m*«' DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Treasure %oom Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Duke University Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/miscellanycontaiOOberk ^ MISCELLANY, CONTAINING SEVERAL TRACTS O N Various Subjects. By the Bishop of CLOYNE, Modo me Thebis, modo ponit Athcnis. DUBLIN:" Printed by George Faulkner, in Efl*ex Hreet. MDCCLII. 3 J H I ^4 [:i i^\ TABLE G F CONTENTS. ^AT Ode to the Author of Slris. By the R. Rl -^ r. L. B. O. N, Page 3 Farther Thoughts on Tar-Water. p. 7 jtn EfTay towards preventing the Rum of Great- Britain, p. 28; A Difcourfe addrejjed to Magiftrates and Mea irt^ Authority, o^cajioned by the enormms Licence and' Ir religion of the Times, p. 53. ^ Word to the Wife: or an Exhortation to the Ro- man Catholic Clergy ^Ireland, p. 8^ uf Letter/r<7w//?^ Roman Catholic Clergy, p. io€ A Letter to the Roman Catholics of tke.Diocefe of Cloyne, publijhed in the late Rebellion, p. no Maxims f(?«f cheap and obvious, and in every one*s Power, it feems Matter of great Concern and Aftonifhmcnt, and leaves one at a lofs to guefs at the Motives, that govern human A(flions in Affairs of the greatcfl Moment. The Experiment may be eafily made, if an equal Number of poor Patients in the Small- pox, were put into two Hofpitals at the fame Time of the Year, and provided with the fune Neceffa- ries of Diet and Lodging, and, for further Care, let the one have a Tub of Tar- Water and an old Woman, the other Hofpital, what Attendance and Drugs you pi cafe. In all obftinatc Sores and Ulcers, I very much recommend the drinking of Tar- Water, and wafh- ing them with a ilrong Lotion of it, will haften the Cure. One of the mofl painful and dangerous Cafes is that of a Wojnaa's fore Bread. How many poor Creatures Our Notions and Opinions, are a conftant Check on our Appetites, and Balance to our Paf- fions ; and, although they may not in every In- fiance controU and rule, yet they will never faif, ftrongly to affe^l both the one and the other. What is it that bridles the impetuous Defires of Men ? That retrains them when they are driverr by the mofr violent Paflions ? In a Word, what ist it that renders this World habitable, but the pre- vailing Notions of Order, Virtue, Duty and Pro- vidence ? Some, perhaps, may imagine, that the Eye of the Magiftrate alone, is fufficient to keep Mankind in Awe. But, if every Man^s Heart was fet to do ail the Mifchief his Appetite /hould prompt him to, as often as Opportunity and Se- crecy prefented themfelves, there could be na Living in the World.. And although too many of thofe intrufted with civil Power, in thefe our Days, may be faid with Gal LI Op to care for none of tbofe Thbigs-, and C 5 many 5? ^ DiScotJiSE ciddrejfed to many more who would pafs for Men of Judge- ment and Knowledge, may look on Notions early imbibed, before their Grounds and Reafons are apprehended or undcrflood, to be but mere Pre- judices ; yet this will detra<5l nothing from their Truth and Ufefulnefs. To place this Matter in a due Light, I propofe to fliew, that a Syftem of (iilutary Notions, is abfolutely neceffary to the Support of every civil Conftitution. I lliall en- force this Point, by the Teftimony of thofe who are efteemed the wifeil: Men ; and, I fliall make fome Remarks on the modern prevailing Spirit, and the Tendency of the Maxims of our Times. Order is neceffary, not only to the V/ell-Being» but to the very Being of a State. Now, Order and Regularity in the Anions of Men, is not an EfFetTl: of Appetite or Paflion, but of Judgement ; and the Judgement is governed by Notions or O- pinions. There muft therefore, of Necelfity, in every State, be a certain Syfiem of falutary No- tions, a prevailing Set of Opinions, acquired ei- ther by private Reafon and Reflexion, or taught and inflillcd by the general Reafon of the Public, that is, by the Law of the Land. True it is, that where Men either cannot, or will not ufe their own Reafon, think and examine for them- felves ; in fuch Cafe, the Notions taught or infill- led into their Minds are embraced rather by the Memory, than the Judgem.cnt. Nor will it be any Objc, by the Light of Nature, by his declared Will. And it is the Duty of Magiftrates and Law- givers, to cultivate and encourage thofe divine ImprelTions in the Minds of all Men under their Care. We are not to think, it is the Work of God, and therefore not to be feconded by human Care. Far otherwife, for that very reafon it claims our utmoit Care and Diligence, it being the indlfpcnfible Duty of all good Men, through- out the whole Courfe of their Lives, to co-ope- rate with the Dcllgns of Providence. In Reli- gion, as in Nature, God doth fomewhat, and fomewhat is to be done on the Part of Man. He caufcs the Earth to bring forth Materials for Food and Raiment ; but human Indulhy mull improve, prepare, and properly apply both the one and the other, or Mankind may perifli with Cold and Hunger. And according to this fame Analogy,* the Principles of Piety and Religion, the Things that belong to our Salvation, although originally and primarily the Work of God, yet require the Pro- * It will be fufHcient, if fuch Analogy appears be- tween the Difpenfitions of Grace and Nature, as ma/ make it probable to luppofe thcni derived Irom the fame Au:hor. Alciphron Dial. VI. Sct Pagan Srates of Antiquity, vvhofc Reii^ion^, upon a fair ElU- mace, will be found to have been more expenfive. MAGISTRATES, &c, 73 To come from ancient, to modern Authority, Macbiavel himfelf, reprefents Religion as abfo- lutely necelTary to maintain civil Order and Go- vernment. He obferves, that for many Years, there was a mofl: awful Senfe of Religion in the old Romans ; and that this did much facilitate their great Undertakings. He likewife obferves, and fhews by divers Inftances, that the Romans were more afraid to break an Oath, than to tranfgrefs the Laws ; and that thofe Things which even the Love of their Country and Conftitution could not bring them to, they were brought to through a Senfe of Religion. Upon the whole, he con- cludes, that old Rome was more obliged to Numa, who eftabliflied a national Religion, than to Ro- mulus himfelf, the Founder of that State, f And here by the by, I fnall take Notice, that fome may imagine, the various Forms and Infti- tutions of Religion ought to unfettle Men's Minds, v/ith regard to the Truth and Certainty of any. But this Matter rightly confidered, will, I think, produce a contrary Eifeft. It flieweth, indeed, that Men groping out their Way by the dim Twi- light of Nature did only approach, fome nearer, fome farther off, while ail were fhort of the Truth. But then it /heweth likewife, upon the whole, and in general, that Religion is fo natu- ral to our Minds, fo ufeful to Society, and of fo neceffary Importance to the V/orld, as might well prove its Truth, and render it worthy of the di- vine Care to propagate by Prophecies, Miracles, and the Miffion of the Son of God. Philip de Comines, * a wife Statefrnan, and ho- neft Writer, who had great Experience in AiTairs, declares it to be his Opinion, ' That V/ant of ' religious f DiscoRsi, Lib. I. Cap. sz. * Kilt. B. 5. D 74 •^ Discourse addrejfed to * religious Faith, is the only Fountain of all < Mifchiefs.* And that able Minifter, the flimous MonHeur Colbert^ \ makes it bis Obfervation, ' That if * once the EcclefiaOical Characfler, as fuch, is ' vilified, the civil Magiftiate, even the Crown * itfeif, will, in Gonfequcnce thereof, lofe all * Authority.* It would be no hard Matter, to produce a Cloud of Teftinionies in Behalf of a national Religion, from the moft eminent of our own Writers -, but I fliall content myfelf with adding one only, and that from a very unfuipetled Writer, Mr. Har- rington, Author of the Gccana, who fhews, that to be juft: and fair, which others have fhewed to be expedient. * * A Man (laith he) that plead- * ing for Liberty of Confcience, refufeth Liberty * to the national Confcience, muft be moft abfurd. * Jnd again : If the Convicfiion of a Man's pri- * vate Confcience, produce his private Religion ; * the Conviction of the national Confcience, mufl * produce a national Religion, f All thefe Authorities are taken from thinking Men, and able Politicians, none of which can be fuppofed to fiy what he did not really think ; and it had been very eafy to have increafed the Num- ber. But, I am forry, 1 was obliged to mention any at all, in Proof of fo plain and fundamental a Point as that of a national Religion. It is in- deed, a iliameful Neceffity we lie under, of prov- ing at this Time of Day the firft Elements, I will not fay of Chrillianity, but even of natural Light, from Reafons and from Authorities. The Spirit of the Times hath rendered this unavoidable. If it fhould be afked after all, how comes it then to pafs, that the fafhionable and prevailing Maxims t Teft. Pol. C. 8. * P. 27. Firfl Edit, f ibid. MAGISTRATES, fcfc 75 Maxims among our Betters, in a neighbouring Nation, fliould run directly counter to all fuch Reafons and Authorities? I will anfwer this Que- ftion, by afking when were our Neighbours known to abound to that Degree in Highwaymen, Mur- derers, Houfe- breakers, Incendiaries ? When did fuch Numbers lay violent Hands on themfelves ? When was there fuch a general and indecent Con- tempt of whatever is efteemed facred, in the State as well as the Church ? When were there known among them fuch public Frauds, fuch open Confederacies in Villainy, as the prefent Age hath produced ? When w^re they lower in the Efteem of Mankind, more divided at home, or more infulted abroad? We of this Land have a fatal Tendency to over- look the good Qualities, and imitate whatever is amifs in thofe whom we refpeft. This leads me to make fome Remarks on the modern Spirit of Reformation, that works fo ftrongly in both thefe Kingdoms. Freedom of Thought is the general Plea and Cry of the Age ; and we all grant, that thinking is the Way to know ; and the more real Know- ledge there is in the Land, the more likely it will be to thrive. We are not therefore againO: Freedom of Thought, but we are againft thofe unthinking, overbearing People, ^ who, in thefe odd Times, under that Pretence, fet up for Re- formers, and new Molders of the Conflitution. We declare againft thofe, who would fedrce igno- rant and unexperienced Perfons from the Reve- rence * It is not Reafon candidly propofed that offends, but the Reviling, Infulting, Rid-.d^mg of the national Laws and Religion, all this profi.teth ior I^ree thinking, and muft needs be oiFenftve to all reafonable Men. D 2 76 A Discourse addrejfed to rence they owe to the Laws and Religion of their Country ; and under the Notion of extirpating Prejudices, would erafe from their Minds all Im- prelTions of Piety and Virtue, in order to intro- duce Prejudices of another Kind, deflru(flive of Society. "We eftecm it a horrible Thing, to laugh at the Apprehenfions of a future State, with the Author of the Chara^eri/lics * ; or with him who wrote the Fable of the Bees y to maintain th^i moral Virtues are tht political Offspring tuhich Flattery begot upon Pride f ;: that in Morals there is no greater Certainty, ihan in Fajhions of Drefs || ; that, indeed, the Do^rine of good Manners teacheth Men to fpeak well of all Virtues ; but requires no more of them in any j^ge or Country-, than the outward Appearance of thofe in fajhion. § Two Authors of Infidel Syflems thefe, who fetting out upon oppofite Principles, are cal- culated to draw all Mankind, by flattering either their Vanity or their Paflions, into one or other Syikm. And yet, the People among whom fuch Books are publiflied, wonder how it comes to pafs, that the civil Magillrate daily lofeth his Au- thority, that the Laws arc trampled upon, and the Subje(5l in canflant Fear of being robbed, or murdered, or having his Houfc burnt over his Head ? It may be prefumed, that the Science of find- ing Fault, which above all others is eafiefi to learn, fuits beft with a modern Education. Too many there are of better Fortunes than Under- {}andings,who have made the Inquiry after Truth, a very fmall Part of their Care : Thefe fee fome- what, * Vol.III. Mifcel. III. C. 2. f Inquiry into the Origin of moral Virtue. Ed. 6. P. 3 7. || The Author's Remarks on his Fable of the Bees, P. 379. 5 Remarks, Part II. P. 155. MAGISTRATES, &c. yj /what, but not enough. It were to be widieJ, they knew eiiher lefs or more. One T^hing it is evident they do not know ; to wit ; that while they rail at Prejudice, they are undoing them- felves : They do not comprehend, (what hath been before hinted) that their whole Figure, their political Exiflencc, is owing to certain vulgar Pre- judices, in Favour of Birth, Title, or Fortune, which add nothing of real Worth either to Mind or Body ; and yet, caufe the moft worthlefs Per- fon to be refpefted. Freedom of Thought is the Prerogative of hu- man Kind ; it is a Quality inherent in the very Nature of a thinking Being. Nothing is more evident, than that every one can think his own Way, in fpite of any outward Force or Power whatfoever. It is therefore ridiculous for any Man to declaim in Defence of a Privilege, which cannot be denied or taken from him. But this will not infer a boundlefs Freedom of Speech, ^ an open Contempt of Laws, and a prefcribing from private Jadgen\ent s againil public Authori- ty, Things never borne in any well-ordered State ; and which make the crying Diilemper of our Times. The Gonflitution of thefe Kingdoms, hath been one while over-heated by the indifcreet Zeal of one Set of Men: Again, it hath been cold and iifelefs, through the Indifference of another. ^ D 3 We ^ Is there no Difference between indulging fcrupu- lous Confciences, and tolerating public Denders of all Confcience and Religion ? § A Man who is himfelf permitted to follow his own private Judgement, cannot well complain, although he may not fet it up as a public Rule. " There is a Medium in Things, which wife Men f nd out, while the unwife are always blundering in Ex- tremes. 