I cannot conclude, without wishing fome publick-fpirited Perfon, well skill'd

A

Trade, would publish a fhort Effay, to
fhew the Prices now commonly given by
our Ready-Money Clothiers to their feveral
Sorts of Work-People, that fo the Pub.
lick may judge what clear Profits a Clo-
thier has. My Reafon for it is, that as
Money is funk to three per Cent. Intereft
with many People, the Profits might ap-
pear fo confiderable, as would probably
prevail on fome to employ their Money
in that Trade. (It is more honourable, B
at least it ought to be fo in a Trading Na-
tion, to be an induftrious Tradefman, than
an idle Creditor). No Body can think
the Mystery of Clothing infcrutable, when
he fees how many People practise it who
never ferv'd regular Apprenticeships to it.
And one that has Money of his own in
his Pocket, may make a better Mafter,
and get as much, as thofe who make Cloth
on other Peoples Stocks.

Gloucefter

N. B. Mr Raikes, the ingenious Printer of this fournal, having form'd a Scheine to oblige his politer Readers with fomewhat more than a bare Repetition of the Articles of News, from the London Accounts, had, by enlarging his Paper, made room for an ingenious Effay every Week, under the Title of Country Common Sente; but the Crowd of his Customers, not approving of any Thing that required the Uje of Reflecti on, cry'd out. That these Elays, which were defign'd for improving their Morals, encou raging Arts and Indaftry, and rectifying feviral Abuses, deprived them of a great many Relations of News, perhaps most of them falfe or infignificant: that he was forced to return to his old Method, the Country People having no Taste for Mr Country Common Senfe's Writings, tho' it appears by this ESSAY ON RIOTS how honeft, and how capable an Author was engaged both to ferve and entertain them.

So

Mr URBAN,

OF. 16, 1738 HENI first propofed the Que

VIII. p. 182, 285.) to the Learned World, in relation to the Mode in Baptifin, I did not intend you should have heard any more from me. I did hope, and still do, that the Controverfy will be managed by much more able Pens. I have nothing elfe in my Eye, but that Truth fhould take Place, and every Friend of it must say, Amicus Plato, amicus Socrates, fed magis amica Veritas. For my Part, I will very readily, fay, Let every Innovation drop, however patronized or rivetted, which is inconfiftent with it.

Cuitom has fo long connected Sprinkling with Padobaptifm, and Immerfion with the Denial of it, that I forefee I fhall be apt to be cenfured by fome, as favouring the Cante of the Anabaptifts, by pleadCing for Immertion; but the intelligent Reader knows very well, that the Points are as diftinét as any two can be, and that in the Nature of the Thing there is no real Dependance at all of the one upon the 1 other.

D

E

F

G

We hope to be indulged in taking Notice, that the Printer of the Canterbury News Letter has, in the fame Manner, appropri ated a Part of his Paper for a Course of Efays, under the Title of the Kentilh Spectator; but either that Country is better difpofed to Literature, or Mr Abreé, having ne Opponent, is determined not to be overruled by the lowest of his Readers, who H have no Tafte, or a very vitiated one; and therefore he proceeds with his scheme, and we may fome time fee Occafion to quote from

him.

The Gent. who figns 7. L. (p. 862.) writes with an ingenious Calmneis; and fuch an Adverfary alone I defire to enter the Lifts with; and fuch a one, I am confident, will be far from taking amifs any Thing that is wrote without Bitternets and Wrath.

