live delicately and out of the air, in any country, at leaft not in
Europe or North America. The Egyptian method of phyfic, there-
fore, without air or exercife, will not preferve our health; and we
are now to confider the Greek method of living.

Among the Greeks there were two arts belonging to the human
body, the gymnaflic and the medicinal. By the firft of thefe they
preferved their health, gave ftrength and agility to their bodies, and
at the fame time grace and beauty; for they were exercifed decora
more palajlrce'^ ; and it v/as no fmall addition to the wholefomenefs
of their exercifes, that they performed them naked, as the name
imports, and fo were reflored, for fome hours of the day, to their
natural ftate. In this way they not only preferved health, but ac-
quired it when loft; for certain exercifes were prefcribed for the cure
of certain difeales, fuch as the dropfyf. And not only did they thus
acquire health, but they formed that habit of body which they call-
ed gygf/a, in which a horfe is \^\\tnifi good order ^ as we exprefs it;
and, if a man among them was not in that order, it was as well
known by his look and appearance, as a fkillful groom, among us,
knows, in that way, whether a horfe be in good order J.

How much thofe exercifes, which, among the Greeks, were an
cifential part of education, and to excel in them a matter of the
higheft praife, muft have fitted their bodies for war, is needlefs to
obferve: And not only their bodies but their minds; for, as Arif-
totle has obferved, thofe exercifes of emulation and contention, not
only give ftrength to the body, but vigour and fortitude to the

mind.

* Horat. Lib. i. Ode lo.

\ Si no/rsftifiuSy ctirres kydropicus. — HoRAT. Epift. 2. Lib. I.

\ 'Q.i »5i4<T<x*5 iy,u<; TO Quiax, " Holu like ts that of a vulgar man is the habit of youi'
body;' faid Socrates to one of his followers, ^Yho had negle<^ed his exercifes. — Xem^
fhont. Metmrabiiia,

Chap. IV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 37

mind. And, for that purpofe, if for no other, they ought to be much
more pradtifed in Britain than they are at prefent, and as much as
they were formerly, not only among the better fort, but even among
the lower ; for in every village, and all over the country, cudn-el-
playing, wrcftling, foot-ball, fnooting with the bow, &c. were the
favourite diverfions of the people.

Thofe exercifes of the Greeks not only made them excellent fol-
diers, but enabled them to enjoy all the pleafures of life in a higher
degree than, I believe, any other people ever did ; particularly the
pleafure of drinking and good feliowfhip, which, among the Ro-
mans, was called gracari^ and does not appear to have been, at any
time, fo much pradifed among them, even in the time of their high-
eft luxury, as among the Greeks, ; for, though they indulged much
more in eating than the Greeks did, and bellowed infinite care and
expence upon that article of luxury, which I reckon the meaneft and
moft beaftly of any, they did not drink fo much as the Greeks, un-
lefs perhaps fome of them, who, like Horace, had been educated in
Greece, or had lived much in it.

I come now to fpeak of the Roman method of living, which, in
later times, after they had got the Greek arts among them, was pret-
ty much the fame as the Greek, only not fo elegant ; particularly,

' I have obferved, in the article of the table. In the days of Au-
g Aus, they had palseftras, fuch as the Greeks had; and, if w^e can
believe Horace, wreftled better than they did*: And their exercifes,
in the open air, in the Campus Martius, (not in an inclofed place, fuch
as the Greek palseftra was), and their pradifmg fwimming fo much,
more than, I think, the Greeks did, I approve very much of; nor
do 1 know a better receipt for health, or for fleep, which is muck

wanted

"^ Lb. 2. EpiiL \.

3S ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book I.

wanted among the indolent and luxurious of Britain, than what Tre-

batius gives to Horace ;

tcr un£li

Tranfnanto Tibcrim, fomno quibus eft opus alto*:

The reft of the receipt, I believe, I need not prefcribe to them ;
Irrjguumque mero fub no<Stem corpus habento f .

But what I would chiefly recommend to the people of Britain, is
the antient manner of living of the Romans, before they were cor-
rupted by wealth and had become mafters of the world, not more
by right of conqueft than by fuperiority of virtue. A citizen of
Rome, in the firft ages of their ftate, lived upon an acre or two
of land, which he himfelf cultivated, with the afliftance of his
wife and children, or of a flave, if he had one ; and, in later
times, the better kind of citizens, who were called the riijlic tribes^
lived in the country, and came to town only on market days, or
upon fome public bufmefs. Thole who lived conftantly in town,
were the Sellularia turha^ as Livy calls them, and were all artificers
of one kind or another, of little eftimation in peace or war ;

as Homer expreflfes it.

To this life of the antient Roman citizens the life of the Spartans
was, in fome refpeds, a perfect contraft. A Spartan was wholly
employed in arms and government, having all the necefTaries of life,
and even the luxuries, fuch as flefh and wine, fupplied to him by the
labour of others. In fhort, the Spartans were all what we call gentle-
men, living without any application to the ordinary bufmefs of life;
and were, in that refpedt, the moft fmgular people of whom we read
in hiftory. To make fuch people brave and virtuous, required no-
thing

• Hor. Lib. 2. Sat. i. f Ibidem.

Chap.IV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 39

thing lefs than the wifdom of a man, of whom the oracle was In doubt
whether he fhould call him god or man, I mean Lycurgus ; nor could
it have been efFed:ed without the flridieft difcipline and fevered laws,
regulating every part of their life, their diet as well as their exercifes,
which were fuch, that war was an eafe and a pallime to their youth.
By thofe fevere athletic exercifes, continued without any intermif-*
fion, except that of war, they formed men that, I am perfuaded,
would have been fuperior even to the Romans in clofe fight ; nor
do 1 believe that the Roman legions could have ftood fuch a
conflict as that of Leudra or Mantina'a, though, I think, the Ro-
man militaiy art was, upon the whole, fuperior to theirs : But
the manner of fighting of their heavy armed men was truly wrefl-
ling, in which, from their continued exercifes in their palaeftraSy
they muft have been fuperior to the Romans ; and, accordingly,
they were not overcome till the Thebans, as Xenophon informs
us, became better wreftlers than they. In their government, too,
I praife very much the excluiion of the people from having any
{hare of ir ; which was the reafon of its lafting fo long, no fewer
than 700 years, as LIvy tells us. Bat, in every other refped, I pre-
fer the manners of the Romans^ and particularly, in this refpect, that
they tended much more to incrcafe t'le numl)ers of the people, to
which the pradice of agriculture, tae moft healthy of all occupa-
tions, muft have contributed very much. The Spartans, on the
other hand, had no other occupation but war, and violent athletic
exercifes in time of peace; which was certainly not a natural life :
So that we are not to wonder that their nu nbers were fo much de-
creafed in the time of Ariftotlc, that, as he has informed us, their
ftate could not bear one great blow, (he means the battle of Lcuc-
tra), but was ruined by the want of men*; whereas Rome, though

* Arillot. De Republican Lib. 2. Cap. 9. Ariftotlc in this paflage mentions another
icafon for the great decreafe of the people of Sparta ; which was their giving land as-

40 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book!.

more conftantly at war than Sparta, and though it fufFered much
greater lofTes in feveral battles, had fent out, before it was 400 years
old, 30 colonies.

Thefe are the different manners of the three greateft nations of
antiquity, which I have learned from the fludy of antient hiftory ;
the greateft benefit whereof is, in my opinion, the knowledge of
dntient arts and manners. How different our manner of living is
from that of any of thofe nations, it is needlefs to obferve. But it is
a matter of moft ferious confideration, whether our prefent life might
not be reformed by the example of one or other, or all, of thofe na-
tions. It is a queftion of fuch importance, that, in my apprehen-
fion, upon the right determination of it depends the very exiftence of
the nation for any confiderable time, and particularly of the beft men
among us, I mean the antient families of nobility and gentry, who,
if they continue to die out as faft as they have done for the laft three
centuries, muft, in not many years, be utterly extinguifhed, or, what
I think worfe, reprefented by poor contemptible animals, that are a
difgrace to title and birth.

And firft, as to the Egyptian manner of living, if v/e will not
take exercife, and live cleanly, (as Shake fpeare very well expreffes
it), we ought to purge and evacuate in different ways ; and, even
with exercife, we fliould, like race horfes, be the better for phyfic
fometimes, to work off the fuperfluities of our diet.

The

-a portion to their daughters, who tarried it to their hufbmds. In that way tlie
jiumber of their land-holders, and confcquently of their militia, was greatly diminifhed;
and, as by the fame means their wealth was incrcafed, it may be reckoned one of the
chief caufcs of the ruin of their ftate. It is chielly by female fucceflion, that the num-
ber of" land-holders in Britain has been fo much diminiflaed, and confequently eftates
increafed, within thefe three or four laft centuries. »

Chap. IV, ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 41

The Greek athletic exercifes are necellary, if we would have
ftrong bodies, or even for health, if we will live full and eat a
great deal of fiefh and drink much wine. They are not, indeed,
fo ufeful in war as they were among the Greeks, but they ought
to be pradlifed by us to a certain degree, in order to repair, as much
as pofTible, that degeneracy of the human body produced by the
change of the fyftem of war, which we carry on now not fo much
by men as by machines. How much ftronger and more agile
muft our bodies have been, when the men of rank pradifed horfe-
manfliip, and the ufe of the fpear in tilts and tournaments, in or-
der to fit themfelvs for war; and when the paftime of the low-
er fort of people was fhooting with the bow, running, and cudgel-
playing, inftead of cards and. drinking ? But what I would recom-
mend moft, of the Greek regimen, is their bathing, anointing, and
rubbing. Without fridion, I hold that no houfed animal can keep
his health, any more than a horfe ; and, without the ufe of oil, by
much fridion we make our fkin too hard and dry, and not unlike
a piece of bend leather. And as to bathing, I hope I have made it
quite clear, that without it we can be no more clean than a dun<^-
hill. There is another Greek pradice which I would alfo greatly
recommend, and that is being naked as much as conveniently may
be, and even exerciling naked, and making our bed-chambers, with
the windows open, little palseftras for that purpofe. I knew a man
who dyed but lately, at the age of about 100, perfedly entire in
body and mind, (I mean General Oglethorpe), who exercifed himfelf
naked, in his room, after getting out of bed, the heft part of an
hour; and Pliny the younger mentions an old man, in his time
who, without exercifmg, by only fitting naked in the air and in the
fun, preferved his health.

The Roman method of mixing rural occupations with the prac-
tice of military exercifes, I have already mentioned*; and, without
Vol. V. F it,

* Page 30, and 31.

42 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book I.

it, I am confident tliat they never could have conquered Italy,
(which was their hardeft t.iik), or become mailers of the world.
Such exercifes were formerly ufed by the peafants all over Britain ;
and the pradlice of them ought, if pofTible, to be renewed: And we
fhould never forget, that, if we Vv^ould have a populous country, the
£irms muft be Imall, as they were among the Romans in the antient
ages of their ftate; and that no increafe of towns, or of great vil-
lages, can make up for the defolation of the country (the true mo-
ther and nurfe of men) by great farms. It was by their country
being lb much peopled in that way, that Rome, and the other fmall
ftates of Italy, were enabled to raife and recruit, after the greateft
lofles, fuch armies as appeared incredible to the Romans, in the days
of Auguftus Csefar; v^'hen, as Livy tells us, the flaves of the Roman
nobility a folhudine v'lndicahant thofe countries that once fent forth
fuch armies.

In later times, when the wealth of Afia came to Rome, rural la^
bour was not pradifed by the citizens, nor were there any more
Dictators, like Cincinnatus, taken from the plough. But the Greek
philofophy, as 1 have elfewhere obferved*, dill prefcrved fome virtue
among them, amidft the corruption of the greateft wealth. We have
not that antidote againft this moft deadly poifon of the human kind-:
But whether the natural good difpofitions of the people of Great
Britain, the excellence of our political conftitution, the admira-
tion and envy of all Europe, and fuperior, as we are told, to any
thing of the kind contrived by antient wifdom, may not preferve us
againft Afiatic wealth, and ihow us that a great kingdom may be
well governed without philofophy, that our fleets and armies may
be perfedly well condudted, though our generals and admirals may
not have learned the art of war as Lucullus did, by reading the
Greek authors; — whether, in iliort, all our affairs, public and private,
may not be conduced as well as pofliblc with the afliftance of mo-
dern

* Origin of Language, vol. 3. p. 458. ami 459.

Chap. IV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 43

dern learning only, or without any learning at all, by the fuperiori-
ty of our genius and natural parts — I leave to others to inquire. But
this I aver, with fome confidence, that whatever improvements we
have made, or may make, upon our minds, our bodies muft be de-
flroyed, if we do not adopt thofe arts by which the Romans preferv-
ed theirs amidft the greateft luxury and corruption of manners ;
and which arts, the additional vices and difeafes we have acquired,
in modern times, make more neceffary to us than they were to them.
Befides the other things belonging to antient life which I have men-
tioned, we ought, by their example, to reform our moft unnatural
way of living, as to our hours of eating, drinking, and fleeping, and
fhould make an early fupper our principal meal; fo that going to
bed in good time, we might get up early, as the Romans did to their
antelucana officia.

Thus I have compared the antient manner of living, or the euro.-
corporis^ as they called it, with the modern. Whether I be right in
giving the preference to the antient, is not for me to determine.
But this much, I think, I may with confidence affirm, that it is a
matter which deferves confideration, and that, particularly, it ought
to be confidered by the phyficians, whofe profefficn it is to under-
ftand the fyftem and occonemy of the human body: And, further,
I fay, that it ought to be the public care, as much as the health, the
morals, and the numbers of the people, the three great articles of the
political fyfiiem^'', with all which it is intimately conne£led. If it be
confidered in this light, it will not be at all difficult for the men in
power to bring the antient manner of living into fafhion ; and how
much men are governed by fiifliion is well known. It is a law by
which men are governed, more than by any other lav/, divine or hu-
man. Nor does fafhion prevail among the better fort only, but even
among the lower; and I have no doubt but the authority and coun-
tenance of the great, vvdthout the compulfion of laws, would intro-

F 2 duce

* See vol. 4. of this work, p. 231. — 282.

44 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book I.

duce among them a much better way of living. They might bathe
themfelves in cold water (which is the bath I recommend) as regu-
hrly as the rich do, and this would keep them clean, a thing abfo-
3utely neceill\ry for health ; and we (hould not then fee fo many ob-
je'fts of naftinefs, as well as poverty and difeafe, as we fee in our
ftreets every day. Then, there is nothing to hinder them to ufe fric-
tion daily, and anointing when they can afford it. They might al-
fo^ with great benefit, expofe themfelves more to the air, and wear
fewer clothes than they do, and not fmother their poor children
with fo much fwaddling and wrapping, but bring them up naked, as
the Indians of North America do, and as many poor people in the
Highlands of Scotland do at this day *. As to their diet, fuch of
them as have been in ufe to drink fpirits, cannot be reft rained from
the ufe of them by any compulfion of law, nor otherwile, except
by aboliihing the ufe of them altogether for diet, and only allowing
them to be ufed by way of phyfic, and to be retailed by druggiftsf,
which was done, in Edinburgh, by an adl of the Town Council, in
1512 ; and if, at the fame time, the common people could be per-
fuaded to drink more of water and fmall beer, and much leis of
porter and ftrong beer, then they would keep their healths much
better, and our foldiers, as well as our failors, might, Uke the Ro-
man foldiers, go through the feveral climates of the earth with-
out being followed by furgeons and holpitals, and without lofmg
many more men by difeafe than by the fword of the enemy.

And here, I think, it is proper to take notice of an excellent in-
flitution which Lycurgus brought from Crete to Sparta, It was

what

* There was in tli's coutry, fomc years ago, a French nobleman, tlie Marquis dc
Loregait, who brought up a Ton, he had, quite naked, till he was near the age of pu-
berty, when the women in his family obliged him to cover his nakednefs. He kept
his health perfectly well, and came through the difeafes of children, fuch as the faiall-
pox and meaflcs, as well as any children could do.

i From hence comes the word Dram.

Chap. IV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 45

what they called the (rv(rGriTicx,(^ by which the eating and drinking of
the people was fo regulated, that they ate and drank together in
parties, upon viduals and drink which was prefcribed to them by the
authority of the ftate, and under the direction of certain eldery men
who fat at table with them. Of the benefit of fuch an inftitution,^
we have a remarkable example aboard our fhips of war ; where the
failors mefs together, and eat and drink no more than is allowed
them. The benefit of this regulation was feen remarkably in the
voyages of Captain Cook ; who by his attention to the diet of his
men, and to theu* cleanlincfs,. (making them bathe and change their
linen as often as was proper), preferved their health in all the cli-
mates of the world through which he carried them; and for the
fpace of three years, during which he was out in one of his expedi-
tions, lofl but one man by difeale, and he was infirm and in a fick-
ly condition before he came on board. But, let us luppofe that they
had been at: liberty to live as they pleafed aboard his (hip, and had
had every thing furnillied ro them that they defired, I am perfuad-
ed they never would have brought the fhip home. Now, if it could
be fo contrived, that all the lower fort of people in Britain, and even
fome of the better fort, lived in that way, what a difference it would
make in their health, and what a faving of men it would be to the
public ?

What makes fome regulation in diet, among the lower fort of
people in Britain, ablblutely neceffary, is the many unhealthy oc-
cupations in which they are employed, fuch as digging in mines
and living under ground, not Hke men but like moles — fmelting me-
tals, and working in furnaces and glafs houfes; in fome of which
occupations it is computed, tliat very few live above fix or feven years.

To thefe deftrudive arts may be added all thofe fedentary and in-
door occupations, in which, for tbe fake of gain, men onploy their

whole

46 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book I.

whole lives, and not only work themfelves, but oblige their children to
work, as in the cotton manufliaure; by which, and by the weaknefles
and difeafes of their parents, the confumption of children in England
is w^onderfal, and fuch as is not, I believe, to be paralleled in any
other nation, antient or modern. But, as if that were not enough,
befides manufadures, we have trade to all parts of the world, and
fettlements for carrying on that trade in the moft dirtant countries,
and in climates the moft averfe to our habits and conftitutions ; fo
that the faving of men at home, in every way poffible, is abfolutely
neceflary for preferving our numbers, and, I may fay, the exiftence
of the nation. For that purpofe, not only our diet muft be regulat-
ed, but exercife muft be pradifed, which is abfolutely neceifary in
a climate fo variable as ours: For, as the Egyptian Priefts obferved
to Herodotus, all changes do more or lefs affed the human body,
but none fo much as the changes of weather *. I have already ob-
ferved, how much more exercifes were formerly practifed in Britain
than now^; even war, as it is now carried on, fmce the invention
of gun powder, can be hardly called an exercife; for the walking of
our foldiers when they march, the movements they make when
they put themfelves in order of battle, and the operations which they
perform with their hands and fingers, do hardly deferve the name of
exercifes. How different, in this refped, is our way of carrying on
war from the manner in which the Romans carried it on. Their
foldiers marched as well as ours, but, I believe, a great deal fafter :
And they carried four times, I am perfuaded, the weight that our
foldiers carry; for they v/ere loaded, as an antient author fays, like
mules: And they not only marched, but run to the charge; and
pradifed running very much, as an exercife preparatory to war.
They pradifed, too, very much the thi owing their mifTile, which
they called p'llum^ and with which they did very great execution;
for, in one of Julius Ccclar's battles in Gaul, they killed, he fays,

the
* See p. 34.

Chap. IV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 4^

th'e whole firft rank of the enemy : And when it did not kill, it
embarrafled the enemy fo much by flicking in their fliields, that
the Helvetii, in the battle which they fought with Julius, threw
away their Ihields, and fought without that defence. Then they
had the perfed ufe of the fword, with which they may be faid to
have conquered the world ; but of which our foldiers have no ufe at
all. And, accordingly, cur foot foldiers do not now carry any
fword, though formerly they did ; and our horfemen, though they
wear a fword, do not, I am afraid, make the ufe of it they fhould
do. I therefore think, that our foldiers fhould praclife other exer-
cifes, befides their military, in order to give them a good habit of
body, and to prevent the great deilrudion of them by difeafe, great-
er, as I have obferved *, than by the Iwoid of the enemy.

BOOK

* Page 44.

ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IL

B O O K II.

Of the Difference of the Minds of Men in the Natu-
ral and Civilifed States.

CHAP. I.

hi the preceding Book, the difference is fiown betwixt the Natural and
Civilifed Life, with refpeEl to the Body; — alfo the difference betwixt
our Manner of Living, and that of the Egyptians, Greeks, and Ro-
inans; — and how much more excellent their Manner of Living was
than ours. — The greafef attention ff 3 ould be given to health, as it is
the great e/l bleffing in Life. — Without Health, Arts and Sciences ,
Religion and Philofopby, cannot be cultivated. — If Men, in antient
times, had been as difeafed and fhort lived as we, few Sciences
could have been invented. — Of the difference betwixt the Minds of
Men in the Natural and Civilifed States. — That difference makes
the chief difference betwixt the t%vo States. — After the neceffary
Arts of Life were invented, the Arts of Eafe, Convenience, and
Plcajure, were invented. — Thefe produced many bodily appetites,
and many paffions of the Mind, — the paffion for Moiiey particular-
ly^ "JCjj'is peculiar to the Civilifed Life; — more lafing than any

other paffion, — infinite and infatiable: — // produces ?nore Crimes,
more Wars, and greater defru&ion of Mankind, than all our other

paffions.

Chap.1. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 49

paffions^-^not eafy to fay whether the acquifitlon or the enjoyment of
it produces ?nofl ml [chief — 'The invention of Coin was by the Lydi-
ans—~-a curious, if not an ufeful invention — eafily carried about, and
furnifhing every thing we can wnfh for to gratify our appetites and
deftres. — The greatefi mif chief produced by Money is War. — All the
great Conquefs in antient times^ of Affyrians, Medes, ^c. were
for the fake of Money as much as from ambition, — A Modern War
very near as dejiru&ive as all the Antient Wars put together; — //
is the War of the Spaniards agidnfl the Inhabitants of the New
difcovcred World, — The account of this War contained in a Book
wjritten by Las Cafas Bifhop of Sciappo in Mexico: — This Bijhop
had an opportunity of being very well informed, not only by what
hefaw himfelf but by ivhat he learned from others 'whom he names.
— ^\f^y Millions, according to him, deflroyed in Peru, Mexico, and
the Wefl India I [lands. — The deflrudlion began in thete Iflands. —
In ffty of thofe Iflands, the Natives remaining ivere counted, and
found to be only eleven. — The deflation confrmed. — -Charlevoix^ s
account of Las Cafas -work, reduces the number dejlroyed to fifteen
Millions. — But no reafon to believe that Las Cafas would willingly
aver a falfehood. — This proved by the charaSler of him given by
Charlevoix; — may have exaggerated as to the numbers defroyed by
the Spafiiards, but not as to the number of the human race at that
time. — Charlevoix, by the account he has given of the deJlruBlou
made by the Spaniards in one Ifand, fhows that he has fallen much
fhort of the numbers defroyed by them in the whole. — Further ac^
counts given by Charlevoix, — Of the Depopulation of Atnerica by
the Spaniards, — and the cruelties they exercifed upon the Indians. —
One horrible injlatice of their cruelty, of which Las Cafas was an
eye witnefs. — The Indians put themfelves to death to avoid thefc
cruelties. — The Spaniards, having depopidated Hifpaniola in this
way, brought other Indians into it, of whom they made favcs. —
The reafon of the Spaniards defroying^ in America, fo many more
Vol. V. G than

50 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IT.

thin any other Conquerors ijue read of in Hi/lory^ was, that their
motive was avarice, the mojl cruel and infatiable of all pajjions. —
'There can be no doubt, therefore, of the truth of what our Scrip-
ture tells us, That the Love of Money is the root of all evil. — //
makes Civilifed Men more barbarous than any Savages. — The Spa-
niards employed above 8o,coo Indians to work in their Mines. —
Theyfaid they were no better than Brutes, and that they could not
make Chj'ifians of them. — The avarice of the Spaniards made them
force the Indians to dive for Pearls — which confumed prodigious
numbers of them. — Difeafes which the Spaniards introduced among
them, fuch as the fmall-pox, alfo dcfroytd great numbers of them.
— All thefe things conftdered. Las Cafas has not fo much exceeded
the truth as Charlevoix has falleji fhort of it. — Reafons vohy the
Author has inffled fo much upon this deflation of the Earth by the
Spaniards. — Other examples of War produced by Money. — All Wars
ftnce the Peace of Utrecht, in which Britain was engaged, derived
from that four ce. — The American War in particular; — which was
more deflruElive of Men and Money than any other War on record,
— Computation of the lofs of Men and the expence of Money occa-
fioned by it. — War fhould be avoided in a Trading and Manufac-
turing Nation fuch as Britain. — Great praife of our Minijler, that
he is at pains to avoid War by preparmg for it ; — two examples
given of this. — The prefent War a necejfary War, being defenfive;
in which we have every thing at fake that is valuable. — // is the
common caufe of Europe, in ivhich, if u>e had not joined with other
Powers, our conduct would have been both difhonourable and impo^
litic,

IN the preceding Book I have fpoken at great length (I hope the
reader does not think too great) of the difference betwixt the
natural and civilifed life, with refpedl to the body: I have alfo fhown

the

Chap. I. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 51

the difference betwixt our manner of living and that of the antient
nations, fuch as the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans ; and, 1 think,
I have proved, that, in what the Romans called the cura corporis^
they excelled us very much. As health is the greateil blefling we
enjoy in this life, and the foundation of every other, vre can-
not give too much attention to it; for without it we cannot, in
this ftate of our exiflence, united as we are with body, cultivate pro-
perly our minds, or make that progrefs in arts and fciences, in reli-
gion and philofophy, by which only we can prepare ourfelves for a
happier life in the next world. If the men in antient times had
been as difeafed and fhort lived as we are, I am perfuaded that not
one half of the arts and fciences, w^hich have come down to us from
the antient world, could have been invented.

I come now to fpeak of the difference betwixt the minds of men
in the natural ftate, and of thofe in the civilifcd life ; and as mind
is the principal part of our compofition, the difference, with regard
to it, betwixt the two ftates, mull be of the greateft confequence, and
therefore is carefully to be attended to. It is the feveral arts and fci*
ences, invented by man in the civilifed life, which make fo great a
difference betwixt the two ftates. After the neceffary arts were dif-
covered, the inventive genius of man did not ftop there, but pro-
ceeded, as I have faid *, to find out arts of eafe, convenience, and
pleafure. Thefe excited not only our bodily appetites, but various
paffions In the minds of men; fuch as vanity, ambition (or the love
of fuperiority and power), envy, jealoufy, anger, and revenge: And
there is another paflion which diftinguifties the civilifed lift from the
natural, more than any 1 have mentioned ; for it is peculiar to the
civilifed life : I mean the love of money, or whatever icX^o. makes
what we call wealth. This may be faid to be the moft laftino- of
all our paffions; for it is not abated, like our other paffions, by old

G 2 age,

* Page 10.

52 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book II.

age, but, on the contrary, is commonly increafed by it: Nor
has it any bounds fet to it; for it is true what the Roman hif-
torian fays of it, Pecuji'ice cttpido infinita^ infatiabilis^ neque copia
neque inop'ia mmmttir''^ . It is the maft common paflion among ci-
vilifed men, and the mod predominent: So predominent, that it en-
groffes fome men altogether, and extinguifhes every other paflion
in them; fo that fuch men think of nothing elfe but money, and
employ themfelves wholly in diviiing means how they (hall gain
it or fave it f. It furni{hes the materials of vanity and luxury,
and therefore may be faid to produce them, and confequently
the vices and difeafes which accompany them. It has produced,
as Ariftotle obferves, more crimes than any of our other paf-
fions ; and, I will add, more wars, and more deftrudion of man-
kind, than all our other paflions put together. It is of fo mifchieve-
ous a nature, that it is not eafy to fay, whether the acquifition, or
the enjoyment of it, produces mod mifchief. The invention of what
we call money or coin^ was, I think, a curious, if not an ufeful in-
vention. Herodotus fays we owe it to the Lydians. By this inven-
tion a certain value is fixed or ftamped on pieces of gold, filver, or
brafs : And thefe pieces will, to that value, procure any thing of
neceflity, eafe, convenience, or pleafure ; and, in Ihort, will gratify
all the appetites and defires which the civilifed life produces: And it
makes the enjoyment of wealth very eafy, as w^ can carry it about
with us fo eafily. In modern times, we have invented a kind of
money which is ftill more eafily carried about with us ; I mean pa-
per money or bank notes.

One of the greateft mifchiefs that money has produced is war; fo
that Virgil has very properly joined the belli rabies with the amor ha-

bendL

* Sail, in initio Bell. Catalitt,

I See upon this iubje<St Origin of Language, vol. 3. p. 446.

Chap. I. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. . s3

bendi*. And I am perfuaded, that the great conquefts of which we
read in antient hiftory, fuch as thofe of the Aflyrians, Medes, Perfians,
Macedonians, and Romans, proceeded from the love of money as
much as from ambition; for money or wealth was wanted to fiipport
the hixury and vanity of their Princes and great men. There is one
vrar in modern times, which deftroyed, I believe I may fay, very
near as many men as all the antient wars put together ;. I mean the
war of the Spaniards againft the people of Mexico, Peru, and the
Weft Indies. This very great defolation of the newly difcovered
World, on the other fide of the r.tlantic, is a fact fo memorable, that, I
think, it is proper, even in The Hiftory of Man, to give a particular
account of it, taken from a book publifhed by a Spaniard of the name
of Las Calas, Biihop of Sciappo, in Mexico, upon the fubjed of
the tranfa6tions of the Spaniards in America and the Weft Indies •
to give an account of which, he was fent to- America by the Em-
peror Charles V. There is a tranflatlon of it, from the Spanifh,
into French, publifned at Amfterdam in 1698. This tranflation I
have feen and peiufed ; and from it the following account is taken.

The author was long in the Weil Indies and America, and an eye
witnefs of a great many things he relates. He returned to Spain
in order to difcharge his office, by informing Charles V. of the
terrible outrages committed by the Spaniards in that part of the
world; and, he fays, he fmifhed his work at Valentia the 8th day of
December 1542 f. Befides what he faw himfelf, he appeals to a
letter of a Religious of the Francifcan order to the King of Caftile,
of which he gives you the words. It relates to the terrible cruelties
and devaft \tiuns committed by the Spaniards in Peru ; and this Re-
ligious fays, he was an eye witnefs of every thing he relates. His
relation. Las Cafas fays, was confirmed by the Biihop of Mexico ."f.

And

* Et belli rabies d amcr fiiccejfit hahendi. — ^ndd. 3. V. -^27.
■\ Page 141. ij: p. 122. — 128,

54 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Bookll.

And he farther adds, that there was judicial evidence taken of many
of the things the Francifcan mentions, by the Procurator-Fifcal of the
Council of India, which was flill preferved*. Las Cafas further ap-
peals, for the truth of what he fays, to letters written by another
Biihop, the Biihop of St Martha, to the Catholic King.

A relation fo authenticated may, I think, be credited, notwith-
ftanding that the fads, which he relates, are fo enormoufly cruel and
barbarous, that they are difficult to be believed. He fays, that in
the forty years, during which the Spaniards had been, at the time
he wrote, in poffeffion of the Weft Indies and America, they had
deftroyed 50 millions of people, which he computes to be a half of
the human race ; and in Peru fmgly, he fays, they defti'oyed 40 mil-
lions. The iflands, he fays, being firft difcovered, were firft depo-
pulated, and much more depopulated than any part of the continent;
for he tells us, in two feveral places, that, in above 50 iflands off the
coaft of New Spain, which formerly fwarmed with people, (more
than 500,000), there were not left more than eleven of the natives:
And this, he fays, was difcovered by a fhip that was employed two
years in the fearchf. And I was informed by a Britifh Admiral
now living, who had been in thofe iflands of the Weft Indies, which
.are or had been poifeflTed by the Spaniards, that there was hardly any
of the race of the natives to be found : And he faid he had been
through the greateft part of them.

Charlevoix J, in his hiftory of Hifpaniola and Paraguay, gives a
very different account of this work of Las Cafas. He fays, tha; Las
Cafas made the number of Indians, deftroyed by the Spaniards, 4:o
be no more than 15 millions; and he oblerves, that even this ac-
count is exaggerated. How to reconcile what Charlevoix fays, with
the French tranflation of the Bifliop's book, I do not know ; but

one

* rage 209. t p. 286. X P- 478.

Chap. I. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 5-5

one thing is evident, that either this French tranflation muft be a for-
gery, or Charlevoix muft be miltaken as to the numbers. That
Las Cafas was a man who would aver any thing that he knew to be
a falfehood, there is no reafon to believe. Charlevoix, indeed, fays,
in the paflage above quoted, that he was a man of a warm imagina-
tion and apt to exaggerate; yet, in another place *, he fays, he was
a man of found learning, folid judgment, and of heroic courage,,
which was not to be overcome by any difficulty. He engaged very
early in the caufe of the poor Indians; and made feveral voy.^ges on
their account to the Weft Indies, and from the Weft Indies back
again to Old Spain. Nor does it appear, that he could have had
any motive for all the toils and dangers he went through, except
the caufe of religion and humanity. His charadler, in his ov/n coun-
try, appears to have been very high, fnice he was fent back to the
Weft Indies with the honourable charaderof ProteSlor of the Indians f..
I therefore think it is much more probable, that Charlevoix is mif-
taken, than Las Cafas, as to the numbers. At the fame time I
own, that, I think, it is impoffible that the numbers can be de-
pended upon as exa(5i:, but they muft have been either more or lefs..
And though we are fure, that all thofe countries conquered by the.
Spaniards were fwarming with people, yet I incline to think that
the Biftiop, if we take the ftatement in the French tranflation of his
book, has exaggerated the numbers deftroyed by the Spaniards.
But, in one thing, I am perfuaded, he has not exaggerated that
50 millions were then the half of the human fpecies. Now if he
had made the number of Indians deftroyed to be no more than i c
millions, as Charlevoix appears to have underftood him, he could
not have faid that thefe were one half of the human fpecies.

But fetting afide altogether Las Cafas's account of the matter, and

taking
* Charlevoix, p. 333. f p. 341.

5G ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book II.

taking the fads as Charlevoix has given them, it is evident that two
millions of people were deftroyed in the fmgle ifland of Hifpani-
ola: And if fo, how is it poflible to fuppofe, that in the fmgle
ifland of Hifpaniola there were deftroyed two millions; and yet,
in all the other iflands, in that Archepelago, belonging to the Spa-
niards, one of which, namely Cuba, is very much larger than Hifpa-
niola, and in the great empires of Mexico and Peru, there fhould
not have been deftroyed, according to Charlevoix's account, more
than 13 millions? If, therefore, Las Cafas has exceeded the truth,
I think it is evident that Charlevoix, by his own account, muft
have fallen very much fhort of it^

But, befides this general account which Charlevoix gives us of
the depopulation of Hifpaniola, he relates particular fads, which
ihow that the Spaniards took every method pofTible to deftroy this
poor people. Befides what they deftroyed of them in war, and
in working their mines, they, in cold blood, maffacred a prodigious
number of them ; of which he gives one remarkable inftance, when
a Queen of theirs, with all her vaflals and dependants, were in-
vited to a feaft, and butchered in fo horrible a manner, that the
very relation of it muft make a man of common humanity ftiudder.
The number, he fays, which periftied that day cannot be counted *.
In another place he relates how cruelly they made them work, more
cruelly than any man of common humanity would make his horfes
or cattle work ; and he fays they pradifed cruelties upon them to
make them work, which are related by Spanifh writers who were
eye witnelTes, and are fuch that no man can read them without hor-
ror t ; and when they fled from the work, up to the hills, the Spa-
niards
* Page 233. 234.

+ Page 206. In confirmation of what Charlevoix fays, I will tranfcrlbe, from Las
Cafas, a fmgle pafiage which is quoted by Edwards in his hiftory of the Weft Indies,

vo].

Chap. I. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 57

niards purfued them with packs of dogs, and tore them to pieces as
if they had been fo many wild beafts. This, fays our author, ma ie
them do what favages are never known to do ; they put themfclves
to death by drinking the juice of a poifonous herb, or by hang'ng
themfelves*. And, not content with thus deftroying them, they let
loofe upon them a body of German , who, landing upon the Con-
tinent, committed there the moft horrid cruelties, fax exceeding any
thing the Spaniards had done f .

The confequence of this fevere treatment of the natives of Kifpa-
niola, by the Spaniards, was, that they came at laft to want people
to work in their mines. To fupply, therefore, the numbers they
had deflroyed, they went about among the other iflands and upon
the Continent, feizing what Indians they could meet with, and mak-
ing flaves of them, under pretence that they were man-eaters f .

If it be afked how it happened that the Spaniards, by their con-
quefts in the New World, deflroyed fo many more people than the
Aflyrians, Perfians, Macedonians, Romans, or any other conquer-
ors we read of in hiftory; the anfwer is, that avarice was the motive
of their conquefts, not glory, ambition, or the defire of extending
their dominions. Now, avarice is not only the moft infatiable of
all our paflions, but the moft cruel and unrelenting, more cruel than
ambition, anger, or revenge. As, therefore, the love of money

Vol. V. H makes

vol. I. p. 88. ** I once beheld four or five principal Indians roafted alive at a flow
** fire ; and as the miferable vi(flims poured forth dreadful fcreams, which difturbed
« the commanding officer in his afternoon flumbers, he fent word that they Ihould be
« ftrangled : But the officer on guard ( I knoiv his name, and I know his relations in'Se-
<* ville) would not fuffer it ; but cauiing their mouths to be gagged, that their cries
" might not be heard, he ftirred up the fire with his own hands, and roafted them
" dcHberately till they expired. Ifaiv it m^elf I ! .'"

* Page 328. 339. t p. 452- 453- t p. 34?.

r8 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book 11.

makes men (o cruel and inhuman, and is, befides, the fource of vani-
ty, luxury, and dileafe, of which, as I have faid, it furnifhes the ma-
terials, I think, no man, who is learned in the hiftory and philofophy
of man, can doubt of tlie truth of what our Scripture tells us. Thai
the love of move y is the root of all ev'iL In fhort, avarice is the pecu-
liar vice of civilifed nations; and it is that which diftinguifhes them,
more than any thing elfe, from thofe nations we call barbarous, and
makes them more wicked, as well as more miferable, than any bar-
barians upon the face of the earth.

What completed the deftrudion of this poor people, was a very
Imprudent thing done by Ferdinand the Spanifh King ; which was
dividing the Indians of certain diftricts among the Lords of his Court.
It was in thefe departments, as they were called, that all the cruel-
ties above mentioned were pradtifed* : It was then, as Las Cafas
tells us, that they had fhut up in the mines about 80,000 of thofe
poor people f .

It was in vain that Las Cafas and other Ecclefiaftics oppofed them-
felves to this ordinance of Ferdinand, infifting that they Ihould
make Chriflians of them and not flaves. The anfwer made to this
was, that the Indians were no better than brutes, and quite inca-
pable of comprehending the dodlrines of Christianity ; and, there-
fore, the beft thing that could be made of them was to make then^
]abx)ur in the mines:):.

If the avarice of the Spaniards could have been contented with the
treafures which the earth yielded them, millions of lives might have
been favcd. But they v/ould ranfack the deep alfo for wealth ; and,

accordingly,

* Page 166.

J Las Cafas's Iliftory of the Tyranny of the Spaniards, p. 1 79.

"t P^'Se 344-

Chap. I. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 59

accordingly, they employed the Indians of the Continent to dive for
pearls, and in that way confumed prodigious numbers of them.

When I join to all thefe confiderations the di^eafes which the Spa-
niards introduced among thefe poor people, particularly the fmall-
pox, which, fays Charlevoix, deftroyed fuch numbers in the great
iflands of this Archepelago, that one fhould have thought they had
never been peopled ^•■; — and alfo the ufe of wine, in which the In-
dians of South America exceeded as much as the Indians of North
America do now in fpiritsf ; — and, when I alfo conllder the infinite
numbers of people living in eafe and tranquillity in a climate fo fa-
vourable to propagation, and in a country abounding fo much in all
the neceffaries of life, and from which- there never had been any
great migrations, fuch as we know have been from other parts of
the earth; — When, I fay, I confidcr all thefe things, I cannot but be
of opinion that Las Cafas has not fo much exceeded the truth as
Charlevoix has fallen fhort of it,

I have infilled the more upon this defolation of fo great a part of
the earth, that I do not find there is any great notice taken of it in
any of the Hiftories of Spain that I have feen, or in any of the ac-
counts given us of the conquefls of the Spaniards in the New World;
But, as I write the hiftory of man, I did not think that the def-
tru(5tion of fo many millions of the fpecies could be pafTed over in
filence, but that it ought to be confidered as one of the greateft
events of that hiftory.

But we need not go fo far as Spain to feek examples of mo-
ney producing wars. All our own wars fince the peace of Utrecht
have arifen from trade or money. The laft: of them, the Ameri-
can war, arofe from a demand that we made upon our colonies in

H 2 America,

* Page 349. f p. 417.

6o ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book 11.

America, of a tax of threepence on the pound of tea, which they
thought proper not to pay. Whether this war was juft or un-
juft, prudent or imprudent, does not belong to the fubjedt of this
work to determine : But this I will venture to affirm, that it was
one of the mod deftrudtive wars that ever any nation was engaged
in; for it is computed that it coft us above 50,000 men, and added
100 mliiions to our national debt.

Thus we fee that war, for the fake of money, has been produc-
tive of very great mifchief, not only in the nations on the other fide
of the Atlantic, but here at home in Britain; and, indeed, in a coun-
try^ fuch as this, of trade and manufacture, war of any kind muft be
very hurtful. Our Minifters, therefore, fhould avoid it as much as
poffible: And it is the great praife of our prefenc Minifter, that he
has done every thing in his power to avoid it. It was faid of him
in fome French paper, which I have read, that he was always pre^
paring for war, but never made it. Now, 1 think, this is the greaC-
eft praife that the writer of this paper could have beftowed upon
him, that by preparing for war h^ prevented it : And this was the
cafe of two wars with which we were threatned not long ago. The
firft was a war with Spain, which our Minifter prevented by pre-
paring fo well for it, that Spain thought proper to make a fatisfac-
tion for the injury done us, and concluded a peace with us. The
other was a war in which the Ruffians were engaged with the Turks,
and had gained fuch advantages over them, that it is not unlikely
they would have taken onftantinople, and deftroyed the Empire of
the Turks, and thereby acquired fo much territory, as to overturn the
balance of power in Europe. But this our Minifter prevented by
interpofing in behalf of the Turks, and making fuch preparations to
defeat the ambitious views of the Emprefs of Ruffia, that ftie thought
proper to conclude a peace with the Porte. The prefent war with
France, whatever the event of it may be, is a neceflary war on

Gur

CRap. r. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. <St

our part ; for it is a defenfive war, having been declared againft
us by the French ; and in another refped it is a defenfive war, as
much as any war can be, as by it we defend our liberty, our laws,
our king, and our conftitution: For the French have profcfled their
intention to overturn the regal government in every nation in
Europe; and, in place of it, to eltabliih what they call liberty
and equality, by which no man in a country is to be fupe-
rior to another. This notion of equality they have carried fo far,
that even in the Republic of Holland, they have aboliihed the office
of the chief magiftrate there; {l mean the Stadholder;) and have
obliged the man who pofleifed that office to leave the country. Thefe
innovations, which they profefs to make in the governments of Eu-
rope, have formed an alliance, fuch as, I believe^ never was formed
againft any one nation ; which alliance if we had not joined, our
CGndu£t would have been highly diihonourable,. and, at the fame
time, mofi: impolitic.

CHAP.

5a ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book II.

CHAP. II.

WealtJj is to be acquired by Trade and Maiiufaclures. — Our Trade
ivonderfully extenjtve^ as it is carried on all over the World. — The
lofs of Men by fuch a Trade mujl be very great^ efpecially when it
is carried on by Colonies^ and by a Military force ^ which we main-
tain in them. — ManufaSlures alfo carried on in Faciofies and great
Towns ^ cojifume a great many Men^ particularly the Cotton Manu-
fa£lure, — In all Trade to dijlant Countries ^ there muJl be a commerce
of difeafes as well as of other things, — /// tbis commerce the balance
is on our fide ; for except from India we have imported no difeafes^
— whereas we have exported vices and difeafes to North America^
by which we have deflated fome part of that Continetit. — Of our
Home Trade. — // makes every thifig venal; — Meat^ Drink^ Cloath-
ing, Houfes^ Arts and Sciences^ and even Religion. — Thefe bad ef-
fedis to be afterwards inlarged on. — Enough fiid at prefent to prove
that the acquiftion of Wealthy by Trade and Manufadlure^ is very
defruElive of Men. — Shown that Religion has been made^ by Money .^
the infrument of the defru£iion ofmatiy^ by producing Ferfecutions^
MaJJacres^ and Religious Wars — which were not known till the
Chridian Religion ivas e/labli/Jjed by Law. — This produced Bene^ces
and Princely Revenues^ — which occafoned frifes and contentions
for thefe Benefces and Revenues; — and at laji Perfecutions and
MaJTacres unknown in the Heathen World. — The romantic expedi-
tions to the Holy Land infplred by mi/laken zeal^ afource of great def-
truElion of Men. — But^ by thefe calamities^ the words of our Saviour
fulfilled. -— Of the difference betwixt the Confitution of Antient Rome
and of Modern States^ zvith refpeSl to Salaries annexed to offices Civil

and

Chap. IL ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 63

and Religious, — In Rome^ no Salary or Perguifites annexed to the
highejl Offices. — Arifiotle in his Polity Jays^ that there is great dan-
ger from making offices lucrative. — The reajon plain, — Avarice
will excite Men to contend and Jlrive for them — Hence ^ Fafiion^
Sedition.^ and fomeiimes Civil War. — Of the influence of Wealth in Go-
vernment;— it zvas the ruin of the Heroic Gov^erimientsofGreece^-^and
of every Goveriiment defroyed by internal diforders. — The Antient
Greeks lived upon the natural fruits of the Earthy partieuhrly the
Mallows d//^ ^^fphodei. — -Lycurgus^ ivifaom in forbidding the ufc
of Gold and Silver coin in Sparta^ and only permitting Iron valued
by ^weight, — After all^ however^ Wealthy as the Oracle predicted^
ruined Sparta.— In Rome a di/lindtion of Poor and Rich, — -Ihis dif-
tintlion the /ource of the ruin of every State from the time that the
Poor get a floare of the Government.- — P; 'f of the Government of
Antient Egypt, — // guarded againfl this a ;. ; and accordingly lafl-
ed much longer than any other Goverfimcjit we read of and at loft
fell by external violence, — The conqucft. of Egyot by the Perfians^
a people -.^uch nearer to the Natural State ^ and therefore poJT^/Ted of
more Natural Stre?igth, — The fate of all Civil fed Nations ^ to be con^
qucred by Nations nearer to the Natural State,

EALTH cannot be acquired to any great degree In Europe
at prefenr, except by trade and manufaO:ures. As to trade,
it is become, in modern times, wonderfully extenfive. Britain car-
ries on a trade net only with fhe nations of Europe, but with the
Eaft and Weft Indies, and with a country as remote as China, a
country as much unknown to the antients, as what we call the New
AVorld, that is the Weft Indies and America^ In ftiort, our trade
may be faid to extend all over the globe. The navigation to (o ma-
ny countries, whofe climates are lo different from ours, muft be at-
tended with great lofs of men, not only by fuch long voyages, but
I'V difeafes, which wj are liable to in countries and climates fo dif-
ferent

.^4 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IL

ferent from our own. In one of thefe fettlements at Bencoolen, In
the Ifland of Sumatra, I have elfewhere* taken notice of a dreadful
deftrudtion of our people, by a peftilential difeafe which came among
them, but which did not afFed the natives of the Ifland. And not only
at Sumatra, but in other diflant countries lying under another fun^ as
the Poet expreflfes it, we carry on trade by means of colonies that we
have fettled there, which we are obliged to maintain often at the ex-
pence of a great many men ; and fometimes a military force is ne-
ceflary, particularly in India, where we have not guards and garrifons
only, but armies to the amount fometimes of 10,000 Britifh, as in
the late war in India, befides a very much greater number of troops of
the country in our pay. And, as to manufadures, it muft be admitted,
that all fedentary arts are more or lefs hurtful to health; efpecially if
they are carried on in fadories in great towns, where fo many men
are confumed by vices and difeafes. There is one manufadure par-
ticularly, very much pradifed at prefent, which makes women of
men, that is makes fpinfters of them ; and begins at fo early an age,
that if they were afterwards to purfue the occupations of men, they
would not have fize or (Irength for them. The reader will readily
underfland that I mean the cotton manufadure.

In all trade to diflant countries there muft be a commerce, not
only of manufadures and other commodities, but of difeafes, which
will be both exported and imported. But, in this part of the traf-
fic I thmk, the balance is on our fide; for unlefs it be with refped
to India, from which thofe of our people, who return, bring with
them bilious or liver complaints, of which they die, from other
countries we import no difeafes, but export to them vices and difeafes,
by which many thoufands of people in thofe countries are confumed ;
particuhirly to North Anerica, we have exported the fmall-pox, and
the ufe of fpiritous liquors, by which we have defolated fome part of

that

* Vol. 3. of this work, p. 187.

Chap. II. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS, 6jf

that country, almofl as much as the Spaniards have defolated Soutl*
America and its illands.

But not only have vs^c trade to foreign cnuntries, and thefe moft
diftant, but at home we have fo much trade, that every thing may
be faid to be venal : For not only commodities, fuch as meat, drink,
cloathing, and houfes, are to be got for money, but arts and Scien-
ces are to be purchafed ; and v^^e muft pay money, and not a little,
even for our religion ; fo univerlally prevalent is wealth among us.
What mifchief this trafic at home muft produce, I fhall afterwards
fhow. In the mean time, I think, 1 have faid enough to prove,
that the way of acquiring wealth by trade and manufactures, as well
as by war and conqueft, is deftrudive of men, and one of the jiia-
iiy evils which civil fociety has produced.

But, as I have mentioned religion, I think it is proper to fhow,
that, among other mifchiefs which money has produced, it has made
religion the inftrument of the deftru6tion of a great number of men,
by perfecutions, maffacres, and religious wars. While there was no
money in the Chriftian church to be given to the clergy, which was
the cafe before Chriftianity came to be the eftabliflied religion of the
Roman Empire, there was perfed peace in the church. The fame
was the cafe in the Pagan church, where there were no falaries or
benefices given to the miniiters of religion; for even the Pontifejc
Maximus in Rome had not a fliilling of falary, nor any perquilite
annexed to his office. But, when the rainifters of Chriftianity were
paid, and fome of them had princely revenues annexed to their
ofhce, this naturally produced ftrife and contention among the cler-
gymen of the fame national church, who fhould poflef. thofe hene-
fices ; and if there was any fed of religionifts who defired a change
of the eftabliftied religion, by which they were to come in place of
the clergymen in poffeifion of the revenues of the ciiurch, then arofe

Vol. V. I perfccutioa

e6 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IT.

perrecutlon and maflacres, fiich as that of St Bartholeiny In France,
and religious wars fuch as were unheard of among the Heathens.
And thus a religion of the greateft love was made the fource of great
enmity and great deftru£lion of men; and when we join to this,
thofe foolilli romantic expeditions to the Holy Land, infpired by a
miftaken zeal for religion, in which fuch prodigeous numbers of
men periflied, as would have gone near to defolate Europe in its
prcfent ftate of population, we need not wonder at what our Saviour
faid, TbrJ he was come not to bring peace on earth hut a /word.

And here it will not be improper to obferve the dilFerence betwixt
a modern European government, and the conflitution of the go-
vernment of Rome, not only with refped to facerdotal offices, but
alfo to the offices of the ftate; for, in Rome, the higheft offices of the
ftate, fuch as that of Didatoi and Conful, had no faiaries, or per-
quifites, annexed to them. And it is an obfervation of Ariftotle, in
his Books De Republican that it is a thing of great danger to the confti-
tution of any ftate, to make the public offices lucrative; and the rea-
fon is plain, that when faiaries and perquifites are annexed to fuch
offices, there muft, of neceffity, be contention about them ; and not
only ambition, but a much more powerful motive in corrupt ftates,
1 mean avarice, will excite men to fadlion and fedition, or even to
civil wars.

As wealth has fuch an influence upon the charadters and fenti-
ments of men, it muft necelTarily have an influence upon government
as well as upon the manners of the people. Of this I have laid a
good deal in the 5th vol. of the Origin of Language^ where I have
ftiown, that it was the ruin of the antient heroic governments in
Greece, and alfo of the Governments of Sparta and Rome. And,
indeed, I believe, that there is no government that has been deftroy-

' Page 186. and following.

Chap. II. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. C>^

€d by internal diforders, of which weakh was not primarily the
caiife. As to the heroic governments of Greece, it appears from
Homer, that, at the time of the Trojan war, they had departed fo
far from the natural life, that they ate flelh and drank wine in great
plenty. But, in more antient times, it appears, they lived like
other nations upon the natural fruits of the ear^h; and there are two
herbs mentioned that they were particularly fond of, the u^ .\ayn
and the cc<r<pohXog^ that is mallo'ws and afpbodel ; and, as late as tb.e
days of Hefiod, it appears, that the men, who lived in that way, were
judged to be happier than thofe who lived in the luxury of eating
flefh and drinking wine; for, fpe^iking of men who deiired great
eftates for that purpofe, he fays, J'hey were fools^ ?iot knowing that
the half of what they defired was better than the whole; nor iihat
advantage there was in feeding upon mallows and a/phodel"^. It was
this luxury of diet, joined, no doubt, with other articles of expence,
which made the heroic kings, after the Trojan war, d fire more
wealth than their fore-fathers had enjoyed ; and this produced the
changes of government mentioned by Thucydides f .

As to the government of Sparta, Solon difcovered, from his own
natural underftanding, (which, the oracle faid, was fo much fuperior
to that of other men, that he did not know whether to call him a
god or a man.) or perhaps from what he had learned from the def-
trudion of the heroic kings after the Trojan war, that wealth was
the ruin of all government and good order in a Rate; and, therefore,
he prohibited the ufe of gold and filver in Sparta. But he allow-
ed iron to be ufed and given by way of exchange for other com-
modities, not coined, but circulated in the fame way as gold and
filver were among the Greeks at the time of the Trojan war, that

I 2 is

* N)i7r«iJ, ovo itrxiTt *»tu wAjov 'tjutJV Travroj,

Ovl' 'oro¥ tr ,K«Aflc;^j] KXl ei<rfe}i>^a> f^iy' oyiiic^, ■ Opera ft JDieS^

t Lib. I. cap. 13.

6ff ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IL

is by Tveight, and given in exchange for other commodities. But
even this ••- ifdom of Lycurgus, the Oracle forefaw, would not fave
Spaita from deflruaion by wealth; and, accordingly, it prophefied
that the love of wealth, and nothing elfe, would deftroy Sparta *.

As to Rome, there was there a diftindion of wealthy and poor,
as I have Ihown in the pafTage above quoted from the Origin of
Language f, fuch as muft have ruined every government, if the
poor were to have any fhare in it^ and were not to be abfolute flaves
to the rich.

And here, I think, we cannot fufhciently admire the wifdom of
the Egyptian legiflators, who formed a conftitution, which lafted
much longer tho.n any other conftitution upon earth; and was not
corrupted by wealth, nor deftroyed by any internal diforder in the
government, nor by any other caufe except external violence; I
mean the invafion of the Perfians, a people who had not beea long
in a ftate of civility, and therefore retained that ftrength, both of
mind and body, which was not to be found in men who had beert
civilifed for thoufands of years, as the Egyptians then were; fo that
they were conquered by the Perfians, for the fame reafon that the
Perfians conquered the Medes, the Macedonians the Perfians, the
Romans the Macedonians, and the barbarous nations, from the
North, the Romans; fo true it is, that the civilifed life, eveafuch
as that of the Egyptians, the beft, I believe, that ever was, being,
notwithftanding, an unnatural life, impairs the ftrength both of the
mind and the body of man, however much it may improve him in
arts and fciences..

CHAP.

f Vol. 5. p. l88. &C.

Chap.rir. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. %

CHAP. IIL

Proved that the acqu'ifition of Wealth produces great mifchief, — To he
ijiq?nred^ Whether the enjoyment of it does not make up for that mif-
chief— The opi?iion of Horner^ that Man was the mof miferahle of
all Animals, — ^le/lion^ Whether be be lefs rniferable now^ when he
has fo much more money ^ than in the days of Homer P — God has af
Jigned for every Animal an oeconomy and manner of life ^ that gives
him all the happinefs his nature is capable of — Man^ therefore, in
his natural fate^ is as happy as other Animals in that /late, — The
^i if ion then is. Whether Money has made him happier in the Ci-
vil fed State? — The efijoyment of Money produces as much evil as
the acquifttion of it, — Wealth produces Luxury and Vanity, and af
fords many temptations, that are not to be rtfifled by a weak
intelleSl^ fuch as that of Man, — Of the divifton of Men, introduced
by Wealth, ifito thofe who live in Vanity and Luxury, and thofe who-
minifer to that Vanity and Luxury. — The effect of Wealth upon the
Rich, is to make them more difeafed and more rniferable — and upon
the Poor, to make thtm fill poorer. — This paradox explained, by
fjowing that Wealth raifes the price of the neceffaries of life, and
prompts the Poor to imitate the Luxury and Vanity of the Rich. —
The drinking of Tea an example of this. — Of the poverty of Ma-
nufaBurers though their wages be high. — The Poors rate of Lng-
land incr cafes with the wealth of a Nation. — Wealth makes the
Rich poor — and confquently avaritious. — The confcquence of Luxu-
ry and Avarice being joined together in the great Men of a State,
"•—The conf piracy of Cataline^ a remarkable infance of that. — Of
the effects of Wealth in England — more confpicuous than in any

Country

70 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book II.

Caiintry in England^ as the Wealth is greater. — More Crimes^ more
Vices ^ and more Indigence ^ in Kngland^ than in any other Country,
—-Thefe produce a Colony of Convicts to Botany Bay. — A particu^
iar account 'f that Colony given. Indigence the fource of almojl all
the Crimes in England. — Ihe dijlin&ton of the Luxurious and lu"
dolenty and of thofe that miniftered to their Luxury and Indolence^ not
known amonft the Greeks in the Heroic age. — yl particular account
of their doineflic occonomy. — 'The fame was the cafe among the Ro"
mans in the early ages of their State. — Men in thefe early ages^ bet-
ing nearer the natural fate., lived in a m're natural way, and
therefore were happier than in later ti?/.es. — In the next Book an
Inquiry, Whether fome means might not be contrived to alleviate thefe
mif chiefs of Civil Society,

BY what I have faid in the preceding chapters, I think I have
fliown, that money or wealth produces the grpateft mifchief
among men, war, alfo trade and navigation to the moft diftant coun-
tries of the world, by which, as well as by war, great numbers of
men muft be confumed ; and I am now to inquire. Whether, by
the ufe of money, thus acquired with fo much deftrudion of the
ipecies, men are happier or more miferable in civil fociety than in
the natural Hate.

Homer has told us, and from the mouth of Jupiter, that man is
the mofl; miferable creature on this earth *. As Homer knew only
men in the civilifed ftate, his opinion clearly is, that men, in that
ftate, are not only not happy, but the moft miferable of all animals,
that is, more miferable than the animals in the natural ftate, in which
all animals are except men. When Homer wrote, money was hard-

L * Qy fitv y«(> T« K6V Irli* •V^^*»Tij9» eii^^es

HxiTftf, *«<re-(c Tt y«*»F tTti^noi rt K»t 'ej.jri..—— Iliad I 7 V. 54^*

Chap. TIL ANTIENT M ETx\PH YSI CS. yt

Ij known, compared to what it is at prefent : And, we are now to
confider, whether, v/hen it is become the univerfal purfuit, not on-
ly of individuals, but of nations, man is at prefent happier, or at leaf!:
lefs miferable, than he was in the days of Homer,

I have elfewhere obferved, that it would be inconfiftent with the-
wifdom and goodnefs of God, to fuppofe that he has not afligned,
fbr every animal, an oeconomy and manner of life, which mult
make him as happy as his nature is capable of Now, that is the con-
dition of man, while he is in what I call the natural Itate, and is fuch
as Ariftotle has defined him to be, an animal who has the compara-
tive faculty, and is capable of intellect .ind fcience, that is, in other
words, a better kind of brute *. In this Itate, to fay that he was"
miferable, is faying that all the brutes, by far the greater part of
the animal creation here below, are miferable. Now, to fay this, I
hold to be impious : For it is faying that all the animals here below
are created to be miferable; which I hold to be inconfiftent with the
wifdom and goodnefs of God; for I maintain, that all animals are as-
happy as their nature w^ill admit, and the order of things in the uni-
verfe, while they continue in the ftate in which God has placed
them. But, in the civilifed ftate, he is no longer the animal pro-
duced by God and nature, but an animal of his own making; fo that
the queftion is. Whether, in that ftate, man has made himfelf hap-^
pier than he was in the natural ftate when he was no better than a
'brute ? And, as- money or wealth is the chief thing that civil fociety
has added to his natural ftate, it is alfo to be inquired, whether the
acquifition of it has made him happier or more miferable than he
was in his natural ftate.

The acquiring of money by war, or by trade to diftant countries
does certainly not make men happy, but, on the contrary, tends to

make
* See what I have faid of this definition of mafi, vol. 4. p. i;. and followinp-.

