in the shuttle, and then with the flay to make them unite and thicken the cloth! He was pleafed alfo to fay, that the whole art of weaving was the invention of wife men, forgetting that more fubtile was afterwards found out, wherein . h Tela jugo juncta eft, ftamen fecernit arundo: Day Quod lato feriunt infecti pectine dentes (1). The web inwraps the beam, the reed divides, way, which The fwinging weight ftrikes clofe th' inferted thread. Sewell. What if he had feen the weaving of our days; whereby they make our apparel fo very fine that it conceals nothing beneath it. I do not fay that it is no covering to the body, but it does not even hide our fhame (u). He then paffeth on to the husbandman; nor lefs elegantly defcribes the foil, as torn up, and renewed by the plough (x), that the loofen'd earth may the more easily permit the roots to shoot out; and then he describes the manner of fowing feveral forts of feeds, and of plucking up the weeds by hand, that no cafual and wild plants may choak the This he likewife attributes to the invention of the wife men; as if in our days there are not many things invented by our farmers to render the ground more fertile. corn. And not contented with thefe arts alone, he thrufts the wife man into the bakehoufe; and tells you that from an imitation of Nature, he first began to make bread. For obferving, fays he, that whenever grain is put into the mouth, by joining the hard teeth together, it is broken in pieces, and what escapes this preffure is gathered and put under it again by the tongue; and then it is mingled with spittle, to pafs the more glibly down the throat; and when it comes into the ftomach it is there digefted, by the natural heat of the maw; and at laft is converted into nutriment, and the substance of the body. The wife man, he faith, obferving this operation of Nature, first placed VOL. II. R one one rough stone upon another, to resemble teeth, the upper part of which, being immoveable, expects the motion of the other, and then, by these rubbing together, the grain between them is broken, and well pounded, 'till it is reduced to meal; this he then sprinkled with water, and by kneading it into dough, made bread thereof: which at first they baked under warm afhes, or upon a hot tile or stone; and after this ovens were invented, and other kinds of stoves, to be heated, as would beft ferve the turn. It is a wonder he did not tell us that the fhoemaker's art was also owing to the wife men (y); all these things indeed were the invention of Reason, but not of philofophic Reason: they are the invention of man, but not of a wife man, any more than ships: in which men pass over great rivers, and even the fea itself; the fails being fitted to receive the force of the winds, and rudders being joined to the stern of the ship, which turn it either one way or the other. And this was learned from obferving how fish guide themfelves by their tails, and by the least motion thereof give a direction to their swiftness. All these things, faith Pofidonius, were invented by fome wife man, but being too low for himself to be concerned with, he left the working part to meaner heads. But in truth these things were invented by none other men than such as are living at this day, and who bufy themselves therein. We know that in our time many inventions have been first published; for instance, the windows made of fine transparent tiles (≈); alfo hanging baths (aa); and pipes, of stoves, fo concealed in the walls as to fpread an equal heat through every part of the room: not to mention several works in marble, by which our temples, and even our houses are fo finely decorated: or the huge piles of ftone (pillars) which being made round and smooth form our portico's, and fupport fuch spacious buildings as will contain a multitude of people: nor need I mention the cyphers and characters (bb) whereby a man can take down a whole oration, be it ever fo swiftly pronounced, and with his hand keep pace with the fpeaker's tongue. Thefe are, or may be, the invention of the meanest flaves. True True wifdom fitteth aloft, and inftructeth not the hand, but the mind. Would you know what is of her invention, and what her work? Not the unfeemly motions of the body in dancing; not the flute or the trumpet, through which the breath paffing or held, gives. the tone of a voice; not weapons, nor walls, or the art of war; fhe contrives things of more use and confequence; fhe loves peace, and invites mankind to amity; fhe is not, I fay, the author of inftruments even for neceffary ufes; fhe forms the life and manners; and hath indeed all the other arts in fubjection. For as life, fo all the ornaments of life are fubfervient to her: but her chief end is bleffedness; thither fhe leads; thither fhe opens to us the way. She fheweth us what is truly evil, and what only feems fo; fhe roots out vanity from the mind, and implanteth solid greatness: all that is arrogant and pompous without foundation, she entirely fuppreffeth; nor fuffers men to be ignorant of the difference between grandeur and a proud appearance; fhe giveth the knowledge of all Nature, and particularly of herfelf: fhe alfo teacheth who, and what the gods are, the infernal, the household, the guardian (ce); and what those ever-living fouls, that