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To A Lady, who ask'd him to describe the pleafure of

Loving ber.
Each me, O love! in sweetest founds to tell,

What in my brealt 1 for Liberia feed."
Rapture, and bliss, and extacy, and joy,
Each Chloe hears from every love-fick boy,.
Give me expressions equal to my flame,
Worthy a passion of the brightert

, fame ;
Let all that's tender, all that's soft conspires,
To give a just description of my fire ;
Imaging all that's lovely in its kind,
To feaft

: the senses, or regale the mind ::
Then think, o think of something more divine !
Tis that I feel, that more than pleasure's mine.

Q. Reading of your papers, you have one question cette arning the fouls of good men departed, whom you fix im. mediately in heaven, wherein you differ from the most of the ancient fatbers, Origen, St. Hillary, Victorinus Maretys, Novatianus, and St. Augustin, and not to mention too many, I will only tell you what two of them say, viz.Lactantius in his oth book, chapter xxi. Omnes in una. communiq; custodia detinentur donec tempus adveaiae; quo maximus Judex meritorum faciat examen.. Chryfoftom, in bis 28th Homily upon the epiftle 10 the Hebrews, saith, That Abel bath not yet received the crown, nor Noah; and that they are set in a place, flaying for seas. And almost all the Greek fathers are of the fame opinion :. Now if you have a more dear knowledge of this matter, than those famous lamps of the catholick Church, it would be mighty fatisfa&tory to the learned, té hear your rea fons.

Youri, W. L. Å. Whereas you mention Novatianus in your cata. logue of fathers, we beg leave to exclude a person, who made fo great a breach in the primitive church, from such agrecable company as he is unworthy of. But not to derogate from the deferved repuration of many ancient fathers, from whom, (thoʼ with all the deference imaginable) we diffent, we can allow infallibility to none, but the divinely inspired authors

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can re

of the holy Scriptures. And we hope it is no unusual thing for very great men to be guilty of fome mistakes, discoverable by fach as are confefredly their inferiors in the common-wealth of learning. You plainly intimate, that some of the fathers were of our opinion : and therefore, if we diffent from some, we: yet agree with other famous lights of the catholick. church; and if the majority be on the other side, we yet humbly hope, that matters -of opinion are not to fubmit to the decision of a poll. If we, whose busibess it is to answer queftions, may.. be allow'd to propofe one ow felves, we would enquire, whether you believe from that text of Scripture in Gen. vi. The Jons of God fan the daughters of men, &c. That good angels, falling in love with women, begat giants and evil spirits. We may venture almost to say with St. Paul's assurance, we know that you believe it not,, and yet we are at a loss to tell

you
how

you, ject that very wild opinion, without acting contrary to the whole stream

of the primitive fathers, who , Aourishd in the four first ages of the Church. As you : seem- by quoting Ladantius and St. Chryfoftom, to lay the greateft. Atress upon those famous authors, so you . are very unhappy in pitching upon the former, who is generally agreed to have been guilty of many errors in divinitys as well as history. You say, it would be mighty satisfactory to have our reafons ;, but we thought no better reasons could be given in matters of divinity, than what are brought from the word of God, from whence, we produc'd a twofold instance. But as you seem to prefer the authority of the fathers to the force of argument, so we may: fuppofe, that you over-look'd the-one, while wholly: immers'd in the contemplation of the other.

Q. Utrum avgelus fit magis &c. Whether angels be: more agreeable to their Maker's image than man?

A. If we respect man as in a state of jonocence, we must ftill answer in the affirmative, since we may Say of him, while in his firft estate, thou hast made him a little lower than the angels. But as nothing

more confpicuously displays the divine image than moral excellencies, so that angels have wonderfully the advantage of fallen man, inasmuch as they are propos'd to us as patterns of obedience, as objects of imitation, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Q. I have ofter observed, that when our divines, and Sometimes others of the learned, have had occasion to explain fome difficult texts of Scripture, that when they could not make tolerable. sense of the present common translation, they have had recourse to the words in the original, which they have forcibly strained into a quite different sense to an{wer the purpose. If the common tranflation of the Scriptures in Engül be true, what occafion is there to make the original speak a 'contrary fenje? If it be not exactly true, how can we depend on't as the word of God ?