78 • ^ Discourse nddrejfed to We have alternately felt the furious Eftes, or whatever eife may be the Gaufe, there flill remains in the Natives of thi% Illand a remarkable Antipathy to Labour. You, Gentlemen, can alone conquer their innate heredi- tary Sloth. Do you then, as you love your Country exert yourfelves. You arc known to have great Influence on the" Minds of your People, be fo good as to ufe this Influence for their Benefit. Since other Methods fail, try v^hztyou can do. Be tnftant in Secifon^ out of Scafon^ reprove, rebuke ^ exhort. * Make thent thoroughly fenfiblc of the Sin and Folly of Sloth. Shew your Charity in clothing the naked and feeding the hungry, which you may do by the- merc Breath of your Mouths. Give me Leave to tell you, that no Set of Men upon Earth have it in their Power to do Good on eafier Terms, with more Advantage to others^ and lefs Pains or Lofs to themfelves. Your Flocks are of all others^ moll: difpofed to follow Dires. The Nb' gros in our Plantations have a Saying, If Negro was not Negro J h'ljhman would he Negro. And it may be affirmed with Truth, that the very Savages of America are better clad and better lodged than the IriJh Cottagers throughout the fine fertile Counties of Limerick and Tipperary. Having long oblerved and bewailed this wretch- ed State of my Countrymen, and the Infufficiency of feveral Methods fet on Foot to reclaim them, I have recourfc :o your Reverences, as the dernier Refort. Make them to underftand that you have their Intereft at Heart, that you perfuade them to work for their own Sakes, and that God hath or. dered Matters fo as that, they who will not work for themfelves, mufi: work for others. The Ter- rors of Debt, Slavery, and Famine fhould, one would think, drive the moft flothful to Labour. Make them fenfible of thefe Things, and that the Ends of Providence and Order of the World re- quire Induftry in human Creatures. Man goeth forth to his IVork, and to his Labour until the Evenings faith the Pfalmjjiy when he is defcribing the Beau- * Ch. X. ver. 27. A Word to the Wife. 93 ty. Order and Perfeclion of the Works of God.* But what faith the flothful Perfon? yet a little Sleeps a little Slumber y a little Folding of the Hands to Sleep. \ But, what faith the Wifeman ? fo Jhall thy Poverty come as one that travellethy and thy Want as an armed Man %, All Nature will furnifli you with Arguments and Examples againft Sloth, ^5 to the Ant thou Sluggard, exits Solomon. The Ant, the Bee, the Beetle, and every Infecfl but the Drone reads a Leffon of Induftry to Man. But the fhorteft and moft elFevtuai Leffon is that of Saint Pauly if a^iy Man will not work neither Jhould he eat || . This Command was enjoined iheTheJfalonians, and equal- ly refpeds all Chrijlians, and indeed all Mankind^ it being evident by the Light of Nature, that the whole Creation works together for Good, and that no Part was defigned to be ufelefs ; as there- fore the Idle Man is of no Ufe, it follows that he hath no Right to a Subfiflence. Let them work, faith the Apojile, and eat their ozvn Bread ^^ net Bread got by Begging, not Bread earned by the Sweat of other Men ; but their own Bread, that which is got by their own Labour. Then jhalt thou eat the Labour of thine Hands , faith the Pfalmifl, to which, he adds, happy /halt thou hi and it Jhall be well with thee \\\ intimating, that to work and enjoy the Fruits thereof is a great BleiTmg. A flothful Man's Imagination is apt to drefs up Labour in a horrible Mafque; but, horrible as it is, Idlenefs is more to be dreaded, and a Life of Poverty (its neceffary Confequence) is far more painful. It was the Advice of Pythagoras, to chufe the beji kijid of Life^ for that Vit would render it agreeable^ reconciling Men even to the roughefl Exercife. * Pf. civ. ver. 23. -f- Prov. ch. vi. ver 10. :{: Prov. ch. vi. ver. 11. || 2 TheiT. ch. iii. ver. 10. ^ 2 ThefT. ch. iii. ver. 12. |I|i Pf. cxxviii. ver. 2, 94 -^ Word to the Wife. Exercife. By Pra6Vicc, Pains become at firfl eafy, and in the Progrefs pleaHmt ; and this is fo true, that whoever examines Things will find, there can be no fuch Thing as a happy Life without Labour, and that whoever doth not hibour with his Hands, mud: in his own Defence labour with his Brains. Certainly, planting and tilTing the Earth is an Exercife not lefs plealing than ufeful ; it takes the Peaiant from his fmoaky Cabin into the frefh Air and the open Field, rendering his Lot far more dcllrable than that of the Sluggard, who lies in the Straw, or fits whole Days by the Fire. Convince your People that not only Pleafure invites, but NecelFity alfo drives them to labour. If you have any Compailion for thefe poor Crea- tures, put them in Mind how many of them pe- rilled in a late memorable Dilhefs, through Want of that provident Care againll a hard Scafon, ob- fervable not only in all other Men, but even in ir- rational Animals. Set before their Eyes in lively Colours, their own indigent and fordid Lives, compared with thofe of other People, whofe In- duftry hath procured them hearty Food, warm Clothes, and decent Dwellings. Make them fen- fible what a Reproach it is, tliat a Nation which makes {o great Prctenfions to Antiquity, and Is faid to have flourished many Ages ago in Arts and Learning, fliould in thefe our Days turn out a lazy, dcilitute, and degenerate Race. Raife your Voices, Reverend Sirs^ exert your Influence, flicw your Authority over the Multi- tude, by engaging them to the PracTtice of an ho- neft Induftry, a Duty necefl"ary to all, and requi- red in all, whether P-ote/hnti, or Ro?nan Catholics, \vhether Chri/iians, Jews, or Pagans. Be f > good among other Points to find room for Tins, than •which none is of more Concern to the Souls and Bodies A Word to the Wife. 95 Bodies of your Hearers^ nor confequently defer ves to be more amply, or frequently infifted on. Many and obvious are the motives that recom- mend this Diity. Upon a Subje^l fo copious you can never be at a Lofs for fomething to fay. And while by thefc Means you rgfcue your Country- men from Want and Mifery, you Vvill have the Satisfa£lian to behold your Country itfelf impro- ved. What Plcafure mufl: it give you to fee thefe wafte and wild Scenes, thefe naked Ditches, and miferable Hovels, exchanged for fine Plantations, rich Meadows, well- tilled Fields, and neat Dwel- lings ; to fee People well fed, and well clad, inflead of famiflied, ragged Scarecrows ; and thofe very Perfons tilling the Fields that ufed to beg in the Streets. Neither ought the Difficulty of the Enterprife to frighten you from attempting it. It muft be confeffed a Habit of Induftry is not at once intro- duced; Neighbour, neverthelefs, will emulate Neighbour, and the Contagion of good Example will fpread as furely as of bad, though perhaps not fo fpeedily. It may be hoped, there are ma- ny that would be allured by a plentiful and decent Manner of Life to take Pains, efpecially when they obferve it to be attained by the Induftry of their Neighbours, in no Sort better qualified than themfelves. If the fame gentle Spirit of Sloth did not footh our Squires as well as Peafants, one would ima- gine there fhould be no idle Hands among us. Alas ! how many Incentives to Induflry offer them- felves in this lHand, crying aloud to the Inhabi- tants for Work? Roads to be repaired. Rivers made navigable, Fifheries on the Coafls, Mines to be wrought, Plantations to be raifed, Manu- factures improved, and, above all. Lands to be tilled and fowed with all Sorts of Grain. When 96 ^ Word to the Wife. ^i When fo many Circumftances provoke and aui- il mate your People to Labour, when their private Wants, and the Neceflities of the PubHc, when the Laws, the Magiftrates, and the very Country calls upon them, you cannot think it becomes you alone to be filent, or hindmoft in every Pro- jeed circular Letters to the Panfh Priefts of this Diocefe, re- commending, in the moft earnell Manner, the Perufal the Roman Catholic Clergy.' 109 Perufal, and zealous Execution of what is contali^- ed in the faid Addrefs ; and it is hoped, that by pub- lifhing this in your Journal, the Roman Catholic Clergy of the other Parts of this Kingdom will be induced to follow their Example, which muft pro- mote the laudable Views of that great and good Man. At the fame Time he may be aifTured, that the Roman Catholic Clergy of this City, have fre- quently taken confiderable Pains to recommend, to their refpedive Flocks, Induflry, and a due Ap- plication to their different Trades and Callings, as an indifpenfible Duty, and the Means of avoid- ing the many Vices and bad Confequences which generally attend criminal Poverty and Want. But the more effed^ually to prevent thefe Evils, and remove all Excufes for Sloth and Idlenefs, they have, fcveral Months ago, purfuant to the Exam- ple of many Bifhopricks in Lombardy^ Spain, Na- ples, &c. taken the Steps moft proper and expe- dient, in their Opinion, to lelTcn confiderably the Number of Holidays in this Kingdom } and they make no Doubt but their Expectations will, in a fhort Time, be fully anfwered; to the great Ad- vantage of the Public. Tf^e are, 8cc. t ■">] LETTER T O T H E Roman Catholics of the Diocefe of Cloyne. Publidied in the late Rebellion, A. D. Mdccxlv. My Countrymm and Felhw Suhje^s, NOtwitbflanding the Differences of our reli- gious Opinions, I Ihould be forry to be wanting in any Inftance of Humanity, or good Neighbourhood to any of you. For which Reafun I find myfelf ftrongly inclined, at this cri- tical Jun 10. Whether Fafhion doth not create Appe- tites ; and whether the prevailing Will of a Na- tion is not the Fafhion ? 11. Whether the Current of Induftry and Com- merce be not determined by this prevailing Will? 12. Whether it be not owing to Cullom, that the Fafliions are agreeable ? 13. Whether it may not concern the Wifdom of the Legiflature to interpofe in the making of Fafliions ; and not leave ^n Affair of fo great In- fluence, to the Management of Women and Fops, Taylors and Vintners ? 14. Whether reafonable Fafliions are a greater Reflraint on Freedom than thofe which are unrea- fonable ? 15. Whether a general good Tafte in a People would not greatly conduce to their thriving ? And whether an uneducated Gentry be not the greatcfl of national Evils ? . 16. Whether Cuftoms and Fadiions do not fup- ply the Place of Reafon, in the Vulgar of all Ranks ? Whether, therefore, it doth not very much import that they fliould be wifely framed? 17. Whether the imitating thofe Neighbours in oyr Fa(hions, to wh6m we bear no Llkenefs in our Circumflances, be not one Caufc of Diltrefs to this Nation ? 18. Whether frugal FaOiions in the upper Rank, and comfortable Living in the lower, be not the Means to multiply Inhabitants ? 19. Whether er, are not Tickets or Counters for Reckoning, Recording, and Trans- ferring thereof? 26. Whether the Denominations being retained, although the Bullion were gone. Things mic^ht not neverthelefs be rated, bought and fold, Indufay F promoted. 122 Tbe Q^U E R I S T. -promoted, and a Circulation of Commerce main- tained ? 27. Whether an equal raifmg of all Sorts of Gold, Silver and Copper Coin, can have any Ef- fe(fl: in bringing Money into the Kingdom \ And whether altering the Proportions between the feve- ral Sorts, can have any other Effect, but multiply- ing one Kind and lelfening another, without any Increafe of the Sum total ? 28. Whether arbitrary changing the Denomi- nation of Coin, be not a public Cheat ? 29. What makes a wealthy People ? Whether INIines of Gold and Silver arc capable of doing this ? And whether the Negros amidft the Gold Sands of Afrlc, are not poor and deftitute ? 30. Whether there be any Virtue in Gold or Silver, other than as they fet People at Work, or create Induftry ? 31. Whether it be not the Opinion or Will of the People, exciting them to Induflry, that truly enrichcth a Nation ? And whether this doth not principally depend on the Means for counting, transferring, and preferving Power, that is. Pro- perty of all Kinds ? 32. Whether if there was no Silver or Gold in the Kingdom, our Trade might not neverthelefs fupply Bills of Exchange, fufficient to anfwer the De- mands of Abfentees in England y or elfewhere ? 33. Whether current Bank-Notes may not be deemed Money ? And whether they are not actu- ally the greater Part of the Money of this King- dom ? 34. Provided the Wheels move, whether it is not the fame Thing, as to the EifeCl of the Ma- chine, be this done by the Force of Wind, or Wa- ter, or Animals I 35. Whether Power to command the Induftry i?f others be not real Wealth \ And whether Money be ^e Q^U E R I S T. 123 be not in Truth, Tickets or Tokens for convey- ing and recording fuch Power, and whether it be of great Gonfequence what Materials the Tickets are made of? 36. Whether Trade, either foreign or do- meftic, be in Truth any more than this Commerce of Induftry ? 37. Whether to promote, transfer, and fecure this Commerce, and this Property in human La- bour, or, in other Words, this Power, be not the fole Means of enriching a People, and how far this may be done independently of Gold and Silver ? 38. Whether it were not wrong to fuppofe Land itfeJf to be Wealth ? And whether the In- duftry of the People is not firft to be confidered, as that which conftitutes Wealth, which makes even Land and Silver to be Wealth, neither of which would have any Value, but as Means and Motives to Induftry ? 39. Whether in the Waftes of America y a Man might not pofTefs twenty Miles fquare of Land, and yet want his Dinner, or a Goat to his Back ? 40. Whether a fertile Land, and the Induftry of its Inhabitants, would not prove inexhauftible Funds of real Wealth, be the Counters for con- veying and recording thereof what you will. Paper, Gold,- or Silver ? 41. Whether a fmgle Hint be fufficient to over- come a Prejudice ? And whether even obvious Truths will not fometimes bear repeating ? 