are admitted in the second rank of deities (dd); where they dwell (ee); how employed (ff); what their power, and their will, These are the first principles, or grounds, wherein the inftructs her pupils; and by which no private hallowed place, but this univerfe, the great temple of all the gods (gg), is open to them; the true images whereof, and true reprefentations, fhe discovers to the eyes of the understanding; thofe of the body being too dull to difcern fuch a great and noble object. She then goes back to the beginning of things, and heweth eternal wisdom diffused throughout the whole; and the power of every feed forming its own particular body (bb). She next enquire into the nature of the foul; from whence it was derived, where it fubiis, how long, and into how many parts to be distinguished (i). And thus fhe paffeth on from things corporeal, to things incorporeal, examining the truth and all the arguments relating thereto. After this the points out the ambiguities concerning life and R 2 death death (kk); for on both these topics many falfe things are often blended with truth. But to return it was not, as Pofidonius thinks, that the wife man withdrew himself from the forementioned arts: he was never in the least concerned with them; for he would not think any thing worthy his invention, that he did not think worthy of perpetual ufe; he would never admit what was to be difmiffed. Anacharfis, he tells us, invented the potters wheel (/), by the turning whereof vessels were differently fashioned: and because mention is made in Homer of the potter's wheel, he had rather the verses should be thought spurious, than his story. I will not contend whether Anacharfis was the author of this wheel or not: but fuppofing he was, a wife man then invented it, but not as being a wife man; fince wife men do many things as men, not as being wife. Suppofe a wife man could outrun all his cotemporaries; this would not be owing to his wisdom but to his agility, and swiftness of foot. I could with Pofidonius was now to fee fome of our glassmakers, who with their breath alone fashion glass into diverse shapes, which is more than an artist could do with the most industrious and careful hand. And these things were found out, long fince a wife man was to be found among us. Democritus, he faith, is reported to be the inventor of an arch, or vaulted roof; when two stones inclining gradually to one another, are pinned together by another stone between them, that binds upon them both. But this I take to be falfe, as there must have been bridges and gateways, whofe upper part generally forms an arch, long before the time of Democritus. It must be remembered too, that the fame Democritus is faid to have found the way of foftening ivory (mm); and by a certain degree of heat, to change a pebble into an emerald; which art is made use of in colouring bricks and ftones to this day. But however I fay a wife man may find out these things, the invention is not owing to him merely as a wife man; for a wife man does many things, which a blockhead may perform as well, or better, and with more expedition. Do Do you ask me then, what I take to be the investigation of a wise man, and what accordingly he hath published to the world? First, the true nature of things; which he looked not upon, as other animals do, with eyes too weak and dull for divine matters: next, the law of life, which he directed to the good of the whole; and not only taught us to know, but to imitate the Gods (nn); and to receive all accidents with as much æquanimity as if they were ordered by the will of heaven (00). He forbade us to be carried away with falfe opinions (pp): he hath weighed every thing in the balance, and estimates them truly according to their worth. He hath condemned all pleafares that are bought with repentance; he hath recommended what is good (99), as what will always please; and made it manifest, that he is the happiest man who is happy in himself alone; and he the most powerful, who hath power over, and can command, himself.. I am not speaking of that philofophy (the Epicurean) which looked upon a man, as a citizen, fuppofe, of the world, unconcerned for his own country; and who discharged the Gods of any concern with human affairs, and who made pleasure a virtue; but of that philosophy (fc. the Stoic) which thinks nothing good but what is fit and honourable; which is not to be corrupted by the gifts of man or fortune; and whose principal value confifts in not being to be bought by any thing how valuable foever. Now, I do not think this Philofophy was extant in the first rude age of the world, when as yet all arts were wanting, and men were continually learning the ufefulness of things from the use itself; as, before thofe happy times, when the benefits of Nature lay in common, and were ufed promifcuoufly; nor had avarice and luxury difunited mortals, and made them prey upon one another, there were no wife men, though in many refpects they acted as fuch. The ftate however of mankind was fuch, that I know of none to be more admired: nor, if God permitted man to form, as he would, terrestrial things, and to establish fuch manners, as he pleased, among the nations, would he approve of any thing more than what is faid to be found among thofe, with whom |