72 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS, Book IT.

make them miferable, by expofmg them to fo much danger, by which
many Hves are loft, and by making them endure fo much toil and
labour: And at home tt is acquired very often by crimes and frauds,
fo many, that I think it is certainly true what Ariftotle fays, that the
love of money produces more crimes than all our other paflions put
together. It only remains, therefore, to be inquired, whether the
enjoyment of it does not make amends for the mifery we fuffer in
acquiring it; and, upon inquiry, I am perluaded it will appear doubt-
ful, as 1 have faid elfewhere, whetuer the acquifition or enjoyment
of it produces moll evil.

And, in the firft place, we are to confider that money minifters
to luxury, vanity, and pride. As to luxury, it furnilhes all the ma-
terials of it, by procuring to us every thing that can gratify our fen-
fesj and, particularly in Britain, there is no delicacy of eating, drink-
ing, or clothing, or any thing that can gratify our vanity or pride,
that is to be found in the world, which money will not procure us.
Now, a weak intelled, fuch as that of man in his prefent Rate, never
can refill fuch temptations, unlefs it be fortified by philofophy, which
teaches us, that to live temperately and foberly is our greatell happi-
nefs in this life ; while religion tells us, that it is the only way by
which we can prepare ourfelves for a better life in the next world.
But, as there arc very few whofe minds are fo cultivated by religion
and philofophy, or by a proper education, and good habits being
formed, it is evident that the enjoyment of wealth mull make moil
men miferable, by producing vices and difeafes.

The cfTedl of wealth in a nation is to make the rich indolent, vain,
and luxurious : And, as indolence, vanity, and luxury, mufl be fup-
ported by the labour of others, the Vv'hole people may be faid to be
divided into two clafTes ; one, the indolent, vain, and luxurious; the
other by £ir the moft numerous, and confiding of the minifters to

the

Chap. III. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS.

the indolence, vanity, and luxury of the other clafs. Of the firft clafs
are the men who, by their birth and education, fhould be the lirll
men of the nation. But men living in that v^^ay never can be virtu-
ous, or excel in any art or feience; nor can they be happy: And this
I take to be the true reafon of the degeneracy we obferve in our
noble families. The confequence of fuch a life is to make their
lives fhort and difeafed, and what 1 think worfe, their deaths long
and painful*. As to the poi>r, the ufe of wealth in a nation is to
make them ftill poorer. This may to many appear incredible j but
it is proved, both by the reafon of the thing, and by fad! and expe-
rience. For much money in a country raifes the price of every thino-,
even of the neceffciries of life ; but with thefe the poor not con-
tented, imitate the luxury and vanity of the great and rich. Of
this the liquor, we call iea^ is a notable example., It is brought from
the extremities of the eaft and weft, from countries altogether un-
known to the antients. In the days of Dean Swift, the fine ladies
only drank it to breakfaft \ which makes the Dean fay, that their

luxury

* How different is their death from the death of the inhabitants of the ifland of 8--

ria, (mentioned by iumaeus, in the 15th Ociyf. verfe 402. and following,) who were

afflided with no long or painful difeafes, but, when they grew old, were killed by the

gentle darts of Apollo and Diana.

Nafc«-»5 iTTi a-ruyi^y) TttXiTxi ^I.A«/j-/ jifartur.i'

AAA "«T£ yr,fot7KM7t tsoXiI kuIx <Pi/X' xvO^-v/tuv^

"E'A^uv A^yv^oro^oi A^»AA<yv, AgTEjt«<^» |f»,

'0<{ etyarcois fi:MiTa-n t7soi)(^oa:V»i KxTiTntmty. V. 4O6. ScC.

Where the reader will obferve, how properly thefe people were faid to be killed by the
gentle darts of Apollo and D'ana, the men by Apollo, and the wo.-nen by D;ana, as is
explained in fome other paflages of Homer.— -The confequence of the way of livin • of
the great and rich people at prefent is, that their families die out and aPc extinruiQied
In not many years; or, If the race does not fail intirely but only the m ile line, the
eftates go to daugiiters. How different muft the life have been of the two kings of
Sparta, the race of both of whom lifted 700 years in the male line, that is as lon<^ as
their fhate lafted, as Livy informs us !

Vol. v. K

74 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book II.

luxury was fuch, that they could not be breakfafted unlefs the globe
was thrice circled. In my youger days tea was only drunk by people
of fafliion ; and not every day, but only on holidays. At prefent,
there is hardly a cottager and his family in Scotland, (and I believe
the fame is the cafe in England,) that do not drink tea once a day,
and fome of them twice. Now, I am perfwaded that what they lay
out upon tea and fugar would go near to furnifh to their famiUes the
neceifaries of life.

The wages that are paid to workmen, though they appear high,.,
do not make them lefs indigent; for they make them live at a great-
er expence, and be more idle than they would otherwife be. Thus>
a manufacturer earns more in the day than any common laboui'er :
He ought, therefore, not to increafe the poor's rate. But it is quite
the contrary : For the ufe manufacturers make of the profits of
their bufinefs, is to work only five days of the w^eek, and the other
two to fpend in idlenefs and debauchery; fo that they lay up no-
thino- for old age and bad health, and commonly leave their wives
and children a burden upon the parifh. It is for this reafon that
the gentlemen in England very often difcountenance the fetting up
any new manufacture upon their lands, as there is thereby a great:
increafe of the poor's rate.

Thus, I think, I have proved, by reafon and argument, that the,
wealth of a nation increafes the number of poor: And it is alfo
proved by f^Cts ; for, as I have elfewhere obferved, when Rome
was miilrefs of the wealth of the world, the number of thofe who
lived upon public diftributions of com, or the poor s roll as we
would call it, amounted to 320,000, which was reduced by Julius
Csefar to 150,000*. Now, the wealth of England is certainly much

increafed

* Sucton. in vita Cxfaris cap. 41. — See what I have faid upon this fubjedi in vol. 5.
of Origin of Language, p. 188. and following.

Chap. in. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 7^

incrcafed within thefc few yearso Btu, has the poor's rate decreaf-
ed? So far from that, the poor's rate, which, as I am informed, was
10 or 12 years ago, no more thanyo//r milhons, is now J/x, and ftill
increafmg : So that it is become a very great burden upon the
country; and, there are many, who pay to the poor more than to
both church and king.

Thus it appears, that both the acquifition and enjoyment of wealth
not only deftroy a great number of men, but, what appears very
extraordinary, make the poor ftill poorer j and often the rich poor,
by increafmg their vanity and luxury.

As luxury appears to be infeparably joined with wealth in a na-
tion, and, as luxury, when it goes to any excefs, naturally produces
poverty, it is not improper to confider here, what the effed of po-
verty and luxury, joined together, may produce upon the great men
of a nation. The defire of money is, as I have faid, infinite and
infatiable ; and fo is luxury, efpecially when vanity is joined to
it. Now, thefe two infatiable pafFions, joined together in l/js
great of a nation, muft produce extraordinaiy effects; efpecially
if the great be what they ought to be by their birth; — hii:;h mind-
ed men, and therefore unable to ftoop to poverty, and to the
meannefs which accompanies it. And here we may obferve the dif-
ference betwixt the mifer and the prodigal: The mifer loves mo-
ney for its own fake, and onlydefires to accumulate it: Whereas the
prodigal defires it in order to gratify his luxury, which, as I
have faid, has no bounds; fo that he is under the dominion of two
paftions equally infatiable, while the mifer is under the dominion
of one pafFion only, the love of money. When, therefore, he firfl
begins to accumulate money, he propofes only to fecurc himfclf
againft want. It is time, indeed, when that is done, and when lie
has got together fo much money, that it is impoffible he can be afraid

K 2 of

^6 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IL

of ever w anting, to ftop ; yet he ftill continues to accumulate. But
this I afcribe partly to vanity, (for all rich men are more or lefs vain
of their money,) but chiefly to the habit, he has got into, of devifmg
how to fave and gain money, and lay it out to the greateft ad-
vantage, and to his inability of pafTmg his time in any other way;'
fo that he is driven to the neceflity of continuing his application to
money, by his not knowing what elfe to do, which makes many
people do many things that they would not otherw^fe do. But ftill,
I think, it is true what I have obferved, that the mifer, from what-
ever motive he accumulates, will not do things fo bad, for the ac-
quifition of money, as the man who joins the two vices of luxury
and avarice.

Thefe two vices were joined together in Rome, as Salluft informs-
U3- for, he ioijsjjabemus luxuriam et avaritiam^ : And it was in the.
nobles that they were joined, which produced the moft dreadful con-
fpiracy that ever exifted in any nation; for it was the conjpiracy of thefe
nobles, who, by their birth and education, ought to have been the beft
men in the city, againft the government and the reft of the people..
The confpiracy I mean, was that of Cataline, by which, not only
the government was to be overturned, but the city fet on ftre, and'
the people of rank and wealth murdered even by their ow^n chil-
dren. Of this confpiracy, we have a very accurate account given
us by Salluft, and w^hich I think a very valuable piece of hiftory.

As there is more wealth, I believe, in England than in any
other country of Europe, fo there are, there, to be {ttxv more bad
effeds of wealth tlian any where elfe ; for there are, in England,,
more crimes and vices, more difeafes and more indigence, than in
any other nation now exifting, or, I believe, that ever did exift.
x\s to crimes, they abound fo much, that our jails cannot hold our

convidts \

* Bejlum Caiilincrium.

Chap. m. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 7-

convids ; and we are obliged to fend out colonies, fuch as no nation
ever fent out before, to a very diftant country, till of late quite un-
known; to which they are tranfported at a great expence, and main-
tained, when there, at a ftill greater*. — Now, thefe crimes are almod
<all the efFeds of wealth. For the people of England I hold to be
of as good natural difpofitions as any people in the world. They
are by nature kind and benevolent j nor is there any people now
exifting fo benevolent, or that beftov.s fo much in public or private
charity. But wealth, which, as I have fiiown, naturally produces
indigence, makes them fleal, rcb, and fometimes. though very rare-
ly, murder; alio forge ; and, in carrymg on (iommerce, cheat and prac-
tlle every kind of fraud ; to exprefs one of which we have been
obliged to invent a word, and to call \x. fiviJidUng, In other nations
men commit crimes in the heat of paffioa, or from motixes of jea-
loufy and reven[^c ; but. in England, it is indigence that produces,
almoft all the crimes. -~ As to vices, tiiey arc the natUial elle(fis of
wealth in ail counines; and, as there is more wealth in England,
than in Gther councries, 1 believe there i:; likevvife more vice. Dif-
eafes aUo are the natural effe^ls oi v cakh hi every country; and
there; t.re, there are like wife, in England, more dileafes, and parti«

cularly

* There is a mnn, whom I know, of the name of Walker, a purfcr in one of our
frigates, and whom I have formerly mentioned, (vol. 4. p. 367.) vho was v-vx years
in Botnay Bay, longer, I behve, than any mr.n at prekur in Europe hr:s oeen. He
lived for fbme time in my neighbourliood in the count' y, and I had much converfa-
tion with him upon the fubjeft of our colony of c()ijv;cls. He told mc, that when he
came away from Botany Bay, which was abou: two or three years ago, there were
there 5000 convids, and 1000 more in an ifl.ind in the neighbourhood, called Norfolk
Iiland. And, coming home, he met, upon the fea, feveral l]i;ps going to Botany Bay,
full of more of them. I was in London when the lirft: colony was fent off; and I was
told, what I could not have believed, if I had not had it from the beft authority, that
intereft was made by feveral men, who were not convi<f!:cd, nor faipcifted of any crime
to be fent with the convitls to Botany Bay; and, I have heard, that others have com^
mitted petty larcencies, on purpofe that they might be convifted and tranfported thi-
ther. Such it appears is the extreme poverty among the lower people of Enj>land.

jS ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book TI,

cularly that mod dreadful dlfeafe confumptioji^ of which more die
than of any other two dif^afes,; and, as it is children, or perfons
under age, who commonly die of it, it muft be produced by the dif-
cafes or weakneffes of the parents Now, I Tiould be glad to know,
whether crimes and vices, difeafes and indigence, be not one or other "
of them, and much more altogether, the fource of the mifery of every
nation ?

There is one obfervation more that I will make upon the love
of money. It is a pilfion which may be faid to comprehend
every other, as it furnifhes the materials for gratifying not only our
fenfual appetites, but our vanity, and our talle for every thing we
think beautiful or fine ; alfo our ambition, particularly in Britain
where money makes a man very eminent in the ftate and govern-
ment of the country. It is, therefore, a moft comprehenfive pafTion;
But it excludes what I think our greatefl: happinefs in this life ; and,
that is the pleafure of loving and being loved ; for a man, who is
r oireffed by this paffion, has neither love nor frienJihip for any man.
Now a man, who loves no man, can be beloved by no man, not
even by his neareft relations j for, as Horace fays, addreffing him-
felf to the man of money,

Non uxor falvum te vult non fillu? ; omnes
Vicini oJerunt, noti, pueri atque puellae.
Miraris, cum tu argento port: oai;iia poaas,
Si nemo praeftet, queoi non morearis, amorem,

Lih. I. 5fl/. I.

This paiTion, in Britain, is as univerfal as it is comprehenfive,
money being the purfuit, not only of almofl every private man but
of the public; for our legiflature, when it is ailembled, is chieHy em-
ployed about money ; and the principal bufmefs of our miiiifLer is
to contrive means how to get it, and how to lay it out. And this

may

Cfiap. III. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 79

may be a reafon, Vv^Iiy our Parliaments, and minlflers, give (o little
attention to the three great articles of the political fyftem, the health,
the morals, and the numbers of the people *.

Before I quit this fubjed, I muft return to the divifion I m-^de of
a wealthy people into two claffes, thofe w^ho live in vanity, luxury,
and indolence, and thofe who minifter to that vanity, luxury, and
indolence t. This divifion was not known among the Greeks of the
heroic age: For there was no wealth among them; and, their gover-
nors and rulers, as well as the reft of the people, lived upon the
produce of land, which they cultivated themfeives, with the affif-
tance, no doubt, of fuch ilaves as they could purchafe. The heroes,
therefore, not only excelled in council and fight, but pradtifed the
necelfaiy arts of life, fuch as agriculture. Accordingly, Ulyiles
challenges Eurymachus, one of the courtiers, to mow or plow with
him J : And he tells Eum^Eus§, that in fuch fervile works as
making a fire, breaking wood for that puipofe, roafling meat, mix-
ing and preparing wine, and ordering a table, he would contend
with any perfon. For, it is to be obferved, that thofe Greek he-
roes employed the flaves they purchafed only in works without
doors, fuch as cultivating the ground, and taking care of their cat-
tle and fwine ; and, accordingly, Eumasus was the fwine herd of
UlyfTes. It does not, therefore, appear, that any of thofe heroes
had any domeftic fervants, even when they went abroad and were
engaged in the Trcjan war. Accordingly, when Achilles en-
tertained the ambalTadors of Agamemnon in his tent, it was his
friend Patroclus who prepared fupper for them and mixed the
wine: And, even when they lived in the country upon their farms,
it docs not appear that they had any domeftic male fervants; but the

whole

* See what I have fi^id of thefe vol. 4. of this work p. 21 r,
t Page 72. t OdyiT. 18. v. 36c,

;5 Ibid. 15. V. 32c.

So ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book TI.

-whole work of the family was performed by their maids. Ulyfles,
of whofe family we have a more particular account than of that of
any other, had no lefs than 50 maids*, who did all the bufinefs of
his family; nor, does it appear that he had any male fervants, ex-
cept Eum^us his fwine herd, a goat herd, and a cow herd. And
thus it happened, that, when the heroes went abroad, as they car-
ried no domeftic fervants with them, neither male nor female, they
were obliged to perform, themfelves, the moft fervile offices ; fuch
as making a fire and dreffing viduals. but, while they were at
home, every thing of that kind was performed by females. — In
the firfl: ages of the Roman ftate, when the citizens lived upon a
few acres of land, their great men held the plough. Thus Cin-
cinnatus was taken from the plough to be Didator, when he com-
plained that his farm would fuffer by his abfence.

And thus it appears, that men, in the firft ages of fociety, before
the ufe of money had got in among them, which it had not among
the Greeks at the time of the Trojan war, lived in a more natural
way, being nearer to the natural ftate, and confequently were hap-
pier than men in the more advanced ages of fociety. Of this I will
fay more afterwards; but, in the mean time, I think I have faid
enough to fhow the difference betwixt the minds ot men in the
more advanced ages of fociety, and their minds in the natural ftate, or
even in the firft ages of fociety; and to prove, that the greateft evils,
of mind as well as of body, arile from civil fociety. And, as the
pains of the mind are much greater than thofe of the body, (for the
body, as Epicurus fays, ails only the prefent, whereas the mind not
only ails the prefent, but the paft and future,) the confequence is,
that men are much more unhjppy in civil fociety than in the natu-
ral ftate. And, 1 am now to inquire. What good is to be reaped
from civil fociety; and, whether fome means might not be contriv-
ed

* Odyff. 22 V. 42 r.

Chap. m. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Bi

ed to alleviate the ills which it produces? But this I intend to be the
fubje6t of the next book. I will only add, before I conclude this,
that, by what 1 have faid of the love of money, I do not mean that
a man fhould not give a proper attention to money, fo far as it is
necelTary for living decently and fuitably to his rank, and for pro-
viding for his family or enabling him to be charitable and benefi*
cent, but that he fhould not be wholely ingroffed by the paffion for
money, fo as to Itudy nothing elfe but the gaining or faving it.

¥oL. V,. L BOOK

^•^ ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book HI.

BOOK III.

Of the Advantages Derived from Civil Society, and
how its Ills may be Alleviated,

CHAP.

Reafon ivhy Man In the Natural State is happier than in the Civilif-
ed. — In the firjl he is governed by Jnjiindf^ — /// the la ft by his own
Intelligence. — His wants and de fires few in the Natural State, — ■
/;; the Civi'ifed State innumerable^ — particularly wheti money fur-
nifies the means of gratijying them. — In the Civil fed State mofl
unnatural pajfions arfe. — Infiance of this in the paffion of males for
males. — This a perverfion oj a natural and neceffary paffion,— fuppof
ed to have been invented in Greece — much praEiifed in 7hebes, par-
ticularly by its Sacred Band.— // went, from Greece to Rome —
was much refned there, particularly by the Emperour Heliogabalus.
^-Not unknown in Modern times.— Still praSlifed in Italy, — in
Ruffia, and even among the barbarians of Kam/ljatka. — Ihe con-
fequence of Vices in the Civilifed life, is Dlfeafes, — The num-
ber of thcfe at prefent in Europe not known. — In Pliny the
elder s time they were reckoned 300. — They miifl be novo much
increafcd as many have bten im'^orted. — In England more Dif-
lafes than in mofl other parts of Europ£^ becaufe more Wealth. — We

have

Chap. I. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 83

have hardly names ^ much lefs cures for them, — Of the prevalence of
Confumptions among us, — The death of Children by this difcafe muji
ar'ife from the weakneffes of Parents, — To the fame catfe is to be
attributed the great mortality of Children in great Toivns, fuch as
London^ — -where it is computed^ that not a h.df of thofe that are
born live to be tvDO years old, — Confumption not unknoivn to the
Antients; — but not near fo fatal. — This a proof that their manner
of Life was more Natural than ours.

IN the preceding book I think I have fhown very clearly, that
man, in his natural ftate, is much happier than he is in his ci-
vilifed life, as it is condud:ed at prefent in the nations of Europe.
And the reafon is plain, that man, as well as other animals in the
natural ftate, is governed by inftindl, that is divine intelligence
prompting him to do every thing that is neceflary for. the preferva-
tion of the ind vidual and the continuation of the kind; whereas the
civilifed man is guided by his own intelligence, which, however
weak or imperfed: it may he. is the governing principle in his little
world, dire6iing all his operations, particularly thofe. of his animal
life. Now, this government nmft be very diflicuk in the civil foci-
eties 1 fpeak of, particularly m fuch of them where money is fo pre-
dominant, and of fuch general ufe., as ic is in Britain In the natu-
ral ftate, the wants and appetites are very few, none but fuch as ar&
neceflary for the fupport of the indiviuual and the propagation of
the kind,- and which all, at the fame time, give pleafure to the ani-
mal ; whereas^ in the civilifed ftate, the wants and defires are innu-
merable, efpecially when money furniihes the means of gratifying
them. Then there arife paffions the raoft unnatural ; and, even in
focieties where money is not fo predominant, one paflion has arifen,
the mcft unnatural that can be imagined : For, the inventive genius
of man prompts him, after he has tried all natural pleafures, and is

L 2 fatiated .

^4 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book lit

fatiated with them, to devife others altogether out of nature. The
paffion 1 mean, is the love of males, and the enjoyment of them in
the way of venery, in place of females; than which no pafFion can be
imagined more unnatural, or a greater perverfion of a paifion which
is necelTary for the moft ufeful of all purpofes, the continuation of
the kind. It was the inventive genius of Greeks that contrived this
refinement, as by fome it is thought, upon the natural pleafure of
coition. It began, it is faid, to be pradifed in Greece about the
time of Laius the father of Oedipus, and was foon propagated all
over Greece. Among the Thebans it was fo common, 'and even
among their beft men, that their Sacred Band^ as it was called, which
was reckoned invincible, confifted all of men who had an inter-
courfe of that kind together, and were either adtive or paflive in
that pleafure. From the Greeks it went to the Romans, who made
a refinement upon it unknown to the Greeks ; For, they pra<Stifed
it not only upon boys and handfome young men, but upon old ve-
terans in the bufinefs, who, they thought, by the fkill they had ac-
quired by much practice, could give them more pleafure than young
pra(£tition€re; and, the great and ilch among them kept whole fe-
raglios of them, which they called greges exolttonim ; and, fome of
the Emperours, fuch as Heliogabalus, were not only active in that
enjoyment, hut were paffive in every way that can be imagined; for
Heliogabalus, as we are told by the author of his life, per omnia ca-
va corporis venerem excepit*. And, among thefe cava^ we mull
underftand his mouth; in which way, the fame author tells us, that
the Emperour Commodus enjoyed venery. For the purpofe of this
pafTive venery, he was at great pains to find out men that were bene
vafati^ et majoris pecidii^ as the author of his life exprelTes itf, who,
it appears, gave him greater delight than thofe who were not fo w^ell

* ^!ius Lampridius, in the lie of Pleriogaoalus, cap. 5.
f Ibid. cap. 5. and 9.

Chap. I. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. ^ §5

by nature endowed ; and he was fo fond of them, that he beftow-
on them offices of dignity and profit *.

Nor, is this mofl: unnatural vice unknown in modern times, though
not fo much pra<5lifed as in antient. It is not, however, uncom-
mon in Italy ; and it is prcidifed in Ruffia; and has reached even to
the barbarians of Kamfhatka, where, it is faid, they have male ia*
thics as well as women in their feraglios.

That vices abound in all the civilifed focieties of Europe at pre-
fent, is a fad that cannot be denied; and the natural confequence of
vices are difeafes. What the number of difeafes in Europe at prefent
is, we do not know. In the time of Pliny the elder, the .number
exceeded 300. The number now muft be very much greater; for,
befides the difeafes which our vices and unnatural manner of living
muft produce, we have got imported, from the eaft, difeafes un-
known to the antients, fuch as the fmall-pox and meafles, which, it
is faid, was one of the fatal confequences of thofe romantic expedi-
tions to the Holy Land, or Crufades as they are called. In England,
as there is more wealth, fo there are more difeafes than in any other
part of Europe ; fo many that they never have been numbered, and
hardly names found for them, much lefs cures. One of them is a
moft deftru6tive difeafe, particularly among children, I mean con-
fumption, of which it appears, from the bills of mortality, that more
die than of any other two difeafes. And, not only in towns is this
difeafe fo fatal, but alfo in the country: For I have a bill of mor-
tality in my country parifh, kept for two years, from which it ap-
pears, that near a half of thofe that die are killed by confumptions.
Now, when children die of confumptions, it muft be the confe-
quence of the weaknefs or difeafes of their parents ; and the fame
muft be the caufe of the death of fo many children of other difeafes,

* iEllus Lampridius, in the life of Heriogabalus, cap. 1 2.

8^ ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

of whom, in the city of London, not above a half live to be above
two years of age. The difeafe of confumption was known among
the antients, but it does not appear from their books of phyfic that
k was a common difeafe among them. But, as to that prodigious
mortality among children, fuch as that among the children of Lon-
don, it appears to have been abfolutely unknown in antient times.
And this, I think, fhows, that the antients, in their civilifed life,
muft have lived in a more natural manner than we do; as the difeafes
of children cannot be contraded by themfelves, but muft, as I have
faid, proceed from the difeafes or weakneffes of their parents.

CHAP.

Chap. II. ANTIENT METAPHYSlGSe if

CHAP. XL

Civil Society not necejfarily produSiive of mtfchlef; — on the contrafVj
if proptrly managed^ produSlive of the greateji good, — From Civil
Society we derive Arts^ Sciences^ Religion^ and Pbihfiphy. — With-
out Arts and Sciences Men have the /enfe of what is beautiful and
becoming, — But the corruption of the befl things becomes the worji,
'—Arts^ therefore^ of Pleafure and Luxury^ and even of mojl un^
natural Pleafures^ ivere produced in procefs of time. — This corrup"
tion takes place when Wealth has got among Men^ — and only to be
prevented by a Government of Religion and Philofophy^ like thoje of
Egypt and Sparta. — Nofuch Government now to be /ound.~^A pri^
vate Man may flill make himf elf happy by Religion and PhiL/ophy.
^—This the cafe of the Philofophers of Alexandria under the worfl
<f Governments^ that of the Saracens^ — the declared enemies too of all
lear fling. — For the fudy of Religion and Philofophy leifure neceffa-
.ry.—'lhis the opinion of Solomon.^ Plato ^ and Arifotle. — Leifure on^
ly in the Civilifed Life. — The defire of Knowledge peculiar to that
Life.— Biff erence of the progrejs towards Civility^ in the New
Zealanders and the People of the Pelew Ifands : — The former
without cutiofity of any kind] the later mojl defirous of knowledge,
— The firf Philofophers admired the Heavens; and^ accordingly^ the
frft^ we read of were Natural Philofophers. — Inquirtes after mind
fucceeded. — For the enjoyment of leifure^ Money ncceffary^ — alfo to
hiow how to employ leifure. — Ennui a fore difeafe^ being a dfcafe
of the mind. — Its effects on the Rich^ who have not the knowledge
of employing their leifure,-^ A Phdofopher, with a competent for^
tune^ will enjoy his leifure more pcrfedlly than the Gymnn opbifls
of India y who had their food to feck. — The more leifure a Man Ljs^

the

8.a ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

the more need has he of occupation. — This either of Body or Mind,
^Occupation of the Body neceffary for Health,— Of the employment
ofourfrjl Parents in Paradife,--Of the occupation of Farming,—
particularly in the manner that Horace Farmed. — Of the plenfures
oj Walking and Rt ding, — the exercifes of the Antient Athlets too
violent for any other perfons,

Y what I iiave faid, in the preceding book, of the mifchiefs pro-
duced by civil fociety, the reader may imagine that I think it
is neceiTarily produdive of mifchief to man ; but, I am fo much of
a different opinion, that I think, if properly conduded, it produces
the greateft happinefs which man enjoys in this life, and is to enjoy
in the next : For it is only by civil fociety that arts and fciences
have been introduced among men, by which our underftanding has
been fo much cultivated, as to have been made capable of religion
and of forming- the idea of a God; for it is only by arts and fciences,.
that we are made capable of pradifmg the precept of the Delphic
God and of knowing ourfelves, particularly our own minds, of which
we have a more certain knowledge than of any thing elfe, as it arifes
from confcioufnefs. Now, as man is the image of God upon this
earth, it is only by lludying ourfelves that we can have any idea of
the Supreme mind. For this reafon it is, that nations, who have
not made fuch progrefs in arts and fciences as to have any know-
ledge of their own minds, have no religion, fuch as the New Zea-
landers and the people of the Pelew Illands *'. It is alfo to the
cultivation of arts and fciences that w^e owe Philofophy, the greateft
hlc'Jing, Plato fays, ijohich the Gods have beflowed upon mortal men;
and, the longer 1 live, the more I am convinced of the truth of this
laying.

But,

* Vol. 4- P- 153-

Qiap. IL ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. ^

But, according; to the common faying, the corruption or (lepra*
vation of the beft things is the worO:; and, indeed, it Vv'as in ibme
fort neceflary, that men living together in fociety, after having in-
vented the neceflary arts of Ufe, fliould not confine their fagacious
and inventive genius to thefe, but fhould proceed to difcover arts of
j)leafure and of luxury, even the mod unnatural; of which I have
given an example* in the ufe of males for venery in place of females.
For, that it was only in procefs of time, and not in the beginning
of civil fociety, that thefe were invented, is evident from the ex-
ample of the people of the Ladrone iilands, of the Pelcw iflands,
■and of New Zealand, who being, as appears, but newly clvililed,
Hill retain the primitive fimplicity of their manners, and have no
fuch unnatural paffions. But, when fociety grows old, and if wealth
likewife "has got in among them, I hold it to be impolRble that the
corruption and degeneracy of fuch a ftate can be prevented, oth.r-
wife than by a government of religion and philofophy, fuch as thofe
of Egypt or Sparta.

But it will be faid. Where is fuch a government now to found as
that of Egypt or Sparta? and, I mufl own, that, in thefe degenerate
days, there is none fuch to be found. But this does not hinder any
private man, under the word government, to make himfeif happy
by religion and philofophy. It was in this way, as i have eliewhere
obferved t» that the \lexandrian philofophers lived at their eafe and
profecuted their ftudies in philofophy, under one of the word go-
vernments thcit I beheve ever was, I mean that of the Saracens,
who, bcfides being the greateft tyrants, were the declared enemies
of ciU learning, and, accordingly, deftroyed, as it is laid, four him-
dred thcufand manufcripts, in the Alexandrian Library, uling them
to warm their baths.

Vol. V. M But,

* Page 84. of this vol-

-J- Preface to vol. 3. p. Ixiil,

90 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

But, for the ftudy of religion and philofophy, leifure, from the
common biifinefs of life, is abfolutely neceflary; for, without leisure,
no valuable knowledge can be acquired. " It is by opportunity of
leifure (fays Solomo:i) that the vvifdom of a learned man cometh; an4
he that hath little bufmefs (hall become wife*." And both Plato and
Ariflotle, in their books upon Polity, make it abfolutely neceffary,
for the education of theii governors, that they fhould have leifure.
And Arlftotle, in the beginning of his Metaphyfics, tells us, that
it was leifure wli'ch made the Egyptian Priefts fo learned : Nor,
indeed, is it pofTible, that men without leifure can cultivate any
art or fcience. And this is one great advantage of the civilifed life,
that men may have leiiure for the improvement of their minds by
arts and fciencest, and may have curiofity, and a deiu-e of learning',
which prompts them to do fo. This laft mentioned thing makes a
very great difference betwixt the natural life and the civilifed: For,
though the neceffities of life may allow the natural man, or favagc
as we call him, time enough to apply to tlie acquifition of knowledge,
yet he has no cnriofity, or defire to learn. In that ftate were the New
Hollanders when Captain Cook came among them; for though his
ihip muft have appeared to them a moving mountain, and was
certainly the moft extraordinary thing they had ever feen, yet they
expreffcd no curiofity or defire to be informed about itj whereas'

the

* Ecclefiaft. chap. 38. v 24.

j Sse what Horace fays of leifure in Ode 16. Lib. 2. beginning
Otium Divos rogat in patenti ;

AnJ in the 7th epifdc of the ift book, he tells us, that he would not exchange the
0/ium he enjoyed for the riches of Arabia. From that epiftle it appears, that he
Drudged the time he beftowed in attending even upon his friend Mxcenas, who was
fo mucii his friend, that, in the laft note he wrote to Auguftus, before his death, h£
recommended Horace to him in thefe words, Horatii Flaciiy ut tnciy memor ejlo. And
he faysj in another place,

Dulcis inexpertis cultura potentis amici :

Expertus metuit. Epljl. 18. Lib..i.

Chap. II. A N TI E N T INI E T A P H Y S I C S. 91

tiie people of the Pelew Iflands/ being farther advanced in arts and
in civilifed life, having, as I have (hewn*, a regular polity, were
extremely curious and defuous to be informed aliout our fhips, and
all our machinery; and it was that dcfire of learning which made
the kings fon leave his country, father, and family, to go with u%
And with this diifindion we ought to underftand what Ariftotie fays
of the love of knowledge being natural to man : For he mu't be
advanced fome degrees in his intellectual faculty before he has that
love; but, when he is {q far advanced, as knowL-dge is the food of
intelled and its fole delight, he muft have a love lor it. A man,
therefore, who has been any time in the civilifed ftcite, having ac-
quired the ufe of intelled:, his natural love Oi knowledge will be
excited in him by the various ohjefts both of nature and ar^:, which
he obferves in that ftate; and he will admire nothing more tuan

Hunc folem, et ftellas, et decedentia certis
Tempora momentis f :

For the heavens declare the glory of the Lord,, as our fcripture fays,
and raife our admiration more than any thing elfe, when we begin
to think and reafon upon the great Book of Nature: For it was taat
book that firfl; made philofophers ; and accordingly the firft pliilofo-
phy, that was cultivated in Greece, and, 1 believe, in all coun ries,
was natural philofophy. But it was not till men had confidered the
objeds which their fenfes, our firft inlets of knowledge, prefented
to them, that they began to conlider mind and its operations, wJiicli
they learned from the ftudy of their own minds : For it was not tUl
then that they pradtifed the precept of the Delphic God, Know thy lei f
But, how many men, In the moft advanced ages of focioties, fee all the
wonders both of heaven and earth, without being ftruck with won-
der, which, as Ariitotle tells us, is the beginning of all philofophy;

M 2 and

* Vo\ /. p. 57.

t Hor. Lib. j. Epift. (5.

f)2 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

and not only they do not fee the wonderful produdlions of mind in
the heaven and earth, but they carry about with them their own
mind for many years, I may fay all their lives, without ever look-
ing into it, or fludying what is going on in it; fo that they may
be faid to be perfect ftrangers at home, and entirely ignorant of the
mofl: valuable of all knowledge, that of mind.

And here we may obferve one advantage of money or wealth,,
among many mifchiefs which it produces; for a man muft have mo-
ney, in order to enable him to enjoy leifure, without being conftantly
employed in the common bufuiefs of life: For this a very mo-^
derate fortune will fuffice. But there is another thing as neceflary
as money for the enjoyment of leifure; and that is to know how to
employ it. If he does not know that, he falls into a fore difeafe,
which the French call enniii^ and which, as it is a lafting and lin--
gering difeafe, makes a man, I believe, more miferable than perhaps
any other ; for it is a difeafe of our mind or better \)i\n. It is the.
fource of almofl: every vice and folly; for a man, who does not know
what elfe to do, will do any thing rather than do nothing; and I main-
tain, that the richeft man, who is haunted by \K\%foulJund^ as it may
be called, is a much more unhappy man than the day labourer wha
earns his daily bread by the fweat of his brow, and who, therefore^
only fubmitts to the fentence pronounced upon our lirft parents af-
ter their fall, and which, if it be underftood, as I think it ought to
be, of the labour of the mind as well as of the body, we muft all
fubmit to, or be miferable if we do not. And, accordingly, thofe,
who can find nothing to do, endeavour to fly from themfelves; and-
many of them fly from their country, and go abroad, for no other
reafbn ;

Fruftraj nam comes atra premit fequiturque fugacem*.

And fomc of them, I believe, go out of life for no other reafon, (and

* Horat. Lib. 2. Sat. 7.

Chap. II. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. ^^

I think there may be worle reafons,) than that they have nothing ta
do in it.

If a man have a competent fortune, fu h as will furnifn him alt
the neceiTaiies and conveniences of life, and if, at the lame time, he
follow no bufmefs or profeflion, his whole I'fcw'ill be leilure,
which he will enjoy more perfectly than the G) ri-ioiophifts of In-
dia, though they did vv-hat no other men ever did, tor they joined
together tiie natural and philolophical life, living altogether the life
<i)f nature, in the heiJs aad woods, without cloaths or houfes, and
upon tiiC natural iruits of the earth, without any thing tna' art pro-
duces from it; but they had their food to feek, which, in iome
places, and fome feaions of tiie year, might not be eafily found.

But the more leifure fuch a man has, the more occupation iie
mufl: ha\^ to fill it up, orherwife he is the more miferable. Occu-
pation is either of body or mind. Occupation of the body, in fome
degree, is ab;oiutely neceflary for health and good fpirits : and, ac-
cordingly, our iirfi: parents, even in their happy ftate, were employ-
ed in ailing and dreffing their garden; and even at this day, I do not
know that there is arvy more he dthy occupation. Epicurus thought
that it was fuch ; and accordingly it was in that way he employed
his body; and. I think, a man may employ fome of Ids lcilut:e hours
very agreeably m thai way. But, I think, fanning is ftill a better
way of employing leifure, efpecially if he farms as Horace did, wdio,.
when he went to his farm, was in ufe

, ftipare Platona Menandro,

EupoUn ArchiloLiio ; comites eductre tantos *.

And yet, notwithftanding, all the good company he carried wdth
him, he wi ought with his own hands at the bufmefs of the farm,

and,

* Ibid. Lib. 2. Sat. 3.

ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book 111

f.nd broke clods, and took ftones off the lands; though, he fays, his
neighbours laughed at him

glebas et faxa moventem |.

For my own part, I know no exercife more pleafant than fome
country works, particularly the work of the hay harveft, of which
I frequently partake. Befides this, there is the natural exercife
of walking, and alfo that of riding. Walking is a pleafant ex-
ercife, and the moft natural of all exercifes ; but 1 know no ex-
ercife more pleafant than a gentle trot or canter of a horfe of
blood. As to hunting, or hard riding, ufed conftantly by way of
exercife, it is w'hat I do not approve of, as it is too violent and
employs too much time. Such violent exercifes were very pro-
per for the antient athlets, or the people of Sparta, who applied to
no arts or fciences; but the occupations, 1 recommend, are the occu-
pations of the mind, by which only men can be happy in this life
and the life to come; and thefe occupations are philolophy, and the
liigheft part of it, theology, or, in other words, religion.

CHAP,

t Lib. i.Eplft. 14.

Chap. IIL ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 95

CHAP. III.

Difference hetvoixt Ant tent and Modern Philofophy. — Certainty of our
knoivledge of hlind from Confcioufnefs, — Uncertainty of our know-
ledge of the operations of Body^ as our Senfes often deceive us,—^
Progrefs of our Minds from Ideas to Science. — To know what Sci-
ence is, we muft fudy Ariftotle'' s Logic, — A Philofopher mufi he
frfl a Scholar,— Of the ref oration of Lcrtiing in the i^th Century^
■ — produced by an event that feemcd at firfl to put an end to all n-
tl'ht Learning, the taking of Confantinople by Barbarians. — The
Family of Medicis, protectors of Fugitive Greeks. — Progrefs of
Learning from Italy to other parts of Eur opt . — ^j.uch affi/led by the
invention of Printing, — alfo by the inventio?, oj Paper,-- and, lafl
of all, by Men of fuperior Genius, Learning, and mduhy. — Re-
ligion, as wCil as Morals ^ improved by Antient Learning. — The
perfediion of Language fhown by it, ~ Health preferved, — and Lei-
Jure properly and profitably employed, — Thg revival of Antient
Learning produced Schools and Colleges,

BY Philofophy, the rcr.r.^r muft not underftand that I mean mo-
dern philofophy, which, I think, is much more occupied about
body*than abou; mind; whereas the ftudy oi the antient philofo-
phy, to which I have applied myfeli, is chiefly mind, a fubjc<5l very
much more ufeful, nd of much greater certainty. For the founda-
tion of our knowledge of mind is confcioufncfs of what pafles in our
own minds, by which we know as certainly the operations of our
own minds, as we know that w^e exift; and, as I have elfewhere ob-
fcrved, it is only by knowing our own minds that we can have any

idea

9^ ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. BooktIT.

idea of fuperlour minds. Of our knowledge of body there is no fuch
certainty; for it comes entirely from our fenfes, which often deceive
us. By this philofophy we are tauglit, that all our knowledge arifes
from our comparative faculty. By it we form ideas, and fo exer-
cife that' faculty which is called Kovq or Intelled ; and from ideas
we proceed {.ofcience, by which we form propofitions and fyllogifms,
and all that we call rcafoning''^. By ftudving thefe operations of the
mind, we learn to underftand Ariftotle's definition of man, and
come to know what fcience or certainty is, the teaching of which was
the profefled defign of /riftotle's logic; and^ except by the ftudy
of that work, I deny that any m n, now living, can know w'hat
Jcieiice is. Now, I would have our modern philofophers confider,
whether a mm cm be truly a man o^ fticnce^ who does not fo much
as know what fcieiice is.

But no man can be an antient philofopher, or deferving the name
of a philosopher, if he be not firft a fcholar. For, as all philofophy,
of any value, comes from the antient world, w^e muft acquire an-
tient learning, and, for that purpofe, muft learn the antient langu-
ages, particularly the Greek; for unlefs we are fcholars, we never
can b" philofophers. And this leads me to fpeak of an event, which
I think of importance in the hiftory of man. What I mean, is
the reftoratlon of learning, in Europe, in the 15th century. This
happened by an event which one fhould have thought would have
put an end to learning altogether ; I mean the taking of Conftanti-
nople, the onlv feat of learning at that tine, by the Turks, the 'moil
indocile of all barbrxrians, who never would have learned the Greek
arts and fciences, being quite unlike the Romans, of whom Horace
fays,

Grxfia capta fenim v'uSlorem cepit, et artes
Intul.t agrelti Lnio f.

and,

* Ot'tVef' operations of the mind, I have fpoken in chap. 7. book 1. of the preced-
ing volunr*.

f Lib. 2. Ep.ft. 1.

Chap. Iir. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 97

and, accordingly, we fee in what a miferable flate learning is atprc-
fent in Conftantinople and the other places where they govern. But
learning was faved by fonie learned Greeks, who, after the taking of
Conftantinople, coming to Italy, and bringing with them fome
Greek manufcripts, reftored the Greek learning in Italy, which was-
as much loft there as the Latin learning and language was in the
Eaft. This they did under the patronage of certain great men and
lovers of learning in Italy, fuch as thofe of the family of Medicis ;
one of whom, Laurentius by name, diitinguiftied himfelf fo much
in that way, that he was dignified with the appellation of Pater Li~
ternrum ; and he learned even to fpeak the Greek fo well, that the
Greeks, then in Italy, admired his fpeaking. And the Greek lan-
guage, at that time, was fo much in faftiion in Rome, that even the
ladies fpoke Greek. And it was then not only fpoken in Italy,
but very well written; for, I have ^ilfe where mentioned an addi-
tion made by Stro^zza, a Florentine nobleman, to Ariftotle's Books
of Polity, in admirable Greek *.

As the fpirit of learning was then fo prevalent in Italy, it did not
confine itfelf to the Greek learning, but took in the learning of their
own country, I m.ean the Roman, whicn, though not loft, like
the Greek learning, was much declined; and, in this way, all we
call claffical learning was reftored. And it was not confined to Ita-
ly, but went over the. Alps to France, from thence to Britain, and
fo by degrees all over FAU-ope: And this happened in the courfe of a
century; fo that the fixieenth century, the next after the reftoratlon
of learning, was a very learned age, more learned, I believe, than
any that has been fince.

But this fo quick propagation of learning could not have been in
fo ftiort a time, if the art of printing had not been difcovered about
the fame time. But even that art, great as it was, would not have

Vol. V. N been

"* Vol. 3. of this work, p. Ixxli. of the preface.

98 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book TIL

been fufficlent. The invention of another art was neceflary, and
that was the invention of materials upon which to write or print.
The Romans ufed, for their common writing, the Fgypti, n plant
papyrus, (from which our word paper ^ of which they made w^hat
they called chartiu They had alfo the ufe of memhrana or parch-
ment ; but it was too coftly a material to be commonly ufed, and
tlierefore they only wrote upon it what they valued and intended
carefully to preferve *.

But, in the 15th century, the Saracens were in pofTeflion of Egypt
from which the papyrus came; and, as the Europeans had no com-
merce with them, no more papyrus was to be got. And parchment
being, as 1 have fud, a coftly material for writing, and altogether
unfit for printing, it was neceflary to invent an art for making a ma-
terial fit both for writing and printing; and accordingly they con-
trived to make, of linen rags, what we ziHA paper ^ and which is now
fOf moft common, ufe.

But there was (Fill one thing wanting, and of fuch confequence,
that, without it, the other things I have mentioned would have been
of little ufe for the reftoration of learning. What I mean is, men
of fo much genius, learning, and induftry, as thefe firft reftorers of
learning in Italy were. They recovered learning from duft and
worms, (which, as we are informed by Villoyfon, are now confum-
ing the manufcripts that yet remain in Greece,) and from manu-
fcripts which, I believe, few m.en of this age could read ; for they
not only wanted points and commas, fuch as we ufe, but they had

not

♦ lUudo chart'is^ Tays Horace when he wrote only for amufement, and to pafs an
idle hour; but he called for the parchment not four tiaics iu tiic ^^-^c^^', as Damafippus
tells him.

.. ■ ■ toto r.on quiter anno

Membranam pofcas, Lib. 2. Sat. 3.

Chap. m. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 99

not the diff:In(!rtion of words by intervals betwixt the words ; and
this way of writing continued down to the fixth century, of which
"we have a proof, to be feen in the Florentine manufcript of Juftini-
an's Pandeds, where the very title of the conftitution of the Emper-
our, which gives authority to the whole work, and is in thefe words,
De Cu?iftitutione Digejlorum^ is written in fuch a way, that the lafi
letter of the word Cunjlitutioue^ is nearer to the firft letter of the
next v;ord 1), than it is to the penult letter ;/ of the preceding"
word'*^. Now to read fuch writing, fo as to make fenfe of it, muft
be a matter of great difficulty, and unlefs a man is perfedly maftev
of the fubjed, is liabb to great ambiguities, of which- 1 will give
but one example amcag many that might be given. Thefe four let=
t^s m^ i h^ /, written vvithout any divifion, fignify either /i^/ and /V,
the firft the vocative fingular of meus^ and the fecond the nomina-
tive plural of hlc] — or uulA^ the. dative fingular of the pronoun ego.

By fuch a fortunate concurrence of" circumftances was antient
learning reftored in the 15U1 century,

Haud equidem fine mentereor fine numihe divumf.

For the good providence of God fo ordered matters, that man, then
more degenerated than in jormer times, fliould be reftored as much
as was poffible in this life, by recovering what had'been. fo long loft,,
arts, fciences, and, above all; philofophy, that greateft gift of the
Gods to mortal men, as Plato fays, by which we may preferve our-
felves againft the charms of moaey, luxur)^, and vanity, as UlyfTes,
by the Moly he got from Merniry, preferved himfelf againft the
incantations of Circe, which o.iiervvife would have made a brute of.
him, in the fame manner that theie things 1 have mentioned, with-
out philofophy, make brutes of us.

And not only does antient learning thus improve our morals, but

N 2 it

** Stnivii HIHoria Juris Romanr, p. 3;3,
•f Virgil. w5ijieid. 5. v. t^6.

soo ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book HI

it makes us more perfedl in our religion than we fliould otherwife
be ; for withouC antient philoibphy we could not, as I have elfe-
where obferved, conceive, nor confequently believe, thofe funda-
mental dodrines of the Chriftian religion, or myfterics as they are
commonly called — I mean the Trinity, the eternal generation of the
Son of God, and his Incarnation. Befides all this, if we are truly
fcholars, we live in the antient world, and converfe day and night
with the heroes and fages there, and fo form our character and man-
ners in imitation of them. Now, as I have elfewhere obferved*, it
is as impoffible, without that imitation, to form a great and good cha-
ra<9:er, as to make a fine ftatue without the imitation of ihe antient
ilatues.

There is another ufe to be made of antient learning, which is to
{how us what is raoft perfcdt, in the greateft, though the moft com-
mon art among men ; I mean language. For the Greek and Latin
are fuch languages, and particularly the Greek, tliat a philofopher,
and a man of curiofity, would think it worth his while to ftudy it,
merely for the fake of the art of the language, without regard to the
valuable matter it contains.

Another thing we may learn from the antient books; and that is,
to preferve health (the greated bleffing we enjoy in this life, and
the foundation of every other) by pra6tifmg the regimen which the
antients praclifed, of bathing, anointing, and fridion. Nor are thefe
all the benefits of antient learning; for, befides thefe, it is the greateft
and moft certain comfort we can enjoy in our old age. In the times
in which we live, the domeftic comfort of wife or children is not
much to be trufted to, as I to my fad experience have known. But
antient learning and philofophy may be depended upon as long as
we have the ufe of our underftanding, tnat is as long as we can
be faid to live.

When

* Vol. 5. of Origin of Language, p. 165.

Chap. III. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. io£

When joined to all thefe many advantages, a^tient learnhig, as I
have fald, enables us to employ our leifure hi the moll: elegant and
profitable way, it may be reckoned, upon the whole, the fineft thing
we enjoy in modern times. The reader, therefore, I hope, will not
think that I have fiiid too much upon the fubjed of the reiloration
of it, which I confider not only as the reftoration of learning, but
of mail to the happinefs he enjoyed in the beft ages of Greece and
Rome, by the cultiviition of his mind^

In order to be a fcholar and philofopher, and to enjoy the com-
fort of fpending our leifure properly, we muft be well educated. For
nothing is more certain than what Ariftotle has told us, that the
great advantage of a good education is, to enable us to enjoy leifure.
When antient learning Vv^as revived, by that good providence I have
mentioned, fchools and colleges were ereded, in different parts of
Europe, for teaching the antient learning. And I approve very
much of fuch public teaching: For a boy cannot be fuppofed to fludy
for the love of knowledge; but emulation, and a defire of exceiling
his fellow ftudents, muft be his motive. A man thus educated, if
he have any genius, will enjoy that Ot'ium^ which, Horace fays, is

neque purpura ve-

nale nee auro * ;

^nd fuch as Martiall prays for, where he fays,

Otia da nobis, fed qualia fecerat olim
Mfecenas Flacco Virgilioque fuo f .

CHAP.

* Ode 1 5. Lib. 2. f Lib. i. Eplg. ro?.

103 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS, Book IIL

CHAP. 1V«

App^' cation to Money ^ a relief to a per/on who cannot enjoy a learned
Ic'ifure. —Ibe lei fur e of the lower orders of Men fhoidd he fpent
In exe'-dfes^ not in Drunkennefs and Debauchery^ as is mofl fre-
qjiently the cafe. — Ihe manner of life of the Greeks and Ramans^
compared with ours in Britain. — In the Country ^ the Romans were
Farmers .^ and pajfcd their Holidays in Military and Athletic Exer^
cifes: — In Towns ^ they had their Palcejlras^ their Campus Martins,,
^c. — The Spartans cidtivated their lands by. Slaves ^ and Exercif
ed ihemfelves only in Ralccjlras. — This a mofl violent Exercife. —
The Athenians., befdes their Martial Exercifes., employed their Lei-
fur e in the mof elegant manner: — ift, In their Theatre., where the.
Exhibitions co7iffed of the three Finefl of the Fine Arts, Poetry^,
MufiCy and Dancing;— ^di.^ In the enjoyment of the other Fine Arts.^
fuch as Statuary^ Painftng, and Architecture;-, — And^2>^\y^ In Phi^
lofophy, the highef enjoyment this Earth affords*.

BUT fuppoffe that a man has not had the advantage of fuch an
education, or has not profited fo much by it (which I am
afraid often happens) as to be able to employ his leilure in- antient
learning, What muft he do? And here money, which does fomuch
rnifchief, may again be of fome ufe. For, though he be a man of
fortune, and, as it often happens, follows no bufmefs or profeflionj
fo that his whole life is leifure, inftead of cafmg himfelf of fo great
a load, as his time muft be upon him, in vitious pleafures or frivolous
amufcments, which always fatiate fooner or latter, he iliould apply

Chap. IV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS". 105

to 7noney, and employ his time in counting it, and devifing ways
how he fhall fave or gain it. And if he keeps a great table, and
fine equipage, and confequently a great number of fervants, and fets
down every farthing he gets in and lays out, at the fame time tak-
ing care that he is not cheated by his fervants, and that money may-
be faved as much as poflible, he will find that he has very little tim^
to fpare.

As to the lower fort of people, their occupation is making money,
and it is that which makes them run about in fuch hafte as we fee
them do in great towns. What leifure they have is generally very
ill employed. They have one feventh day wholly of reft ; and,
though 1 approve very much of keeping the Sabbath by prayers and
fermons, yet, as the people are incapable of employing the reft of
the day in private devotion, I think they fhould employ fomc part
of it, as the Roman farmers did their whole holidays, in athletic or
military exercifes, and as the people of England formerly did after
divine fervice, inftead of paffing it in drunkennefs or idlenefs as the
people of England now do; and they commonly add to it a confi-
derable part of Saturday. And this makes their lives fo far un-
happy; but we may think what their mifery would be, if they had
not the occupation of acquiring money, and their whole life w^re
leifure.

Among us there is one clafs of men, who not having the occupa-
tion of making money, and not having had the education, which,
as Ariftotle has obferved, is required to enable a man to pafs his
leifure well, and having at the fame time a great deal of leifure,
employ it very ill, and are perhaps the moft profligate fet of men in
Britain. The men I mean are the fervants of the great and rich,
who being very numerous, and employed in miniftering to the va-
nity and luxury of their mafters in their tables and equipages, have

very

104 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

very little to do, and have confequently a great deal of leifure.
And, as they are, at the fame time, very well fed, they mufl: needs
be very profligate : And they verify the truth of that common fay-
ing among the Greeks, ov (r')(^o'kn S^ovKoig^ no le'ifure for Jlaves, And,
according to my obfervation, it is leifure, or the want of fomething
to do, that more than any thing elfe corrupts the manners of fer-
vants.

Now, let us confider how the Greeks and Romans pafled. their
time and employed their leifure, compared with the way in which
the people of Britain pafs their time at prefent. The Romans, who
lived in the country, employed themfelves, as I have obferved, in
the moft healthy, and, I think, the moft pleafant of all occupations,
I mean agriculture ; and their holidays they pafled in the way Virgil
has defcribed, that is in military and athletic exercifes; and he adds,
that, by living fuch a life, the Sabines and Etrurians became eminent
nations, and Rome the finefl: city in the world*. And, indeed,
when to the occupation of agriculture is joined the exercife of arms,
as it was among the Romans, I think both together make a moft
pleafant, as well as a mofl: healthy and ufeful life.

As to thofe who lived in town, they had palsefl:ras in the days
of Au;_^aftus ; and at all times they had their Campus Martins, in
which they pradlifed different exercifes, and among others fwim-
ming, one of the moft healthy and ftrengthening exercifes: And even
the lov^er fort of people, after they had done their bufmefs,

Poft decifa negotia,

as Horace expreflies it, went and entertained themfelves in the Cam-
pus Martius f .

* As

* See p. 30. of this vol.

f The pailage in Horace is in Epifl. 7. Book 2. where he tells the pleafajit ftory of
Philip and Vultcivii-.

Chap. IV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 105

As to the Greeks, they were not fo happy as to employ themfelves
fo much in agriculture as the Romans did. The Spartans cultivat-
ed all their lands by their flaves, the Helots ; and the whole occu-
pation of the men among them, that were not old, was the exerci-
fes of the palxRra, which were fo violent, and fo conftant, that
war, we are told, was reft to them. They, therefore, can hardly be
faid to have had any leifure. But the Athenians had leifure ; and
no people in the world ever employed it in fo elegant a manner.
They had their palseftras too, and were all in that way trained to arms.
But their pleafure was their Theatre, upon which were exhibited,
in the beft manner poffible, the three fineft of the fine arts. Poetry,
Mufic, and what they called o^x^r.a-Hy or Dancing; that is, the imitation
of manners, fentiments, pafFions, and adions, by the motion of the
body to mufic. This muft have been fo fme an entertainment, that
I do not wonder they beftowed a confiderable part of the revenue of
their flate upon it. They had alfo the pleafure of the other fine
arts, fuch as flatuary, painting, and architedure; and, befides all this,
they had the enjoyment of philofophy, which was more cultivated
in Athens than ever it was in any other part of the world, except
Egypt J and which I hold to be the highefl enjoyment that this earth
affords. With regard, therefore, to the enjoyment of leifure, I
think we may pronounce the Athenians among the happieft people
that ever exifted.

Vol. IV. O CHAP.

io6 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

CHAP. V.

Man is not a complete Animal ivbile he is in the Natural Statc^
not having the ufe of In tell eel, — In the Civil fed State he is
completely a Man^ and is a Microcofm, having in hiuifelf what-
ever is in the Great World. — 7 he Civilijed State liable to many
errors. — Thefe errors only to be prevented by his knowing liim-
felf. — This knowledge to be learned J'rom books of Antient Phi-
lofophy. — By this Learning our Governing Principle is formed,^
How the Government of our Little World is to be carried on^ our
Modern Philofophers have not taught us; but it is to be learned in
Antient Books. — The governing power does not perform all the
operations^ but only dircBs them. — // is chiefly by the Animal Mind
that they are performed. — The Organs of it are Nerves^ Mufcles^ Si-
news, and Bones — which are all moved by our Mind. — This a
wonderful operation of Mind. — Upon the action of our ^Animal Life^
and the motion of our Bodies, depend the operations of the other two
Minds, the Vegetable and the Elemental. — To be confidered how the
Subjedls of this Kingdom, within our Cloths, obey their Sovereign :
Is it willingly or unwillingly P — The Vegetable and Elemental
Minds obey without any knowledge of what they do ;-^ but the Ani-
?nal Mind hearkens to rea/on; though it has not reafon in itfelf. —
The Animal Mind of the Brute is moved by different defires, and
deliberates which of them hefhall comply with. — But the Brute has
71 ot reafon,- and that makes the difference betwixt him and Man,
"—If reafon in Man judges wirong, then is the Man ivicked.-^-
He is weak., if his reafon does not judge wrong., but is only over-
come by his animal defires: — But if bis animal life J ubmits willing-
ly, then he is a happy Man,

WHILE

Chap. V. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 107

WHILE Man is in the natural flate, he is no more than an ani-
mal with the capacity only of intelled ; of which he has
not the ufe till he enters into fociety, and acquires it hy communi-
cation with his fellow creatures. He is then truly a man, and forms
that microcofm, or little worlds confiiUng of every thing that is to
be found in the great world, namely, body, the animal and vege-
table minds, and that mind which is common to all bodies, unorga-
nized as well as organized, and which, therefore, is called, by Arif-
totle, Nature^ and is what I call the Elemental I^ifid^: And, laftly,
in the civilifed ftate he has, in energy and aduality, what before he
had only in capacity; I mean the intelledtual mind, which governs
in his little world.

In this ftate, every man has within his clothes a little kingdom,
but which is not eafily governed ; for in civil fociety there are fo
many wants and defires, and fo many opportunities, which the civil
life furnijQies, of gratifying thofe defires, that our intelledtual mind,
or governing Principle, is very often led aftray, not only by our
fenfual appetites, but by our notions of the Fair and Beautiful ^
which are fo various, and to be found in fo many different objeds,
that we need not wonder that the opinions of men concerning them
are fo different, not only in different nations, but in individuals of
the fame nation. But of the Beautiful I Ihall fay a great deal more
in the fequel. Here I am to inquire by what means thefc errors can
be prevented, which we fall into in the civilized life ; and, I fay,
this can be done no otherwife than by ftudying diligently the nature
of our little world, that is by pradifmg the precept of the Delphic
God, and learning to know ourf elves-, which is the beginning of hu-
man wifdom. This knowledge we muft learn from books of an-
tient philofophy, for we have not any teachers of philoibphy, fuch

O 2 as

* See vol. 3. of this work, book i. chap. 3,

io8 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

as Plato and Ariftotlc ; and if we are to learn only from our own
experience and obfervation, or from what our cotemporaries may-
have learned in that way, we fhall cither not learn at all, or very
imperfedly, and very late in life. By this learning, our governing
principle, our intellect, is formed; and when the animal mind is
accuftomed to be governed, fo as to fubmit eafily and willingly, then
indeed we are kings ; as the Stoicks faid their Sage was *.

How this great work is to be brought about, and this kingdom
within our clothes to be governed, our modern philofophers have not
ftudied, though a mofl important part of the hiftory and philofo-
phy of man. What I have learned of the fubjed from antient books,
from which I have learned every thing of any value that I know, I
fliall give the reader in as few words as I can.

The governing power of this kingdom, that is the Intellect, does
not itfelf immediately or diredtly perform the operations of the
other three minds, the animal, the vegetable, and the elemental, but
diredls and fuperintends the operations of them all. Its chief minif-
ter is the animal mind, which is the immediate caufe of the motions
of our bodies. For it is a great error to imagine, that it is our in-
tellectual mind which immediately and diredly moves our bodies j
buc it is our animal mind : And the organs or inftruments, which it
ufes to perform thefe motions, are, nerves, mufcles, finews, and
bones, which make altogether a very complicated machine. And
here we may obferve, in our little world, a moft wonderful opera-
tion of mind, but which has not been obferved by any philofopher
or anatomift. It is this, that by a fmgle a£t of our will, we fet this
whole machine a going, and fo move our bodies in what manner

* Ad fumnium {;xpiens uno minor eft Jove, dives,

Liber, honoratus, pulcher, rex denique regumj Horat. Lib. i. Epift. i.

