The spreading vines with blossoms swell, VIII. "As to its mate the constant dove Shall damp the sound of thy melodious voice; Where I may gaze, and mark each beauteous grace; For sweet thy voice, and lovely is thy face. IX. "As all of me, my Love, is thine Let all of thee be ever mine. Fairer, my Love, thou art than they; And balmy sleep forsake thine eyes; Then, when soft sleep shall from thy eyes depart, Glad to behold the light again From Bether's mountains darting o'er the plain." T. No 389. TUESDAY, MAY 27, 1712. Meliora pii docuere parentes. Their pious sires a better lesson taught. HOR. NOTHING has more surprised the learned in England, than the price which a small book, entitled Spaccio della Bestia triomfante, bore in a late auction.* This book was sold for thirty pounds. As it was written by one Jordanus Brunus, a professed atheist, with a design to depreciate religion, every one was apt to fancy, from the extravagant price it bore, that there must be something in it very formidable. I must confess that, happening to get a sight of The book here mentioned was bought by Walter Clavel, esq. at the auction of the library of Charles Barnard, esq. in 1711, for 28 pounds. The same copy became successively the property of Mr. John Nichols, of Mr. Joseph Ames, of sir Peter Thompson, and of M. C. Tutet, esq. among whose books it was lately sold by auction, at Mr. Gerrard's in Litchfield-street. The author of this book, Giordano Bruno, was a native of Nola in the kingdom of Naples, and burnt at Rome by order of the Inquisition in 1600. Morhoff, speaking of atheists, says, 'Jordanum tamen Brunum huic classi non annumerarem, manifesto in illo atheismi vestigia non deprehendo.' Polyhist. i. 1, 8, 22. Bruno published many other writings said to be atheistical. The book spoken of here was printed, not at Paris, as is said in the title-page, nor in 1544, but at London, and in 1584, 12mo. dedicated to Sir Philip Sidney. It was for some time so little regarded, that it was sold with five other books of the same author, for 25 pence French, at the sale of Mr. Bigor's library in 1706; but it is now very scarce, and has been sold at the exorbitant price of 50%. Niceron. Hommes illust. tom. xvii. p. 211. There was an edition of it in English in 1713. one of them myself, I could not forbear perusing it with this apprehension; but found there was so very little danger in it, that I shall venture to give my readers a fair account of the whole plan upon which this wonderful treatise is built. The author pretends that Jupiter, once upon a time, resolved on a reformation of the constellations for which purpose, having summoned the stars together, he complains to them of the great decay of the worship of the gods, which he thought so much the harder, having called several of those celestial bodies by the names of the heathen deities, and by that means made the heavens as it were a book of the pagan theology. Momus tells him that this is not to be wondered at, since there were so many scandalous stories of the deities. Upon which the author takes occasion to cast reflections upon all other religions, concluding that Jupiter, after a full hearing, discarded the deities out of heaven, and called the stars by the names of the moral virtues. This short fable, which has no pretence in it to reason or argument, and but a very small share of wit, has however recommended itself, wholly by its impiety, to those weak men who would distinguish themselves by the singularity of their opinions. There are two considerations which have been often urged against atheists, and which they never yet could get over. The first is, that the greatest and most eminent persons of all ages have been against them, and always complied with the public forms of worship established in their respective countries, when there was nothing in them either derogatory to the honour of the Supreme Being, or prejudicial to the good of mankind. The Platos and Ciceros among the ancients; the Bacons, the Boyles, and the Lockes, among our own countrymen; are all instances of what I have been saying; not to mention any of the divines, however celebrated, since our adversaries challenge all those, as men who have too much interest in this case to be impartial evidences. But what has been often urged as a consideration of much more weight, is not only the opinion of the better sort, but the general consent of mankind to this great truth; which I think could not possibly have come to pass, but from one of the three following reasons: either that the idea of a God is innate and co-existent with the mind itself; or that this truth is so very obvious, that it is discovered by the first exertion of reason in persons of the most ordinary capacities; or lastly, that it has been delivered down to us through all ages by a tradition from the first man. The atheists are equally confounded, to whiche ever of these three causes we assign it; they havbeen so pressed by this last argument from the general consent of mankind, that after great search and pains they pretend to have found out a nation of atheists, I mean that polite people the Hottentots. I dare not shock my readers with the description of the customs and manners of these barbarians, who are in every respect scarce one degree above brutes, having no language among them but a confused gabble, which is neither well understood by themselves nor others. It is not, however, to be imagined how much the atheists have gloried in these their good friends and allies. If we boast of a Socrates or a Seneca, they may now confront them with these great philosophers the Hottentots. Though even this point has, not without reason, been everal times controverted, I see no manner of harm it could do to religion, if we should entirely give them up this elegant part of mankind. Methinks nothing more shews the weakness of their cause, than that no division of their fellowcreatures join with them, but those among whom they themselves own reason is almost defaced, and who have little else but their shape which can entitle them to any place in the species. Besides these poor creatures, there have now and then been instances of a few crazy people in several nations, who have denied the existence of a deity. The catalogue of these is, however, very short: even Vanini, the most celebrated champion for the cause, professed before his judges that he believed the existence of a God; and, taking up a straw which lay before him on the ground, assured them, that alone was sufficient to convince him of it; alleging several arguments to prove that it was impossible nature alone could create any thing. I was the other day reading an account of Casimir Lyszynski, a gentleman of Poland, who was convicted and executed for this crime. The manner of his punishment was very particular. As soon as his body was burnt, his ashes were put into a cannon, and shot into the air towards Tartary. I am apt to believe, that if something like this method of punishment should prevail in England (such is the natural good sense of the British nation), that whether we rammed an atheist whole into a great gun, or pulverized our infidels, as they do in Poland, we should not have many charges. I should however propose, while our ammunition lasted, that, instead of Tartary, we should always keep two or three cannons ready pointed towards the Cape of Good Hope, in order to shoot our unbelievers into the country of the Hottentots. In my opinion, a solemn judicial death is too |