I apprehend there's but little Force in his hand fome Defcant upon thofe Places where Baptifm is ufed in an allegorical Senfe: Such Sort of fymbolical Reprefentations may be very pleafing to the Fancy, but I know not that much Argument can be drawn from them, with regard to any other Particular than that, for which the Simile was produced, and in which alone the Parallel can hold; and indeed fearce any runs upon all four, as the Logicians exprefs themselves. He is pleafed to fay, when speaking of our being baptized with the Holy Ghoft and with Fire, that it would be odd to render the Words, I will immerge you with the Holy Ghoft, and with Fire (p. 285) I own it would be; and I'll add, "full as abfurd, to fay, I will Sprinkle you with the Holy Ghost and with Fire. I apprehend all that can be gather'd from the Mode of Exprellion, is this, that as the Purification of Metals is by Fire, which burns up their Drofs, fo when the Spirit of Grace is given to the Soul, it will (qually refine and purify the hidden Man

of the Heart from the Drofs and Impurities of Sin. With regard to the other Mode of Expreffion, when the Spirit is faid to be poured forth, it notes, fure, nothing

elfe but the giving down of the Spirit from above, even from him, from whom proceeds every good and perfect Gift; and because it is often compared to Water, in point of cleanfing, therefore, when fpoken of as given forth, the moft natural Way of Expreffion must be, I will pour out my Spirit, &c.

A

I am very fenfible, that there have been many Altercations among Criticks, with regard to the Word B: Upon the moft ferious Scrutiny that I can make into the Meaning of this important Word, it B fignifies that fort of washing, for the most Part, which is by dipping, tho' fometimes it may be taken in a more lax Senfe, to denote washing in general. And here I find the learned Beza concurring with me, who, in the Greek Language, was an extraordinary Critick, and who, it's faid, had perufed every Author of Confequence in that Tongue before he began his Tranflation and Notes. Now his Words are thefe, Plus autem eft en hoc in loco quam te, quod illud videatur de Corpore univerfo, ipjum de Manibus duntaxat intelligendum. Neq; vero To BarTen fignificat lavare nifi ex confequenti. ID might add a Cloud of Witneffes to the fame Purpofe. Zanchys Judgment is, Proprie fignificat immergo, fubmergo, obruo Aqua. Cafaubon expreffes farn(w thus, Tanquam ad tingendum mergo. ther learned Foreigner, fpeaking of the Word farm, thus expreffes himfelf, Si vocis notationem attendere volumus, vocabulum Baptifmi Merfionem fignificat in aquam, vel ipfam mergendi et abluendi Actum. Ex ipfa ergo Vocis Notatione et Etymo apparet, que Baptifmi adminiftrandi confuetudo fuerit initio.

Ano

merfion in the Scripture Times, is confefs'd by many, that to this Day adhere to the Innovation of Sprinkling, and that it was performed thisWay in After-Times I may prove (by way of Appendix to the many Teftimonies I before gave) from that famous old Font at Bridekirk in Cumberland, which feems by the Inféription to be erected upon the most early Converfion of the Saxons to Chriftianity; where, as Bishop Nicholfon obferves, we have on the East Side fairly reprefented a Perfon in a long facerdotal Habit dipping a Child into the Water, and a Dove (the Emblem, no doubt, of the Holy Ghoft) hovering over the Infant." They are the Words of the Bishop to Sir William Dugdale, that famous Antiquarian, and may be found in Gibfon's Cambden, p. 841. To which hiftorical Account the Bishop adds, "Now, Sir, I need not acquaint you that the Sacrament of Baptifm was anciently adminiftred by plunging into the Water in the Western as well as the Eaftern Parts of the Church; and that the Gothick Word IIGAN (Mar.

i. 8. & Luke iii. 7 & 12.) the German Word, Cauffen; the Danish, Dobe; and the Belgick, Doopen, do as clearly make out that Practice as the Greek Word aan?". Now in this Letter we have a Proof of Immersion to be of long ftanding, and that Infants were plunged, even in our own Ifland, and a Teftimony of a Learned Prelate of the Church of England, and one eminently vers'd in Antiquities, with regard to the Original of this Rite.

What was the Judgment of our first Reformers in England upon this Head, I hinted in a former Letter, and may ap pear to any one that confults the Liturgy Fin King Edward the VIth's Reign, viz.