Chap.V. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 109

we think proper. And thus it appears, that we have withui our-
felve?, and in our little world, a proof of the power of mind, which
ihould convince the greatefl infidel of V\^hat the fupreme mind may
do in the great world.

By the motions of our bodies, performed in the manner I have
defcribcd, our other two minds are guided and conduded; for up-
on the motions of our bodies, external or internal, depend the oper-
ations of our vegetable life, by which we grow and are nourifhed,
and likewife of our elemental life; for, by thefe motions, our bodies
may be put in fuch a pofition as to be affeded by that life, and to
be carried either downward, or to right or left in a flraight line, if
they are fo impelled.

The next thing to be confidered, in this our kingdom, is how the
fubjeds obey their fovereign ; Is it from an opinion, that what he
orders is right and fit to be done, or is it without any opinion or
any knowledge of any kind ? As to the vegetative and elemental
minds, it is evident that they have no knowledge, will, or incUna-
tion of any kind ; but neceflarily follow the motions of the body, as
neceflarily as a ftone falls or as flame afcends. But it is otherwife with
the animal mind, for though it have not reafon in itfelf, it can hear-
ken to reafon. But it has appetites and defires of its own, by which
it is often guided independent of reafon and contrary to reafon*.

That not only our animal mind, but the animal mind of the brute,
is moved by certain defires, and often by different dufires at the
fame time, fo that he deliberates which of them he fhall follow, is
a fad that cannot be difputed. Thus a dog deliberates whether he

fhall

* See, upon this fubjeO, Ariftotle De Morihus, Lib. i. Cap. 13. where be makes the
fame diilin(ftioi), that I do, betwixt the anmial and vegetable uunds.

no ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book TIL

fliall follow his mafter through a rapid river; his love for his mafter
inclining him to do it, and on the other hand his fear of the river
deterring him from doing it. And hence it is, that fome philofophers,
even antient philofophers, have thought that the brutes had intelled:
and reafon. But they fhould know that intelled:, and intellect on-
ly, forms opinions of what is good or ill, and by thefe opinions is
determined to do, or not to do, every thing ; and thus is produced
what is called, by the Greeks, voQcci^z(rig'. Whereas the brute has no
opinion concerning good or ill, but is guided merely by appetites
or defires, inciting him to do, or not to do, certain things ; and in
this way we do, or do not, many things, not confidering whether
they be good or ill, but prompted only by our animal mind. But
the difference betv/ixt us and the brute is this, that we have within
us another mind which the brute has not ; I mean the intelledlual
mind, w^hich judges of what is good or ill. We have, therefore, in
our compofition, two principles of a£lion, the one our intelledl or
governing principle, the other our animal nature, which executes
every thing, and is the immediate author of all our adions. If the
governing principle is wrong in its judgment of what is good or ill,
then is the man a iv'ickcd man; and what the animal life executes
under the direction of fuch a ruler, is a wicked action. On the other
hand, if the judgment of the intelled is right, but our animal
mind does not fubmit to be governed by that judgment, but adts in
contrariety to it, then the action is not a wicked a<!^ion, but a iveak
aEl'ion; and the man is not a wicked man, but a weak man^ becaufe
he cannot make his animal part fubmit to his intellectual. Further,
let us fuppofe that the animal part docs fubmit, but unwillingly and
with reluctance : Then the action will not be a wicked or weak ac-
tion; but it will not be accompanied with that pleafure which {hould
accompany virtue. It will however be a virtuous adlion; and to the
man, who thus conquers his animal mind, and makes it iubmit to
the intelledual, we may fay with Horace,

Latins

Chap. V. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. m

Latius regnes, avidum domando
Spiritum, quam fi Libyam remotis
Gadibus jungas, et uterque Posnus

Serviat uni. Lib. 2. Ode 2.

Laftly, let us fuppofe that our animal part confents cheaifully and
with pleafure to what is didated by the intellect ; then will the ac-
tion be both a virtuous and pleafant adion, and the man will be
both a virtuous and happy man ; and fuch a man was Agefilaus, as
Xenophon has defcribed him, in whom virtue was not Kot^rs^ia or
^syK^arsix^ endurance or abjlinence^ but *?;^y^c«^5/«, that is pkafure
and voliiptiioufnefs *.

* In fine vit?e Agefilai.

CHAP.

112 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

CHAP. VI.

fhe Suhjedl of this Chapter is Happhiefs; and the quejlloti is. What
makes the greatcjl Happinefs of men f — // is P leaf are that makes
Happinefs, — and Pleafure arifes from certain energies of Body or
Mind. — No Happinefs^ therefore, without energies of one kind or
another. — The feat of all Pleafure is the Mind;^and of the great-
efl Pleafure the Intellectual Mind, which is the nobleft part of our
Nature, — The Pleafure of this Mind is Thinking, that is forming
Ideas, and contemplating thefe Ideas. — This the Pleafure of Intel-
ligence, and confequently of Man, who is an intelligent creature,-^
By thinking we know ; and how knowledge gives us delight is
el/e where explained, — Not every kind of knowledge gives the great-
e/l delight. — The knowledge of particular obje&s of Senfe does not,

An account given how thefe particular Ideas are abftradted and

generalized. — Such Ideas cf ohje&s of Senfe do not give the
frreatejl Pleafure. — // is the Ideas of Intelligence, of Superior hit eh
ligences, — of the Supreme — and of the frfl principles of things,

Thefe form an Intellectual World in our Minds ; to live in which

is our great efl Happinef. — Of the difference betwixt this Happinefs
and that of the practice of the Ethical Virtues. — Many things re-
quired for the practice of the Ethical Virtues, which the contempla-
tive life does not need. — The contemplative Philofopher may be faid
to live in another World — and in that refpeCl his Happinefs comes
the nearef to the Divine, — Example of fuch a life in Plot in us the
Alexandrian Philofopher. — One advantage which a Man, who
lives with himfelf has, is that he is fuperior to common opinion,

Chap. VI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 113

Man who has learned to make the diftindion, that I have learn-
X~3L ed to make from anllcnt authors, betwixt the feveral kinds of
mind in our fyilem, (which, I am afraid, many of thofe, who call
themfelves philofophers now a days, have not learned,) will be able
to difcover what is the greateft happinefs we are capable of in our
prefent ftate : — A moft important difcovery, without which no man.
can be fo happy as he would otherwife be. It is Pleafure that makes
happinefs, which is produced by certain energies or operations of
body or mind, from which arife certain feelings of the mind, that
are pleafurable. As, therefore, w^e are all deftined by nature to
be happy, and as there can be no happinefs without energies of
one kind or another, it is evident, that an animal, who does not
a£l nor do any thing of any kind, cannot be happy : And,
therefore, all men are by nature difpofed, even cur children, to adt
in fome way or another ; fo that thofe men, who live without do-
ing any thing, are in a mofl: unnatural ftate, and confequently moil
unhappy. TTie feat of all pleafure, therefore, is the mind ; and as
we have only two minds in us, t'lat have that feeling, or emotion,
which we call pleajure., the intelle6lu .1 and the animal minds, the
queftion is. Which of the two kinds of pleafure, perceived by thefe
two minds, is the greateft, and makes the chief happinefs of man ?
Now, as our intelledual mind is the nobleft part of our nature,
and that which governs or fhould govern all our little world, it is
evident that the pleafures of it muft be the greateft happinefs of
w^hich our nature is capable : And, as our intelled: is that particle
of divinity which is in us, it is not without reafon that Ariilotle calls
the pleafure, which arifes from it, divine.

The pleafure of this kind muft confift in thinking ; and the fub-

jcO: of thinking is ideas, not fenfations, (that is perceptions of fenfe.

Vol. IV. P produced

114 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

produced by the operation of external objeds upon our organs of
fenfe, of which Mr Locke has made a clals of ideas), but ideas truly
fo called, that is thofe perceptions of the intelled, which prefent to
the mind the nature of the things that it confiders. Now, to per-
ceive the nature of things, is to know ; and to know^ is truly the
pleafure and the happinefs of mari^ properly fo called : For as he is
a creature of intelligence, and is in that way diftinguiflied from all
the other animals on this earth, and as tlie only pleafure of intelli-
o-ence is knowledge, it follows, by neceifary confequence, that in
knowledge confifts his only happinefs as a man; and, accordingly,
Ariftotle has very well obferved, that, to Uve without knowledge, is
not to live the life of a man, but of a different animal. How know-
ledge comes to give pleafure, I have elfewhere explained*; and have
fhown that it proceeds from the Beauty which we perceive in it.
Now, the perception of Beauty is the delight, and the only delight,
of the intclledlual mind.

But, though all knowledge gives pleafure to the intelled, it is not
■every kind of knowledge that gives the higheft pleafure. So far from
that, there are objeds of knowledge, which give us very great pain.
As our fenfes are our firft inlets to knowledge in our prefent ftate of
exiftence, it is of objects of fenfe that we form our firft ideas j and
which are therefore very properly called particular ideas, being the
nature of thofe particular objedls, which the mind perceives, and by
which it diftinguiihes any particular objedl from other objeds of
fenfe, by perceiving what it has peculiar, and thereby dlftinguifhing
it from other objeils which may have many things in common with
this objed, but have not that which is peculiar to it. The particu-
lar idea of this obje6l thus formed, being abftradted from the mat-
ter, makes what is called an ahJiraEl idea. The next and laft ftep
-of our intelled, in forming ideas, is to apply this abJlraEl idea to

other

* Vol. 1. p. 104.

Chap. VI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. ny

other objed:s which Iiave the fame dlftinguifhing peculiarities ; and
then it becomes what is called a general idea.

But the ideas of objects of fenfe, however much they may be ge-
neralized, cannot give man that greatell happinefs ol nis nature,
about which we are now inquiring ; but it muiL be genercd ideas,
not of body only but of mind, and of fuperior minds, and ot the
fupreme mind, as far as we are capable to conceive that mind.
From that mind, we muft underftand, that all other minds are de-
rived, and the whole lyilem of this univerfe, ot the general princi-
ples of wt>ich we mufl iorm ideas. If, in this way, we can form
what may be called our IntelkBual worlds the man dwelling in fuch
a world will enjoy the greateft happinefs that human nature is capa-
ble of in this ftate of its exiftence. And it is in this refped: only
that our happinefs can be compared with the divine, though infinite-
ly inferior to it in degree, as muft be evident to any man who will
ftudy that fine account, which Ariftotle has given us, of the happi-
nefs of the divine nature *.

As this is the nobleft ufe we can make of the higheft faculty we
have in our nature, it muft be, of neceflity, the greateft happinefs
that our nature is capable of; and it is fuperior even to that which
the pradlice of the virtues, called by Ariftotle the Ethical Virtues^ can
give us. They are called by Ariftotle Ethical T/V/z/^jf, becaufe they
are formed by cujlom and habit, more than by reafon or the exercife
of the intelledual faculty. They are well known to be four in num-
ber, Prudence^ yujlice^ lemperancCy and Fortitude. At the head of
them Prudence is very properly placed, as it is the exercile of our
intelled: guiding and direding the exercife of the other three vir-
tues ; which, without that diredion, could not properly be called

P 2 virtues.

* Metaph. Lib. 14. Cap. 7.

t Magn. Moralia, Lib. i. Cap. 6,

ii6 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

virtues. But as the fubjed of this exercife, of the intelledual facul-
ty, is the things of this world, which are tranfitory and contingent,
not things eternal and of neceflary exiftence, it is not fuch an oper-
ation of our intelligence, as can give that greateft happinefs in this
life, of which I am fpeaking. For as it is the contemplation of the
greateft beauty, that muft give the greateft pleafure to our intelli-
gence, it muft be the contemplation of the things of God and Na-
ture, not of the tranfitory things of this world.

The pradice of the ethical virtues give no doubt very great plea-
fure. But for the pradice of them many things are neceflary, v\hich
the contemplative life does not require. In the firft place, there
fliould be a well conftituted polity: For, in a diforderly ftate, the ex-
ercife of private, any more than of public, virtues, cannot be fuch
as it ought to be ; and we muft have money and friends in order
to enable us to be generous and beneficent. In fhort, the pradice
of thefe virtues muft be, as Ariftotle has told us, in a life which he
calls perfedl *. Whereas the philofopher, fuch as I am defcribing,
■ lives within himfelf, and if he has only fortune enough to fupply
the neceffaries of life, he ftands in need of nothing external to make
him happy. And it is in this way that his happinefs deferves the
name which Ariftotle gives it, of divine ; for the happinefs of the
Deity is entirely, as Ariftotle has told us, within himfelf; and even
the Epicureans faid of the divine nature, that it was

Ipfa fuis pollens opibus, nihil indiga noftri.

Such a philofopher, therefore, may be faid to live in the other world,
even while in this life ; and it was fuch a life that the Alexandrian
philoibphers led, particularly Plotinus, of whom I have- fpoken elfe-

where +•

There

* He fays it fliould be irg«§(« «{6ths «w ^it^ rtMia.
■f Vol. 4. of this work, p. 393.

Chap.VL ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 117

There is one advantage, among many others, which a man, who
lives w4th himfelf, enjoys; and that is independency upon common
opinion, which makes the happinefs or mifery of moil men; for, be-
ing a philofopher, and confequently knowing himfelf better than he
can be known by any other man, he can fay to himfelf, what Ho-
race fays to a learned friend,

Neque alils de te, plus quam tibi, credere par eft.

What I have faid in this chapter upon the fubje£t of happinefs,
and particularly that happinefs which is more than human, having
fomething divine in it, I have taken, like many other things, from
Ariftotle, particularly from the firft fix chapters of his firft book De
Morihus; and from the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and loth, chapters of his
loth and laft book of the fame treatife ; — from the 4th, 5th, 6th,
7th, and 8th, chapters of the firft book of the Magfia Moralia ; and,
laftly, from the 7th chapter of his 14th book of Metaphyfics, —
Thofe chapters contain the fineft perhaps of all Ariftotle's writings,
both for beauty of fentiments and of di(^ion.

CHAP.

ii8 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

CHAP. VII.

Beauty is a perfecl'ion of our Intelleci not our Se fifes, — Of the difference
betwixt our IntelieSf and our Senfes ; — tbe IntelleEl perceiving only
things as they are conne&ed together^ the Senfes only fingle things.
"—I'his exemplified in our perception of a man^ ivhom we cannot be
faid properly to fee. — What Beauty is. — // is both in one objeEl^ and
in fever al objeEls confidered together, - - Beauty in one object^ exempli"
fed by the cafe of a fingle Animal^ but which conffs offo many dif-
fere?2t parts. — Beauty conffls in order and arrangement ; — the con-
trary of which is Dejormity. — Of this we cannot have an Idea,
without having at the fame time an Idea of Beauty. — The percep-
tion of Beauty is immediate^ as foon as isje perceive order and ar^
rangement in objcEis ; and therefore the perception of it is called a
Senfe. — That Beauty is a perception of the Intelledl^ proved by the
example of the Brutes who have not that Senfe. — Of the univerfali-
ty of the Senfe of the Beautiful among Men. — There is a right and
a wrong Senfe of the Beautiful. — The wrong Senfe leads to the
greatefl Crimes and Ibices — but the right Senfe to Virtue and to
every Good A6llon. — // is the foundation of the principle of Honour^
which is a governing principle among Men. — // makes them def-
pife lije^ and chcarfully fubmit to the mof cruel deaths. — Inflances of
this among the Hindoos^ — where Men roafl themf elves; — and where
Women burn thcmfelvcs with the dead bodies of their Hufbands. —
The reafons for thefe facrifices. — Of the penances of the Jougues. —
They arift from a principle of Honour^ and from Religion. — Their
Women cannot be refrained fnm burning themlelves. — This pro-
ceeds from a principle of Honour^ not from their grief for the death

Chap. VII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 119

of their Htifiands. — Memorable faying of a dying Hindoo^ who re-
fufed to drink tvine^ which would have cured him,— The Stnfe of
the Beautiful dif ingulf jes Man from Brute. — It is the foundation
of Love and Friendfip among Men, and not only of Virtue but of
Religion. — Without the knowledge of the Beautiful, It Is Impojpble
that we can be truly Religious: — Nor, without that knowledge, can
we have any Love for Science or the Fine Arts. — There is a Senfc
of Beauty even In our Crimes, but a mlftaken one. — // Is fo unlver-
faU that it dlre£fs Men In the pradlce of the mof trifling things,
fuch as Drefs. — This proved In the example of Julius Ccefar.
— // Is to be obferved in a certain degree, even in fome Brute Ani-
mals, fuch as the Horfe. — The Author s apology for faying fo much
upon the fubjedl of the Beautiful In this Volume, wheji he had f aid
fo much of it In a preceding. — // Is afubjeSf treated of by no Modern
Phllofopher, except Mr Payley; whereas the Antlent Phllofophy is
full of it, — -particularly that of the Stoics,

THave faid fo mucli of Beauty in the coiirfe of this work, that,
... in order to explain the nature of it, I will here add a whole
chapter upon the fubje<St, though I have faid a good deal of it in the
fecond volume of this work *. But, as it is a fenfe fo common
among men, I think it is proper to fay fomething more to explain
more fully the nature of it.

That Beauty is perceived by our intelled, not by our fenfes, muft
be evident to every man who knows {o much of the nature of man,
as to know that he has an intellectual, as well as an animal and ve-
getable, mind; and that thefe three minds, together with his body,
make that wonderful compofition wc call man. He muft know al-
fo what Mr Locke did not knov/j that fenfations and ideas are quite
different, the one belonging to our animal nature, the other to our

intelledluai.
* Book 2. Chap. 5. 6. and 7.

120 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS, Book IIL

intelledual. The organs by which our anunal nature perceives the
external objects, and has what we call fenfations, are our fenfes.
By thefe we perceive only fmgle things, each fenfe its own particu-
lar obje£l; whereas the intelled: perceives nothing but in connedion
with fome other thing. For though it be commonly faid that we
fie a j?ia?2f yet the fnO: is, that w^e only perceive, by our fenfe of
fight, an animal of a certain figure and fize ; but it is the intelkd:
v/hich, by perceiving the union of the fcveral members of his com-
pofition, and comparing them with thofe of other animals, pronoun-
ces that he is a man, wuth refpedl to his outward fonn ; and if he
difcovers, or fuppofes, that he has the ufe or capacity of intellect,
then he has the compleat idea of a man. For every idea, as I have
obferved feveral times in the courfe of this work, isa fyftem, greater
or Icfs, by which feveral things are connected together, fo as to
make only one thing, which we call an idea ; and, as it is only the
intellect which perceives things in that way, it is only the intclled
which forms ideas.

But though we do not perceive Beauty by our fenfes, yet there
are two fenfes whereby we perceive beautiful objeds ; I mean the
fenfes of feeing and hearing. But though by thefe we perceive vir
fible and audible objeds in w^hich there is Beauty, yet it is not by
thefe fenfes that we perceive the beauty of fuch objeds, but by our
intcllcd.

Thefe general principles being laid down, let us now confider
what the idea of Beauty is,— and it is, I fay, a perception, which the
intclled, and the intelled only, has of a certain union and con-
gruity of feveral things, which makes them in fome fenfe ouc, or in
otlier words a fjjl'^m. And this we perceive, not oaly in different
objeds, but in the fame objed if it confift of parts. A fmgle ani-
mal for example, which, confifting of many different parts, materi-
al

Chap. VII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 121

al and immaterial, fome principal and fome fubfervient, but all unit-
ed together fo as to form that fyftem (and a wonderful fyftenl it is)
which we call an animal, is an obje(5l of this kind.

It is very well obferved by Ariftotle in his Poetics"*", that we can-
not admire Beauty in an animal that is either very fmall or very
large : For if it be very fmall, we cannot perceive the different
parts of it ; and if very great, we cannot comprehend it in our
mind. Such, he fays, would be an animal of 10,000 ftadia : And
he lays it down as a general propofition upon this fubjed:, which"
ought to be attended to, that, in every animal, and eveiy thing which
confifls of parts, thefe parts mufl not only be properly ordered and
arranged, but they mufl have a certain fize or greatnefs ; for, fayt>
he, beauty confifls in greatnefs and in order. His words are, To yoLo
zaT^ov sv {^sye^ii fcoci Ta^u scti. And I will add, that the greater the
things are in fize or in number, the greater the beauty is, if it be
sva-vvQTnovy as he calls it, that is can be readily comprehended in our
minds. From what Ariftotle fays here, it is evident that he con-
ceived Beauty as I do, not to confift in the perception of a fmgle
thing, but of feveral things conneded together ; which connexion
we mufl perceive, otherwife we cannot have any idea of Beauty*

This is Ariftotle's idea of Beauty, which I have adopted. But I
cannot help obferving it as a thing extraordinary, that Ariftotle
fhould only have given us a definition of the to ko(,Xoi> in his Poetics,
and not in his philofophical work upon Morals, confifting of three
parts, the Nicomacheia^ the Magna Moralia^ and the Eudcmia', in
each of which he has mentioned the 10 v-^y^ov almoft in every
page: For he mentions it in the account he gives of every virtue.
As to Plato, he has written a whole Dialogue upon the fubjcd, en-
titled Hippias Major) in which he refutes feveral opinions concern-
ing the -tq kolXqv^ but gives no opinion of his own ; and concludes

Vol. IV. Q^ the

* Cap. 16.

122 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book m.

the Dialogue with the common Greek proverbial faying, yjtkiTra ici
v:^.Xa. And, indeed, from what he has faid of it, one fhould think
that the defmition of it was not only difficult but impoffible. This
Dialogue, therefore, concludes, like another Dialogue of Plato's upon
a moll important fubjed, what fcitncc is; where he only difputes and
refutes, but determines nothing.

In this manner the moft of the Dialogues of Plato conclude;
Whereas Ariftotle, though he propofes doubts upon every fubjed
that he treats, (which doubts, I think, illuftrate the fubjed: very
much, and lead to the decifion of it; and, therefore, he calls it xot-
Xoji a'xo^ri<r=^i ;) and, though he recites the opinions of the philofo-
phers that had gone before him on the fubjed, when they are dif-
ferent from his own, always decides the matter one way or ano-
ther. In this v/ay he has determined that moft important quef-
tion above mentioned, what fcience /j, in his great work upon Lo-
gic. It is therefore true what the fchool-men fay of thofe two phi-
lofophers, difputat Plato^ docet Arijloteks. It is the more furprifmg
that Plato has not informed us what Beauty is, as he has fpent fo
much time upon the fubjed, more, I think, than upon any other
that he has treated of in his Dialogues ; and particularly in the Con*
viviiim^ the longeft dialogue, I believe, that he has written, where-
of the fubjed is the praife of Beauty, of which he has given us an
eulogium from the mouth of feveral fpeakers, and of Socrates a-
mong others, who fays, " That to know perfedly what Beauty is,
" or the cLVTo TO KiXovy is the greateft wifdom, and the grcateft hap-
" pinefs of men*." Yet he has no where told us what the Beauti-
ful is ; nor indeed has he fo much as attempted to define it.

In the manner I have mentioned, we form the idea of Beau-
ty in any coUedion of objeds, or in the fame objed confifting of
parts, in which we perceive any order or arrangement. But if, on

the
* See the Convivium, p. 1199, Ficinif towards the end of the dialogue.

Chap. VII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 123

the contrary, we perceive, in different objeds, or in the parts of the
fame objedt, nothing but incongruity or diforder, we have the idea
of Deformity ; and, as there is the fame knowledge of contraries, fo
that we cannot know any thing, without knowing at the fame time
its contrary, we muft have the idea of Beauty, at the fame time that
we perceive deformity in any thing.

As foon as our intelledtual mind perceives, in any objed or num-
ber of objects, a congruity or uniformity, or, in fliort, any thing
like a fyftem, it has immediately the idea of the Beautiful^ as readi-
ly as our animal mind has the perceptions of fenfe, by the operations
of external objeds upon our organs of fenfe; and, therefore, I think,
2i feiife of Beauty is not an improper expreflion, if we do not under-
lland by it that Beauty is perceived by our fenfes, and is not the ob-
ject of intelled.

And here we may obferve, that Providence has given us two
fenfes, both neceffary for acquiring knowledge ; firft^ That corpore-
al fenfe, by which, through the miniflry of our bodily organs, we
perceive corporeal objeds ; with which all our knowledge, in this
flate of our exiilence, muft begin. But thefe we perceive as they
are in themfelves, without relation to any thing elfe, and, though they
confift of parts, without confidering the relation that thefe parts have to
one another. Secondly^ That intelledual fenfe, by which we not only
perceive things as they exift by themfelves, but as they are conneded
with other things, and if the fame thing have parts, we confider the
relation of thofe parts to one another. It is by this lenfe that
we perceive Beauty in different objeds that have a relation to one
another, or in the parts of the fame objed united together, fo as to
make one of the whole. And this fenfe not only perceives Beauty
in corporeal objeds, but in charaders and fentiments, and the works
from thefe proceeding : And the pleafure, which this fenfe ^ives, is

0^2 what

134 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

what makes the happinefs bellowed upon us by virtue, and by the
ftudy of arts and fciences.

Thus, I think, I have proved a priori^ and from the nature of the
thing, that Beauty is a perception of our intelledtual mind, not of
our animal or lenfitive. And if there were any doubt in theory, it is
proved by fa£l and obfervation : For the brutes, who have not the
intelleflual mind, have no idea of the Beautiful or Deformed, nor
has a man, who is fo little removed from the mere animal ftate, that
he has little or no ufe of intelled:. This is the cafe of Caraibs who
inhabit the Antilles Iflands, pofTefTed by the French. Of them we
have a v^rj particular account from Father Tertre, in his hiftory of
thofe iflands *, where he fhows, that living without fociety or go-
vernment, and each family by itfelf, in the Cyclopian manner, they
have not the leaft fenfe of the Pidchrum and Honejium^ but eat,
drink, and do every thing in the mofl brutifh manner. And, as they
are the nearefl: to the animal flate, they are the filthieft, and the mofl
nafty of the human kind, that w^e have yet heard of.

As this fenfe of the Beautiful, the ro -aoXov of the Greeks, and the
pulchrum and hotieftum of the Latins, is fo eflJential to intelled, that
we cannot conceive intellect without it, it follows of necefliiry con-
fequence, that, as man is an intelledual creature, this fenfe mull be
common among men ; fo common, that there is hardly any adlion
proceeding from intelledl, that is from deliberation and choice, which
is not influenced more or lefs by this fenfe. Even our mofl: fenfual
appetites, fuch as thofe of eating and drinking, if they are not ex-
cited by this fenfe, are adorned by it; and, on that account, more de-
fired than they would otherwife be. But as there is a right fenfe
of the Beautiful, fo there is a wrong fenfe, which often leads men
into the greatefl: errors, and into pra<i^ices the mofl; mifchievous;

and

* Tom. 2. p. 388.

Chap. VII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 125

and from fuch a motive the moft villainous adions are often per-
formed. But a right fenfe of the Beautiful is the foundation of vir-
tue, and of every good adion ; For, I have learned from antient philo-
fophy, and particularly from Ariftotle, that every virtuous adion is
performed, ^ivzKcc row x.a'kov^ and fo far as it is virtuous, can proceed
from no other motive; and, as I have faid, he has defined virtue to bcT
^o^(jt.ri 'Tf^oq -TO xaXov f/^srcx, Aoyov] that is, a certain 'inJii7iEi^ as it may be
called, beloiighig to the intellectual nature^ which prompts it to purfue
ivhat is Beautiful^ but which ^ at the fame time^ is governed by reafon^ as
every thing muft be, proceeding from intelled*. And here, 1 think,
it may not be improper to obferve the goodnefs of God in giving us
that natural propenfity to the Beautiful^ that is, to virtue;- which, as I
have obferved, is fo univerfal among men, that it may be reckoned ef-
fential to human nature f . The fenfe of the Beautiful is likewife the
fource of that governing principle among men, and particularly in
the political fyftem, the happinefs of which muft depend upon that
principle being well direded. The principle I mean is Honour^ that
is the love of praife ; for no man defircs or expedls to be praifed
except for fomething that is beautiful in his fentiments or adliors
or which he thinks to be fuch. This principle makes men defpife

life,

* The paiTage in Anftotle is to be found in the Magna Moralia, lib. i. cap. 3 c. p.
171. EJ. Du Val. where he fpcalcs of u natur;il^ or what may be called an inflincftive
*«*it6}) wpo,- TO KccXavy but which does not make virtue properly fo called, even though the
a<Stion fliould be in itfclf a good aQion, and Karcc toi/ 0^^601 xoyov : But the acflion to be
truly virtuous, muft proceed from a ^cpun T^a; to KxXiv uira ^lo'/ov, according to his de-
f.nition of virtue ; that is to fay, the author of fuch an action muft perform it, f^nx,
i.cyov, that is, I'j'itb rcafon, accompanying his fenfe of the Beautiful. Nor is it fufllcient
that the atflion is really in hleU according to reafon, that is, r.ccTx /oyov : But the reafon
muft accompany the adion ; that is, the actor muft perceive the reafon for doing the
thing. And what I have juft now laid, of the fenfe of the ro kkX^v often mifguiding
us, and prompting us to do things that are very improper, fliows us how juft the
oblVrvation of Ariftotle is, that this *«j«tii, or natural impulfe towards the Beautiful,
lliould be accompanied with reafon.

t See what I have faid upon this fubjea in Preface to vol. 3. of JMetapbyfics, alfo in
Tol. 2. Book 2. Chap. 5. 6. & 7.

126 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

life, and fubmit chearfuUy to death, even the mofl tormenting and
excruciating. The Hindoos are commonly fuppofed to be a foft
effeminate people, yet the Devotees among them put themfelves
to death in the moft cruel manner that can be imagined. — See upon
this fubjed: the 5th volume of Indian Antiquities, where we have
an enumeration of all the various tortures by which they defpatch
themfelves *. One way of their putting themfelves to death
the author of that work has omitted in this enumeration; but he has
mentioned it in a following pagef. And he has given us an example
of it in a man, who roafled himfelf in the middle of four fires,
which he himfelf fed with combuftible matter that he threw upon
them. Thefe torments they fuffer, in order to expiate the original fm
of their forefathers ; for the fall of man is a dodrine maintained by
Hindoos as well as by Chriftians J. And they are perfuaded that, by
fcvere fufferhigs^ and a long /cries of probationary difcipUne^ the foul
may be refored to its original purity §. And they have facrifices
which they make for that purpofe, which they c^Wed facr if ces of re-
generation II . But the facrifices of all others, which they appear to
efteem the moft effedual for that purpofe, are the facrifices of
themfelves, by which they think they are to be immediately ad-
mitted to the joys of Heaven. But, though no doubt it be from a
principle of religion, that they undergo thefe penances, yet the love
of praife and the defire of honour is one motive likewife. And
there is particularly one fet of thofe Devotees, which they call Jogees,
who are very oftentatious in the penances to which they condemn
themfelves ; for they feek the crowded market-place, and delight to
fcourge and lacerate themfelves in the fight of innumerable fpeda-
tors^f. Thofe of them who live in the mountains challenge thofe of
the plain to endure the fame torments they endure ; and, when they
have not refolution to do fo, they triumph over thera^'*". Now, this

cannot

* Page 838. & 839. t p. ic68. & JC69. % p. 9^^.

§ p. 9:7. il Ibid.

f Indian Antiquities, p. 107. & 108. ** Ibid. p. \o66, & 1061.

Chap. VII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 127

cannot proceed from religicn, but from a motive of honour and pride:
And, therefore, 1 think our author has very properly charaderifed them-
to be men of great pr'ide^ felf-love, and a belief that they are faints ;
and having a fovereign contempts for all zvho are not in their efate^
and efeeming them as profane '% But, if there were any doubt, that
it is the principle of honour, as w^ell as of religion, which incites
thefe Devotees to inllidl upon themfelves fuch torments, the example
of the widows among the Hindoos makes the matter clear : For
they not only fuiTer themfelves to be burnt on the funeral pile w^ith
their hufbands, but infift upon it as a privilege belonging to them •
from the ufe of which they cannot be reftrained by any entreaties
of their relations or friends. Of this, three memorable examples
are recorded by Mr Crawford in his Sketches of the Hiftory of the Hin-
dGOs\, Now, the facrifice of themfelves, by fo cruel a death as that
of being burnt alive, can only proceed from a principle of honour
which makes them afhamed to furvive their hufbands, and not to
teftify their affedion to them by being burnt alive v/ith them, in a
country where fuch a practice is common: And, accordingly, the
author, who gives us the laft of the three examples I mentioned
fays, that it was not love that they bore to their hufbands, which
was their motive, but an opinion that it w^as a virtuous adion, high-
ly praife-worthy, and not to be avoided by a woman of honour J.

Mr Crawford, in this work, vv'hich I think a valuable hiftorical
coUedion, mentions fome other adions of the Indians which
fhow that they prefer honour to life, and willijigly give up life
when they think it is honourable to do fo^. And, in one of thefe
examples, there is a memorable faying recorded of a Hindoo, (wor-
thy of any antient philofopher,) to whom an European Dodor pre-
fcribed a doze of bark and flrong wine: ' But the Hindoo poiitively

' refufed

* Ibid. p. 1073. I Vol. 2. Sketch 12.

X Vol. 2. p. 28, $ Ibid. p. 67. and following.

128 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

* refufed to take it, notwithftanding many arguments that were ufed
' both by the Dodor and the Governor, who accompanied him,
' and who had a confiderable influence over the Hindoo. They

* promiied that it fhould remain aa inviolable fecret; but he replied,
' with great calmnefs, " That he could not conceal it from himfelf ;"

* and, a few days after, fell a vidim to his perfeverance''".' And here
WG may obferve, that, in this refped as well as in many other, the
fenfe of the Beautiful and Becoming does diftinguiih man eflentially
from the brute ; for the brute, fo far from voluntarily refigning his
life, defends it in every w^ay poffiblc.

Beauty is the foundation, too, of love and frlendflilp among men;
of companion, beneficence, and generofity; and in fhort, as I have
faid, of every virtue; and I will add of reUgion ; for there can be
no religion without the love of God. Now, there can be no love of
God, any more than of man, without a fenfe of Beauty in the ob-
jed of our 4ove. Our Scripture, therefore, very properly recommends
to us the ftudy of " what is honeft, (it fliould be of ivhat is Beauti-
" ful^ what is pralfe-worthy, and of good report f". And I would
have every Chriftian confider, whether he can love God or his
neighbour as he ought to do, not knowing what Beauty, the objed
of love, is; or, whether he can have fo much as an idea of the Beau-
ty of HoUuefs^ if he has not a proper perception and feeling of Beau-
ty ; or, laftly, whether he can have any conception of the joys of
heaven, which we are promifed, when we live as we ought to do
here on earth, if we know not what the Beautiful is, and that it is
the only enjoyment of the iatelledual mind.

Further, it is the love of knowledge, and the Beauty of fclence,
as well as the ufe it may be of in life, that makes us cultivate it;
and without Tafte, that is a fenfe of the Beautiful in Arts, no fme

art

*= Ibid. p. 72. t ''^ee Vol. /j. cf Origin of Lang. p. 368, 3^9. & 370.

Chap. VII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 129

art ever could have been invented, or have given any pleafure after
it was invented, neither can there be art or fcience without fxft^m.
Now, I have ihown "^-j that it is f^f^tm which makes beauty ; and
even our ideas, which are the foundation of our knowledge of every
thing, are all, as I have obferved in more than one place, fo many
fyflems. Even the idea of a particular objedl of fenfe is a fyftem.
That objeO: the fenfe perceives altogether, and as it were in a lump,
and without difcriminating its parts: Whereas the intelledt makes
that difcrimination, and perceives that fome part or parts of it are
principal, and diftind: from other parts of it, which are common to
other objeds; and of that part or parts the idea of this particu-
lar objedt of fenfe is formed. The intelled proceeds, and difcovers
that, what thus diftinguifhes this particular objed, is to be found in
other objeds of fenfe 3 and thus it forms a general idea of all the
objeds, which have this diftinguifhing quality. And thus is form-
ed a greater fyftem, which is called a fpecies; then a greater ftill
called a genus ; then we proceed to a greater fyftem ftill, that is a
higher genus ; and fo we go on till we come to the higheft of all
genufes, that is the categories. Thefe form the greateft, and, at the
fame time, the moft beautiful of all fyftems, I mean xht f)Jlcm of the
univerfe^ of which I (hall fay a great deal in the next volume of this
work ; and I hope I Ihall ftiow, that it is not only the greateft, but
one of the moft orderly and regular that can be conceived : So that
it anfwers perfedly to Ariftotle's definition of Beauty, which he
makes to confift in order, or regularity, and greatnefsf. But at pre-
fent it is fufficient to obferve, that the fenfe of the Beautiful is necef-
farily conneded with all arts and fciences, and with fyfiems of every
kind, even with the fyftem of the univerfe and with its rreat au-
thor; the contemplation of which fyftem makes the beatific vificn
and is the higheft felicity that human nature can attain ; and as v\e
Vol. IV. R

* Anticnt INIetaphyfics, vol. 2. p. 107.
f Page 121. of this vol.

130 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

are by nature intended to enjoy, fooner or latter, this happinefs, we
may obferve the goodnefs of providence in making this fenfe fo com-
n.on, I may Tay univeri'al, among men, beginning as foon as we
have any uib of intelled, and going on ftill to improve as we ad-
vance in knowledge.

Tims it appears that there is nothing good or pfaife-worthy in
our nature, of which this fenfe, if properly direded, is not the fource.
At '^he fame time it is to be obferved, that as this fenfe proceeds
from our intellect, and as our intelled, in this (late of our exiftence,
is very imperfed, it mu!l: often happen, as I have obferved, that
this fenle is wrong directed; and then it is productive of the greateft
mifchief: For it is the fource of pride, envy, anger, and revenge;
which, though they often produce the greateft crimes, are accom-
p.mied wnth a fenfe of the Beautiful, though a very wrong fenfe.
For the perfons, who commit thofe crimes, think that they do what
is honourable and prai fe- worth y : So that this fenfe is predominant
in our crimes as well as in our virtues; and murders, and other crimes,
are often committed from a fenfe of injured honour. Now, as I
have fhown*, there cannot be a fenfe of honour without a fenfe of the
'hulchrwn and honejiiim ; and it is the fame with refpedt to our vices.
Even fuch men as the Emperors Yitellius and Heiiogabalus, when,
they indulged themfelves in the greateft exceffes of gluttony and
lewdnefs, thought, no doubt, that they were living in a manner be-
coming the dignity of a Roman Emperor.

And not oi-Jy is this fenfe univerfal among men., as belonging to
intellect, which diftinguifhes man from brute, but it is of moft com-
mon ufe. Even when we laugh, one of the moft common things
among us, we fhow a fenfe oi the Beautiful ; for if we had not that
fenfe, we could not have the fenfe of the contrary, the Ridiculous or

Dcformedy

* Page 125.

Chap. VII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 151

. Deformed^ which is the obje£t of laughter ; for of contraries, as I
have faid, there is the fame knowledge*.

So univerfc illy is this fenfe of the Beautiful diffufed, that we ob-
ferve it in perfons employed in the meaneft works, fuch as a fca-
venger, a fhoe-black, or a maid that cleans a room and is at pains
to fet in order the carpet, chairs, and tables, or whatever other
furniture may be in the room ; for all thefe lludy to do their
bufinefs with a certain neatnefs, order, and regularity: And what is
that but Beauty? And we ourfelves, with refpedt to our perfons and
our drefs, are offended with every thing that is out of order, though
it give us no pain, nor produce any inconvenience. Thus, if our
hair or wig is ill drefTed, it offends us ; and fo does a fpot upon our
coat, or our coat if it be only wrong buttoned. Of fuch irregularity
in Horace's drefs, Maecenas, he tells us, took notice, and laughed;
which is the proper expreffion of the ridiculous ;

Si curatus injequali tonfore capillos
Occurro, rides: fi forte fubucula pexae
Trita fubeft tunicae, vel fi toga diffidet impar;
Rides. . Lib. LEpI/l. I.

Julius Ccefar, who, I think, was the greatcft man the Romans ever
had, was attentive to what was graceful and becoming even in his
drefs : For Suetonius tells us, that he was circa corporis curam
morojiory ut non folum tonderetur diligenter^ ac raderetur^ fed vel-
hretiir etiam f . And this attention to what is decent and becoming
in his drefs, he preferved to the laft moment of his life ; for, when
he was falling with twenty-three wounds, which he had received in
the Senate, he drew down his gown to his legs, quo honejlius caderet
etiam inferlore corporis parte velata J.

R 2 I

* Ariftotle has very well defined the yiXo;**, or ridiculous, to be the uiryj,,, or df^
formed, uuv $Xctfi-Ai ; for, if it be accompanied with hurt to any pirfon, it is not ridi-
culous, but mijchievous.

t Cap. 4. f Ibid. Cap. 82.

i2,i ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

I have, in the courfe of this work, obferved, that the love of mo-
ney is a very general and prevailing paflion in all civil focieties
where the ufe of it is known. With this paflion the tafte for Beau-
ty is very much connedled. For, in the firft place, men defire mo-
ney for the purpofe of gratifying their vanity, and acquiring things
which pleafe their tafte, and which they think fine ; fueh as fine
clothes, equipages, magnificent houfes, fine gardens and parks, or, if
their tafte be more refined, perhaps fine pictures and ftatues. In thofe
cafes it is the fenfe of the pulchrum that is gratified, not the love of
money. But, 2dly, fuppofe money is defired for its own fake, ftill
there is joined with it the notion that money is a fine thing, and
what gives rank and figuVe in the world: And this make the rich man
purle-proud, as it is commonly faid ; or, even if people fhould de-
fpife him, for being fo fond of money, he would fay, as the man of
Athens mentioned by Horace ;

Populus me fibilat ; at mihi plaudo

Ipfe domi, Cmul ac nummos contemplor in area. Lib. i. Sat 2,

Now, he could not have applauded himfelf, if he had not thought
that there was fomething praife- worthy in the pofleflion of money *►.

In Ihort, it w411 be found, upon accurate examination, that this
fenfe of the Beautiful, the Graceful, and Becoming, is the moft pre-
dominant

* See alfo what Horace fays, in Book 2. Sat. 3. of Staberus,

« Credo

Hoc Staberi prudentem animum vidiffe — Quid ergo,
Senfit, cum fummam patrimoni infculpere faxo
Hxredes voluit? Quoad vixit, credidit ingens
Pauperiem vitium, et cavit nihil acriusj ut, fi
Forte minus locuples uno quadrante pehflet,
Ipfe videretur fibi nequior.

Cliap. VII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. ^133.

dominant principle in our nature, conneded more or lefs with every
adion proceeding from our will, or the determination of our intel-
led, and mixed even with our fenfual enjoyments ; for we require
that there fhould be finery, or at lead a certain propriety and decor-
um, attending our eating and drinking, fleeping or repofmg. A man,
who keeps a great table, does not do it fo much from fenfuality and
a love of eating, as from a notion that it is beautiful and fine.

And not only is this fenfe of the Beautiful fo univerfal, and fd
predominant in our fpecies, but it is to be oblerved, at leaft to a cer-
tain degree, in fome of the brutes, particularly in the horfe, the nobleft
animal that we have in this country, next to man : He has certain-
ly fomething of that fenfe in him, which Virgil has obferved, whea-
he fays, fpeaking of a young horfe that is begun to be trained,

Turn magis atque magis blandis gaudere magiftri

Laudibus, et plaufx fonitum cervicis amare. Georg. 3. v. 186.

Now, the love of praife is neceflariiy conneded with the fenfe of the-
Beautiful ; and I myfelf have feen my horfes in a field, by way
bf fport, running races with one another, with great emulation and
contention who fhould be firft ; and I am told, that the horfes in
Rome, that run races without any rider, run as keenly as ours do
with a rider, whipped too and fpurred; and they kick and juftle one
another in order to get foremoft ; and the horfe who gains the race
ftands very ftately at the goal, while the reft fneak awav.

By this I would not have it underftood, that I think a horfe has
the idea of the Beautiful ; for he has no idea of any thing. But,
as things in this univerfe are wonderfully conneded together, and
run into one another like fliades of difierent colours ; — fo the horfe,
being the nobleft animal on this earth, at leaft in this country, next
to man, partakes fo far of the nature of man, that he defires, as man

doe.-^.

134 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

does, to excel in the gifts which nature has bellowed upon him, par-
ticularly in running, and has pleafure in fo excelling.

Thus, I think, I have proved, that an author who denies that man
has this fenfe, degrades, in fome refpect, his fpecies below the horfe;
jior can I account for any man maintaining fuch an opinion, other-
wife than by fuppofmg that he is confcious that he has no fuch fenfe,
and therefore very naturally fuppofes that others likewife have it
not.

The reader may think, that, having faid fo much of the Beauti-
ful in other parts of my writings, particularly in the fecond volume
of this work, (Book fecond), where I have given a philofophical de-
finition of it*, which is more than £iny author, antient or modern,
has done or attempted to do, except Ariftotle, (and he has done it, as
I have obferved, not in his philofophical works, but in his Poetics f ),
it was unnecelTary that I fhould have enlarged fo much upon it
here. But, as it is eflential to intelled, which cannot be conceived
without it, and whofe only enjoyment is the contemplation of the
Beautiful, and as it is more univerfal among men than any other
pafTion or affedion, producing not only whatever is great or good
among them, but almoft every action proceeding from deliberation
and choice, and fuch as can be called the adion of an intelledual
creature, I thought, that, as the very exiftence of it was denied, I could
hardly fay too much upon the fubjed, more efpecially as it has not
been treated of by any modern philofopher, as far as I know, except
by Mr Payley, who denies the exiftence of it, in his book upon

Morals;
* Vol. 2. of tills work, p. 107.

■\ It appears by the Life of Ariftotle, written by Diogenes Laertius, that he wrote a
book upon the fubje^t, a-s^i K«A«f; in which, no doubt, a very accurate and philofophical
definition of it would be given. But tJiis book, as well as many oihcr books of Arif-
totle, is unfortunately loft.

Chap. VII. ANTIENT M ETx\PH YS I CS. ij^'

Morals * ; whereas, in the writhigs of the antient philofophers, it is'
mentioned almoft in every page, being, in their opinion, the foun-
dation of virtue, of aris and fciences, and of every thing that digni-
fies and adorns human nature. Nor fhould it be reckoned a para-
dox, (what the Stoics maintained, and made a fundamental principle
of their philofophy), that the ro kxXov^ or the Beautiful, was not only
the fummum boiium^ or chief good, but the only good ; for it truly
is, as I have elfewhere obferved, that v«?hich only gives pleafure to
our intelled. Now, it is by our intellect, and only by our intelle«f^,
that we are men ; and, therefore, other things that are called good,
are truly only nfefiil in \o far as they tend to give us an opportunitv
of enjoying the only good. Of this kind are health, wealth, friends,
and every thing elfe that affords us the ^^ccf^ v.oirr,^ iv /Biuj tzXziu:^
which, according to Ariftotle, makes a perfedly happy life. Nor do
I know any thing in which the antient philofophy differs more wide
ly from the modern ; and, therefore, as my defign is to revive, at
leafl to attempt to revive, the antient philofophy, I thought I could
hardly enlarge too much upon it. And I will fay one thing fur-
ther on the fubjed:. that this fenfe is predominant not only in pri-
vate life, but in public affairs and government. It was the fenfe of
the Beautiful and the Honourable, the laudiim immenfa cupido\^ as
Virgil expreffes it, that produced thofe great adlions which we ad-
mire fo much in the Heroes of Antient Rome : And, in the admi-
niftration of civil affairs, it is that which makes men fuperior to
wealth or any motive of intereft ; in fhort, it is the fource of every
virtue public or private, neither of which can be without the fenfe
of the Beautiful.

But a wrong fenfe of this kind leads, as I have obferved, to very
great errors ; nor can a right fenfe of it be formed by vulgar men.
To know what is truly Beautiful and Honourable, is a fruit of the

Tree

■* See what I have faid upon Mr Paylcy's book, in vol. 6. of Origin ofXannuage, p. 21 u
I ^ncid. 6. V. 823.

I3(S ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, of which they cannot eat;
but which is referved for men of genius, who apply to the ftudy of
learning and philofophy. From them, however, the vulgar may
learn to know it; and it is by example chiefly and imitation, that
they muft learn. It, therefore, ought to be the chief care of the
le<^iflature, in every country, to fill the great offices of ftate with
men eminent and diftinguiflied from the reft of the people, both by
nature and education, and particularly by a proper fenfe of what is
beautiful, graceful, and becoming, in fentiments and adions. Thefe
the inferior people will be naturally led to imitate; and thus Virtue,
and a true fenfe of the Beautiful in the condud of life, will become
the fenfe of the people, and be what we call they^/o;?, which is fo
prevalent, not only in drefs and other trifling things, but in the great
concerns of life ; for men, that cannot be governed by reafon and
philofophy, muft be governed by fafhion ; and, accordingly, w^e
may obferve, that it governs men more than any law divine or hu-
man.

After all I have faid upon the Beautiful, more perhaps than the
reader may think necefl^ary, I will, before I conclude this chapter,
add fomething more upon the fubjed, tending to fhow the difference
betwixt the Good and the Beautiful ; about which we have a great
deal in the Dialogues of Plato, particularly in the Protagoras^ but all
diiputation and nothing determined; which, as I have faid, is the
manner of Plato, very different, as the fchoolmea obferved, from
the manner of Ariftotle. And even what Ariftotle has faid at confi-
derable length upon the fubjed, in his firft book of the Magna Mo-
ralia"^^ does not fatisfy me ; for, as he w\is a great enemy to the
Ideas of Plato, he would not allow that there is any general idea of
Good, at leaft not any that will apply to morals. He, therefore,
maintained that we have no idea of good in general, but only oi par-
ticular

* Chap. r. and 2. -

-Chap. VII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. - ^^,';

ttcular good, that is, good applicable to particular fubjeds. But, I
think, it would be a great imperfe(ftion, not only of our language,
tbut of our thoughts, if we had no general idea of good, which would
apply to any fubjed: that was truly good, nor had any word to ex-
prefs that idea.

The difference betM'^ixt the Beantiful and the Good, may be, I
think, taken from Ariftotle's divifion of Caufes, into the material, the
efficient, the formal, and the final ; for, it is by defining and divid-
ing, ^at Arii^otle has formed his fyftem of philofophy, and made
it fo much moie Inftrudive, and confequently better than that of
Plato. The Beautiful, I think, belongs to the formal caufe of every
thing; for it is by the union of parts, and by their connexion with
one another, that every thing is formed and is more or lefs beautiful.
But the Good belongs to the final caufe, being that for the fake of
.which every thing is formed, both by God and Nature, and by man.
Now, this Good is nothing elfe but that which makes the thing pro-
per to anfwer the end for which it is intended, whether that end be
utility or pleafure. And as, in the works of God, every thing is
conneded with every thing, the. thing wnich is thus made proper
for the ufe for which it is intended, is alfo made ufeful for other
purpofes: And in this fenfe it is good in itfelf, and may be faid to be
univer I ally goody and part of the univerfe, the greacefl and moil
beautiful of all fyftems. And in this v/ay. the Beautiful is diilinguifh-
ed.both from the Good and from the Ufeful*,

The Greeks joined together both the Good and the Beautiful in
one word, and called it xaAOx-vya^:^ ; upon which w^e have a chap-
ter in Ariftotle, viz. the 9th chapter of the 2d book of the ALvrna

Vol. V. S Moralia,

+ See what I have further faid of the Good and Ulcfiil, In vol. 2. of this work, p.
no. where I have Ihown, that the good h the principal idea, the ufeftd denoting cnl-/
what is iubfervient to the good.

138 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

Moralia^ where he defines the Beautiful and the Good to be, what
has^ jrj'tned with the Beautiful, every thing that can make it ufeful ;
for, fays he, a man is xaAoj-^aya^j?, when he has the ufe of thofc
good things, which can enable him to be ufeful, and to ad that part
in life which a man of a Beautiful character would choofe to adt.
Such good things, he fays, are wealth and power: By which it
would appear, that Ariftotle, by (tytx,6oi in the compofition of this
word, did not mean goodnefs of nature or difpofition, which he fup-
pofed to be included in xaXoj, but thofe external good things I have
mentioned.

It may feem extraordinary, that a fyftem fhould be complete in
all its parts, and have every thing in it connected with every thing,
fo as to be perfedly Beautiful, according to my definition of Beauty,
and yet not be good. But every fyftem is intended, as I have faid,
to anfwer fome end. Now, though it be in itfelf very well fitted for
that purpofe, yet fome thing befide itfelf may be nectflary to make
it anfwer that purpofe : And if fo, the fyftem, though perfect ia
itfelf, i§ not good, as fomething is wanting to make it anfwer the
end for which it was intended. This may be illuftrated by many
examples, both from the works of nature and thofe of man. Sap-
pofe a body of a man, or of any other animal, perfetlly well formed,
yet if there is not a mind to animate that body, it is not Good, (though
it may be faid to be Beautiful^) becaufe it cannot perform the end
for which it was intended by God and Nature. And as to the works
of man, fuppofe any machine formed by him, as perfect as can be
imagined in all its parts, and confequently Beautiful, yet if there be
no power to fet it in motion, fo as to make it anfwer the end for
which it was intended, it is not good or ufeful,

CHAP.

Chap. VIII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. i^f

CHAP. VIIL

After Virtue^ Morals In general to he confidered. — Upon them depends
the Happinejs of C'lvd Society, — ^he Greeks confidtred Morals and
Politics as fo clofely connc6led^ that they beflowed upon both the term
PoUtica!, as both applied to Political Society. — Pythagoras^ the
frft ikjho inquired concerning Virtue^ — he explained it by numbers,
— Socrates^ more fucce/sful tn his inquiries after Virtue ^ — He held
all Virtue to be Science. — His Syftetn al/o defe£tive. — He made it a
Theoretical iSr/V;7r<? ; whereas it is a Pra£iical Art, — Plato made
great improvements upon his Majler Socrates ; — but erred by mix-^
ing Metaphyfics with Morals; — Other defeats in Plato s DoBrine of
Morals. — AriflotWs excellence in this branch of Philofophy, — I'hree
works of bis upon this JubjeB, — Our Faculties, Difpojitionsy and
Habits, there explained,— He divides our Mind into two parts the
Rational and the Irrational. — The Irrational comprehends both the
Animal and Vegetable Minds, — Subdivifton of the Rational into the
Scientific and Logiftic. — Of T^oa/^;£<r;;, a Deliberation — op^'^iq or
Defire — ana 7r^aJ<; or Practice — Arifiotle's definition of Virtue,
founded on our perception of the Beautiful. — The particular Virtues
defined aiid explained by him mojl accurately. — Virtue , a middle
betwixt two extremes of Excefs and DefeB^ — all Virtues, accord^
ing to him, truly Habits, — and therefore called Ethical. — A fourth

work upon Morals by Arifiotle, De Virtutibus et Vitiis. This a

Summary of the three other works, — Praife of his works upon
Morals. — Many nice dlJlifiSiions therein made, — Obfervations- up-^
sn Arifiotle's Dodlrine of Morals,

^2 AS

I40 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

AS I hive fald fo much of Vinue In the preceding chapter, and
explained the definition ^iv?n of it by x\ri'lotle, I think it will
not be improper, in this chapter, to i\y foniething of Morals in ge-
neral, being a fubje^Il of the grcatcH: importance : For, upon good
morals the happinefs, not only of private men, but of all civil focie-
ties, depends; and the two fciences of Ethics, or Morals, and Politics,
were imderftood by the Greeks to be fo much connected, that they
were both called ToX<r;x;j, the name being taken from the greater
fubjeit to which they both applied, namely, Political Society. It
will, therefore, be proper to treat of them in this volume, the chief
fubjedl of which is the ftate of man in civil fociety.

Pythagoras, as we are informed by Ariftotle *, was the firft who
began to inquire concerning Virtue ; for before him it appears, that
the philofophers only ftudied" naturar things. He, explaining vir-
tue, as he did every thing elfe, by Numbers, faid, that virtue was a
number ta-aKi? ta-on What he meant by this I do not know; nor
am I folhcitous to difcover, becaufe I am well convinced of the truth
of what Arillotle fays upon this occafion, that virtue does not be-
long to the fcience of numbers. After him Socrates inquired more
concerning virtue and to better purpofe; but neither did he come to
the truth, though, as he faid himfelf, he fpent his whole life inquiring
what juftice, temperance, and the other virtues were: For he faid, that
all virtue was fcience; placing it by that means wholely in the intellec-
tual part of the mind, and negleding the virtues of the irrational, that
is, the animal part;— in fhort, excluding from his fyftem manners and
paffions, the natural ^off^v '^M '^o «^Xov, which, as we have faid, is the
very foundation of virtue, and of every thing that is formed by cuftom

and

■^ Mag. Moral. Lib. i. Cap. i. & Cap. 35.

Cliap. VIII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 141

and exercife; and leaving only what of.vlrtue can be got by teaching
and inftrudion. Another confequence of this opinion is, that if virtue
be fcience, a man who has the fcience or knowledge of v/hat Jaf-
tice, for example, is, or Temperance, muft of confequence be juft or
temperate; in the fame manner as a man who underftands mathema-
tics or metaphyfics, is a mathematician or metaphyfician. But this
is certainly not true ; and the error lies in making a theoretical kS-
ence of what is truly a practical art, as much as painting, mufic,
and the like: And it would be as abfurd to fay, that a man can be
virtuous by fcience merely, as that he can be a painter. Next came
Plato, who improved much upon his Mailer's dodrine of' morals
dividing the foul, very properly, into three parts, and affigning to
each of them its proper virtues. But he erred in mixing, with tne
dodrine of morals, metaphyfical fpeculations about the general idea
of Good, which, fays Ariftotle, was not proper, becaufe not belong-
ing to his fubjed. And this is the only fault he finds with the Ethics
of his mafter ; and in this refped only he feems to f^ive the prefer-
ence to his own. But, upon inquiry, it will be found that there are
many more defeds in Plato's fyftem, and many more excellencies
in that of his fcholar. For, in xhtfirjl place, Plato explains the vir-
tues, as he does almoft every thing elfe, by a fimiUtude: And his
whole dodrine of luhics is a comparifon betwixt a well conftituted
commcnwealth and a virtuous mind ; confounding thereby the two
fciences of morals and politics, which, though they be branches of
the fame fcience, known by the name, as it has been obferved " of
pontics, taken in its larger acceptation, yet, for the fake of method
and perfpicuity, ought be treated of feparately ; becaufe, although
they have many things in common, and though the one be in a
great meafure the foundation of the other, yet they have alfo many
things different, ido. What Plato fays of one of the prime virtues,
namely, Juftice, is much too general and very imperfed; for he
feems only to treat of that virtue, called Juflice, in a general kw^^,

com-

142 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

comprehending all the focial virtues ; (for that is what I under-
ftand, when he fpeaks of juflice as belonging to all the three
parts of the mind, and as keeping each of them within its proper
province ;) but, of the particular virtue, which we have called Juf-
tice concerning the diftribution and exchange of money, honours,
and other good things, he has not faid a word. Now, that there is
fuch a virtue, feparate and diftind from the other focial virtues, ap-
pears net only from the nature of the thing, but from the common
language of men ; for, if a man debauches his neighbour's wife, the
offence is faid to be of that fpecies of iniquity called Incontinence :
If he runs away and deferts his friends in battle, it is called Cowar-
dice; If he beats or gives a blow, the wrong done to his neighbour,
is faid to proceed from Paffion or intemperance of anger; and if he
cheats him of his money, it is called Injuftice: But, on the contrary,.
if he deal honeftly by him as to money, and the other things
I have mentioned, the virtue or habit of mind, from which this
proceeds, is named Juftice. So that it is plain there is a parti-
cular Juftice, and Injuftice, other than thofe that are general *.
But, lajlly^ not only hath Plato not explained fufficiently this vir-
tue of Juftice, but he hath not fo much as named many virtues
accurately defined and explained by Ariftotle ; which, though they
may be referred to one or other of the cardinal virtues, yet very
well deferve a particular explanation : Neither hath Plato diftin-
guifhed, from the virtues, feveral qualities of the mind, which have
a great afiinity to the virtues, and are generally confounded with
them, fuch as Continence and Modefty. Now, thefe, as we (hall
lliow, Ariftotle has accurately explained, and diftinguifhed from the
virtues which they refemble*

Ariftotle, if he has excelled in any branch of philofophy, as I
think he has excelled in all, has certainly excelled in none more
than in Morals; upon which fubjed we have no lefs than three worka

* NiGom> Lib. 5. Cap. 4,

CHap. VIII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 143

of his. In thefe he has explained moft accurately all the feveral- fa-
culties, difpofitions, and habits, of the human mind, by which our
life is conducted. Firjl^ he has divided our mind into two parts, the
one which has reafon; and the other which has not; — To zxXov zyov^
xai TO aKoyov *. By that part of our mind which has not reafon, we
are to underftand both our animal and our vegetable life: But be-
twixt which there is a diftindion, which I have elfew^here made, that
the animal mind, though it has not reafon in itfelf, is governed by
the reafon of our intellectual mind; whereas the vegetable mind
has neither reafon in itfelf, nor liftcns to reafon. As Ariftotle's
whole philofophy proceeds by divifion as well as definition, he
has, in this cafe, divided the intelledlual or rational part of our
mind into two ;-^a divifion, I believe, that is made by no other
philofopher. One of thefe parts of our rational mind contem-
plates things of neceffary exiftence; the other part things contin-
gent, or which may be or not be. As thefe things are different
in their nature, it is fit, he fays, that different parts of the rational
mind fhould be afTigned to the confideration of them. That part
which confiders things of neceffary exiflence, fuch as the theorems
of fcience, he calls the ro 'tTriirTijf^ovtKov ; or the fcientific mind^ as we
may tranflate it. The other he calls the ro hoyia-rty.ov, or the rd /BovKiu-'
Ti%ov ; which confiders contingent things, that may either be or not
be ; fuch as the events of human life f. Upon thefe events the /o-
giflical part of the human mind deliberates ; for, as Ariflotle fays,
we can deliberate upon nothing, which it is certain will happen or
not happen. The refult of this deliberation is 5r^oa/^g<r;j, by w^hich
the mind determines for certain reafons, to do one thing in prefer-
ence to another ; as the etymology of the word imports. From this
TT^oa^'o-ij arifes o^e|/ff, or defire\ and then follows T^af/j or praBice,
And this is a mofl philofophical and mofl fatisfadory account of all

moral
* Eudemia, Lib. i. Cap. r.

t Ibid.