4. Either the passages, wherein divines have recourse to the original language, contain not matters absolutely necessary to salvation; or, the doctrines which they imply, and which some think erroneously translated, may be either clearly enforc'd, or clearly confuted, from plain un-controverted texts. ,

Q. Does the spirit of a man generate ?

A. Generation supposes parts, which are. wholly foreign to the nature of a spirit.

Q. Pray, Gentlemen, your opinion, whether the howl ing of a dog under the chamber of a fick person is any prognostick of the mortality of the patient's disease ? If so, how you imagine those creatures should be sensible of it ? The querist was induc'd to give you this trouble by some very particular observations.

Å Whether the dog's howling may be a fatal proga nostick' or no, we cannot determine, but 'tis probable, that out of a sense of sorrow, for the fickness or absence of his master, or the like, that creature may be. fo disturbed : An eminent instance whereof, may be found in Dr. Lee's nat. hift. of a dog, that, during bis master's illness, constantly attended him, and after the gentleman was expir’d, and his corps moved, the dog' every moment enter'd the room, making a mournful and whining noise, and profecuted his re

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fearches for several days, thro' all the rooms in the bouse, but in vain ; then he retir'd into his kennel, where, refusing all manner of fuftenance, he dy'd ; a greater sense of sorrow could not be hewn by any çreature whatever.

Q. Why have not women beards on their faces 3

A. 'Tis a defect of heat and humidity in that part: For by the want of beat the pores are close and con. tracted, and the excrescency of hairs hindred, and na: ture is thereby disposed to divert that moisture, which might generate hairs, another way.

Q. Why, at the sight of a woman with child.do.lions roar, and, more violent when a male-child ?

A. There are many strange reports given of the lion, as their wonderful favour to a pure virgin, their astonishment at a cock's crowing, &c. and all false ; . which gives us reason to fufpect the truth of this, nor will we offer an answer, till we are better fatisfy'd in the matter of fact...

Q. Why does not love remain after enjoyment. ?.

A. We must beg leave to deny the univerfality of your proposition, since we can give several exam

, ples, wherein love not only retains its firft impreflions, but is daily improv'd: If you ask why in some it is otherwise ? It is owing to the natural incon. ftancy of their minds. If again you enquire, why it often cools after fruition? It is owing to satiety.

Q. I am not satisfy'd in your anjwer to a queftion Lately fent to you, viz. That the pressure of air was the reason of liquids pafing through a crane, since it will not pass, except the end out of the vessel be as low as that within ?

A. We said, because the air being suck'd out of the crane, the liquids muft immediately follow, which fequence was continued by the preffure of air on that in the vessel, and by reason no air could intervene to impede the motion: But if the end out of the vessel be not so low as that within, then there is an intervention of air; fo your objection strengthens our argument,

Q. Suppole

.

Q. Suppose a man lives in a house 5 miles distant from any other house, pray whom may he call his neighbours ? 'There being a wager laid on what your mfwer will be

A. In a general sense all mankind are term'd neighbours, as is imply'd in the tenth Commandment ; Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, &c. in a particular sense, he is your next neighbour, who lives nearest to you, tho' at goo miles distance.

Q. Gentlemen, I must defore you to answer this que. Bion, which is, whether it is posible, and if possible, how one may cause an immediate love and affection in a lady by sending one letter, or coming into her company once ; for it is imposible ever to come again into her company, if I pretend to court her

A. We believe it possible, fince fome of us have known instances of such who have exchang'd hearts at the first glance of their eyes. But as to your se-cond question, how this may be effected ? 'If we are ignorant of the secret, most certainly we cannot impart it ; and if we know it, it cannot be expected we should impart ir, fince in a year it would bring in a better estate, than all our papers in 500 years. Q. I want to be assur’d which is the right-side of

4. Properly speaking, neither side is right or left, they being only customary terms of distinction.

0. Whether it is posible to make a perpetual move. ment ?

A. No, since how extenfive foever art may be, there would be à defect in matter.

Q. Gentlemen, I have fubfcribed for your paper fome time, which emboldens me to enter into the list of the querifts. I read in your Apollo, bearing date numb. 24. concerning the inevitable lor of marriage to a peculiar person, on whom they shall think fit to fix their affections ; now I lold on your side what you affert there : "but one favour i have to beg, I am young, and in some extraordinary way of business

, and once fixed my affe&tions or en person that might be my mate ; and one night, in my:

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