WHEN we were made believe that Reflections upon Dr. B's Travels would quickly appear, somewhat that was considerable was both promised and ex­pected, and even Dr. B's friends appre­hended that in such a number of parti­culars, with which he had filled his Let­ters, some few might have been found that had been ill warranted: For no bo­dy could have imagined, that a Book [Page 6] which had been so much read, and so well received, should have been reflected on with so much malice, and with so little judgment, that after a Preface full of dull spite, there should not have been one single Article among Fourscore and Two that are pickt out, that should in the least shake the Credit, in which the Book and its Author are held.

Some have fancied that either Dr. B. or the Printers of his Book, have hired the Reflecter to this perfotmance, for raising the credit of those Letters of Travels, and for giving them the advantage of selling another Edition of them: Sure such Reflections cannot possibly have any other effect. If we had a party of men of our side, that had learned to put in practise the Modesty and other Morals of the Jesuits, one should have imagined that this Book might have been such an Imposture as was discovered about thirty years ago, among the Iesuits at Paris, who hearing of a severe book that was coming out against them from the Cabal of the Iansenists, imployed one of their own Fathers to write a book, which as it had the same Title, so seemed to pursue the same design; but was writ in so poor and contemptible a manner, that it [Page 7] could have no effect, but to render the party from which it was believed to come, ridiculous: and the Press wrought so hard, that this mock-book prevented the true one; so that upon its appear­ance, and its passing for that which was expected, the party was much deceived, till a little time laid open the Imposture; which had covered the Society with a just confusion, if their being accustomed to such practices had not rendred them insensible of the shame that the discovery brought upon them. So upon this occa­sion I staid a while to see if there might not be some foul play here, though our side has no reason to be so much as sus­pected of such Legerdemain. I confess I do not know what judgment to make of the Author, or his Translator: for as report, and the Title-Page, call him a Foreigner; so the gross errors, and the coarseness of the Stile are capable of no excuse but that of a Translator's being tied to his Author, though a liberty of changing such Phrases as, that his breath should fail, and the most polite Nation of the English, is practised by all that have a right notion of giving a true Translation. I do not know which is the most polite Nation of the English: I hope he does [Page 8] not mean the Irish; and I am sure what­ever that Nation is, he is not of it: His Helvetia, Sorbierius, and Amelottius Hous­sarus, shew that the Translator knows not how these Names ought to be writ in English. There are some very few touches that look like Wit, and that by consequence are so little of a thread with the whole, that I am apt to believe these have been drop't in by a once famous Poet, who, as is said, review'd it: and perhaps he had some Remnants in his Common-place▪book of Wit, that were not yet imployed by him; so as he found that this book wanted garnishing ex­treamly, he was so bountiful as to afford some; but that was done so sparingly, as not to exhaust his own stock, which is now low. Our Reflecter shews his good tast of Wit, by giving us that gross Clinch of Asinitas set against Patavinitas as due to Asinius Pollio, for reproaching Livy with the other: and this he seems to think a flower. His accusing of Plu­tarch of dullness, and want of Spirit, shews, that his taste is as correct con­cerning the Authors whom he despises, as concerning those whom he esteems: and Dr. B. has no reason to be troubled to see himself attack't by a man that had the [Page 9] confidence to disparage the greatest of all the Ancient Authors, in whose simplicity and seeming carelessness, there is a beauty that far exceeds all the painting of a laboured Stile. The other parts of the Preface shew how little he either un­derstands books or men: But as he seems not capable of correction, so he is too Inconsiderable to need that a Warning should be given to the World for pre­venting the mischief that his Pen may do it. This Essay is warning e­nough.

He warns us of his Choler against Dr. B. and thinks that he has used him se­verely, which injury, he says, ought to be redressed: But, I dare say, he cannot raise any choler in the Doctor, or make him complain, either of the injuries he does him, or of his severe usage of him: Such a Writer as he is, can do injuries to none but himself. He makes a fair pa­rallel between Learning and Vertue; and to shew us how well he knows the Histo­ry of the last Age, he gives us the Con­stable Momorancy for a pattern of great Vertue. In conclusion, he fancies Dr. B. is little concerned in the esteem that the World may have of his Vertue, so long as he maintains the Character of a Learned▪ [Page 10] Man; but I do not know in which of the Doctor's Actions or Writings he has discovered this: to be sure our Reflecter has found nothing like it in these Letters of his Travels: for though he pretends to say somewhat on those points which relate to Learning, yet he has not men­tioned any one thing that can in any manner lessen the opinion that any may have of the Doctor's Vertue: So that all this discourse is, besides the malice of it, absolutely impertinent.