144 AN TIEN T METAPHYSICS. Bx)ok lU.

moral actions, fiich as I believe is given by no other pliiloropher *.
As to Viitue, he has given a moft excellent definition of it in
general, foimded upon that natural perception which every intelli-
gent animal has of-the Beautiful "f : And, as to the particular virtues,
he has fpoken of them in all his three works upon morals; and has
defined and explained them more accurately than is to be found
in any other work, or in all the other works upon the fubjed of
morals put together. For he has not only explained to us what
the virtues are, but what the oppofite vices are; and he has fhown us
that all the virtues are a middle betwixt two extremes, the one of
excefs, the other of defect : And he has diRinguifhed moft properly
betwixt \.\\t prciclice of the virtues, and the habit or 'gf;?, from which
\X\2iX. pralfice proceeds; and he has fhown us that all virtues are truly
habits^ formed by cuftom and practice, and therefore very properly
called by him ethical virtues. And even Prudence, which one fhould
think confifted wholely in fpeculation, he confiders likewife as form-
ed by cuftom and habit; and, indeed, without practice and experi-
ence no man can have, in any degree of perfed:ion, the virtue of
Prudence, any more than of Temperance or Fortitude.

He has a fourth treatife upon morals, entitled De Virtutibtis ct Vitiis^
which I confider as an excellent fummary and abridgment of the
three other treatifes ; for he has there fliortly defined all the feveral
virtues and vices, and defcribed what is proper and peculiar to each
of them. In fiiort, Ariftotle's works upon Morals are as complete
as any work can be; and they may be confidered not only as a philo-
fophical work, but as a dictionary of all the words belonging to mo-
rals, charaders, fentiments, and pafifions. And he makes diftlndions
in that matter, which are no where elfe to be found. Thus, he diftin-
guifties betwixt (To<po(; and (p^oviu^o^y the firft applying to a man learned
not only in the philofophy of life and manners, but in the higher

parts
* See Cap. 2. Lib. t. of the Eudemia,
-I- See p. 125. of this vol.

Chap. VIIL ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 145

parts of philofophy, which treat of God and Nature : Whereas
(p^ovi^oi only denotes a man who excels in the virtue of prudence,
or (p^ovr/G-tg, as it is called in Greek, of which the fubjed: is the acci-
dents or contingents only of human life. But this virtue of Prudence
is very juftly fet at the head of the four cardinal virtues: For it go-
verns and diredts them all, and fets bounds to their excefles, or fhows
wherein they are deficient ; in fo much, that Ariftotle fays, that the
other three virtues are to be confidered as modifications or particu-
lar applications of prudence to the acSlions of men. He diftinguifh-
es alfo betwixt a-.p^av and eyx^arrjg : The firfl is a man who has no
inclination to vicious pleafures, and whofe mind, therefore, in that
refped:, is entirely trooi, or correal ; whereas g'^;^^ r;?s is a man who
has vicious inclinations, but is able to reftrain them. He diftin-
guifhes aiib, with refped: to vices, betwixt the ajtoXao-TGC and the
Qiic^arng; The firft is a man who is led by principle to purfue vicious
pleafures, thinking them his greateft happinefs; the other is a man
who has the principle of virtue in him, but it is overcome by the
temptations to vice.

In his four treatifes upon Morals, he has not only defined and
defcribed moft accurately the different virtues and vices, but he has
enlarged upon every thing that can make life happy, and particular-
ly upon friendfhip. Upon this lubjedt, he has beftowed no lefs than
two entire books in his Nicomache'ia^ the 8th and 9th. The firft of
16 chapters ; the fecond of i 2. He has fpoken alfo of it in the firft
book of the Magna Moralia^ cap. 32. and in the feven laft chapters
of the fecond book, the firft of them a very long one, are all upon
the fubjcd: of friendlhip; and, in his Eudem'ta^ he has beftowed al-
moft the whole laft book upon it, all except the two laft chapters.

I will only add fome obfcrvations more upou Ariftotlc's dodrine

of Morals. He fuppofes all the virtues to be *«|f/c, or hahitSy formed

Vol. V. T by

146 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

by pradlice or cuftom. And hence it is, that he calls the virtues *ap£rai
i6.Kui^ or iCrj, deriving the name, as he fays, with a very fmall va-
riation, from the word 'e^os, fignifying cujiom*. One of thefe vir-
tues, which he calls (p^ovt^crtg, or <To(piu,^ belongs to the intelle<flual
part of the mind, and is acquired and much improved by teaching :
Yet, he fays, it requires time and experience to make it complete f ;
and, therefore, according to him, it is likewife a *£|/j, and can-
fequently muft, by pradice, be formed into a habit if. Nor is it
without reafon that" Ariftotle fays, that all the virtues, which are em-
ployed in the conduct of life, and are therefore called pra&ical vir-
tues^ are formed by practice and cuftom into habit: For every man,
who knows any thing of human nature, muft know how prevalent
.habit is in it, w^hich is called, not improperly, a fecond nature ; and
it is often more prevalent than the firft. It is fo prevalent, that we
.do nothing in life perfedly, nor with eafe and pleafure, (with which
virtue ought to be prad:ifed, as it is in it that our happinefs confifts,)
.unlefs we have, by continued practice, formed the habit of it §; fo
that Virtue is very properly defined by Habit, and called ethical. See
alfo the 4th chapter of the Nicomacheia^ where he fliows that all the
afFedtions of the human mind are three ^ ToL&r,, ^yj-a^ccs^g, 'g^g^s; that is,
pajjioiis or feelings of the human mind ^faculties or powers of ailing ^ and,
laftly, habits. Now, fays he, virtue is neither pajfion nor power ;
therefore it is habit. And, in the preceding chapter, he proves, that
virtue is not knowledge of what virtue is; but that there muft be prac-
tice, and a habit in that way formed. For it is with virtue, he fays,
as it is with health. If we only knew how health is to be preferved
or recovered, but do not pradice thefe things, v/c may be very good
T)hyficians, but we (hall not enjoy health: In the fame manner we
may philofophife very well concerning morals; but if we do not

pradice

* Arlftot. K:ccmach. Lib. 2. Cap. i. in the beginning.
-|- Ibid. X Ibid. Lib. I. in fine,

4 Kicomach. Lib. 2. Cap. 2. p. 19.

Cliap. VIII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. i^f

practice virtue, we are not virtuous. But, he adds, that even the
mere pradice of virtue will not make us virtuous; but we muft know
that what we pradice is virtue, and we muft pradice it for that rea-
foh.

And here I conclude what, in my opinion, is proper to be faid upon
the fubjecl of morals, in a work of this kind: And, I hope, the reader
will not think that I have enlarged too much in praife of Ariftotle's
fyftem of Morals, which, in my judgment, is the moft inftrudivc
work in the philofophy of human life, and. in the pradice of thofe
things which only can make us happy in our prefent ftate, that ever
was written. And, as it explains all the paffions, affedions, habits,
diipofitions, and, in fhort, every quality belonging to the human
mind, it may be faid to teach a man more to~obey that precept of the
Delphic God, io know thyfelf^ the foundation of all wifdom and
virtue, than any other book upon morals, and, I think, I. may add
than all the other books upon morals put together.

'^2 GHAPi

145 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

CHAP. IX.

Cotitimtalion of the Eulogiim of Ariftotle, — Many Philofophers before
Jjlffi — Jjut he frf gave a firm to Philofophy^ and reduced it to five
heads, Logic, Morals, Politics, Phyfcs, and Metaphyfics. — Logic
prepares the Human Intellecl for cultivafuig the others, and is
therefore called an Organic Art. — It analyfes the fuhje5ls upon
ivhich intelleSi operates. — l^his analyfis compared with that of the
matter of Language i?ito Elemental Sounds, the form of Language
into parts of fpeech, and Mific into the gamut; — and f Down to
be more wonderful than all thefe. — Invention begins with the com-
, pound, and reduces it by fyllogifm into propofitions,'—and thefe into
fimple terms, — Here analyfis ends and Teaching begins, — Arijlo-
tk''s Loo-ic commences with fimplc terms. — Thefe he reduces to ten
claffes, called Categories. — From them he proceeds to propofitions,
which comSined, produce Syllogfnu — Of the modes and fgures of
fyllogifm. — All Syllogifm reduced to this truth, that the whole is
greater than any of its parts, and contains them all. — The great uti-
lity of Arifotles Logic. — Without fudying it, no Man can give a
rcafonfor his btlicf in any denmijiration. — Infance of this. — Likely
that Pontius Pilate had read Ariftotle' s Logic, from the queftion he
put to our Saviour, What is TmlW.— Ariftotle got the principles of
tJj'is Jyfcm of Logic from the books of the Pythagoreans, — and the
Pythagoreans had it from Egypt. —It went alfo to India from
Egypt. — Before Arifotle, the Philofophers of Greece did not know
what Science was.— They tfcd the Dialectic Art, explained by
Ariftotle in his Toipks.— His fyjlem of Diakaic a great effort of

Ge?iius,

Chap. IX. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 149

Genius. — Diffej'ence betwixt it and the Demonjirative Syllogifm,
""-His Morals fpokcn of in the loft chapter, — Arijlotlc s Politics,
a practical Science^ — -formed from the fludy of the Governments of
many States; — a injonderjul knowledge here dlfplayed. — His Phy-
fics contain a divifiony unknown to Modern Philofophers^ betwixt
the Hiflory and Philofphy of Nature. — Praife of his Hi/lory of
Animals, — ThefubjeSi of his Natural Philofophy^ Body animated.
— -In every Body an itnmaterial principle^ or idea of the thing, — INle-
taphyfics treats of the frji principles of things. — It f applies the de^
fe&s of ijTperior Sciences, — This exemplified in Geometry and Arith-
metic, — Arifotle has faid little of Iheology^ the highefl part of Me^
taphyfics^ and the fummit of Human Knowledge. — He was never^
thelejs a genui?ie Theifl, — His Philofophy deficient in this branch com-
pared with Plato'' s. — But Plato was inflrudied in Egypt both in
Divinity and the DoElrine of Ideas ^ and alfo in the antecedent and
future States of Man : — By thefe States thcfyflem of Man reconciled
with the Wifdom and Goodnefs of God, — Praife of Arifotle* s Poetics
. ««^ Rhetoric — particularly of the Poetics. — 'The number of his writ'
ings, in but a floor t life of 61, years ^ and part of it fpcnt in educat-
ing the Conqueror of the World ^ amazing, — His induflry and ap"
plicatiofi as wonderful as his Genius and Learning,

1 Concluded the laft chapter with an eulogium upon Ariftotle's
Philofophy of Morals ; and although I have faid a good deal
in praife of him, in feveral parts of this work, yet I think my-
felf fo much obliged to him for the inftrudtion that I have got
from his writings, more than from the writings of all the other phi-
lofophers put together, that I will add fomething more to his praife
in this chapter.

Before his time there were many writings in Greece upon diffe-
rent fubjeds of philofophy; and his mailer Plato has left us a great

deal

ijo ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

deal of nhat kind. But Ariftotle was the firft man in Greece that
gave a form to philofophy, and made a fyftem of it ; of which he
treated under iive heads, Logic, Morals, Polity, Phyfics, and Me-
taphyfics, which comprehend every fubjed: of philofophy; and up-
on each of thefe we have writin^gs of his flill preferved, among very
many that have been loft.

He begins his philofophy very properly with logic, which, by the
antients, is called an organic art, and not improperly, as it prepares
the organ by which all arts, fciences, and philofophy, are cultivated;
I mean the intelied ; the operations of which he has defcribed very
accurately, and diredled them. To this work he has given the title
o^ Analytics ; and it is an analyfis of all the fubjeds upon which the
human intelled: operates, and the moft wonderful analyfis that ever
was made. The analyfis of the material part of language, I mean
the pronunciation of it, into its elemental founds, was a great dif-
covery; and fuch a difcovery as has not been made by the many
barbarous nations, w'ho have" the ufe of language, and fpeak very
well, not only in private converfation, upon the common bufintfles
of life, but in public affemblies upon the affairs of ftate. The ana-
Ivfis of language, confidered as fignificant, into what is called the
parts of fpeech, was alfo a great difcovery, and was made only by
nations far advanced in civility and arts. And what 1 think a greater
difcovery than either of thefe, the analyfis of mufic into its elemen-
tal notes, and in that way forming a gamut or fcale of mufic, was
invented only in the parent country of all arts and fciences, Egypt.
But the greateft difcovery, and moft wonderful analyfis that ever
was made, is the analyfis of all the fubjeds of human thought that
are to be feen in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or, in
fhort, that are to be found in the world of nature, or in that world
of art which man may be faid to have created. And not only are
the cbjeds themfelves analyfed and diftinguifhed from one another,

Oiap. IX. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 151

in this great analytical work of Ariftotle, but our various opera-
tions upon them, by comparing them, and putting them together, or
feparating them, are like wife anaiyfed and divided into different
clalfcs.

The order of invention in all arts is to begin with the com.pound,
and to analyfe it into its firft principles, or elements, of which it is
compofed. The compound, in this cafe, is that operation of the
human intelled:, which we call reafoning, or putting together propo-
rtions in fuch a way, as from thi;m to infer certain conclufions; or,
in other words, to ioxm/yllogifms. Now, fyllogiims confifl of propo-
fitions; thefe again of ideas, or fimple term.s, as Arillotle calls them^
and there the analyfis ends; as in fpeech, the analyfis is into fenten-
ces, words, and letters, or elemental founds, with which the ana-
lyfis of fpeech ends. Now, where, in the difcovery of any art, the
analyfis ends, there teaching begins ; and, accordingly, in the art of
fpeech, the teaching begins with letters or the elemental founds of
fpeech, when confidered only as vocal, or with what is called the parts
•of fpeech, when confidered as fignificant. And, in like manner,
Ariftotle's fyftem of logic begins, where the analyfis ends; that is with
fimple terms ^ of which he has treated in his book of Categories. To
enumerate all the particular terms ^ that is the ideas formed by the hu-
man mind, of which reafoning is compofed, would be a thing im-
praQicable, at leaft by creatures of finite capacities fuch as we are;
And it was, as I have elfewhere fhown, a wonderful difcovery,
and perhaps the greateft effort that ever was made by the human in-
telligence, to reduce them to claffcs, and to number them, making
them amount to ten, which are called by Ariftotle Categories, In this
manner we have the analyfis of propofitions, which are not only ana-
iyfed into their two terms of praedicate and fubjed, but are reduc-
ed to certain claffes, dilHnguiflied by the matter and form of the fyl-
logifms; and thefe clafles are numbered, and made to amount to no
fewer than 3024.

And

iji ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

And thus we arc at lafl: arrived at the compound, with which the
art of logic, as well as of other arts, muft have begun; I mean Rea~
foning^ which is compofed of ideas and proportions, put together
fo as from them to infer certain conclufions, that is, Syllogifed.
Now, it was to be fliown in what manner propofitions were to be
put together fo as to form a fyllogifm ; and this, as it is the finifh-
ing part of logic, is the moft difficult: For it was performed by di-
viding the fyllogifm into figures, and thofe figures into modes, from
wdiich all the various forms and figures in which reafoning appears
are to be deduced. Of all this 1 have faid a good deal in the pre-
face to the third volume of this work* ; where I have fhown the
very great difficulty of the invention of the art, and, at the fame
time, the great beauty of it, viz. that, however intricate and difficult it
may be, it is all reducible to this fimple principle, that the whole id
greater than any of the parts, and contains them allf. And I will
fay nothing more of it here, except to add fomething to what I have
faid of the utility of it, which is fo great, that, without the know-
led"-e of it, we cannot tell what fcience, what certainty, or truth,
is. For p.roof of this, I will give an example of an argument that
1 have mentioned elfewhere J: It is to prove that Man is a Sub-
ilance ; and, put into the fyliogiftical form, it is this:

Every Animal is a Subjlance.
Every Man is an Animal,
Ihcrtfore every Man is a Suhjlance,

There is no man, I believe, who is not convinced of the truth of
the conclufion of this fyllogifm: But, how he is convinced of this,
and for what reafon does he beUeve it to be true, no man can tell,
who has not learned, from the logic of Arifiotle, to know what a
propofition, and what a fyllogifm, is. There he will learn, that every
propofition affirms or denies fome thing of fome other thing. What

" Page xl.-ix. and following. f Ibid. p. li. 1 Ibid. p. liii.

Chap. IX. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. ijj

is affirmed or denied, is called the Praedicate ; and that of which it
is affirmed or denied, is called the SiibjecSt. The praedicate be-
ing a more general idea than the fubjedt of which it is praedicated,
muft contain or include it, if it be an affirmative propofition ; or if
it be a negative propofition, it muft exclude it. This is the nature
of proportions * : And, as to Syllogifm, the ufe of it is to prove
any propofition that is not felf-evident. And this is done by find-
ing out what is called a middle term\ that is a term connedled with
both the praedicate and the fubje6t of the propofition to be proved.
Now, the propofition to be proved here is, that man is a fubjla?icc;
or, in other words, that fuhjlance can be praedicated of man : And
the middle term, by which this connexion is difcovered, is anima/^
of which fubftance is praedicated; and this is the major propofition
of the fyllogifm, by which the major term of the propofition, to be
proved, is praedicated of the middle term. Then animal is praedi-
cated of man ; and this is the minor propofition of the fyllogifm, by
which the middle term is praedicated of the lefler term, or fubjed of
the propofition to be proved. The conclufion, therefore, is, that
as fubftance contains animal, and man is contained in animal, or is
part of animal, \\\qxq^oxq fubftance contains man. And the conclufion
is necefiiarily deduced from the axiom I have mentioned, as the foun-*
dation of the truth of the fyllogifm, " That the whole is greater than
" any of its parts, and contains them all :" So that the truth of the
fyllogifm is as evident as when we fay, that if A contain B, and B
contain C, then A contains C f .

In this manner Ariftotle has demonftratcd the truth of the fyllo-
gifm. But a man, who has not ftudied his logic, can no more tell
why he believes the truth of the fyllogifm above mentioned, con-
cerning i7ian being a fubJla?icCy than a joiner, or any common me-

VoL. V. U chanic,

* Sec a great deal more concerning propofitions, and the inaccuracy of onr language
in exprefling them, in vol. i. of this work, p. ^IS'

t See what I have faid on this fubjeft, in vol. 5. of Origin of Languag^e, p. 358. & 359.

154 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

ch-'.nic, who applies a foot or a yard to the length of two bodies, and
finds that both agree exactly to that meafure, and are neithei* long-
er nor ihorter, can give a reafon why he believes the bodies to be
of equal length, not knowing the axiom of Euclid, " That two things,
" which are equal to a third thing, are equal to one another."

By this difcovery Ariftotle, as I have obferved elfewhere *, has
anfwered the queflion, which Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor,
afked of our Saviour, What truth is f The anfwer to which ap-
pears now to be fo obvious, that I am perfuaded Pilate would not
have aiked it as a queftion, which he no doubt thought very diffi-
cult to be anfwered, if he had not ftudied the logic of Ariftotle, the
defign of which was, as the author tells us, to (how what truth or
certainty was. But whoever has ftudied that work, muft know it
to be of fo difficult folution, (though, from what 1 have faid, it ap-
pears now to be fo eafy and obvious,) that, as I have obferved in the
preface above quoted, it could not have been the invention of Arif-
totle, or of any one man, but he muft have learned it from the Py-
thagorean books which he had ftudied; and it muft have been
brought, by Pythagoras, from Egypt, the parent country of all arts
and fciences; And, as the difcovery went from Egypt to India,
where, at this day, the fyllogiim is both underftood and pradifed t,
we are not to wonder that it fhould have come to Greece. But,
though Ariftotle got the principles and materials from the Pythago-
rean books, he may have compiled and digefted them better than
ever they were in thofe books. One thing appears to be certain,
that, before Ariftotle, the philofophers of Greece had no fyftem of
Logic, whatever the Pythagoreans, in Italy, might have had. The
Greek philofophers, therefore, before his time, and even his mafter
Plato, muft have reafoned as a boy or a vulgar man fpeaks, who
may do that very well, if they have been educated among people that

fpeak

* Vol. 1.' of this work, p. 374.

f Vol. 4. p. 312. and vol. 3. p. lix. of preface.

Cliap. IX. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 15;

fpeak well ; but, not having learned the grammatical art, they can give
no account why fuch a form of fpeech is correct language, and ex-
prefles the thing intended to be exprefled, and another incorrect.
And, as there can be no fcicnce without rcafoning and fyRem, it
appears that the philofophers of Greece, before Ariftotle, did not
know what fcience was, any more than fuch among us as have not
ftudied the logic of Ariftotle.

But, before thi« difcovery was made by Ariftotle, there was ano-
ther art of the reafoning kind very much pradlifed in Greece, but
not formed into a fyftem, nor reduced to what could be called an
art, till that was done by Ariftotle ; The art I mean is D'laleSlic*
Upon this fubje£t, Ariftotle has written eight books, which are en-
titled Tropics ; and it muft appear a wonderful art, in this rcfped:,
that it enables a man to argue upon a fubjed: of which he has no
fcientifical knowledge, but only knows fome qualities or properties of
it. The arguments ufed by this art are not taken from the nature of
the thing, nor from the axioms of any fcience, but from general
belief, or from the conceflions of the perfons with whom we argue.
And as the fubjeds, upon which this art is pradifed, are not only
things belonging to the pradice of life, but to arts and fciences, the
number and variety of arguments upon thefe fubjeds muft have
been very great ; yet, by a wonderful effort of genius and of know-
ledge, Ariftotle has contrived to put them all in order, and to re-
duce them to certain heads, upon each of which he has colleded ar-
guments, which he calls Topics; and fo has reduced to a fyftem
what we ftiould have thought was capable of no fyftem. I will add
no more upon this fubjed, as I have treated of it pretty fully
in the lirft volume of this work *, where I have ftiown, that it is
an art of univerfal ufe, not only in public fpeaking, but in our
private intercourfe with men f ; and I have alfo fiiid a good deal
upon it in volume fixth of Origin of Language J. But this rea-

U 2 foning

* Page 405. and following. f Ibid. p. 408. % Book, i. Chap. 3.

156 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

foning from popular opinions, or from the concefTions of the man
with whom you reafon, muO: be cUftinguiflied from dcmonftration,
of which Ariftotle has treated very fully in his lajl Analytics; where,
after having fhown us in his firjl Analytics what Syllogifm^ in gene-
ral, is, to which all kind of reafoning may be reduced, he iliows us
what the demonftrative fyllogifm is ; and that it is fuch, not only
from the form of the fyllogifm, but from the nature of the fubjed:.

And thus much may fuffice for the Logic and Dialectic of Arifto-
tle. The next branch of philofophy which I have mentioned, as
ftudied by him, is Morals; of thefe I have fpoken at conliderablc
length in the preceding chapter, where 1 have fhown, that he makes
the principle of virtue to be the ro koXov^ or the Pulchrum et Honef-
turn of the Latins. And I will only add here, that, in his Magna
Moralia^^ he fays, that the ^op(J>^ri ^pog to k-.Xov, is more the princi-
ple of virtue than X070?, or reafon ; for, fays he, in the practice of
virtue, the ^coyt^n muft begin and carry on the pradice, while reafon
only direds and approves; it is therefore the leading principle f.

The next branch of philofophy that Ariftotle has given us, is Po-
litics ; a fcience which he has treated in a manner very difterent
from that in which it is treated by Plato, who has made of it a matter
of mere fpeculation, and more a pleafant fidion, I think, than a
thino- of ufe or pradice. But Ariftotle has made altogether a prac-
tical fcience of it; and has formed his fyftem of it from the exam-
ples of different ftates, whofe forms of government, and their fe-
veral changes and revolutions, he appears to have ftudied moft
diligently. And here he fhows a wonderful knowledge of hiftory,

fuch

* Lib. 2. cap. 7. verf. fin.

■f- See what I have faid upon this fubjeft, in the preface to vol. 3. p. xxxiv. where I
have fhown. that the Pythagoreans made the t# x«A«y, or principle of virtue, to be a
kind of pafHon or enthufiafm.

Chap. IX. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 157

fuch as could not have been expeded from a man who had appli-
ed fo much to philofophy, and fuch as proves him, I think, to have
been a man of more univerfal knowledge, than perhaps any man
that ever exifted.

The next w^ork of Ariftotle, I fhall mention, is his Natural Phi-
lofophy; in treating which, he has made a diftindion, that is not
commonly made by our modern philofophers, betwixt the hiftory
and the fcience or philofophy of nature. Under the firft of thefe
heads, we have an. admirable work upon the lubjedt of animals
where there is fuch a coUeiliion of facts, as he could not have made
without the alTiftance that he got from his pupil Alexander the
Great ; and to which the modern difcoveries, great as they arc,
have not been able to add much. Of the philofophy of nature he
has treated in a work altogether diftin(5l, which he has entitled
uK^oao-et; <pv<nxai : So that I hold his natural philofophy to be much more
complete than that of the moderns ; and particularly in this refpe<5t
that the moderns do not appear to know even the fubje(S of natu-
ral philofophy ; which, according to Arillotle, is body animated or
moved by mind*: For mind, he fays, not only moves all anim^il and
vegetable bodies, but alio minerals, and all bodies unor^aniied as
well as organifed ; and, he adds, it is a mind in thefe bodies, which
not only moves them in certain diredions, but forms them, and
makes them what they are. There is, therefore, in every body, ac-
cording to him, an immaterial principle, which, as it produces all the
qualities of the body, and makes it what it is, may be called the
idea of the thing: So that ideas, according to him, fo far from be-
ing inventions and fidions of our minds, as Mr Locke makes them
to be, are entities as real as the bodies which they form and move •
and one of thefe, by which bodies are moved up or down, or are
carried on in any diredion in which they are impelled, and which

* Vol. I. of diis work, p. 231.

HS^ ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

I call the elemental mind *, is fo univerfal in all nature, that Arifto-
tie calls it by the name of nature.

His laft work of philofophy is called Metaphyfics^ as coming af-
ter his Phyfics\ and is very properly made the lafl part of his phi-
lofophy, as it treats of the firft: principles of this univerfe, and con-
fiders the ra ovrct *i ovrct ; that is, confiders things, not as the terms
of proportions or fyllogifms, but by themfelves, and as exifting in
nature, and not as the fubjedt of any particular fcience, though they
be the principles of all fciences, and of all things exifting in the
univerfe.

From this fcience, which may be called the fcience of fciences^
we are to fupply the defeats of inferior fciences, that do not demon-
ftrate, nor fufficiently explain, their principles. Geometry, for ex-
ample, and Arithmetic, are no doubt demonftrative fciences ; of each ,
of which Euclid has given us a fyftem. From him we learn that
the fubjecfl of one of them is lines and figures^ and of the other num-
hers. But he has not told us to what Category thofe fubjecls belong;
fo that from him we do not learn what are the fubjeds of which he
treats. But the Metaphyfics of Ariflotle lets us know that they be-
long to the Category of quantity: For, to one or other of the cate-
gories, all things in this univerfe muft be referred ; and, if that re-
ference is not made, we cannot be faid truly to know the nature of
the thing. But, further, in order to underlland perfedly the nature
of the two fubjeds of which Euclid treats, we muft divide the ge-
neral idea of quantity into quantity continuous and quantity difcete;
the firft of which is the fubjecl of geometry, and the other the fub-
je£t of arithmetic. But this is a divifion which Pluclid has not made;
and, indeed, he could not make it, as he has not told us that quan-
tity is the common fubjed of both the fciences.

That
* Vol. I. of this work, p. 231.

Chap. IX. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. lyg

That the metaphyfics, therefore, of Ariftotle is a moft ufeful work,
containing the principles of all fciences, cannot be denied. But there'
is one part of metaphyfics, and which is the higheft part of it,
being the fumiiiit of philofophy and of all human knowledge,'
of which he has faid very little; 1 mean Theology. This he has
only mentioned in the end of his Metaphyfics, where he has faid
enough to (how us that he was a genuine Theift. But he has given
us no fyftem of theology; fo that, in this refpcc^, his philofophy is
very deficient, and not to be compared to that of Plato *. But Pla-
to had the advantage of having travelled iaro Egypt, where he learn-
ed both the Doarine of the Trinity and his Syftem of Ideas; by which
when jomed together, (and J think they are infeparably conneded, al
I (hall fhow in the next volume of this.work,) he makes a wonder-
ful Cham of beings, proceeding from the JrJ God, as he calls him,
^^Godt,, Father ^ as he is called in the language of the Chriftian
rheology, through all the feveral genufes and fpecieles of things
down to mdividuals f . °''

Befides the doftrlne of the Tnnity, and of Ideas, Plato likewife
brought from Egypt two ,r,oft important dodrines concerninK the
h.ftory and philofophy of man. The firft of thefe maintained ai
antecedent ftate of man, in which he was a more perfeft creature
and happ.er than in his prefent ftate; the fecond maintained a futur»
ftate of rewards and punilhments $. Thefe t^vo dodrines are of fuch
.mportance not only in the hiftory and philofophy of man, but in
rehgion, that if we were to luppofc that man had been always the

fam

• See what I have faid of the Theology of Ariftotlc. and of its dcfefb, ■„ vol , of
Or,g,n of Language, book a. chap. 3. p. 384. and following. ^- °^

t See what I hsve faid of Plato's DnArlr,* «f *i -p • •

nity,

\ Ibid. p. 379.

i6o ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

fame animal that he is now in civil fociety, (that Is the moft mifer-
able animal on this earth, as Homer has told us from the mouth of
Jupiter, and at the fame time the moft imperfect of his kind,) and
had come fuch out of the hands of his Creator, and is always to con-
tinue fuch, without a change of his condition in a future ftate, the
fyftem of man would be altogether irreconcilable with the wifdom
and goodnefs of God *. And as to the dodrine of a future ftate, I
think it is of fuch importance for the happinefs of man in his prefent
ftate, that no man, not even a phllofopher, can be happy in this life,
if he does not believe that he may be much happier in a future ftate
than he can be here.

When we join thefe two dodrines of Plato, concerning the pre-
exiftant and future ftates of man, to his dodrine of the Trinity, we
need not wonder that the Fathers of the Church were fo fond of his
phllofophy, that St Auguftine fays, as I have elfewhere obferv-
ed t, that there Is no great difference betwixt his Theology and the
Chriftian. And, indeed, I can obferve none, except that he did not
know what he could not know, becaufe it had not then happened,
that our Saviour had come to this earth to let men know that this
world was drawing to an end, and that, therefore, they fliould pre-
pare themfeives for the world that was to come, by repenting and
turning from their wicked ways. We need not, therefore, wonder
at what St Auguftine adds in the pafllige I have quoted, that the
o-reater part of the Platonics, of his time, had become Chriftlans ;
as they faw that, paucis verbis et fentent'iis mutatis^ the Chriftian
dodrine and the philolbphy of Plato were the fame. And Celfus,
the phllofopher againft whom Orlgen writes, thought the confor-
mity was fo great, that he believed Jefus Chrift had ftudied the

works of Plato.

And

* See whdt I have faid upon this fubjecl, vol. 4. p. 379. & 380.
t See Vol. 5. of Origin of Lang. p. 345.

Chap. IX. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. i6t

To what I have faid on the comparlibn of the philofophy of Pla-
to with that of Ariflotle, I will add an obfervation upon the man-
ner in which thefe two philofopbers have treated philofophy, andT
tranfmitted it to pofterity. Plato appears to have been fo fond of
his Mafter Socrates's method of inftrucling his hearers by ccnverfa-
tion, that all his writings upon philofophy are in dialogue. Now,
if a man is to be inftructed in philofophy, or in any other fcience,
by a living mafter, I am perfuaded converfation is the bell method ;
for a man, by proper queftions put to him, may be made to
inftru6t himfelf; which is the pleafanteft way of being taught.
Of this we have fome fine examples in the Dialogues of Plato :
And even in writing, a fmgle quellion, or perhaps two or three
in philofophy, may be properly enough handled in the way of
dialogue. But, in a whole fyftem of fcience, (fuch as Plato has
given us upon the fubject of government in his lo books upon Po-
lity, and his 12 books upon La a\% which are all in Dialogues,) I
think Ariftotle's didadtic ftile, proceeding, according to the method
of fcience, by definition and divifion, and the arguments thence
arifmg, is infinitely preferable. And, indeed, if his Logic, con-
tained in his Categories, his book of Interpretation, and his four
books of Analytics, had been given us in the way of Dialogue, it
would, I imagine, have been hardly intelligible, inftead of being, as
it is come down to us, a mod beautiful fyftem of fcience, and as
perfpicuous as it could have been by the nature of the fubjed.

And here I conclude wliat I have to fay upon the fubje£t of
Ariftotle's philofophy ; which, till about the beginning of this
century, was the only philofophy in Europe. Who would de-
fire to know more of it, may read what I have further written in
the Origin of Language; where I have fhown how much, not on-
ly philofophy, but the fine arts, have been obliged to him; parti-

VoL. V, X cularlv

i62 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

cularly by what he has written upon Poetry, the fineft of all the
fine arts *, and upon Rhetoric, the mod ufeful of them, as it is
only by it that a free government, in which men muft be perfuaded
before they a61:, can be carried onf. In his Poetics, as I have obfcrv-
ed J, he has given us the philofophy, not only of that art, but of all
the fine arts; (howing us what they imitate and how they imitate;
and letting us know that it is only imitation, and not verfification,
that makes them arts. And, indeed, it was proper that he fhould let
the reader know this; for, in antient times, all writing in Greece,
upon every fubjed, even upon philofophy, was in verfe, (and ac-
cordingly Ariftotle, in his Poetics, mentions the philofophy of Em-
pedocles as being in verfe,) becaufe they thought, that whatever
was worthy to be committed to writing, and in that way preferved,
fhould have all the ornament that language could beftow upon it ;
and it is recorded, that one Pherecydcs was the firft man who wrote
in profe. Ariftotle, therefore, tells us, that it is not verfe which
makes poetry, but only imitation^ though in profe : And, accord-
ingly, he fpeaks of the ^uk^uti-koi "Koyoi (that is the Dialogues of Pla-
to, where Socrates is the chief fpeaker, and which have always fome
kind of fable, or ftory interwoven with them) as pieces of poetry.

I will conclude this chapter upon Ariftotle with an obfervatlon
that I have made in the 6th volume of the Origin of Language §,
and which ftiows him, more perhaps than any thing I have men-
tioned, to have been a moft extraordinary man. It is this, that he
lived no more than Gt^ years, three of which he fpent in the fchool
cf Socrates, twenty under Plato, and eight in educating the conquer-
or of the world ; yet he found time, as Diogenes Laertius informs
us, to write 400 books, (or (rwyy^aufLocruy as Laertius calls them,) of

which

* Page 54. of Vol. 6. of Origin of Language. f Vol. 4. of this work, p. 182.

t P^g^ 54- of Vol. 6. of Origin of Language. § Ibid. ^^.

Chap. IX. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 165

which only about 130 are preferved to us*. And he found time,
not only to write fo many books, but alfo to eftablifh the beft fchool
of philofophy in Greece, which he taught walking in the Licaeum ;
fo that his induftry and application to ftudy muft have been as ex-
traordinary as his genius and learning.

Xi GHAP,

* See Du Vall's Iiitrodu<5tion to his edition of Ariftotle, p. 7,

z64 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

CHAP. X.

No Modern Philofopher has dijlinguijhed betwixt the operations oj our
IntelleB in forming Ideas and in comparing them together. — The
knowledge of this difiinBion neceffary for knowing what Man is,-^
The defign of Arijiotles Logic being to Jhow what Science and
Iruth are, the f tidy of Logic preparatory to thefiudy of Philofophy,

Mr Lockers Effay on the Human Underfanding, our only book of

Logic in Englifo. — ImperfeBions of that work on the operations of
the Difcurfus Mentis; — Mr Locke fays little of Propofitions, — does
not make the difinSfion betwixt the Predicate and SubjeB, — did not
underjland the meaning of the wor^Syllogifm;— ^^j- told us, in a few
words, what Truth is, which Ariflotle has explained in his Catego-
ries, his Book of Interpretation and his Analytics. — Mr Locke full
on thefubjeB of Ideas. — Thefe to be conftdered in this chapter. — The
nature of them not explained by Arifotle nor by Porphyry in his Intro-
dudion to Arifotle s logic, — This defeSi attempted to be fupplied by
the Author. — Bifin6lion betwixt Particular and General Ideas necef
fary; — the former produce the latter. — Ourfrfi Ideas are of particu^
lar Objects of Senfe : — Thcfe formed by feparating the peculiar qua-
litics of ObjeSls from the accidental: — Example of this operation re-
ferred to. — The nextfep is abftraBing them from the Body in which
they are inherent: — Mr Locke admits Ideas of this kind. — Then
generalifng them: — Ourfrjl General Ideas, of Speciefes ;—from thefe
we afcendto Gcnufes; — and from Genufes to the Categories. — Conju-
fton of Mr Locke on this SuhjtEl. — Propriety of Plato's Definition of
an Idea. — The ClajTts of the highef Genufes numbered by Archytas. —
The number of Speciefes and Genufes infinite with refpe^l to our ca-
pacities.

Chap. X. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 165

pacities, — Wonderful how the hifinlty of things can he arranged
and made the objeSl of our contemplation ; — done by ahf ration and
gencralliTiation.'—Mr Locke ignorant of the nature of Ideas:— He con^
founds them with Seifations : — Gives them to Children in the womb :
— Makes our feelings of Pleafure and Pain Ideas^— -and accounts for
ftnging birds retaining the tunes they have learned^ by their haviTtg
the Ideas of them in their memories. — Mr Locke's error in not dif-
tinguifhing a Senfation from an Idea, — He confounds Action and
Paf/ion^ and the Intellectual nmth the A?iijnal Life: — Ignorant even
of the nature of Senfations ; — did not know that^ with refpe£i to
them^ the Mind is pafTive, and with refpedi to Ideas adlive. — Caufe
of Mr Lockers error ^ his not diflinguifhitig betwixt the materials of
which Ideas are formed^ and Ideas themfelves, — Recapitulation of
the imperfeBions of Mr Locke'' s Effay; — neverthelcfs taught infome
of our Univerfities as a complete fyftem of Logic ^ while AriflotW s
Logic is negledled. — Of our Phantafia', — a faculty of great ufe in
forming Ideas; — different from Memory: — // is the Cufodier of our
^ Set fat ions ;— -Memory the repofitory of Ideas. — Difference betwixt
Man and Brute with refpedi to the Ph an tafia. — Our Ideas of Mind,
'and of its different kinds ^ formed in the fame way that wefor?n
Particular and General Ideas of objects of Scn/e. — This elfewhere
explained. — The manner how Particular Ideas are contained in ge-
neral:— It JJjows the relation betwixt the Praedicate and the SubjeSf
<f Propofttions.^Of the ufe of a good Logic, which fldows us the pro-
grefs of our Ideas from the mofl fimple Ideas of objedls of Senfe to
the mof general Ideas of any, and which are faid to be Things ex-.
Ifting ; as they contain all other things, and are contained in the
Supreme mind. — Thus a good Logic conduds us to Theology.

IN the preceding chapter I have fhown what Arillotle has done to
explain the difcuriiVe faculty of the mind, which the Greeks
call Aijcrsta, and the commentators upon Ariftotle, Nc;j<r/$ />cgTa/3ct-

i66 ■ ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

7Jx,)i ; by which the mind pafles from one idea to another, compares
them together, forms propofitions and fyllogifms, and makes what
is called fc'ience. This diftindlion, betwixt that operation of our
intelled, by which we form our ideas, and the difcurfus mentis^ by
which we compare them together, and reafon upon them, is not
made by any of our modern philofophers: And yet, without it, we
cannot know what man is, according to Ariftotle*s definition of
him ; which is that of an animal capable of intelleEl aud fcience^ in
Greek vqm koli i'Tna-rrjy.rig hxTiKov: Meaning by vovg^ that firft opera-
tion of the intelledl, by which it forms ideas j and by i-TCtarrifjt.riy that
operation of the intelled:, by which it compares its ideas, and forms
what we call fc'ience^ and which the Greeks very properly called
iitiirn^ri^ as the mind then ftands ftill as it were, having finifhed
the operations upon its ideas. To fhow us what is truth or fcience,
is the profelTed defign of Ariftotle's Logic ; and, therefore, it
fliould be confidered as preparatory to the ftudy of philofophy and
of all arts and fciences, the bufmefs of which is to Invefligate truth
and to demonftrate.

We have but one book in Englifh upon the fubjed of Logic, Mr
Locke's eflay upon the Human Underftanding, in two volumes ;
where he has faid a great deal upon Ideas, but little or nothing
upon the difcurfus mentis^ by which ideas are compared together,
and of them propofitions and fyllogifms formed. He has, in the
courfe of his work, mentioned propofitions; but he does not appear
to me to have known what a propofition was ; for he no where
makes the diftindion betwixt the praedicate, or attribute of a pro-
pofition, and the fubjcd of it. Now, without making that diftinc-
tion, it is impofTible to know what a propofition is : For, in every
propofition, there muft be fomething affirmed or denied ; and that
makes the Praedicate of the propofition: And there muft alfo be
fomething of which the praedicate is affirmed or denied ; and that

Ctap. X. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 167

13 the Subjedl of the propofition. And as to fylloglfm, I do not re-
member that, in either of his two volumes, he has fo much as men-
tioned the word; or, if he has named it, I am fure he did not un-
derftand it. He has, however, told us what truth is, that it is the
perception we have of the agreement or difagreement of our ideas.
If the reader is fatisfied with this account of truth, he will think that
Ariftotle has employed his time very ill in writing, upon the fubje^t,
all the books that I have mentioned*, making altogether a con-
fiderable volume ; and he will pity me (if he does not defpife me)
for having beflowed fo much time and fludy in explaining thofe
books, when I ought to have been fatisfied with what Mr Locke
has told us in fo few words. I fhould agree with him if I could be
convinced that any art or fcience could be perfedtly well pradtifed
by any perfon by mere cuftom and habit, without having learned
the principles of the art. That the art of language cannot be fo
pradifed, and that no man can be fure that he fpeaks corredly with-
out having learned the grammatical art, muft be allowed. Now,
that the exercife of the difcurfive faculty of the mind, or what we
call reafoning^ is an art, and a very great art, being the foundation
of all arts and fciences, cannot be denied: And, therefore, I fay
that no man, by mere cuftom or habit, by w^hich, and which only,
moft men reafon as well as fpeak, can be fure that he reafons well ;
nor can he corred himfelf, or any other man, when he reafons ill,
without having learned the art of reafoning.

Though Mr Locke has faid fo little of that faculty of the mind, by
which we compare our ideas, and form of them reafoning and argu-
ment, he has faid a great deal concerning ideas themfelves; and, I think,
they are a neceflary part of Logic, as they are the materials of propofi-
tions,of fyllogifms,and of all our knowledge. Of ideas I propofe to treat
in this chapter; which is the more neceffary, that, though Ariftotle has

made

* Page 161.

i68 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIT.

in?de thefe univerfal ideas, upon which he has written his book of
Categories, the foundation of his whole fyftem of Logic, yet he has
not told us what the nature of an idea is, nor how it is formed; nei-
ther has Porphyry, in the Introdudion which he has written to
Ariftoile's Logic, faid a word upon the fubje£t. I will therefore en-
deavour to fupply this defe<ft, which I think there is in Ariflotle's
philofophy, the beft way I can : And I hope to be able to give a
better account of ideas than is to be found in any modern book, at
leaft better than what Mr Locke has given of them.

I muft begin with a di.^indlon of them, which Mr Locke has not
made, but which, I think, is abfolutely necefTary to be made, in or-
der to account for the origin of them, into Particular and General ;
of which the particular muft, in the order of nature, be firft ; for it
is impoflible to conceive general ideas without particular, of which
they are compofed..

As our fenfes, in this ftate of our exiftence, are the firft inlets to
our knowledge, our firft ideas muft neceffarily be of particular ob-
jects of fenfe, of v/hich we perceive by our fenfes feveral different
qualities. But thefe we muft not take altogether and in a lump, as
the brute does, but we muft feparate a quality, one or more, which is
predominant in the object and peculiar to it, from other qualities that
are accidental and common to it with other objedts ; and of thefe
qualities we form the Idea of the thing. Of this I have given an
example in the cafe of a Horje * ; in which the reader will obferve,
that if we did not feparate thofe diftinguijfhing qualities, which I
have mentioned, from that of colour^ of having four feet^ and from
other qualities that a Horfe may have in common with other animals,
we ftiould not have any idea of a Horfe, And this may be illuftrat-
ed by the ideas we form of the Figures of geometry. Of thefe

figures

* P?.gc 1 6. of vol. 4- of this work..

Chap. X. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. i%

figures our fenfe perceives nothing, except that they limit or bound fo
much of the furfice on which they are irifcribed. But, to have the
idea of a triangle, we muft know that it is bounded by three lines:
And we cannot have the idea of a fquare, without knowing that it
is bounded by four equal lines, forming as many right angles.

In this manner we form the particular idea of any objed prefent-
cd to us by our fenfes. And, the next ftep, in the progrefs of our
ideas, is to abftrad: the idea, thus formed, from the body in which it
is inherent, and to form an idea of it feparated from that body.
And this operation of the mind fhows, that the firft ftep in form-
ing thofe ideas, is conceiving them as inherent in the body: For
otherwife they could not be abftraded from it ; fo that there
would be no fuch thing as an abfirac^t idea, which all the authors,
who treat of ideas, and Mr Locke among the reft, admit have a
real exiftence.

The third ftep in the progrefs is to form what is called a general-
idea. And this is done by obferving, that other objeds of fenfe have
the fame peculiar or diftinguiftiing qualities, that we have obferved
in the fingle object, of which we have formed the particular idea :
Which qualities when we apply to thefe other objeds, we form
'what is called 2i general idea.

The firft general ideas muft neceflarily be of fpeciefes, and of the
loweft fpeciefes, which have nothing below them but individuals.
And this is neceflary, our firft ideas being, as I have fhown, of in-
dividual things. From the fpecies our ideas rife to the genus, as
from our idea of the fpecies man or horfe^ w^e rife to the genus,
animal', and from a lower genus we afcend to a higher ; and io on
from lower to higher, till we come to the higheft genufcs of all, that
is the categories.

Vol. V. Y Thus

170 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

Thus I diftinguiih particular from general ideas, and both from
abftrad: ideas : Whereas Mr Locke makes no diftindion betwixt
particular and general ideas ; and, in his language, ideas^ abjlradf
ideas ^ and general ideas ^ denote all the fame thing.

And here we may obferve how properly Plato has defined an idea,
to be one of the many; for even the idea of a particular obje£t is a
feledion of one or more qualities of the objed:, out of many that
may belong to it. The general idea is one of many more-, and the
number, of which the idea makes one, ftill increafes, when the fpe-
cies rifes to a genus, and that genus to a higher genus, and fo on
from genus to • genus, till they come to the higheft genus of all,
Thefe have been clafled, and the clafTes numbered in that great
work of the Pythagorean philofopher Archytas, entitled by him,
verv properly, Ile^/ roy ravroc^ or. Of the Ujiiverfe ; and which, as. I
have faid elfewhere *, is, in my opinion, the greateft difcovery in
philofophy that ever was made; for it makes a fyftem of the whole
unlverfe, and divides it into a certain number of parts. But, as to
the fubordinate genufes, and the fpeciefes below them, no body hither-
to has attempted to number them : And, with refped to the indi-
viduals contained in the fpeciefes, they are certainly infinite in num-
ber, at leafl with refped to our capacity. Whoever, therefore, looks
around him with any degree of attention, and furveys the infinite
number of objeds which he fees in the Heavens above and on the
Earth below, and particularly on the Earth, with which we are beft
acquainted, where there are the three great kingdoms, the Animal,
the Vegetable, and the Mineral, with all their dilTerent properties
and qualities,

Frigida ubi pugnant calldis, humentla ficcis,
MoUia cum duris, fine pondere habeniia pondus,

as the antlents faid of their Chaos, will be amazed, if he is fo far

advanced

* Vol. 4. p. 67.

Chap. X. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 171

advanced in phllofophy as to wonder at what the vulgar never think
of, how this infinity of things could be ordered and arranged, reduced
to clafles and numbered as far as was pofTible, and thereby made the
fixed object of the contemplation of the human mind, which otherwife
w^ould be loft in the infinite number and variety of them. This
wonderful mafs of things, this formlefs infinite^ as Milton calls it,
never could have been arranged and fet in order in our minds, ex-
cept by thofe two faculties of our intellect, which I have elfewherc
mentioned *, Abftraclion and GeneraUi'Ziition, By abftraction we fe-
parate and difcriminate things, and fo C(; ifider every thing by itfelf^
without which we could have no dillinct notion of any thing: And
in this way we form ideas of particular tilings, with which, as I
have faid, all our knowledge, in this ftate of our exiftence, begins.
Then by generallization we form ideas of fpeciefes and genufes,
and fo make one of matiy^ as Plato very properly expreifes it ; and
in this way we fet bounds to infinity, and make all the things, here
below, the fubjeds of art aad fcience.

In this way I have given an account, and I hope a fatisfadory ac-
count, how general ideas are formed ; without which there can be
no fcience; for without them there can be neither propofition nor
fyllogifm. And what I have here faid will juftify an obfervation
made by Ariftotle concerning thefe ideas, which, to fuch readers as
have not ftudied the progrefs of the human mind in forming arts and
fciences, will appear very extraordinaiy. It is this, that they are formed
by Indu^ion^ or \i(Tay_o.^yn, as he calls itf. That we ufe induction very
much in reafoning, is obvious; but, I believe, no body, that has not ftu-
died Ariftotle, ever fuppofed that even the general ideas, which are the
fubjeds of reafoning, were formed by indudion. But it is clear that
they are fo formed, from the account I have given of their formation:

Y 2 Eo^

* Vol. 4. of tliis work, p. 17.

\ Lib. 6. De MoribuSf Cap. 3. infuie.

172 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

For It is by obferving that the idea we have formed of any particu-
lar fubje£t is to be found in other fubjedts, that we form the gene-
ral idea. Now, that is what is called hidudlloji^ when from particu-
lars we infer generals.

From this obfcrvation of Ariftotle it is evident, that InduBion is
the foundation of all arts and fciences, (a propofition, which muft
appear very extraordinary to thofe who have not ftudied the antient
philofophy): For without general ideas there can be no art or fcience;
and as our firft ideas are, as I have fliown, of objeds of fenfe, the
firft induction, we muft make, is from objedts of fenfe, in which we
iind the idea we have formed of the particular objed:.

But ideas, before they can be generalifed, muft be formed : And
we cannot know what a general idea is, till we firft know what an
idea itfelf is. Now this, I fay, Mr Locke did not know; for, as I have
{liown, he did not underftand the feveral operations of the mind,
by which particular ideas, abftradt ideas, and general ideas, are form-
ed. And though he fpeaks fo much of ideas, almoft in every page
of his tvv'o volumes, he does not appear to me to have known what
an idea is ; for he confounds ideas with fenfations, and, accor-
dingly, has made a clafs of ideas of fenfations^ as he calls them. And
he fpeaks of even children in the womb as having ideas * ; and of
the feelings of pleafure and pain as being ideas alfo f : And what
is ftill more extraordinary, he gives even to brutes ideas ; for he
fays that fmging birds retain in their memories the ideas of tunes
that they have learned J.

But it may be afked, in defence of Mr Locke, Have wc then

♦ Book 2. Chap. 9. paragraph 7.
f Ibid. Chap. 20. in the beginning.
% Ibid. Chap. 10. paragraph laft.

Chap. X. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 173

no ideas of our fenfations? And I fay we have. But Mr Locke's
error is in not diftinguifhing betwixt the fenfation Itfelf, and the idea
wx form of that fenfation ; for if we take into our confideration the
nature of the objeds of thofe fenfations, the organs upon wliich
they make the impreffion, and the nature of any particular fenfation,
as diftinguifhed from another, then we may be faid to have an idea
of that fenfation, but as diftind: from the fenfation as any other idea
is from the obje<5t from which the mind forms it.

But even of fenfations he does mot appear to me to have under-
ftood the nature ; otherwife he never could have confounded them
with ideas: For he would have known, that in fenfation the mind is
paffive, only receiving the impreifion, which external objeds make
upon the organs of fenfe ; whereas, in forming ideas, the mind, as
I have {hown, is active; and the intellect exerts that faculty which
is peculiar to it, of confidering things not fmgle and by themfelves^
in which way the fenfe perceives them, but together, arranging them
and making fyftems of them. And, accordingly, as I have faid in
feveral parts of this work, every idea is a fyftem greater or lefler,
and is truly a definition of the thing, though not fo accurate and
perfedt as definitions, made by men of fcience, are. Now, definition
is certainly a work of intelled, which cannot be performed by the
fenfe. But Mr Locke does not appear to me to have known what
intelled is, nor confequently what maji is, that is, what an inteliedual
creature is.

What appears to me to have led Mr Locke into this grofs error
concerning ideas, was, that he perceived all our ideas to arife from
fenfations ; which is certainly true. But then he Ihould have dif-
tinguifhed betwixt the materials of which our ideas are formed, and
the ideas themfelves. The fenfes, no doubt, furnifh the materi-
als, of v/hich the intelled forms its firft ideas j for, as I have faid,

the

174 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

the intellect operates iirft (and it could not be otherwife) upon ob-
ie(fts of fenfe, and of thefe forms what I call particular ideas^
which, as I have fliown, are the firft ftep towards general ideas.
And as the fenfcs furnifh the materials of the ideas of objeds of
fenfe. or corporeal objects, fo reflexion, that is the confcioufHcfs of the
operations of our own minds, fiirnifhes the materials of our ideas of
rnind and its operations. If, therefore, Mr Locke had told us that the
materials of all our ideas of body or of mind, were furnifhed by fen-
fation and reflection, he would have given us a very true account of
the origin of our ideas. But inftead of telling us that fenfation and
refiedion are the fources of our ideas, he has told us that they are
themfelves our ideas.

As Mr Locke's book, upon the Human L^ndcrftanding, is our

ftandard book upon Logic, and, I believe, the only book upon that

fubjecl that we have in Englidi, it might have been expedted, that

he would have treated not only of ideas, but of proportions and of

fyllogifms, which are formed of ideas by the difcurfive faculty of the

mind, and which are the chief fubject of that great work of Arifto^

tie, of which I have given an account in the preceding chapter.

But, as I have faid, I do not remember that he has any where, in

his two volumes, mentioned the -woxf^fyllogifm, and I am very fure

he did not underftand the nature of it. As to proportions, though

he indeed fpeaks of them, I have fliown that he does not appear

to have underftood the nature of them, any more than of the

fyllogifm. 1 have alfo mentioned the account he gives of 7r///y6*,

which, 1 think, is the mod imperfed and unfatisfac1:ory account that

ever w^as given by any pliilofopher. Yet this book of Mr Locke's

is taught in fome of our Univerfities as a compleat fyftem of Logic;

and particularly in Cambridge, as I have been informed, there is a

Profeflbr who gives ledures upon it ; while the Logic of Ariftotle,

one of the greateft works of fcience, as I think I have Ihown, that

ever

• Page 167.

Chap. X. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 175

ever was produced by any one man, is taught in no Univerfity in
Britain, and is entirely out of fafhion. As it is fo great and fo ufe-
ful a work, if what 1 have faid of it in the preceding chapter could
revive it, and bring it again into ufe, I fhould think that 1 had made
fome progrefs in this great attempt I have made to revive antient
philofophy.

Before I conclude this chapter upon ideas, I will make fome ob-
fervations upon a faculty of the human mind, to v>^hich, I think,
fufficient attention has not been given by philofophers antient or
modern, though it has great influence upon our ideas, and is very
ufeful in forming them. The faculty I mean is, what is called in
Greek (pctiroca-iu, and in Englifli imagi?iatio?i. It is a faculty which
the brutes have as well as we, and which is abfolutely neceiTary for
carrying on their animal oeconomy, as I have fhown *. By tliis
faculty the images or pidures, as they may be called, of the objeds,
which we have at fome time or another perceived by our fenfes,
are again prefented to us. It may, therefore, be called a fecon-
dary fenfe, fupplying the place of the primary, and often making
a greater imprefhon upon us than the primary.

This faculty of the Phantafia^ v/hich preferves our fenfations,
fhould be diilinguifhed from Memory^ which is the cuftodie^ of our
ideas ; and, as from our fenfations our firft ideas arife, it was ht that
there fhould be a cuftodier for each of them. And our fenfations
thus preferved, are of very great ufe to us in forming thofe firfl ideas
of particular objeds of fenfe; for unlefs they were retained in the.
mind by the phantafia, we could only form thofe ideas when the
objeds of fenfe were prefent v/itli us; and as that cannot alwa-^ '
we could not form them fo accurately as we do by the mc : ■
the phantafia.

* See Vol. I. of this work, Book 2. Chap. 5. p. 90.

iy6 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

The phantafia is necefTary for carrying on our animal oeconomy
as well as that of the brute ; for othcrwife neither we nor the brute
couki have known that any objea, we fee;, was the fame that we had
feen before j as it is by comparing the objed, w^e fee, with the image
of it in the phantafia, that we difcover the famenefs. But it ferves,
as I have faid, another purpofe ; which is to enable us to form»
better than we could do otherwife, our firft ideas, that is, our
ideas of particular objeas: And in general it maybe obferved,
that both our fenfations, and the images of them in our phantafia,
are not only neceffary for our animal life, but providence has fo
ordered matters, that they are made fubfervient to the noblefl: faculty
of our mind ; I mean our intellea : For it is by them that we are
enabled to form ideas, and of ideas to make arts and fciences, by
w^hich we become creatures of intellea, not only in capacity but ac-
tually fuch.

There is one difference to be obferved betwixt us and the brute
with regard to the phantafia. The brute makes no ufe of his phan-
tafia, but when the objeds there imaged are prefented again to his
fenfes ; or w^hen there is a certain inftind belonging to his nature,
prompting him to inquire concerning thefe objeds and to find them
out ; as in the cafe of a mother with regard to her offspring, or a
herding animal with regard to his herd. But man, without being
prompted in either of thefe ways, or by any thing external, exa-
mines the objeds pidured in his phantafia, and compares them to-
gether, and in that way difcovers that in which they are like or dif-
ferent. And what makes man do this, without being excited by
any external obj^d, is that love of knowledge which is effential to
his nature, and without which it is impoffible that he could have
acquired the knowledge he has acquired. And this motive, to the
examination of objeds of fenfe painted in his phantafia, may be af-.
cribed to inftind in him, as well as the motives which, I have faid,

excite

Chap. X. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 177

excite the brute to confider the objeds in his phantafia. And this
inftindive impulfe is, as Ariftotle has obferved, univerfal among
men, and eflentiai to every intelligent animal: For knowledge is the
pbjed, and the only objed of intelled ; and to know is its only de-
light.

This faculty of the phantafia, though fo ufeful both to the animal
and intelledual life, no philofopher, antient or modern, has taken
any notice of, except Ariftotle in his treatife De Anima^ which I
have quoted in the above mentioned volume of this work*.

What I have hitherto faid of particular ideas, and of the forma-
tion of general ideas from them, relates only to objedts of fenfe.
But our ideas of mind, and of its different kinds, are formed in the
fame way, beginning with ideas of particular minds, firft thofe of
our own minds, and then proceeding to general ideas of mind, as I
have (hown in volume 2. of this work f .

I will here make an obfervation, which I think of great im-
portance in Logic and in all reafoning. It is this, that particular
ideas are contained in the general, and are parts of them. This
will be evident to any man who attends to the way in which gene-
ral ideas are formed, which is by coUeding and putting together the
particular ideas which compofe the general. Thus the particular
ideas of man^ horfe^ dog^ l5fc. when colleded together, and made one
of many^ (the definition, given by Plato, of a general idea,) con-
ftitute the general idea oi animal ; which, therefore, muft neceflari-
ly contain the ideas of all particular animals that make up the fum of
that one of many ^ as necelTarily as a pound of money contains fo many
fliillings. This propofition, which I have endeavoured to make fo plain,

Vol. V. Z fliows

♦ Page 91. f Page 89.

lyS ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

fhows the relation betwixt the praedicate and fubje<£t of every propo-
firion; which is that of the Subjed of the proportion, or lefTer term,
being contained in the Praedicate or greater term: And it is the foun-
dation of all demonftration and reafoning of every kind; for the truth
of the fyllogifm is, as I have faid, founded upon this plain propofi-
tion, that if A contain B, and B contain C ; then A contains C.
And as the general ideas contain the particular, fo thefe are derived
from the general, being fubftraded from them in the fame manner
as a lefler number is fubftraded from a greater.

