A letter about liberty and necessity written to the Duke of Newcastle / by Thomas Hobbes. With observations upon it by a learned Prelate of the Church of England lately deceased. Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. 1676 Approx. 75 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 60 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2005-03 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A49423 Wing L343 ESTC R14544 09464212 ocm 09464212 43200 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A49423) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 43200) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1311:12) A letter about liberty and necessity written to the Duke of Newcastle / by Thomas Hobbes. With observations upon it by a learned Prelate of the Church of England lately deceased. Hobbes, Thomas, 1588-1679. Laney, Benjamin, 1591-1675. Observations upon a letter of Mr. T. Hobbs to the Duke of Newcastle. 104 p. Printed by J. Grover for W. Crooke, London : 1676. "Observations upon a letter of Mr. T. Hobbs to the Duke of Newcastle" (p. 23-104) Reproduction of original in the Trinty College Library, Cambridge University. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. 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Predestination. 2004-09 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2004-09 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2004-10 Jonathan Blaney Sampled and proofread 2004-10 Jonathan Blaney Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A LETTER ABOUT Liberty and Necessity : Written to the DUKE of NEWCASTLE , By THOMAS HOBBES of Malmesbury : With OBSERVATIONS upon it , By a Learned Prelate of the Church of England lately deceased . LONDON , Printed by J. Grover , for W. Crooke , at the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar . 1676. Imprimatur , Anton. Saunders , ex Reverendissimo Archiepisc . Cant. à Sacris Domesticis . Ex Aedibus Lambethanis , Jan. 19. 1675 / 6. Mr. HOBBES his Opinion about Liberty and Necessity , sent in a Letter to the DUKE of NEWCASTLE . FIrst , I conceive , that when it cometh into a man's mind to do , or not to do , some certain Action , if he have no time to deliberate the doing of it or abstaining , necessarily followeth the present Thought he had of the good or evil Consequence thereof to himself . As , for Example , in sudden Anger , the Action should follow the Desire of Revenge ; in sudden Fear , the Thought of Escape . Also when a man had time to deliberate , but deliberates not , because never any thing appeared that should make him doubt of the Consequence , the Action follows his opinion of the Goodness or Harm of it : these Actions I call Voluntary ; my Lord ( if I understand him right ) calleth them Spontaneous . I call them Voluntary , because those actions which follow immediately the last Appetite are voluntary ; and here where is one onely Appetite , that one is the last . Besides , I see it 's reasonable to punish a rash Action , which could not be justly done by man to man , unless the same were voluntary . For no Actions of man can be said to be without Deliberation , though never so sudden , because it is supposed he had time to deliberate all the precedent time of his life , whether he should do that kind of Action or not . And hence it is , that he that killeth in a sudden passion of Anger , shall nevertheless be justly put to death , because all the time wherein he was able to consider whether to kill were good or evil , shall be held for one continual Deliberation , and consequently the Killing shall proceed from Election . Secondly , I conceive , when a man deliberates whether he shall do a thing or not do it , that he doth nothing else but consider whether it be better for him to do it or not to do it ; and to consider an Action is to imagine the Consequences of it both good and evil . From whence it is to be inferred , That Deliberation is nothing else but alternate Hope and Fear , or alternate Appetite , to do or quit the Action of which he deliberateth . Thirdly , I conceive , that in all Deliberations , that is to say , in all alternate succession of contrary Appetites , the last is that which we call the Will , and is immediately before the doing of the Action , or next before the doing of it become impossible . All other Appetites to do and to quit , that come upon a man during his Deliberations , are usually called Intentions , and Inclinations , but not Will , there being but one Will , which also in this case may be called the Last Will , though the Intention change often . Fourthly , that those Actions which a man is said to do upon Deliberation , are said to be voluntary , and done upon Choice and Election : so that voluntary Action , and Action proceeding from Election , is the same thing : and that of voluntary Agents , 't is all one to say , he is free , and to say , he hath made an end of deliberating . Fifthly , I conceive Liberty to be rightly defined in this manner . Liberty is the absence of all the impediments to Action , that are not contained in the natural and intrinsecal quality of the Agent . As , for Example , the Water is to be seen descend freely , or to have liberty to ascend up the channel of the River , because there is no impediment ; and though the Water cannot ascend , yet men say it never wants the liberty to ascend , but the power or faculty , because the impediment is in the nature of the Water , and intrinsecal . So also we say , He that is tyed , wants liberty to go , because that the impediment is not in him , but in his Bonds ; whereas we say not so of him that is sick or lame , because the impediment is in himself . Sixthly , I conceive , that nothing taketh beginning from it self , but from the action of some other immediate Agent without it self ; and that therefore when first a man hath an Appetite or Will to something , to which immediately before he had no Appetite nor Will , the cause of his Will is not the Will it self , but something else not in his own disposing . So that whereas it is out of controversy , of voluntary Actions the Will is a necessary cause , and by this which is said the Will is also caused by other things which it disposeth not ; it followeth , that voluntary Actions have all their necessary causes , and therefore are necessitated . Seventhly , I hold That to be a sufficient Cause , to which nothing is wanting that is needful to the producing of the Effect : the same also is a necessary Cause . For if it be possible that a sufficient Cause shall not bring forth the Effect , then there wanteth somewhat which was needful to the producing of it , and so the Cause was not sufficient : but if it be impossible that a sufficient Cause should not produce the effect , then is a sufficient cause a necessary cause . For it is said to produce an effect necessarily , that cannot but produce it . Hence is manifest , that whatsoever is produced , hath had a sufficient cause to produce it , else it had not been . And therefore also Voluntary Actions are necessitated . Lastly , I hold that the ordinary definition of a Free Agent , namely , That a Free Agent is that which , when all things are present which are needful to produce the effect , can nevertheless not produce it , implies a contradiction , and is Nonsense ; being as much as to say , the Cause may be sufficient , that is , necessary , and yet the Effect not follow . My Reasons For the first 5 points , where it is explicated . 1. What Spontaneity is . 2. What Deliberation is . 3. What Will , Propension , and Appetite , is . 4. What a Free Agent is . 