He reckons up some who have writ of the Commonwealth of Venice, among whom he names Amelotius Houssarus, as the last, which shews how little he knows the Books writ concerning that State, since Mr. St. Didier, a man of another sort of force, as well as of greater pro­bity, who was Secretary to the Count of Avaux while he was Ambassador at Venice, has given an account of that Commonwealth, that is both more faith­ful and more exact than the other. I do not love to tell personal things that may be to a third man's prejudice; but since the Reflecter opposes his Houssarus to Dr. B. I must tell him, that de la Houssarie is too well known in France to build much on his Credit: the accidents of his Life [Page 11] have been too publick, and his Attempt on the Memory of Mr. Ablancourt, has been turned upon him in so vigorous and so severe a manner, that few things will pass upon his Authority. The Reflecter's calling an Extract drawn from a Re­cord, the Fable of the Monks of Bern, is a beauty of Stile peculiar to him: If he had proved, that Dr. B. had falsified the Record, he might justly have called it a Fable, and have also bestowed on the Doctor all the good words that he could invent. His Raillery concerning the Women is too coarse to deserve an answer. He censures the Dr. for setting Francis the 1st before Charles the 5th: This he thought so remarkable an Er­ror, that not contented with the Refle­ction that he bestows on it, he sets it in the Preface, as one of his most Con­spicuous Faults; though if such an Er­ror had been committed in a Letter, which does not require an exactness of Stile, it had been no great matter: But Dr. B. was speaking of the Wars of Millan; so to observe the Order of the History, he ought to have mention­ed Francis the 1st in the first place, because he had conquered Millan, and was in possession of it for some years [Page 12] before either Charles the 5th was chosen Emperor, or before he began to meddle in the matters of that Dutchy: So all his discourse of the Precedence due to the Emperor, is meer fooling here, where the Order of Time was only considered, without any regard to the Dignity of the Persons: And the Or­der in which the Doctor put the Three Religions that had their Exercises in the Church of the Concord at Man­heim, had no relation to their Dignity or Precedence, but meerly to the Order of Time, the Calvinists having their Exercise first, the Lutherans next, and the Papists last.

The Reflecter studies to infer from Dr. B's Promise, to write an ac­count of those things that he saw, which pleas'd him most: That there­fore the Misery which he observed in France, and with which he begins his Letters, was a thing that pleased him mightily. But the Dr. might be plea­sed with the Observation that he made, without delighting in the Misery which he saw: For to a man that loves a Legal Government, and a Religion free of Superstition, it is no small pleasure to be confirmed in that, by [Page 13] the Observation of the Effects that these things have upon Civil Society; which are never so sensibly felt, as when one sees the Effects that flow from a contrary Constitution of Go­vernment and Religion: so the Doctor might have had all the tenderness with which such objects ought to have mo­ved him, and yet be pleased to think of the happiness of other Nations and Churches. I dare say the Doctor is very well pleased to find such a book writ a­gainst him, without being pleased with the Impertinences that are in it; so he might find a real pleasure in observing the difference between England and France, and yet have all the Com­passions that became him for the Oppressions under which the French groan.

He finds matter of Censure in the Doctor's making a difference between the Publick Iustice of Geneva, and the Private; for that which he says relating to their Arsenal, is too much honoured by being mentioned, it being so exces­sively impertinent. The Publick Iustice is fully explained by the Doctor, by which he means the Iustice of the Go­vernment, and the Court of Iudicature, [Page 14] which may be highly commendable in a State, in which there may be too great a mixture of double dealing in private Transactions; and an Author that fancies there is a Contradiction in saying, that the Switzers are heavy witted, and yet conduct their mat­ters with much dexterity and address, has, it seems, studied Logick to good purpose, Wit flowing from a lively imagination, and Dexterity from a so­lidity of judgment: Those that have a small share of the one, may be that very defect be so much the more eminent in the other. And it seems the Reflecter's knowledge of Manu­scripts, is of a piece with his other Qualities, since he quarrels with Dr. B. for saying, that the Manuscripts in St. Mark's Library are Modern, and not above Five Hundred Years old. Those Manuscripts are the Works of the Old Greek Philosophers, and the Fathers; and nothing but an Ignorance equal to his, could except to the calling the Manuscripts of those Writers Modern, since they are not above Five Hundred Years old. But it seems he is so ig­norant as to think they lived but Five Hundred Years ago; and upon that [Page 15] supposition the Manuscripts cannot be Modern, if they are as Ancient as the Authors themselves are.