With regard to the Remark which that Correfpondent makes upon the Apoftle's Words, Heb. ix. 10. I don't know that it will effentially affect this Controverfy: As the Apostle refers to the Purifications that were in Ule under the Levitical Oeconomy, we must look back to them, and esquire how they were performed; and if every Application of Water with the G Jews was not by Immersion, all must alJow they were fo in the general: If a Perfon had contracted any ceremonial Uncleanness, we know the Law for Purification ran thus, He fhall bathe his Fleft in Water. Again, if the Prieft wash'd his Feet before his Entrance into the Sanctuary to perform the Duty of his Place and Day, doubtless it was by putting them into Water, for which they had agreeable Conveniencies at the Door of the Tabernacle, and afterwards in the Temple.

That Baptifin was adminiftred by Im

H

"That the Priett was to take the Child
by the right Hand, and to place him
within the Font; there he was to be dipt
thrice, &c." And that the fame was
the Judgment of the foreign Reformers,
appears from the exprefs Teftimony of
Luther. "Baptifm, fays he, is a Greck
Word; it may be termed a Dipping,
when we dip fomething in Water, that it
may be wholly covered; and altho' rhat
Cultom be now altogether abolished
among the moft Part, for neither do they
dip the whole Children, but only fprinkle
them with Water, they ought altogether,
nevertheless, to be dipt and prefently to
be drawn out again, for the Etymology
of the Word feems to require it." A late
Anthor, from whom the laft A
taken, tells us from Baren
nius, that he was detired

of a Baptifm at Hamburgh, in the Year
1529, that when he faw the Minifter only
fprinkle the Infant, he was furprized; in
a general Affembly, therefore, of all the
Ministers of the Word, he did ask of a A
certain Minister, John Fritz, who was
fometime Minister of Lubec, how Baptifm
was adminiftred at Lubec, who pioufly
and gravely reply'd, that they were bap-
tized naked, aiter the fame Fashion as in
Germany; but how this peculiar Custom
had crept into Hamburgh he was ignorant:
At length they did agree, that the Judg. B
ment of Luther and the Divines of Wit-
temberg fhould be demanded about the
Point; which being done, Luther did write
back to Hamburgh, that this Sprinkling
was an Abufe which they ought to re-
move. Thus plunging of Intants was
reftored at Hamburgh.

C

I need not add, as it is a Thing in which all agree, that the Cuttom of dipping Infants is ftill retained in the Eaftern Church; and when the Western Parts dropt it, England was one of the last that gave into the Change. It is very probable, that an ignorant Fondness for their Children enfnared People into the Novelty: And, as D Sir John Floyer obferves, lince the Church of England itill recommends it, and feems to difpenfe with Dipping only in cafe of Neceflity, we have reafon to hope that fhe will at length return to the true Cuftom. Now Phyfick hath given us a clear Proof, from divers Experiments, that cold E Baths are both fafe and ufeful. I have nothing to add but my Apology for exceeding the Bounds of a Letter, and that I am, as your conftant Reader, fo, Sir, Your Humble Servant,

Mr URRAN,

A

MARCUS.

FTER a little Confideration upon my first asking my feif what is Fire? I returned Motion; yet, when I had thought further on this Affirmation, I began to startle a little at it, in that it then feemed to me I must maintain Motion to be fubftantial and material.

F

G

I know not what is our learned Definition of Motion; but 'till lately I had no other Notion of it, than that of one Body's changing Place or Pofition with refpect to another; nor did all that I have met with concerning the Motion of the Soul, give me any other Idea; neither, perhaps, much different from this was it defined to him, that affirm'd, It must be H (if at all) either where it is, or where it is not. That it is not where it is not, he dg'd he need not trouble himself to prove, and that it cannot be where it is,

himself pofitively affirm'd; For there, fays he, is Reft. And fo, upon the Whole, afferted, there to be no fuch Thing.

But now it feems to me, that I can with Juttice affirm againit him, That Motion is, and that where it is, is not Reft. And this, not as Diogenes, by rifing from my Scat and walking to and fro, for this comes only to the former Definition; and is, it I may fo fay, purely and only local Tranfition, and may properly be reckon'd amongst the firft Accidents, or an acci dental Confequence of Motion: But to which Manner of acting or Action had another Name originally been given than that of Motion, it might have been more intelligible, and have prevented much Difpute in the World fince. However, fince it hath fo long obtain'd this Name, I fhall let it pafs, only having obferved, That I think it very improperly, in the Beginning, to have been named Motion.