5. What Liberty is . There can be no other proof offered , but every mans own Experience by reflection on himself , and remembring what he useth to have in his mind , that is , what he himself meaneth when he saith , an Action is Spontaneous , a man Deliberates , such is his Will , that Agent or Action is Free. Now he that so reflecteth upon himself , cannot but be satisfied that Deliberation is the considering of the good and evil Sequels of the Action to come : that by Spontaneity is meant Inconsiderate Proceedings , or else nothing is meant by it : that Will is the last act of our Deliberation : that a Free Agent is he that can do if he will , and forbear if he will : and that Liberty is the Absence of External Impediments . But to those that out of custom speak not what they conceive , but what they hear ; and are not able , or will not take the pains to consider what they think , when they hear such words , no argument can be sufficient , because Experience and Matter of Fact is not verified by other mens Arguments , but by every mans own Sense and Memory . For example , how can it be proved that to love a thing , and to think it good , is all one , to a man that does not mark his own meaning by those words ? Or how can it be proved that Eternity is not Nunc stans to a man that says these words by custom , and never considers how he can conceive it himself in his mind ? Also the 6th . point , that a man cannot imagine any thing to begin without a Cause , can no other way be made known , but by crying how he can imagine it ; but if he try , he shall find as much reason ( if there be no Cause of the thing ) to conceive it should begin at one time as an other ; that is , he hath equal reason to think it should begin at all times , which is impossible ; and therefore he must think there was some special Cause why it began then , rather than sooner or later , or else that it began never , but was Eternal . For the 7th . point , that all Events have necessary Causes , it is there proved in that they have sufficient Causes . Further , let us also in this place suppose any Event never so casual , as the throwing ( for example ) Ambs-ace upon a Pair of Dice , and see if it must not have been necessary before it was thrown ; for seeing it was thrown , it had a beginning , and consequently a sufficient Cause to produce it , consisting partly in the Dice , partly in outward things , as the posture of the parts of the Hand , the measure of Force applied by the Caster , the posture of the parts of the Table , and the like . In summe , there was nothing wanting which was necesarily requisite to the producing of that particular Cast , and consequently that Cast was necessarily thrown ; for if it had not been thrown , there had wanted somewhat requisite to the throwing of it , and so the Cause had not been sufficient . In the like manner it may be proved , that every other Accident , how contingent soever it be , is produced necessarily ; which is that that my L. Bishop disputes against . The same also may be proved in this manner : Let the case be put ( for example ) of the Weather ; 't is necessary that to morrow it shall rain , or not rain ; if therefore it be not necessary it shall rain , it is necessary it shall not rain ; otherwise there is no necessity that the Proposition [ It shall rain or not rain ] should be true . I know there be some that say , it may necessarily be true , that one of the two shall come to pass , but not singly that it shall rain ; which is as much as to say , one of them is necessary , yet neither of them is necessary ; and to seem to avoid that absurdity , they make a distinction , that neither of them is true determinatè , but indeterminatè : which distinction either signifies no more but this , One of them is true but we know not which , and so the Necessity remains though we know it not ; or if the meaning of the distinction be not that , it hath no meaning , and they might as well have said , One of them is true Tytiricè , but neither of them Tupatulicé . The last thing , in which also consisteth the whole controversie , namely , that there is no such thing as an Agent which when all things necessary to Action are present , can nevertheless forbear to produce it , or ( which is all one ) that there is no such thing as Freedom from Necessity , is easily inferred from that which hath been before alledged ; for if it be an Agent , it can work , and if it work , there is nothing wanting of what is requisite to produce the Action , and consequently the Cause of the Action is sufficient , and if sufficient , then also necessary , as hath been proved before . And thus you see how the inconveniences , which his Lordship ( Bishop Bramhal ) objecteth , must follow upon the holding of Necessity , are avoided , and the Necessity it self demonstratively proved . To which I could adde , if I thought it good Logick , the inconvenience of denying Necessity ; as that it destroyeth both the Decrees and the Prescience of God Almighty : for whatsoever God hath purposed to bring to pass by Man as an Instrument , or foreseeth shall come to pass , a man , if he have Liberty , ( such as his Lordship affirmeth ) from Necessitation , might frustrate , and make not to come to pass ; and God should either not foreknow it , and not decree it , or he should foreknow such things should be as shall never be , and decree that which shall never come to pass . This is all that hath come into my mind touching this question since I last considered it , and I humbly beseech your Lordship to communicate it onely to my Lord Bishop : and so praying God to prosper Your Lordship in all Your Designs , I take leave , and am ( my most Noble and most Obliging Lord ) Rouen , Aug. 20. 1645. Your most Humble Servant , THO : HOBBS . The POSTSCRIPT . ARguments seldom work on men of Wit and Learning , when they have once engaged themselves in a contrary Opinion ; if any thing do it , it is the shewing them the Cause of their Errour , which is this . Pious men attribute to God Almighty , for Honours sake , whatsoever they see is Honourable in the world , as Seeing , Hearing , Willing , Knowing , Justice , Wisdom , &c. but deny him such poor things as Eyes , Ears , Brains , and other Organs , without which we Worms neither have nor can conceive such Faculties to be , and so far they do well . But when they dispute of Gods Actions Philosophically , then they consider them again as if he had such Faculties , and in that manner as we have them , this is not well ; and thence it is they fall into so many difficulties . We ought not to dispute of God's Nature , he is no fit subject for our Philosophy . True Religion consisteth in obedience to Christ's Lieutenants , and in giving God such Honour both in Attributes and Actions , as they in their several Lieutenancies shall ordain . OBSERVATIONS Upon A LETTER Of Mr. T. Hobbs to the Duke of NEWCASTLE , Which he calls His Opinion about Liberty and Necessity . THE Design of the Letter , or ( as he himself speaks in one part of it ) that in which the whole Controversie consists , is , That Voluntary Agents do always act necessarily , or ( which is all one ) act without liberty , that is , from necessity . And this Opinion of his is first set down in 8 Points , and then ( as the Title of the next Part imports ) so many Reasons to those Points . The first Point is , That by Spontaneity is meant Inconsiderate Proceeding , &c. without Deliberation . I call this the first Point , not because I find Spontaneity described here , but because at the entrance of his Reasons he declares that to be his design . It 's true that he saith somewhat of the Bishops Opinion concerning it , but very doubtfully , as he had cause ; for he shall not find among any that maintain the difference between Spontaneous and Voluntary Actions , that Spontaneity consists in Inconsiderateness or Indeliberation , as he would have it , when he says it must mean that or nothing . Whereas indeed his Adversaries would be as well content it should mean nothing as that . For Inconsideration is the privation and want of considering where it should and ought to have been , ( i. e. ) in Agents of Reason and Will ; for we do not say that Natural Agents , that have no Reason and Will , do act inconsiderately . For when the Water doth sponte fluere , and the Fire calefacere , we cannot say they do it inconsiderately , or for want of that Deliberation , of which they are not capable ; for you might as well say , they act so for want of Reason : and if want of Reason and Deliberation makes an Action spontaneous , then all violent Actions would be spontaneous , for they also want Reason in all natural Agents , as that the Water ascends for want of Reason and Deliberation . And therefore the next time Mr. Hobbs means to play the Philosopher about Necessity and Liberty , I shall advise him to take better notice of the nature and difference between Spontaneous and Voluntary Actions . Men call those Voluntary Actions , as the word it self imports , that proceed from the Will , ( i.e. ) voluntary Agents ; and those spontaneous , that proceed from the fixt unchangeable nature of ( i.e. ) from natural Agents . If Mr. Hobbs knew not this difference , let him learn't against another time ; if he did know it , it had been the part of a good Philosopher to have took notice of it , and when he would prove that Spontaneous and Voluntary are all one , to make instance in such Actions as are in that more appropriate and special sence called Spontaneous ; such as I nam'd before , the Water 's flowing , and the Fire 's heating , and make it appear that they are also Voluntary , that is , do follow the last Will of the Water and Fire , ( for so , Voluntary , is defined . ) Now if no man in his right wits will