As I have mentioned Memory in this chapter, I will fay fome-
thing more upon it before I conclude the chapter. It is, as I have
faid, the repofitory and cuftodier of our ideas, and of the propofitions-
and reafonings we form from thofe ideas, in the fame manner as the
phantafia preferves our perceptions of objeds of fenfe. Memory is of
fuch importance, that without it we could make no progrefs in arts or
fciences, nor indeed could any art or fcience have been invented ; fo
that it was not without reafon that the antient mythologifts made Me-
mory the mother of the mufes, and Jupiter, the God of Intelligence
and Council [fjurirnvu zevg, as he is called in Homer) their father j
as it is by memory and intelligence that all arts and fciences were
invented and cultivated. But even by our memory we could not
have made any confiderable progrefs in arts or fciences without the
writing art ; for as all our faculties, in this ftate of our exif-^
tence, are more or lefs imperfed, fo is our memory : And it is fo
particularly in old age, when having acquired fo much know-
ledge, in the courfe of perhaps a long life, we Ihould be able to
make ftHl muck greater advances in arts and fciences. Now, the
writing art is then of the greateft ufe ; for though it be not an art
of memory^ it is, as the wife Egyptian King obferved, an art of re-
minijccnce^y by which we fupply the defeds of memory, if, there-
fore,

♦ Plato in PhctJro, p. 1 240. edit. Fieini. See what I have faid on this fubjed in
\cl. 2. of Oi-iein of Langunge, p. 24.

Chap. X. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 179

fore, we commit to writing what difcoveries we have made in know-
ledge in our younger days, we will reap the benefit of it when wc
become old. This is an advantage which I enjoy in my old age ;
when I may be faid to live by the learning which I colleded and
put down in wrhing in my younger days. It is by writing, as I
have elfewhere obferved, that men, living in the mod diftant coun-
tries, communicate their learning to one another j and that the
learning, even of the moft diftant ages, is tranfmitted to the prefent
generation*; and, indeed, without this wonderful art of prefervino-
the difcoveries of arts and fciences, we fhould have had no learuino*
in this age of any value.

And here I will conclude this chapter^ in which, I think, I have
ihown the progrefs of our ideas from particular ideas, that is ideas
of objeds of fenfe, to the moft general ideas, which, by Ariftotle
are called the roc ovruy by way of eminence and diftindion, as they not
only exift as other ideas do, but, by being the moft general, contain
in them all other ideas ; and thefe he makes the fubjed of his Me-
taphyfics, which, he fays, treat of the roc ovra, 'p ovrcc. By thefe laft
words he informs us, that he confidered them not as the terms of
propofitions and fyllogifms, the way in which he confiders them in
his treatife of Categories prefixed to his Logic, but as exifting in
the nature of things, unconneded with propofitions or fyllogifms,
or with any operation of the human mind.

But I have not yet done with ideas, which, as they are the foun-
dation of all arts and fciences and of all our knowledge, ought to be
moft carefully confidered by the philofopher; for, in the next chap-
ter, I propofe to treat of a fubjed well known among the philofo-
phers of the Platonic and Ariftotelian fchools, but not known at all
among our modern philofophers ; I mean t^e ideas of Plato, who

2; 2 has

* Vol. 4. of this Work, p. 262.

i8o ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IlL

has given us a fyftem of ideas, which, if rightly underflood, I think
is moft valuable, as it Ihows that the univerfe is a fyftem, and a moft
"wonderful fyftem, and that our ideas are not fidions, and merely
the operation of the human mind, but are real entities exifting in
nature and diffufmg themfelves over all the univerfe. And, in that
chapter, 1 will compare Ariftotle's fyftem of ideas with that of Plato,
and fhow how much better the fyftem of the Mafter is than thai
of the Scholar*

CHAP.

Chap. XT. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. r§c

CHAP. XI.

^at Plato and Artjlotle differed on the SubjeEl of Ideas ^ proved hj
Ph'doponus and by Arijlotlei own ivritings. — The attempt to recon-
eUe the two PhHofophers, founded on a mi/reprefentation of their Doc-
trines. — Plato s Ideas immaterial fuhfances^ — having afeparate ex-
iflence. — Arijlotle fo underjlood them^ and argues againjl them ;—
difiked ihe word Idea. — Plat6*s word Idea adopted, but not his
DuEirine: — Arifiotlt' s the univerfal opinion in modern times.-- Indi-
vidual things only exijTtfig according to him; — General Ideas, fuch as
Genus and Species, are Creatures of the Human Underfanding. bein^
only different ways of clajjing and arrangmg things, — hiconfflcncy
of his Logic with this opinion; — truth and Science can have no fouU"
dation in Nature ; — Ideas are mere Entia Rationis, as much as a
Hippocentaur. — Arijlotle maintains, that from Generals are derived
Particulars : — Incofifjlency of this opinion, with the DoHrine that
Generals do not exid. — I/ all things be Inaividuals, they mu/i be
immediately derived from tbe frji caufe ;— No progrejfion or Jub-
ordination in Nature; — the Individuals of the AuimaL Vz^rcta-
hle^ and Mineral Kingdoms, have proreeded immediately from
him ;—-'the Ideas of all Particular things are in the Divine Mind-
'-—but it can have no General Ideas /uch as we have. — This im-
pious,— Or, if the Divine Mind have fuch Ideas, we muH maintain
that he colleSis them, as we do, from the particular fenfble objeBs,
- — If they were originally in the Divine mind, can we believe that
ihey have no exijlence in Nature, entire and undivided ; but that-
mly parts of them exiji incorporated with matter, — and thefe pro-
ceeding

582 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

ceeding without order or fubordhiation? — Gregory Nazianzens opt*
nion adopted by the jiutbor.— According to that Philofopher^ all
the Ideas of the Divine Mind realifed. — nis the fiihlimejl Theology;
— -it gives us, if pojjible, the Idea of Plato's onoi *vre^ov<noi; — and
makes us conceive how all things are really and a&ually in God. — ^
Examination of Plato's DoBrine of Ideas : — He maintained the real
exifence, in Nature, both of General and Particular Ideas ; — that
General Ideas are immaterial fuhfances, from which lefs General Ideas
are an ema?iation i—and that they end in Individual thi7tgs.— Exempli^
fcation oj this Do&rine in the cafe of the General Idea <?/ Animal. —
A reality given to knowledge by thisfyflem; — the objects of our know^
ledge are thi igs recdly exifiing, not the operations of our minds col-
lected from corporeal fubfances, — When in a more perfeSi fate, fays
Plato, we were converfant with the Ideas themfelves ; — but in our
prefent fate we are condemned to dig them out of the matter in
which they are buried. — More reality in our knowledge, this way
eonceived; and the truth of the Syllogfm more clearly perceived, the
more General containing the lefs General : — While, by ArifotWs Doc-
trine, the lefs General produces the more General; — there is no fub-
ordination of caufe and effe£l, but all things derived at once from,
the Divine Mind ; — ajid order and regularity are produced by the
Human Mind only, — The beauty of Plato's Syjlem confidered The-
^logically: — // exhibits a cQW.pleat progrefs of things from the high-
efi to the lowef : — // agrees with the Doctrine of the Trinity^
which Plato learned in Egypt, — Plato's account of the two princi-
ples of Intelligence and Vitallity. — ^cefion. Whether all things
exifing proceed from them immediately, or by intermediate emana-
tions^— The latter opinion adopted by the Author ; and his Reafons
fated, — Plato's Doctrine of Ideas ncceffarily connected with that of
the Trinity, — and no more than carryitig it on through Nature : —
// agrees with the Pythagorean Philofophy of Timaus, who ufes
the term Idea, — Obie&ion-^HQW can one immaterial fuhfance be-
get

Chap. XI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 183

get another f — /Inpwered :-—firJl ^ From the cafe of Natural Genera-
tion'^-^econd^ From the Generation of Inferior Intelligences from the
Source of all Beif/g. — The Ideas of Plato confidered in this vieW',
-—Explanation of the dijfieully of conceiving the many in one.-—
Plato^s Dodlrine of Ideas conneEled alfo ijoith his DoElrine of Remi-
nifcence. — Explanation of it^ and of his Do5irine o/' Prefcience,

THAT Plato and his Scholar Ariftotle did really differ upon tEc
fubjed: of Ideas, is the opinion of Philoponus the Commenta-
tor upon Ariftotle * : And, I think, there can be no doubt of the
matter; for Ariftotle's own writings, fetting afide the opinion of any
of his Commentators, prove it moft evidently ; and, indeed, there
is no controverted point in philofophy, of which he has treated more
at large or has mentioned oftener. What, therefore, Philoponus men-
tions as the opinion of fome philofophers of his time, who wanted
to reconcile the Mafter and Scholar, that Plato, by his Ideas, meant
no more than the ideas in the Divine mind, from which all things
are produced, and which Ariftotle did not deny, is, I hold, a mifre-
prefentation of what is faid upon the fubje<£l both by Plato and Arif-
totle ; For, as to Plato, it is evident from many paflages of his writ-
ings, particularly the Parmenides^ that he maintained ideas to be im.-
material fubftances, havir g a feppxate exiftence by themfelves out of
the mind of any intelligent being : And it is as evident that
Ariftotle underftood his dodrine of ideas in that fenfe; and, ac-
cordingly, has argued againft them, as things that have no real ex-
iftence, but were only rt^xTtcf^urocy as he calls them in his fecond
Analytics, that is, Wonders or Prodigies, Now, I think, it is im-
poftible to fuppofe that Ariftotle would have ventured to have
mifreprefented the doQrinc of his Mafter, when there were fo
many living that could have contradided him ; though it may
be true, what Philoponus fome where fays, that he did mifre?.

prefent

* See Lis Commentarv on the ]aft Analytics, p. 30. anJ following.

1^4 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

prefcnt the opinion of fome antient philofophers in order to have
the pleafure of refuting them. He appears to have had an averfion
even to the w^ord <^«a; for he never ules it, except in difputing with
Plato. When he fpeaks of the fpecies of a thing, he calls it sih; ;
and what in Plato's language is the Idea of any individual thing, he
calls the 70 ri r^v eivoct of the thing. Whereas we, though we have not
adopted Plato's dodtrine of ideas, yet have taken the word from
him: But that was only in later times, and I believe not before
Mr Locke j for the older Engliih writers call it notion.

In order to judge rightly of this great controversy, which, I hold,
draws to great confequences in philofophy, I thing it is proper to
ftate fairly both opinions and the confequences which refult from
each of them. And I will begin with the opinion of Ariftotle, which
is the univerfal opinion of all modern philofophers, who indeed do
not appear to have fo much as an idea of the dodlrine of Plato upon
this fubje(fi.

The opinion of Ariftotle is, that there are no fubftances exifting
in nature except individual things ; and that general ideas, fuch as
Genus and Species, are the mere creatures of the human underftand-
ing, and are nothing more than collections which we make from
particular things, and which, as they are collected from more or
irom fewer things, we call Genus or Species ; which, therefore, ac-
cording to Ariftotle, are no more than different ways of clafling and
arranging things, for our more eafy comprehenfion of them, (and
yet, in his Logic, we are taught that all demonftration proceeds from
generals to particulars). And if fo, truth and fcience have truly no
foundation in nature, but are altogether creatures of our minds; for
this muft be the cafe, if ideas (without which there can be no
fcience,) are merely what the fchoolmen call entia rationis^ that
is, fictions of our minds; for they muft be all fuch upon Arif-

totle's

Chap. XI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 185

totle's principles, as much as a Hippocentaur, It Is true, indeed, that
nature does furnifh to us the materials out of which we form our
ideas. But nature alfo furnifhes the materials out of which v/e form
the idea of a Hippocentaur; For there is in nature both a man and
a horfe; and, by joining them together, we form the idea of the
Hippocentaur, in the fame manner as, by joining together qualities
which we fee in different individuals, we form the idea of a fpecies ;
and from what we obferve, that fpeciefes have in common, we form
another ens ratlonis^ which we call a genus ^

But, ido^ It is the opinion of Ariftotle, and of all the philofophers
of his fchool, that, from Generals, Particulars are derived, and are tru-
ly parts of them and comprehended under them: And, accordingly,
in all demonftration we argue from generals to particulars ; and the
truth of the fyllogifm, as I have already obferved, is reducible to this
funple proportion, that if A contain B, and B contain C, therefore
A contains C. But if it be true, that generals have no exiftence
in nature, it is impoflible that particulars can be derived from them ;
on the contrary, it is evident, that, according to Ariftotle's dodrine,
generals are derived from particulars, from which they are formed
by our minds. If, therefore, all demonftration be from generals,
which is certainly the cafe, and if generals be formed by our minds,
then the principles of demonftration have no foundation in nature,
but are mere creatures of our minds.

Thefe are the confequences of Ariftotle's doctrine of ideas confi-
dered logically. Let us now fee what the confequence of it is,
confidered theologically. And one confequence of it is evident
that if there be no general ideas in nature, but all things exift-
ing are individual things, they muft be all derived immediately
from the firft caufe, and there cannot be that progreffion of
things and fubordination of caufes, fuch as the fyftem of the uni-

VoL. V. A a verfe

i86 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

verfe feems to require. We muft, therefore, fuppofe, according to
AriRotle, that from the firft caufe have proceeded iai mediately
every animal and every vegetable, and, in fhort, every individual
thing in the three kingdoms, the animal, vegetable, and mineral.

According to this philofophy of Ariftotle, we muil fuppofe that
the ideas of all particular things are in the divine mind; for other-
wife thefe particular things could not be underftood to proceed from,
him. But, I afk, Whether he has not general ideas, fuch as we
have ? And, I think, it would be impious to maintain, that he has
not all the ideas which a creature has, of fo imperfect intelligence as
man: And, if he have fuch ideas, it certainly will not be maintain-
ed, that he collects them as we do, from particular fenfible objeds»
Suppofmg them, therefore, to be originally in the divine mind. Can
w^e believe that they have no exiftence in nature, entire and undi-
vided, but that only parts of them exift incorporated with matter ;
and that they proceed in that way from the divine mind, vrithout
any order or fubordination ? So that, in the works of creation, there
is neither firft nor laft, higheft nor lowefl: ; I mean in the order of
produdion ; for, in that order, what produces is higher than what
is produced. Now, I hold, with Gregory Nazianzen *, whom I have
mentioned in fundry paflages of this work upon metaphyfics, that
all the ideas of the divine mind are realized ; and that they are not,^
like the ideas of our mind, mere ideas, which we have not power
to realize. This dodrine of Gregory Nazianzen, 1 think, is very
fublime theology, giving us, if it be poffible to give us, the idea of the
eiog ^v^i^o'jtriog of Plato, and making us conceive how all things are
in God, not as they are in the mind of man, that is, in idea only, (if
wt could conceive the mind of any man capable of comprehending
the whole univerfity of things), but in reality and adual exiftence;,
' " , fo

* He was B'.fhop of Conftantinople, and the mofr learned Greek of the /\i\\ Century:
He lia^ written a great deal both in verfe and profe, and in a ftile very elegant..

Chap. XI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 187

fo that from thefe ideas of the divine mind are produced thofe im-
material fubftances, which Plato calls Ideas,

Let us now confider the doctrine of Plato. He maintains that
general ideas, as well as the ideas of particular fubffcances, have a
real exiftence in nature, and not in the human mind only, nor even
in the divine mind only ; — That general ideas are immaterial fub-
ilances, from which particular ideas, or ideas lefs general, are aa
emanation, refembling that emanation which we fuppofe of all things
from the firft caufe. And in this way he makes a chain of caufes
and effeds, like the chain in Homer*, reaching from heaven to earth,
ending in things individual here below, and beginning from the fu-
preme caufe. Thus for example, there exifts, in the immaterial world,
the general idea of animal: From that proceeds an idea lefs general,
fuch as that of xho. /pedes of man or of any other animal, and from
that again proceed individual men or other animals. The genus ant-
vial proceeds from another idea more general, animated body; and
that again from another ftill more general, body: And fo wc have
a contiitued feries of fpeciefes and genufes, rifmg one above another,
till we come up to the higheft genufes or categories, and from them
to the fource of all being, where all things are virtually contained.

This fyftem gives a reality to knowledge, which is not to be found
in the philofophy of Ariftotle; for the objeds of our knowledge are,
according to the dodrine of Plato, things really exifting in nature,
not the operations of our minds, whereby they are collected from an
infmite numiber of corporeal fubftances with which we are only con^
verfant in the firft flage of our progrefs in this life. That we come
to the knowledge of general ideas in that way, I have Ihown in the
preceding chapter f. Nor does Plato deny this ; but he fays, that
thefe general ideas have an exiftence by themfelves, as well as the
particular which animate every individual material fubilance, and

A a 2 give

* Iliad 8. V. 19. f Page KJp.

M ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

give It life and motion : And, indeed, it would be abfurd to fuppofe
that the general ideas, of fo much greater excellency, that they con-
tain the particular, fhould not have a feparate exiftence by them-
felves, as well as the particular. The ideas in this feparate ftate of
exiftence, when they were unmixed with matter, and were the pure
Tcc ovrcjg ovrct^ as Ariftotle calls them, our minds, in our more per-
fed: ftate, perceived, and were converfant with them : Whereas,
in this ftate of our exiftence, we are condemned as it were to dig
them out of Matter, in which they are to be confidered as buried,
and of the mixture and impurity of which they muft retain a great
deal, as they are perceived by us.

In this way of conceiving the objects of knowledge, there is net
only more reality in our knowledge, but we perceive more clearly
what is the foundation of the truth of all fyllogiling and reafoning,
that the more general idea contains the individual or the lefs gene-
ral J fo that we underftand perfedly what Ariftotle calls \v ''oXca \(vaty
or «ara t/io? scxTayo^iKrduiy and which he makes to be the founda-
tion of his whole dodtrine of Syllogifm. Whereas, according to Arif-
totle's notion of ideas, the particular ideas are fo far from being derived
from the general, that, as I have obferved, the general, as he fays, are
derived from the particular, being formed by our minds from the par-
ticular ; the confequence of which is, that in things created, that is
produced from fupreme intelligence, there is no order or precedency,
neither firft norlaft, nor any thing befides a confuled jumble of various
things together, among which there is no connexion by nature, nor
any, except that which the human mind forms by arranging them
into genufes and fpeciefes. Now, in a perfed: fyftem, fuch as we
muft fuppofe that of the univerfe to be, things muft be conneded
with one another, and no thing detached and fnigle by itfelf.

According, therefore, to Plato's dodrine of ideas, the univerfe is
a moft perfed fyftem, being not only derived from one firft caufc,

but

Chap. XI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 1S9

but having all its parts proceeding from that firft caufe in regular
order, and all conneded together. Now, the dodirine of a fyftem
in the univerfe, I hold to be an eflential part of theology, in which all
philofophy ought to end: For philofophy is truly what it was defined
to be by the ancients, The kno'wkdge of things divine and human.
Now Plato's dodrine of ideas prefents to us a fyftem of things in
the univerfe, in which there is an uninterrupted progrefs of beings^
from the higheft to the loweft, that is from God to corporeal be-
ings : And it is a fyftem moft perfedly agreeable, not only to his
theology, but to the Chriftian theology, in what I hold to be the
foundation of the Chriftian religion ; 1 mean the dodrine of the
Trinity, which, I am perfuaded, Plato learned in Egypt, where
it appears to have been known in the earlieft times.

This dodrine of the Trinity is commonly held to be a myftery
inconceivable. But no man can believe what he cannot conceive :
And, as it is a fundamental dodrine of the Chriftian religion, no
man, who does not believe the Trinity, can be faid to be a Chriftian;
for he cannot believe that Jefus Chrift was the Son of God, that is
the fecond perfon of the Trinity, who affumed the human nature
and human form, in order to fave mankind, and to enable them to
make fome progrefs, in this life, in regaining their former ftate, from
which they had fallen. But the Trinity I hold to be fo far from
an inconceivable myftery, that, by a philolopher, it is not only per-
fediy conceived, but underftood to be a moft perfect fyftem of Cof-
mogofiy^ and I may add Theogo?iy; — more perfcd than any fyftem
that has been invented by any antient philofopher, or that could
have been invented by any philofopher ; fo that if it was difcovered
by the Egyptians, as I am perfuaded it was, they muft have had fu-
pernatural afliftance to enable them to mcike the difcovery. I have
elfewhere obferved *, that the Chriftian religion is not only the beft

popular-

• Vol. 4. of this -work, p. 386.

190 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

popular religion that ever was in the world, but alfo the mofi: phi-
lofophical. The eternal generation of the Son of God and his incar-
nation, are both truths of philofophy ; but the dodrine of the
Trinity is more philofophical ftill than either of the other two ; for
it gives us what may be called a fyftem of the whole univerfe, and
of the regular and orderly produdion of it from the firft caufe.

This flrfl: caufe is called by Plato the H^wro? ©gc?, orfirjl God ;
and, in the language of the Chriftian church, he is called God the
Father ; and he was fo called in the books of Hermes, as is obferv-
^d by St. Cyrillus in what he has written againft Julian the empe-
ror *. The firft emanation or proceffion from him, not in order of
time, (for all things belonging to the Godhead are from all eternity)
but in dignity and pre-eminence, is what we call the itzond-perfon of
the Trinity, or, as it is more properly exprefled in the language of the
Greek church, 'yToarao-/?, oxfuhjiance^ not per/on. This Second Per-
ibn of the Trinity is the Sofiy and, as our Scripture tells us, the only
■begotte?i of the Father^ that is to fay, the only Being which proceeds
immediately from him : And, therefore, the Greek church is cer-
tainly in the right, when they do not derive the Third Perfon, or
the Holy Spirit^ from the Father, or from the Father and Son toge-
ther, which is a geneology to me quite unintelligible. This Second
Perfon is the principle of Intelligence, by whom^ as we are told,
every thing was made^ and nothing made ivithont him : And,
indeed, wherever there is a fyftem, which every Theift muft
fuppofe the univerfe to be, and the moft perfed of all fyftems,

• In this work St. Cyrillus has fliown evidently, that the dotSlrine of the Trinity was
contained in the writings of the Egyptian philofopher Hermes Tri/megiJ}i4s : So that
there can be no doubt that this doclrine was known in Egypt ; and that, though it
>vas kept by Plato, ev x5ro^»Ta<;, that is, as a fecrety it was known to the philofophers
of the Alexandrian fchool, particivlarly to Porpl^yry, from whofe writings Cyrillus has
given us a quotation, which contains the whole docb-ine of the Three Perfons of the
Trinity.

Chap. XL ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 191

it muft be formed by Intelligence, which, as it is the principal
thing in the formation of the fyftem, very properly holds the
fecond place next to the firfl; caufe, or author of the fyftem.
The third conftituent principle of the fyftem, is the 'Trvsjfjt^cc ^ayiov, or
Ho/y Spirit, By the Platonic philofophers it is called very properly
•J/u^jj rov y.-^cy^ov, or a?uma miindi^ as from it is derived that anima-
tion, motion, and adtion, which makes the whole of nature a living
fyjlem. This principle, in beings intellectual, is what we call will ;
in the animal life it is what we call appetite or /^^^r*?, producing the
motions of the animal ; in the vegetable kingdom it is that life^ by
which things grow, are nourifhed, and are reproduced ; and in mi-
nerals, and other things, which are commonly faid to be inanimate,
it is the principle of motion, or the element alii fe^ as I call it, and which
by Ariftotle is faid to be a kind of life^ or y'^X'^ '^'^' ^^ ^*^ exprelTes it;
by which he means, that, as it produces motion, it fo far refembles the
animal and vegetable lives, tiiough different from them in other ref-
peds, having neither fenfation, appetite, growth, nourilhment, nor
reprodudtion : But it is a more general life than either that of the
animal or vegetable ; for it moves all bodies unorganifed as well asi
organifed *.

Thefe three principles of the intelledual world, though diftind
fubftances, make but one Being. And thus we have the three in onc^
and the one in three; and the unity of the Godhead perfectly pre--
ferved. Nor, indeed, without fuch union, could we have any con-
ception of the Deity: For we could not conceive a Deity without
intelligence, nor without a fpirit of life and animation j without both
which he never could have produced the univerfe : Neither can we
conceive a Supreme Being, who produces nothing: So that bath intel-
ligence;

* See what I liave faid of this kind cf life, which is fo univerfal in nature, that
Ariftotle gives it the name of N^ifurc, in vol. 2. of this work, p. o^o. and In voL
5. of Origin of Language, p. 421. and the pafT^igcs there referred to.

192 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

Tigence a:id animation are elTential to his nature. That three diftind
fubftances {hould make but One be'nig, appears, I know, to many, an
inconceivable myftery. But it will not appear fo to a philofopher,
who confiders that the Second Perfon \s potentially^ or virtually con-
tained in the Firft, otherwife he could not be produced out of him :
And if fo, the Second Perfon muft contain in him the Firft a&ually;
and the fame muft be the cafe of the Third Perfon, with refped to
the Second. And this is illuftrated by the progrelTion, which Logic
teaches us, of the fpecies from the genus ; for the genus virtually
contains the fpecies, which is produced out of it, and the fpecies
adiually contains the genus. Thus, for example, the genus animal
•virtually contains the fpecies tnan^ which otherwife could not be
produced out of it : But the fpecies man aSlually contains the genus
animal without which we could not conceive man to exift. Now,
when things are fo connedted together, that one of them contains
the other, and is alfo contained in that other, they are very properly
confidered to be fo intimately conneded, as to make but one being:
And this is the cafe of every genus, and of all the fpeciefes under it,
hov/ever many in number; fo that there we have the many in the one^
and the one in the many. And the only difference betwixt the Tri-
nity, and the common cafe of genus and fpecies, is, that the Trinity
bei'n'j- limited to the conftituent principles of the univerfe, which
are only three^ there is there no more than three in one^ and o?te in
three. So that what appears at firft fight to be an incomprehenfible
vnyftery, is to be found in the whole fyftem of the univerfe, which
is all divided into genufes and fpecies: And, therefore, this dodrine
of the Three in One, and the One in Three, however incompre-
henfible and paradoxical it may at firft fight appear, is truly a part,
and an effential part, of the whole fyftem of the univerfe.

In this manner is Logic conneded with Theology and the fyftem
of the univerfe; to both which, I am perfuaded, a good Logic diredly

lea lis.

GKap. XI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 193

leads. And It is very naairal it ihould do fo; for, as Logic expliuns

the operations of the human mind in forming ideas, which make a

kind of intelledtual world in man, and, as man is the image of God

here below, it is very natural that there fhould be an anology betwixt

the produQions of his mind and thofe of the Divine.

But, if the reader has not ftudied Logic fufficiently, this illufira-
tion of the dodrine of the Trinity, which Logic affords, wili not
to him be convincing. I would, therefore, advife him to lludy him-
felf, and to learn to know hlmjelf ; which, according to the fay.ng
of the feven wife men of Greece, and to the infcription upon the ga e
of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, is the beginning of all wifdom.
Now, if he knows him/elf^ he will know that he has, within his
cloaths, three diftinft fubftances, which make but one man ; ttic in-
tellectual, the animal, and the vegetable : i f v/hich three every
fmgle individual man is compofed ; fo that of the three there io but
one being, nor without any one of the three could we conceive him
to be man.

And here we may obferve, what I have taken notice rf clfe-
where*, how imperfect St Auguftine's notion of the Trinity w >,
when he fays that there were not Three Perfons only in the Trinitv
but that there might be any other number : Whereas it is evident
that three conftituent principles or efficient caufes of the univerfe on-
ly could be, viz. the Firft Perfon of the Trinity, the Author of tiie
whole univerfe; 2^/, Intelligence, the firft production from the Fn-ffc
Caufe, and the Second Perfon of the Trinity ; and, j^/, the Principle
of Life or Animation, produced from the Second Perfon, and who
is the Third Perfon.

Now, let us confider how the ideas of Plato agree with the f f-
VoL. V. B b tem

* Vol. 4. p. 392.

194 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIT.

trm of the Univcrfe as it is contained in the dodrine of the Trinity?
And I fc\j that they are a fequel or continuation of that dodlrine,
Ihowing the progrefs of it through all the Beings of the univerfe.
According to the fyilein of the univerfe, contained in that doc-
trine, all things are not immediately from the Firft Caufe, or
Cauje of Ca/tfes^ as Ariftotle expreifes it, but med ately through
the other Two Perfons, the Second of which is faid to be the only
begotten if the F'lrfl Caife^ or of the Father^ as he is called : And
from the Second Perfon is produced the Third, that is the Holy.
Spirit. Now, the firft produdion of the Firft Caufe is undoubtedly
a real being or fubftance ; and fo is the produdion of the Third
Perfon ot^ the Trinity from the Second. From thefe two Perfons
of the Trinity Plato carries on the produdion of all the other beings
of the univerfe, by his ideas, which are all immaterial fubftances^
having likewife an exiftence by themfelves. And as all the beings
in the univerfe have in them either intelligence, or a principle of
life and animation, or both, it is evident, that they muft be all de-
rived from one, or other, or both of thefe principles. The firft
ideas derived from them muft be ideas the moft general, and con-
fequently the moft excellent, as containing in them all other ideas.
From them are produced ideas lefs general; and fo on from genus
to fpecies, down to the loweft fpeciefes, from which proceed the
ideas that are incorporated with body, as I have defcribed the pro-
grefs in a preceding part of this chapter*; fo that here the whole
fyftem of the univerfe is carried on, as the progrefs of it is given us
in the dodrine of the Trinity, by beings that have each a real and
feparate exiftence, and the more excellent producing the lefs ex-
cellent.

From what is above faid, it is evident that, in the Trinity, there
is a proceffion, or emanation, from the Firft Perfon, or Author of

the

^ Page 186. and 187.

Chap. XI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 19;

the univerfe, frft to the Second Perfon, and then from the Second
Perfon to 'he Third ; and it is alfo evident, that the Second PerO^n
is not only the firft produ6lion, but the onlv immediate produdioa
from the Firft Perfon: So that all things in the univerfe mull
be produced from the Second and Third Perfons of the Trinity.
And the only queftion that remains to be confidered is, Whe-
ther all things exifting proceed immediately from thofe two prin-
ciples ; or whether there be not an intermediate proceffion and
emanation by different fteps and degrees, in the fame manner
as thofe two principles proceed from the firft caufe. And I think
it is evident, that if this were the cafe, the iyitcm of the uni-
verfe would be much m.ore regular and uniform, than u^)cn the
contrary fuppofition. Now, as every theift muft believe that the
univerfe is a fyftem, and the moft perfed fyftem that can be ima-
gined, I think we muft hold that inch is the progrefs of things, from
the firft caufe downwards, unlefs the contrary could be proved by
the cleareft demonftration ; of which I have hitherto itcw nothino-.
not even in the writings of Ariftotle, whofe chief argument agalnft
it is, that it multiplies Beings unnejeffarily, and that it does not explain
any thing in nature. But I fay it does not multiply Beings unnecef-
farily, as it tends to eftablifli the certainty of knowledge, and makes
the fyftem of the univerfe more perfed ; and fo far from not ex-
plaining the nature of things, it completes the fyftem of nature, by
carrying the dodrinc of the Trinity, which contains the firft prin-
ciples of things, through the whole of nature, and fo making one
fyftem of the univerfe.

The moft general ideas, fuch as the Categoric^ being produdive
of all other ideas, are firft in order after the Perions of the Trinity.
In the more general ideas the lefs general and the particular are
contained; and while they are fo contained, they are faid to exift
virtually in them, as the materials of which they are compofed exift

B b 2 in

io5 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

In ^be .^e'^-cral ideas ; but after they are produced, then they are faid
to ryWX o.^.tially: And as the whole univerfe confifts of beings that
produce ind are produced, this diftindion, of virtual and a^ual ex-
igence, goes through the whole fyftem of nature.

This produdion, of lefs general ideas from more general which
contain them, may be very properly called generation : For
the nature of generation is, that the being which generates pro-
duces out of itfelf what is generated; and, accordingly, the term
begotten^ or generated^ is very properly applied to the Second and
Third Perfons of the Trinity, which are produced, the one from the
Firft Caufe of all things, and the other from the Second Caufe. And
here we may obferve the analogy that there is betwixt the proceffion
of ideas from one aaother, and the proceflion in the Perfons of the.
Trinity.

And not only is this fyflem of ideas perfectly agreeable to the
dodtrinc of the Trinity, but it alfo agrees wuth one of the moft
ancient pieces of philofophy that is preferved to us, I mean the
work of the Pythagorean philofopher, Timxus the Locrian, de-
anima mundi ; which fhows, what I fhould otherwife have believ-
ed, that Pythagoras learned this dodrine of ideas in Egypt, as well
as Plato. Timxus fays, " That all things in the material world are
compofed of matter and ideas ; which two, joined together, make
what is called body.''' Now, if ideas were nothing elfe but what Arif-
totle makes them, that is, creations of our minds, they could not,,
with any propriety, be faid to be any part of the compofition of the
material world. But what is decifive in the cafe, he calls them
ovtrioui, that is fuhJla7Kes ; a term that cannot apply to beings which
have no exlftence by themfelves but exift only in the minds of men,
fuch as the ideas of Ariftotle. And it may be obferved, that, in this
pair?^ge of Tiraxus, the word ihx^ though not ufed by Ariflotle,

except

Chap. XI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 197

except in difpiiting with Plato, is ufed by this Pythagorean philofo-
pher; fo that Plato did not invent the word, but took it from the
Pythagorean fchool, and perhaps the dodrine alfo, if he did not
iearn it in Egypt.

What I know will ipake many people doubt of this dodrinc of
ideas begetting ideas, is tue difficulty of conceiving how one imma-
terial fubftance fliould beget another. But the fame difficulty oc-
curs in the doctrine of the Trinity, according to which the Second
Perfon is faid to be begotten of the Firft ; and in the fame way wc
muft fuppofe the Third Perfon to be produced from the Second. And
my anfvver to the diiFiculty is, \mo^ That natural generation is as dif-
ficult to be accounted for, as this fpiritual generation. And even in
it I hold that there is a generation of the mind as well as of the
body : For I cannot believe that there is a new creation of a mind
for every body that is generated, but that the mind is continued
by generation, and proceeds from the mind of the parent, or pa-
rents, as much as the body of the offspring does. But, idly^ Every
man, who is a theift, mud believe that all inferior intelligences, and, in
general, all minds, of every kind, proceed mediately from the great
fource of being, and immediately from the two principles above men-
tioned, viz. the fecond and third perfons of rhe Trinity. We muft
not, however, conceive, that the iubftance, from which the fpiritual
offspring proceeds, is any how leffeaed or i.npaired by that produc-
tion; which is the cafe in the generation of body: But we muft fup-
pofe, that the three great principles of nature are no more Icilened
or impaired by all the emanations from them, than the fun appears
to be by the conftant emiirion of rays for fo manv thoufands of
years, or than a feal is by an impreffion that is made from it. And
what I fay of the three great principles of the univcrfc, I extend al-
fo to the ideas of Plato : And I fay, what Plato has faid, that, by
communicating thcmfelves to fuch an infinite number of things,
they ftill prefcrve the integrity of their natures, without being leffen-

ed,

i9^« ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. BooV TIL

ed. Impaired, or divided: But the matter, wit-h which the emanation
from them is incorporated, muft necelTarily make a great difference
ol individuals ; in the Tame manner as the wax, upon which the fig-
nature of a leal is iinprefled, muft make a great difference of the dif-
ferent impreffions.

By this generation of ideas, we can eafily folve the difficulty, which,
it appears from Hato, the philoi(>phers of hi- time had, How the many
in one lliould be joined together in the fame idea \ And Plato him-
feif Ipeaks of his ideas, as being moft myiterious things ; " which,'*
fays he, '' prelerving the unity and fimplicity of their natures, run
through and mix with various fubitances and forms, comprehend-
ing and binding together thmgs of natures feemingly moft diffe-
rent*," And, indeed, I ftiould think this an incomprehenfible myf.
tery, if I thought that it was the fame individual idea that went
through a higher genus, and all the inferior genufes and fpeciefes
and even individuals, but ftill continuing one and the fame idea.
But, if we fuppofe that ideas, being immaterial fubftanccs, produce
one another, the more excellent the lels excellent, in the fame man-
ner as the Perfons of the Trinity do, the difficulty is removed.

And here we mav obferve, that the ideas of Plato, conne£Ved wirh
the do<fl:rine of the Trinity, prefcnt to us a mo'T: compleat fyftem of
the univerfe, wherein there is a chain of caufes and effeds of all things
cxifting, genufes, fpecies, and individuals, in which no linic is want-
ing, and where all things proceed from the Firft Caufe; which muft
contain them virtually^ in the fa ne manner as the genus contain*: the
fpecies, and all "ihe individuals proceeding from the Ipecies. And ^lom
thence we clearly i<-e the truth of what we are told in our ocripture,
that ait things are in God. and God in all things : For all things are
virtually in God, as they are produced from himj in the faaie manner

* See the Dialogue, entitled P/.n/etus.

CVap. XI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 199

as all the fpeciefes are in the genus, from which they are derived :
And God is in all things produced from him, and adually not vir-
tually, in the fame manner as the genus is in the fpecies; for the
fpecies man is virtually in the genus animal^ but that genus is aSiu--
ally in man, who could not exifl if he was not an animal. By what
I have faid of the Deity being acttually in all things, I would not be
underilood to mean, that his whole attributes are in any particular
thing, but that fome portion of intelligence, or of the fpirit of life
and animation, is adually in every thing that he has produced, that
is, in every thing in the univerfe.

From what I have faid, I think it is evident, that the ideas of Pla-
to, conneded with the dod.rine of the Trinity, make the moft com-
plete fyftem of the univerfe that it is pofRble to imagine. All the
things in the univerfe are divided into genufes, fpeciefes, and indi-
viduals: 'I he genufes contain the fpeciefes, and the fpeciefes the in-
dividuals ; and ail of them derived, by a regular progreffibn, from,
one Firfi. Caufe. The number of them muft be by us incomprehen-
fible: But they cannot be infinite, becaufe, if that were the cafe, the
univerfe could not be a fyftem ; for of the inji?iite there are na
bounds or livmits, and confequently no fyftem. But though we cannot
number the individual things exifting in the univerfe, nor even the
fpeciefes, we can give a number to the genufes, by reducing them
to ten clafles, or Categories^ as Ariftotle calls thera. This was done
by a Pythagorean philofopher, called Archytas, who has entitled his
work, very properly, Of the Whole of Things ; and indeed it is the
grandeft and moft comprehenfive work of philofophy, that ever
was written *. From thefe moft general ideas, or tmiverfals^ as
they may be properly called, are derived, in long order, all the fe-
veral inferior genufes, the fpeciefes under them, and the individuals

under

* See what I have further faid of this great clifcovcry in p. 1 70. of this vol, and- in
the paffage there referred to from vol. 4.

206 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book TIL

under the fpeciefes; and all thefe inferior beings are conneded vrith
fuperior, by the clofleft connedion that can be imagined, thav is, by-
being parts of them : By which connedion, of whole and of part,
everything in the univerfe is conneded with everything; for every
thing either contains, or is contained, in every thing; and very many
things both contain and are contained. The fpecies, for example,
contains the individuals, and is itfelf contained in the genus; And
as that genus contains the ipecies, fo it is itfelf contained in a higher
genus : And fo the fyftem proceeds till we afcend to the higheft
genufes, or Categories, which are contained m the Firft Caufe of all
things. And, indeed, this union of things in the univerfe is fo re-
markable, that there cannot be any affirmative propofition without
the predicate of that propofition containing the fubjecf : And even
the fubjed of a negative propofition, though it be not contained in
the prcedicate of that propofition, muft be the genus or fpecies of
fome other propofition; lo that it likewife contains, or is contained,
in Ibmething elle. A fyftem, therefore, in which things are fo inti-
mately conne ted together, that there is nothing in it which is not
conneded with fome other thing, and where all things are conndtcd
with all things in this refped, that they all proceed from the fame
caufe, muft be the moft perfect fyftem that can be imagined.

Now, let us confider the fyftem of the univerfe, according to
Ariftotle's dodrine of ideas. According to that dodrine, everything
is derived immediately from the Firft Caufe: Which muft be the
cafe if there be no intervention of general ideas, really exifting
and not in the mind only, betwixt the I'irft Caufe and the beings
in the univerfe; fo that the meaneft aaiuial Drid vegetable muft pro-
ceed immediately from the Firft Caufe. Vv ruv-cas, according to the
dodrine of the Trinity, even the Thi^d Hc-irm does not proceed'
immediately from the Firft C>iiic, bii^ bv rhr inrervemion of the
Second Perion. Ariftotlcs dodiine of ideas, ther.uM- -eilroys en-
tirely'

Chap. XI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 201

tirely that progrefTion of things from the Firft Caufe, and that fiib-
ordinatlon of lower things to higher, witho-t which we cannot con-
ceive order or regularity in any lyftem. It is, I think, the more
furprifing, tl.at he Ihould deny exiftence of thofe ideas, or minds,
by themfelves, when he acknowledges that there are fo many minds
in the univerfe, animating not only animals and vegetables, but bo-
dies that are commonly thought to be inanimate, fuch as ilones and
minerals, and direding their motions ; fo that a llonc does not tail
to the ground otherwife than by the adiion of the mind that is in it.
And this muft be the cafe, unlefs we are to fuppofe that body moves
itfelf by a vis infita^ as Sir Ifaac Newton maintains; and not only is
that idea, or mind, in every body, the principle of motion in that body,
but it gives it its form, and makes it what it is. Now, it appears to
me very extraordinary, that thofe minds ihould exift only in matter
and not by themfelves. Our intelledtual mind, Ariftotle acknow-
ledges, has a feparate exiftence; and it never is in fo great perfedtion,
he fays, as when it exifts in that way. Now, why fhould not even
inferior minds have alio a feparate exiftence? Every mind, however
inferior to our intelledtual mind, is of a nature fuperior to matter :
And, if fo, it muft appear very extraordinary, if it has not, as well as
matter, an exiftence by itfelf. This would be to degrade mind
even below matter, and to fuppofe a thing, of which there is no
other example in the univerfe; I mean a thing which has no ex-
iftence by itfelf, but only in conjunction with other things. — liuc to
return to Plato's dodtrine of ideas.

It is not only necefTarily connedled with the dodlrine of the Tri-
nity, but, I think, it is alio connedled with his uodinxie ot :\\ oar
knowledge being nothing more than rcmini/cencc. Tnat the Can. tun
doctrine of the Fall of man, as well as that of the rrinity, was incua-
tained by Fla'-o, though not by Ariftotle, is evident from lus writ-
ings*. And upon that hypothefis, 1 think it is necclDry, tha wiiat

Vol. V. C c knowlcu^^e

* See p. 385. and 2oc. of this vol.

202 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

knowledge we attain in this life, mud be of the kind that Plato fup-
pofes : For as tlie tendency of our progrefs in this life is to reftore
us to what we had loft by the fall, fo every thing we acquire in this
life is no more than regaining what we loft by our fall: And, there-
fore, if all the knowledge we acquire here was new knowledge,
we could not be faid, fo properly, to be rejiored to the former ftate,
as to be recreated; and there would be fomething, of which we ob-
ferve no other inftance in nature, I mean a thing, that once exifted,
being entirely loft and annihilated.

This argument, I know, will appear to many too metaphyfical,
and too fiir fetched. I will, therefore, give another, which comes
nearer to the point, and, I think, is abfolute demonftration. It is
taken from the nature of knowledge and of learning. A man can
only learn who is ignorant. Now, ignorance is of two different
kinds ; for either we are ignorant altogether, and were fo from the
beginning, never having known the thing ; or wc once knew the
thing, but have forgot it, and fo are ignorant of it. If the hrft were
the cafe, we never could learn any thing in this life, unlefs by
infpiration ; for all learning, whether w^e teach ourfclves or teach
others, muft proceed from fomething that we or they knew before,
but which may have been forgotten; for here the maxim will apply^
ex nih'ilo nihil fit. If, therefore, we have not, nor ever had, any
knowledge, we can learn nothing. Now this knowledge, which we
thus recover when we firft come into the world and begin to cul-
tivate arts and fciences, we muft have had in another ftate of our
exiftence, but have loft or forgotten it.

By this knowledge, thus recovered, we form ideas, and perceive
that thofe ideas reprefent to us the nature of the thing we want to
knovv: And, further, it is by this reminifcence, or recovered know-
ledge, that we perceive the tiuth of axioms. By the fame fore-
knowledge.

Chap.'XT. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 203

knowledge, when we cannot perceive irnmediatc^ly tlie connexion of
ideas, as we do in the cafe of axioms, we diicover a tliird idea, by
which we connect them to^>ether : And this is what we call reafrn-
ing or fyllogizing ; the art ot which Anlloile has explained bet.cT
than any other phiioiopher, and has made or it a wondcrri'ul iylji.rn
of fcience ; and which, like all good philofophy, is, as I hav? r-
ferved, conneded with Theology; ior it explams to us rbe v (^ ..
by which we are enabled fo far to regain our former Hate cvcii in
this life.

This fyftem of prefcience and reminifcence very v/ell accounts for
the facility with which we learn; of which Plato has given us a
fine example in the Mcno. For having known the thing before,
when the image of it is prefented to us, (for things on this e..rth are,
as 1 have obferved, no more than the images of the ideas, o» tiie r x.
evTc>}i on a,) we immediately recognife it as we do the face of an oid
acquaintance, when we fee his portrait : Whereas, if we had n^ver
feen or known the perion, we never could divine whole poi trait it
was.

And here we may obferve how properly the wlfdom and good-
nefs of God has contrived that, in this our ftate of probation, we
fhculd be able to recover the knowledge we had loft. By our 1 .11
we loft the ule of intelled ; a very natural puniftunent for haviiig
abufed it fo much as to fancy ourfelves to be Gods: But we relum-
ed the capacity, or power, of accpiiring it; and we now acquire it,
and become poflefted of it in energy or aduaUry, by tiie means of
our fenfes, which are converfant with corporeal fonr^s, the images, as
I have faid, of the pure intelledual forms. The capacity, which we
have ftlll retained, of acquiring intelled, we exercife upon ihofe
outward forms in which the idea is lutcat, and as it were overlaid

C c 2 with

204 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

v'ith mntter, from which we are obliged to difengage it, and to
finv^le it out as we would do a friend or old acquaintance out of a
crcuLl ; for, in this world, all things are fo mixed with all things,
as an antient philofopher ohferved, that it requires a great deal of
accuracy and attention to fmgle any one idea out of a great ma-
ny, and to prefent it to the mind by itfelf. And, indeed, I fhould
think it inipoffible, that a creature, with only the capacity of intel-
lect, fhould be able, even with the affiftance of his fenfes, to difcover
the ideas of things wrapt up, as they are, with the integuments of
matter, and to put them together fo as to form arts and fciences,
without the aid of reminifcence.

Having mentioned intellect and fenfe, as two faculties of the mind
quite diftind, as diftinct as what is perceived by them, namely, ideas
and perceptions of fenfe, it may not be improper, for the fake of
thofe who know nothing of philoibphy, except from what they
have read in Mr Locke, who plainly confounds ideas and fenfations,
to explain, in few words, the difference betwixt fenfe and intelled: :
And, I fay, they are fo different, not only in the manner of their
operation, but in the objed:s upon which they operate, that what
the one perceives the other does not perceive; for fenfe does not
perceive ideas, which are the objeds of intelled:, any more than in-
teiled perceives the objeds of fenfe, that is the qualities of bodies ;
For a blind man, let his intelled be ever fo perfed, cannot perceive
colours, any more than a deaf man can hear founds. And again
as the fenfe cannot perceive the idea of any individual thing, but
only the material form, far lefs can it gencralife or form the idea of
a fpecies, becaufe fenfe cannot compare or perceive a whole in any
thing, but only receives the impreffions made upon it by the adion
of corporeal objeds. And this leads us to obferve not only the dif-
ference in the objeds of thofe two faculties of the mind, but alfo in
the manners of their operation : For fenfe does not operate by itfelf,

but

Chap. XI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 205^

but only receives the impreffion made upon its organs by the adion
of body upon thefe organs ; whereas tlie mtelledt is not paffive like
fenfe, but ads of iti'elf, and by what may indeed be properly called
a vis inftta^ though it may ad upon materiaiS furnithed by the fen-
fes, and does fo ad when it diicovers the ideas of pur icular thino-s
or the ideas of the lowefl fpeciefes ; and it is in this {q\\{q that we
are to underftand Plato, when he fays that our intelledual mind is
avroxtvtjTog, or Je/f-moved'^,

* See what I have faid further upon the difference betwixt fenfe and intellect, in p.
1 19. and following, of this vol. where I have maintained, what may appear a very ex-
traordinary paradox, " That we do not fee a man j" for this plain reafon, that by our
fenfe of fight we cannot difcover that he is of the fpecies of man ; for it is only by the
intellea, which perceives things as they are conne^ed with one another, that w<: can
have the idea oi fpecies or genus.

CHAP.

^a6 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

CHAP. XII.

\the Materia Prima a fuhjeEl of mojl ahjlrufe /peculation^ — mnre ab-
Jlrufe than that of- the Trinity. — Its exiflcnce admitted by all the
Antient Ph'ilofophers^ — called by them ^vXt; ; — held to be different
from Bod)\ having none of the quauties of Body. — Timazui calis
it the Mother^ and Idea the Father^ of Body. — Being neither Mind
nor Body., it can only be comprehended >.oyKr^u) vo&oc. — // is hot
treated of by Modern Philofophy^ which has not analyfed farther
than to the four Elements. — Though none of thefe^ it muf be fome-
ihing common to them all., and convertible to every one of them, as
they change into one another. — // is a Proteus-like fubfance ;~ not
to be very accurately defned; — is at the lower extremity of the chain
of being. — Neither the lowejl nor highejl extremity ccmprehenfible by
lis, — Two que/} ions in Theology fated : — Did this ftf matter pro-
ceed from Deity ^ Or if it did 7iof^ Is it impious to maintain that a
thiu^., not derived from him.^ can exif from all eternity f —Anfiter
to frft quefion — // did not. — Rea/ons in fupport of the author s
opinion. — The fecond quefion conftdered—No impiety in the fuppofi-
firjji, — The /luthfjr fupported by Antient Philo/ophy in his opinions
en thefe two quefions., — by Mofes — by Timaus — ajid by Ariftotlc,

Cliap. XII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 207

N the preceding chapter I have fliown what are the efpcieiit and
formal cauies of the univerle, ajid hotv, from thofe cauies, it
proceeds with the greateH: order and regularity, fo as to form a
fyftem the moft perfett that can he imagined. 1 have alfo Ihown
that Ideas are incorporeal fubitances, animating ail bodies unor-
ganifed as well as organifed, and giving form and motion to every
body here on earth. But what Body is, or of what matter it is
compofed, or from whence it is derived, 1 have not yet e;xplalned.
This, however, is neceflary to be done, otherwife we cannot under-
ftand the nature of that part of the univerfe which we inhabit, 1 mean
the material world, nor of a great part of our own compofuion ; fo
that our knowledge of the univerfe, and even of ourfelves, would be
very imperfect.

The antients, whofe opinion I follow in this as well as otlier fub-
jedts of philofophy, make a diftindtion betwixt matter and body^
And they fay, that body is compofed of matter. This matter, which
is commonly called the firjl matter, the antient philof iphers called
'vXti, and tell you that it is quite difierent from body, havinp- no
form or dimenijons, nor any other qualiry of body. Timixus as I
have obferved in the laft. chapter*, tells u^, that of it and idea body
is compofed; of which he lays matter is lo be confidered as the mo-
ther, and Idea as the father. As therefore it is neither mind nor bo-
dy. What is it then? All he fays, in anfwer to this queftion, is,'That
it is not perceived by the fcnfes, nor by the intelled, as we hive no
idea of it; but we know it, he lays, vod:.. Xoyia-fA.u, that is, by a baf-
tardklnd of reafon; of which all the lenfe, i can make, is, that we
know it only by negation ; for we know that it is neither mind nor
body, nor has any of the qualities of either, /^s to our modern
philofophers, they appear not to have thought of it at all, having

• ' carried

* Page \C)6.

2-t ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

carried their analyfis, of the material world, no farther than the four
elements. But if it be true, as I believe our modern philofophers
allow, that thefe elements change into one another, and

m quarernion run

Perpetual circle, multiform; Par. Loft, Book 5. v. 18©.

as Milton cxprefTes it, there muft be fome matter common to them
all, which in certain circumftances and by certain changes, becomes
anyone of the elements: So that nature performs upon this common
matter, what the art of man performs upon wood and metal, giving
it various forms and applying it to different ufes ; and in this way I
would chufeto make a kind of Proteus of it, and to affert fometbing
pofitive of it by way of definition. But that we (hould not be able
perfedly to comprehend it, or to give of it an accurate definitio 1, is
not to be wondered,* if we confider that it is the loweft thing in na-
ture, and is at the extremity of one end of the wonderful chain of
nature, even below body. Now, it is natural that both extremities
of this wonderful chain, the loweft as well as the highcft, Ihould be
out of the reach of cur capacity, in this ftate of our exiftence*. H^re
there occur two queftions of Theology which deferve to be well
confidered : uno, Whether we can fuppofe that this /irfi maiier
proceeded, as mind does, from the Deity? and, idly^ fupp.iling
it did not, Whether it be not impious to maintain that any thing
can exift from all eternity, and yet not be derived from the Deity,
or, in other words, be felf-exiftent? As to the firft of thefe queftions,
I cannot conceive that matter fhould proceed from mind, any more
than that mind (hould proceed from matter; for nothing can proceed
from another thi.ig, but what is contained in it. Now, it is impof-
fible for me ;o believe that maiter makes any part of tne fubft ince
of Deity. Even our minds, though ^lofely united to our bodies, do
not produce the bodies of our children: But, as I have faidf, it is

from
* See more upon this lubjedi, voi. 1. p. aH, f Tige 197. of this vol.

Chap. XII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. -09

from our bodies that their bodies come, and from our minds their
minds ; and if (o, as the Deity is certainly not embodied, but a pure
immaterial fubftance, I think it is a contradidion in terms to fup-
pofe that matter fhould proceed from him. It may be faid, tliat
though he do not contain matter in himfelf, he may create it. But
this is an abufe of the word creation^ as if it denoted the making a
thing out of nothing, which is by the nature of things impoilible;
for nothing is more certain than that ex nihilo nihil fit. There muft,
therefore, have been fome material being from all eternity, otherwife
nothing material could ever have exifted; and out of that being
every material fubftance muft have come: So that what is called
Creation is truly a proceffion from this material being ; and, indeed,
every thing that is produced in this univerfe is a proceffion from the
caufe which produces it, as we have fcen from the example of the
more general idea producing the lefs general, where there is nothing
like creation out of nothing, but a proceffion from the caufe produc-^
tive of what was contained in it.

If this reafoning be juft, then matter muft neceffarily be felf-ex-
iftent: And this leads to the other queftlon, Wiiether it be not impi-
ous to fuppofe that there is any thing felf-exiftent except Deity ?
Now, I fay that there are things which, by natural neceffiy, are felf-
cxiftent as well as matter. Space, for example, is not a mere
nonentity, as fome would reprcfent ; for, befidi.^s the capacity of
containing body, it has dimenfions, and is extended in every direc-
tion*: Then there is the truth of axioms or felf-evident propofitions
which are true of themfelves, and cannot be faid to derive their
truth from Deity, who could not have made them to be falfe. But
we need not go farther than the Supreme Being himfelf, who exifts
by natural neceffity: And by the fame neceffity of nature, I fay, mat-
ter exifts: So that by the fame neceffity there is an efficient and a
Vol. V. D d materLiI

f See Vol. I. of this work, p. 364. and 36£.

210 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

material caufe of the unlverfe ; and I think there is the fame reafon
for both, and that they were both equally neceflary.

This philofophy of mine, however extraordinary 'it may appear
to our philofophers at prefent, I hold to be the mod antient philo-
fophy in the world. It was the philofophy of Mofes, who certain-
ly fuppofes that matter exifted before the creation of the world: And
this matter he calls water ^ which, among the Egyptian philofophers,
w^as the type of the firft matter ; and, upon the water, he fays, that
the fpirit of God moved. By Intelligence, therefore, the world, ac-
cording to him, was created; and the word, which we tranflate
create^ fignifies, as I am informed, in the original Hebrew, fet in
order; fo that the God of Mofes was the ©so? of the Greeks, a
name derived from Qzu or n&n^i^ fignifying to place or put in
order : And with Mofes agrees Timaeus, who fays, that Idea,
cut of matter, formed body. Now, ideas are all derived from
the Supreme Mind; fo that in effect Timasus has faid that it was
the Spirit of God, which, out of matter, formed the material world.
And that matter exifted before a world was formed, was alfo the
Gofmogony of the Greek mythologifts, who, out of ckaos, fuppof-
ed the world was produced. Timaeus has not only made matter,
or *yX)i, that, out of which Body is by Idea generated, but he makes
it to fill all fpace j and, therefore, he fays, that it is xht place or Jeat
of this fublunary world : Which (hows that he believed there was no
vacuum in nature, but that all fpac« was filled with matter ; a doc-
trine which Ariftotle has ufed many arguments to maintain. So that,
according to thefe philofophers, there was always mind in the uni-
verfe as well as matter ; both which they confidered to be of necef-
fary exiftence, as neceffary as that where there is an aSlive princi-
ple, fuch as mindy there fhould be fomethin^ pjjfive, fuch as mat-
ter^ upon which that principle a<^s — fo- adion and pailion are co-
xelatives which muft neceflarily exift together.

CHAP.

Chap. XIII. ANTIENT METAPH YSICS* 211

CHAP. XIII,

^he Ml croc of m in Man falls naturally to he explained^ after the Can--
fc'itution oj the Great Worlds which is coiifidered in the laji Chapter,
— Our Microcofm con/i/ls of the intedeStual^ Animal ^ and Vegetable
Minds or Lives ^ and of Body ^ and joined to it the Elemental Lije,^~'
Man generally confidered by Philcfophers^ at preftnt^ as one Sub-
fiance, conffing of Mind and Body; and thtfe different Minds as no
more than Qualities of that Subfance. — ^he Author maintains a dif^
ference of Minds in Man both in their Natures and Operations ^' —
and all thefe different from Body, — Our Intellectual Mind ^having the
power of a&ing by if elf may exifl by it ft If ;— ana in place of being
affifled by the Body in its operations ^ is impeded. — From a comparifon
of its operations with thofe of the Animal and Vegetable Lives^ it
mti/l be a fubfance different from both. — By. a fimilar comparifon of
the energies of the Animal and Vegetable Lives ^ theje Lives proved
to be different fubftances from one another^ and not different qua-
lities of the fame Mind.. — The Author s doSirine^ of thefe three
Minds in Man^ learned from Arifloth. — Arguments^ in favour
of an Animal Mind^ from ConcoSiion^ Digefion, and other Ani-*
mal funSlions. — To /uppofe all this done without Mind^ is Ma-
terial fm. — The operations of the Vegetable^ as little to be account-
ed for from Matter and Mechanifn^ as thofc of the Animal; —
and a per [on ^ who can believe that to be the cafe of the Vegetable^
may btlisvc that all the operations of Nature proceed from no other
caufe. — Similarity betwixt the Conflituiion of Man and that of the
Great World^ — His compofition as various as his progrefs from, a

D d 2 State

212 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

State of Nature to Civility^ Arts^ and Sciences. — He is, therefore^
the mojl Wonderful Animal on Earth, and the nioji deftrving the
attention of the Philofophcr,

IN the preceding chapters I have explauied, or at leaft endeavour-
ed to explain, the conftitution of the great world or unlverfe.
In this chapter, I think, it is proper to give Ibme account of our mi-
crocofm, or little world, as it is not improperly called, containing,
as it does, every thing in the great world in a certain degree ; for
in it there is intellectual life, the animal or fenfitive life, the vege-
table life, and body ; and with body, that fort of mind, which is
common to all bodies, organifed and unorganifed, and which moves
them in a certain direction, fuch as up and down, and which is
called by Ariftotle Nature, and by me the Elemental Life. Upon
the fubjedt of this wonderful compofition in man, I have faid a
good deal elfewhere*, and alfo in this volume f : But, as man is
the fubjedt of this part of my work, and as his nature cannot be
p( rfedly underftood unlefs we know all the fubftances of his com-
pofition, and how they are conneded together, I will here add
ibmething more upon the fubje6t.

It 13, I know, the general opinion of the philofophers of this age,
that as man is only one animal, he is but one fubftance, confilling
of mind and body; and that thofe three minds, of which 1 fay he is
compofed, are truly no more than qualities of one mind ; but, I
think, I can demonilrate, that thefe minds are fo different from one
another, both in their natures and in their operations, that they muft
be diftind fubftances, and not qualities of the fame fubftance, and
that each of them muft be diftindl from Body, the fourth article I
mentioned of the compofition of man.

And, firft, as to the intellectual mind : That it is perfectly dif-
ferent
* Vol. I. Book 2. Chap. 12. t ^^8^ ^'°7' ^"^ following.

Chap. XIIL ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 213

ferent from body, and has, by its nature, an exiftence fcparate from
body, though, in tliis our compofitioi, it be joined with body, I
think is demonftrated by this plain argument: That whatever acts,
exifts ; and what ads by itfelf, mud exift by itfelf. Now, tha our
intelledtual mind ads by itfelf, we know by the moft certain or all
knowledge, 1 mean confcioufnefs; for in that way we know, that
our intelledual mind, fo far from ading in conjunction with the
body, or with any thing belonging to body, fuch as fenfation, is im-
peded in its operations by body; fo that it is clearly a fubitance quite
diftind from body. And this is a truth of great importance in the
philofophy of man, as it fhows evidently that our intelledual mind,
or foul, does not perifh with our body, when that is diflblved and
returns to earth from vrhence it came, but continues flill to exiit,
and to ad as it did before it was fepaiated from the body.