As for the Motion of elementary, material, or compound Bodies among themfelves, this is all either Progretion or Retrogreflion, Afcention or Defcenion, or Circumaction; and of this Sort is all that artificial Motion produced by Man, either in or among inanimate (as they are called) Bodies; only that this lalt may peculiarly be call'd by the Name of Dead Motion; and which I think to be much the fame with Inanimate Motion.

But to leave this, I fhall now venture to allert a Motion, that to me feems truly and properly fuch, and to whose Being Progreffion, &c. are not neceflary, thoʻ it may, by Accident, act in all thofe Manners.

And first, it feems to me, that in finding Lite, I neceflarily find true Motion; fuch as the Mind can conceive of to be Motion in itself, in its very Effence; or that is effentially Motion. Then fecondly, as in the whole Matter, in whole Nature, nothing is found to vivifying, fo near to Omniprelence, to Infinity, as Fire; I conclude Fire in itself to be true Motion.

It is not the Wood, Coal, nor other Combustibles, that are the Fire; neither is it thofe hard Bodies, in which 'uis found only by Friction, or Concuilion, for these are only faid to contain in them the latent Seeds of Fire, fo that the Fire mult be fomething elfe, different and diftinct from all of them. And indeed, when I examine what it can be, I cannot conclude it to be any Thing but the Life of Matter in ge neral; of which each Part contains fo much of what is called the latent Seeds of Fire, as is neceflary to its State; or at least fo much, as it can retain of them, declares or determines its State for the Time.

And

Cafe of Prudentia Motherly, Slighted by her Children. 13

B

And tho' here Fire is truly and properly nity, God, and fuch like; and yet the faid to act, to move in Matter, yet this is Words, (or what Names foever otherwise all Accident; and it feems to me to be they may have) it, a, an, the, he, &c. very eafy to conceive of this Motion, of are all bounded, and howfoever made this Life exifting without Refpect to Ufe of in Speech, muft, and do neceflaPlace. And tho' perhaps it is not neceffary rily fuppofe Definition and Bound; and here, yet if any fhould take Notice of A yet we have not a better, nor a properer what I have faid, and to prevent Difpute Manner of speaking, that I know of, than as much as I can, I shall a little digrefs. that, The Nature of God is incomprehenSome may perhaps fay, That I do well fible, fo is Eternity; and even Nothing, not to give an Account of my Idea of Be- what is it? Why, as if other Languages ing without Refpect to Place; for that I could better exprefs it than our own, have heard it faid to be impoffible for Man we have forfaken our own old Name to have fuch Idea; but of what in his Mind for that of Not Being, and have adopted he can conceive, he may find whereby to another, that expresses but just so much; give a Defcription to another. But to pafs and now it is Nonentity, Emptiness, Perby the many Objections that may be made fett-Vacuum,-Nothing. However, take to this Affertion, For the first, I confefs as well as at prefent I can give in Words, our Ideas of this Nature to be imperfect; fomething of this my Idea concerning and fo they must be, or Finite would com- felf-exiftent Motion, thus: Suppofe perprehend Infinite, Time include Eternity. fect Vacuum, and this infinite; then place But 2dly, That we can have fo much No-C in it (as it were, a Spot of) Life; now, tion of fuch Being, as to be fatisfied to tho' the Vacuum feems to have loft its know that it can be; that it is; This I Infinity by the Pofition of this Life, yet affert, tho' we may not find Words where it being pure, alone, ideally One, partlefs, by to defcribe, or give a juft Account of remaining Life, we cannot conceive it not it. Can we think the Name GOD, even to move. But whether any of the acci when emphatically ufed, to be an adequate dental Confequences of Motion enfue, Defcription, or Type (in English) of the D whether it paffes upward, downward, Idea of a Being having all Perfection? And forward, backward, upon, or against, we if there can be any that disbelieve & Being cannot fay, (tho' its own Circumlimitation of a God, yet fuch cannot deny Infinity, will be called its Place) for want of fomeEternity; but can they find thefe Words thing eife, to which it fhould have Reto be full Defcriptions or Explications of fpect, in order to determine if it acted in the Notions fuch Names are defigned to any of thefe Ways; but can only here, as raise, or to give? No! Thefe are only I faid above, fay, Motion to exift, to be Names, whereby (after having explain'd in itself, and fo, of confequence, That to their intended Signification, fo far as we Live is to Move, i. e. To be the State moft can, by other known or agreed-on Things) directly, properly, and emphatically conwe at laft find, by the Returns we receive, rary to that called Reft. that we can raife fuch Ideas in the Minds of others, as are confonant to our Intention in making Ufe of them Again,