either say that these are Voluntary , or gainsay their being Spontaneous , ( i.e. ) that they do sponte agere ; it must of necessity follow , first , That there is a manifest difference between those sorts of Actions ; and secondly , That it is necessary that those things which differ , for more distinct knowledge , should have given them also different Appellations ; and thirdly , That none are of themselves more apt , though they may sometimes be used promiscuously , than those of Voluntary and Spontaneous . But for so much as I have already taken notice of in the first Point , whether he be mistaken in the Bishop , or I in him , it makes not much either for or against the principal question of Liberty ; for I find no mention of Spontaneity afterwards , that there need any enquiry of the nature and definition of it . But for voluntary Actions , because we have often use of them in the following Discourse , it will be better worth the labour to examine what they are defined to be . Those Actions that follow immediately the last Appetite are Voluntary . I should acknowledge this Definition , if the word [ last ] did not corrupt it , which makes it either false or frivolous . For if he supposes it to be the last Will before it be followed , it is false , for it becomes rather the Last by being followed ; or if that Will be supposed to be followed because it is last , it is also false ; for the Action follows the Will because it is the Will , not because it is the last Will : for the Will is last because it is followed , not followed because it is last . It 's not First or Last that makes a thing willed , but because it is good , or seems so . Or if there be a sence in which it is not false , it is yet frivolous . As if a man should say out of a deep contemplation and observation of Nature , No man dyed ever of any Disease but the last he was sick of . No man ever drank a whole Glass of Wine but the last when he drank it . If the word [ last ] carries no force in it , either to make the Disease more malignant , or the Wine more pleasant ; such Speculations , though they have a truth in them , will go for no better than ridiculous : so [ last ] which adds nothing to the Will , might have been left out in the Definition . And yet I am content it should stand there still , untill you see more cause to remove it , as perhaps you may when we come to the third point ; for there we are promised to hear more of the same matter , a point set apart of purpose to shew the nature of the Will and Inclinations . Second Point is the Definition of Deliberation . Deliberation is nothing but Alternate Hope and Fear , or Alternate Appetite to do or quit the Action . It 's a strange impropriety of Speech , 1. to say that Deliberation , which is an act of the Understanding , should be either Fear or Hope , which be affections ; such a confus'd tumbling together of the Faculties of the Soul becomes onely him , that either understands not , or desires not to be understood . But perhaps his meaning may be , that the Understanding in Deliberation represents one-while matter of Fear , otherwhile of Hope . This , I confess , is true , and that this Hope or Fear doth not always produce such a resolution and act of the Will , upon which the Action follows ; but yet produces a true and perfect resolution , or act of the Will. For it is not possible for a man to have true cause and matter of Hope represented to him , but he must will it , at least in a degree , and so long as that Hope is not impeach'd by a new Deliberation . So it is alike in Fear , that whosoever actually fears any evil , effectually wills the avoiding of it , till something intervenes that diverts the Fear . But of this more in the next Point . Third Point . The Will is defined to be the last Appetite , and is immediately before the doing of the Action . Other Appetites that come upon men in time of Deliberation are but intentions and inclinations . The truth of these and the like Points ( saith Mr. Hobbs ) is to be tried by reflection upon our selves , what we conceive when such Speeches are us'd : and then the Will is nothing else but the last Appetite . Methinks Mr. Hobbs should have heard of Voluntas ambulatoria , a Will liable to change ; and therefore every Will is not the last . For if you reflect , you shall find a man seriously to will and resolve that to day , which the next day he wills not . When a man makes his Testament , which is also call'd his last Will , and is indeed of all others the most resolv'd act of his Will ; yet he may change that Will , and often men do it . But then you say it ceaseth to be his last Will. 'T is true . And therefore something was a Will for the time , which was not the last Appetite . But it cannot now be call'd his Will. True , because he has chang'd it , not because it is not last ; for herein ( say we ) consists the liberty of a voluntary Agent , that he can change his Will , and make that not to be last which once was last , that is , he hath power over his last Will , I mean over that which for the time was the last , and was as serious and resolv'd as the last . And for those Actions which he calls only Intentions and Inclinations , I see no reason why they should not be called Wills ; seeing 1. they are acts of the Will , for no application of the Soul to any thing , upon a reason can proceed from the inferiour Sensitive part , and therefore must either be acts of the Will , or be nothing at all . And 2ly . by Mr. Hobbe's own rule and definition of Will ; every one of those successive Appetites are Wills , because 'till another consequent Appetite followed , they were the last for the time , and therefore in their courses and turns all are Wills. Indeed after they are changed and unwilled again , I think no man desires they should be still called Wills , when they cease to be at all . Fourth Point . To say he is a free Agent , is all one to say , He hath made an end of Deliberation . Here I shall call Mr. Hobbs again to his own reflection , whether a man cannot be said to be free , before he hath made an end of Deliberation , rather than after ? As when I desire to have a friend dine with me , I meaning to ask him first whether he be ingaged , or resolv'd for any other company , do use these words ; Sir , are you free ? and if he answers me that he is free , I presently apprehend , that he is not resolv'd for any particular , but is still capable of a resolution to dine with me . Not , but that he may be said to be free too that hath made an end of Deliberation , but in another sence ; that is , he is free from all doubts that come by Deliberation . But the same may be free also before Deliberation is ended , but it is from particular determinations and resolutions , which is the freedom we defend , to do or not to do . And this seems to be a greater and more proper Freedom than the other ; for he that is free from Deliberation , acts indeed freely , but it is in that one way to which he is resolved . But he that is so free as to go any way , is more free than he that goes but freely in one way . Fifth Point . Liberty is the absence of all Impediments to Action , that are not contained in the nature and intrinsecal qualities of the Agent . If it will content Mr. Hobbs , That shall be allow'd to be one sence of the word : but if I may have leave to do but what he desires I should do , reflect , I find another sence , and the very same which is denied by him , A Liberty from Necessity . As when a Father recommends a Wife to his Son , the Son hath , no doubt , liberty to take that Wife in Mr. Hobbs his sence . And yet if the same Son should desire his Father to give him his liberty , the Father would presently apprehend , that he desired somewhat that he had not given him , that is , leave as well to refuse her if he saw cause , as to take her ; he would not cavil with him , and say , You have the liberty in that you are ty'd to her : but if he means to give him his liberty , his meaning also will be to absolve him of the necessity to take her . By this we see , that no advantage is gotten to Mr. Hobbs by reflection , which shews a Liberty from Necessity reflected also . Sixth Point is an argument to prove , That all Actions are necessitated , because they have necessary Causes . I deny the Consequence . For when he sayes , That all Actions have their necessary Causes , his meaning is ( if his meaning agree with the reason he gives of it , ) That it is necessary they have Causes , because ( saith he ) nothing can have beginning from it● self . Now can any one imagine , that a reflecting man should think this a good consequence ? Nothing can have beginning from it self , and therefore every thing is