That it is a fubftance diftind alfo from the other two minds, which
are joined w^ith it in our compofition, is evident likewife from the
operations of thofe two minds, compared with the operations of our
intelledual mind : For as we know nothing of the efTence of any
thing in this our ftate of exiftence, we muft judge of the nature of it
by its qualities, and particularly by its energies and operations. Now,
the operation of the intelledual mind is thinking and reafoning :
The operation of the animal mind is moving the body, and per-
ceiving the impreffion made by external objeds upon its organs of
fenfe : The operation of the vegetable life is the fame in our bodies
that it is in the vegetable ; that is, it makes our bodies grow, and i:
nourifhes them. Now, both thefe operations are fo different from
the operation of the intelledual mind, which, as 1 have faid, is think-
ing and reafo?nng^ that it is impoffible they can belong to the fame
fubftance.

The next thing to be confidered is, Whether the animal or vege-

taule

214 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

table minds be different, or whether they are to be confidered as
different qualities of the fame mind ? And I fay, as I have faid with
refpedl to the difference betwixt the intellectual mind and the ani-
mal and vegetable, that the operations of thefe two minds are fo
different from one another that they muft be different fubftances ;
the one, as I have faid, moving the body, and perceiving external
objects by the fenfes, and the other making the body grow and
nourifliing it.

This dodlrine of the three minds in man, and of the difference
betwixt them, I have learned from Ariftotle, in his firft book De
Moribus^ chapter 13. and in the 4th chapter of the firft book of his
Magna Moralia ; from both which paffages it is evident that Arif-
totle held both the animal and vegetable parts of our compofition to
be minds, or 4'u;^a;, as he calls them, but both diflind: from our
intelleClual mind, and from one another. And, with refped to the
vegetable mind, or the ro ^^ett/xoi/, as he calls it, he fays that it dif-
fers not only from the intellectual, but from the animal, in this re-
fpeCt, that it has no ^o^^n-, that i«, appetite or hiclination^ but only adis
upon aliments offered to it; and he compares It, in this refpedt, to
fire, which confumes what is thrown into it, though it has no ''o^y^n
or inclination to take any thing. In like manner our vegetable life,
if you give it food, is nouriihed.; if not, it has no inclination, which
makes it feek the food. And, in the paffage above quoted, from
the firft book, De Moribus^ chapter 13. he fays, that it appears moft
in our fleep, while our two other minds, the intellectual and animal,
are at reft. And this confirms to me the truth of an obfervation,.
that I have heard made by feveral phyficians, that we digeft bet-
ter in our lleep than when we are awake: And it is very natural to
think, that when the other two minds are at reft, the third mind
fhould be moft aCtive. And it fhows that the antients were in the
xight, who made fupper their principal meal, not dinner as we do.

That

Chap. XIII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 215

That all thefe three fubftances, in our compofition, are minds,
and that every mind is an immaterial fubftance, I think I have prov-
ed in the 13th chapter of book 2. of the firft volume of this work;
though I know many of my readers will think it very extraordi-
nary, that the part of our animal frame, by which we grow and
are nourifhed, fhould have a mind in it, and be an immaterial
fubftance. But if we attend to its operations, by which it con-
c-odls and digefts our victuals, and feparates what is fit for <?ur
nourifhment, when it is turned into chyle and blood, from what
is unfit for nourifhment, and therefore is thrown off by perfpira-
tion or by fhool and urine., we muft be convinced that fo much
adtion and operation cannot be performed by body without mind,
unlefs we believe that body can adi and move itfeif without mind,
which I think is abfolute materialifm. And unlefs we believe that
there is a mind in us, by which we grow and arc ncurillied, we
cannot believe that there is a vegetable mind, from which this part
of our compofition has its name, but muft fuppofe that all the many
various operations of the vegetable, by which it grows and is nou-
rifhed, puts forth leaves, blofToms, flowers, and fruit, are all per-
formed by mere matter and mechamfm, without the operation of
mind ; which, if we believe, we may alfo believe that all the oper-
ations of nature are performed by matter or body without mind.

In this manner, I think, I have proved, that there is in bur little
world, as well as in the great, the famous rzr^oLKrvg of the Pytha-
goreans, confifting of Intelligence, the Animal and Vegetable lives,
and Body ; which, they faid, was the difcovery of their mafter Py-
thagoras, and they thought it fo great a difcovery, that it was a
folemn oath among them, " By him who difcovcrtd the rer^a^ry;,
" the fource," - they faid, " of ever-flowing nature;" and, indeed, it
is the fource of every thing in this univerfe. And 1 have alfo
ihown *, that, as we are the image of God here upon earth, we

have
* Page 193.

2i6 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book HL

have in our compofition a Trinity of three diftinil minds, joined
together by an hypojlatical or confubJla?itial union, fo as to make
thefe three but one Being*. Of thefe three minds, the governing
mind is the intelledual; fo that our little world, as well as the great,
is governed by intelligence, which, as I have obferved f, direds
the operations of our other two minds, and of our bodies.

Thus it appears, that man is an animal as various in his compo-
fition, as in his progrefs from his natural ftate to civility, arts, and
fciences ; fo that he is, in every refped, the moft wonderful animal
upon this earth, and moft deferving of the attention and ftudy of the
philofopher.

* Who would defire to know more of this Trinity in man, may read what I have
faid of it in the firft volume of this work, Book 2. Chap. 1 2.

+ See p. T08 of this vol. wherr I have mentioned a wonderful effect produced by it
in an inftant upon the organs of motion in our bodies.

CHAP»

Chap. XIV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. £17

CHAP. XIV.

X)f the Summum Bonum — placed by the Epicureans in Bodily Plea--
furesy — hy the Stoics in Mental, — The latter in the right. — The
IntelleEl perceives the to xocXov ; — the contemplation of which^ ac-
cording to the Stoics^ is mans only good^ — and is ivhat gives deiiv bt
to the IntelleSl. — The Pains and Pleafures of Intellett arife from
Thinking, — Our thoughts^ therefore^ to give us Pleafure^ mull have
Beauty for their Obje£i;—-and the more j. eau!y the greater PUafure,
'—The Univerfe the mofl Beautiful oj all things exifling; — and the
perception of its Beauty^ as far as our limited capacity will permit^
our greatefl Pleafure, — Of the Beauty of our own Works, — By re-
fleEiing on the Wifdom and Goodnefs of fuch^ we enjoy ^ in part^ the
Pleajure of the Creator of the Univerfe. — The contemplation of our
aSiions^ as they are Good or III, afource of conflant Delight or Pain,
— Of the Pleafure derived from the good actions of others;^ of Pa-
rents ^ Relations^ and Friends : — The Author s peculiar Happinefs
in thefe refpe&s, — The Pleafures of Friendfhip very great, ^ Of the
Pleafure derived from works of Art ^ Science^ and Philofophy.— 7 he
fudy of thefe a necejfary part of the Summum Bonum. — This the
Exercife of hit elk dl : — Exercife neceffary to the Mind as well as to
the Body, — Philofophy the Author s greatefl Pie. fur e in his old age,
— This Philofophy from Greece and Egypt. — Cultivated by Families
of Prie/ls in Egypt ^ and by Se&s of Philofophers in Greece \-^ there
fudied by Young Men as well as Old.— From Greece it went to Rome,
but did not make fuch progrefs there.— To be better learned now from
the Greek Commentators upon Arlflotle^ of the Alexandrian School,
Vol. V. E e than

2i8 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

than from Cicero and Seneca.— The Romans excelled only in Arms and
Government; — inferior to the Greeks in Language and the Writing
Art, — T^heir Hijlory better learned from the Halicarnajfan and Po^
lybius than from Livy. — Their moji valuable literary work the Cor-
pus Juris. — The pro/pe& of a much happier Life in the next World^
and a defire^ when we become oldy to bi delivered from the burden
of this Body, added to the Plea/ures already enumerated^ com-
pleat the enjoyment of the Suminum Bonum, and render us as hap-
py as we can be in this flate of Trial and Pilgrimage, — Conclufion
of the Comparifon of the Natural with the Civ'iifed State of Man,— ^
With refpeSl to the Body^ the Natural State preferable: — With re-
fpe£l to the Mindy the Civilifed. — The Civil fed^ therefore^ the hap-
pier State when Governed by Philofophy and Religion.

I Have faid fo much of the happiuefs or mifery of men, that I
think it will not be improper to fay fomething of what the an-
tients called the Summum Bonum, or fupremc happinefs of men in
this lifcy about which the Stoics and Epicureans differed fo much..
The Epicureans made it confift wholly in bodily pleafures, whereas
the Stoics placed it in the enjoyments of the mind : And the Stoics
were certainly in the right ; for as the mind (they meant the intel-
lectual) is the governing principle in man, and makes him truly
man, by diftinguifliing him from the other animals on this earth,
the perfeQion of it muft be the perfedion of his nature, and confe-
quently his greatefl happinefs. What the intelled perceives in the
fubjed: which gives it delight, is the ro ttoc'kov^ or the Beautiful; in the
contemplation of which they made the happinefs of man to confift,
and therefore they faid it was his only good. That it is the Beau-
tiful, and the Beautiful only, which gives dehght to the intellect, I
think I have proved in the chapter upon Beauty*. I will, therefore,

proceed'
'^ Chap. 7. of this Book.

Cliap. XIV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 219

proceed to confider the feveral things which give pleafure to our
minds in this life.

As all the pleafure, as well as the pain of mind, muft proceed
from thinking, the queftion to be confidered here is, What fubjedls
of our thoughts give us pleafure? And, from what has been faid, it is
evident that they muft have beauty in them ; and the more beauti-
ful they are the greater pleafure they will give the mind. Now, it
is evident that the works of God, in the produdion of this univerfe,
being the work of fupreme wifdom and goodnefs, muft be the moft
beautiful of all things exifting. We ihould, therefore, endeavour
to perceive, as far as our li;iiited faculties will permit, what the great
creator perceived after he had finifhed his work, that all was beauti-
ful^ for fo the Hebrew word is tranflated by the Septuagint.

But, as this Beauty can only be perceived by men of great genius,
and genius much cultivated by the ftudy of philofophy, we muft de-
fcend to the works of the only intelligent being on this earth man
and confider what beauty is to be found in them. And wc
fhould begin at home, and refledt whether we have done any thin^
that has wifdom and goodnefs in it ; and if we have, by refleding
upon fuch adions, we may be faid to enjoy, in fome degree, a plea-
fure which the Almighty enjoyed in contemplating his own works.
I will add further upon this fubjed, that every man, who performs
any virtuous adion, will not only enjoy the pleafure of it, when he
does it, but it will be a conftant fource of delight to him while he
lives ; as, on the contrary, if the adion be vitious, it will give him
pain, upon refledion, during his whole life.

Next to our own good adions, thofe of our near relations, and
particularly of our parents, fhould give us the greateft pleafure; and
if we ourfelves are the fubjed of fuch adions, they ought to inipire

E e 2 us

220 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

us with a kind of veneration for them, and for their memories, af-
ter they are gone; and it is my particular good fortune to have a
recolled:ion of that kind which gives me the greateft pleafure. I had
a father, whom I can praife, for the care he took of my education,
with as great pleafure, and as much gratitude, as Horace praifes
his fatlier. He fold a part of his eftate to give me an educa-
tion, the fruits of which, I now, in my old age, enjoy ; and they
make me happier than if he had left me a Dukedom with the great-
eft fortune. I had likewife a mother, who was a moft tender and
affectionate parent. Of her I have a precious memorial, which I
moft carefully preferve : It is a letter, which fhe wrote me fome
days before her death, which happened v, hen I was out of the coun-
try. In this letter, fhe expreffes the greateft love and aft'edtion for
me, acknowledging, at the fame time, the marks of attention and
refpedt I had fhown to her during her life. I have a like pleafure
in thinking of the many virtues of fome of my friends, who are now
gone, and of the many good offices I received from them, and al-
fo from fome friends that are ftill living, and who, I hope, fhall out
live me ; and, indeed, there is no man living, that I know, who is
more obliged to friends than I am. Some men, I know, are unwil-
ling to acknowledge the obligations they owe to friends, and think
it below them to do fo : But, for my part, I am proud of thefe
obligations, becaufe I think the perfons who beftowed them perceiv-
ed fome worth and goodnefs in me, which they thought deferved
their favour. — In fhort, the friendfhip of men of worth is one of the
greateft pleafures we enjoy in this life.

But, befides works of goodnefs and beneficence, there are works
of intelligence, which, if well executed, muft neceffarily pleafe an
intelligent creature : The works I mean are thofe of art and fcience.
The ftudy of thefe, therefore, make a neceffary part of the Summiim
Bonum^ for onr intellectual mind muft have exercife as well as our

animal

Chap. XIV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 221

animal and our body ; and its only proper exercifc is in matters of
art and fcience, and particularly philofophy. A great part of the
pleafure which I now enjoy, in my old age, I owe to Plato and
Ariftotle, who are at prefent, when I write this, my companions
in the country; for it is to the Greek philofophy that I apply, and
which is all we have of the philofophy of Egypt, the parent coun-
try of all arts and fciences. It was not hereditary among the Greeks
as it was in Egypt, where it was tranfmitted from father to fon, like
our eftates in this country, and where it was cultivated by men^
who, both by nature and education, were fitted for the ftudy of it.
It was, however, very much cultivated among the Greeks, who had
focieties of men that applied to it : I mean fed:s of philofophers,
fuch as the Platonics and Peripatetics, who taught their follow-
ers, not only by their writings, but by their converfation, which I
hold to be the beft way of teaching of any; as 1 find, by experience,
when I have the benefit of converfation with my learned friends in
London.

Among the Greeks, philofophy appears to have been the ftudy
not only of learned and elderly men, but of young men; and it
feems to have been a paffion among them, which made them ne-
glect their domeftic affairs. This appears from a paflage in one of
Terence's plays, where he makes S'nno fay, in praifing his fon,
" That he was not addided to horfes, dogs, nor to philofophers*.'*

N0W3
* See vol. 3. of Origin of Language, p. 461. — Here the reader will obfervc, that
though the plays of Terence are written by a Roman, and in the Roman language
they are tranfiations or imitations of the comedies of Menander; fo that the fables, the
chara<fl:ers, and the manners of them are all Greek, and the fcene is always In feme
Greek city: And, accordingly, the title of this play bears, ejl tota Graca; and the fcene
is at Athens. And,, indeed, what is faid in the paflage, I have quoted, of the paffioa
of young men for philofophy, will not apply to the youth of Rome, whofe pafllon, as
Horace tells us, was not for philofophy but for money.

Romani pueri longis rationibus affem

Difcunt in partes centum diducere De Arte Poetica. v, 325.

222 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

Now, let us confider, whether in Britain, or in any nation in Eu-
rope at prefent, philofophy can be invented or cultivated. We
have no focieties of men, or feds of philofophers, fuch as they had
in Greece : And there is certainly not that paffion for philofophy
fuch as was even among the young men of Athens; nor does it ap-
pear to be the purfuit of men of any age or profeffion among us.
As, therefore, we cannot invent philofophy, we mull learn it from
the Greeks, otherwife we cannot enjoy that greateft blefTmg, which,
Plato fays, the Gods have bellowed upon mortal men.

And here v^e may obferve one great advantage which the Greeks
had over us with refped to the ftudy of philofophy; and which, of
itfelf is fufficient to fhow that they mult have excelled us in that
ftudy ; and it is this, that the Greeks had no language to learn in
order to qualify themfelves for the ftudy of philofophy, as their own
language w^as fufficient for that purpofe, in which all the philofophy
of thofe days was written : So that after they had gone through
what they called the ivxvKXtot, ^jua^r^f^ccTu,, that is Grammar^ and the
o-rammar only of their own language, Mufic and the exercifes of the
Palseftra, they had no other branch of learning to apply to but phi-
lofophy. Whereas we, before we can be fit to learn the Greek phi-
lofophy, are obliged to employ feveral of the moft docible years of
our life (eight years at fchool in England, and four years at the uni-
verlhyj in the ftudy of the Greek learning and language.

As to the excellency of the Greek philofophy, above any thing
that we call philofophy, I think I have proved it moft clearly in the
Queries concerning philofophy, vvhich 1 have publilhed in volume
c. of Origin of Language*. And if my readers are not convinced
by what I have there laid, 1 have nothing further to add upon the

fulyea:,

* Page 419.

Chap. XIV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 223

fubje£l, but leave them to make the beft they can of the philolophy
of Mr Locke, Mr David Hume, or Dr Prielllcy.

Among the Romans there were no fchools of philofophy fuch as
in Greece ; and all they could learn of philofophy was either from
Greeks, that they happened to fee in Rome or in their own coun-
try, or from books. As to thefe, I am perfuaded that there are
more books upon the fubjed of Greek philofophy to be found in
the libraries of Europe, than were to be found in the Palatine libra-
ry of Auguftus Csefar: And particularly there are the Commentaries
of the Alexandrian philofophers upon Ariftotle, without the ufe of
which 1 never fhould have underftood his philofophy, but which
were not written when philofophy v/as fludied by the Romans. I
therefore, hold, that a man who has ftudied the Greek philofophy
with the help of the books which we have upon it, may know much
more of it than is to be found in the writings of Cicero or Seneca
or any other Latin philofopher : And, in general, 1 confefs myfelf
no admirer of the Latin learning, any more than of their language
compared with the Greek *. Nor, indeed, do they appear to me to
have excelled in any arts except arms and government: And this
Virgil has acknowledged, where he allows, that the Romans were
excelled by other nations in the fine arts, fuch as fculpture and ora-
tory, and in fciences, fuch as aftronomyj and he concludes with
thefe lines,

* Tu regere Imperlo populos, Romane, memento:
< (Hae tibi erunt artes) pacifquc imponere morem,

* Parcere fubjeais et dcbellare fuperbos.' YEneid. 6. v. 8 c/.

Even in hiftory they did not excel : And though they performed
the greatefl anions of any people that ever exifled, yet, by their
own hiftorians, we are not well informed of them. The original

conlHtution
* See vol. 5. of Origin of Language, p. 34.

224 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

conftitution of their government, and the firft ages of it, are very
much better related by the HaUcarnafTian than by Livy, as I have
fhown in volume 5. of the Origin of Language*: And 1 fhould not
have thought myfelf fufficiently informed of the moft remarkable
period of the Roman hiftory, the firft and fecond Punic wars, in
which the Romans fhowed fo much magnanimity, and a Ipirit not to
be fubdued by the moft difafterous events, and by the greateft lofles
both by lea and land, if Polybius had not given us the hiftory of it.

Upon the fubjedt of the Latin learning, 1 will only add, further
to what 1 have faid in volume 5. of the Origin of Language f, and
in volume 6. J, that 1 ftill continue of the opinion I have delivered
in the paflage laft quoted, that the moft valuable work of the liter-
ary kind that has come down to us from the Romans, is that collec-
tion of laws, commonly known by the name of the Corpus Juris ;
and 1 have obferved there, that they were the only antient nation who
made a fcience of the law of private property. It was by a decree
of the Emperor Lothario, declared to be the common law of all the
Weftern Empire: And at this day it is the law of moft of the na-
tions of Europe, and in Scotland it is the common law of the coun-
try.

Without the things I have mentioned, I think this life cannot be
happy; and if, to all thefe, we can join the profped of a much hap-
pier life in the world to come, and if we have lived fo in this, that,
when we become old, and find that we are incapable to make any
further improvement of our minds, we defire, as foon as it ftiall
pleafe God, to be delivered from this body, which incumbers our
intelledual part, and obflruds its operations fo much, that it may
be faid to be a kind of death to the inrelled, and therefore is pro-
perly enough called, by St Paul, this body of death ^ of which he de-
fires

* Book 1. Chap. i. f P^ge 21. % Page 280.

Chap. XIV. ANTIENT JMET API! VSI CS. 225

fires very earneftly to be free ; — If, I fay, joined to the other good
things I have enumerated, which \yq have enjoyed in this life, we
can leave it in the way I have mentioned, then we may be faid
to have enjoyed the Suimnum Borium^ and to have been as happy as
man can be in this ftate of trial and pilgrimage.

And here I iinifh my obfer^^ations upon the natural ftate of man,
compared with his civilifed life. And, I think, I have fhown very
clearly, that with refped: to the body, its health, ftrength, fize, and
longevity, the natural ftate is very much preferable to the civilifed :
But, as to the mind, I think, I have proved, that the civilifed life is
far preferable, as it is the parent of all thofe arts and fciences, by
which our minds are cultivated and brought nearer to that ftate from
which we are fallen. And there is one great advantage of the civi-
lifed life, which I have not yet mentioned, that it gives us the op-
portunity of pradifmg the political virtues of Prudence, Juftice,
Temperance, and Fortitude, much more than the natural life can do;
fo that it is truly a life of trial and probation, by which we may not
only cultivate our minds by arts and fciences, but improve our
morals and our fenfe of what is beautiful and praife-worthy, not In
fpeculation only but in adion, and fo prepare ourfelves for the life to
come. I fay alio, that it is the happieft life, if it be governed by re-
ligion and philofophy. It is true, that if it be not fo governed, it
is the fource of much mifery: Yet even in fuch a ftate fome few
may make themfelves happy by the means of religion, learning,
and philofophy, and, at the fame time, prepare themfelves for being
ftill happier in their future ftate.

I will add only one thing more upon the fubjecl of the compari-
fon of man in his natural ftate with man in the civilifed life; and It
is this: Man in his natural ftate is a mere animal, differing only
from other animals oq this earth, In this refpe6t, that he has the rj-

VoL. V. F f pacity

226 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III

pacity of intelled, which they have not : But when, in the civilif-
ed life, he has acquired intelligence in energy and a&uality^ he then
becomes the moft various animal that is on this earth, or can well
be conceived ; for then will apply to him what Horace fays,

.- quot capitum vivunt, totidcm fludiorum

Millia, Lib. 2. Sat. i. v. 27.

So that he is not only an animal, very various in his original compo--
fition, confifting of three minds, the intelledlual, the animal, and the
vegetable, and of body; and whofe progrefs, from that ftate to the
civilifed life, is very wonderful ; but when he is become a member
of civil fociety, he is ftill more various and more dillinguifhed in.
that way, from other animals on this earth, than in any of the pre-
ceding ftates. He is, therefore, in every refpe6t, the moft various
and the moft wonderful animal on this earth, and who therefore
ought to be ftudied moft diligently by the philofopher, as a fubje^fe
of the greateft curiofity, even if he were not fo intimately conneded
with him; fo intimately, that while he ftudies him, he ftudies him-
felf, and fo acquires the moft valuable of all knowledge, being the
foundation of every other knowledge ; I mean the knov/ledge of
himfelf.

CHAP.

€hap. XV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 127

CHAP. XV.

Ohfervations on the difference betwixt Man and other Ammah.^^InteU
Ugence^ which is peculiar to Man^ the caufe of that difference. — •
Brutes and other Animals only fen fitive, Mr Locke ^ by confounding
Senfations with Ideas, has confoujided Incelligence with Senfe, and
con/equently given Ideas or Knowledge to all Animals.' — That the
Brute has a comparative faculty .^ admitted by Ariflotle, • - He compares
not only Senfations., but the images of fenfthU objeBs in his Phanta^

fta. — If., therefore., Senfations be the fame with Ideas, he poffejjes
the Difcurfive Faculty, forms Propofititions^ and is an IntcllcSlual
Creature : — If fuch., his IntelleB mufl be much fuperior to ours ;—
his economy agreeable to nature — does every thing for the prtfcrva^
tion of the hidividual and continuation of the Species: — luflances of
this in the Bee. and Ant, — The Brute is dire6ied by Intelligence, but
does not a£l with Intelligence. — Confequence of the contrary fuppo^

Jition. — If the Brute has not Ideas., he cannot have the Dilcurlivc
Faculty, — forms no opinion of Good or HI, — and has not confci'-
oufnefs or refledlion. — The Divine Intelligence directs the Brute,-^
The Author'' s opinion in this matter., not to be confounded with
thofe Philofophers who make Brutes Machines. — The Animal mi nd^
in the Brute., dire&ed by Divine Pl^ifdom. — That dire6lion called In-
llindt. — Inftindi in Man alfo. — Infances oj this.

HAVING faid To much of the nature of man in this and the
preceding volume, I will conclude this book with fomc oh-
fervations upon the difference betwixt him and the brute, by which

Ff 2 I

22$ ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IIL

I hope to make It appear that intelligence makes him an animal al-
together different from other animals, fuch as the brutes, which are
only fenfitive but not intelligent. This is the more neceffary, that
our great philofopher Mr Locke has, as I have obferved*, confound-
ed ideas with fenfations, and accordingly has made a clafs of ideas
that he calls Lkas of Setifat'iotis. Now, the brutes have fenfations
as well as we ; and many of them fenfations more acute and more
perfed than ours : And as ideas are the foundation of all know-
ledge, if the brutes have ideas, they muft have knowledge as well as
we ; and if their fenfations be more perfed, their knowledge muft
be fo alfo.

Further, the brutes have not only ideas, according to the philofo-
phy of Mr Locke, but they compare thofe ideas ; and the refult of
that comparifon is, their preferring one thing to another. That
they have a faculty of comparifon is a fadl which, I think, cannot
be denied ; and, in confequence of that comparifon, they prefer one
thing to another, as I have elfewhere obfervedf : And it is foi; that
reafon, that the mere animal, without intelligence, is, by Ariftotle,
called Xuov XoytKovXi and, accordingly, he has defined man to be
fuch an animal, before he has acquired intellect and fcience. And
not only does the brute compare together objeds of fenfation, while
they are prefent to the fenfes, but he compares the images of fenfi-
ble objeds, which he has retained in his phantafia, with objeds
prefently perceived by his fenfes, as I have faid in the loth chapter
of this book§: So that, if fenfations are ideas, the brute retains them
in his mind, as we do our ideas, and compares them with other fen-
fations, that is, according to Mr Locke's philofophy, with other
ideas. Upon the principles, therefore, of Mr Locke's philofophy, he
may be faid not only to have ideas, but to compare them together,
and to exercife that intellectual faculty of the human mind, which

* Page 172. t Vol. 4. p. 13. t I^^^- P- 12. and 13.

§ Page 175. of this vol.

Chap. XV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. ^2^

is called the difcurfive faculty^ by which ideas are compared toge-
ther, and propofitions formed.

If the brute be an intelledual creature, it is evident that his intel-
lect muft be much fuperior to ours ; for the whole economy of the
brute in his natural ftate, (that is when he is not under the domi-
nion of man), even of thofe of the loweft rank, is perfedlly agreeable
to his nature; and he does every thing for the prefervation of the
individual and the continuation of the race, that the moft confum-
mate intelle(ft could devife ; and for that purpofe makes wonderful
works, fuch as even infeds, like the bee and ant, make. That the
brute, therefore, is direded by intelligence in his operations, and by
moft perfed intelligence, it is impoffible to deny: And, therefore, the
only queftion is. Whether the intelligence, by which he ads, is within
him, as our intelligence is, or from without ; fo that, though he
ads by intelligence, yet he does not ad nvith intelligence, as 1 have
elfevvhere diftinguifhed * ? For that the brute may be guided by in-
telligence, though he have it not himfelf, we are fure from what paf-
fes among men ; as it often happens that a man is direded by the
intelligence of another to do things, the nature of which he does not
underftand, nor knows for what reafon he does them, or what is
to be the efFed of them.

In this way I fuppofe the brute ads : And we are now to confi-
der what would be the confequence, if we were to fuppofe that he
aded, as we do, from an internal principle of intelligence. And, in
the firjl place, we muft fuppofe that he propofes an end in all his
adions; 2dly^ that he muft have fome motive, which determines
him to purfue that end rather than any other; and,'3^/y, that lie
muft devife means for executing the end he propofes. Now, can it
be fuppofed that the brutes do all this, not only thofe of them who
may be fuppofed to have improved their Inftind by experience and

obfcrvation,
* Vol. 4. p. 3. and the paflages there referred to.

230 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

obfervatlon, but even fuch of them as are quite young, and unafTift-
ed by any practice or experience : For that young birds build their
nefts as well as old birds, and in fhort do every thing, both for the
prefervation of the individual and the propagation of the kind, is a
fad that cannot be difputed. If, therefore, the brute adts with in-
-telligence, it muft be an intelligence quite different from ours, which
is very imperfect while we are young, but is improved by experi-
ence and obfervation.

But, I fay, if it be true, as I think I have proved, that the
brutes have not ideas, I think it muft follow of neceffary confequence,
that they cannot, as I have faid, have that difcourfe of rcafon^ or that
AiOL^oia,^ or NojjtTij i^ercclBuriKf}^ as the Commentators upon Ariftotle
very well paraphrafe it, by which we pafs from one idea to another,
and fo difcover the connedion of ideas. It is in that way that we
form our opinions, judge of what is good or what is ill, propofe ends
arid devife means. Now, an animal, which has not ideas, has not the
materials upon which he can ^vork and perform the operations I
have mentioned: And particularly there is one operation, which
is the foundation of all adions proceerling from intelligence, I mean
the forming of an opinion of what is good or ill, which no animal can
form, if he has not that very general and complex idea o^ good, or its
oppofite ///, in which we are fo often miftaken, but the brute never.

And here we may obferve, that there is one kind of id^^^as,
which it is impoffible he can form, unlefs we allow him not only
intelled but confcioufnefs and refledion. The ideas I mean are
thofe of the operations of his own mind ; for fuppofmg him capa-
ble of formin..'; ideas, or general notions, of the objeds of fenfe, yet,
unlefs he can refled upon the operations of his own mind, he never
can form any ideas of thofe operations, nor indeed of mind, as we
know nothing of any thing but by its energies and operations. So
that, even upon the iuppcfition of the brutes having intelled, there

muft

Chap. XV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. s^,i

mufl be an eflentlal dilTerence betwixt their intellect and ours ; and
they muft be abfokittly incapable of the nobleft operation of hu-
man intelledt, which is forming tlie idea of mind, and thereby dif-
covering that which has a permanent exiftence in nature, the r»
•vrtvg Of, and is not, like body, conftantly changing.

This want of confcioufnefs makes the brute incapable of reafon-
ing, even if he had ideas; For all reafoning is fyllogifm; and no
man can aiTent to the conclufion of a fyllopifm, without being con-
fcious that he has given hie afTeiit lo the tru.h of the premifLs.

But of what kind, it will be afked, is the intelligence which di-
reds the brute, if it be not fuch as the hu an? And, i lay, it is of a
kmd infinitely higher; for it is divine intelii.;. iice. By this i would
not be underftood to mean, that divine intelligence, or any portion
of i , relides in the brute and anima es it. If i thought fo, 1 muft
hold with the French pnilofophers, that the brute is a men mac-ne
having no miiid of his own ; nor, if 1 wejf of rhai op nion, could I
fuop tnere, but (hould maMain, as he- Abbe Prade docs, that Lniii
is alio a machine- But i hold that boti\ man and brute nave each
a inind of their own.

But it will be further afked, Of whai kind is the mind that I al-
low to the brute ? And, I fay, that it is not an incelleduai mind,
but an animal mind, fuch <s is .-lio in ma-i joined wlih his intel-
ledual. But the animal mind, in 'be brute, is k ibriued j/ divine
wifdom, as to have certain appc^ltcs and iiiApulfe?^j prompting it
to do fuch and fuch thin^.s ia Inch ai^d fucli c^rcu nliauces and
fituations: And to thele appetites ana impuifcs, tnus uircded, we
give the name oi inJluiB*

It will be further afiied, Whether, fince we have an animal mind

23Jt ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III.

as well as the brute, we have not inftinds, too, moving us to do
fuch and fuch things? And, I lay, we have; and fuch as appear in
our children before they have any jufe of intellect. For it is by that
inftind that a child applies to the breaft and fucks it for its nourifh-
ment. By the fame inftindl it is that a child walks upon all four;
and, I believe, it would be much better for our children, if we in-
dulged them, as fome liivage nations do, particularly the Charraibs"*, in
following that inftind longer. It is by the fame inftind, that, when
we are grown up to be men, we move our eye-lids to cover and pro-
ted our eyes, and our heads or bodies from any ftroke that is aim-
ed at them; and in general fly from, or fliun, any thing that can
hurt us, or defu'e any thing that is necefl^ary for the prefervation of
our animal life, fuch as food, for which we certainly have an ap-
petite, that is not prompted by intelled, but by nature, that is by
inflind. And there is an inilindive impulfe to do a thing of ftill
oreater confequence, to propagate our fpecies, to which we are not
only prompted by inftind, but direded in the manner in which we
are to do it. In fhort, all our adions, which do not proceed from
ic'i//, that is, from the determination of intelligence, may be faid to
proceed from inflind. Of that kind are the adions which I have
mentioned, of eating when we are hungry, and drinking when
we are thirfty, which are fometimes reftrained and moderated by our
intelligence, but not prompted. And further, I fay, that, as there
was once a time when we were mere animals, and had not a^ually
acquired that intelligence, of which, in our natural flate, we are
only capable^ we then did every thing by inftind, juft as the brute
does. And particularly we walked upon all four, as our infants at this
day do: And accordingly even grown men, fuch as Peter the Wild
Boy, and others in different parts of Europe, have been feen walking
in that way; and, as I have obferved elfewhere f, there are to be ittVL
two children at this day in Devonfhire, the one ten years old, as is

fuppofed,
5 See vol. 3. p. 74. t Vol. 4. p. 21.

Chap. XV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 23^

fuppofed, and the other about twelve^ who walk in that way, having
been expofed when infants.

And thus, T think, I have fhown the difference betwixt man and
the other animals of this earth; and fo have given the reader the fa-
tisfadion of being able to diftinguifh himfelf from a brute, in fuch
a manner as to fatisfy a philofopher. I have alfo endeavoured to
fliow, that, what we call ItiJlinSi^ is different both from fenfe and in-
tellect ; and fhall, in the next book, proceed to confider the conclu-^
fion of the progrefs of the civilifed ftate of man in this world.

Vol. V. G s BOOK.

234 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV.

BOOK IV.

Of the End of the Civilifed State of Man.

CHAP. L

An end of the Civ'difed Life^ and a Change of this Scene of Man, in'
not many Generations, — T'his to be proved by Arguments and Fa&s,
Arguments a priori, — from the Wfdom and Goodnefs of God, which
has allotted to all Atiimals a proper manner of Life, — T^he Civilif-
ed Life of Man being an Unnatural Life, he muft decline in healthy
and at lafl the Race will die out. — I'his would be a painful and
miferable death : — To be prevented, through the Divine Mercy, by
fome convulfion in Nature, as we are taught by Revelation, — A
new Heaven and a new Earth to fucceed, — and a more Righteous
and Pious Race to inhabit the new Earth. — Agreement, on tbisfub-
jedf, of Revelation with Reafon and the Nature of Things, — Impof-
fible thjt Man, fo various an A?iimal, and liahle to f many chaw
ges, Jloould lajl for ever, — or for a great nmnber of years. — Other
Animals, while in their Natural State, liable to no change in Size
and Strength, or in Longevity: — They exhibit no fymptoms of decay
or extinction, except by the operations of Man, — Man, in Civil
Society, exhibits every fymptom of change in thefe particulars. —

Without

Chap. I. ANTIENT INI ET APH YS ICS. 235

Without a total change of our Species^ it iiuiji come to an end, —
Proof from Scripture^ that the Latter Days, therein mentioned, are
not far of.

IN the whole ccurfe of this work I have fuppofed that tliere will
be an end of the civilifed life, and a chan(z;e of this fcene of man,
in not very many generations. In this book I propoie to prove this,
both by arguments, from the nature of the thing, and from fads
>.vhica tlie hiitory of man furnilhes : And, if i can accomplilh this,
I think I may fay tliat 1 have given a compleat hiftory of man; frrll,
fhowing how he began to be a man, properly fo called, that is a
creature of intelledt and fcience, not in capacity merely but a£ltially\
and then how, after the many changes he has gone through in this
life, lie is to go to another. And thus I fhall have fhov/n both the
beginning and end of man in this life.

I will begin with the arguments from the nature of the thing, or
a priori, as it is called. Thefe, if well founded and properly con-
ducted, make what is called demonf ration, which always proceeds
a priori, that is from principles to confequences. Now, I lay it
down as a principle, that God is wife and good, and confequendy
that he has allotted to every animal an economy and manner of life
beft fuited to his nature, and which will preferve him longer in
health and ftrength than any other manner of life. That this is the
cafe of other animals, has never, I believe, been dilputed. Now^
we cannot fuppofe that man is an exception from this general law of
nature : And that he has invented another manner of life for him-
felf, better than that which God has allotted him, that is more con-
ducive to his health, ftrength, and longevity, is, I think, impious to
maintain. That the civilifed life of man, when he is clothed, houled,
ufes fire, eats flefh, and flefli cooked and prepared by fire, drinks wine,

G g 2 too.

236 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV,

too, and other ftrong liquors, and even fpirlts, which are fuel for fire. Is
not his natural life, I have clearly, I think, proved in the preceding
part of this volume*; where I have Ihown, that, by the ufe of houfes
and clothes, he has not the free communication he ought to have with
that element, in which and by which he lives; I mean the air: For he
does not take it in, as he ought to do, by the abforbent veiTels in his
j[kin; and even what he takes in by his mouth, is corrupted by the
ufe of culinary fire, and particularly by that fire of which the fuel
is coal, which poifons the aif by a fulphurous vapour, and fo makes
it more or lefs unwholefome. And the warmth of houfes, of clothes,
and of fire, not only hinders us from taking in, by our fkin and by
our breath, the pure atmofphere, but it hinders us from throwing out,
by perfpiration, the filth of our bodies. For, as I have obferved,
in the third volume of this workf, it is difcovered by experiment,
that a man naked perfpires more in the fame time, than when he is
v>^rapped up in blankets and in the warmeft bed. This has been
proved by accurately weighing a man after he had fit fo long
naked in the open air, and comparing his weight then with his
weight after having lain the fame time in a warm bed. This, as I
have faid in the paflage above quoted, is contrary to the opinion of
the generality of men ; but the error arifes from confounding fweat-
ing with perfpiration ; for by wrapping a man up, and keeping
him very warm, we make him fweat, but he perfpires lefs J. Now,
what hinders thofe two natural operations, of both taking in and
throwing out by the pores of our Ikin, muft needs be hurtful to the
human bodv.

This is the efiecl of houfes and clothes in the civilifed life: And as

to
* Book I. Chap. 3. and 4.
t Vol. 3. p. 85.

\ See what is faid upon this fubjefl by a French Academician, M. Dolomieu, entit-
led, Voyage atix lies Liparis, p. 184.

Chap. I. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. i'^'^

to the diet in that life, it is exceedingly unnatural ; for though, by na-
ture, we be not carnivorous animals, we eat flefli, yet not as carnivorous
animals eat it, that is raw, but cooked and prepared by fire*, and alfo
fifh prepared in the fame way; which I hold to be ftill a more unna-
tural food for a land animal, than even flelh isj and, accordingly, the
Egyptians did not eat it, nor the Greeks, till they were compelled by
neceffity, as Ulyfles and his companions weret. We alfo drink wine
and other ftrong liquors; fo that our diet is, as I have obferved in the
preceding part of this volume J, altogether unnatural, and confequently
deflruclive of our health, but, I believe, not fo dedrudive as the ufe
of houfes and clothes, by w'hich we may be faid to ceafe to live in
our native element the air; and, in place of it, to live in the filth
of our own bodies kept about us by our clothes. My reafon for
thinking fo is, that though the diet of the Hindoos is very much
more natural than ours, as they abftain from the ufe of fiefh, fifh, and
wine, yet they are fhorter lived than we, being old at the age of co
and few of them exceeding 60 ; and the fize of their bodies is alfo
much diminifhed. Now, as I have already obferved §, this can only
proceed from the ufe of houfes, clothes, and fire. And, as they
have lived in that unnatural way for very many ages, being the
oldeft nation in the world, now that the Egyptians are no more, it
is not to be wondered that this unnatural life fhould have afFeded
them more than it has done us, (who have not been in the civilifed
life the tenth part of the time), though we have joined to it a diet
much more unnatural than theirs.

The neceflary confequence of men living in fo unnatural a way,

with

* See p. 176. of vol. 3. where I have fliown that flefh eaten raw and warm with the
anuTiai life, as Mr Bruce fays the Abyfliaians eat their beef, is much cafier of digelVion
tlian when prepared by fire; and the Wild Girl in France faid the fame thing.

f Odyfl'. 12, V. 331. and Euflathius's Commentary on the pafiage.

X Page 27. § Page 29. of this volume*

23? ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV.

with refpect both to houfes, clothes, and diet, and continuing to
live (o for many generations, each generation adding to the vices,
difeafes, and weakneflVs, produced by the unnatural life of the pre-
ceding, is that they muft gradually decline in ftrength, health, and
longevity, till at laft the race dies out. To deny this, would be to
deny that the life allotted by God and nature to man, is the beft
life for the prcfervation of his health and ftrength ; for, if it be fo,
I think it is demonftration, that the conftant deviation from it, go-
ing on for very many generations, muft end in tlie extindion of
the race. To fay ctherwifc, 1 think, vvoukl be to maintain, that
man, in defiance of the ordinance of Gud, could contiime his race
for ever. Befides, I think, it would be inconfiftant with the wif-
dom and goodnefs of God, to fuppofe that he had formed a fpecies
of animals that were to continue for ever the moft miferable, audy
at the fame time, more imperfed: of their kind than any other ani-
mal on this earth..

Further, as it appears that the end, propfed for our being in the
ftate of civil fociety, was to give us an opportunity of becoming an
intelligent animal, not only in capacity, but in aduality; and as
this defign is anfwered by our having been fo long in that ftate, it
w^as fit that we ihould go to another ftate where we might be lefs
miferable, and, at the fame time, make greater progrefs in our re-
covery from our fallen ftate.

That fuch a flow and lingering death, as that of our fpecies dying
out, muft be accompanied with much pain and mifery, 1 think, is evi-
dent; and, therefore, I hold it to be an effed of the Divine Mercy and
Goodnefs, that, as we are told in our facred books, the miferable re-
mains of the fpecies ftiall be deftroyed by fome convulfion of nature,
which is to produce a new Heaven and another Earth, to be inha-
bited by a new race of men, more righteous and pious than the for-
mer.

Chap. I. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 239

mer, and who are therefore called Saints. That this event is to
happen, in not many generations, we are affured by fundry texts
of the New Teftament, which I have elfewhere quoted*. And, in-
deed, they are fo many in number, that, I think, it is impoffible
that any man can be truly a Chriftian and not believe that the
prefent ftate of man is to be changed in not very many genera-
tions: For the intention of our Saviour's million appears to have
been, to let men know that the latter days^ as they are called in
Scripture, w^ere approaching ; and that, therefore, they iliould be
prepared for them. So that to deny that thefe days are approach-
ing, is in effed to maintain, that the reafon, given for our Saviour's
coming to this world, was a falfe pretence.

And here, I think, it may be obferved, that in this, as in other
things, revelation agrees perfecflly with reafon and the nature of
things; for it is impoffible by nature, and, I think, it would be in-
confiftant with the fyftem of the univerfe, and with that infinite
wifdom which has framed and condud:s it, if the flate of an ani-
mal, fo various as that of man in civil fociety, and liable to fo ma-
ny changes and vicifntudes, fhould lail for ever, or for any great
number of years. In this refpedl we may compare the flate of man
with that of other animals upon this earth. Among them, while
they continue in their natural flate, and not fubjed to the dominion
of man, we obferve no change in fize, flrength of body, or longe-
vity, nor indeed any fymptoms of the decay or extindlion of the
fpecies: Neither is there an example of any fpecies of animals in the
natural ftate being extinguifhed, except by the operations of men,
which was the cafe of wolves in Britain; whereas, in the civil focietics
of men, every fymptom of decay is to be obferved, panicularly in
i'lze and Puijare, as I have obferved in the third volume cf this
workf, and in longevity, as is evident from the moft antient hidory

we
* Vol. 4. p. 387. t Chap. 5. cf Book 2.

240 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV.

we have of men : So that unlefs we could fuppofe a total change
of our fpecies, as it thus appears from every fymptom to be draw-
ing to an end, it muft at laft come to that end.

And thus, I think, I have proved, and, I think, I may fay demon-
ftrated, by arguments a priori^ that the prefent race of men is dravv"-
ing to an end, and that the latter days are not far off.

In the next chapter I will ftate my arguments from hiftory, both
antient and modern, tending to fhow that the numbers of men have
decreafed very much in antient times, and ftill more in modern.

GHAF,

Chap. II. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 141

CHAP. II.

In the Natural State Man tncreafes in numbei^s. — nis the caCe of all
Animals in that State.-^But the multiplication of Man fill greater
in the frjl ages of Civility. — Two Reafons of this;— ift, The
warmth of Clothes^ Hotfes, and Fire,-- Cattle^ that run oit Summer
and Winter^ lefs prolific than tho/'e that are Houfed. — Why the Orang
Outang docs not increaje much accounted for, — 2(\^ The ivant of
Vice and Difeafe in the frf ages of Civility^ and of the unhealthy
occupations -which it iwoents and introduces. — Frequent Migrations
(f Nations in Antient times ^ the confequence of the great incrcafe of
Men in the frf ages of Civility. — Account off me of thcfe Adigra-
tions—from Egypt— from Greece to Italy-^from Rome—rfrom Gaul
into Italy ^ Greece, and Afia Minor. — Of the Migration of the
Cimbers and Teutons into Italy, — and of the Goths, Vandals, tffc,
into the Roman Empire, — All thefe Migrations occafoned by itant

of fubfftance at home. — Colonies fent out for the fame reafon. ■

The only exception to this, the cafe of the Hdvetii as dcfcribed bv
Julius C^/ar: — Their condudl accounted for. — The multi'^Iication
of Men, a grievance in the frf ages of Civility. — Cure for this
grievance in Crete — praSli/ed alfo at Thebes. — Though more numer-
ous in the frf ages of Civility than in the Natural State, Men
were not then Bigger and Stronger. — The cafe of Giants, fuch as
the Sons of Anak, a peculiarity of a few Fatnilies, who had lived
longer in the Natural State. — Men, in the frf ages of Civility,
Stronger, Bigger, and Longer Lived than thofe of latter times. —
This accounts for the Superior Size of Men in the Heroic age of
Vol. V. H h Greece.

242 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV,

Greece. — Of the true Heroic age of a Nation, — Vice and Difeafe
the Natural confequences of Society as it grows old, — Thefe render
the progeny tvorfe and lefs abundant. — The numbers of Men depend
upon Health, Morals^ and Occupation. — The bad effe&s upon Health
and Morals by Vice, Dfeafe, and Unwholefome Occupations, — Ho-
race s opinion of the gradual decline of the Species in Civil Society,
-^Impofible, by the nature of things, that Man can fubfift long in
that State,

THAT man, in his natural (late, multiplies, and fo fulfills the
firft command given to him, is a fa<a that cannot, I think, be
difputed ; and it is the fame with all other animals upon this earth :
Nor is there an example of any one fpecies of animal being extln-
gulfhed by the race dying out and failing altogether, though, in
in fome countries, the whole animals have been deftroyed by natu-
ral calamities, fuch as inundations, earthquakes, and eruptions of
burning mountains, and fome of them by men; which was the cafe,
as I have faid, of wolves in Britain. I hold, therefore, that, in the
natural ftate, the race of man, as of other animals, continues to in-
creafe, but not fo much as in the firft ages of civil fociety: And the
reafon is, that the warmth of houfes, clothes, and fire, makes them
more prolific than they would otherwife be; and accordingly it is
obferved of cattle, which run out fummer and winter, that they do
not breed fo faft as thofe which are houfed; and we are fure that the
dog, or tame fox, multiplies much fafter than the wild; and the tame
fow breads much oftener, and many more at a litter, than the wild
few. This I hold to be the reafon why the Orang Outang does
not as it is obferved, increafe much in numbers.

We muft not, therefore, fuppofe that civil fociety does neceflarl-
ly diminifli the numbers of men. If that were the cafe, it would

Chap. II. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 243

be contrary to nature, and unfit for anfwering the purpofe for which
it was intended, viz. the reftoring of man to the ufe and exercife of
intelle£t; but the fadt truly is, that, in the firft ages of civil fociety,
men multiply more than in the natural ftate, for the reafon I have
mentioned, and for another reafon, that fociety is then free of thofe
vices and difeafes, and thofe unhealthy occupations which confume fo
many men in the advanced ages of fociety. •

The confequence of this multiplication of men, in the firft ages
of civil fociety, was, that their country could not maintain them.
Hence thofe migrations of nations in antient times, which were
then fo frequent, that they make a great part of the hiftory of thofe
times: And v/hat Thucydides fays of Greece*, " That antiently it
" was no^ firmly ovjiably inhabited," is true of all countries in thofe
antient times ; for one nation firft drove another out of a country,
and then was driven out in its turn by new comers.

Of thefe migrations of nations I think it is proper to give here fome
account, as I reckon them a very important part of the hiftory of
man: And I will begin with the migrations from Egypt, which I am
perfuaded were greater than from any one country of this earth. Of
thefe I have fpoken pretty fully in the fourth volume of this workf.
Here I will only add, that, as I believe no people ever were
more attached to their natale fi)lum than the Egyptians, it could
not be any diflike of their own country that made them leave it,
but only the want of the neceffaries of life : For they increafed
fo faft, that Egypt, though the moft fertile country in the world,
being every year made a new country by the overflowing of the
Nile, and that river abounding very much both in fifh and in herbs,
proper for the maintenance of man, could not maintain its inhabi-

H h 2 tants;

* Thucydides, in the beginning of his hiftory: His vrords tin
\- Book 3. Chap. 11 and 2.

244 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV.

tants; (o that they were obliged to go for a livlihood to other couri'-
tries, many more than ever were peopled by any other nation.

The migrations into Italy from other countries, and particularly
from Arcadia, were very great. Of thefe I have given an account
in the 5th volume of the Origin of Language *.

The Romans multiplied fo faft in the firft ages of their ftatc, that,
though they were engaged in almoft continual wars, in fome of
which they fuftcred great lofles, yet, when their city was no more
than 543 years old, they had fent out 30 colonies; and its metropo-
lis, Alba Longa, in a much fliorter time, fent out the lame number f.

The barbarous nations, in thofe antient times, appears to have
multiplied Hill more, particularly the Gauls, who not only peopled;
with their colonies, Cifalpine Gaul, now called Lombardy, but from
time to time fent into that country prodigious armies to defend thefe
colonics againft the Romans Of thefe armies, Polybius has given
us a very particular account in the fecond book of his hiftory : Am!
they were fo formidable as at one time to make the fate of Rome
de}^)end upon the chance of a battle* But, befides thefe migrations
into Italy, they were obliged to overflow, and to difcharge their fu-
perfiuous numbers into other countries. They invaded Greece with
an army of 152,000 foot, and 61^200 horfe j:. This was tlie army
commanded by Brennus, which got round the Straits of Thermo-
pylae, by the mountain iEta, axid proceeded as far as Delphi, where
they were routed, and totally deftroyed in their return ; as the fame
author has informed us §. Nor were their migrations confined to

Europe ;

* Page 94. and following.

■f See what I have further faid, on this fubjefft, in the note on p. 94. of vol. 5. of
Origin of Language.

% Paufanias, Lib. 10. Cap. rp.

^ Sec alfo what Juftin has faid upon the fanne fubjeft,

Chap. II. ANTTENT METAPHYSICS. 145

Europe J for they wejit through Thrace and Macedonia; and, crof-
fing the Hellefpont, made a fettlement in Afia, inhabiting there a
country which was firft called Gallo-Gr:Ecia, and, in later ti.nes, Ga-
lacia*. According to Livy, this fettlement, which they made in Afia,
was at the fame dme that Brennus attacked Greece with fo prodigious
an army: And, about five years before that, there were prodigi-
ous numbers of them deftroyed by the Romans in Cifalpine Gaul f .
About 45 years afterwards there was a greater migraiion from Gaul
into Italy, than ever was before at one time, upon the occafion
■which Polybius mentions J ; fo that it would appe ir that the coun-
try was far from being exhaufted of men, eitlier by their for:;]er
migrations into Italy, or by ^he prodigious armies they fent in:o
Greece and Afia. This laft incurfion of the Gauls into Italy produc-
ed fo great a terror among the Romans; th\t thev made fuch prepara-
tions for war as they appear never to lade upon any oth.r oc-

cafion ; and it terminated in a battle ol a very angular kind, which
is defcribed by Polybius at great length §.

The next great migration.,! iha • i'^ tha- of the Cimbers

and Teutons, who came from !■ .t oi i^urope and the

north-eaft parts of Afia,, OK . iufarch, in his life of

Caius Maiius, lias givci " .^ ^..= ..cuiar account^ to which I.
refer.

. The laft migration ! (hi\^ niention is that o^the G^^/y^j-, Vandals^
Heruli^ and other bubarc- ;ion3, wl^lch came from the eaftern

parts of Europe and /\fia,aiid, like an inundation, overwhelmed the
Roman Empire. Thefe, as wc are affuied by a cotemporary hifto-

rian,
* See the account of this migration in Livy, Lib. 38. Cnp. \6.

f Poiybiu?, Lib. 2. p. tc8. Whc-re he gives u particular a<:count of the migrntica of
the Gauls from their nauvc ct/untry into Italy, p. 105,
\ Ibid. p. 109. and iio. ^

§ Ibid. p. no, — 118.

446 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV.

rian, Procopius, were obliged, as I have elfewhere obferved *, by the
want of the neceflaries of life, to leave their native country.

Thus, I think, I have proved, that nations, in the firfl ages of ci-
vility, multiply fo much that their country cannot maintain them ;
and in this way I have accounted for the great number of migrations
of which we read in antient hiftory. And not only migrations of
whole nations, or of great numbers from a nation, are to be ac-
counted for in this way, but even fmall colonies, fuch as thofe that
went from Rome, or Alba Longa^ muft be fuppofcd to have been
fent out becaufe the country was not able to maintain them.

The example of the Helvetil, it may be faid, proves that a na-
tion may leave its country without any neceflity, only for the pur-
pofe of inhabiting a better, which they were to acquire by conqueft.
But this ftory of the Helvetil^ who, as Julius Csefar tells usf, not
only quitted their own country, but wanted to make it uninhabita-
ble by any other nation, (for they not only deflroyed all their cities,
to the number of 12, their villages, to the number of 400, and
even their private and detached houfes, but alfo all the corn in the
country except w^hat they carried with them), is an inftance of a
national frenzy, as, I think, I may call it, of which there is no other
example in the hiftory of man: For all other men, in all ages of
the Vv'orld, appear to have had fuch an attachment to their natale fo-
lum^ as not to leave it, while they could fubfift comfortably in it ;
and it was only when that failed that they fent forth colonies to
other nations. Of this, as I have faid, antient hiftory furniihes us
with many examples.

* Vol. 5. of Origin of Language, p. 93. where I have mentioned a moft extraordi-
nary multiplication of a people in an ifland call Brittia, lying betwixt Britain and Scan-
dinavia.

f Lib. I. Comment. Cap. 2-

Chap. II. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 247

I will only add upon this fubje£l:, of the increafe of nations in
the firft ages of civil fociety being the caufe of fo many migrations,
and of fo many colonies being fent out by different ftates for no
other reafon than that the country was not able to maintain them,
that this could be the only reafon for the Romans fending out fo
many colonies, at a time when they could not have had too many
citizens, but mud rather have wanted men by the great loffes they
had fullained. And, indeed, it appears to me, that the multiplica-
tion of men was a grievance in thofe antient dates. For this reafon
it was, that in Crete, (the polity of which was fo excellent, that Ly-,
curgus took from it the greateft part of his plan of the polity of
Sparta), the love of boys, and the ufe of males for venery, was en-
couraged by the legiflaturcj in order to prevent the too great increafe
of citizens*. And in Thebes it was fo far from being infamous, that
the heft men of their nation were conneded together in that way;
fo that their Sacred Band^ held to be invincible, was compofed of
lovers of that kind and of Path'ics t.

By what I have faid here, of men multiplying in the firft ages of
fociety, fo much more than in the natural date, it mud not be un-
derdood that they were then bigger or dronger in body: For I hold
that the contrary of this is the truth ; and that what we read, in antient
books, of giants, fuch as the fons of Anack, and what we have feen
in modern times, of bones of giants yet preferved, mud be underdood
of men who were defcended of families that had lived in the natural
date for fome generations. At the fame time I am convinced, that
the men of the fird ages of fociety were much bigger, dronger,
healthier, and longer lived men than thofe of latter times, for this
plain reafon, that they were nearer to the natural life, and lived

* This we are told by Ariftotle in his fecond book Be Republica, Cap. lo.

f See what I have faid further upon the fubjc^ of this moft unnatural vice, p. 84.
of this volume.

24:8 ANTTENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV.

more in a natural way than thofe of the more advanced ages of fo-
ciety. In this way 1 account for the fuperior fize of the men of the
heroic age in Greece, fuch as that of the body of Oreftes as def-
cribed by Herodotus*; for the Greeks were not then far removed
from the natural Hate, when Orpheus, from Egypt, came among
them, and reclaimed them from their lavage life, as Horace has in-
formed us f. And this I hold to be the true heroic age of a nation,
when they have learned the neceflliry arts of life, and other arts both
of ufe and pleafure, fuch as the Greeks had learned from the Egyp-
tians at the time of the Trojan w^ar; for thefe arts, being joined
with the ftrength of body and mind of the favage, formed the he-
foic charadier.

But though men, in the firft ages of civil fociety, did not increafe
in.fize or ftrength of body, I think, I have proved, that they in-
creafed very much in numbers, fo much, that the countries, in which
they lived, could not fupport them. As civil fociety, however, grows
older, vices and difeaies, the natural confequence, as I have fhown, of
that fociety, increafe; fo that the progeny grows worfe, and like-
wife is not fo abundant. For the numbers of men, in every coun-
try, muft depend upon three things; the health, the morals, and the
occupations of the people. Now, vices and difeafes deftroy the
health and morals of a people; and, in the progrefs of fociety, arts
muft be invented and practifed, which tend to hurt their health and
fiiorten their lives. And thus things go on from bad to worie, as
Horace tells Uo,

iEtas parentum p.jor avis, tulit
Kos i!equ)ores, tuox tl-.anos

Progeniem v.tioiiorLm. Lib. 3. Ode 6.

But

=* Lib. I. Cop. 67. and 68.— See wliai 1 have farther fa^' on this fubieiftj in vol,
". of this workj-p. 147. ^nd 148. wliere 1 have ai:o ment- .-• - fr/turc: cf Ajax, and
of other heroes that fought at ' I roy .

+ C;ed-.^us et fa-do vlJtu r-.bfterruit Urpheusj v/hcr- re r-., un-

derfland their eating one another.

Chap. II. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 249

But I have laid enough already, in this volume, upon the bad efFeds
of civil fociety both upon the health and morals of men, enough,
I think, to prove it to be impoffible, by the nature of things,
that man can fubfift long in that ftate : For vices and difeafes*, go-
ing on from generation to generation, and always increafmg, muft
at laft confume the fpecies. But though, I think, this is evident a
priori^ and from the nature of the thing, I will, in the next chap-
ter, prove it by fadts.

* Page 85. of the volume.

Vol. V. I J CHAP,

2SO ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV.

CHAP. III.

/// ibe pure Natural State the inultiplication of the Species fmall. — In
the Domejiic State the multiplication great. — Vices and Difeafes^
Wars and Conquejls^ in the advanced Stages of Society ^produce great
dcjlru&ion of Men. — To be inquired y Whether ^ in fuch Stages ^ the
Species pndlipUes or decreafes? — Already proved that Man falls
off in Size and Strength. — He muf^ therefore^ alfo be floor ter liv-
cdy and deer cafe in numbers. — This to be proved by Fa6ls. — ift,
FrQin.the State of Man before the comijig of our Saviour. — 2dly,
From the State of Man at his coming. — And^ S^ly, From his State
fince that time, — Of the State of the Jcwifo Nation in Antient
'J'ijncs. — Their increafe wonderful both in Egypt and Canaan. — The
number of Men in Canaan^ when conquered by the Ifralites^ alfo
very great. — Of the number of People in Egypt. — /// the reign of
Amafis it contained 20,000 Cities; and after being conquered by the
Ferfians and Macedonians^ it had no lefs than 25,000 Cities. — The
Populoufnefs of Antient Egypt ^ one of the caufes of the expeditions of
Ofiris and Sefq/lrisy — whofe Armies amounted to Millions of Mtn. —
Of the Population of the Affyrian Empire. — Ninus invaded Ba&ri-
ana with an Army of i ,700,000/00/, 2 1 0,000 horfe^ and 1 0,600 cha-
riots; Semiramis, with an Army of 1^,000,000 foot, 500,0:0 horfe^
and 100,000 chariots. — Of the Armies of Darius and Xerxes. — The
number of Bionyfius of Syracufe's Army, and of that of the Ro-
mans when i?tvaded by Hannibal. — Of the Population of the Earth
at our Saviour s coming; — fiotfo great as in more Antient Times. —
Egypt and Greece then depopulated. — The P.oman Empire, though

the

Clirp. III. A N T I E N T Tvl E T A P K Y S I C S. -25 1

the moji exfenfive of any In territory, had produced great depopula-
tion by their Conauejli, Vices, and Difeofes, — Italy itfclf a defart
compared to ivhat it Tvas in former times, — Antient I..p-tiinn very
populous, — Antient States, fuch as the Volfci, the Eqni, <ffc. an-
nihilated.— Lnporlation of 7.^ Colonics by Angnfus.^ and 0/' 300,000
Sarmatians by Confantine, ntcefarv. — Sicily alfo greatly depopu-
lated.— 7he dcjiruclion of People in Gaul, by jidius Cccjar, very
great. — Ihe Connucjls of the Romans tended to depopulate. — So do
(ill great Empires. — 7 he Earth, therej'ore, more populous before the
firft great Empire, the Ajlyrian. — The prof igate Lives of the Ro-
man Emperors fpread deflation over the ivhole Empire. — Necefity
ef the appearance 'ff^/^i'^ Chrif at this defperate State of Mankind.