42. Whether if human Labour be the true Source of Wealth, it doth not follow that Idlenefs Ihould of all Things be difcouraged in a wife State ? 43. Whether even Gold, or Silver, if they ftiould leffen the Induftry of its Inhabitants, would not be ruinous to a Country ? And whether Spain be not au Inftance of this \ F % 44, Whether 124 ^^-^ Q.U E R I S T. 44. Whether the Opinion of Men, and their Induftry confequcnt thereupon, be not the true Wealth of Holland^ and not the Silver fuppofed to be depofited in the Bank at Amflerdam? 45. Whether there is in Truth any fiich Trea- furc lying dead ? And whether it be of great Con- fequence to the Public, that it fhould be real, ra- ther than notional ? 46. Whether in Order to underftand the true Nature of Wealth and Commerce, it would not be right to confider a Ship's Crew call: upon a de- fert Ifland, and by Degrees forming therafelvcs to Bufinefs and civil Life, while Indulby begot Credit, and Credit moved to Indufliy ? 47. Whether fuch Men would not all fet them- felves to Work I Whether they would not fubfift by the mutual Participation of each others Induftry ? Whether when one Man had in his Way procured more than he could confume, he would not ex- change his Superfluities to fupply his Wants ? Whe- ther this muft: not produce Credit ? Whether to facilitate thefe Conveyances, to record and circu- late this Credit, they would not foon agree on cer- tain Tallies, Tokens, Tickets, or Counters ? 48 . Whether Refle(51:ion in the better Sort might not foon remedy our Evils? And whether our real Defeat be not a wrong Way of Thinking ? 49. Whether it would not be an unhappy Turn in our Gentlemen, if they fhould take more Thoucrht to create an Interert to themfeh es in this or that County, or Borough, than to promote the real Interefl: of their Country ? 50. Whether if a Man builds a Houfe he doth not in the firfl: Place provide a Plan which governs his Work ? And fhall the Public act without an End, a View, a Plan ? ^i. Whether by how much the Icfs particular Folk The QJJ E R I S T. 125 Folk think for themfelves, the Public be not (a much the more obliged to think for them ? 52. Whether fmall Gains be not the Way to great Profit ? And if our Tradefmen are Beggars^ whether they may not thank themfelves for it ? 53. Whether fome Way might not be found for making Criminals ufeful in public Works, inflead of fending them either to America, or to the other World ? 54. W^hether we may not, as well as other Na- tions, contrive Employment for them ? And whe- ther Servitude. Chains, and hard Labour, for a Term of Years, would not be a more difcouraging, as well as a more adequate PunlHiment for Felons^ than even Death itfelf ? ^^, Whether there are not fuch Tilings in //<;/- h\d as bettering Houfes, for bringing young Gen- tlemen to Order? And whether fuch an Inftkution would be ufelefs among us .^ 56. Whether it be true, that the Poor in Hoi- land have no Refource but their own Labour, and yet there are no Beggars in their Streets I 57. Whether he whofe Luxury confumeth fo- reign Produfts, and whofe Induftry produceth no- thing domedic to exchange for them, is not fo far forth injurious to his Country ? 58. Whether NecefTity is not to be hearkened, to before Convenience, and Convenience before- Luxury ? 59. Whether to provide plentifully for thePoor^ be not feeding the Root, the Subftance whereof will fhoot upwards into the Branches, and caufe tlie Top to liourifh ? 60. Whether there be any Inftance of a State wherein the People, living neatly and plentifully^ did not afpire to Wealth ? 61. Whether Naftinefs and Beggary do not, on F 3 the; 126 • rhe Q^U E R I S T. the contrary, extinguifh all fuch Ambition, making Men liftlefs, hopelels, and flothful ? 62. Whether a Country inhabited by People well fed, clothed and lodged, would not become every Day more populous ? And whether a nume- rous Stock of People in fuchCircumftances would not conflitute a flourifhing Nation ; and how far the Product of our own Country may fufficc for the compaffing of this End ? 63. Whether a People, who had provided them- felves With the NecefTaiies of Life in good Plenty, would not foon extend their Induflry to new Arts and new Branches of Commerce ? 64. Whether thofe fame Manufactures which England imports from other Countries, may not be admitted from Ireland f' And, if fo, whether Lace, Carpets and Tapeflr}', three confiderable Articles -oi E^nglijh Importation, might not find En- couragement in Ireland? And whether an Acade- my for Delign might not greatly conduce to the pei feeing thofe IVIanufa(n:ures among us? 65. Whether Francs and Flanders could have drawn {ct much IMoney from England, for figured Silks, Lace, and Tapeflry, if they bad not had Academies for Defigning? 66. Whether when a Room was once prepared, and Models in Plaifter of Paris, the Annual Ex- pence of fuch an Academy need fland the Public in above two hundred Pounds a Year? 67. Whether our Linen- Manufi\cl'ure would not find the Benefit of this Infiitution ? And whether there be any Thing that makes us fall fhort of the Dutch, in Damalks, Diapers, and printed Linen, but our Ignorance in Defign ? 68. Whether thofe, who may flight this Affair as notional, have fufficiently confidered the exten- five Vk of the Art of Defign, and its Influence in jnofl Trades and Manufa<^urcs, wherein the Forms of The QV E R I S r.^ 127 of Things are often more regarded than the Ma- terials ? * 69. Whether there be any Art fooner learned than that of making Carpets ? And whether our Women, with little Time and Pains, may not make more beautiful Carpets than thofc imported from Turky, P And whether this Branch of the Woollen-Manufarture be not open to us ? 70. Whether human Induftry can produce^ from fuch cheap Materials, a Manufacture of fo great Value, by any other Art, as by thofe of Sculp- ture and Painting ? 7 1 . Whether Pi6lures and Statues are not in- Faft fo much Treafure ? And whether Rome and Florence would not be poor Towns without them ? 72. Whether they do not bring ready Money^ as well as Jewels ? Whether in Italy^ Debts are noc paid, and Children portioned with them, as with Gold and Silver? 73. W^hether it would not be more prudent, to ftrike out and exert ourfelves in permitted Branches of Trade, than to fold our Hands and repine, that we are not allowed the Woollen ? 74. Whether it be true, that two Millions are yearly expended by England by foreign Lace and Linen I y^. Whether immenfe Sums are not dra^vn year- ly Into the Northern Countries, for fupplying the Britijh Navy with Hempen • Manufactures ? 76. Whether there be any Thing more profitable than Hemp ? And whether there fh.ould not be great Praemiums for encouraging our Hempen-Trade? What Advantages may not Gr-eat- Britain make of a Country where Land and Labour are fo cheap ? 77. Whether Ireland alone might not raife Hemp^ fufficient fox the Britijh Navy ? And whether it F 4 would- * Since the firft Publication of this Q^e-y, the Art of Pefi^Jft feems to be more confidered and countenanced among us. J28 Tve (QUERIST. would not be vain to expecH: this from the Brltijh Colonies in America^ where Hands are fo fcarce, and Labour fo exceifively dear ? 78. Whether if our OM'n People want Will or Capacity for fuch an Attempt, it might not be •worth while for Ibme undertaking Spirits in Ehg- land to make Settlements, and raife Hemp in the Counties of Clare and Limerick, than which, per- haps, there is not litter Land in the World for that Purpofe ? And whether both Nations would not find their Advantage therein ? 79. Whether if all the idle Hands in this King- dom were employed on Kemp and flax, we might not find fuilicient Vent for tiiefe Manufi^lures ? 80. How far it may be in our own Power to bet- ter our Affairs, without interfering with our Neigh- bours ? 81. Whether the Prohibition of our Woollen- Trade, ought not naturally to put us on other Me- thods, Vv'hich give no Jealouly ? 82. Whether Paper be not a valuable Article of Commerce ? And whether it be not true, that one finglc Bookfeiler in Loiidon yearly expended above four thoufand Pounds in that foreign Commodity ? 83. How it comes to pafs, that the VeJieUans and Genoefe^ who wear fo much lefs Linen, and fo much worfe than we do, Ihould yet make very good Paper, and in great Quantity, while we make very little ? 84. How long it v.'ill be before my Country- men find out, that it is worth while to Ipend a Penny, in order to get a Groat ? 85. If all the Land were tilled that is fit for Til- lage, and all that (owed with Hemp and Flax that is fit for railing them, whether we (hould have much Sheep-walk beyond what was fufficient to fupply the Necefiities of the Kingdom ? 86. Whether other Countries have not flouri/hcd without the Woollen- Trade I 87, rhe QJJ E R r S T. 129 87. Whether it be not a fure Sign^ or Effe^ of a Country's thriving, to fee it well cultivated and full of Inhabitants ? And if fo, whether a great Quantity of Sheep-walk, be not ruinous to a Coun- try, rendering it wafte and thinly inhabited ? 88. Whether the employing fo much of our Land under Sheep, be not in faft an Irijh Blunder I 89. Whether our hankering after our Woollen- Trade, be not the true and only Reafon, which hath created a Jealoufy in England towards Ire- land F And whether any Thing can hurt us more than fuch Jealoufy ? 90. Whether it be not the true Interefl of botfe Nations, to become one People ? And whether either be fufficiently apprized of this ? 91. Whether the upper Part of this People are not truly EngU/h, by Blood, Language, Religion^ Manners, Inclination and Intereft I 92. Whether we are not as much EngHJhmen^. as the Children of old Romans born in Brita'm^. were ftill Romans ? 93. Whether it be not our true Intereil, not to interfere vv^ith them ; and, in every other Cafe,, whether it be not their true Intereft to befriend us ? 94. Whether a Mint in Ireland might not be of great Convenience to the Kingdom ; raid whether it could be attended with any pofTible Inconveni- ence to Great-Britain? x4.nd whether there were- not Mints in Naples and in Sicily, when thofe' ICmgdoms were Provinces to Spain^ or the Houfe oi Jujlrial'. 95. Whether any Thing can be more ridicuIouSj^, than for the North of Ireland to be jealous of ors, of Content to them- felves fromheaping up Riches, that is, from gather- ing Counters, from multiplying Figures, from en- larging Denominations, without knowing what they would be at, and without having a proper Regard to the V^c, or End, or Nature of Things ? 309. Whether the Igritsfatuus of Fancy doth not kindle immoderate Defires, and lead Men into endlefs Purfuits and wild Labyrinths ? 310. Whether Counters be not referred to other Things, which fo long as they keep Pace and Proportion with the Counters; it mufl be owned ^he QUERIST. 153 owned the Counters are ufeful, but whether be- yond that to value or covet Counters, be not di- rea Folly ? 311. Whether the public Aim ought not to be that I\Ien's Induflry fhould fupply their prefent Wants, and the Over-plus be converted into a Stock of Power ? 312. Whether the better this Power is fecured, and the more eafily it is transferred, Induflry be not fo much the more encouraged ? 313. Whether Money, more than is expedient for thofe Purpofes, be not upon the whole hurtful, rather than beneficial to a State ? 314. Whether the promoting of Induflry fhould not be always in View, as the true and fole End, the Rule and Meafure of a national Bank ? And whether all Deviations from that Obje<5l fhould not be carefully avoided ? 315. Whether it may not be ufeful, for fupply- ing Manufa6lnres and Trade with Stock, for regu- lating Exchange, for quickening Gommercej for putting Spirit into the People ? 316. Whether we are fufficiently fcnfible, of the peculiar Security there is in having a Bank, that confifls of Land and Paper, one oFwhich cannot be exported, and the other is in no Danger of be- ing exported? 317. W^hether it be not delightful to complain? And whether there be not many who had rather utter their Complaints than redrefs their Evils ? 7 1 3. Whether, if the Crown of the JVife be their Ric'jls'^ y we are not the foolifheft People in Ghrif- tcndom? 319. M^hetlier we have not all the while great civil as well as naturiil Advantages ? 320. Whether there be any People, who have rr.ore Leifure to cultivate the Arts of Peace, and ftudy the public Weal? 32e.* * Prov. xiv. 2f.. G 5 154 'I'he QJJ E R I S T. 321. Whether other Nations who enjoy any Share of Freedom, and have great Obje6ls in View, be not unavoidably embarafTed and dif- tracSled by Fa^ions ? But whether we do not di- vide upon TriHes, and whether our Parties are not a Burlefque upon Politics ? 322. Whether it be not an Advantage that we are not embroiled in foreign Aftairs, that we hold not the Balance of Europe, that we are prote(ft- ed by other Fleets and Armies, that it is the true Interefl: of a powerful People, from whom we are defcended, to guard us on all Sides ? 323. Whether England doth not really love us and wifh well to us, as Borie of her Bone, and flejh of her FleJ])? And whether it be not our Part, to cultivvite this Love and Affeflion all Manner of Ways? 324. What Sea-Ports or foreign Trade have the Sivijfes ; and yet how warm are thofe People and how well provided ? 32". Whether there may not be found a People who fo contrive as to be impoverifhed by their Trade? And whether we are not that People? 326. Whether it would not be better for this Ifland, if all our fine Folk of both Sexes were /hipped off, to remain in foreign Countries, rather than that they fhould fpend their Eltates at home in foreign Luxury, and (pread the Contagion there- of through their native Land ? 327. Whether our Gentry underftand or have a Notion of Magnificence, and whether for Want thereof, they do not aifed very wretched Diftinc- tions ? 328. Whether there be not an Art or Skill jia governing human Pride, fo as to render it fubfer- vient to the public Aim ? 