necessitated : that because an Effect must necessarily be produced by some Cause , that therefore the Cause did necessarily produce that Effect . For , good Sir , reflect again , and bethink your self , That as some Effects cannot be produced but by a concurrence of many Causes together , every one of these is necessary to the producing of the Effect , and yet not any one of these doth necessitate the Effect ; but rather it is necessary that nothing should be effected , if that cause be single and alone . Seventh Point is another argument to prove , That voluntary actions are necessitated , because they have sufficient Causes , and all sufficient Causes are necessary . That all sufficient Causes are necessary , [ sufficient ] may have a double meaning : either when there is sufficient virtue and aptness in the things to produce the Effect , if they were us'd and imployed by the Agent ; or else when the Agent also actually imployes them to that purpose 'till the work be produc'd . Take [ sufficient ] in this latter sence , and all men will confess , that the Effect will follow necessarily . But the Power , which the Will is said to have over sufficient Causes , is understood of such onely as are sufficient in the first sence , ( i.e. ) such as have aptness in them to produce the Effect , when they are used ; which is a sence both common and reasonable : As I have sufficient to pay all my Debts , I have sufficient to defray the charges of a years travel ; and yet neither pay a Penny , nor stir a foot . Eighth Point charges the Definition of a Free Agent that is given by others , with Nonsense and Contradiction ; viz. That when all things needful to produce the Effect be present , can nevertheless not produce it . For the Nonsense let it lie between us a while , 'till the matter be examined a little , and then let them take it that have most right to it . If there be any Nonsense in the Definition , it must be either in the meaning of them that use it , or in the words they use to express their meaning . When they speak of all things needful to produce the Effect ▪ their meaning is well known to be of all except the Agent 's Will ▪ or if it were not known to Mr. Hobbs , it might and ought to have been from the very words of the Definition , which plainly suppose the Will of the Agent to be yet undetermined . All things needful in this sense may well be , and yet nothing produc'd , because the Agent hath not yet resolv'd to use them . But if Mr. Hobbs will make them mean what they do not , he may very well make them speak what they should not . Now if their meaning imply no Contradiction or Nonsense , as certainly it doth not , then of necessity the words must , or it will not be difficult on whom to bestow the Nonsense . And for the words , ( to say there be all things needful , when yet the Agent is excepted , who is no less needful than any of the rest , ) let the common language of men , or as Mr. Hobbs is pleased to call it , let Reflexion be judge . As when a man hath a good seat for a House , all materials , workmen , and mony to defray the charges , he may , and commonly doth use to say , He hath all things requisite and needful to build a House , and then too when his Will is yet suspended , and unresolved whether to use them or not . Therefore your Self , or , if you will , Reflexion being judge , you have clapt the Nonsense upon your own head . But enough of the Points , let us see if we can mend our selves with the Reasons of them . REASONS . Wipe your Eyes , I beseech you , for never were there such Reasons seen before , such Mysteries discovered . For the first Point , yea for five of the eight Points , the Reasons are , That they have no Reasons . For he sayes they cannot be prov'd but by Reflexion : and in that he speaks but truth ; for 't is sure , no reason or proof can be made of the signification and use of Words , which is all that the first five Points have blest us with . But though he said true , in saying no Reasons could be given ; yet he said not well in promising Reasons , when he puts us off with Reflexions . Of the five first points himself confesses that no Reasons can be given ; and of the two next , if he will not confess so too , he shall be compelled . For they are Arguments , and contain in effect and substance Syllogisms , which are incapable of Reasons ; for who ever went about to give , or could give Reason of a whole Syllogism , if the Reasons presented belong to any part of the Syllogism , in which case only Reasons can be given ? Let him but say to which part of his Points his Reason belongs , and I will do him so much reason as to acknowledge it . In the mean time he stands upon his good Behaviour , whether these two points shall be allowed to have any more reason than the five former . And for the eighth and last point , which is all the hope that is left us to be a point of reason , his Reason is ; That as he said before , so now he sayes again ; and whatsoever Mr. Hobbs is pleased to say twice over , you may be assur'd is true . This is the summe of his Reasons , in the most sober and favourable construction I can make of them ; yet because under the title of the seventh Reason , some new matter is alledg'd , that was not spoken of before , I shall say something to that too . He layes down a Proposition more general than the question , That all Events never so casual have necessary Causes . If I should grant this , yet the voluntary Agent may be free , though the work which he produces be necessary . This I shall shew in the Instances which are brought to prove this Proposition . The first is of the Chance of a Die. I confess , that though it be very casual to the Caster , yet it doth necessarily come to pass upon such postures and motions of the Hand and Die , as happen'd to meet together at that time : yet I say too , that as to the Caster of the Die it was not necessary , because he had a double power over that Chance to have hinder'd it if he pleas'd ; for either he might not have thrown the Dice at all , or he might have so ordered the motion and posture of his hand that could have caused another Chance . Yea more ( desiring to avoid controversies , as much as Mr. Hobbs doth to make them ) I grant also , that there is a time when , and a respect wherein voluntary Agents are in the same condition with natural , and do act necessarily . For not onely a natural Agent solely and singly doth work his proper natural Effect necessarily , as the Fire necessarily heats ; but also when they are in conjunction together , as it were a corporation of Causes : whether that be casual , as the motions and posture of the hand , meeting with suitable postures with the Die and the Table , do produce necessarily a certain chance ; or whether it be artificial , as the Medicine compounded of several Drugs do necessarily produce a common Effect , beyond the vertue of their particular natures apart , which belongs to them onely in that conjunction and society of operation . So likewise a voluntary Agent , constantly resolv'd , and actually cooperating with other sufficient causes , doth as necessarily produce the Effect , as any natural Agent , working either alone , or in conjunction and society . So as in this case , if Mr. Hobbs seeks for an Adversary , I assure my self he will find none ; and if he thinks he hath found a Truth , 't is but such as was never lost . But when we affirm voluntary Agents to be free from necessity in acting , we look upon them in another state and condition ; for they act not like natural Agents , whose work immediately follows and flows from their Being , but have a progressive operation , that is before any thing : beside their Being , they deliberate , resolve , and fall to execution , and there is a time for all these allow'd . And though when they are come to that perfect state and progress , that they have pass'd the irrevocable resolv'd Will , they act as necessarily as natural Agents do : yet in their imperfect state , that is , from their first Deliberation to their last constant Resolution , they are absolutely free to do , or not to do . In which case alone we assert the liberty of voluntary Agents , against which nothing either is or can be prov'd by the instance of the chance of a Die. 2. And for the other instance of the Weather , That whatsoever comes to pass , rain , or not rain , it comes so to pass necessarily . I answer , first , that this is impertinent to the question , concerning the liberty of voluntary Agents , who have no operation or concurrence to the event of Weather . And secondly , the reason that is us'd to prove that necessary , is insufficient in many respects : as because it is necessary that