that he conftantly exclaim'd aloud against the Use of all venereal Actions, that he neglected the Advantages of Life, that be contemn'd all Daintinefs and Excefs in Eating, Drinking, and Apparel; and that he would often fay, that Bread and Water, when taken by those that wanted them, afforded the greatest Pleasure. And in his Epiftles, which Diogenes Laertius had the good Fortune to fee, he teftifies of bimfelf, that he was content to live on brown Bread and Water only: but fend me, fays he, a little of your Cyprian Cheefe, that I may feaft my felf deliciously, if I fhould have a Mind to do fo. Diocles reports of bis Difciples too, that they were fatisfy'd with the meanest and the poorest Fare: They fcarce, fays be, ever tafted of Wine; and Water was their chief Beverage. To confirm this, 'tis obferv'd, that this Abftemioufness of theirs was the Reason that they were the better able to undergo Hardships, when Demetrius befieg'd Athens: during which Siege, fays Plutarch in the Life of that Prince, the Philofopher Epicurus fupported thofe of his Sect, fharing with them daily a certain fmall Number of Beans. Cicero himself, tho' he was a profess'd Enemy to this Sect, yet fays in many Places, that the Epicureans were generally good Men, and that none of the Philofophers were iefs addicted to Vice: And Seneca too witnesses of Epicurus, that he was a Man eminently remarkable for his Temperance and Continence.

Thus liv'd Epicurus, whofe very Name nevertheless has for many Ages been us'd as a Proverb, to denote an atheistical voluptuous Wretch, addicted to all manner of Senfualities. Thus too liv'd his Followers, who nevertheless are generally deem'd to have been impious Libertines, and repreJented as a Herd of Swine, indulging themselves in Pleafure, and wallowing in all manner of Impurities. How groundless this Cenfure, how unmerited this Reproach, the Reader is left to judge, from the foregoing Teftimonies of the Antients, which, among many others that might have been produc'd, I have given in Defence of the Morals and Innocence of Life, both of Epicurus and his Followers.

I wish

I wish there were as much to be faid in Behalf of their Theology: Let me not however be thought to endeavour to patronize and defend their Impieties; if, in a few Words, I give the Opinion of Epicurus concerning the Deity: against whom, I own, be grievously offended in abfolutely denying a divine Providence, and in dethroning the Almighty from the Government of the World: But this Impiety of his proceeded from an Excess of Superftition: For he apprehended that the Eternal Happiness, which the Divine Effence enjoys, must be perplex'd and difturb'd with the Affairs of the lower World: nor could be comprehend how the most Perfect and Happy Being, that stands not in Need of any Thing in the Power of Man, could be pleas'd at their good, or offended at their wicked, Deeds. For be imagin'd, and taught, that Bufinefs and Cares, and Anger, and Joy, and Gratitude, were inconfiftent with perfect Happiness; and proceeded from Infirmity and Weakness, and from Fear and Indigence. But what juft Sentiments he had of the Deity we find in bis Epistle to Menaceus: God, fays he, is an immortal and ever blessed Being: and even common Reason teaches, that nothing can be afcrib'd to the Deity, that is repugnant either to Immortality or Beatitude: That there are Gods we know for certain; but yet they are not fuch as many believe them to be: He therefore is not impious, who denies the Gods of the Multitude; but who afcribes to the Gods the Opinions of the Multitude: For thofe Opinions are not Principles known by the Light of Nature; but meerly falfe Notions, that many conceive of the Gods. Nor will I omit what Epicurus immediately fubjoins: The Gods, fays be, punish the Wicked, and reward the Good: For, being, as they are, all Virtue and Goodness, they take Delight in whatever is virtuous, and like themselves. And in the Compendium of his Philofophy, which be writ to Herodotus, Speaking of the Meteors, we find the following Paffage : You ought not, fays he, to believe, that the Motion and Converfion of the Heavens, the Rifing and the Setting of the Planets, their Eclipfes, and the like, are the Labour and Work of any one, or effected by any other Cause, but only

by

by his Will and Command, who enjoys at once all Immortality and Beatitude.

Thus, whatever impious Notions Epicurus might once have entertain'd of the Deity, 'tis not unreasonable to believe, that he was at length convinc'd of his Errour in that Particular, and became, from an impious, a very pious Philofopher: He perfifted indeed to the last in his erroneous Doctrine concerning the humane Soul; which he beld to be corporeal, to confift of minute Corpufcles, and, alike with the Body, to be obnoxious to Mortality. In this, I own, he grievously err'd: but yet, methinks, bis Cenfurers might animadvert with lefẞ Severity against a poor Shipwreck'd Heathen; fince the Sadducees themselves, tho' they were brought up in the Bofom of the Law, ftruck on the fame Rock; confidering befides, that by the Confent even of the best of Chriftians, the Immortality of the Soul is an Ocean that can not be founded, nor the Danger avoided, without the immeasurable Plummet of Faith.