329. Whether the great and general Aim of ihe Public jQiould not be to employ the People ? 330- rhe QJJ E R I S T. 155 330. What right an eldefl Son hath to the word Education ? 331 . Whether Men's Counfels are not the Refult of their Knowledge and their Principles? 332. Whether there be not Labour of the Brains as well as of the Hands, and whether the former is beneath a Gentleman ? 333. Whether the Public be more interefled/ to protedl: the Property acquired by mere Birth, than that which is the immediate Fruit of Learning and Virtue ? 334. Whether it would not be a poor and ill- judged Project to attempt to promote the Good of the Community, by invading the Rights of one Part thereof, or of one particular Order of Men ? 335. Whether there be a more wretched, and at the fame Time a more unpitied Cafe, than for Men to make Precedents for their own Undoing ? 336. Whether to determine about the Rights and Properties of Men by other Rules than the Law, be not dangerous ? 337. Whether thofe Men, who move the Cor- rer-Stones of a Gonftitution, may not pull an old Houfe on their own Heads I 338. Whether there be not two general Me- thods whereby Men become Sharers in the national Stock of Wealth or Power, Induftry and Inhe- ritance ? And whether it would be wife in a civil Society to lefTen that Share which is allotted to Merit and Induftry ? 339. Whether all Ways of fpending a Fortune be of equal Benefit to the Public, and what Sort of Men are apteft to run into an improper Ex- pence ? 340. If the Revenues allotted for the Encou- ragement of Religion and Learning were made he- reditary in the Hands of a dozen Lay- Lords and 156 ^he QJJ E R I S T. as many overgrown Commoners, whether the Public would be much the better for it ? 341. Whether the Churches Patrimony belongs to one Tribe alone ; and whether every Man's Son, Brother, or himfelf may not, if he pleafe, be qualified to fhare therein ? 342. What is there in the Clergy to create a Jcaloufy in the Public ? Or what would the Pub- lic lofc by it, if every ^Squire in the Land wore a black Goat, faid his Prayers, and was obliged to refide ? 343. Whether there be any Thing perfeO" under the Sun ? And, whether it be not with the World as with a particular State, and with a State or Bo- dy-Politic as with the human Body, which lives and moves under various Indifpofitions, perfeft Health being feldom or never to be found ? 344. Whether, ncverthelefs. Men ihould not in all Things aim at Pcrfc6\ion ? And, therefore, whether any wife and good Man would be againft applying Remedies ? But whether it is not natural to wifh for a benevolent Phyfician ? 345. Whether the public Happinefs be not pro- pofed by the Legiilaturc, and whether fuch Happi- nefs doth not contain that of the Individuals ? 346. Whether, therefore, a Legiflator fhould be content with a vulgar Share of Knowledge ? M'^hether he (hould not be a Perfon of Reflc6lion and Thought, who hath made it his Study to un- derftand the true Nature and Intercft of Mankind, how to guide Men's Humours and PalTions, how to incite their a6live Powers, how to make their feveral Talents co-operate to the mutual Benefit of «ach other, and the general Good of the whole ? 347. Whether it doth not follow, that above all Things a Gentleman's Care fhould be to keep his own Faculties found and entire ? 348- ^e QV E R I S T. 157 348. "Whether the natural Phlegm of this Ifland needs any additional Stnpifier? 349. Whether ail fpirituous Liquors are not, in Truth, Opiates? 350. Whether our Men of Bufinefs are not ge- nerally very grave by fifty ? 351. Whether all Men have not Faculties of Mind or Body, which may be employed for the public Benefit? 352. Whether the main Point be not to multi- ply and employ our People? 353' Whether hearty Food and warm Clothing would not enable and encourage the lower Sort to Labour ? 354. Whether in fuch a Soil as ours, if there was Induftry, there could be Want ? 355. Whether the Way to make Men induftri- ous, be not to let them tafte the Fruits of their In- duftry? And whether th^ labouring Ox fhould be muzzled ? 355. Whether our Landlords are to be told, that Induftry and Numbers would raife the Value of their Lands, or that one Acre about the Thot- fel is worth ten thoufand Acres in Conaught ? 357. Whether our old native Irijh are not the moft indolent and fupine People in Chrifimdom? 358. Whether they are yet crv'ilized, and whe- ther their Habitations and Furniture are not more fordid than thofc of the Savage Jmericans P 359. Whether it be not a fad Circumftance to live among lazy Beggars? And whether, on tl/e other Hand, it would not be delightful to live in a Country fwarming, like China, with bufy People? 360. Whether we fhould not caft about, by all Manner of Means, to excite Induflry, and to re- move whatever hinders it? And whether eveiy one fhould not lend an helping Hand ?^ 361. 158 rhe Q^U E R I S T. 361. Whether Vanity itfelf fhould not be cnga- | ged hi this good Work? And whether it is not to ' be wifhcd, that the finding of Employment for themfelves and others, were a fafhionahle Diftinc- tion among the Ladies? 362. Whether Idlenefs be the Mother or the Daughter of Spleen ? 363. Whether it may not be worth while to , publilh the Gonverfation of Ifchomachus and his { Wife in Xenophorty for the Vk of our Ladies ? 364. Whether it is true, that there have been, upon a Time, one hundred millions of People employed mChlna, without the Woollen- Trade, or any foreign Commerce? 365. Whether the natural Inducements to Sloth are not greater in the MogoPs Country than in Ire^ land, and yet whether in that fuiTocating and di- fpiriting Climate, the Banyans zre not all, Men, Women and Children, conftantly employed? 366. Whether it be not true, that the great Mogol's Subjects might underfell us even in our own Markets, and clothe our People with their Stuffs and Calicoes, if they were imported Duty- free ? 367. Whether there can be a greater Reproach on the leading Men and the Patriots of a Country, than that the People fliould want Employment? And whether IMethods may not be found to cm- ploy even the Lame and the Blind, the Dumb, the Deaf, and the Maimed, in fome or other Branch of our Manufiiftures ? 368. Whether much may not be expected from a biennial Confultation of fo many wife Men about the public Good? 369. Whe'iher a Tax upon Dirt would not be one Way of encouraging Induflry ? 370. Whether it would be a great Hardfhip, if every "The Q^U E R I S T. 159 -every PariHi were obliged to find Work for their Poor ? 371. Whether Children, efpecially, fhould not be inured to labour betimes ? 372. Whether there fhould not be erecSled, ia each Province, an Hofpital for Orphans and Found- lings at the Expence of old Batchclors ? 373- Whether it be true, that in the Dutch Work-Houfes, Things are fo managed, that a Child four Years old, may earn its own Liveli- hood ? 374. What a Folly is it to build fine Houfes, or ellablifli lucrative Polls and large Incomes, un- der the Notion of providing for the Poor ? 375. Vv^hether the Poor grown up and in Health need any other Provifion, but their own Induftry under public Infpeftion ? 376. Whether the Poor-Tax in England hath lerfened, or increafed the Number of the Poor? 377. Whether Work-Houfes fliould not be made at the leaft Expence, with Clay-Floors and Walls of rough Stone, without plaiftering, cieling, or glazing. 378. Whether it be an impoilible Attempt to fet our People at work, or whether Induflry be a Habit which like other Habits, may by Time and Skill be introduced among any People ? 379. Whether all manner of Means fhould not be employed to poffefs the Nation in general, with an Averfion and Contempt for Idlenefs and ail idle Folk? 380. Whether it would be a Hardfhip on Peo- ple deftitute of all Things, if the Public furniihcd them with Necefiaries which they fhould be obli- ged to earn by their Labour? 381. Whether other Nations have not found great Benefit from the Ufe of Slaves in repairing High-Roads, making Rivers navigable; draining BogS;. i6o fhe aU E R I S T. Bogs, erc(5ling public Buildings, Bridges and Ma- nufactures ? 382. Whether temporary Servitude would not be the beft Cure for Idlenefs and Beggary? 383. Whether the Public hath not a Right to employ thofe who cannot, or who will not find ■- Employment for themfelves ? 384. Whether all fturdy Beggars ihould not be feized and made Slaves to the Public, for a certain Term of Years? 385. Whether he who is chained in a Jail, or Dungeon hath not, for the Time, loft his Liberty ? And if fo, whether temporary Slavery be not al- ready admitted among us ? 386. Whether a State of Servitude, wherein he (hould be well worked, fed and clothed, would not be a Preferment to fuch a Fellow ? 387. Whether Criminals in the freeft Country may not forfeit their Liberty, and repair the Da- mage they have done the Public, by hard Labour? 388. What the Word Servant fignifies in the Ke w- Teftament ? 389. Whether the View of Criminals chained in Pairs and kept at hard Labour, would not be very edifying to the Multitude ? 390. Whether the Want of fuch an Inftitiition be not plainly feen in Englandy where the DilbeHef of a future State hardeneth Rogues againft the Fear of Death, and where, through the great Growth of Robbers and Houfe -breakers it becomes every Day more neceffary ? 391. Whether it be not eaficr to prevent than to remedy, and whether we fliould not profit by the Example of others? 392. Whether Felons are nat often fpared, and therefore encouraged, by the Gompaflion of thofe uho fliould profecute them ? k 393 • Whether many that would not take away the ne QJJ E R I S T. i6i the Life of a Thief, may not neverthelefs be wil- Img to bring him to a more adequate Punishment? 394. Whether the moft indolent would be fond of Idlenefs, if they regarded it as the fure Road to hard Labour? 395. Whether the Induftry of the lower Part of our People doth not much depend on the Ex- pence of the upper ? 396. W^hat would be the Confequence, if ory Gentry affected to di fling fish themlelves by fine Houfes rather than fine Clothes ? 397. Whether any People in Europe are fo meanly provided with Houfes and Furniture in proportion to their Incomes, as the Men of Edatcs -in Irelcmd? 398. W^hether Building w^ould not peculiarly encourage all other Arts in this Kingdom ? 399. Whether Smiths, Mafons, Brickhycrs, Plaiilerers, Carpenters, Joiners, Tylers, Plum- mers and Glaziers, would not all find Employ- ment if the Humour of Building prevailed? 400. Whether the Ornaments and Furniture of a good Houfe do not employ a Number of all Sorts of Artificers, in Iron, Wood, Marble, Brafs, Pew- ter, Copper, Wool, Flax, and divers other Mate- rials? 401. Whether in Buildings and Gardens, a great Number of Day- Labourers do not find Em- ployment ? 402. Whether by thefe Means much of that Suftenancc and Wealth of this Nation which now goes to Foreigners would not be kept at home, and nouridi and circulate among our own People ? 403. Whether as Induftry produced good Live- ing, the Number of Hands and Mouths would not be incrcafed; and in proportion thereunto, whe- ther there would not be every Day more occafion for I 62 rhe QJJ E R I S T. ^or Agriculture? And whether this Article alone would not employ a World of People ? 404. Whether flich Management would not equally provide for the Magnificence of the Rich, and the NccelTitics of the Poor ? 405. Whether an Expence in Building and Im- provements doth not rem::in at Home, pafs to the Heir, and adorn the Public? And whether any of thofe Things can be (liid of Claret? 406 . Whether Fools do not make Fafhions, and wife Men follow them? 407. Whether, for one who hurts his Fortune by Improvements, twenty do not ruin themfelves by foreign Luxury ? 408. Whether in Proportion as Ireland was im- proved and beautified by fine Seats, the Number of Abfentees would not decreafe ? 409. Whether he who employs Men in Build- ings and Manufa(ftures doth not put Life in the Country, and whether the Neighbourhood round him be not obierved to thrive? 410. Whether Money circulated on the Land- lords own Lands, and among his own Tenants, doth not return into his own Pocket ? 41 1 . Whether every 'Squire that made his Do- main fwarm with, buly Hands, like a Bee Hive or Ant- Hill, would not ferve his own Interefl, as well as that of his Country ? 412. Whether a Gentleman, who hath fecn a little of the World and obferved how Men live elfewhere, can contentedly fit down in a cold, damp, fordid Habitation, in the Midfl of a bleak Country, inhabited by Thieves and Beggars ? 413. Whether on the other Hand, a handfome Seat amidfl; well-improved Lands, fair Villages, and a thriving Neighbourhood, may not invite a Man to dwell on his own Eflate, and quit the Life of rhe QJJ E R I S T. 163 of an infignificant Saunterer about To\vn, for thvit cf an ufcful Country -Gentleman? 414. Whether It would not be of Ufc and Or- nament, if the Towns throughout this Kingdom were provided with decent Churches, Town- Houfes, Wcrk-Houfes, Market Places and paved Streets, with feme Order taken for Cleanlinefs ? 415. Whether if each of thcfe Towns were ad- dicted to fome peculiar Manufa(5lure, we Ihould not find, that the employing many Hands toge- ther on the famiC V/ork was the Way to perfe<5l our Workmen ? And whether all thefe Things might not foon be provided by a domeftic Induflry, if Money were not wanting? 416. Whether Money could ever be wanting to the Demands of Indullry, if we had a naiional Bank? 417. Whether the Fable of Hercules and tlie Carter, ever fuited any Nation like this Nation of JrelardP 4:8. Whether it be not a new Spe 447- The Q^U E R I S T. 167 447. Whether there can be a worfe Sign than that People fhould quit their Country for a Live- lihood ? Though Men often leave their Country for Health, or Pieafure, or Riches, yet to leave it merely for a Livelihood? Whether this be not exceeding bad, and fliewcth fome peculiar Mifma- nagement? 