one of the two must happen , either rain or no rain , therefore that which doth happen , comes to pass necessarily . My first reason is , because the truth of a Disjunctive Proposition , as this is , [ it must rain , or not rain , ] consists in disjunctione partium , and not in disjunctis partibus ; for when you resolve this Proposition into two Categoricks , [ it shall rain ] for one , and [ it shall not rain ] for another , which resolution the event will make , as the nature , so the truth of the Proposition is changed . For when the Event hath turned the Disjunctive Proposition into a Categorick , as that [ it rains , ] it cannot partake of that Necessity , which consisted onely in the Disjunctive . And to make this plain , I shall quit your Instance with another . Suppose I am confin'd to live within the walls of London , so as it is now necessary for me either to live in Cheap-side , or in some other part of the City ; yet am I not ty'd , by that confinement to London , to any one place : if I were ty'd and necessitated to any one place , it must be either to that place I chuse to live in , or to that I do not live in . The latter I hope no man will imagine can be necessary , to live where I do not ; and if the former were necessary , that is , to live where I do , viz. ( for Example ) in Cheap-side , then by vertue of that confinement to London , I might be punish'd if I had not liv'd in Cheap-side ; in which case a Jury out of Bethlem would not condemn me , for that were to make it all one to be necessitated to live in London , and to be necessitated to live in Cheap-side . And the reason why from the necessity of the Disjunction cannot be inferr'd a necessity to the parts of it separately , is clear by the Instance I have given . The necessity that is laid upon me is to the whole latitude and compass of London , which leaves me free to any part within that latitude . So the necessity that it shall rain or not rain , is onely to the compass and latitude that these two make , raining or not raining ; but within that latitude as to the one alone , or to the other , there is no necessity . If you say it is necessary for me to live in Cheap-side , because I live in no other part of the City ; so that it is necessary it should rain , because it doth not hold up : I answer , that this is a necessity of Consequence , which infers no necessity upon the Consequent , which is the Necessity in question ; that is , that my living in Cheap-side , or the raining to morrow , which are the Consequents , did come to pass by necessary Causes . And because I am afraid of Mr. Hobbs his bitter Sarcasm upon Distinctions , that to say , It is necessary necessitate consequentiae , but not consequentis , is all one to say , It is necessary Tityre , but not necessary tu patulae ; I will prevent it , by shewing the difference in an instance . If Mr. Hobbs would not have the Goose go bare-foot , it is necessary he should shoo it ; this no doubt but is a necessary consequence , and yet I suppose he will not think that the consequent is necessary : as that it is necessary he should shoo the Goose ; and , to say truth , there is no more necessity it should rain to morrow , than there is to shoo a Goose. 3. In this instance of the Weather there is another impertinency about Necessity : for whereas the question is , Whether all things come to pass necessarily ? that is , out of such necessary Causes , that it was not possible they should not come to pass ; the proof of this is taken from such a necessity as belongs onely to Propositions , not to Productions . Which necessity of Propositions consists onely in a necessary coherence of the parts together , so as the Enunciation is never false : as when the Genus is predicated of the Species , or the proper Accident of the Subject ; as , Homo est Animal , & Homo est visibilis , are Propositions necessarily true , because they are alwayes true , and nothing can happen that should make them false . So it is necessary , that it should rain or not rain to morrow , that is , it is a Proposition necessarily true , and cannot but be true ; but no intimation of the Necessity in question , which is the necessary production of these Events from necessary Causes . For if this Necessity were implyed in that Disjunction , then every necessary Proposition should consist of a necessary Effect , predicated of sufficient and necessary Causes , which every mean Logician knows to be false . And therefore , to use Mr. Hobbs his own words , because he is like to be best pleased with them , this is all one as to say , It is necessary Tityritè , Ergo it is necessary tupatulicé . After he hath given his Proofs , as he thinks , in full weight , like a free Chapman , he casts in one Argument over and above , taken from God's Decrees and Prescience . Because Mr. Hobbs himself doth not warrant this to be good Logick , I cannot in civility charge him for it ; but if his design be in that caution [ if I thought it good Logick ] to make us believe , that he made a conscience of keeping these Rules , I am sorry for his ill-luck that he chose to do it here ▪ for if he had but dipped his finger blindfold upon any other part of his Discourse , he might with more colour have accused himself than in this . For I pray , against what Rule of Logick doth he trespass , that useth what arguments he pleaseth ▪ But so apt is he to mistake in reprehending others , that h● cannot blame himself without an errour : yet for all this , though there be no want of Logick in using this argument , yet there is not much in the argument he uses . First in general , both for the Decree and Prescience together , they be Divine Actions that proceed from God's Attributes ; and the using of such for arguments of truth in other things , Mr. Hobbs himself in his Postscript confesseth to be the cause of those many Errours that men fall into : yet had he not the grace to forbear , but falls himself into the same condemnation he decreed to others , as if he would prove his Errour by his Fault . For what but a Fatal Necessity could make him to do that which with the same breath almost he condemns ? But to particulars . First , of the Decree , that it is frustrated by Liberty . 1. I answer , that to prove Necessity from God's Decrees ▪ is to prove obscurum per obscurius : for of all the points of Divinity , it is confessed by all that write of it , That nothing is more obscure than the nature and efficacy of Divine Decrees ▪ That is one Elenche and Fallacy in Logick . 2. Another is , That [ Decree ] is an equivocal word , and admits of diverse sences and constructions . As , for instance , God decrees to destroy some City : that it may be either Conditional , as if it repent not ; or Absolute , whether it repent or no. 2. That Absolute may be either as to the destruction of the City onely , and not to the means by which it is to be destroyed , or to both . For though God should decree absolutely to destroy the City , yet it is yet free that it be done either by the mutual dissensions of the Citizens , or the invasion of an Enemy ; either of which are a sufficient , neither a necessary meanes : Dissension is not necessary , because it may be by Invasion ; and Invasion is not , because it may be by Dissension . 3. It may be Absolute both to the thing and to the means . As for the purpose , that it may be by Dissension among the Citizens , yet that means may come to effect● it two wayes ; either upon foresight , that they would dissent of themselves , or by another Decree of God that they should dissent . 4. God may also decree that two wayes ▪ either by working upon the Will by a power irresistible , pe●motionem Physicam , as they call it ; or per Moralem , that is , such inducements and inclinations as will ducere , not trahere ; by either of which wayes God's Decree may be accomplished . This variety , partly in the Decrees , partly in the constructions that are made of them , which do all imply a different respect to Liberty , doth make the Argument from general words insufficient to conclude any thing , for dolus semper ver●atur in generalibus & aequivo●is . That 's another Fallacy in Logick . 3. Seeing Mr. Hobbs hides himself from his Adversary in this Thicket of acceptions , it will be necessary to beat every Bush for him , and by inductions of the several sorts of Decrees , to shew that Liberty threatens no destruction to any of them , or , to speak more aptly , needs fear none from them . For if they be inconsistent and mutually destructive , it is rather to be said , that the Decree of God should destroy the Liberty of man , than that the Liberty of man should destroy the Decreee of God. And that God's Decree hath no such operations upon man's Liberty , I shall instance in the most eminent of all his Decrees , in which all the world and their actions are concerned ; I mean that of Election and Reprobation , briefly carrying you through the several opinions and perswasions that several men have of them . 