E

(See our next.) p. 64.

Mr URBAN,

efers to me, that Words, Sounds, HAVE been married about 40 Years, themselves cannot be deny'd to be fubftan- and altho' I did not like entirely my tial, to be material, and confequently to Husband at firft, yet have we lived very have Extenfion. They are formed, and happily together for above 20 Years, havcannot be fo without Air, but only fo as ing always endeavoured to comply with to affect, at least not to become intelligi- his Humours, which were not always ble to, any other fenfitive Faculty than that very reafonable. But, in return, for these last of Hearing; now if the Matter from G 15 Years, or thereabouts, he uses me with whence they are formed, in their Forma- fo much Indifference, that I have not a tion, doth not lofe its Materiality, itfelf, Word to fay in my Family; the Servants its Being, the Extenfion must remain in take the Advantage of it, the Children the Words: Confequently, they cannot, treat me with Contempt, (especially those exprefs what is boundlefs, nor even our- that are grown up, viz. two Daughters felves by them, fo much as our ideal Fa- by a former Wife, and a Son by me) they culties can conceive of it. Indeed, not a thew me a fair Outfide, 'tis true, but I Name, Word, &c. that I can think of, H find they have no Respect for me in the but is a Contradition to the Notion I Main;, and I am, on the contrary, an judge fo juft. And what is that? Why I Object of their Laughter, when they fee can only fay, 'Tis what I would have to their Father treat me with fo much Negbe understood by the Words Infinity, Eter. Ligence; for altho' I have been fo good to

B

confer

PRUDENTIA MOTHERLY.
Obfervations on LAPLAND, &c. con-
cluded. See Vol. VIII. p. 636.
F their Journey up Hill had been pain-a

Return fhould be too rapid. They had
to come down a Steep, in Conveyances,
which, tho' partly funk in the Snow, flid
on notwithflanding, drawn by Animals
whofe Fury in the Plain they had alrea-
dy try'd, and who, tho' finking in the
Snow to their Bellies, would endeavour
to fave themselves by the Swiftness of
their Flight. They foon found them-
felves at the Bottom of the Hill; a Mo-
ment after, all the great River was pasled,
and they back whence they fet out. This
Operation ended, they made hafte to get
back to Torneo, to fecure themfelves against
the growing Severity of the Seafon.

The Town of Torneo, at their Arrival the 30th of December, had a most frightful Afpect. Its little Houfes were buried

he Tops in Snow, which, if there

whole Extent of the Hemifphere. Sometimes they begin in the Form of a great Scarf of bright Light, with its Extremi ties on the Horizon, which, with a Mo. tion, like that of a Fish- Net, glides swiftly up the Sky, preferving in this Motion a Direction nearly perpendicular to the G Meridian. Moft commonly after these Preludes, all the Lights unite at the Zenith, in a Form refembling the Top of a Crown. The Motion of thefe Meteors is most commonly like that of a Pair of Colours waved in the Air, and the different Tints of their Light give them the Appearance of fo many vaft Streamers of that Sort of TafH fetas which we call changeable. Sometimes they line a Part of the Sky with Scarlet. Dec. 18, they faw a Phenomenon that railed their Admiration in the