448. Whether in Order to redrefs our Evils, artificial Helps are not moft wanted, in a Land where Induftry is moft againft the natural Grain of the People ? 449. Whether, although the PrepolTeffions a- bout Gold and Silver have taken deep Root, yet the Example of our Colonies in America doth not make it as plain as Day- Light, that they are not fo necelfary to the Wealth of a Nation, as the Vulgar of all Ranks imagine ? 450. Whether it be not evident that we may maintain a much greater inward and outward Commerce, and be five Times richer than we are, nay, and our Bills abroad be of far greater Credit, though we had not one Ounce of Gold or Silver in the whole Ifland ? 451. Whether wrongheaded Maxims, Cuftoms and Fafliions, are not fufficient to deftroy any People which hath fo few Refources as the Inha- bitants of Ireland? 452. Whether it would not be an horrible Thing, to fee our Matrons make Drefs and Play their chief Concern ? 453. VVhether our Ladies might not as well endow Monaderies as wear Flanders Lace? And whether it be not true that Popidi Nuns are main- tained by Proteftant Contributions ? 454. Whether England^ which hath a free Trade, v/hatever fhe remits for fore'gn Luxury with one Hand, doth not with the other receive much more from abroad ? Whether; neverthelefs, this i68 rhe QJJ E R I S T. this Nation would not be a Gainer, if our Women would content themfelves, with the fame Modera- tion in Point of Expence, as the Englijh Ladles^ 455. But whether it be not a notorious Truth, that our Irijh Ladies are on a Foot, as to drefs, with thofe of five Times their Fortune in £n^- land? 456. Whether it be not even certain, that the Matrons of this forlorn Country fend out a greater Proportion of its Wealth, for fine Apparel, than any other Females on the whole Surface of this terraqueous Globe ? 457. Whether the Expcnce, great as it is, be the greateft Evil ; but whether this Folly may not produce many other Follies, an entire Derange- ment of domeflic Life, abfurd Manners, Negle(5l of Duties, bad Mothers, a general Corruption in both Sexes ? 458. Whether the firft Beginning of Expedients do not always meet with Prejudices ? And whether even the Prejudices of a People ought not to be refpe<51ed ? 459 . Whether a national Bank be not the true Philofopher's Stone in a State? 460. Whether all Regulations of Coin (hould not be made, with a View to encourage Induftry and a Circulaion of Commerce, throughout the Kingdom ? 46 1 . Whether to oil the Wheels of Commerce, be not a common Benefit ? And whether this be not done by avoiding Fradlions and multiplying finall Silver ? 462. Whether, all Things confidercd, a gene- ral raifing the Value of Gold and Silver be not fo far from bringing greater Quantities thereof into the Kingdom, that it would produce a direct con- trary Effeft, inafmuch as lefs, in that Cafe, would £crve, and therefore lefs be wanted? And whether JNieu The QJJ E R I S T. 169 Men do not import a Commodity, in Proportion to the Demand or Want of it ? 463. Whether the lowering of our Gold would not create a Fever in the State ? And whether a Fever be not fometimes a Cure, but whether it be not the laft Cure a Man would choofe ? 464. Whether railing the Value of a particular Species will not tend to multiply fiich Species, and to lefTcn others in Proportion thereunto? And "whether a much lefs Quantity of Cadi in Silver •would not, in Reality, enrich the Nation more than a much greater in GoJd ? 465. VVhether, ceteris paribus, it be not true that the Prices of Things increafe, as the Quanti- ty of Money increafeth, and are diminidied as that is diminifhed? And whether, by the Qiiantity of Money, is not to be underftood the Amount of the Denominations, all Contracts being nominal for Pounds, Shillings and Pence, and not for Weights of Gold or Siver ? 466. Whether our Exports do not confill: of fuch NecefTaries as other Countries cannot well be without ? 467. Whether upon the Circulation of a nati- onal Bank more Land would not be tilled, more : Hands employed, and confequently more Commo- dities exported ? 468. Whether Silver and fmall Money be not that which circulates the quickeft, and pafTeth through ail Hands, on the Road, in the Market, at the Shop ? 469. Whether, all Things confidered, it would r not be better for a Kingdom that its Cafh. confifl- ed of half a Million in finall Silver, than of five Times that Sum in Gold ? 470. Whether there be not every Day five hun- dred lefTer Payments made for one that requires Gold? H 471. 170 ne QJJ E R I S T. 471. Whether Spain, where Gold bears the highefl: Value, be not the lazieft, and China, where it bears the loweft, be not the moll induftrious Country in the known World ? 472. Whether it be not evidently the Intereft of every State, that its Money fhouid rather circu- late than ftagnate? 473. Whether the principal Ufe of Cafh be not its ready pafling from Hand to Hand, to anfwer common Occafions of the common People, and whether common Occafions of all Sorts of People are not fmall ones ? 474. Whether Bufinefs at Fairs and Markets is not often at a Stand and often hindered, even though the Seller hath his Commodities at Hand, and the Purchafer his Gold, yet for Want of Change? 475. As Wealth is really Power, and Coin a Ticket conveying Power, whether thofe Tickets which are the iitteft for that Ufe, ought not to be preferred ? 476. Whether thofe Tickets which fingly tranf- fer fmall Shares of Power, and being multiplied, large Shares, are not fitter for common Ufe thaji ihofe which iingly transfer large Shares ? 477. Whether the Public is not more benefited, by a Shilling that circulates, than a Pound that lies dead ? 478. Whether fix Pence twice paid, be not as good as a Shilling once paid ? 479. Whether the lame Shilling circulating in a Village may not fupply one Man with Bread, another with Stockings, a third with a Knife, a fourth with Paper, a fifth with Nails, and fo an- fwer many Wants which mufi otherwife have re- mained unfatisfied ? 480. Whether facilitating and quickening the Circulation of Power to fupply Wants, be not the promoting ne aU E R I S T. iyi promoting of Wealth and Induftry among the low- er People ? And whether upon this the Wealth oF the Great doth not depend ? 481. Whether, without the proper Means of Circulation, it be not vain, to hope for thriving Manufa6lurers and a bufy People ? 482. Whether four Pounds in fmall Cafh may not circulate and enliven an Irijh Market, which many Four-pound Pieces would permit to ftag- nate ? * 483. Whether a Man that could move nothing lefs than an hundred Pound Weight would not be much at a Lofs to fupply his Wants ; and whether it would not be better for him to be lefs ftrong an3 more adVive? 484. Whether the natural Body can be in a Stats of Health and Vigour, without a due Circu- lation of the Extremities, even in the Fingers and Toes ? And whether the political Body, any more than the natural, can thrive without a proportion- able Circulation through the minutefl: and moft iti- eonfiderable Parts thereof? 485. If we had a Mint for coining only Shil- lings, Six-Pences and Copper-Money, whether the Nation would not foon feel the good Effects thereof I 486. "Whether the greater Wafte by wearing of fmall Coins would not be abundantly overbalan- ced by their Ufefulnefs ? 487. Whether it be not the Induflry of com- mon People that feeds the State, and whether it be pofiible to keep this Induflry alive without fmall Money ? 488. Whether the V/ant of this be not a great Bar- to our employing the People in thefe Manu« H 2 fadurec * In the Year 1735, ^^'s Counrry abounded with the large gold- Coins of Fortugul, which being over rate4, fiowed in from all Parts. JBut that Evil is fince remedied. 172 The aU E R I S T. failures which are open to us, and do not interfere with Great-Britain? 489. Whether therefore fuch Want doth not drive Men into the lazy Way of employing Land under Sheep- Walk ? 490. Whether the running of Wool from Ire- land can fo eifecftually be prevented, as by encou- raging other Bufinefs and Manufactures among our People > 491 . Whatever Commodities Great-Britain im- porteth, which we might fupply, whether it be •not her real Interefl: to import them from us rather than from any other People ? 492. Whether the Apprehenfion of many a- mong us (who for that very Reafon flick to their Wool) that England may hereafter prohibit, limit, or difcourage our Linen Trade, when it hath been once, with great Pains and Expence thoroughly introduced and fettled in this Land, be not alto- gether groundlefs and unjuft: ? 493. Whether it is poflible for this Country, which hath neither Mines of Gold, nor a free Trade, to fupport, for any Time, the fending out of Specie ? 494. Whether in Faft our Payments are not made by Bills ? Afid whether our foreign Credit doth not depend on our domeftic Induftry, and our Bills on that Credit ? 495. Whether, in order to mend it, we ought not firft to know the peculiar Wretchednefs of our State ? And whether there be any knowing of this but by Comparifon ? 496. Whether there are not fingle Market- Towns in Englandy that turn more Money in buy- ing and felling, than whole Counties (perhaps Pro- vinces) with us? 497. Whether the fmall Town of Birmingham alone doth not, upon an Average, circulate every Week The QJJ E R I S T. 173 ; Week one Way or other, to the Value of fifty I th^ufand Pounds? But whether the fame Grown I ma^ not be often paid ? 498. Whether any Kingdom in Europe be fo good a Guftomer at Bourdeaux as Ireland? 499. Whether the Police and OEconomy of France be not governed by wife Gouncils ? And I whether any one from this Gountry, who fees I their Towns, and Manufactures, and Gommerce, I will not wonder what our Senators have been do- i ing? i 500. What Variety and Number of excellent Manufactures ^re to be met with throughout the whole Kingdom of France? 501. Whether there are not every where fome or'other Mills for many Ufes, Forges and Furna- ces for Iron-Work, Looms for Tapeftry, Glafs- Houfes and fo forth ? j ,502. What Quantities of Paper, Stockings, Hats, what Manufactures of Wool, Silk, Linen, Hemp, Leather, Wax, Earthen- Ware, Brafs, Lead, Tin, ef^r' 503. Whether the Manufactures and Gommerce of the fingle Town of Lyons do not amount to a greater Value, than all the Manufactures and all the Trade of this Kingdom taken together ? 504. Whether in the Anniverfary Fair at the fmall Town of Beaucair upon the Rhone^ there be not as much Money laid out as the current Caih of this Kingdom amounts to ? 505. Whether the very Shreds fliora from WooUen-Gloth, which are thrown away in Ire- land) do not make a beautiful Tapeltry in France ? 506. Whether there be not FrenchTowxi^ fub- fifted merely by making Pins? 507. Whether the coarfe Fingers of thofe very Women, thofe fame Peafants> who one Part of H 3 the 174 "^he QJU E R I S T. the Year till the Ground and drefs the Vineyards, are not another employed in making the fineft French Point ? 508. Whether there is not a great Number of idle Fingers among the Wives and Daughters of our Peaiants ? 509. Whether the French do not raife a Trade from Saffron, dying Drugs and the like Produ(5ls, which may do with us as well as with them? 510. Whether we may not have Materials of our own Growth to fupply all Manufaflures, as well as France^ except Silk, and whether the Bulk of what Silk, even France manufactures, be not imported? 511. Whether it be po/Tible for this Country to grow rich, io long as what is made by domeftic Indulliy, is fpcnt in foreign Luxury ? 512. Whether our natural Iridi are not partly Spaniards^ and partly Tartars ; and whether they Clo not bear Signatures of their Defcent from both thefe Nations, which is alfo confirmed by all their Eif^oiies? 513. Whether the Tartar Progeny is not nu- merous in this Land ? And whether there is an idler Occupation under the Sun than to attend Flocks and Herds of Cattle ? 514. Whether the Wifdom of the State fhould not wreflle with this hereditary Difpolition of our *IartarSy and with a high Hand introduce Agri- culture ? 515. Whether once upon a Time France did not, by her Linen alone, draw yearly from Spain about eight Millions of Livrcs? ^\&. Whether the French have not fuffered in their Linen-Trade with Spain, by not making their Cloth of due Breadth j and whether any other Peo- ple ne QJJ E R I S T. 175 pie have fuffered, and are ftill likely to fuffer through the fame Prevarication?* 517. Whether the Spaniards are not rich and lazy, and whether they have not a particular In- clination and Favour for the Inhabitants of this Ifland? But whether a punctual People do not love punctual Dealers ? 518. Whether about fourteen Years ago we had not come into a confiderable Share of the Linen-Trade with Spain, and what put a Stop to this ? 519. Whether if the Linen-Manufa(51:ure were carried on in the other Provinces, as well as in the North, the Merchants of Cork^ Limerick and Calivay, would not foon find the Way to Spain P 520. Whether the Woollen -Manufa6ture of England is not divided into feveral Parts or Branch- es, appropriated to particular Places, where they are only, or principally manufactured ; fine Cloths in- Somerf^tjhire, coarfe in Yorkjhircy long Ells at Exeter^ Saies at Sudbury, Crapes at Norwich, Lin- fey s at Kendal^. Blankets at Whitney ^ and fo forth? 521. Whether the united Skill, Induftry and Emulation of many together on the fame Work, he not the Way to advance it? And whether it had been otherwife poiTible for England, to have/ carried on her Woollen-Manufa£bare to fo great Perfe£lion ? 522. Whether it would not on many Accounts be right, if we obferved the fame Courfe with re- fpeiSt to our Linen- Manufafture; and that Dia- pers were made in one Town or Diftrift, Damaflcs in another, Sheeting in a Third, fine wearing. Linen in a Fourth, coarfe in a Fifth, in another Gambricks, in another Thread and Stockings, in H 4 others * Things, we hear, are in a Way of being mended with us in this Refpe(^t. 176 ne QJJ E R I S T. others ftamped Linen, or ftriped Linen, or Tick- ings, or dyed Linen, of which lafl: Kinds there is fo great a Confumption among the Sea- faring Men of all Nations ? 