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176: Theophraftus, in his Book, De igne, diftinguisheth between heat and fire. The first he confiders as a principle or cause, not that which appeareth to fenfe as a paffion or accident existing in a fubject, and which is in truth the effect of that unfeen principle. And it is remarkable, that he refers the treating of this invifible fire or heat, to the investigation of the firft caufes. Fire, the principle, is neither generated nor destroyed, is every where and always prefent (a); while its effects in different times and places fhew themselves more or lefs, and are very various, foft, and cherishing, or violent and destructive, terrible or agreeable, conveying good and evil, growth and decay, life and death, throughout the mundane system.

177. It is allowed by all, that the Greeks derived much of their philofophy from the Eastern nations. And Heraclitus is thought by fome to have drawn his principles from Orpheus, as Orpheus did from the Egyptians; or, as others write, he had been auditor of Hippafus a Pythagorean, who held the fame notion of fire, and might have derived it from Egypt by his mafter Pythagoras, who had travelled into Egypt, and been instructed by the fages of that nation. One of whofe tenets it was, that fire was the principle of all action; which is agreeable to the doctrine of the Stoics, that the whole of things is adminiftred by a fiery intellectual spirit. In the Afclepian Dialogue, we find this notion, that all parts of the world vegetate by a fine fubtil æther, which acts as an engine or inftrument, fubject to the will of the fupreme God.

178. As the Platonifts held intellect to be lodged in foul, and soul in æther (b); so it paffeth (b) 157.

(a) 43.

for

for a doctrine of Trifmegiftus in the Pimander, that mind is cloathed by foul, and foul by spirit. Therefore as the animal fpirit of man, being fubtil and luminous, is the immediate tegument of the human foul, or that wherein and whereby fhe acts; even fo the fpirit of the world, that active fiery æthereal fubftance of light, that permeates and animates the whole fyftem, is fuppofed to cloath the foul, which cloaths the mind of the universe.

179. The Magi likewife faid of God, that he "had light for his body and truth for his foul. And in the Chaldaic oracles, all things are fuppofed to be governed by a zue vosgov or intellectual fire. And in the fame oracles, the creative mind is. faid to be cloathed with fre, Εσσάμενος πυρὶ πῦρ, which oriental reduplication of the word fire, feems to imply the extreme purity and force thereof. Thus alfo in the Pfalms, Thou art clothed with light as with a garment. Where, the word rendered light might have been rendered fire, the Hebrew letters being the fame with those in the word which fignifies fire, all the difference being in the pointing, which is justly counted a late invention. That other fcripture fentence is remarkable: Who maketh his minifters a flaming fire; which might, perhaps, be rendered more agreeably to the context, as well as confiftently with the Hebrew, after this manner: Who maketh flaming fire his minifters; and the whole might run thus: Who maketh the winds his meffengers, and flaming fire his minifters.

180. A notion of fomething divine in fire, animating the whole world, and ordering its feveral parts, was a tenet of very general extent (a), (a) 156, 157, 163, 166, 167, 168, 170, 172, 173, 174, 175, 177, &

being embraced in the most diftant times and places, even among the Chinese themselves; who make tien, æther, or heaven, the fovereign principle, or caufe of all things, and teach that the celestial virtue, by them called li, when joined to corporeal fubftance, doth fashion, distinguish, and fpecificate all natural beings. This li of the Chinese seems to answer the forms of the Peripatetics. And both bear analogy to the foregoing philofophy of fire.

181. The heaven is fuppofed pregnant with virtues and forms, which conftitute and difcriminate the various fpecies of things. And we have more than once obferved, that, as the light, fire, or celeftial æther, being parted by refracting or reflecting bodies, produceth variety of colours even fo, that fame apparently uniform fubftance being parted and fecreted by the attracting and repelling powers of the divers fecretory ducts of plants and animals, that is, by natural chemistry, produceth or imparteth the various fpecific properties of natural bodies. Whence the taftes and odours and medicinal virtues fo various in vegetables.

182. The tien is confidered and adored by the learned Chinese, as living and intelligent æther, the Tug voegov of the Chaldæans and the Stoics. And the worship of things celeftial, the fun and ftars, among the eaftern nations less remote, was on account of their fiery nature, their heat and light, and the influence thereof. Upon thefe accounts, the fun was looked on by the Greek theologers as the fpirit of the world, and the power of the world. The cleanfing quality, the light and heat of fire are natural fymbols of purity, knowledge, and power, or, if I may fo fay, the things themfelves

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felves fo far as they are perceptible to our fenfes, or in the fame fenfe as motion is faid to be action. Accordingly, we find a religious regard was paid to fire, both by Greeks and Romans, and indeed by moft, if not all, the nations of the world.

183. The worship of Vesta at Rome was, in truth, the worship of fire.

Nec tu aliud Veftam quam vivam intellige flam

mam,

faith Ovid in his Fafti. And as in old Rome the eternal fire was religiously kept by virgins, fo in Greece, particularly at Delphi and Athens, it was kept by widows. It is well known that Vulcan or Fire was worshipped with great diftinction by the Egyptians. The Zabii or Sabeans are alfo known to have been worfhippers of fire. It appears too from the Chaldæan oracles, that fire was regarded as divine by the fages of that nation. And it is fuppofed that Ur of the Chaldæans was fo called from the Hebrew word fignifying fire, because fire was publickly worshipped in that city. That a religious worship was paid to fire by the ancient Perfians and their Magi, is attefted by all antiquity. And the fect of Perfees, or old Gentils, of whom there are confiderable remains at this day both in the Mogols country and in Perfia, doth testify the fame.

184. It doth not feem that their proftrations before the perpetual fires, preferved with great care in their Pyreia, or fire temples, were merely a civil refpect, as Dr. Hyde would have it thought. Although he brings good proof that they do not invoke the fire on their altars, or pray to it, or call it God and that they acknowledge a fupreme invifible deity, Civil refpects are paid to things

as

as related to civil power: but fuch relation doth not appear in the prefent cafe. It fhou'd feem therefore, that they worship God as present in the fire, which they worship or reverence, not ultimately or for it felf, but relatively to the fupreme being. Which it is not unlikely was elfewhere the cafe at firft; though the practice of men, especially of the vulgar, might in length of time degenerate from the original inftitution, and reft in the object of fenfe.

185. Doctor Hyde, in his hiftory of the religion of the ancient Perfians, would have it thought, that they borrowed the use and reverence of perpetual fires, from the Jewish practice prefcribed in the Levitical law, of keeping a perpetual fire burning on the altar. Whether that was the cafe or not, thus much one may venture to fay, it seems probable that whatever was the original of this cuftom among the Perfians, the like customs among the Greeks and Romans were derived from the fame fource.

186. It must be owned there are many paffages in holy fcripture (a), that would make one think, the fupreme being was in a peculiar manner present and manifeft in the element of fire. Not to infift that God is more than once faid to be a confuming fire, which might be understood in a metaphorical fenfe, the divine apparitions were by fire, in the bush, at mount Sinai, on the tabernacle, in the cloven tongues. God is represented in the infpired writings, as defcending in fire, as attended by fire, or with fire going before him. Celestial things, as angels, chariots, and fuch like phænomena are invested with fire, light, and fplendor. Ezekiel in his visions beheld (a) 179.

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