1. That Decree , by which men are said to be ordain'd to Salvation as Believers , and to Damnation as dying in impenitence , presupposing their Faith and Impenitence , can have no operation upon those actions that went before , before ( I mean ) in consideration , though not in time . 2. That Decree which is put in such an order , as makes it antecedent to mens actions , may preserve the liberty of their Wills divers wayes , and by name , per congruam vocationem , that is , by fitting them with such opportune and seasonable inducements , as will infallibly determine but not necessitate them . 3. That Decree that lies in a middle way , between the two forenamed , that in Election goes before , in Reprobation follows the actions ; acding to which opinion , for distinction , the Reprobate are called Praesciti , because they be looked upon as Sinners before they be reprobated ; and the Elect are more peculiarly called Praedestinati , because they are elected before , or without consideration of being Believers . This Decree , as to the Reprobates , can have no operation upon their actions , because it follows them . And as to the Elect , though it goes before their faith , yet , as was said before , it leaves it free to follow after . If Mr. Hobbs his Decree be any of these , or some others , ( for others there be ) let him wink and choose , or let him take the most rigid or peremptory of all , that of the Calvinists , that damns men before it makes them , and saves them before they have any thing to be saved ; which Decree above all others is most like to impose a Necessity upon humane actions ; yet here the argument will fail too . 1. Because there be a great many voluntary actions that come not under this Decree , as having no reference to life or death , from the Decrees whereof must that Necessity flow . As for Example , All indifferent actions , which have nothing of Morality , of Virtue , or Vice in them , which we shall never carry to Heaven or Hell with us . Now those Actions which work nothing towards the accomplishing of the Decree , can receive no Necessity from it : for if there be any Necessity from the Decree , upon humane Actions , it is because it cannot be accomplished without them . 2. Upon the same account , not onely indifferent but many moral Actions are free from the necessity of the Decree . For Example , all the good that a Reprobate doth ( for no doubt they do many things morally and substantially good , and abstain from many Evils , ) cannot be necessitated by the Decree of Reprobation ; for certainly a man may be damned without doing good . In llke manner all the evil that the Elect doth ( for who is there that sins not ? ) is also free from the Necessity his Decree can lay upon him , unless you will say it is necessary for him to sin , that he may be saved ; for he is under no other Decree , but that unto life and salvation . 3. Upon the same score I adde further , that the Decree layes no Necessity upon any one action a man doth ; for not onely Election cannot necessitate a man to sin , and Reprobation cannot necessitate a man to do good ; but also neither doth Election necessitate a man to do good , nor Reprobation evil , as to any particular good or evil : the reason is , because their Decrees may be brought to pass without them . As Judas , though he had not betray'd his Master , might have been hanged for some other sin ; for certainly Reprobation doth not necessitate a man to kill his Father or Mother , or to commit any other sin by name . So likewise St. Peter might have been saved , though he had not at that time when he did , made his confession , that Christ was the Son of God , because it had been sufficient to accomplish the Decree of Election to have believed in Christ at any other time : and if no individual action be necessary to the bringing of that to pass which God hath decreed , then whatsoever else may , the Decree cannot make it necessary . Now if the Decree gives no necessity to actions indifferent , nor to good actions on the Reprobate , nor to evil in the Elect , no , nor to any one particular to either of them ; what actions are there left , upon which the Decree can have any such operation ? Lastly , if the Decree may pass upon men without respect to their well or ill doing , as in the last nam'd Opinion ( which of all others is confess'd most likely to necessitate ) is supposed , then 't is evident there can be no Necessity to do well or ill in reference to the Decree , which hath no reference to well or ill doing . But you will say , to do this or that is necessary , though not to the Decree it self , yet to the execution of it . And I beseech you why so ? for may not a man as justly be hang'd without merit , as be condemn'd to be hang'd without it ? Howsoever it is ill done to lay that upon the Decree , which belongs to the execution of it , and 't is worse if it belongs to neither . But it may be Mr. Hobbs has another kind of Decree by himself , as he hath many other conceipts . If he hath , it may prove to be of that nature , when he shall vouchsafe to let us know it , that I shall deny the antecedent of his argument , That there is any such Decree ; but be it what it will , I shall the consequence , That therefore there is no liberty in humane actions : which I wonder he should let go upon his bare word , when he cannot but know , that thousands of Authors , which do not agree about the nature of the Decrees , do yet all agree in denying the consequence . Secondly , of Prescience , and argument taken from it . 1. Though it be an improper speech to say , that God foresees any thing , which must imply a prius and posterius in his actions , things incompatible with Eternity , that is present to all times ; yet because we cannot understand God's actions but by taking measure by our own , and future things are not seen by us but foreseen , I do allow Mr. Hobbs to say , That those things which are future to us , though not to God , are yet foreseen by him , provided , that use be not made of it , to argue from his foresight as an act that is past , upon which as a Cause must depend an Effect that must follow after it : for God's vision doth not prevent the thing seen , but accompany it ; for that 's the nature of every act , that it supposes the object in some kind of being , and so is meerly accidental to the nature of it , and can lay no necessity upon it . And though it be hard to comprehend , how God should now be said to be present with those things which are yet to come ; and yet on the other side it is as hard to apprehend how it can be otherwise , that God should be eternal , and yet not present with any part of time , as well future as past . When Mr. Hobbs shall teach us , how God can see that which is not to be seen , for that which is future is not , and therefore is not to be seen ; and to say they are to be seen in their Causes , is liable to the same difficulties , because the particular Causes of the thing are as well future as the thing it self : that is , if he can shew a better way than this , That those things are present to God which are future to us , I will let go my hold . In the mean time it shall serve for my first answer to the argument from God's Prescience , That because all vision supposes the thing seen to be , it is accidentall to it , and cannot necessitate it . 2. Admitting foresight in God as an act past , and the thing to follow , it must follow in the same condition it was foreseen , ( granting me that which I shall presently prove , That Cod can foresee contingent things : ) That which in the nature of it was contingent , cannot become necessary by being foreseen , for then he should not see as they are . But you will say , If God foresees them , it is necessary they should come to pass ; I say so too , but how ? in that quality that God foresaw them , that is , contingently ; for it 's as necessary , that those things that are produced of contingent Causes , should come to pass , as those that are produced of necessary , upon supposition of God's foresight : and it is no bull in that sense to say , That contingent things are necessary . For there is a double Necessity , one of Illation and Discourse , an other of Production and Operation . To affirm the latter of contingent things implies a contradiction , but not so the former ; that is , God's Prescience is a necessary argument to prove , because he cannot be mistaken , but not a necessary Cause to produce the Effect , of which onely necessity the question is moved . This argument therefore hath a term too many ; there is one Necessity in the Premises , another in the Conclusion , Praescientia Dei necessariò probat , non necessariò producit . 