523. Whether it may not be worth while, to inform ourfelves of the different Sorts of Linen, "which are in Requefi: among different People? 524. Whether we do not yearly confume of French Wines about a thoufand Tun more than ei- ther Sweden or Denmark, and yet, whether thofe Nations pay ready Money as we do ? 525. Whether it be not a Cuflom for fome thoufands of Frenchmen to go about the Beginning of March into Spain, and having tilled the Lands and gathered the Harvefl of Spain, to return Home with Money in their Pockets, about the End of Nove?nher P 526. Whether of late Years our Irijh Labour- ers <^o not carry on the fame Bufincfs in England, to the great Difcontent of many there? But whe- ther we have not much more Reafon than the Peo-- pie of England to be difpleafed at this Gom-i merce ? 527. Whether, notwithflanding the CaOi fup- pofed to be brought into it, any Nation is, in Truth, a Gainer by fuch Traffic? 528. Whether the Induliry of our People em- ployed in foreign Land, while our own are left- uncultivated, be not a great Lofs to the Country? 529. Whether it would not be much better for us, if, in-Uead of fending our I\len abroad, we could draw Men from the neighbouring Countries to cultivate our own? 530. Whether, neverthelefs, we are not apt to think the Money imported by our Labourers to be fo much clear Gains to this Country ; .but whether a little Refieftion and a little political Arithmetic, may not ihew us our Miftake ? 52^^ i ne QUERIST. 177 • 53 1* Whether our Prejudices about Gold and Silver are not very apt to mfefl or mifguide our Judgments and Reafonings about the public Weal? 532. Whether it be not a good Rule whereby to judge of the Trade of any City, and its Ufcfui- nefs, to obferve whether there is a Circulation through the Extremities, and whether the People . round about are bufy and warm ? 533 Whether we had not, fome Years fince, a Manufacture of Hats at Athlone, and of Earthen- Ware at Arklow, and what became of thofe Ma- nufactures ? 534. Why do we not make Tiles of our own,' for Flooring and Roofing, rather than bring them from Holland? 535. What Manufactures are there in France and Venice of Gilt-Leather, how cheap and how Iplendid a Furniture ? 536. Whether we may not for the fame Ufe, manufacture divers Things at home, of more Beau- ty and Variety than Wainfcot, which is imported at fuch Expence from Norway f 527' Whether the Ufe and the Fafiiion will not foon make a Manufacture ? 538. Whether if our Gentry ufed to drink Mead and. Cyder, we Ihould not foon have thofe Liquors in the utmoft Perfection and Plenty? 539. Whether it be not wonderful, that with fuch Paftures, and fo many black Cattle, we do not find ourfelves in Cheefe ? 540. Whether great Profits may not be made by Fi(hcries ; but whether thofe of our Irijh who live by that Bufinefs, do not contrive to be drunk and unemployed, one half of the Year? 541. Whether it be not Folly to think, an in- ward Commerce cannot enrich a State, becaufe it doth not encreafe its Quantity of Gold and Silver ? And whether it is polTible a Country fhould not H 3 thrive^ 17S ne QJJ E R I S T. thrive, while Wants are fupplicd, and Bufinefsr* goes on ? 542. Whether Plenty of all the Neceflaries and Comforts of Life be not real Wealth? 543. Whether Lyons, by the Advantage of her midland Situation and the Rivers Rhone and Sone, be not a gi'eat Magazine, or Mart for inward Com- merce ? And whether flie doth not maintain a con- ftant Trade with moft Parts o^ France, with Pro- vence for Oils and dried Fruits, for Wines and Cloth with Langusdoc, for Stuffs with Champaign, for Linen with Picardy, Normandy and Brctagyjyy for Corn with Burgundy ? 544. Whether ihe doth not receive and utter all thofe Commodities, and raife a Profit from the Diflribution thereof, as well as of her own Manu- factures, throughout the Kirrgdom o^ France? 545. Whether the Charge, of making good Roads and navigable Rivers acrofs the Country, would not be really repaid by an inward Com- merce ? 546. Whether as our Trade and Manufactures increafed. Magazines fhould not be eftabliflied in proper Places, fitted by their Situation, near great Roads and navigable Rivers, Lakes or Canals, for the ready Reception and Diftribution of all Sorts of Commodities, from and to the feveral Parts of the- Kingdom; and whether the Town of Aihlone, for Inilance, may not be fitly fituated for fuch a Ma- gazine, or Centre of domefiic Commerce? 547. Whether an inward Trade would not caufe- Indultry to flourifh, and multiply the Circulation of our Coin, and whether this may not do as well' as multiplying the Coin itfelf ? 548. Whether the Benefits of a domelHc Com- merce are fulTiciently undcrfrood and attended ta, and whether the Caufe thereof be not the preju- diced rhe Q^U E R I S T. 179 diced and narrow Way of thinking about Gold and Silver? 549. Whether there be any other more cafy and unenvicd Method of increafing the Wealth of a People? 550. Whether we of this Ifland are not from^ our peculiar Cuxumftances determined to this very Commerce above any other, from the Number of* Neceffaries and good Things that we pofFefs with- in ourfelves, from the Extent and Variety of our Soil, from the navigable Rivers and good Roads which we have or may have, at a lefs Expence than any People in EuropCy from our great Plenty of Materials for Manufaftures, and particularly from the Reftraints we lie under with regard to our fo-- reign Trade? 551. Whether annual Inventories fliould not be publiflied of the Fairs throughout the Kingdom, in order to judge of the Growth of its Commerce? 552. Whether there be not every Year more Ga(h circulated at the Card-Tables oi Dublin , than at all the Fairs of Ireland? 553. Whether the Wealth of a Country will not bear Proportion to the Skill and Induftry of its Inhabitants. 554. Whether foreign Imports that tend to pro- mote Induflry fhould not be encouraged, and fuch as have a Tendency to promote Luxury fliould not- be difcouraged ? 555. Whether the annual Balance of Trade be- tween Italy and Lyons be not about four Miliions in Favour of the former, and yet, whether Lyons he not a Gainer by this Trade ? SS^' Whether the general Rule, of determining- the Profit of a Commerce by its Balance, doth not, like ether general Rules^ admit of Excep- tions I 5-5 7-' i8o ne QJJ E R I S T. 557. Whether it would not be a monftrous Fol- ly to import nothing but Gold and Silver, fuppof- ing we might do it, from every foreign Part to which we trade? And yet, whether fome Men may not think this fooliili Circumftance a very happy one? 558. But whether we do not all fee the Ridicule of the MogoPs Subjects, who take from us no- thing but our Silver, and bury it under Ground, in order to make fure thereof againft the Refurrec- tion ? 559. Whether he mufl; not be a wrongheaded Patriot or Politician, whofe ultimate View was drawing Money into a Country, and keeping it there ? 560. Whether it be not evident, that not Gold but Induftry caufeth a Country to flourifh ? 561. Whether it would not be a filly Proje(fl in any Nation, to hope to grow rich by. prohibiting the Exportation of Gold and Silver ? 562. Whether there can be a greater Miftakc in Politics, than to meafure the Wealth of the Nati- on by its Gold and Silver ? 563. Whether Gold and Silver be not a Drug, where they do not promote Induftry ? Whether they be not even the Bane and Undoing of an idle People ? 564. Whether Gold will not caufe either In- dujftry or Vice to flouiifli ? And whether a Goun* try, where it flowed in without Labour, muft not be wretched and diifolute like an Jfland inhabited by Buccaneers ? K^6^, Vr'hether Arts and Virtue are not likely to thrive, where Money is made a Means to Indu- ftiy ? But whether Money without this would be a Bie/Iing to any People? 566. Whether keeping Ca(h at Home, or fenc^- kig "The QJJ E R I S T. i?i ing It abroad, juft as it moft ferves to promote In- duftry, be not the real Intereft of every Nation ? 567. Whether Commodities of all Kinds do not naturally flow where there is the greateft Demand ? Whether the greateft Demand for a Thing be not where it is of moft Ufe; Whether Money, like other Things, hath not its proper Ufe ? Whether this Ufe be not to circulate ? Whether therefore there muft not of Courfe be Money where there is a Circulation of Induftry > 568. Whether it is not a great Point to know what we would be at? And whether whole States, as well as private Perfons, do not often fluduate for Want of this Knowledge I ^6g. Whether Gold may not be compared to Sejanus's Horfe, if we confider its PalTage through the World, and the Fate of thofe Nations which have been fuccefTively poffelTed thereof ? 570. Whether Means are not fo far ufeful as they anfwer the End ? And whether, in different Circumilances, the faaric Ends are not obtained by different Means ? 571. If we are a poor Nation, abounding with very poor People, v/ili it not follow, that a far greater Proportion of our Stock fhould be in the imalleft and lowefl: Species, than would fuit with England f 572. Whether, therefore, it would not be high- ly expedient, if our Money were coined of pecu- liar Values, befl: fitted to the Circumflances and Ufes of our own Country ; and whether any other People could take Umbrage at our confulting our own Convenience, in an Affair entirely domeftic^ and that lies within ourfelves ? 573. Whether every P/Ian doth not know, and hath not long known, that the Want of a Mint caufeth many other Wants in this Kingdom ? 574. x.g2 "The QJJ E R I S,T; 574. What Harm did England fuftain about three Centuries ago, when Silver was coined in this Kingdom I 575. What Harm was it to Spain that her Pro- vinces of Naples and Sicily had all along Mints of their own ? ^■j6. Whether it may not be prefumed, that our not having a Privilege, which every other King- dom in the World enjoys, be not owing to our own wmt of Diligence and Unanimity in folliciting.. for it ? 577. Whether it be not the Intereft of England, that we fliould cultivate a domelHc Commerce a- mong ourielve: ? And whether it could give them anv poiTible Jealoufy, if our fmall Sum of GaOi was contii^'ed :o goa little further, if there was a little more Life in our Markets, a little more buying and fel 'ng in our ihops, a little better Providon for the Backs and Bellies of fo many forlorn M^retches throughout the Towns and Villages of this Idand ? 578. \Vhct>ier Great- Britain ought not to pro- mote the Pre fpeil-y of her Colonies, by all Me- thods confifleiit with her own ? And whether the Colonics themfelves ought to wifh or aim at it by others ? 579. Whether the remotcH: Parts from the Me- tropolis, and the loweJl of the People, are not to be regarded as the Extremities and Capillaries of the political Body ? 5H0. Whether, although the capillary Ve/Tels are fmall, yet Obftrutftions in them do not pro- duce great chronical Difeafes ? 581. Whether Faculties are not enlarged and improved by Exercife? 582. Whether the Sum of the Faculties put into A^i or in other Words, the united A^Ttion 0/ ^he Q^U E R I S T. r8^ of a whole People doth not conftltute the Momen- tum of a State? 583. Whether fuch Aiomentum be not the real- Stock or Wealth of a State; and whether its Cre- dit be not proportional thereunto ? 584. Whether in every wife State the Faculties of the Mind are not mofi confidered ? 585. Whether the Momentum of a State doth- not imply the whole Exertion of its Faculties, in- tellectual and corporeal ; and whether the latter- without the former, could a, and which, as well as all fafliionable Vices, fliould be far removed from the Eyes of the young ^w^r/V^«MifIionaries, who are to lead a Life of Poverty and Self-denial among their Countrymen. After all, it mull; be acknowledged, that though every Thing elfe fhould concur with our Wifhes, yet if a Set of good Governors and Teachers be wanting, who are acquainted with the Methods of Education, and have the Zeal and Ability re- quilite for carrying on a Defign of this Nature, it would certainly come to nothing. An Inflituticn of this Kind ihould be ftt on Foot by Men of Prudence, Spirit and Zeal, as well as competent Learning, who fliould be led to it by other Motives than the Neceility of picking up a Maintenance. For upon this View, what Mafn of Merit can be fuppofed to quit his native Coun- try, and take up with a poor College -fubf Hence in another Part of the World, where there are {o many confiderable Parillies a(fiually void, and fo many others ill fupplied for want of fitting In- cumbents ? Is it likely, that Fcllowrijips of fifty or fixty Pounds a Year fliould tempt abler or wor- thier Men, than Benefices of many Times their Value ? And except able and worthy Men do firft en- gage in this Alfair, with a Refolution to exert themfclvcs in forming the Manners of the Youth, and A PROPOSAL, ^c, 201 and giving them a proper Education, it is evident the Million and the College will be but in a very bad Way. This Inconvenience feems the moft difficult to provide againft, and, if not provided againft, it will be the moft likely to obftruft any Defign of this Nature. So true it is, that where Ignorance or ill Manners once take Place in a Se- minary, they are fure to be handed down in a Succeffion of illiterate or worthlefs Men. But this Apprehenfion, which feems fo vjtW grounded, that a College in any Part of America would either lie unprovided, or be worfe provided than their Churches are, hath no Place in Bermuda ; there being at this Time feveral Gentlemen, in all Refpe(fl:s very well qualified, and in PofFefTion of good Preferments, and fair Proipe(5ls at home, who having ferioufly confidered the great Benefit that may arife to