There is but one part of this Pre­face in which I am of the Reflecter's mind, which is, that he confesses he ex­pects no praise from the Work: and in that I dare answer for it, his hopes will not fail him. He adds, that there is no need of Ingenuity in it; and indeed he has writ like one that thought the small­est measure of it would have quite spoiled his performance: Therefore he has put in none of that mixture which would have been very foreign to his design. But if what he adds is true, that a man of a mean capacity was proper for it, then his, which is of the lowest Form, will scarce be allowed to rise up to the size of a mean capacity. He a­voids the saying any thing of Switzer­land, though if he had found matter for Reflections, he who to the reproach of his Countrey, is said to be a Swit­zer born, should have insisted most up­on matters that he may be supposed to know. But to supply that defect, he pretends that he is informed by a friend, that a Learned man of Zurich is about a Work to expose the Insipid [Page 16] Errors of the Doctor. This would make one think that he is a Protestant, though his Reflections shew the contrary. If he has had any correspondence at Zurich hitherto, he must expect that will soon fail him, that Canton being too severe to the Principles of their Religion, to endure such a rotten member long; and from what Canton soever the Doctor may apprehend some severity, certain­ly it cannot be from Zurich, of whom he has given so just and so high a Chara­cter, that he can look for no sharpness from any of that Body.

So far I have gone over our Refle­cter's Preface, and have found faults e­nough in my way, for so short a dis­course: But I go next to the Book it self. I am indeed ashamed to write a­gainst such an Author; and if it were not that I intended to discover by a fresh Instance, the Spirit of Impudence and Imposture that appears even in the most Inconsiderable things that pass through the hands of a certain sort of men, I would not have put Pen to Pa­per. For as I do not find that Dr. B's Reputation is concerned in any thing that is contained in these Reflections; [Page 17] so if it were, these Gentlemen know suf­ficiently well, that he is of Age, and can answer for himself.

I cannot easily imagine why the Re­flecter has set down the Abstract, which the Learned men of Leipsic gave of the Doctor's Travels, unless it was to let the World see how many matters were treated of in his Letters, to which the Reflecter has not a word to say: for he touches on a very small number of those which are mentioned in those Contents which he produces. The on­ly reason I can imagine, is, because it is an easier thing for the Reflecter to Copy than to Compose: so he found a shift to swell his Book Nine and Twenty Pages more by that means, which in a Book of One Hundred and Sixty Four Pages was no small Article. It was fit to make a show with a Book of some bigness, since bulk makes an im­pression on some people: yet these Gen­tlemen might have known by this time, that how Implicite soever the multitude may be on their side, yet on our side the World is not so tame, but that people will both read and consider, before they can be brought to be­lieve, especially a set of men who [Page 18] have entertained them with Imposture upon Imposture for some Years past. I confess, I believe few will be carried so far on this occasion, as to read and consider these Reflections, since the things appear so trivial at first view: and with relation to the Doctor's Travels, it is of no small credit to them, that he having adventured to publish so particular an account of many things so soon after he had seen them, there has not been the least attempt made to discover the falshood of any one thing in that Book. It was too much read in England, for them to pretend that they despised it: For though our Reflecter says, that presently upon its appearing in England, it was suppressed, we all know the contrary; and that no Book of that Nature has had in our time so great and so quick a Sale as it had. The chief matters in it were of that Nature, that if the Do­ctor had abused the World, it had been easie to have discovered it in an authentical manner. It is known, that his Book has been seen in the chief Cities of Italy now above a Twelve­month; and the Persons concerned, have had it in their power to unde­ceive [Page 19] the World. It is also no Secret, that any discovery that had been much to the Doctor's prejudice, would have been made a matter of no small me­rit; and the things that he has told us of those parts, were too sensible, and have made too great an impression on the Nation, to have been let alone so long, if the clear Evidence of Truth had not maintained the Book hitherto. But one would be tempted to think, that the Reflecter thought it was neces­sary to give it a new lustre, by ma­king so feeble and so unsuccessful an attempt upon it. It has gained Credit enough already, and wanted not this addition; but some men seem to lie under a Curse, and in every thing that they undertake to work counter to the true Interest of their Cause; which if it is bad of it self, it is certainly in as bad hands; and is managed as if its Ene­mies gave secret directions for every step that is made in it.