IK tl:e tiilrcl volume of this work*, and In the preceding part of
this volume, I have fliown that men, living in the pure natural
ftate, without the ufe of clothes, houfes, or lire, and fubfiiling upon
the natural fruits of the earth, cannot multiply faft : For which, I
think, I have given very good reaions, and confirmed them by the
examples of other animals, w^ho, as I have fhown, multiply much
fafter in the tame and domefticated (late than in the wild natural
ilate ; and, indeed, there would be fomething irregular, and contra-
ry to good order, if any race of animals, in the Itate of nature, was
to multiply fafter than nature could maintain. All animals, there-
fore, in the tame and domefticated ftate, multiply fafter than in the
wild natural ftate j and, in the firft ages of fociety, 1 have fhown,
that man multiplies fo faft, that the country where he lives cannot
maintain him. But the queftion here is concerning fociety when it
becomes old, and when confequently vices and difeafes are very
much multiplied, and great kingdoms and empires are eredied by great
wars and conquefts, which muft neceflarily be attended with great def-
trudion of the fpecies. We are, therefore, to confider, whether, in fo-

I i 2 cieties

* Page 223.

252 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV.

cieties of this kind, men can multiply? — Or whether, on the contrary,
they muft not neceiTarily decrcafe in their number? That they decreafc
in the fize and ftrength of their bodies, I think, I have very clearly
proved in the third volume of this work ; and if fo, I think, it is
d neceflary confequence, that their lives cannot be fo long. From
thence, I think, it may be inferred, that they muft alfo decreafe in
numbers, as well as in fize and ftrength of body and in longevity.
But, in this chapter, I think, I fhall be able to prove, from the hiftory
of man and from fads, that this is the cafe: And I will confider the
hiftory of man in three periods, and the population of the earth at
each of thefe periods ; ly?. That before the coining of our Saviour ;
idly^ Vv'^hat the population was at the time of his coming ; and,
lafily^ what it has been after his coming, and what it is at prefent.

I will begin this proof from lilftory wiih the moft antient as well
as the moft authentic hiftory w^e havej I mean the hiftory of the
Jews given us by Mofes: From which I Ihall be able to iliow a
w^onderful increafe of that nation in antient times.

The hiftory of this people, as we have it from Mofes, is, I think, a
very important part of the hiftory of man; for it is the heft account
we have of the family fociety and patriarchal government, which
is a fociety that neceflarily muft have preceded the civil fociety:
And there is there a proof of a moft curious fad:, that a whole na-
tion, and a moft numerous nation too, may come out of the loins
of one man, and arife from a fmgle family. Among the nations of
North America there is a tradition preferved, that each of them was
formed by the coalition of three families : But here it is proved,
not by tradition, but by an authentic written record, that the Jew-
Ifh nation was formed out of one family, the family of Abraham.
This family, after having led a vagrant paftoral life for fome gener-
ations in the plains of Afia, fettled at laft in Fgypt, when they were

under

Chap. III. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 2c-.

under the patriarchal government of Jacob, the third in defcent from
Abraham. At this time we are told that all the fouls of the houfe
of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were three /core aiid ten^ includ-
ing Jofeph and his two fons, and Jacob himfelf, but without rec-
koning the wives of Jacob's fons *. They increafed fo much in
Egypt, that Pharaoh, the king of the country, began to be afraid
that fome time or another tliey might join with his enemies f. He,
therefore, laid very heavy burthens upon them, and made them la-
bour very hard in building cities; and, not content with that, he
wanted that the midwives fhould kill all the males that were born of
the Jewiih women J. But v/e are told, that the more they laboured
and were afflided, the more they multiplied and grew§; in fo much,
that though they Vv^ere in Egypt no longer than 430 years |j, they
were multiplied from 70 to 600,000, that were men, that is, as
I underftand the word, were grown to be men, befides children 1[,
Now thefe with the children, (which muft have been very numer-
ous, among a people whofe children did not die under age as ours
do; — not lefs, 1 think, than thrice the number of grown men), mull:
have made altogether little lefs than two millions, befides the w^o-
men, whom we cannot fuppofe to be fewer than the men ; fo that
altogether they were four millions ; — an amazing increafe of 70 men
and their wives, in the fpace of 430 years. When they w^ere in the
wildcrnefs of Sinai, in the fccond year after their departure from E-
gypt**, they were numbered accurately by their tribes; and we have
the numbers of each tribe, which altogether amounted to 603,500,
of men that were 20 years old and upwards, and fit to eo furth to
war ft, befides the tribe of Lev'i^ which was numbered by itfelf
and amounted to 22,000 males of a month old and upwards fj.

But

* Genefis* chap. xlvi. v. 26. and 27. f Exod. chap. i. v. 9. and ro.

-t Ibid. V. 1 1, c^x. § Ibid. V. 12. I) Ibid. chap. xii. V. .10.

1 Ibid. V. 3;. ** Numbers, chap. i. v. i.

H" Ibid. V. 45. and .\Cu J.|. Ibid, cliap. iii, v. 3c).

354 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV.

But not only did the children of Ifrael, in that early age, miiki-
ply fo much, but it appears that the people, who poffefied Canaan
before the Ifraelites conquered it, had multiplied exceedingly: For
we have an enumeration of the kings of the country, whom the
Ifraelites fubdued, amounting altogether to the number of 31*.
Thefe kingdoms, governed each by a feparate king, muft have been
fmall. But in fmall kingdoms, or ftates, people multiply mod :
Whereas great kingdoms and empires do necelTarily diminifli the
numbers of tlie people. And it appears, that, before that time, there
were flill more kings in Canaan; for one of thofe kings, Adoni-
bezek, had, as he fays, three/core and ten kings, having their thumbs
and their great toes cut otT, who gathered their meat under his table f;.
-—But to return to the Ifraelites.

After they had got poflelTion of the land of Canaan, and had kept
it for fome hundreds of years, it is amazing how they increafed;
and, indeed, if it were not fo well attefted it would appear altogether
incredible. Thefe numbers were taken in confequence of a very
accurate furvey of the country, which took up the time of nine
months and twenty days J : And as this numeration of the peo'ple-
v/as a very important event, being the caufe of a peftilence, which
djeftroyed 70,000 men, we muft fuppofe that it is very accurately
recorded. The numbers amounted to 800,000 valiant men that
drew the fword in Ifrael, and 500,000 in Judah § : So that the
number of lighting men, in Ifrael and Judah, were altogether
1,300,000. The women, who were grown up, muft have been at
leaft as numerous as the fighting men; and the children, male and
female, muft have been at leaft three times as numerous as the fight-
ing men: So that, I hold, the whole number of the people muft have
been four times the number of the fighting men; that is to fay, they

muft

*■ Jofhua, chap. xii. v. 24. f Judges, chap. i. v. 7.

\ Second Samuel, ch^p. lafl, v. 8» § Ibid. v. g.

Chap, III. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 255

muft have been fix millions and a half; — a prodigious number for
fo fmall a country as the land of Canaan *.

The next nation, concerning the population of which I am to in-
quire in this period, is the Egyptian nation. Of its population I
have faid enough, I think, to fatisfy the reader, that it overflowed
with people, and therefore fent colonies to many different countries.
I will only add here, that even after the Egyptians were fubdued,
firft by the Perfians, and then by the Macedonians, they ftill con-
tinued to increafe in numbers ; for under Amafis, the lall kincr, (dVQ
one, of the Egyptian race, they had no more than 20,000 cities; but
under Ptolemy Philadelphus they had 25,000, which lliows their
conftitution and polity to have been fuch, that even under the do-
minion of foreign kings, they flill continued to increafe. And the
great increafe of people, before that period, was one of the reafons
which made Ofiris and Sefoftris, and other Egyptian kings, under-
take expeditions into the moft remote countries, fuch as India with
armies amounting to millions of men, which Strabo faw eno-raved
upon obelifks in the burial place of the Egyptian kings near to
Thebes.

The next moft antient hiftory that has come down to us, (1 fpeak

£>f profrane hifiory), is the hiftory of the Aflyrian empire, which

Diodorus Siculus has given us from Ctefias the Cnydian. The au-

thprhy of this Ctefias, I know, is called in queftion by fome au-

" thors, particularly by Plutarch. But Henry Stephen, In a dilTerta-

tion

* Who would defire to know more of the numbers of the people of Ifracl, mav
KCiRl. what is laid in a book, entitled, " Diflertation on the Numbers of Mankind in An-
'< tient and Modern Times," p. 51. and following.— The book is printed at Edinburgh
in 1753, but without the author being named. It contains a great collctlion 0/ fa^i
upon the lubiia of the populjtion of counti !-?, and h, I think, very well worth the
leadi::?.

2-56 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV.

tlon prefixed to the Excerpts from Ctefias, which Photius has
preferved to us, has fufficiently vindicated him from the impu-
tation of falichood^. And, indeed, the account which Diodorus
gives of him, that he refided i6 years in the court of Perfia, was a
favourite of Artaxerxes, the king, on account of his medical know-
ledge, and had an opjxjrtunity of perufmg the royal records of Per-
fia, containing their mofl antient hiftory, and which, Diodorus fays,
he examined very accurately, is fufficient, in my opinion, to vindi-
cate him from any imputation of either falfehood or inaccuracy, ef-
peciaily when 1 fee that his authority is called in queftion, not in
refpedt of what he relates of the affairs of men, but as to what he
relates of certain ftrange animals in India. Upon the authority of
this author, Diodorus relates, that Ninus, the Affyrian Emperor, in-
vaded Badriana with an army of 1,700,000 foot, 210,000 horfe,
and chariots to the number of about 10,600*; and that Semiramis
invaded the fame country with an army of 3,000,000 foot, 500,000
horfe, and 100,000 chariots f. Thefe numbers, fays our author,
may appear incredible to men now a days, but not to thofe who
confider what a vaft country Afia is, and by what a number of na-
tions it is inhabited ; for, fays he, fetting afide Darius's expedition
into Scythia, with 800,000 men, and Xerxes's expedition into
Greece with innumerable multitudes, if we confider what happen-
ed in Europe not long ago, we fhall not think thefe numbers incre-
dible. In Sicily, Dionyfius, from the fmgle town of Syracufe,
brought forth an army of 120,000 foot, and 12,000 horfe; and,
from one port, he fitted out 400 fhips of war : And the Romans,^
at the time they were invaded by Hannibal, muflered an army of
their citizens and allies very little (hort of a million of men. And

yet,

* Sec this differtation annexed to an edition of Herodotus, publifhed 7<\, Frankfort
»y Jungermannus in 1608, p. 630.

* Diodorus, Lib. 2. Cap. 5. f Ibid, Cap. 1-7,

Chap. III. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 2^7

yet, fays our author, all Italy, with refpedl to the number of men,
is not to be compared to one of the nations of Afia. This may fuf-
fice, he adds, for an anfwer to thofe, who, from the prefent defo-
lation of the earth, judge of the numbers of men in antient times*.

But, fetting afide the authority of authors, I am convinced, from
the reafon of the thing, that men muft have multiplied very much
more in antient times, and in the firft ages of fociety, than they do
now: For, as they were ftrorger in body, — very much healthier, their
-diet and manner of life being more natural than ours, — all married
and begetting great numbers of children, few or none of which died
under age ; — it was impcffible, by the nature of things, that they
iTiould not multiply very much more than we of modern times.

Thus much may fuffice for the population of the earth in antient
times, before our Saviour's coming.

As to the population at that time, which was the next thing I
propofed to fpeak of, we muft be convinced, that it was not fo great
as in more antient times, if we confider the ftate of the world at
that time. Egypt and Greece might then be faid to be depopu-
lated, compared with what they were in antient times. That Egypt
was then very much lefs populous than it was in the reign of
king Amafis, when it contained 20,000 cities, and 25,000 under
the reign of Ptolomy Philadelphus, it is impoflible not to beheve,
after having been conquered, firft by the Perfians, then by the Ma-
cedonians, ar^d laftly by the Romans. And as to Greece, when
Paufanias travelled through it, it could not have raifed as many
^ctXitcci^ or heavy armed men, as the i'mall city of Megara furniflied
to the Greek army at Platxae. The Roman empire, much greater
than the four empires that had been before it, viz. thofe of the Af-

VoL. V. K k fyrians,

X Diodorus, Lib. 2. Cap. 5.

^t ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Bosk IV.

fyrians, Medes, Perfians, and Macedonians, was then in' its- greaf-
efl glory, with refpecl to extent of territory; for it comprehended
the greateft part of the earth then known. But the Romans h^d
not only depopulated a great part of the earth hy their conquerts,
but had dirniniihed their own numbers fo much by thefe conquefts,.
and more ftill by their vices and difeafes, tliat Italy was a defart
compared to what it had been at the time of the foundation of
Rome. Pliny relates, that in Latium, a fmall diftrid of Italy, there
were once ci cities, or little ftates, of which there was not a veftige
remaining in his time: And Horace tells us, that his fmall Sabine
farm, which was cultivated by no more than eight flaves, fent once to
Varia (a little ftate, of which his farm was a part) five Senators*. The
Volfci, the Equi,the Veii, and many other nations with whom the Ro-
mans fought fo many battles in the beginning of their ftate, and who
recruited their armies fo foon after the greateft lofles, had difappeared
in the days of Auguftus; and the eftates of the Roman nobility were,
at that time, cultivated by flaves from barbarous nations inftead of
free citizens, and that rufllcorum mafcula militum proles^ which enabled
the Romans to conquer the world. Auguftus, and the fucceeding
Emperors, endeavoured to preferve the race of citizens, by the rewards
they gave to encourage marriage and the rearing of children, and by
the punifhments they inflided on celebacy. In order to repeople
Italy, Auguftus brought into it 28 colonies from other nations t; and
Antoninus Philofophus, for the fame purpofe, mjiintos e:: gentibus
i7i Romano folo collocavit^ as Julius Capitolinus, the author of his
life, tells us J: — But all to no purpofe ; for Italy came at laft to be
peopled chiefly with flaves, or flaves manumitted and their children :
And even with them it would have been a defart if Conftantine had
not rcpeopled it with 300,000 Sarmatians. Nor was it better in
Sicily than in Italy; for, in a paflage, that I have quoted § from

DiodoruSj,

* Lib. I. Epif. 14. t Suetonius in vita Augufti, Cap. 0^6. X Cap. 24>

S Page 257.

Chap. ill. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 259

Diodorus, who lived much about the ttme of Auguftus, he tells
us that the numbers there were greatly decreafed.

There is another country adjoining to Italy, very much greater
than Sicily, and greater than even Italy, which was once fwarming
with people; I mean Gaul. This nation firft overflowed into Italy,
as was natural, being a country only divided from it by a rid"-e of
hills; and there they poiTefled themfelves of a great trad: of country,
which, from them, was called Cifalpine Gaul, After that they fent
out colonies to different parts of Europe, and even into Aha in great
numbers, as I have already mentioned *. But a little before the
coming of our Saviour, they had been conquered by Julius Csefar:
And a moll: bloody conqueft it was; for Plutarch, in his life of Ca^-
far, computes that he killed a million of men, and made prifoners
of another million f. Indeed, from Casfar's own account of
his wars in Gaul, it is evident that he mufl: have deftroyed a o-reat
number of people in that country: And a great and warlike na-
tion, in the neighbourhood of Gaul, I mean the Helvetii, he may
be faid to have almoft exterminated ; for he gives us the number
of the Helvetii, taken from written records, that they themfelves
made when they left their country, which, as I have faid, the
whole people did, men, women, and children, after deftroying their
towns, villages, and even fmgle detached houfes J. The whole num-
ber, of this vv'onderful emigration, was 368,000, of which no more
than 110,000 returned home §. In ihort, it appears, that every
'country, which the Romans conquered, was more or lefs depopulat-
ed by them; and, indeed, it is to me evident, that the tendencv of all
great empires is to diminifli the number of inhabitants in the coun-
tries where they are eflablifhed. 1 am, therefore, perfuaded, that,

K k 2 before

* Page 244.

+ See p. 73. and following of "The Diflertatlon on the Numbers of Mankind''
referred to, or p- 755 of this vol.

% Lib. 1. Dc Belio GallkOf Cap. 29. § See p. 7.^6,

2(^0 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV.

before the eftablifhment of the firft of the four great empires, the
Aflyrian, the earth was more populous than it has been at any time
fmce; though, I believe, it was more depopulated by the Roman
empire, (the greateii, as I have obferved, of the four), at the time of
the coming of Chrift, than by any of the other three, or perhaps by
all the other three put together.

This was the (late of the population of the earth at the time of
the coming of our Saviour ; from which it appears, that the num-
ber of inhabitants, in all the then known countries, was wonderful-
ly decreafed. Nor was there the leaft appearance of their increafmg,
or not continuing to decreafe, but of the contrary: And, according-
ly, it fhall be fliown, under the next head, that, fmce the days of
Au"-uftus Csefar, when our Saviour came to this earth, the decreafe
has been prodigious; which may be inferred from v.^hat I have al-
ready ihown, that Italy, the feat of the Empire, was fo much de-
populated, that it needed to be repeopled by barbarians in the time
of Conftantine the Emperor. For the caufes of depopulation, dif-
eafes and vices, were much increafed in the days of Auguftus, and
continued ftill to increafe. In the time of Pliny the elder the num-
ber of difeafes amounted, as I have already obferved *, to 300 ; and
now they cannot be enumerated, at leaft I have never heard of
any number afligned to them. And as to vices, it is well known
that the Romans were as much or more increafed in vices than in
empire; and indeed the one was the caufe of the other, by the ad*-
dition which the increafe of their empire made to their wealth: And
a few years after Auguftus, under the fucceeding Emperors, I do
not believe that there ever was fo profligate a people, abandoned
to all the moft flaameful vices, which, by contagion from the go-
verning people, muft have fpread more or lefs over all the then
known world. The virtues of Egypt and Greece, as well as

thofe

* Page 85

Chap. III. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 261

thofe of Rome, were now no more; and with them were gone the
arts and fciences of thefe two nations, which were in vain endea-
voured to be preferved among the Romans: And, indeed, it was
impoflible that they fhould have been preferved among a people
whofe governing paflion, as we are told by one of their own au-
• thors *, was the love of money, to be fpent in vice and folly.

Jn this defperate ftate of mankind, decreafed and ftill decreafmg
in numbers, without health, without virtue, without arts and fci-
ences chat cculd make them better, and with a religion whicli had
a tendency to make them worfe and none at all to make them bet-
ter, and when even among the Jews, to whom the immortality of the
foul, and a future ftate of rewards and punifhments, were not then re-
vealed, there was no perfed: religion, it was proper, and, indeed, I
may fay, neceiTary, that a wife and good God ftiould let them know
that this ftate of man, which was always growing worfe and worfe,
could not continue very much longer, and that therefore they muft
prepare for another ftate. For this purpole our Saviour came to
this earth, who told them. That his k'mgdom was not of this ivorld ;
and that therefore his followers muft expedl no happinefs here : But,
If they had a mind to be happy, it muft be in another world; for which
they muft prepare themfelves by repentance and turning from their
evil ways, which alone could make them fit to enjoy a happier life
in a future ftate, and efcape thofe punifliments which otherwife they
muft fuffer in that ftate.

If Jefus had appeared when the affairs of men were yet flourifli-
ing, while there was ftill health and ftrength among them, and they
were fulfilling the firft commandment, they got when they were
placed on this earth, of increafing and multiplying, fo much, that
the countries where they lived could not maiutuin them, while E-

* See p. 182 of vol. 6. of Origin of Language^

2(52 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV.

gypt, the parent country of arts and fciences, was yet in its glory,
or fuppofe that only Greece had remained, which had fo iuccesfully
cultivated the learning of Egypt, it might be thought that he had
come too foon to warn men of calamities that were to happen at fo
great a diftance of time. But he came in the fulnefs of time^ when
the affairs of men were in the defperate ftate I have reprefented, fo
that there were no hopes of any happinefs in this life, and therefore
it was neceffary that men fhould prepare for that future life which
was revealed to them, and which they were told was not at a very
great diftance *.

* See upon this fubje£l, of our Saviour coming in the fulnefs of time, what I have
faid in the preceding volume, p. 397. and following ; where, among other things that
made his coming very proper at the time when he came, I have mentioned the de-
creafe of the numbers of men, and the tendency of the Ijpecies to its extinction, which,
I think, 1 have proved in this volume.

CHAP.

€hap,IV. AKTIENT METAPHYSICS. 263

C H A P. I\^

Of the State of Man, with refpe5l to Population^ fince the coming of
Chrift, — Blfeafes much tncreafcd in numbers — of the Small-Pox,
Great-Pox, and Meafles, — Vices alfo much increafed^—infancc of
this in Spirit Drinking — a moft defructive Vice. — North America
almoji Depopulated by it and the Small-Pox, — Of the Depopulation
of Italy in later times, compared with Antient Italy, — the number of
Cities much fewer. — Many Cities dcjlroyed by the Romans — and
great Depopulation produced by their Conquefs. — T'he Depopula-
tion completed by the ravages of jhe Goths and other barbarous
Nations, — Of the Population of Antient Latium — many Colonies
fent out from Rome. — Greece much Depopulated fince the days of
Paufanias : — The Author informed of its prefent flat e by a late Tra^
veller. — Afia very populous in antient times : — Its Wcfern King-
doms now but thinly peopled : — Great part of Tartary a defart
according to Mr Bell of Antermony : — Great deereaje of the num-
bers of men in India ; — this occaftoned by the conquefls of Gen-
chis Chan, Tamerlane, Kouli Chan, and the Britifj. — China tzvice
conquered by the Tartars ; — highly probable, therefore, that its
numbers are dimini/ljcd ; — and alfo thofe of Japan : — Prudence of
thofe Countries in avoiding much inter courfe with Europceans.-^^
South America and the Wejl Indies dreadfully Depopulated by the
Spaniards ; — and North America by the Britiflj,

264 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV.

IN the preceding chapter I have fliown what the ftate of man was
with refpe(St to population, and in other refpeits, at the time of
our Saviour's coming ; and I am now to fhow what his ftate has
been, and is in the laft period I have mentioned. — The time that
has pafled fmce the coming of our Saviour.

From what has been already faid, the reader will not be dlfpofed
to think that things are much mended in the laft 1796 years. So
far from that, I fhall fliow that they are become very much worfe,
and particularly with refped to population, the numbers of men are
decreailng fo faft, that our fpecies may be faid to be in a galloping
confumption, as the doctors exprefs it. In the firft place, difeafes,
which, as I have faid, even in the days of Pliny, amounted to no
lefs than 300, are now greatly increafed : For we have difeafes en-
tirely unknown to the antients, fuch as the fmall and great pox, and
the meafles; which we have imported from different parts of the
world: And there are new difeafes, daily appearing, for which our
dodors have not names, much lefs cures.

As to vices, thefe, as I have ftiown in a preceding part of this
volume, muft neceflarily increafe in all civil focieties, as they grow
older: And there is particularly one vice of modern times, altogether
unknown to the antient world, which has increafed in Europe, and
particularly in Britain, to a wonderful degree. The vice I mean is,
that of fpirit drinking ; by which more people are deflroyed in Eu-
rope, than, I believe, by all the other vices put together : And, as
the people of Europe trade with fo many diiferent p^rts of the world,
they have imported that vice, and a moft fatal difeafe, I mean the
fmall-pox, into many other countries, and particularly into America,
by which, and the drinking of fpiriis, a confiderable part of North

America

Chap.IV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 2%

America has been almoft depopulated ; for one neceflary confc-
quence of trade is, that there muft be a commerce, not only of com-
modities, but of vices and difeafes.

From what I have faid of the increafe of vices and difeafes, and of
their propagation to to many different parts of the world, I think I
might conclude with great certainty, that the depopulation of the
earth has increafed very much in later times, that is in the period
fmce the coming of our Saviour. But I will prove it from fadls, as
well as from the reafon of the thing ; And for this purpofe I will
mention particular countries, in which depopulation has increafed
very much in the period I fpeak of; and I will begin with Italy, of
the population of which, in antient times, I have faid a good deal.
But, as we are fo well informed concerning it, I will add what fol-
lows. In it, as ^lian in his Various H'ljiory tells us^% were antient-
ly 1 197 cities: And at prefent they do not exceed 300, accordmg
to the calculation of fome authors; nor docs any author make them
more than 360, as we are told by an author who appears to be ex-
ceedingly well informed both of the antient and prefent Rate of Italy;
I mean Dempfter, a Scotchman and a Profeflbr of Civil Law in tiic
Univerfity of Pifa, who has written a book in two folio volumes,
De Etruria Regali f. Of thefe cities which have difappeared, he
has given us a long catalogue in the fecond volume, many of them
fo annihilated that a veftige of them is not to be found. Among
thefe is the city of Vcii^ one of the moft remarkable cities in Italy,
equal in fize to the city of Athens, as the HalicarnafTian, in his An*
tiquities, has informed us J, and which cofl the Romans a ten years
fiege before they could take it. But, when they took it, they raf-
ed it, ploughed the ground upon which it flood, and did not leave
the ieaft veftige of it: So that, as Florus tells us, Laborat Auualmm

Vol. V. LI fjes,

* Lib. 9. Cap. 1 5. f Vol. 2. p. 42.

X Lib. 2. p. 116.

266 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV,

fdcs^ ut Veios fu'ijfe credamus'^ ; for the Romans, as I have obferv-
ed, not only depopulated what they conquered of the antient worlds
but their own country more than any other. And they appear not
only to have deftroyed many cities, but to have extirpated nations ;
for Strabo mentions one, whom he calls Ofci^ which he fays, in his
time, no longer exifted f. And the fame mray be faid of the Volfc'iy
Eqtti^ and many other nations, with which the Romans, in the be-
ginning of their ftate, waged many and bloody wars.

What compleated the defolation of Italy was the ravages of the
Goths in it, which Rome itfelf did not efcape. It was thrice fack-
t\ by thofe barbarous conquerors, of whom one of their Kings, Totila,
not only facked it, but had refolved to rafe it altogether, and to
make of it what the Romans had made of the city of Veii; and, ac-
cordingly, he had begun to demolifh the walls, but was (lopped from
proceeding farther by a letter which, it is laid, he received from Be-
lifarius.

This wonderful depopulation, of the fineft country in Europe,
will appear ftill more extraordinary, if we confider how it was peo-
pled in antient times, and how it increafed in people. I have aU
ready obferved, that in Latium, a fmall province of it, there were
once 52 cities, of whi.:h hardly a veftige was to be feen in the days
of Pliny the elder. How much thofe cities, before they were def-
troyed, muft have increafed in the number of inhabitants, we may
judge from the example of Rome, which was not 500 years old be-
fore it had fent out 30 colonies, notwithllanding the continual wars
it was engaged in ; and its mother city, Alba Longa, fent out the
fame number, in a much fhorter time.

The

* Lib. 1. Cap. 12. — See alfo Dempfterj vol. 2. p. 46. and 47.
t Lib. 5. p. 151.

Cliap, IV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 267

The moft remarkable country of Europe, in antient times, next
to Italy, was Greece; which was the feat of arts and fciences, as Ita-
ly was of Empire. Of the dcfolation of it 1 have fpoken in the
preceeding chapter ; and have (liown, that as early as the days of
Paufanias, who lived under the Emperor Adrian, it was depopulated,
compared with what it had been in antient times. That it has in-
creafed fmce that time under the dominion of the Saracens and
Turks, nobody can believe ; and I know a fenfible and learned gen-
tleman, who travelled through it not long ago, and who tells me,
that it is very thinly peopled, and little better than a defart compar-
ed vAth. what it was in antient times, or even with what we muft
fuppofe it to have been in the days of Paufanias.

Before I come to fpeak of other countries In Europe, I will fay
fomething of the prefent ftate of population in Afia and America. —

That Afia was antiently a very populous country, is evident from,
what I have faid * of the prodigious army which Xerxes levied in
it, to invade Greece. A late traveller in the Eaft, M. Niebuhr, the
Danifh geographer, tells us f, that the countries of Egypt, Babylo-
nia, Mefopotamia, Syria, and Paleftine, are fo thinly inhabited, that
-a great deal of good land in thofe countries lies uncultivated.

As to the countries from whence Europe was repeopled after It

had been depopulated by the Roman Empire, I mean the north-

eaft parts of Afia, or that prodigious trad of country called

Tariary ; — ^^I correfponded with Mr Bell of Antermony, who

travelled twice through it with the Ruffian caravan, which goes

from Peterfburgh to Pekin ; and he alTured me, that there

is nothing like population now to be feen in that country,

L 1 3 which

• Page (256.

f Vol. 2. p. 13(5.

268 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV.

which cannot properly be laid to be inhabited hj thofe hordes of Tar-
tars that wander throug'i it : And in his travels, which he has pub-
lilhed, he oblerves, that there is more uninhabited country in that part
of Alia than would contain and fupport all the Inhabitants of Europe.
India, the mofl populous country known when Diodorus wrote, is
not, I am perfuaded, near fo populous as it was ; though, I believe,
it is not near fo much diminifhed in its numbers as the other countries
I have mentioned, becaufe the Indians have preferved their antient
manners better than any other nation now exifting. But having been
conquered by the Mogul Tartars, and having had their country
overrun by Geachii Chari^ Tamerlaney and Koidi Chan^ and fo much
of it taken from them by the Britifli, (more, 1 am told, than all Great
Britain, France, and Ireland put together,) it is, I think, impoffible
that they Ihould be now as numerous as they were formerly, the
Britifh alone, if we can believe the French, having deftroyed five
millions of them.

As to the Chinefe, their country has been twice conquered by the
Tartars; and from what I hear of their manner of living, their vices
and dileafes, I think it is impoffiiile, by the nature of things, that
they fliould not be much diminifhed in their numbers, though they,
as well as the Japanefe, have the prudence to avoid, as much as pof-
fible in a country that carries on commerce, any great intercourfe
with Europeans, who have propagated their vices and difeafes to fo
many other nations.

Of Japan we know fo Httle, that we cannot fay whether it be in-
creafmg or diminilhing in its numbers. It is certainly very popu-
lous ; 1 believe the mofl populous country at prefent on earth, ac-
cording to the account we have of it from an author who accompa-
nied a Dutch Ambaflador to Jeddo, the capital of Japan. But we

know

Chap. IV. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 269

know fo little of its aiitlent hiflory, that it is impofTible we can de-
termine whether it was not in former times ftill more populous.

This may fuffice as to the ftate of population of the Eaftern coun-
tries. From the Eaft 1 go to the Wefl, and to that New World, as
it may be called, that has been difcovered on the other fide of the
Atlantic Ocean. As this difcovery was no longer ago than about
300 hundred years, it might be thought that this New World fliould
have efcaped the defolarion, which, I have fhown, has been fo gene-
ral in the Old World; or, at leaft, that it fhould not have been depo-
pulated by the Spaniards who difcovered it, or by the Europceans who
have fettled there. But fo far from that, I have fhown in the prece-
ding part of this volume, that, in South America and the Weft In-
dia iflands, there has been m^ide, by the Spaniards, what may be
called, in the language of our Scripture, the abomination of defolatim^

Nor were the Spaniards the only depopulators of America ; but
we of this ifland have contributed greatly to that defolation : For
the Britifh colonies, that fettled in North America, have exterminat-
ed the natives by war and maffacre, and ftill more by our vices and
difeafes, all along the coaft of that country from Hudfon's Bay to Flo-
rida, and up to the Apulachian Mount .ins, to the extent of 300 miles
from the fea; and in all that vaft tradl of country there are no vef-
tiges of the antient inhabitants to be fcen except their burial places.

CHAP.

S70 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. BooklV.

CHAP. V.

^fthe Population of Spain In antient and modern times :— In Cicero's
time very great ;-^but noiv, notwithjlanding the addition of Goths
Vandals, Heruli, and Moors, its Population very fmalL^France
fuppofed about ^o years ago, when the Author was there, to have
decreafed 2 millions fmce the days of Lewi, XIV. ^The Author par.
ticularly informed about the thinne/s of the Population of France at
that time, and of the caufes ofit,-^Not likely that their numbers arc
of late increafed.

NOW return to the countries of Europe ; and I will begin with
Spain, which, m depopulating America, may be faid to hav«
depopulated itfelf : For Spain, 1 believe, is lefs peopled than any
other country in Europe; and this owing chiefly to their commerce
-;».th the New World, and the exportation of their people to it. Spain
m the time of Cicero, (as he informs us*), was a very populous coun-
try. It was then inhabited by the antient Iberians, with a mixture of
Celts in lome parts of the country, which made a race of very brave
people, called CdP.berlans. Then came among them, when the
Roman Empire was invaded by barbarians, the Goths, Vandah and
/fcr«/;-,and in later times the Moors : So that the Spaniards, at' pre-
fent, are the moft mixed nation in Europe, and ought to be fo much
the more populous now than they were in the days of Cicero • and
yet, according to my information, Spain is worfe peopled at prefent
than any other country in Europe,

'■ Oratio d'^ Harufpiemn Refpoiijii.

Chap. V. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 27-1

As to the country on the other fide of the Pyrennees, I mean
France ; — When I was there, about 30 years ago, the poUtical arith-
meticians computed that they were decrcafed two milUons fmce the
death of Lewis the XIV : And fmce I left France I have feen a book
entitled, Les Inttrtts de la France 7nal Entendus^ in which the author
fays, that the depopulation is fo great, that if it go on at the fame rate
for any confiderahle number of years, it may be computed when there
fhall be no inhabitants at all in i'lmce. But what I truil to, more than
to the computations of the author of this book, or to thofe of the politi-
cal arithmeticians in France, is what 1 learned from a- man, originally
of Manchefter, whom I law in F»-ance, and with whom i had a great
deal of converfation upon the fubjedl of the population of France, in-
to which he had imported the Manchefter manutadures, and for that
fervice was made faperintendant of cili the manufidures of France.
He told me, w~hat was very true^ that men who travelled, as 1 did,
on the high roads^ from one town to another, and in clofe carriages,
could know nothing of the population of the country in general :

* But 1,* fays he, ' who, in difcharge of my office, travel over the whole
' country, and go to parts of it the moft remote from public roads, can

* alTure you, that the country is very thinly peopled, being divided into

* great farms, with very few cottages or fmall farms, and the rent fo

* high, that the tenants cannot afford to bring up taimlies ; and, there-

* fore, many of them are not married, and thole that are, contrive it fo,

* that they have few or no children.'

Of its prefent population I fhall only obferve, that after the con-
fufions, that, for thefe five or fix years paft, have prevailed there,
producing fuch unexampled deftrudion of men, by every poffible
means of intef^ine and foreign wars, malfacres and executions, (not
to mention the number-^ of hofe who have emigrated to every other
country of Europe), I believe no perfon will advance fo abfurd a
paradox, as that they have cf late increafed in numbers.

CHAP.

^72 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV.

CHAP. VL

Of the Population of Britain, — Population one of the three great Ar-
ticles of the Political SyJIem. — ift, The Population of England con-
fid ere d ; — not fo great now as when "Julius C^far was in the
Jfand : — According to him England was very Populous^ and even
more Populous than Gaul. — Our great towns ^ no proof of great
Population : — They, on the contrary, confume great numbers of
people. — Little knowledge of the fate of Population during the
Saxon government. -~ Reafons for concluding, that after the Norman
eouquef, the Population was greater than at prefcnt : — The feudal
fyfem introduced by it ^favourable to Population. — Our wars, trade ^
midmni failures, attended with great wqfie of men. — An inquiry^
therefore, into the Population of England at prefent, and whether
it be increaftng or decreafing, a quefion of the great ef political
importance : — Oppofite opinions on this point maintained by Mr
Howlet and Dr Price. — Mr Howlet contends, that ive have doub-
led our numbers fine e \n\o ', — arguments again/l this opinion: —
Dr Price holds, that ever fince the revolution in 1688, we have
been decreafing in numbers : — Probable ■ that the DoElor is in the
■right, from the caufes he afigtis, — Enumeration ofthefe.

Chap. V. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 273

IN the preceding chapter I have inquired into the population of feve-
ral of the countries of this earth, as far as they are known to us.
In this chapter I come home, and am to inquire into the population
of Britain; — a moft ferious and important fubjeft, defervin^ as much
or more than any thing elk, the conlideration of our legiflature and
our minirters. Population is, as 1 have already obferved, one of
the three great articles of the political fyftem. It is fo particularly
in Britain, where, 1 believe, there are more people employed in dif-
ferent occupations, on land and by fea, at home and abroad, than

are, or, 1 am perfuaded, ever were, in any other nation of Jiurope.

I will begin with England.

That the numbers in England are not now fo great as they were
in the days of Julius Casfar, I think is evident. Cselar reprefents
England (the only part of Britain which he faw) as exceedingly
populous when he was there. Defcribing the face of the country-
he fays, there was in it hifinita bomUiiim multittido ; which, in any-
other writer of not fo corrredl and chafte a flile, I fhould think an
hyperbolical exprefTion. But, in fuch a writer as Gsefar, it can
mean no more than that the country was extraordinarily populous
more than even Gaul, from which he was come, and which was cer-
tainly a country then much more populous than it is at prefent.
Now, no man, who obferves with any attention the appearance of
the country of England, will fay that it is infinitdy popuiotts -, for fuch
an exprefTion 1 fhould confider as a mofl ridiculous exaggeration. It
is true that there are great towns in England; very much greater, and,
I am perfuaded, many more of them, than in the days of Julius Cxfar.
But do men multiply in great towns as they do in the country? So far
from that, it is certain that great towns do not fupport their own
numbers. And, as they were originally collected from the country,
Vol. V. M m they

■/\

274 AMTIl^NT METAPHYSICS. Book VL

they would, In not many years, be depopulated if they were not
recruited by numbers from the country. 1 have heard it com-
puted, that London confumes every year 10,000 men, which are
fupplied from the country, though Dr Price, I obferve, makes the
number to be only 7000 * : And I am informed, by fome corref-
pondents whom I have in England, thit other towns, (and they
mention Briftol particularly) would be depopulated in not many
years, if they were not recruited from the country. 1 think it,
therefore, evident, that as Csefar, in defcribing the whole appear-
ance of the country, fays, that it was infinitely populous, it mud
have been more populous in his time than it is now with the addi-
tion of greater and more towns, which, as I have faid, rather con-
fume men than add to their numbers.

In later times, when England was under the dominion of the
Saxons, we do not know enough of the ftate of the country
to be able to judge, whether it was more or lefs populous than
at prefent. But after the Normans got pofleffion of it, and intro-
duced the feudal lav/, 1 am of opinion, that it was then more po-
pulous than it is now ; for though there were not in it thofe great
towns that are nov^r, I hold that the country, which is the true mo-
ther and nurfe of men, was much better peopled than it is au prefent.
According to the feudal fyftem, the country was divided into great
baronies and lordlliips ; for the fiefs in all the countries of Europe,
when the feudal law was firft introduced, were very extenfive.
Thefe fiefs were all held of the crown for military fervice, or by ca-
pital tenure^ as the Normans call it f . This military fervice was
performed on horfeback, and the mjn who fought in that way were
called knights ; and the whole land of F.ngland was divided, by
William the Conqueror, into Tenancies of that kind, which were

called

* In his Effjy en the Population of Engbnd.

+ In the language of the Nornnan law, this holding is faid to be en chef, which in
Scotland we have tranflated into I.atin, and n:akc it to be a tenure in capite.

Chap. V. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 275

called knights fees. But thefe great lords divided their territories in-
to lefTer fiefs ; which were held of them by their vaflals, in the lame
manner that they held their lands of the Crown, that is by military
fervice.

But befides the land thus fet off to military tenants, tliefe great
lords had other lands, which they fet off to be held, not by thejtr^
vice of the field^ which was the defcription they gave of knights
fervice, (for at that time a fliield was part of the armour of a knight)
but by the fervice of the plough. Thefe vaffals were bound to plough
the lands, which the lord kept in his own poffeffion, and were call-
ed his domain : And fr04.11 thence it was that fuch vaffals were called
fock-men ; and the tenure^ by which they held their lands, was called
focca^e tenure. To others they fet off lands to be held by villain s te-
nure ; and thefe vaffals were called villain or villains : And the dif-
ference betwixt them and the fock men was, that the fervice of thefe
was particular and determined ; whereas, the fervice of the villains
"was general and undetermined, fo that they might be employed in
any way their lord thought proper. Befides thefe foci-men and vil-
Irni^ the lord had under him another kind of fervants, who alfo held
lands of him, and are frequently mentioned in Doomfday book, un-
der the name of Bordarii : Thefe performed fervices at board or table,
or other domeftic fervices, to their lord.

Befides thefe fervants who held lands for their fervice, there were
a great number of flaves, or nativi^ as they were called, who had no
lands, but ferved their mafters in the fame manner as the Greek imd
Roman flaves ferved their mafters. Of thefe it appears from Doomf-
day book that there was a great number in England : For this book
contains the moft exad: furvey that ever was made of any country ;
as it may be faid to contain the whole inhabitants of every rank and

M m 2. denomination,,

276 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book V.

denomination, or in whatever way employed. Thefe flaves, I am
perfuaded, had children, and increafed and multiplied, as well as the
Villani and the Bordarit did, and as the flaves among the Greeks
and Romans did ; and in this way England muft have been full of
people under the feudal government introduced by William the
Conqueror, and much more populous than it is now.

This may fuffice with regard to the population of England in an-
tient times j and we are now to inquire what the fl;ate of its popula-
tion is at prefent, and whether we be increafnig or decreafing in
numbers. This I hold to be a qneftion of the greateft importance,
and fuch as ought to be a principal objedt of the attention of our
minifters and legiOators ; for, as we carry on trade all over the world,
and, for [hat purpofe, have fo many foreign fettlements, which muft
be maintained, even in time of peace, at a very great expencc of
men ; — and when the wars in which we are engi'.gcd, very often on
account of trade, and carried on, like the prefent war with France,
by fea and land, in Europe, Afia, Africa, and America, are fo ex-
ceedingly defl:ru£tive ; — and conlidering, too, that the arts, which we
exercife at home in time of peace, are fome of them attended with
a great wafte of men, it is evident that the population muft be very
great to fupport fuch a fyftem of policy. It is, therefore, a? 1 have
faid, a queftion of the utmoft importance, to conlider whether the
numbers of people in Britain, and paiticularly in England, of which
I am now fpeaking, are increafing or decreafing.

On this fubje^l two very different opinions have been puMlfhed ;
one the opinion of a clergyman ol the name of f^Iowlet, wno ti.ain-
tains, that from the year 1740 down tt> 1788, when he publilhed
his book, the people of t ngland have increai'ed from five millions,
which was their number in 1740, to ten millions,w!nch was their num-
ber in 1788 J that is, they have doubled their number in the fpace of

Chap. VI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 277

48 years. If this were truly the cafe, our minifters and leglflators
need not give themfelves any trouble about that moft important
article of the politic^il fyftem, — the numbers of people; which, accor-
ding to Mr Howlet's fyftem, is, of itfelf, going on at fo great a
rate. This hypothefis, however, of Mr Howlet, is founded on no better
ground than the increafe of people which he has obferved in two or
three parifhcs in his neighbourhood. 'But fuppofing that he had kept
a very exad account of their numbers from the year 1740 to 1788,
which can hardly be fuppofed, yet, if the recount had been kept
v;ith the greateft exadnefs, he cannot, from thence, infer, that the
whole peopfe of a nation are increafed in thai proportion, or are in-
creafed at all ; for I do not believe, that there is any example of depo-
pulation going on fo fail in any nation, as to be univerfal in every part
of it fo that, in every the leaft part of it, there was no increafe of
the people; for that may be in particular places, for particular reafons,
which cannot affed the population of the country in general.

The other opinion, upcn this fubjed, is pubUfhed by Dr Price in
1788, in a pamphlet, entituled ' An Eflay on the Population of Eng-
* land from the Revolution to the prefent time ' In this pamphlet,
the Dodor maintains, that fmce the revolution, depopulation in hng-
land has been going on, and ftill continues to go on : And what
gives his opinion much more the appearance of truth, than the opi-
nion of Mr Howlet, is, that he has affigned caufes for this depopu-
lation ; v^hereas, Mr Howlet has affigned no caufes for fo extraor-
dinary an iacrcate of people as he fuppofes in 48 years ; greater, I
believe, than ever was in any country in the fame time. The caufes
affigned by Dr Price, for the depopulation of England, are : The
increafe of our navy and army, and tlie conllant fupply of men nc-
cefTary to keep them up;- A devouring capital ^oo large for the bo-
dy that fiipports it ;— The three long and deftrudive continental

war?,

wars, in "which we have been involved ; — The migrations to our fet-
tlements abroad, and particularly to the Eaft and Weft Indies ; —
The engroffing of farms ; — The high price of provifions; — But, above
all, the increafe of luxury, and of our public taxes and debts *.

Of thefe caufes, and the manner in which they operate, I will
fpeak in the fequel of this difcourfe ; in the meantime, i will lay
down fome general principles upon which the population or depo-
pulation of every country muft depend, a thing which Dr Price has,
jp.ot done.

* Page 29. of Dr Price's EiTay.

CHAP;

Chap. Vr. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS* tyf

CHAP. VI.

Impojfible to difcover^ hut by an a&ual numeration of the people^ wbe*

ther they are at prefent Increaftng or diminifiing in numbers. No

Cenfus in Britain :-- Not likely that fuch a meafure would JJoow
that ive are at prefent on the increafe, like the kingdoms of Sweden

and Naples, which have^ of late, been actually numbered. The

queftion only to be anfwered by an inveftigation into its caufes ; •

advantages of this mode of inquiry, that if w^ are decreafufr in
numbers we fhall dif cover a remedy for the evil. — Numbers of

a people depend upon their morals, health, and occupations. Mtich

co?ruption of morals in Efigland :^ Without good morals, no people

. can be numerous : — Proof of the degeiieracy of morals in Britain
from our colonies of convicts at Botany Bay: — Our crimes proceed
not from bad natu-al dijpofittuus, but are the confequence of our
wealth: — Of the wealth of the people of ErglcJid.-^No country, in
the world, where there is more difea/e, —Of the fatal effeSfs of the
conlumpdon: — Li///^ known to the antients. G> eat mcrtality of
our children, particularly in London : — No fuch mortality in ant lent
times, as we karn from the wtitings of Mofcs, Homer, and Pti-
ny.^Of the occupatio?u of men in EngLnd ;-^all arts pra^ifcd
there ;-^many ofthefe very hurtful to health : ■ Injlaiices of the/} in

■ mining and fmehing, glafs mcking^ gH^ing, and pin making. ^
Our grtatefl confumption of men, ly manufiarires and foreign

. trade —Better to be employed in agriculture, the mofl healthy of all

. tccupations.-^Bad confequences at prejent of the negka of agricuU

inrc.

iSo ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book IV.

ture. — No argument to he drawn from the increafe of great toiDns*
— W'llduN. of ^leen Elifabeth and her mlnijlers^ who deliberated
about refraining the growth of London^

WHETHER the numbers of people in England be increaGng
or decieafing, cannot be made a quellion of faCl or of arith-
metic. For that purpofe, it would be neceiTary to have an exa6l nu-
meration of the people in fome pafl: time ; and alfo an enumeration
of them in the prefent year. Now, as there is no ceufus^ or nume-
ration, kept in England, it would be quite impollible to determine
what the numbers of people were at any given time paft, even if we
were not to go fo far back as Mr Howlet goes in his calculation,
that is 48 years : And even to number the people in the pre-
fent year, would be a work of great trouble, difficulty, and expence ;
for, though I do not believe that it would be attended with any
curfe from God, like David's numbering the people of Ifrael, yet, I
i^m perfuaded, it would only ferve to publilli, to all Europe, our
weaknefs in that important article, and how much inferior we are
to two kingdoms mentioned by Dr Price in the Effay above men-
tioned, the kingdoms of Sweden and Naples, both of w^hich, by
a furvey of them taken for three years, have been found to be in*
ereahng in numbers.

As, therefore, we cannot determine this grand queflion upon
any accurate furvey of the population of the whole country, and i(S
make a queflion of fad of it, we muft try whether we cannot invef-
tigate it in its caufes. And if we can difcover it in that way, it will
be much more fatisfadory than if we could diicover it the other
way ; becaufe, at the fame time that we afcertain, what I apprehend

Chap. VI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 481

to be the fa£t, that our numbers are decreafing, we (liall find out
the remedies that are to be applied for the cure of fo great an evil.

And, ly?, It is evident, as I have elfewhcre faid *, that the num-
bers of people in a country muft depend upon three things ; the
Morals, the Health, and the Occupations of the people. I begin with
the Morals, as without good morals no people can be great, good,
or happy ; and, particularly, it is impoflible that they can be popu-
lous. Now, as to morals in England, I think, I have faid enough,
when I have mentioned the colonies of convicts which we fend to Bo-
tany Bay f ; fuch colonies as no nation in the world, except Britain,
ever fent out : Nor, indeed, can there be a worfe fign of the morals of
any people, than that the jails of the country cannot contain the crimi-
nals in it ; fo that if they are not executed, they muft be tranfport-
ed to a very diftant country, at a great expence, and there main-
tained at a ftill greater. We muft, therefore, I am afraid, conclude,
that there are, in England, more crimes than in any other country
we know : But which, as I have obferved elfewhere J, do not pro-
ceed from a bad natural difpofition of the people, (for, on the
contrary, I believe, as I have faid, that the people of England
are naturally as well difpofed a people as any in the world,)
but are the confequence of wealth, which neceffarily produces
crimes and vices, and is the root of all evil ; nor can we be-
lieve otherwife, if we give credit to what both our Scripture and
philofophy tell us, and which is confirmed by what we learn of the
hiftory both of antient and modern nations. No government, there-
fore, or laws, can alter the nature of things : So that there muft be
crimes, vices, and difeafes in England, unlefs the ufe of money be
profcribed altogether, as it was in Sparta ; to which, neverthelefs, it
found its way, and was, as the Oracle foretold, the ruin of the ftate.

Vol. V. Nn I

* Page 77. of this volume.

■y Page Z48. of ditto. i^ Page 77. of ditto.

282 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VL

I come now to fpeak of the Health of the people of Enj>land.
That there are more difeafes in Europe at prefent than there were in
antient times, feveral that were not fo much as known in thofe
times, I think, is evident. As difeafes are the natund confequences of
wealth, and as there is more wealth in England than in anyother coun-
try of Europe, I am perfuaded, that there are likewife more difeafes :
Nor do 1 know that there is any country in the world, where there
is fo much difeafe, unlefs it may be fome counrries into which we
have imported the fmall-pox and the ufe of fpiiituous liquors, as we
have done into fome parts of North America. In other countries
there may be fome particular difeafes more predominant than the
fame are in England ; but I do not believe that there is any country
where there are fo many difeafes, or where fo many people die of
difeafe. There is one difeafe in England which is more frequent
and more fatal than any other ; of which, as I have faid *, more die
than of any other two difeafes : This difeafe is what we call a con-
jMinption^ a difeafe very little known among the antients. And
not only in towns is it fo mortal a difeafe, but even in the
country, as I have fliown in the paflage above quoted. It is of this
difeafe chiefly that children and young people die. As to children,
it appears, by the bills of mortality of London, that not a half of
thofe that are born live to be two years old f. This may appear to
many incredible ; but what makes me think it not even improbable
is a fad concerning an hofpital in London for children, where, as I
was informed by one of the managers, out of 75 children, received
into it in one year, 71 died J. There was an inquiry made not
many years ago by a committee of the-Houfe of Commons, concern-
ing the death of children in St. Giles hofpital in London : And I
was tcld, by a member of the committee, that of 300, that had been
born there in three years before the inquiry was made, not one was
alive at the time of the inquiry. This is fuch a dcftrudion of the hu-
man

* Page 85. t Ibid. X Vol. 3. p. 194.

Chap. VI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 285

man race, as never was heard of in any other age or country. T am per-
fiiaded the mortality is not near fo great in other towns of Fngland ;,
but, I believe, it will be found to be in proportion to the fize of the
towns : In Manchefter, for example, it is certainly not fo great af in
London, yet it is very great when compared with the mortility of a lit-
tle town in its neighbourhood, viz. Monton *. When fo many children
and young perfons die of this difeafe, it muft be the confequence of the
difeafes or weaknefl'es of the parents ; and if there were no other
reaion to make one believe that we liy;e in a worfe manner than any
antient nation, this is fufficient : For there is no example in antient
times of fuch a mortality among children; fo great, that, I am perfua-
ded, not a fourth of thcfe that are born live to be men and women.
Of this my father's family is a melancholy example; for of 17
children, that my mother bore, only four lived to be men and
women.

That there v/as no fuch mortality among children, in thofe very
antient times recorded by Mofes, is evident ; for we have from him
a very particular account of the children of the antient Patriarchs^
particularly of thofe of Abraham and Jacob, not one of whom is"
laid to have died under age.

The next moft antient record that we have, is the writings of
Homer ; where we have recorded the geneologies of many of the-
heroes of Greece, but no mention made of any of their children
dying under age. That in later times, among the Greeks, fome
children may have died young, 1 do not doubt ; but if as many, or
near as many, of them had died as among us, I think it mull have
been mentioned by fome of their hiftorians or phyficians. And I fay
the fame with regard to the Romans, among whom there is one au-
thor, who, as I have faid f, treats of difeafes, and mentions the num-

N n 2 ber

* See what I have faid of the mortality of Manchefter and Monton, in vol. 3. p. 195..

t Page 85.

284 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VL

ber of them, and who, if the mortality among children had been fo
very great as it is among us, would certainly have mentioned it, as a
faa moft remarkable. One reafon, among feveral that might be
o-iven, why the Confumption is fo fatal a difeafe in Britain, is the ufe
we make of coal for fewel, which poifons the air with its iulphureous
vapours. There was an ad paffed, as I have been told, in England,
foon after coal came to be ufed there for fewel, which was in the
13th century, prohibiting the ufe of it : And, as late as the days of
Queen Elizabeth, there was an ad of her council forbidding any
more than one fire of coal to be ufed in one houfe in London. The
fmoke of coal, which arifes from a great town, obfcures and thickens
the air fo much, that when you fee it at a diftance, you would
think that no animal could breathe in it. In Italy, where they ufe no
other fewel but wood, the Confumption, as 1 am informed, is a dif-
eafe fo little known, that when a Britilh man comes thither to die
of it, which very often happens, they think it is a plague, and burn
his cloaths and even the bed he lay upon, to prevent the infedion
being communicated.

There is another difeafe very fatal in England, though not fo fa-
tal as the confumption : It is the fmall-pox, of which I was told by
a very eminent phyfician in London, that as many die now as be-
fore inoculation and the cool regimen were pradifed : And by the
laft bill of mortality of London, which I looked to, it appears, that
about one fixth of all the deaths was by the fmall pox. Nor, in-
deed, fhould 1 be furprifed, if it was afcertained, that more died
now of the fmall-pox than before inoculation was in ufe : For by
inoculation, the difeafe is certainly more propagated, and made
more common than it was formerly ; and our conftitutions, I am
afraid, are now fo much weaker as not to be able to fupport, as
formerly, any difeafe, even in the moft favourable circumftances.

There

Chap. VI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 285

There is another difeafe of children called the meafles, which
came from the Eaft as well as the fmall-pox. Of this difeale hardly
any children died in my younger days, but now a confiderable
number. When, therefore, to thofe exotic difeafes, I add thofe of
our own growth, I am afraid I do not exaG;gerate, when I fay that
the people of England are the moft difeafed people, that are, or per-
haps ever were, on the face of the earth.

Nor fhould we wonder at this, when we confider their diet and
manner of living. The Englifh, both rich and poor, eat a great deal
too much of animal food. Even at the tables of the great, one fel-
dom fees any vegetables, unlefs. perhaps, at the fide-board, from
whence they are very feldom called. Whereas in France, when I
was there about 30 years ago, they had a whole fervice of vegeta-
bles, which they called entremets. To dilute this fo grofs feeding,
the better fort drink wine and brandy ; I mean port, of which the
compofition is live parts wine and one part brandy, as I was informed
by a gentleman who had lived in Portugal feveral years, and dealt in
the commodity. And to be convinced of the mixture of fpirits in it,
we need only throw a glafs of it into the fire, and it will produce a
flame. Among the antients, the Scythians were reckoned barbarians,
becaufe they drank wine without water. But what fhall we fay of men
that drink wine and brandy without water, and fometimes three bottles
of it, each man, (as I have heard) at a fitting. — The drink of the lower
fort of the people of England is porter; for no common man in Eng-
land will drink either fmall-beer or water if he can afford porter : And
not only do labouring men in England drink this beer in great quanti-
ties, but even thofe who lead the moft fedentary lives, iuch as tay-
lors in London, who will drink, fitting crofs legged all the day
upon a board, fix or feven pints of porter ; and hence comes a
confumption of porter in London which is almoft incredible. And
when we join to this immoderate drinking of porter, their drinking

2S6 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VL

fo much of a worfe liquor ftill, the moft unnatural and moft perni-
cious drink that can be imagined, I mean fpirits, which are fewel for
fire, fo much that they produce a quick and violent flame, by which
houfes and fliips have been fet on fire and confumed, I think we
may conclude, that the diet of the common people of England U
more unwholefome than the diet of any other commonality in the
world.

I come now to fpeak of the laft thing I mentioned, upon whicH<
the population of a country depends, I mean the Occupations of the
people. In all nations, that have been long in a ftate of civility,
many things are wanted, as I have elfewhere obferved *, which are
not known in the natural ftate or in the firft ages of civility: And, for
fupplying thofe artificial wants, many arts have been invented, fome
of them very prejudicial to the health of the people. All arts of this
kind, that ever were pradifed in any country, are pradifed in Eng-*
land. Some of thefe may be faid to be neceflary for carrying on
the bufinefs of fociety; fuch as mining, or digging for minerals ;
and there is one mineral, which is become abfolutely neceflary in^
Britain ; I mean coal for fewel,* as we want wood fufficient for
burning and other puipofes. Now, the occupation of mining is
certainly pernicious to health, for it makes men live under ground
like moles, and breathe an air very diflferent from the air of the open
atmofphere, and always more or lefs tainted with noxious mineral,
vapours. As to metals, after they are dug out of the mrao, there is-
an operation performed upon them, which is called fmeiihig ; by
which they are changed, by the operation of fire, from ore to me--
taU and fo made fit for the ufes of life. This operation is ftill
more pernicious to health than the digging the ore out of the mine :
And there is an iron work carried on in this country of Scotland, at

Carron^.
* Page 248.

Chap. VL ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 2S7

Carron, in which, I have been told, the work-men there employed
do not commonly live, while fo employed, above five years.

There is another manufadure by the operation of fire, and a very
ufeful, as well as plealant, manufadure, I mean glafs ; which, be-
fides many other ufeful purpofes, gives us the benefit of enjoying
the light and heat of the fun, and, at the fame time, defends us
from wind, rain, and cold ; a benefit which the antient Greeks and
Romans did not enjoy, as they had not the ufe of glafs windows.
This manufadure is carried on in what is called glafs-houfes ; whicli
muft be exceedingly heated, and, therefore, are very unwholefomc
to thofe who work in them : And, in general, all the works, that
are performed by fire, are hurtful to health, fuch as gilding ; and
fo is J in-making, as I am informed, becaufe in it a good deal of
mercury is employed.

But the occupations, that make the greateft confumption of men in
Britain, are our trade, and our manufadures which furnilh the ma-
terials by which we carry on our trade. Of thefe, and of the def-
trudion of men by the colonies we are obliged to have in foreign
countries, and in climates moft deftrudive of our health, I have
fpoken in the beginning of chapter fecond of the fecond book of this
volume. I will add here, upon the fubjed of manufadures, that
there is one manufadure, come lately much into fafhion in England,
which, I believe, is more ruinous to the fpecies than any of the arts
1 have hitherto mentioned. It is the manufadure of cotton, in
which children, from the age of fix, are employed, and kept clofe at
work, under overfeers, by night as well as by day. I am told that
there is a village near to Ferrybridge, where there are 400 children
kept in this flavifh confinement. Now, fuppofe children employed in
this unnatural way, fhould efcape a fuddcn death, they mufl:, of necef-
fity, lay in the feeds of difeafe j and it is impoflible, by the nature of

things^

2SS ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VI.

things, that children, who fhould be brought up in the open air, and
allowed to play themfelves there, like the young of other animals, caa
ever come to be ftrong and healthy men and women, when they are.
brought up and kept at work in a prilbn.