Let none be offended that I have ventur'd thus far in Defence of Epicurus, contrary to the commonly receiv'd Opinion of that Philofopher: It matters not much to our prefent Purpose, whether he recanted his Impieties or not; fince it can not be deny'd but that Lucretius ftrenuously afferts them, and labours with all his Force to inculcate bis Errours. Affertions of fuch a Nature ought not to paß uncontroul'd in fo corrupt an Age as ours; when even the very Arguments, by which Lucretius endeavours to make good bis Impieties, are reviv'd afresh; and alledg'd to juftifie new-broach'd Opinions, that visibly tend to the Eftablishment of Deifm, and confequently to the Subverfion of all reveal'd Religion: For which Reafon I have chiefly labour'd in the following Notes, to demonstrate the Weakneß and Invalidity of thofe Arguments, that are brought in Confirmation of Propofitions, that are repugnant to our holy Chriftian Faith.

Befides; Books that treat of Subjects that are naturally fo crabbed and obfcure, as are many of thofe of which Lucretius argues, can not be turn'd into our Language in fuch a manner, as, by a bare Tranflation only, to make them intelligible to a Reader meerly English, and that has no Knowledge of the Languages, in which the Originals were compos'd: For the Terms, tho' dark and difficult, must of Neceffity be retain'd; and yet they will not be understood by a great Number of English Readers: For Example; the Definition of the Void, which we find in the first Book of Lucretius, v. 334. is tranflated as follows:

Now I would fain know if thofe Words do not as much require to be explain'd to a Reader, who understands only the English Language, as to one who knows the Latine, the following Paffage of Lucretius, of which they are the Tranflation?

Locus eft intactus, inane, vacanfque.

And yet how many Sheets have been fill'd, and what Labour has been bestow'd, to explain the Meaning of them, by the Commentators on the Epicurean Philofophy, is notorious to all the Learned World. The Leafts of Epicurus, both mathematical and phyfical, the Homeomery of Anaxagoras, the Harmony of Ariftoxenus, are, till they are explain'd, no lefs difficult to understand: and ten thousand other Inftances of the like Nature, that the Reader will find in the following Tranflation, are abundantly fufficient to evince the Ufefulness, and even the Neceffity of thefe Notes: For, not to understand what we read is at beft but Lofs of Time: and to take Things in a wrong Senfe, or to gain an imperfect Notice of them, as they must neceffarily do, who understand by Halves, what they read, is always alike dangerous, and often proves of bad Confequence; especially,

when

when the weak and unwary amuse themselves in the Lecture of fuch Authours as treat of Subjects like those of which our Poet difputes: Such Readers, like Men who fail in unknown Seas, ought to be fhewn the Rocks and Shelvings; otherwise they are in great Danger of being loft: For they are ever the most subject to take the strongest Impreffions; and 'tis no eafy Task to eradicate from the Minds of the les intelligent Part of Mankind, and difpoffeß them of, thofe Opinions, which they have swallowed with greedy Delight, and been long accustomed to believe: Such an inveterate Credulity, like a Disease of long standing, and that bas gain'd a Head, is not easy to cure; and, what is yet worfe, we often find, that the stiffest Obstinacy attends the most erroneous Belief.

To apply what I have been saying to the Matter in Hand: There is Reason to fufpect, that some have not been wanting, and, I fear, are still to be found, who, not being capable of themselves to form a true Judgment of these Arguments of Lucretius, and for want of a right Difcernment, have imbib'd fome of his falfe Notions, and yielded too eafy an Affent to them: they have taken the Shadow for the Subftance of Reason; and thus have been wretchedly feduc'd into Errour. The following Notes are chiefly intended, not only to undeceive fuch Perfons; but also to prevent others from falling into the like Miftakes: and if they compass that Effect, I shall have no Reason to think my Labour mifimploy'd, nor to fear the Cenfure of the Pub

lick.

Having given this short Account of the Reasons that induc'd me to compofe thefe Annotations, it remains only to acquaint the Reader with the Helps I have had, and with the Method I have obferv'd in this Undertaking,

As to the first of thofe Points, the alphabetical Catalogue of the Names of the Authours cited in the Notes and Animadverfions, which the Reader will find in the fecond Volume, immediately before the Index, is a fufficient Indication that I have spar'd no Pains, nor wanted any Alfistance, that

C 2

could