3. If Mr. H. shall deny that which I promised to prove , That God can foresee contingent Events , because they have no necessary Causes ; then he cannot also foresee what shall come to pass or not come to pass , upon the performance or not performance of a condition . But that God can foresee such things , I hope he will not deny ; yet because he is a liberal and fierce denyer , I shall put in him mind of one Instance . God told David that the men of Keilah would deliver him into Saul's hand , but with this tacite condition , If he stay'd among them . And for the consequence , I prove it thus : In this prediction and prevision of what the men of Keilah would do , there was no necessary Cause , as is plain , for that it did not bring to pass the Effect ; for the men of Keilah did not , though God foresaw it , deliver David into Saul's hand . And if God can foresee what would have been , but what was not , why may he not rather foresee any thing that shall be , though it may not have been , that is , any future contingent ? For if the reason why future contingents cannot be seen or foreseen , be , that they have no necessary Causes ; then conditional previsions and predictions of such things , as for failance of the condition come not to pass , could not be foreseen also , for that they have no necessary Causes , as appears by the event . These be all Mr. Hobbs his Arguments ; yet because he hath found another invention , a kind of Lieutenant-Argument , to which we are ever and anon remitted when arguments be out of the way , which he calls Reflection , and he may take it ill if it goes away unlooked on , it will be necessary to exchange a word or two about it also . OF REFLECTION . LET us see how well it deserves to stand in the Muster-roll of his Militia , and hath done such Facts for the subduing of those Monstrous Errors of our Ignorant Forefathers , as is pretended , and for which he dresses a particular Discourse . This you will easily perceive both by the Nature of it , and the Effects and Atchievments of it . 1. The Nature of it is ( as far as I can guess ) to consider what I my self think of that which another says and proves not : that is , I demand of him and would know , whether that be true which he affirms , he bids me , Go look . Now is that a way to teach me Knowledge , to send me to my self , that is , to one that is ignorant , to inform me ? And this is that Columbus of our New World of Philosophy , Reflection . This is that which ( by a Digression on purpose ) is celebrated to Posterity as an excellent new Engine , that will fetch Truth out of the very bottom of Democritus his Pit. And yet perhaps there 's more in it , than we are at the first sight able to apprehend , especially being blinded with our Old and Hereditary Errors . 2. Therefore he shews to the World two Noble Experiments of the vertue of it , which he hath found in himself ; two such Rarities , as could never be found in all the Books and Philosophers that ever you met with . One is , that thinking a thing to be good , and loving it , is all one . The other , that Eternity is not Nunc stans . These be the two rare Experiments which ( like a prudent Mountebank ) he hangs out for the better reputation and vending his Reflection . I must needs grant , that these be two admirable strange Effects of it . For in the first , Reflection makes him see that which is not ; and in the second , it makes him not see that which is . For First , that thinking a thing to be good , and loving it , is all one ; who ever saw such a sight before times ? who can believe that any thing should make Thinking and Loving all one ? For my part I am still in as much doubt as ever I was ; for no Reflection can prevail with me before these Reasons . 1. Because they proceed from several Faculties of the Soul ; one from the Intellectual , the other from the Effective part . It is not in the power of Reflection to persuade me that the same Water come out of two distinct Fountains . 2. Because nothing can go before it self ; and he tha● loves any thing because he hath reason to think it good , mus● of necessity first think it to be so . 3. If Thinking and Loving were all one , then to think a thing to be evil , and to love it , is all one too . For if the Acts themselves be not all one , the Object that is the Good cannot make them so . But he will say , If a man reflects , i. e. if he mark it , he that doth the one , doth the other too : and they go always together , and then why not all one ? 1. I will tell you why , and I find it by Reflection too ; that he that speaks doth always open his Mouth ; and yet they are not all one . The Needle also and the Thred go together , and yet not all one . They that first told us of Hippocentaures , certain Creatures that are half Men and half Beasts , I believe found them but by Reflection too . For the Barbarians , when they first saw Men upon the backs of Beasts so near together , thought them to be but one Creature . Just so , to make Loving and Thinking all one , because he sees them together , is one of Mr. Hobbs's Hippocentaures ; for he hath a Herd of them in this little Copse : As that Spontaneous and Voluntary are all one , that Deliberation and Alternate Hope and Fear are all one , that to make an end of Deliberation and to be Free is all one , that Sufficient and Necessary is all one , that to be necessarily of some Cause and to be necessitated is all one . In all these to believe them , or not to believe them , I hope will be all one too . 2. As they are not the same , though they go together ; so they cannot be the same , because they go not together . I mean necessarily . For first there may be thinking of a thing good without loving it , a thing too too well known , that men act contrary to their knowledge ; — Video meliora , probóque ; Deteriora sequor — Secondly , there may be a loving of that which they do not think and judge to be good , because Love many times embraces the good that Sensuality offers ; which is contrary to that good which serious thinking commends . And I make a question , whether every thing that loves , can think also and judge . For I know that an Ass loves Provender ; yet I would give somewhat to know what he thinks for all that ; which I would not if they were all one . But it may be I may wrong the poor Ass also to say he cannot think ; for there be some Philosophers so charitable to Beasts , as to say they can reason and discourse . Well , if I have wrong'd the Ass I will make him amends , and say , that if he can think , he can reflect too ; and if he can do that , he may be one of our new Philosophers , that shall find out many Truths that Aristotle never knew ; and particularly , shall see plainly that which never a Philosopher of them all did see : that to think a thing to be good , and to love it , is all one . For that is the first benefit of Reflection , to see that which is not . 2. The next is , not to see that which is , as that Nunc stans is nothing , or signifies nothing , of Eternity . If Mr. Hobbs his meaning be , that those words do not clearly and fully express what Eternity is , it is so vulgar a Truth , as well for all things that be Infinite , as this , and for all words that can be invented by Man , as well as these , that he needed not the help of this rare Invention to discover it . But if his meaning be , that by those Terms ( Nunc stans ) an imperfect knowledge of Eternity ( such as Infinite things are capable of ) cannot be known , namely , that which consists in denying and removing such Qualities and Affections from it , as belong to finite things ; he is very little beholden to his Reflection if it will not let him see so much ; which is all that any man can desire or hope to see of Infinite things . And that so much may be seen of Eternity by Nunc stans , I shall desire him to forbear reflecting upon himself , that is , upon one that deceives him , and reflect upon the meaning of the Terms that use them , when Eternity is said to be [ Nunc , ] it is to remove from it praeteritum & futurum , prius & posterius , which are parts of Time , that is finite ; therefore they say that all times are present with the Eternal at once . And it is likewise called Nunc stans , to remove from it a Succession or Motion of part after part , which belongs onely to Time , that is finite ; for that to which any thing is added must needs be finite ; though