I will conclude what I have to fay upon the occupations of the
people of England with obferving, that if, inftead of manufajftures,,
which are carried on in factories and great towns, where fo many
men are confumed by vices and difeafes, the commodity we export-
ed were corn, which is produced by agriculture, the mod healthy of
all occupations, we fhould, at the fame time that we improve the-
country, give health and ftrength to the people, and numbers too§
if the farms are not too large, and are cultivated by cottagers. About
JO or 60 years ago, as I am informed, we exported corn to the value of
feveral hundred thoufand pounds; but now things are fo much altered,^
that in England we do not produce corn fufficient for the maintenance
©f the inhabitants, as we may learn from the experience of the year
in which I wrote this, viz. 1795 ; when there' was a very great fcarcity
in England, not by the badnefs of the crop, but by the war preventing
the importation of grain, which is now ufually brought from Poland
and other northern countries. In this year, 1796, when 1 am printing
what I wrote ia 1795, the fcarcity of grain is fo great, that it has
been imported into England, not only from the northern countries
of Europe but from Africa and America, and rice ^Vom the Eaft
Indies. I would, therefore, have our governors confKler, whetlieR
we fhould not, in our prefent fituation, ftudy

rather than think of making conquefts in the Wefl Indies, which are
not only made, but kept even in time of peace, at an expence of
men fuch as Britain cannot afford.

Thus,

Chap. VI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 289

Thus, I think, I have fliown, from confiderin:^ the three
things I have mentioned, the morals, the health, and occupations
of men, upon which the population of every country mull depend,
that England is not well peopled. Thofe who travel in England
upon the high roads, from one great town to another, and who
think, that becaufe there are great towns in a country, it muft, there-
fore, be populous, will, I know, be of a very different opinion : And
they will think, that what Julius Gaifar has faid of the population
of England in his time, is true of it at prefent. If great towns mul-
tiply the numbers in a country, wc have the comfort of thinking
that our numbers are every year incrcafmg ; for it is "certain, that
our great towns are always growing greater. London particularly
is increafmg every day, and has been increafmg ever fmce the days of
Queen Elifabeth, when the church of St. Martin's in the Fields, which
may now be faid to be in the middle of the city, was truly, as the name
imports, in the fields ; and, accordingly, we are told that Queen Elifa-
beth was in ufe to ride to it behind her Lord Chamberlain. But even at
that time it was beginning to increafe fo much, that it was under
deliberation to put a flop to the growth of it ; which, I think
fliows the wifdom of the government that was then in England ;
for, as I have fhown, great towns, fo far from increafing the
population of a country, confumc the people in it. We are
therefore, in the next chapter, to inquire, whether the country,
which is the true mother and nurfe of men, be fo peopled in Enc>--
land, that it can fupply the wafte by great towns, by trade and ma-
nufadures, and by the other occupations I have mentioned, which,
altogether, confume fo many men.

Vol. V. O o CHAP.

390 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VII.

CHAP. VIL

The mhahhatits of the country co7iftJl of three orders of men ; — The no-
bility and gentry ; the farmers ; and the cottagers, — Land formerly
divided amon^ a ^reat number of nobility and ge?Jtry^ but noiv in
the hands of a feijo great proprietors : — In fome countries hardly an
ejlate of 50 1. per annum. — The farmers now as much diminified
in fiumber^ from the increafe of farms ; — of ivhich there are fome
in England of T^oooX. rent, — The Author^ from his frequent jour--
flies to London^ on horfeback, qualified to judge of the number and,

Jize of farms. — Infance of a fingle houfe in a pariflD, — Of the num-
ber of cottagers in England ; — their great utility : — They are the
breed of fcrvants^ labourers^ mechanics^ tradefmen^ fotdlers^ and

fallors :—Few cottages to be feen In England; — and theft confined.
to. hamlets \ — proof of cottages being once more frequent, — The num-
hers of E'.^land infifjiclent to the demand of trade ^ manufadlureSy
and war : — Afatute of population^ like that of Henry the VIL ne^
ceffary —Small farms conducive to population ; — exemplified in the
original fize of the Roman farms of two Jugera. — The great quan-
tity of paflure ground in England, which is neceffary for feeding
cattle^ to fipply th^ immenfe confumptlon of fiefh^ miifl prevent the
increafe of the Population of that kingdom^ even were farms lefs, —
Another caufe^ the quantity of ground employed In ralfing barley for
dif illation : — A third caufe, the keeping fo many horfes for rui a I
occupations^ which might be better performed by oxen; and alfo for
luxury^ vanity y and indolence. — Thefe three caiifes confidcred^ A
fourth., the great quantity of wqjle lands and commons, — Conclu-
fioUy that the number of inhabitants muH be dlmlniflAng,

The

Chap. VII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 291

THE inhabitants of the country, as diftinguiflied from the inha-
bitants of the towns, confift of three orders of men : The land-
holders, or proprietors of land, under whom I comprehend the no-
bility and gentry ; the farmers ; and, laftly, the cottagers. To begin
with the landholders: — I never heard it difpu^ed, that the number of
them is very much diminifhed. They were, in more antient times,
very numerous in England : For the country was full of yeomen, or
fmall proprietors of land, who made the ftrength of the Englifh mi-
litia. Thefe have now almoft altogether difappeared ; and there are
only fome remains of them preferved, as I am informed, in Kent :
So that the whole country is now occupied by great eftates of nobi-
lity and gentry j fo great, that, as I am informed, in fome counties
of England, there is hardly fo fmall an eftate to be found, as one of
500 1. a year.

The next order of men I mentioned in the country, was the far-
mers ; a moft ufeful race of men in eveiy country. Of the numbers
of them, and of the cottagers, I can judge better than I can do of
the numbers of gentry and landholders, as I have travelled very
much in England on horfeback ; by which, according to the obfer-
vation of the Manchefter man *, you fee the country, and how it is
peopled and cultivated, much better than thofe who travel in the or-
dinary way in clofe carriages. As to the farmers; they, I believe, are
as much, or more, diminilhed, in proportion to their numbers, than
the landholders. There are farmers in England, who, as I have been
informed, farm above 3000 1. a year: And I have feenmyfelfa
farm, about 30 miles north of London, of which the tenant rents
the whole parifh : And as the parlbn happens to have another benefice
where he refides, the farmer's houfe is the only houfe in the parilli; ior,
as he cultivates the land by unmarried fervants, whom he keeps in the

O o 2 houfe,

* P. 271 of this vol.

.292 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VII.

hoiife, or by day labourers, that he gets from the neighbouring town
or village, he has no cottager living upon his farm, fuch as we have
in Scotland, as I fliall obferve afterwards. Such farms may be rec-
koned the defolation of a country ; and, therefore, the IngrofTuig of
farms is very properly mentioned by Dr Price *, as one caufe of the.
depopulation of England.

I come now to fpeak of the third and lafl: clafs of men in the
country, which Ihould be by far the moft numerous ; and, indeed,
it is from the number of them that we denominate a country popu-
lous or not populous. They are, too, of the greateft utility in a
country ; and, indeed, I may fay of indifpenfible necefTity : For they
are the breed of fervants, day labourers, mechanics, and tradefmen
of all kinds, and, what I think ot the greatell confequence, of fol-
diers of the beft kind ; for they furniih that rujiicoriim inafiula milU
ium proles^ with which the Romans conquered the world. They
furnifh alfo failcrs for the navy ; and, in fnort, they fi^l all the lower
offices of peace and war, of number infinite and of abfolute necefh-
tv for carrying on the bufmefs of the nation. But in travelling
through England, 1 fee towns, villages, and farms, though not near fo
many farms as, 1 think, fliould be ; but of cottages 1 hardly fee one
by itfelf ; whereas, in a populous country, the landfcape fhould be
dotted with cottages. This, I am perfuaded, was the cafe when Ju-
lius Csefar law the country of England, which very naturally made him^
fay that there was in it infmita hom'tnum multiiudo ; and he adds, cre-
hcrrwia atdificia f. What remains of cottagers in England, I am
told is to be found in little villages or hamltts as they call them, but
very few upon the farms, where I think they ought chiefly to be.

There was a time, I am perfuaded, when the cottagers were more
numerous in England ; and the memory of them is ftill prelerved in

fome

• See p. 278 of this vol. t Comment, lib. 5. cap. 12.

Chap. VIL ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 293

fome lands that I have been fliown, wliich arc called cottagcr-laiids^
but where there are now no coltcigcs.

Thus, I think, 1 have made it appear, that the country of Eng-
land, as diilinguifhed from the towns, is not peopled as it ought to-
be, not fufficiently to keep up the number of inhabitants in the
towns, or to fupply the number of men neceflary for carrying on
our manufadures, trade, and navigation, for maintaining our fettle-
ments on account of trade in countries fo diftant, and carrying on
wars produced by that trade and thofe fettlements; — in fhort, a o-reat-
er demand for men than perhaps any nation ever needed; and, par-
ticularly, while 1 am writing this, there is fuch a demand for men
in Britain, as, 1 believe, never was before, but which is neceffary,
as we are carrying on a w^ar in Europe, Aha, Africa, and America,,
by fea and by land.

If this be fo, I think our miniftry and leglflature iliould coir-
fider, whether it be not proper, that lome llatute fhould be en-
aded like that of the fourth year of the reign of Henry the
VI!. cap. 16. forb.dding any man to take a farm in the iiland of
Wight, and county of Southampton, or more than one farm, where-
of the rent altogether exceeds the fum of 10 merks yearly. The
act proceeds upon the narrative : ' That the ifle is lately decayed of
people, by reafon that many towns and villages have been beaten
down, and the fields ditched and made paftures for beafts and cat-
tle ; and alfo many dwelling places, farms, and farm-holds, have,
of late time, been ufed to be taken in one man's hold and hands,
that, of old time, were wont to be in many feveral perfons holds
and hands ; and many feveral honfe-holds kept in them, and
thereby much people multiplied, and the fame Ifle thereby well
inhabited ; the which now, by the occafion forefaid, is delolatc
and not inhabited, but occupied with beads and cattle ; fo that if

* haftv

294 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VIL

* hafty remedy be not provided, that Ifle cannot be kept and defen-

* ded, but will be open and ready to the hands of the King's ene-

* mies, which God torbid.' — By this a€t it appears, that the prac-
tice was then begun, of making great tarms, and inclofmg great
tradts of ground ; to put a ftop to which, this aCt was made * j and
which is, therefore, very, properly called, by the Englifh lawyers,
an aB of population.

Agriculture is the moft ufeful art in all countries : By it the peo-
ple live ; and it is an occupation more conducive to health than any
other ; and if it be properly carried on in fmall farms, it contributes
more to the population of a country than any other occupation. The
divifion of the lands of antient Rome into farms of two Jugeray that
is about an acre and a half Englifh, laid the foundation of the Ro-
man grandeur, and made them multiply more than, I believe, any
nation ever did in the fame time.

But if the country of England were divided into fmaller farms,
and better cultivated than it is, there are fundry reafons why the land
cannot maintain fo many inhabitants as it might otherwife do. In
xhtjirfl place, the confumption of flefh in England is much greater
than, I believe, it is in any other country of Europe : For not only
a great deal of it is confumed in the houfes of the great and rich, by
the fervants as well as the mafters, but the confumption of it among
the lower fort of people is very great, not only in towns but in
the country, w^iere it is not only the diet of the farmers but of
their fervants, who commonly eat of it thrice a day, viz. at break-
faft, dinner, and fupper. Now, land, by the paflure of cattle and
fheep, cannot maintain near fo many people as by corn.

But there is another ufe made of land in England, not for produ-
cing food to the people, but what may be called poiibn ; 1 mean bar-
ley

'^ See Chancel. Bacon's Commentaries on this ?,€t.

Chap. Vir. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 295

ley for diftlllatlon. I am inform -d, by a correfpondent I have in
Manchefter, that there is as much ground employed, about rhat town
and Birmingham, in raifmg barley for making fpirits, as would pro-
duce corn fufficient to maintain 10,000 people every year.

Another reafon is the great number of horfes that are maintained in
England ; for which purpofe a great part of the land, and of the very
heft land, is kept in grafs. Befides the grafs, which is employed in
the pafture of To many horfes, they confume a great deal of oats,
without which horfes can do very little work. And this is the diffe-
rence betwixt them and oxen, who get no corn, and yet can do a
great deal of work, particularly in the plough : For which purpofe
they only were employed by the Romans, and not horfes * ; a; id the
fame, 1 am told, is the cafe in Italy at prefent. Whereas in Eng-
land, the whole work of hufbandry is done by horfes, nor do 1 re-
member ever to have feen or heard of an oxen-plough in England :
Which is the more extraordinary, that they have a race of working
oxen, one of the beft, I believe, that is in Europe ; I mean thofe
that are bred in Lancalhire. Of this race, 1 harve a breed wliich I
employ in ploughing ; and with two of thefe oxen, I make as good
Vvork, and as much of it, in the fame timer, as any of my neighbours
with two horfes : And 1 employ them not only m the plough, but
in carriages, which we call wains in Scotland. Witb a couple
of thefe oxen, I have had a loaded wain drawn 15 miles in a day,
and the wain brought back again the lame day : And this they did
three times a week. Now, I do noe think tliat the common working
horfes could do more. Yet, even \n Lancafliire, where thofe oxen
are bred, the farmers do not employ them in ploughing; but commonly

plou,:h
* There is a palTage m Horace, which fliows that liorfcs were as little ufed by the
Romans for ploughing, as cattle were for the I'atldle ; for fpeaking of men tliat dcfircd
to do what they were not fit for, he compares them to an ox that wanted to be fad-
died and ridden, and to a horie that wanted to plough.

Optat epixippia bos pi^er, optat arare caballus.

Epift. 14. lib. I.

^6 ANT TENT METAPHYSICS. Book VIL

plough with three horfes, and fometlmes with four, and a driver.
Whereas my plough, with two oxen, goes without a driver.

But bcfides the horfes that are thus unneceffarily employed in ru-
i\il work, the number of them that are ufcd in equipages for vanity
and the indulgence of eafe, is very great ; and they are all fed with
oats as well as hay, and with the befl grafs in the fummer. Now, when
we compute the quantity of ground that mud be employed for fat-
tening the cattle that are eatten in England, for railing barley to be
ufed in diflillation, and, lajll)\ what is employed in feeding fo many
horfes with grafs, hay, and oats, it muft make, altogether, a great
quantity, and of good land in England, which, though it might
not all be fit for producing crops of wheat, would certainly, if it
were cultivated, produce oats and barley. Now, I reckon oats a
very good food for men as well as for horfes : And, accordingly, in
Lancalhire, v/hich produces as good men, or better than any other
country of England, and the fineft women, the bread, which the in-
habitants eat, is chiefly oat-bread. For my own part, while I live
in my country houfe, 1 eat no bread, excepting oat and barley-bread,
but chiefly barley-bread, which, v/hen well baked and prepared, I
think the fineft of all bread.

When I join to thefe confideratlons the great quantity of land in
England that lies wafte in uncultivated commons, and the diviilon
of the cultivated land into fuch great farms, 1 thiak it is true, what I
have faid, that the land of England, as it is employed at prefenr, does
not maintain near the number of inhabitants that it might maintain :
And, upon the whole, it is to me evident, that the population of
England is not fo great as it was in the days of Julius Casfar, or even
in later times, under the feudal governmenr, unlefs we are to fuppofe
that great towns, fuch as London, add to the populatioti of a coun-
try ; whereas, the fad truly is, that they difpeople the country, by
drawing m.en from it to be confumed by vices and difeaf'es.

CHAP.

Ghap.Vm. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. £97

C H A IP. VIIL

^hc population of Scotland conjtdered i—Miich^ on this fubjcEi^ to ht
learned from Sir John Sinclair's Statiftical Account of Scotland. — =
^he work not yet complete : — // comprehends the nuinhers of people
in the towns as ijoell as in the country. — Towns^ of late^ much in,-
creafed : — But thefe diminifh the numt'crs In the country. — V?icer-
taln ivhether the numbers In the country are increafed :■ -They are
^imlnifhed In the parifo of Fordoun ftnce 1771. — For a general
view of the population of Scotland^ its inhabitants mufl be cotfidered
feparately^ as landholders ^ farmers ^ and cottagers: — The landhol-
ders much deer e a fed. — The great eflates^ in antient times ^ no objec-
ilon to thlsy as they 'were pojjejfed by vajfals : — Of vaffals was com^
pofed the army of 20,000 horfe^ that Invaded England in Robert
Bruce^s time, under the Earls of Douglas and Murray : — Thefe vaf-
fals had their lands poffeffed by farmers and cottagers. — To the
military vaffals fucceeded feuers and wadfetters : — But thefe now
all bought up or redeemed. — The landholders of fuperlor rank, our
nobility , and gentry, alfo much dlmlnlfljed : — Not much above d
half of our nobility, at the Union, exlfllng ; and our gentry very
much decreafed by extln51lon of families, by female fucceffion, and by
Jales of their eflates to great proprietors:— Proof of this from Ragman s
roll. — The extinction of men of antient families not to be repaired:-^
The King may make a man noble, but he cannot make him a gentle^
Uian^'^^The lofs of men of family not to be repaired by any wealth: —
They ^vere the governing men In Scotland In antient times : — So
much dhnlnlfhed of late, that If they continue to dlmlnifjj, the King
will not get officers from among them for his feet and army.-^ The
Vol. V. P p farmers

298 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VIL

f rme^s in Scotland much deer enfe din number: — Formerly few farms
exceeding ^o L of rent; now farms of ^^^o I. of ^00 L and even of
1000 /. — Sheep farms ^ of great extent^ pff^Jf^^ h ^^^^ tenant^ which
formerly employed 1,^ families. — Cottagers ought to be much more nu-
merous than both the landholders or farmers. — In Scotland cottar
gers^ formerly very numerous ; — were almofi the only farm fcr-
vu fits :— New they are difmiffed from mofl farms ^ and the work
performed by unmarried houfefervants : — In fiance the deflation of
one f rm by this method. — The fcarcitv of the fervants and their high
wages ^are in hart tending to corredf this abufe. — Cafe of a farm of the
Author s, where only a boy is kept in the houfe; and^ though the tenant
does not pay above 30 /. of rent ^ there are 1 2, families of cottagers :—
Another tenant, who poffeffes only 8 acres of arable land^ keeps "^fa^
milies of cottagers : — A fmall village of the Author s p of effed by 7
tenants., who occupy 3 acres a piece. — Confequences of fuch great po-
pulation-^ - 200 Individuals in a tradi of ground of the Author s not
paying 1 00 /. a year. — State of the Author s ozvn farm as. to popula-
tion'^ — cultivated by one unmarried fervant and a boy in the houfe y and
by 21 cottagers and fmall tenants. — Advantages refulting from the
population of a country. — Many great improvers depopulate their ef-
tates. — Praife of Mr Barclay ofUrie : — An account of his improve-
ments., and of the benefits be has thereby conferred on the county of
Kincardine.— Cottagers., though much dimini/Jjed in Scotland .,flitl more
fo in England. — The number of houfe fervants., kept by the rich and
greats multiply little: — Very different among theantient Romans; and^
in former times y in Great Britain. — Service fill an inheritance infome
parts f the Highlands of Scotland. Our flanding ar.idcs contribute
■ nothi/g to population. — Population a mofl material part of the politic
calfyftem ; and^ therefore^ much infifled on. — Proof from our pre-
pent exertions by fea and landy that our population is very confider-
^Iflg ; — // might be increafed by proper means. — Ourfttuation^ with

reffeB

Ghap. VIIT. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 299

refpeSl to popiilatmi and finance^ much better than that of France :
— Favourable inference from thence deduced.

OF the numbers in Scotland, we have an account that may be
more depended upon than any we have of the numbers in
England : What I mean is, Sir John Sinclair's Statijlical Account (as
he calls it) of Scotland^ made up from the reports given in by the mi-
nifters of the feveral parifhes of Scotland of the numbers of their
parifhioners. And thefe reports, I think, may be depended upon, if
they are all as accurately made up as the account of the numbers in
the parifh of Fordoun, in the county of Kincardine, where 1 live,
is made up by the two minifters, father and (on, of that parifh ;
who, every year, in going through the parifh, for the pui^ofe of
catechifmg the people, make out an account of all the men, women,
and children in it. But Sir John's Account is not yet complete ; for
though he has publifhed 13 volumes of it, it is faid four or five vo-
lumes more are expeded. In this account, he includes the towns ;
which, undoubtedly^ are, of late years, very much increafed in Scot-
land as well as in England, particularly the capitol, which, in my
memory, is twice as great as it formerly was. But the queflion is
concerning the population of the country in Scotland as diftinguiih-
ed from the towns j for the towns, as I have faid, fo far from in-
creafmg the population of the country, in general diminifh it. Al-
though, therefore, it fhould appear from Sir John's Account, when
it is finifhed, that the numbers in general, of the whole parifhes,
are increafed from 1755, when their numbers were reported to Dr
Webfter, down to 1790, when Sir John's Account was taken j it
would not from thence follow, that the numbers in the country pa-
riflies were increafed. Of the (late, therefore, of the population of
the country pariflics, we cannot judge from what Sir John has
hitherto publillied. All I can fay, with any certainty upon the fub-

P p 2 jea,

300 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VIL

jeCt, IS, that, though the numbers in the parifh of Fordoun, where I
live, have increafed 368 fmce 1755, they are diminifhed fince our old-
eft minifter came to the parifli, which is 2^ years ago, 142 ; and, ac--
cordingly, Sir John has fo ftated the information he got from the
minifter.

But in order to have a general view of the population of the coun-
try of Scotland, as diftinguiftied from the towns, we muft divide
the inhabitants of the country, in the fame manner as have
divided the inhabitants of the country of England, into three or-
ders of men, the landholders, the farmers, and the cottagers. The
jfr/? of thefc are as much, or more, diminifhed in numbers than thofe
of England ; although it appears to mc that there were antiently m<
Scotland greater eftates than any we hear of in England. The Earl
of Murray, King Robert the Bruce's nephew, had an eftate in land"
which extended from the river Spey to the frith of Invernefs, and
from fea to fea on either fide. But though he held all thefe lands
of the crown, yet, I am perfuaded, that he did not poflefs, as pro-
prietor, much above a third of them. And, I think, I have good rea-
fon to fay fo, when it appears from our records, that the Marquis of
Huntly, a predeceflbr of the prefent Duke of Gordon, befides vari-
ous extenfive eftates in different counties, had, in 1638, an eftate in
the counties of Aberdeen, Banff, and Murray, called the Earldom of
Huntly, of which the olc^ extent^ (that is the rule by which the land-
lax in Scotland was formerly paid,) was altogether 1000 1. But the
record diftinguifhes betwixt what part of that Earldom the Mar-
quis pofTefTed In property^ which was valued at 375 1. and what
he pofTcftcd only 2.^ fuperior^ which was 625 1. Now, an eftate of
this value, in old extent, was a prodigious eftate, when we confi-
der that the whole old extent of Scotland was only 48,249 h ex-
clufive of the Bifhoprics, which were 15,000!. The record, as I
have faid, diftinguifhes betwixt the Marquis's property and luperio*
r'lty ; which lafl muft have been polTefTed by his vaifuls ; For the

cuuom

Chap. VIII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 301

ciiflom was, in thofe days, that fiich great tenants of the crown
feued their eftates in fmall tenantries, to be held of themfelves
by miUtary tenure, as they held their own great eftates of the
crown ; and their glory, and what gave them power and figure
in the ftate, was the number of thofe military vafTals, ready to at-
tend them whenever they were required, and to hazard their lives
for them and their families. In this manner the country of Scotland'
was, of old, full of gentry : For thofe vafTals, who held of the great
lords by military tenure, or what was called noble taiure^ in thofe
days, were all gentlemen. It was this that enabled the Earl of Mur-
ray, above mentioned, and Earl Douglas to invade England, in the
reign of King Robert Bruce, at the head of 20,000 horle, who were
all gentlemen and their attendants ; For the lower fort of people in
Scotland were not, in thofe antient times, mounted, to ferve as iol-
diers, upon horfeback. And thofe military vaflals, of the great lords,
had, under them, other vafTals, who held of them in the fame manner
as they held of the great lords; that is, by military fervice alfo ; and
befides thefe, they had tenants and cottagers, who cultivated their
lands; — So that the country, at that time, muft have been full of peo-
ple. And even after the feudal militia was laid afide, the land ftill
continued to be well peopled with gentlemen and landholders : For
it was feued out by the great lords to men who paid them feu-duties
in money inftead of military fervice ; or, if the lord needed to bor-
row money, he pledged fo much of his land for payment of it. This
is what, in Scotland, is called a wadfet ; and the wadfttter pof-
fefTed the lands, and reaped the fruits of them for payment of the in*
tereft of his money. So that, by feuers and wadfetters, tenants and
cottagers, the country muft have been very well peopled ; for the
farms, in thofe days, were not large, not near fo large as they are
now ; and they were cultivated chiefly by cottagers, who lived upon
the farm, in a little village called a cottar-town. But things are now
greatly altered; The feus are muftly fold to great proprietors of land,

©r.

502 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VIL

or have run together either by purchafe or by fucceflion ; and the
wadfets, which were very numerous fome years ago, are now almoft
*11 redeemed.

This is the flate of the landholders of the lower rank in Scotland,
•who are certainly very much dlminilhed in number. Nor is the di-
minution of the number of landholders of luperior rank, I mean our
nobles and gentry, lefs in proportion to their numbers. As to our
nobility, not much above a half of them remain that were exifting at
the time of the Union : And as to our gentry, they are fo much
diminiihed in number by the families dying out, or by their ef'-
tates being carried to other families by heirs female, or by be-
ing fold to rich men and great proprietors of other eftates, that if,
in the next 60 years, there be the fame deftrudion of them, as in
.the laft 60 which have fallen under my obfervation, there will be
-very few families of our antient gentry remaining.

There is a monument preferved in the Tower of London, which
fl-iows how much the flate of the gentry of Scotland is altered, and,
I muft fuppofe, diminiflied fmce the time of Edward the I. of Eng-
land. The monument I mean, is a roll containing the names of our
gentry, who fvvore allegiance to Edward, when he conquered Scot-
land. This roll is commonly called Ragman s roll -y and the number
contained in it is about 2000 landholders, befides the inhabitants of
the towns and burghs, of which fome of the principal perfons are nam-
ed ; and it is added, Communitas Burgi, But thefe were not all the
landholders of Scotland, but only thole on the fouth of the Friths of
Tay, Forth, and Clyde, and of the ihires, on the eaftern coaft to Aber-
<lcenfliire, inclufive. Of the inhabitants of Argyle and l-^ernefsfliire
there are very few ; of Rofsfhire there are only two or three ; and
of the fliires of Cromarty, Sutherland, and Caithnefs. there are none,
'But even of the other fliires of Scotland, we cannot fuppofe that

every

Chap. VIII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 303

every landholder took this oath of fealty ; for at that time we had
got from England the Norman feudal law. Now, by that law, there
were, as I have fhown *, many fmall proprietors of land, fuch as
held their lands by Soccage tenure, by Villa'tJis tenure, and fuch as
they called Bordarii, Such men in Scotland were faid to hold their
lands per fervile fervitiuni : And there can be no doubt that there
were very many fuch in Scotland at the time when this oath of feal-
ty to Edward the I. was taken, but which we cannot fuppole would
be required of fuch low men, bat only of gentlemen, who held
their lands of the crown for military or fome other honourable fer-
vice. But even of thefe 2000, which, as i have fhown, were not
the gentlemen of all the Ihires of Scotland, and cannot even be fup-
pofed to have comprehended all. the landholders of the feveral fhires
from which the account is taken, there are very many names, (it is
computed about 0//^ //6/V^) which are not now to be found in Scotland:
So that the race of thefe men mull either have died out^and their fuc-
ceffion have gone to collaterals, who probably poflcifed other eftates^
or they muft have been fucceeded by heirs female, who were married
into other families j or, lajily^ they muft have done, what is now fo
frequently done, run into debt and fold their eftates. In whichever
of thefe v^ays a change of the names happened, it is evident that the
number of landholders muft; have been diminiihed.

The laft way I mentioned (by which the fmaller gentry are, as it
were, devoured by the greater,) is fo much increafed in Scotland, of
late years, that if it is not put a ftop to by fome kind of Agrariaa
law, the land of Scotland is in hazard of being monopolifed by a
few great proprietors.

What T regret the moft: *n th's deftm<Stion of our nobility and gentry,
is the extindion of fo many of our antient families, which, whether they

* Page 295. of this vol.

304 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VIL

be enobled by patents or not, I think a very great lofs to the country.
For it is family th^it truly nobilitatesj and I am of an opinion which I
heard very often m3."ntained in France, when I was there, about 30
years ago, that the King may make a man «o^/<?, that is, give him a title
of nobility, but he cannot make him 2i gentleman^ that is, make him no-
ble by birtb; and, acco dingly, at that time in France, a Baron, of an old
family, was more efteemed than a new created Duke or Peer. Now,
as I hold that men of family and birth are deftined by God and na-
ture to govern their fellow creatures, I think it is of the utmoft im-
portance to a country that the race of fuch men fhould be preferved
in it : For if Jupiter were to defcend upon us, as he did upon Da-
nae, in ?iJhower of gold ^ and if our rivers were to run like the Her-
mus of Virgil, turbid with gold ; — without a numerous race of gen-
try, or men of birth, and they men, fuch as they fhould be, we never
could be a great and happy nation. They were, in antient times,
the governing men in the country, as they were entitled to be ; and
•when our James the IV. perifhed, with a great part of his nobles,
at the battle of Flowden, we are told by our hiftorians, that there
were not men left fufficient to govern the country. Men of the beft
families may, no doubt, be very ill educated, and become men more
mifchievous than vulgar men, becaufe they have greater abilities ;
but if the blood is not there, no education will make them what
thev ought to be. Our race of gentry, in Scotland, is diminifh-
ing fafter, I am perfuaded, than our nobility, though we cannot
jpeak of their numbers with fuch certainty : For many of our younger
foiis of families are exported to the Eaft or Weft Indies, and not one
of a dozen of them ever comes back; whereas, in antient times, they
jE;or provifions in land, out of their elder brother^s eitate, upon which
thev fettled, married, and brought up families. Others of them go into
tlie fleet or army; of whom the greater part never marry: And of the
daughters ftill fev^cr; for they are left, like Jephthah's daufrhter,7o ^f-
wail ibeir virginity. Even the eldeft fon and heir of the family does
frequently not many; or, if he does, he has often no children, or only

daughser

Chap. VIII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 305

"daughters, and fohis eftatc goes to collaterals, or into another family;
or he fpends his eftate, which is bought by fome Nabob or over-grown
rich man. Thus the land of Scotland is daily going into fewer and
fewer hands ; and in one or other of the ways above mentioned, fo
many families of gentlemen have been extinguished within thefe lafl
60 years, that, as I ha^^e faid, if things go on in the fame way for the
next 60, there will be an end of almoft all th'? ol.l families of o-entry
in Scotland, and indeed of a great p^rt of th? whole gentry ; and his
M ijefty can exped: but very few ofncers, for his fleet and army, from
'this country.

In antient times the race of nobility and gentry in Scotland mul-
•tipliw'd in much, thkt 'there was not bufmefs for 'hem at home; and
'therefore, they went abroad, not ab th«:y d . now to t!ie Eaft and
Wert Indies, to make mdney, but to other countries in Europe, ther^
'to-be employed in military* iervice ; which, at that time, was the
only bufmels of our nobility and gentry. Accordingly, very many
of them w^ent to other'countries of Farope, to be employed in that
"WiJV, and particularly to France, v^^here there are, at prefent, (everal
'noble families of Scotch extradion. Gufi- vus Adoij hus. King of
Sweden, had a very cotifiderable number of Scotch officers and ibidicrs
in- his army, to the rfumber, af'I have heard, of 10 000 ; and, a,t this
day there are manv of fT.f heft families in ^weden, who were origi-
nally Scotch. \r ' I A-. Ifo, there' are fevrral families of gentlemen
of Scotch ext'a' i , o v )f who-v, of the name of FerguOon, was
lately in Scorlan^I viliting his relations there.

The ncjxt r'-:fer of men I have mentioned in the country of Scot-
land, as di<"^ingui(hcd from the tr.wns, is th'e farmers ;— a moft ufe-
ful body of men, upon whom the population of the country, in a
great* meafure, depends, and the cul'ivation of it altogether. They
were, in my younger days, very numerous : For the farms were

Vol. V. Q^q fmall.

3o6 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VII.

fmall, paying commonly a rent of lol. or 15 1. and very few of
them exceeding 20 1. Now, they are become very large in Scotland
as well as in England : There are of them, in the fouth of Scotland,
which pay 1000 1. or more of rent ; and there are two in my neigh-
bourhood which pay 300 1. each; — a thing unknown in the north of
Scotland, where I live, 50 or 60 years ago. The farms, therefore,
beino- fo much increaied in their fize, the number of farmers muft,
necefllirily, be very much diminifhed ; and there are great tracks of
country in Scotland, where there is neither farmer nor cottager to be
found, nor any thing but (lieep, with fome few herds to take care
of them. Thefe fheep-farms are fo profitable, that feveral gentle-
men in the Highlands have defolated their eftates to make room
for them, chufing rather to have their lands inhabited by fheep than
by men : And I have heard of one landholder in the county of Su-
therland, who has turned out of his land ^5 families to make room
for fheep ; and I am alfo informed of another landholder in the
Highlands, who had, fome years ago, upon his eftate, 200 men fit
to bear arms, and now he has only one fhepherd with his dog.

I come now to fpeak of the third race of men, the cottagers, who,
in every country, that is peopled as it fliould be, are very much
more numerous than either of the other two, or than both put to-
gether ; and indeed it is upon their number that the populoulnefs
of a country, as diftinguifhed from the towns, chiefly depends. In
this refped Scotland, in former times, was very populous : For the
farms, as I have obferved, were very fmall ; and they were cultiva-
ted chiefly, I may fay altogether, by cottagers, who Uved upon the
firm with their families, having a fmall portion of land afligned to
them, which the tenant cultivated for them; and he gave them, at the
fame time, grafs for a cow : So that they were enabled to live very
comfortably, and to bring up their famiUes. Even fo late as my
voun"-er days, there were no farms that had not cottagers, more or

fewer,

Chap. VIII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 307

fewer, living upon the farms. But now things are much altered.
The tenants think that they can make more profit of the cottager-
land, by taking it into their own hand, and, cultivating it, and, in-
{lead of cottagers for fcrvants, by employing unmarried fervants that
they keep in the houfe In this way was produced a dcfolation of a
farm in my neighbourhood, of which I have an account from mv
parifh minifler, who fays, that the number of louls above the age of
feven, that is the examinable age, on this farm, about 21 vcars aeo
was 127, and now there are not above 70 of all ages upon ir. And
many other farms, in the county where i live, are more or !eis de-
populated in the fame way. But, Ly the great iucreafe of i.:re of fer-
vants wages, the tenants begin to find tliat they are both bet ev icrv-
ed, and cheaper, by cottagers, as their forefathers were, ihan by fer-
vants whom they keep in the houle. And, indeed, houle fervants
are now hard to be got, by the number of cottagers, who are the
breeders of fervants, being fo much diminiib.^d. Bir: it gives me great
pleafure to obferve, that fome of my tenants are ferved, as in toimer
times, by cottagers only, and keep no firm fervants in the honfe, un-
leis perhaps a boy. One of them, who pays me no more than 30 1. of
rem, i'.is no lefs than 13 cottagers living upon his farm. This farm
is pretty extenfive: But I have a tenant, in die fame part of my eftate,
which lies among hills, who polTeires no more than 6 or 8 acres,
up( n which he has four families including his own ; and 1 have
on 'he fame part of n.y ellate, fcven tenants, each of whom polTefles
no more than 3 acres of arable land, and fome moorifli gound for
pafture, part of which thf'y have already cultivated ; and they pay
me no more than i 2 s. ior each acre of the arable land, and nothinjr
for the moor. I am rrvruadtd i ccnild more than double the rent
of their land by letting it off to one tenant : But I fliould be forrv
to increafe my rent by depopulating: any part of the countrv ; and
I keep thefe fmall tenants as a monument of the way in which, I

Qjl believe,

3o8 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VIL

believe, a great part of the low lands of Scotland was cultivated in
antient times.

The confequence of this eftate of mine being fo peopled, is that
there is no want of fervants in it, which are very much wanted in
other parts of the country ; for, as I have obferved, tenants and cot-
tagers are the breed of fervants. I am fo anxious about the popula-
tion of the country, that I have caufed number the inhabitants of
that part of my eftate, where the farms, I have mentioned, lie ; and
they amount to about 200 ; while the rent 1 draw is not ioo 1. If
every eftate in Britain was to be fo peopled, in proportion to its rent,
the number of inhabitants would be more than quadrupled.

As I have mentioned the number of inhabitants on fome farms of
my eftate, I will alfo mention the number of them upon my own
farm, where the number has not been diminilhed during the laft 60
years ; (how much longer 1 do not know ; for neither my father nor
I ever turned out any cottagers ;) fo that, from the number of them
now upon my farm, the --reader may judge what the population of
the country was in antient times.

The whole extent of my farm is about 300 acres ; of which only
200 acres are in my natural pofleflion, and cultivated by cottagers
living upon the farm, and by only one unmarried fervant, whom I
keep in the houfe, with a boy who herds the cattle ; all the reft of
the farm is poflefled by cottagers and fmall tenants. Of thefe, fome.
poflefs a fmall. village, to moft of whom I give land, which I cul-
tivate for them ; and they pradice different trades, by which, and
by tlie land, they live very comfortably. Upon the whole farm,
there are, including the numbers in the village I have mention-
ed, 27 cottagers and fmall tenants poffefling a fevr acres. I think,
therefore, that my farm is very well peopled, very much better than

moft

Chap. Vm. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 309

moft farms in Scotland are now-a-days ; though, 1 believe, not fo well
as they were in antient times. There are many proprietors, I know,
who think that the number of cottagers on their land is a grievance,
and they defire to be quit of them ; but, for my part, I am fond of
them, and call them my people ; and have a pleafure in numbering
them and feeing them increafe, and am forry when any of them
kaves my land.

Thefe obfervations, upon the numbers of fo mean a race of people
as cottagers, may appear, to many of my readers, very trifling. But the
population of the country muft, as I have faid, depend chiefly upon
the number of cottagers in it : And, I think, I have fhown that they
are a mofl; ufeful race of men, as by them, chiefly, his Majefty's ar-
my and fleet are recruited ; nor without them could the many arts,
that are pradifed in Britain, be carried on. And I would have the
great and rich landholders confider, that it is the cottagers, chiefly,
who fupply the fervants that minifl:er to their wants and to their
luxury and vanity. I think, therefore, that it is a duty which every
landholder owes to his country to attend t# the population, as well
as the cultivation, of his efliate.

There are many in Scotland who call themfelves improvers^ but
who, I think, are rather defolators of the country. Their method
is to take, into their pofleflion, feveral farms, which, no doubt, they
improve by cultivation : But, after they have done fo, they fet them
off all to one tenant, inftead of, perhaps, five or fix who poflcfled
them before. There is, however, one improver in my neighbourhood,
and a very great improver, 1 mean Mr Barclay of Urie, at prcfent
member of Parliament for the county of Kincardine, who has im-
proved his whole efl:ate of Urie, and made it, he fays, of fix times
the value it formerly was : But, inflead of fetting it off" all to one
farmer, he has divided it among many ; and, in that way, has very

much

310 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VIL

iniich increafed the number of inhabitants upon his eflate, even
doubled them, as he tells me. And, I am perfuaded, he does not
exaggerate, but that the number is truly greater ; for I am inform-
ed that an addition lately made to the town of Stonehaven, which
is called the New Town, is all peopled by feuers, tenants, and cotta-
gers of Mr Barclay. Now this, 1 hold, is real improvement ; and
a man who improves in that way, I think a great benefactor to his
country. And fuch improvers muft have great pleafure, when they
rcflcd: that they not only add to their own fortune, but to the
produce and the population of the country ; and it is a way of
making money very beneficial to the country, and moft honourable
to themfelves. But there is another way by which Mr Barclay has ferv-
ed the county of Kincardine; and that is by iniroducing a method of
farming, by which the value of land, in the county, lias been won-
derfully raifed : He taught us firft how to plough well, by giving
us the ufe of the Norfolk plough, which makes better v/ork, more
of it in the fame time, and is eafier drawn than any other plough
iifed in Scotland. Now, to plough v;ell is the firft leflbn of farm-
ing *. Next, he taught us how to crop our land properly, and
then to lay it down to grafs, in fuch a manner as to make it more
profitable than it was in corn. By this fyilem of farming, which he
has given to the county, he has, as I have faid, raifed the value of
land in it wonderfully ; of which I have a proof from my own ef-
tate, where one of the farms, which was let by my father about 40
years ago, for 17 1. 10 s. was let again, 16 years ago, for 36 1. and
is now let for 100 1. This increafe of my rent, and of the rent of
the other gentlemen of the county, is to be afcribed to the change of
the method of farming, which Mr Barclay has introduced : For it is
not only my opinion, but the opinion of all the old experienced far-
mers, with whom 1 have converfed upon the fubjedt, that, by the old

mode
* It was a famous faying of old Cato the Ccnfor, who was a great farmer, that the
fiift leflfon of farming was bene arare, and the fecond, beneftircorare.

Chap.VIlI. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 311

mode of farming, if it had continued, the land would have been fo
much exhaufted, that it would now have done little more than defray-
ed the expence of culture, fuch as it is at prefent. It is not, therefore,
to be wondered, that the gentlemen of the county were fo fenfible of
the obligations they had to Mr Barclay, that they invited him to be their
reprefentative in the laft ['arUament, and have recholen him for the
prefent. There is no example, as far as I know, of fuch honour beino-
done to any member of Parliament, except another example, which the
fame county has furnilhed ; that is the example of Lord Adam Gor-
don, who is now commander in chief of his Majefty's forces in Scot-
land, but who reprefented the county of Kincardine before Mr Bar-
clay; and was, in like manner, invited by the county to be their n , e-
fentative. And he is a man fo univerfally beloved and elleemed, that
every perfon who knows him muft think him highly worthy of fuch
an honour. In both thefe cafes, I made the motion to the meeting of
the freeholders ; and it is the only concern I ever took in what is ca.lU
^^ politics: The motion, in both thefe cafes, was univerfally approved
of; and thus the county of Kincardine has had the honour of fettinj;
an excellent example to the electors of members of Parliament, but
which I have not found to have been followed by any other coun-
ty or borough.

Thus, I think, I have proved, that the number of cottagers In
Scotland, as well as of farmers and gentry, is lefs than it was in for-
mer times ; though, 1 believe, the cottagers in Scotland are ftill
more numerous than in England : For 1 do not believe that there is
a farm in Scotland, of any extent, on which there are not fome cot-
tagers ; whereas, in England, there is hardly a cottager to be i'ttn
living upon a farm, the work of it being performed either by un-
married fervants, kept in the houfe, or by day labourers from the
neighbouring towns and villages.

312 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS, Book VIL

I have only farther to add, upon the fubjevSl of the population of
Britain, that there is a race of men, both in the towns and in the
country, and a very numerous race too, which mukipUes very Uttle ;
I mean the houfchold lervants of the rich and great, who are much
more numerous than their maftcrs. Among the Romans, their fer-
vants, who were all Oaves, were married, and begot that race of people
which they called vcr?iae^ who were very numerous; fo that they, and
their defcendents, in later times,- peopled a great part of Italy. And,
in anlient times, both in England and Scotland, the rural fervices,
and a great part of the domeftic, were performed by men who held
lands by that tenure, and were, no doubt, married, and begot m.my
children : And there are fome remains of this antient fyftem ftill
prelcrved, as I am informed, in fome parts of the Highlands of Scot-
land, where fervice is hereditary, and goes from father to fon. But,
in all the reft of Britain, the fervants are commonly not married ;
or, where they are married, I am afraid the public gets no good ac-
count of their iflue. And there is another body of men in Great
Britain, and a very numerous body at prefent, which contributes lit-
tle or nothing to the population of the country j I mean the foldiers.
But of thefe I have fpoken elfewhere, and Ihown the difference, in
that refpedt, betwixt our ftanding armies and the antient feudal mili-
tia *.

Thus, I think, it is proved, that the number of inhabitants in
Scotland, as well as in England, is decreafed. I have infifted the
more upon the number of inhabitants in Britain, that I think popu-
lation is the moft material part of the political fyftem, fo material,
that without it, the fyftem cannot fubfiit. Of that fyftem, as I have
obferved in a preceeding part of this work, there are three capital ar-
ticles, the healthy the morals^ and the numbers of the people. With-

ont

* Vol. 4. of this work, p. 218.

Chap. VIII. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 313

out health and morals the people cannot be happy ; but without
numbers they cannot be a great and powerful nation, nor even ex-
ift for any confiderable time. So that if a nation be decreafed in the
number of its inhabitants, and is in fuch a ftate as to continue to de-
creafe, it is certainly true what the French author, that I have quo-
ted *, fays, that the nation muft at laft be entirely difpeopled, and,
confequently, ceafe to be a nation.

That the numbers in Britain are not fo great now as they were in
more antient times, I think is certain. But our great exertions, both
by fea and land, for thefe two or three years paft, fhow that the
country is yet not depopulated to any great degree. And if we fhall
be fo wife as the legiflature of England was in the days of Henry
the VII. and make a ftatute for the prefervation of fmall farms f , I
think the country will be ftill more peopled, than it is, by farmers
and cottagers : And if we were to prevent, as I have obferved J, by
fome kind of Agrarian law, the accumulation of the eftates of the fmal-
ler gentry in the perfons of great and rich proprietors, the race of
our gentry, or at leaft what remains of that race, might ftill be pre-
ferved ; fo that the King fhould not want officers for his army and
navy.

But even as we are peopled at prefent, I am of opinion, that we
are more populous, for the extent of our country, than France is ;
which, I think, I have fhown from very good authority §. And this
muft be a great comfort to every Briton, who wifhes well to his
country, at a time when we are engaged in a war with France,
which appears to be brought to this melancholy ifl'ue, which of the
two nations, if the war continue, fhall be firft exhauftcd of money
and of men, that is, be lirft beggard and then depopulated. As to
money, I think, no body can doubt that our finances are in very
Vol. V. R r much

* Page 271. f Sec p. 293 of this vol, X l^'i<'^- p- 303. § Page 271.

314 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VIL

much better order than thofe of France ; and as to men, from what
we have fhown of late, both of numbers and of a military fpirit in
our people, there is little reafon to doubt, that we fhall be able to
carry on the war till a fafe and honourable peace can be obtained
for ourfelves and our allies.

CHAP,

Chap.IX. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 315-

G H A P. IX.

^he cofttmual decreafe of the numbers of men^ from the earUeJl times ^
wuji end in their extindion, — The extinction of particular families
proved : — jind nations^ being compofed of families^ mujl end with
them. — hiflances of nations being extinguifljed \fuch as many nations
that w^re^ ofold^ in Italy ^ andfuch as the ajitient Egyptian nation.
— The unnatural life of man in the civilized Jlate^ and the vices
^and difcafes it produces., the caufe of this extindtion : — The filence of
antient authors on this fubjeEi accounted for :-^—Some of them main-
tained that a renovation of things was to take place, — Uncertain^
if a calculation of the time of the extin£iion of the fpecies can be
made, — Jn end of this fcene of things^ a doElrine of Chrifiianity ;
a7id the chief end of the mijjion of Jefus Chriji to reveal it to men^
. and to perfuade them to prepare for the world to come : — Proof of
■this from Scripture. — Agreement of hiflory with revelation. — Our
prefeiit mifery notfo much the fjortnefs of our lives as the length of
our deaths. — Revealed to us^ that a lingering death of the fpecies is
to be prevented by fome convulfion in nature. — No necejfity for fuppof
ing tlJe convulfion general :—It may happen in different countries at
different times: — h fiances of this from antient and modern hiflory. —
The good nefs of God reconciled with the mifery of man in civility. —
An end of man as well as of his works. — Cone It ft on of this valumt.

R r 2 FnoM

3x6 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS, Book VII.

FROM what has been faid, I think, it is evident, that the hu-
man fpecies has been decreafing from the earliefl: times, of
which the hiflory is preferved to us, and is ftill continuing to de-
creafe ; and if fo, that fooner or later it muft, in the courfe of na-
ture, come to an end : For it is impoffible to conceive that what has
been fo long decreafmg, and ftill continues to decreafe, fhould not
come to an end at laft.

I know it will appear furprlfrng, and, I believe, incredible to
many of my readers, that a whole fpecies of animals, and tlie fpe-
cies of the governing animal on this earth, fhould die out. But our
fpecies confifts of nations, and nations of families. Now we fee,
every day, families dying out : And if families die out, why fhould
net, in procefs of time, the nations they form die out ? And^ ac-
corcUngly, we are fure from hiftory, that nations have been extin-
guilhed in that way. I have mentioned nations in Ii:aly that have
dilappeared ^ -, and we are fure that a very great nation, and the mofl
populous, I believe, that ever was for the extent of territory which it
poffefTed, (I mean Egypt) is now no more. And if there has. been an
end of fome nations, it cannot appear incredible, that, in procefs of
time, there fhould be an end of all. This, indeed, woul^d appear
incredible if men lived in the natural way, as other animals do ; for
there is no example of thofe fpecieses of animals being extinguifhed,
except by the arts of men in particular countries, or by convulfions
of nature, fuch as eruptions of burning mountains or inundations.
But the life of man in civilized fociety, as I have fliown, is alto-
gether unnatural ; fo much fo that it would be contrary to nature
if the fpecies J^-fan flio'.ld laft like other fpecieses, w^iich live in the
natural way. Pefides difeafes, the civilized life produces vices and
crimes without number j and, particularly, avarice and ambition,.

* Page 26;; of this vol.

Chap. IX. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 317

by which kingdoms and empires are armed againft one another, and
wonderful havoc is made of the human fpecies.

It may appear ftrange that no hiftorian or philofopher, of antient
times, feems to have had any idea of fuch an end of our fpecies. Some
of the antient philofophers appear to have been convinced that man, in
his prefent ftate, was a degenerated and miferable animal ; and that it
was not confiftent with the goodnefs of God that he fhould for ever
remain in that ftate: And, therefore, they held that there was to be a
renovation of the fpecies, or a ^ctXi^/^sv <r.a, as they called it. But nei-
ther hiftorian nor philofopher, of the Antient World, appear to have
had any notion of the fpecies cealing to exift in the way 1 fuppofe.
Diodorus Siculus,. who fpeaks fo much of the depopulation of the
earth in his time *, does not give the leaft hint of his believing th it it
was, in procefs of time, to be wholly depopulated. But if he had iived
to fee fuch depopulation as is in modern times, very much greater
than any that had happened before his time, particularly in the New
World, where it is faid that one half of the human race was deftroy-
ed + ; — and if he had forefeen the deftrudion made by trade carried
on to the moft diftant countries, and by colonies fettled in thofe coun-
i tries for the purpofe of carrying on that trade^ and how fatal the Eaft
and Weft Indies have been to the nations of Europe ; 1 cannot doubt
but that he would have been as much convinced as I am, that this
fcene of man is drawing to an end. Whether we can, by compu-
tation, fix the period when it is to end, as the author 1 have mention-
ed :|: thinks may be done with rcfped to France, I will not pretend
to determine. Bur this, I think. I may infer, with great certainty,
that, in not very many generations, the whole human fpecies will
die out, as we have feen families and even nations do, if fo linger-
ing a death be not prevented by fome convuHion of nature.

If there were any doubt tliat the fpecies Man is to end in not

many

* See p. 256, of this vol, t Ibid. p. 55. j ^bitl. p, 071.

3i8 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VIL

manv generations, it is fo clearly revealed in our New Teftament,
that it is an article of the Chriflian faith, and, indeed, I think a
-moil impoitaiit article ; for it appears to have heen the chief end of
the miffion of Jefus Chrift, as I have elfcwhere faid *, to reveal to
men this truth, and to perfuade them to repent and turn from their
-evil ways, fo that they might be happy in the New World that was
to come. If that was not to happen, then the purpofe of our Savi-
our's coming, and the prediction of the end of the world in fo
fhort a time, would have been a delufion, and without any foun-
dation in truth. ' Ibat the end of all things is at hand^ is ex-
prefsly told us by the Apoflle Peter in his firft epiftle f. And what
is faid by our Saviour of St. John, and is related in the end of
his gofpel, about * his tarrying till Jc/us come^ that is till the
end of the world, was underftood, by the other difciples, to mean
that John (hould be then alive : And, accordingly, we are told that
feveral of the early Chriftians believed he was ftill living ; nor is
there any certain record of his death, as we have of that of the reft of
the Apoftles. We are exprefsly told by our Saviour, ' That this

* generation' fmeaning the then generation) * fhould not pafs away

* till all thefe things be fulfilled \\ and * That there be fome ftanding
^ here, who fliall not tafte of death till they fee the Son of man com-
' ing in his kingdom ||.' It is evident, therefore, from thefe and feveral

* other paffiiges in the New Teftament, that xh^fecond comings that is
the end of the world, was believed by the Apoftles to be near at hand.
But we are told, that looo years are, in the fight of God, but as one
day \, We are, therefore, not to infer from thefe texts, that the
Apoftles believed tliat the laft day was to come immediately, but
ihat, in procefs of time, it would certainly come, and not at a very

diftant time.

But
* Vol. 4. of this work, p- 387. f Chap. 4. v. 7.

± Math. chap. 24. v. 34. [j Ibid. chap. 16. v. 28. Mark, chap. 9 v. i. —

Lukr, cliap. <?- v. 27. and chap. 21. v. 37. — § II Peter, chap. 3. v. 8.

Chap. IX. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 31^

But though we be told in fcripture that this world is drawing to
an end, we are not informed of the precife time when it is to end.
And, indeed, it would have been improper that we fhould have bee'i
fo informed; for then men might have delayed repentiny and turjiin^
from their -evil ivays^ till that period ihould be near at hand: Whore-
as, it was the intention of our Saviour and his Apoitles, that men
ihould immediately repeat and be prepared for the laft dav, vv'hich
we are told in feveral paflages of the New Teftament vvas to come
unexpededly, and like a thief in the flight.

I have been at more pains, than the reader would expecl in a,
work of this kind, to collect the paiiages from fcripture, by wliicli,
I think, it is clearly proved that this world is drawing to an end :.
But I have great delight in ihowing that the Chriftian revelation
agrees with the hiftory and philolophy of man. Now, as 1 have
fhown from hiftory, that tlie numbers of men have very much de-
creafed in antient times, and are continuing now to decreafe ftill
more and more, I think I have proved, both from hiftory and reve-
lation, that the human fpecies is to end in not very many generations
and that then it will end in a very proper time : For I think 1 have
ihown both in the preceedi ng and in this volume *, that our Saviour
came to this world in the fulnefs of time, that is, when it was pro-
per he fhould have .':ome ; and, I ihink, in this volume I have prov-
ed that the Ipecies man is in fuch a ftatc of decline in mind, in body,
and in numbers, tha*- it would be irreconcilable with the wifdom and
goodnefs of God, thac man fhould continue in the wretched ftate he
is in for any very much longer time.

Homer has faid, and from the mouth of Jupiter too, that man is
the moft miferablc of all animals upon this. earth : And if then he
was fo miferable, how much more miferable muft he be now. His
prefent mifery is not fo much the fhortncfs of his life, as the leno-th

of
* Vol. 4. p. 393, 397. 'And p. 2<5i, 262, of this yd.

320 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VII.

of his death ; for we are often feveral years a dyhig. And if a linger-
ing deatli is fo great a mifery, how miferable murt: the end of the
fpecies be, if it were to die out, as I fuppofe. But our facred books
have informed us, that the wifdom and goodnefs of God are to in-
t^rpofe to prevent fo milerable a cataftrophe ot the fpecies ; for we
are told not only in the revelation of St. John, but in feveral other
paiTages *, that by fome great convuHion of nature, this world fhall
end,, and a new heaven and earth come in its place : And as the
fame God governs both the natural and the moral world, his infi-
nite wifdom will, no doubt, fo order things, that the convulfion of
nature, which fhall put an end to our fpecies and to this fyftem of
things, will happen in the ordinary courfe of nature ; for to fuppofe
extraordinary interpofitions of divine power is not agreeable to that
fyftem which we muft fuppofe in the univerfe. Nor do I think it
is necefiary to fuppofe that all at once the whole frame of things
here below {hall be changed, but the change may be in different
countries at different times. That there have been great alterations
of the ordinary courfe of nature in particular countries by the means
of the two elements of fire and water, we are affured from hiftory :
Such was the flood of Noah in Afia, and the flood of Ogyges and Deu-
calion in Greece ; and alfo the finking of the Atlantic ifland, which, I
think, from the account that Plato has given us of it from the informa-
tion which Solon got in Egypt, and which was related by him to Criti-
asfj is very well vouched. And as to fire, there has been much deftruc-
tion by earthquakes and the eruptions of burning mountains in feve-
ral countries : By an earthquake in the reign of Tiberius there were
1 2 cities in Afia deftroyed in one night ; and within thefe few years,
feveral cities have been deftroyed in Calabria and Sicily in that way.
And not many years ago, Jeddo, the Capital of Jappan, was deftroy-
ed b) the earth opening and by an eruption of fire, in which it

is
* Mat. chap. 24. V. 29. and 30. — II Peter, chap. 3. v. 10.
'j- See Plato, in the Dialogues entitled The Timaeus and 27-6' Critiaj.

Chap. IX. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 321

is faid that 200,000 people perifhed. By fuch calamities happening
often, and in many countries of the earth, the human race will cf-
cape that lingering death with which it is threatened, and have a
much better exit than if it were to be feveral generations in dying
out.

I have only further to add, that fome of my readers may think it
inconfiftent with the goodnefs and mercy of God, that the civilized
ftate, in which he has placed us, fhould have produced fo much mi-
fery, as I fay it has done. But it was not God who placed us in
that ftate ; it was man himfelf that did fo by his fall, which made
that ftate neceffary for recovering the intelligence that he had loft ;
For I fhall prove, in the next volume, where 1 am to inquire con-
cerning the origin of evil, that as man loft the ufe of his intelled
by the abufe he made of that free-will, which is efTential to every
intelligent animal, he could not recover it but by a better ufe of his
free-will, and by the cultivation of his intellect by arts and fciences,
which could not be except in a ftate of civil fociety. So that if man
had been otherwife reftored to the ufe of it, it would have been con-
trary to the natural order of things, and to that fyftem, which we
muft fuppofe in the univerfe, as it is the produdion of infinite wif-
dom.

Nor fl-iould we be furprlfed that man fliould be changed from the
ftate of civil fociety, in which he is at prefent, to another ftate,
when we confider what changes have been on this earth by land
being turned into water and water into land, and even in the hea-
vens, by ftars appearing and difappearing. Now, thcfe are the
works of God in which thofe changes have happened. But civil
fociety is the work of man, for a moft ufeful purpofe indeed ; but
ftill it is his work. Now,

Debemur morti nos noftraque.

Horat. Ars Poet'icci.

Vol. V. S s As

322 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book VII.

As man, therefore; in his prefcnt ftate mud have aa cud, fo muft
his works.

And here I conclude this Hiftory of Man in the civilized ftate ;
^vhich I have endeavoured to make as complete as I could, by fliow-
inf^ how this flate began, and how it is to end. In it man is as va-
rious and as wonderful an animal, as he is in his progrefs to it : For
as I have obferved before*', from Horace,

. quot cnpituni vivunt, totidem ftudioruni

Millia.-

Here Horace fpeaks only of the country and the civil fociety in which
he lived : But when we donfider how many civil focieties there are,
and have been upon earth, of polities and conftitutions quite diffe-
rent and, confequently, productive of characters and manners quite
different, the variety of men, in thofe leveral locieties that are or
have been, muft appear moft wonderful, and even incredible, to
thofe who have not ftudied the hiftory of man, but the hiftory only
of fome few particular nations. But thofe, who have ftudied the hif-
tory of man in a more general and liberal manner, will know, with
the greateft certainty, that he is the moft curious and moft wonder-
ful animal upon this earth, more fo than all the other animals put
together : Nor fhould we be furprifed that he is fo various an ani-
mal, when we confider that he is in himfclf a little world, contain-
ing a portion of every thing in the great world, viz. body, animal and
vegetable hfe, and, fuperadded to all thefe, an intelledtual mind, by
which he is diftinguiihed from every other animal here below.
This is his natural compofition ; and if he were not fo much con-
nected with us, as he is by being of the fame fpecies, yet the
ftudy of him would be, to a philofopher and lover of knowledge, a
matter of the greateft curiofity ; infinitely greater than the ftudy of

flies

Page 226>

Chap. IX. ANTTENT METAPHYSICS.

flies with two or wath four wings, upon which a French author, as
I have faid *, has written a volume.

And when we add to this, all the variety that is produced in the
feveral parts of this compofition, by the different polities and con-
ftitutions of government, as I have obferved, in tlie feveral na-
tions, and the different cuftoms and manners thereby produced, to-
gether with the many different occupations of men, inftead of won-
dering at his being fo various an animal, it would be a thing fo w^on-
dcrful, that it could not be believed, if he were not an animal as
various as can well be imagined.

And here I conclude the hiftory of this moft various animal Man
whom I have traced through the feveral ftates, in w^hich he has ap-
peared on this earth ; firft as a mere brute, living in a favao-e and a
folitary fl:ate, of which I have given fome inftances that have lately
been difcovered ; then as a herding animal, but without arts not even
with the art of fpeech, of which the Orang Outang is a memorable
example ; then in the family ftate, of which our facred books fur-
nifli us an excellent inftance, in Abraham and his defcendants for
fome generations ; and, laft of all, in civil fociety, under a reo-ular
government, and cultivating arts and fciences, of which the firft and
beft example is to be found in Antient Egypt.

* Preface to vol. 4. p. 2.

END OF THE FIFTH VOLUME.

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