the Church and to Mankind from fuch an Undertaking, are ready to engage in it, and to dedicate the Remainder of their Lives to the inflru6ting the Youth of America, and profecuting their own Studies upon a very mode- rate Subfiftence in a Retirement, fo fweet and {o fecure, and every Way fo well fitted for a Place of Education and Study, as Bermuda. Thus much the Writer hereof thought himfelf obliged to fay of his Affociates : For himfelf, he can only fay, that as he values no Preferment up- on Earth, fo much as that of being employed in the Execution of this Defign ; fo he hopes to make up for other Defeats, by the Sincerity of his Endeavours. In Europe, the Proteftant Religion hath of late Years confiderably lofl ground, and America feems the likeliefi: Place, wherein to make up for what hath been loft in Europe, provided the proper Me- thods are taken : Otherwife the Spanijh MifTiona- ries in the South, raid the French in the North, I 5 are 202 A PROPOSAL, ^c. ^re making fuch a Piogrefs, as may one Day fpread the Religion of Royne^ and with it the iifual Hatred to Piotertants, throughout ail the favage Nations in America ; which would probably end in the ut- ter Extirpation of our Colonies, on the Safety whereof depends fo much of the Nation's Wealth, and ^o confiderabie a Branch of his Majefty's Re- venue. But- if this Scheme were purfued, it would in all Probability have much greater Influence on the Jmericans, than the utmoft Endeavours of Popifh Emiffaries can poflibly have ; who from the Dif- ference of Country, Language and Intereil;, muft lie under flu* greater Difficulties and Difcourage- ments than thofe, whom we fuppofe yearly fent out from Bermuda to preach among their Coun- trymen. It cannot indeed be denied, that the great Num- ber of poor Regulars, inured to hard Living, and brought up in an implicit Obedience to their Su- periors, hath hitherto given the Church of Romey in regard to her MifTions, great Advantage over the reformed Churches. But from what hath been faid, it is, I think, evident, that this Ad- vantage may be over-balanced by our employing Aynerican Miflionaries. Nor is the Honour of the Crown, Nation, and Church of England unconcerned in this Scheme ; which, it is to be hoped, will remove the" Re- proach, we have fo long lain under, that we fall as far fhort of our Neighbours of the Romijh Com- munion in Zeal for propagating Religion, as we furpafs them in the Soundnefs and Purity of it. And at the fame Time, that the doing what maybe fo eafily done, takes away our Reproach ; it will caft no fmall Luftre on his Majelty's Reign, and derive a Blefiing from Heaven on his Adminiftra- tion^ A PROPOSAL, ^c. 205 tion, and thofe' who live under the Influence thereof. Men of narrow Minds have a peculiar Talent at Objeftion, being never at a Lofs for fomething to fa}^ againfl: whatfoever is not of their own pro- pofing. And perhaps, it will be faid in Oppofi- tion to this Propofal, that if we thought ourfeives capable of gaining Converts to the Church, we ought to begin with Infidels,. Papifts, and DifTen- ters of all Denominations at home, and to make Profelytes of thefe before we think of Foreigners ; and that therefore our Scheme is againft Duty. And further, that confidering the great Oppofi- tion, which is found on the Part of thofe who differ from us at home, no Succefs can be ex- pelled among Savages abroad, and that therefore it is againfl: Reafon and Experience. In anfwer to this I fay, that Religion like Light is imparted without being diminifned. That whatever is done abroad, can be no Hindrance or Lett to the Converfion of Infidels or others at home. That thofe who engage in this Affair, imagine they will not be miffed, where there is no want of Schools or Clergy ; but that they may be of fmgular Service in Countries but thinly fupp.Iied with either, or altogether deprived of both : That our Colonies being of the fame Blood, Lan- guage and Religion, with ourfeives, are in Effect our Countrymen. But that Chriftian Charity, not being limited by thofe P^egards, doth extend to all Mankind. And this may ferve for an Anfwer to the firft Point, that our Defign is againft Duty. To the fecond Point I anfwer; That Ignorance is not fo incurable as Error ; that you muft pull down as well as build, erafe as well as imprint, in order to make Profelytes at home : Whereas, the favage Americans^ if they are in a State purely na- tural, and unimproved by Education, they are alfo unincumbred 204 A PROPOSAL, ^c. unincumbred with all that Rubbi/li of Superflition and Prejudice, which is the Eifecl of a wrong one. As they are lefs inftrucfled, ihey are withal leis conceited and more teachable. And not being violently attached to any flilfe Syftem of their own, are fo much the fitter to receive that which is true. Hence it is evident, that Succefs abroad ought not to be meafured by that which we ob- ferve at home, and that the Inference, which was made from the Difficulty of the one to the Impof- fibility of the other, is altogether groundlefs. It hath more the Appearance of Reafon to obje«fl (what will pofTibly be obje(J"ted by fome) that this Scheme hath been already tried to no Purpofe, fe- vcral Indians having returned to their favage Man- ners after they had been taught to write and read, and in{-bu«flcd in the Chriilian Religion ; a clear Proof that their natural Stupidity ii not to be overcome by Education. In Anfwer to this, I fay, that the Scheme now propofed hath never been tried, forafmuoh as a thorough Education in Religion and Morality, in divine and human Learning, doth not appear to have been ever given to any lavage American : that much is to be hoped from a Man ripe in Years, and well grounded in Religion and ufeful Know- ledge, while little or nothing can be expeftcd from a Youth but flightly inllrudlcd in the Ele- ments of either ; that from the Mifcarriage or grofs Stupidity of fome, a general Incapacity of all Jmericans cannot be fairly inferred : that they fliew as much natural Senfe as other uncultivated Nations : that the Empires of Mexico and Peru were evident Proofs of their Capacity, in which there appeared a Reach of Politics, and a Degree of Art and Politencfs, which no European People were ever Known to have arrived at without the A PROPOSAL, ^c. 205 Ufe of Letters or of Iron, and which fome perhaps have fallen fhort of with both thofe Advantages. To what hath been faid, it may not be impro- per to add, that young Americans, educated in an Ifland at fome Diflance from their own Country, will more eafily be kept under Difcipline till they have attained a compleat Education, than on the Continent ; where they might find Opportunities of running away to their Countrymen, and re- turning to their brutal Guftoms, before they were thoroughly imbued with good Principles and Ha- bits. It mufl: neverthelefs be acknowledged a difficult Attempt, to plant Religion among the Americans , fo long as they continue their wild and roving Life. He who is obliged to hunt for his daily Food, will have little Curiofity or Leifure to re- ceive Inftrucflion. It would feem therefore the right Way, to introduce Religion and civil Life at the fame Time into that Part of the World : either Attempt will affid: and promote the other. Thofe therefore of the young Savages, wh*-) upon Trial are found lefs likely to improve by academi- cal Studies, may be taught Agriculture, :r the moft neceffary Trades. And when liulbandmen, Weavers, Carpenters, and the like, have p: anted thofe ufeful Arts among their favage Countrymen, and taught them to live ir^ fettled Habiiationi, to canton out their Land and till it, to provide vege- table Food of all Kinds, to preferve Flocks and Herds of Cattle, to make convenient Houfes, and to clothe themfelves decently : This will aflifl: the fpreading the Gofpel among them ; this will difpofe them to focial Virtues, and enable them to fee and to feel the Advantages of a religious and civil Education. And 2o6 ^PROPOSAL, ^c. Aud that this View of propagating the Gofpel and civil Life among the favage Nations of America, was a principal Motive which induced the Grown to fend the firft EngUJh Colonies thither, doth ap- pear from the Charter granted by King James L to the Adventurers in Virgin'uj. 5tv Purchas'jP/7- grims, Fol. /\. b. I. c. g. And it is now but juft (what might then feem charitable) that thefe poor Creatures fliould receive feme Advantage with re- fpe^l to their fpiritual Interefts, from thofe who have (o much improved their temporal, by fettling among them. It is moft true, notwithftanding our prefent Corruptions, that there are to be found in no Country under the Sun Men of better Inclinations, or greater Abilities for doing Good, than in £';7^- land. But it is as true, that Succefs, in many Cafes, depends not upon Zeal, Indufiiy, Wealth, Learning, or tl^e like Faculties, ^o much as on the Method, wherein thefe arc applied. W'e often fee a fmall Proportion of Labour and Expence in one Way, bring that about, which in others, a much greater Share of both could never effe(5l. It hath been my Endeavour to difcover this Way or Method in the prefent Cafe. What hath been done, I fubmit to the Judgment of all good and rcafonable Men ; who, I am pcrfuaded, will ne- ver rejciSt or difcourage a Propofal of this Nature, on the Score of flight Objetiions, Surmifes, or Difficulties, and thereby render themfelves charge- able with the having prevented thofe good Effe^ls, "which might othcrwife have been produced by it. For it is, after all, pofTible, that unforefeen Difficulties may arife in the Profecution of this Defign, many Things may retard, and many Things may threaten to obliruct it ; but there is hardly any Entcrprize or Scheme whatfoever, for the A PROPOSAL, Be. 207 the public Good, in which Difficulties are not often fhewing themfelves, and as often overcome by the BlefTing of God, upon the Prudence and Refolution of the Undertakers ; though, for ought that appears, the prefent Scheme is as hkely to fucceed, and attended with as few Difficulties, as any of this Kind can pofTibly be. For to any Man, who confiders the divine Power of Religion, the innate Force of Reafon and Virtue, and the mighty Elfecls often wrought by the condant regular Operation even of a weak and fmall Gaufe ; it will feem natural and reafona- ble to fuppofe, that Rivulets perpetually ifTuing forth from a Fountain, or Refervoir, of Learning and Religion,, and ftreaming through all Parts of Jmertca, muft in due Time have a great EiFeft, in purging away the ill Manners and Irreligion of our Colonies, as v/ell as the Blindnefs and Bar- barity of the Nations round them : Efpecially, if the Refervoir be in a clean and private Place, where its Waters, out of the Way of any Thing that may corrupt them, remain clear and pure ; otherwife they are more likely to pollute than purify the Places through which they flow. The Greatnefs of a Benefaftion is rather in Pro- portion to the Number and Want of the Receivers, than to the Liberality of the Giver. A wife and good Man would therefore be frugal in the Ma- nagement of his Charity ; that is, contrive it fo as that it might extend to the greatell Wants of the greatefl Number of his Fcllov/- creatures. Now the greatefc \Vants are fpiritual Wants, and by all Accounts thefe are no where greater than in our weftern Plantations, in many Parts whereof di- vine Service is never performed for Want of Clergymen ; in others, after fuch a Manner aad by fuch Hands, as fcandalize even the woift of iheir 2o8 A PROPOSAL, l£c, their own PariQiioners ; where many EngliJ})^ in- ftead of gaming Converts, are thcmfelves degene- rated into Heathens, beingMembers of no Church, without Morals, without Faith, without Baptifm. There can be therefore, in no Part of the Chri- ftian World, a greater Want of fpirituai Things than in our Plantations. And, on the other Hand, no Part of the Gentile World are fo inhuman and barbarous as the favagc Americans, whofe chief Employment and Delight confining in Cruelty and Revenge, their Lives mult of all others, be moft oppofite, as well to the Light of Nature, as to the Spirit of the Gofpel. Now to reclaim thefe poor Wretches, to prevent the many Torments and cruel Deaths which they daily infli, while I detain them with the Narrative of a few Things I have obferved, and fuch Reflcismanifefi:umeft eosqui vima£>ivam, actionem, motus principium, in corporibus revera ine/Te affirmant, fententiam nulla experientia fun- datam ample interpretantur tamen naturam naturantem ti^c Deum. Intelligunt nimirum corpora omnia fy- ftematis hujufce mundani a mente pra-potenti, juxta certam & conftantem rationem moveri. 33. GcEteriim qui principium vitale corporibus tribuunt, obfcurum aliquid & rebus parum ccnve- Tiiens fingunt. Qiud enira aliud eft vitali principio prtSuitum e/Ie quam vivere ? aut vivere quam fe movere, fiftere, & (latum fuum mutare? Philofo- p;:i autem hujus foeculi doflillmii pro principio in- dubitato ponunt, omne corpus perieverare in ftatu fuo, vel quictis vcl motus uniformis in dircvfium, nil! quatenus alii^nde cogitur itatum ilium mutare ; e contrario, in anima fentimus ciTe facultatem tarn iktum faum quam aliarum rerum mutandi ; id quod propria dicltur vitale, animamque a corpori- bus longe difcriminat. 34. Pvioturn & quietem in corporibus recentiores conliderant vclut duos flatus exiilendi, in quorum utrovis Be MOT XJ. 249 utrovis corpus omne fua natura iners permanerer, nulla vi externa urgente. Unde colligere licet, eandem efle caufam motus & quietis, qux eft: exift- em'ix corporum. Nequeenimquaerendavideturalia caufa exiftentise corporis fuccelliv^ in diverfis parti- bus fpatii, quam ilia unde derivatar exiftentia ejuf- dem corporis fuccefliva in diverfis partibus temporis, De Deo autem optimo maximo rerum omnium, conditore & confervatore tra6lar£ : & qua ratione res cun(5l3e a fummo & vero ente pcndeant de- monftrare, quamvis pars fit fcientise humanas praecellentiflima, (peclat tamen potius ad philofo- phiam primam feu metaphyficam & theologiam,, quam ad philofophiam naturalem, quae hodie fere; omnis continetur in experimentis & mechanica. Jtaque cognitionem de Deo vel fupponit philofo- phia naturalis, vel mutuatur ab aliqua fcientia fu- periori. Quanquam veriiTimum fit, nature invefti- gationem fclentiis altioribus argumenta egregia ad fapientiam, bonitatem & potentiam Dei illuflranr.