you adde a thousand thousand , and and after that ten thousand times as many more without stint , you can never make it Infinitum or Aeternum . And therefore to remove from Eternity these finite Conceptions , the Terms of Nunc stans are not unfitly us'd for that purpose : and for more knowledge of Eternity than that , it was never in any mans purpose to use them . If your Reflection would not let you see this , I am afraid that though it make you quick at seeing some things , that no body else can see ; yet in that otherwhile it takes away from you the sight of that which every body sees ; I am afraid ( I say ) it is not good for the eye-sight . I conclude therefore , ( without thinking of any other revenge for the Nonsense , and Contradiction , and the Tityres and Tu patulaes , and such gear as Mr. Hobbs is pleased to daub all those with that are not of his mind ) with this good counsel , that he give over his Reflection in time , lest instead of teaching him some new tricks in Philosophy , it make him at last play at Old , blind , &c. I should here make an end , but that I see Paper enough left , and leisure too to answer an Objection that I may seem lyable to : as , What do I sneaking into a Private Letter , which Mr. Hobbs wrote to his Obliging Lord ? Who besides is said , not to write Philosophy for those that like it not ; and therefore I ought not to trouble him that desires not to trouble me . To the first I answer , That though the Letter was once a Private one , yet I saw it not till it became a Publick , till they were Letters Patents for any bodies reading . And for the other , though it be reason not to trouble them that do not trouble us in some cases , as if Mr. Hobbs had vented his new Speculations upon making Faces and Distortions , turning and tossing the poor Figures up and down , and then guessing at some Reasons of them , which he merrily calls his Opticks ; I say , if Mr. Hobbs had spent his Time and Philosophy upon these onely , he had onely disturbed the Common-wealth of Images and Representations , which are nothing , and therefore ought not to have been disturbed by any in those his pleasant Speculations . But when ( against mine and every bodies Interest ) he labours to introduce a Necessity into all mens Actions , that they have no power to do more or less than they do , he takes away the nature of Vertues and Vices , and so their relation to Reward and Punishment ; and by consequence leaves no place for Hope or Fear : which must needs shake not onely the Foundation of all Religion , but even of Human Society . It is such a pernicious piece of Philosophy , as a Wise man would not , and a Fool should not be suffered to vent ; fitter indeed for a Beadle's , than a Scholar's , Whip ; and to him I leave him . I , Lictor , colliga manus . FINIS . Books printed for Will. Crook , at the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar . 1. THe Complete Vineyard , or an excellent way for planting of Vines in England ; and how to make Wine of their Grapes : by H. Hughs , price 2 s. 2. The Complete Measurer , or a new exact way of Mensuration : by Thomas Hammond , price 1 s. 3. Clarks Praxis Curiae Admiralitatis , Octavo , price 2 s. 4. A Description of Candia , with an account of the Siege and Surrender of it , Octavo , price 1 s. 5. The deaf and dumb mans Discourse : a Treatise of those born Deaf and Dumb. To which is added the Rationality of Beasts , particularly of the Elephant , shewing the wonderfull understanding of that Creature . Octavo , price 1 s. 6. The Life of Des Cartes . Octavo , price 1. s. 7. Fleckno's Epigrams of all sorts . Octavo , price 1 s. 8. Thomas à Kempis Christian Patern , English , Twenty fours , price 1 s. 9. Knowls Answ. to Fargeson of Justification , price 1 s. 6 d. 10. Hobb ' s Three Papers to the Royal Society , Quarto . 11. Sir H. Blunts Voyage into the Levant , Twelves , price 1 s. 12. Hobbs ' s Rosetum Geometricum , price 3 s. 13. Greek Testament . Octavo , price 3 s. 6 d. 14. Articles of Visitation for Norwich , price 2 d. 15 The Flower Garden , shewing how all sorts of Flowers are to be ordered , the time of Flowring , the taking them up , and of Planting them again , &c. Being all necessary observations relating to a Flower Garden , by the diligence and experience of W. Hughes . Twelves , price 1 s. 16. Bishop Corbets Elegant Poems . Twelves , price 1. s. 17. The court of Curiosity ; being the most Witty and Facetious Fortune Book that was ever published in English , with a most judicious Interpretation of all Dreams drawn from the Wisdom and Doctrine of the Antients ; also a Treatise of Physiognomy . All written in French , since Translated ( for the excellency of it into Spanish , Italian , High Dutch , Low Dutch , &c. now out of French ) into English . The second Edition , much improved and explained . In Twelves , price 2 s. 18. The White Devil , or , Vittoria Corombona , A Tragedy , Acted at the Theatre Royal. Quarto , price 1 s. 19. The old Troop , or , monsieur Raggou , A Comedy Acted at the Theatre Royall , Quarto , price 1 s. 20. Catalines Conspiracy , A Tragedy Acted at the Theatre Royall . Written by Ben. Johnson . Quarto , price 1 s. 21. Lux Mathematica . Quarto price 5 s. 22. Principia & problemata aliquot Geometrica ante desperata , nunc breviter explicata & demonstrata . Autho. Th. Hobbs . Quarto , price 2 s. 23. The American Physitian , shewing all the Vertues and Uses of all Roots , Herbs , Trees , Fruits , &c. in the English Plantation in America . By W. Hughes . Twelves , price 1 s. 24. Shafto's great Law of Nature , of Self-preservation , Examined and Vindicated against the Abuses in Mr. Hobbs's Leviathan . Twelves price 1 s. 25. Calliope's Cabinet opened and reviewed . Wherein all Gentlewomen of what Quality soever may know how to adorn themselves for Feasting , Funerals , &c. With a Dictionary to explain all the Terms in Heraldry . By J. Salter , price 8 d. 26. A new Collection of New Songs and Poems , written by the present Wits of the Age. Octavo , price 1 s. 6 d. 27. A Discourse of the Dukedom of Modena , the Native Country of Her Royal Highness the Dutchess of York . Quarto , price 6. 28. Brevis Demonstratio . The Truth and Excellency of the Christian Religion demonstrated by Reason . The second Edition , Twelves , price 10 d. 29. The Memoirs and rare Adventures of Henrietta Sylvia Moliete , translated out of French , Twelves , price 2 s. 30. Waltons Lives , of Dr. Donn , Sir Henry Wotton , Mr. Hooker , and Mr. Herbert , Octavo , price 3 s. 31. The Primitive Institution , shewing the use and antiquity of Catechizing . By L. Addison , D. D. Twelves , price 1 s. 6 d. 32. Nomenclatura , Octavo , Greek , Latine , and English , price 10 d. 33. Ogilbys Virgil , Octavo , with Cuts , price 9 s. Books printed for Will. Crook in the Year 1675. 1. Homers Odysses translated into English by T. Hobbs of Malmsbury , with a large Preface concerning the vertues of Heroick Poetry , price 4 s. 2. The third Volume of Mr. Hobbs his Works in Quarto , price 10 s. 3. The Golden Rule of Arithmetick made easie . By C. H. Octavo , price 3 d. 4. De Mirabilibus Pecci Carmen . By T. Hobbs , price 6 d. 5. Euterpe revived , being Epigrams on the most Eminent Persons now living , price 1 s. 7. Amorous Gallant , or Love in Fashion . A Comedy in Heroick Verse . By J. B. Gent. price 1 s. 7. The Mock Duellist , or the French Vallet . A Comedy acted at the Theatre Royal. Quarto price 1 s. 8. The grounds of Soveraignty and Greatness . In Quarto , price 6 d. 9. Gees Steps of Ascension unto God , or a Ladder to Heaven . Twenty fours . Books printed for Will. Crook in the year 1676. 1. Homers Iliads translated out of Greek into English. By T. Hobbs of Malmsbury . 2. The present State of the Jews , relating all their Customs and Practises now in use . The second Edition . By L. Addison ▪ D. D. Twelves . 3. Camera Regis . A short view of London , containing the Antiquity , Fame , Wall , River , Gates , Tower , Cathedral , Officers , Courts , Customs , Franchises , of that City . Octavo . 4. A Sermon preached at the Bishop of Chichesters first Visitation . By W. Howell , Minister at Fittleworth in Sussex . Quarto . 5. The potable Balsam of Life describ'd by D. P. Belon . Quarto . 6. The Historians Guide in two parts . 1. The Chronology of the World from the Creation to this time . 2. A Chronology of most principal Actions in England , from 1600 to 1675 , price 1 s. 7. A true Narrative of the great Solemnity of the Circumcision of Mustapha , Prince of Turkie , and Eldest Son of the present Emperor of the Turks . As also the Emperors eldest Daughters Marriage , as it was sent from the Secretary of the Turkie Company into England . FINIS .