Dr. B. had given an account of that1. Art. famous Silver Shield at Lions, of Two and Twenty Pounds weight, that seemed to represent that famous Acti­on of Scipio, in restoring a fair Cap­tive [Page 20] to a Celtiberian Prince. Upon this our Author bestows. Three Reflecti­ons: First, He says, Mr. Spon, who has writ a Discourse concerning that piece of Plate, calls it but One and Twenty Pounds. Secondly, The Doctor ought to have called it not simply a Shield, but a Votive Shield, since o­therwise a Reader has great reason to doubt of it: for no man can use a Shield of that weight for the defence of his Body. And to beautifie this Re­flection, he cites some Authorities of the Ancients, to prove that they had such Votive Shields; and because a Print makes a deep Impression on weak Peo­ple, he gives us one. Now, the Reader must know that he cites not these from his own reading, but though in other places he dares not tell us out of what Modern Author he drew his Quotati­ons, yet here he is so honest as to tell us, that he gives his Authorities from Mr. Spon and Mr. Saumaise. Thirdly, He excepts to Dr. B's saying, that the bas reliefs of this Shield, seemed to re­present Scipio's generous Action, as if in this the Doctor claimed the Honour of this Conjecture; and because the word seems was doubting, our Author [Page 21] gives us one Citation out of Livy, three Pages long, containing an Account of Scipio's Action, and another of Mr. Spon's, and to all he gives us a Print of the Shield, and so here ends his first Refle­ction.

But if the Doctor writ down in his Table-book Two and Twenty for One and Twenty, here is no designed Error at least; and I have been told by those who have seen the great Print of that Shield, made by Mr. Mey, its owner, that it calls it at the bottom Two and Twenty Pounds weight. 2. The Do­ctor choosing to write True English, he could not call it a Votive Shield, because Votive is not English. All Rea­ders, except such as our Reflecter, must know, that it was a Shield in­tended for a Memorial in some Tem­ple, and could not be intended for Defence. And it is plain that Dr. B. knew that Mr. Spon had writ so learn­edly of it, that he thought fit only to name it, and so he did not stay to ex­plain it; for he does not seem to be so much in love with Copying as the Re­flecter is. 3. The Account that the Doctor gives of that which is repre­sented in it, plainly shews, that he ra­ther [Page 22] goes in to the Opinion of others, than that he pretends to give one of his own: And if our Reflecter is angry at the Doctor's reservedness, in not being positive, but saying only, it seems; he ought to know, that though such men as he is, are apt to determine very rea­dily, yet men of more Learning and Judgment bring themselves to an ha­bit of speaking of most matters with a due reserve in their Expressions. I ac­knowledge that Conjecture which Mr. Spon gives, seems so well grounded, that few things of that Nature are better. But since History is so defe­ctive, who knows but some other Ro­man General might in imitation of Sci­pio, have done somewhat like that in Gaule, the Memory of which is preser­ved in this Shield; and this might have fallen out in Provence, and so the Shield might have been found at Avignon? I do not say that this is true, but to be sure it is possible: and therefore since there is no Inscription to be seen on the Plate, it cannot be denied but that the Dr. writ with due caution, when he said, that it seemed to represent that Action. So if our Author is not more successful in his following Reflections [Page 23] than in this First, on which he bestows Ten Pages, I do not see that the Re­putation of the Doctor's Learning or Vertue is like to suffer much by the at­tempt he has made upon it.

He reflects on the Doctor for say­ing,2. Art. that this Shield is Invaluable; and yet for adding, that if there were an Inscription upon it, to put us beyond doubt, or conjecture, it were yet more Inestimable, as if here were an accumula­tion of Infinites, Invaluable, and yet more Inestimable.

But the most that this can amount to, is a carelesness of Stile, which in an E­pistolar work is thought to have a pe­culiar Grace; and if the Reflecter un­derstood the prices at which things of that nature go, he would know that the general Phrase concerning them, is, that they are Invaluable; For they having little of Intrinsick value, the price is set on them rather according to the Wealth and the Curiosity of the buyer, than by any certain Standard; so though the Value of this piece of Plate is such, that one does not know to what price it ought to be raised, yet after all, an Inscription would still [Page 24] carry this indeterminate Notion of its vast value much higher.