- dam & probandam undequaque flibminiftrare. 35. Quod hsec minus intelligantur, in caufa efl,. cur nonnulli immerito repudient phyficas principia raathematica, eo fcilicet nomine quod ilia caufas. rerum efficientes non alFignant. QLium tamen re- vera ad phyficam aut mechanicam fpe6let regulas folummodo, non caufas efficientes, impulfionum- attra6lionumve &, ut verbo dicam, motuum leges, tradere : ex iis vero pofitis phasnomenon particu- larium folutionem, non autem^ caufam efficien- tem afTignare. 36. Multum iritererit confiderafTe quid proprie. fit principium, & quo fenfu intelligenda lit vox iila> apud philofophos. Caufa quidem vera efficiens,. & conlcrvatrix rerum omnium jure optimo appel- latur fons & principium earundem. Principia ve- ro philofophias experimentalis proprie dicenda funt: fvmdarnenta, qiiibus ilia innitltur, feu fontes unde' L 5 derivatur,; 2 50 De MOT U. derivatur, (non dico exiftentiai fed) xogAitia ,re- rum corporearum, fenfus utique & ekpeiieritia. Similiter, in philofophia mechanica, priacipia ^i- cenda funt, in quibus fundatur & contliictar uni- verfa difciplina, leges illsc motuum primarise, qure experimentis comprobata?, ratiocinio etiam cxcul- ta^ funt & reddit^ univerfiiles. Hoe motuum leges commode dicuntur principia, quoniam ab iis tarn theoremata mechanica generalia quam particulares tm (Puiyofiiwv cxplicationcs deiivantur. 37. Turn nimiiura dici potcft quidpiam expli- cari mechanice, cum reducitur ad ifi:a principia fimpliciffima & univerfalilfima, & per accura::um ratiociniura, cum iis confentancum & connexum efCe ollenditur. Nam, inventis fcmel naturae legi- bus, deinc^ps monftrandum eft philofopho, ex conftanti haruKi Icgum obfervatione, hoc eft, ex iis principiis ph^enomenon quodvis neceftario con- fequi: id quod eft phiienomena expllcare & folvere^ caufamque, id eft rationem cur fiant, aftignare. 38. Mens humana gaudet fcicntiam fuam ex- tendere & dilatare. Ad hoc autem notiones & propofitiones generales efformandoe funt, in qui- bus quodam modo continentur propofitiones & cognitiones particulares, qua? tum demum intelligi creduntur cum ex primis illis continuo nexu de- ducuntur. Hoc geometris noti/Hmum eft. In mechanica etiam proemittuntur notiones, hoc eft deiinitioncs, & enunciationes de motu primae & generales, ex quibus poftmodum methodo mathe- matica conclufiones magis remotce, & minus ge- nerales colliguntur. Et ficut per applicationem theorematum geometricorum, corporum particu- larium magnitudines menfurantur j ita etiam per applicationem theorematum mechaniccs univerfa- lium, fyftematis mundani partium quarumvis mo- tus, & phenomena inde pendentia innotefcunt & determinantur : ad qnem fcopum unice coJlinean- duijiphyfico. 39. De M O T U. 251 39. Et quemadmodum geometrse difciplinae caufa, multa comminifcuntur, quae nee ipfi defcri- bcrc poflbnt, nee in rerum natura invenire : fi- mili prorfus ratione mechanicus voces quafdant abftraf^tas & generales adhibet, fingitque in cor- poribus vim, adionem, attraftionem, folieitatio- ncm, &c. quse ad theorias & enunciationes, ut & computationes de motu apprlme utiles funt, etiamii in ipsa rerum veritate & corporibus adlu exiflenti- bus fruftra qusererentur, non minus quam qu^e a geometris per abftraflionem mathematicam fin- guntur, 40. Revcra, ope fenfuum nil nifi effeclus feu quaiitates fenfibiles, & res corporeas omnino paffi- vas, five in motu fint five in quiete, percipimus : ratioque & experientia adlivum nihil prseter men- tem aut animam efie fiiadet. Qiiid quid ultra fin- gitur, id ejufdem generis efi^e cum aliis hypothefi- bus & abfi:ra6lionibus mathematicis exidimandum ; quod penitus animo infigere oportet. Hoc nifiat, facile in obfcuram fcholafticorum fubtilitatem, quas per tot fecula, tanquam dira quaedam pedis, phi- lofophiam corrupit, relabi pofTumus. 41. Principia mechanica legefque motuuni aut natures univerfales, fa^culo ultimo feliciter inven- tae, & fubfidio geometris tra.6lats & applicatse, miram lucem in philofophiam intulerunt. Prin- cipia vero metaphyfica caufeque reales efficientes motus & exiftentiae corporum attributorumve cor- poreorum nullo modo ad mechanicara aut experl- menta pertinent, neque eis lucem dare poUunt, nifi quatenus, velut prsecognita inferviant ad li- mites phyficss prgefiniendos, eaque ratione ad tol- lendas diificultates qussflionefque peregrinas. 42. Qiii a fpiritibus motus principium petunt, ii vel rem corpoream vel incorpoream vocq fpiri- ius intelligunt : fi rem corpoream, quantumvis tenuem; tamen redit difficuitas : fi incorporearnj quantumvis 252 De MOT U. quantumvis id verum fit, attamen ad phyficam non proprie peitinet. Quod 11 quis philolbphiam na- turalcm ultra limites experimentorum & mecha- nic's extenderit; ita utrenim etiamincorporearum, & inextenfarum cognitionem compleilatur : latior quidem ilia vocis acceptio tra6lationcm de anima, mcnte, feu principio vitali admittit. Caeterum commodius eiit, juxta ufum jam fere receptum, ita diftinguere inter fcientias, ut fingulx propriis circumfcribantur cancellis, & philolbphus natura- lis totus fit in experimentis, legibufque motuum, & princlpiis mechanicis, indeque depromptis ra- tiociniis ; quidquid autem de aliis rebus protulerit id fupcriori alicui fcientiae acceptum referat. Ete- nim ex cognitis naturae legibus pulcherrimoe theo- riae, praxes etiam mechaniccE ad vitam utiles con- fequuntur. Ex cognitione autem ipfius naturae aua deftrui &. in nihilum redigi. Quod reliquum ell: vocant ipa- tium abfolutum, omni relatione quce a fitu & dif- tantiis corpcrum oriebatur, fimul cum ipfis corpo- ribus, fublata. Porro (patium illud eft infinitum,, immobile, indivifibile, infenfibile, fine relatione & fine diflincftione. Hoc efl, omnia ejus attribu- ta funt privativa vel negativa : videtur igitur cfle merum nihil. Parit folummodo difficultatem ali- quam quod extenfum fit. Extenfio autem eft- qualitas pofitiva. Verum qualis tandem extenfio eft ilia, qune nee dividi potefl, nee menfurari, cujus nullam partem, nee fenfu percipere, nee imaginatione depingere pofTumus? Etenim nihil in imaginationem cadit, quod, exnaturarei, non pofTibilc eft ut fenfu percipiatur, fiquidem imagi- jiatio nihil aliud eft quam fiicultas rcprefentatrix rcrum fenfibilium, vel a6lu exiftentium, vel faltem pofTibilium. Fiigit infuper intcUedum purum, quum facultas ilJa verfctur tantum circa res fpiri- tuales & inextenfas, cujufmodi fuTit mentes noftra?,^ earumque habitus, palfiones, virtutcs & fimilia. Ex fpatio igitur abfoluto, auferamus modo voca- bula, & nihil rcmanebit in fenfu, imaginatione aut^ intellecftu ; nihil aliud ergo iis dcfignatur, quam pura privatio aut negatio, hoc eft, merum nihil. 54. Confitendum omnino eft nos circa banc rem gravilTmiis pra:judiciis teneri, a quibus ut li- beremur, omnis animi vis exerenda. Etenim multi, tantum abeft quod fpatium abfo'lutum pro nihilo ducant, ut rem elTe ex omnibus (Deo ex- cepto) unicam exiftiment; quse annihilari non pof- fit ; De M O T U. 257 fit : ftatuantquc illud fuapte natura necefTarlo ex* iftere, jetcrnumque cfCe & increatum, atque-adeo attributorum divinorum particeps. Verum enim- vero quum certiffimum fit, res omnes, quas no- rainibus defignamus, per qualitates aut relationes, ve'l aliqua faltem ex parte, cogncfci, (ineptum enini foret vocabulis uti quibus cogniti nihil, ni- hil notionis, idcse vel conceptus fabjiceretur.) Inquiramus diligenter, utrum formare liceat ideam uljam fpatii illius puri, realis, abfoluti, poll om- nium corporum annihilationem perfeverantis ex-^ ifiere. Ideam porro taiem pauio acrius intuens, reperio ideam eiTe nihili puriffimam, d modo idea appelianda lit. Hoc ipfe fumma adhibita diligen- tia expertus fum : hoc alios pari adhibita diligen- tia experturos reor. ^^. Decipere nos nonnunquam folet, quod aliis omnibus corporibus imaginatione fublatis,noflruni tamen manere lupponimus. Quo fuppofito, mo- tum membrorum ab omni parte iiberrimum imagi- namur. Motus autem Tine fpatio concipi non po- teft. Nihilominus fi rem attento animo recola- mus, conftabit primo concipi fpatium relativum partibus noftri corporis definitum : 2^. movendi jnembra poteftatem liberrimam nullo obflaculo retufam : & prster hsec duo nihil. Falfo tamen credimus tertium aliquod, fpatium, videlicet, im- menfum rea;iter exiftere, quod liberam poteftatem nobis faciat movendi corpus noftrum : ad hoc enim requiritur abfentia folummodo alioi-um cor- porum. Quam abfentiam, five privationem cor- porum, nihil effe pofiiivum fateamur necelTe ell.* 56. CiEterum hafce res nifi quis libero & acri examine perfpexerit, verba & voces parum va- le nt. * Vide quse contra fpatiunr abfolutcm dilTeruntur m libro de principiis cognitionis humanse, idiomate an- glicano, decern abhinc afinis edito. 258 -D^ M O T U. lent. Mcditanti vero, & rationes fecum reputan- ti, ni fallor, manifeftum erit, qusecunque de fpa- tio puro & abfoluto praedicantur, ea omnia de ni- hilo praedicari poflc. Qua ratione mens humana faciliime liberatura mtignis difficultatibus, fimulque ab ea abfurditate tribnendi exiftcntianrnecelTariam «lli rei praeterquam foli Deo optimo maximo. 57. In proclivi eflet fententiam noOram argu- mentis a pofteriori (ut loquuntur) duOis confir- mare, quaeftiones de fpatio abfoluto proponendo, exempli gratia, utrum fit fubjflantia vel accidens ? Utrum creatum vel increatum ? & abfurditates ex fitravis parte confequentes demonilrando. Sed brevitati confulendcm. Illud tamen omitti non debet, quod fententiam hancce Democritus olim calculo fuo comprobavit, uti au6lor eft: Ariftoteles 1. I. phyf ubi hcCC habet ; Democritus folidum ^ inane ponlt principtaf quarum al'tud quidem ut quod efl, uliud ut quod non efl ejfe dicit. Scrupulum (i forte injiciat, quod diftin6lio iila inter fpatium abfolutum & relativum a raagnl nominis philofophis ufurpe- tur, eique quafi fundamento inaedificentur multa proeclara theoremata, fcrupulum iftum vanum efle, ex iis, quae fecutura funt, apparebit. 58. Ex prgemi/Tis patet, non convenire, ut de- finiamus locum vcrum corporis, effe partem /patii abfoluti quam occupat corpus, motumque verum feu abfolutum effe mutationem loci veri & abfolu- ti, Siquldem omnis locus ell relativus, ut & om- nis motus. Veruntamen ut hoc clarius appareat, animadvertendum eft, motum nullum intelligi poft^e fine dcterminatione aliqua feu direOione, quae quidem intelligi nequit, nifi praeter corpus motum, noftrum etiam corpus, ant aliud aliquod, fimul intelligatur exiftere. Nam furfum, deor- fum, finiftrorfum, dextrorfum omnefque plagx & regiones in relatione aliqua fundantur, &, necefla- do, corpus a moto diverfum connotant & fuppo- nunt. De M O T U. 259 nunt. Adeo ut, fi reliquis corporibus in nihilum redadVis, globus, exempli gratia, unicus exiftere fupponatur ; in illo motus nullus concipi poflit ; ufque adeo necefle eft, ut detur aliud corpus, cu- jus fitu motus determinari intelligatur. Hujus fen- tentiae Veritas claiiffime elucebit, modo corporum omnium tarn noftri quam aliorum pr?eter, globum iftum unicum, annihilationem rede fuppofueri- mus. 59. Concipiantiir porro duo globi, & praeterea nil corporeum, exiftere. Goncipiantur deinde vires quomodocunque applicari, quicquid tandem per applicationem virium intelligamus, motus cir- cularis duorum globorum circa commune cen- truni nequit per imaginationem concipi. Suppo- namus deinde coelum fixarum creari : fubito eX concepto appulfu globorum ad diverfas coeli iftius partes motus concipietur. Scilicet cum motus natura fua fit relativus, concipi non potuit priuf- quam darentur corpora correlata. Qiiemadmo- dum nee uUa alia relatio fine correlatis concipi poteft. 60. Ad motum circularem quod attinet, putant multi, crefcente motu vero circulari, corpus ne- ccflario magis femper magifque ab axe niii. Hoc autem ex eo provenit, quod, cum motus circula- ris fpedari polTit tanquam in omni momento a duabus direction lb us ortum trahens, una iecun- ^urxi radium, altera fecundum tangentem ; fi in hac uUima tantum diredlione impetus augeatur, turn a centro recedet corpus motum, orbita vero definet q{^q circularis. Quod fi asquaii er augean- tur vires in utraque dire quoniam non refpicit unum aliquem axcm ratione fpatii abfoluti, fuppofito quod detur tale fpatium : proinde non video quomodo appellari pofTit cona- tus unicus, cui motus vere circularis tanquam pro- prio & adsequato effcflui refpondet. 63. Motus nulius dignofci poteft, aut menfura- ri, nifi per res feniibiles. Gum ergo fpatium abfo- iutum nullo modo in fenfus incurrat, neceffe eft -ut inutile Be MOT U. 26r inutile prorfus fit ad diftinftionem motuum. Prge- terea, determinatio five diredlio motui e/Ientialis eft, ilia vero in relatione confiftit. Ergo impoITi- bile eft ut motus abfolutus concipiatur. 64. Porro, quoniam pro diverfitate loci relativi, varius fit motus ejufdem corporis, quinimo, uno refpedu moveri, altero quiefcere dici quidpiam polTit : ad determinandum motum verum .& quie- teni veram, quo fcilicet tollatur ambiguitas, & confulatur mechanic9S philofophorum, qui fyftema rerumlatiuscontemplantur, fatis fuerit ^atium re- lativum fix arum coelo, tanquam quiefcente fpefta- to, conclufum adhibere, loco fpatii abfoiuti. Mo- tus'autem & quies tali fpatio relativo dcfiniti, com- mode adhiberi pofiiint loco abfolutorum, qui ab il- lis nuUo fymptomate difcerni po/rant. Etenim imprimantur utcunque vires : fint quicunque cona- tus : concedamus motum diftingui per acliones in corpora exercitas; nunquam tamen inde fequetur, dari fpatium illud, & locum ablblutum^ ejufque mutationem effe locum verum. 6^. Leges motuum, efre