Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

OR,

Of the EXOTERIC and ESOTERIC

PHILOSOPHY;

THAT IS,

Of the External and Internal Doctrinė of the Ancients :

The one open and public, accommodated to popular prejudices and the RELIGIONS establish'd by Law; the other private and fecret, wherin, to the few capable and discrete, was taught the real TRUTH ftript of all disguises.

Χρεω δε σε παντα πυθεσθαι,

Η μεν αληθείης ευπειθε ατρεκες ητορ;
Η δε βροτων δοξας, των ουκ ετι πιςις αληθης.

PARMENIDES apud. D10G. LAERT. Lib. 9. Sect. 22.

LONDON, Printed in the YEAR 1720.

[ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

CLIDOPHORUS,

OR

Of the Exoteric and Efoteric Philofophy.

I.

O know the TRUTH is one thing, to tell it to others is another thing: and as all men profefs to admire the firft, fo few men practise the laft as they ought. At the fame time that TRUTH is own'd to be more valuable than wealth or honor, thefe are by most without hesitation preferr'd before it; which appears not onely by their eager applicati on to procure riches and titles, while they aban❤ don the study of TRUTH, or faintly purfue ita but alfo by the abject deference they fhamelessly pay to men of power, and the indifference or neglect they commonly fhow to men of Learning. E shall not scrupulously inquire into the causes of this proceding, which are various and multiform; but of all that can be afflign'd, INTEREST certainly is the most general and prevailing: for men being obferv'd to be naturally fond of TRUTH, tho,

thro

thro laziness or occupation, few are capable to acquire the poffeffion of it, fome cunning perfons thought they cou'd not better attain to Authority over the reft (which draws Riches after it of courfe) than by pretending to be masters of this fame TRUTH. Next they gave out that they cou'd impart it to others, without putting them to any labor, or diverting them from any bufinefs and as for a little expenfe, who wou'd grudge to give a price out of his tranfitory pelf for the invaluable jewel of Knowledge? or not think it equitable to beltow a moderate reward on men, that cou'd equally delight and benefit him? Nor did these crafty Empirics ftop here. They knew the falfity of facts, and the fallacy of reafonings, might at one time or other be detected by men of penetration. Wherfore, as the Devil is God's ape, they boafted of a fuperior and fupernatural knowledge, not fubject to the rules of Criticifm, nor a proper object of the Underftanding. Nay, they went a greater length, openly maintaining that it was lawful to ly for the public good; fo that the common people (faid they) being incapable of reflection, ought to be manag'd by guile, and to be deluded by agreable fables into obedience to their Governors. Thus MNEVIS, an Egyptian king, impos'd on his fubjects, by feigning an extraordinary communication with heaven. ZOROASTER fuccefsfully practis'd the fame art on the Bactrians and other neighboring nations. PYTHAGORAS, after hiding himself for fome time (as if he were dead) appear'd again at Crotona, preaching the joys and torments of another life. His difciple ZAMOLXIS vaunted having receiv'd divine Revelations in a cave, wherby he gain'd fuch authority, as to prescribe what laws he pleas'd to the rude Scythians. MINOS and EPIMENIDES in Crete, publish'd the con

ferences

« AnteriorContinuar »