The Doctor gives us a Conjecture3. Art. upon an odd Expression in an Inscripti­on at Lions, with the modesty that be­came him in so doubtful a thing; and in this the Reflecter may differ from him as much as he thinks fit; but to be sure his Exposition is the most ridiculous thing that is possible: Quae cum Nimia, pia fuit: facta est Impia; who while she was great (not to dispute with him about Nimia) was pious, she became Im­pious. There is nothing here to knit the one to the other, or to imply, in oppo­sition to (Nimia) her Riches, that made her Pious, what it was that made Im­pious. But here our Author produces many Capitals, and some Inscriptions: This he thought was great, and might look like a man of Learning to those who do not know how easily these things are pick't up from second hand. Yet our Reflecter is willing to make a Christian of the man, founded upon this Reason, because the Inscription ends & sibi vivo ponendum curavit. This, ac­cording to what is common in many In­scriptions, is to be translated thus, and [Page 25] he ordered this (Tombstone) to be placed for himself during his Life-time. But our Author puts a weighty Scru­ple here: He cannot think that he was to have gone in alive to the Tomb; and that it was some Vault, to which he intended to retire as to a Cata­comb. I do not envy our Author the Glory of this Learned Conjecture: But he forgets that this was dedica­ted, D. M. that is, Diis Manibus. Now, though perhaps a sort of Christians of later date, would make no scruple to use Dedications of this Nature, yet that did not agree with the strictness of the Primitive Christians. As for his denying that the Inscription is vivo, and pretends, from Gruter, to say it is vivus, and from his own happy Invention, that it must be vivas; in this case I take leave to believe the Doctor, who saw it, and says, he co­pied it, better than Gruter, who saw it not, but had it sent him from an­other; or our Author, whose fruit­ful Imagination is not yet of Credit enough with me to ballance an Eye­witness.

[Page 26]The Doctor gave us a correction of4. Art. a Passage in Vegelius, which does not please our Reflecter, who assures us, that the Reading that the Doctor ex­plodes, instead of being common, was only in that Edition of Paris, when a certain Author writ, that was made in the year 1511. at which time I believe there were very few different Editions of that Author; but, though I do not love to reckon up Editions, yet all the Modern ones that I have seen, are ac­cording to that which is censured by the Doctor; so it seems the Paris E­dition, though it was at first singular, yet has carried it since in all the suc­ceeding Editions. But the Reflecter seems to have some advantage, since the common Cubits, according to Vi­truvius's measure, are only a Foot and an half, and therefore the reading of Three Cubits must be false, since the next Line says, that the Soldiers height was to be of Six Foot, or very near it, and by consequence, they could not be of Three Cubits height, which is but Four Foot and an half. I perceive our Author has, at least, read Dictio­naries, [Page 27] if he has not read good Au­thors; and, in particular, that most Learned and Ingenious Discourse of Dr. Cumberland's, concerning the An­cient measures. Now if he had exa­mined the different sorts of Cubits, ei­ther in that Noble Essay, or in other good Authors; or if he had sought for it in Greek or Latin Dictionaries, he would have found, that as the com­mon Cubit was indeed only a Foot and an half, so there was another Cu­bit that was Two Foot: and thus this Reflection sinks to the Ground, and here the Reflecter's Learning ends; For though a variety of Books could furnish him a few Quotations, yet where a little Judgment was to come in, and furnish him with matter, he runs so low, that my Corrections hereafter will be much shorter.

The Doctor had said, that the Baili­ages 5. Art. p. 35. of Bern were courted, perhaps, with as much Intrigue as was ever used among the Romans in the distribution of their Provinces; upon which the Refle­ction made, is, that the Romans spared no wicked Plots, and other Practices, [Page 28] for obtaining their Provinces; therefore he thinks it is extream ridiculous to compare the Practices in Bern to these. But if the Doctor had said, That the Ci­tizens of Bern had used as much Intrigue and Violence as the Romans did, the Re­flection had been just: yet there is no room for it, since the Doctor speaks on­ly of Intrigue, which signifies only refined practices, and the arts of management, which may appear as remarkable in small as in great matters.

Dr. B. had said, That some new Fishes6. Art. p. 37, appearing of late in the Lake of Gene­va, was imputed to divers Reasons, which he names: But the Reflecter tells us, That the Rusticks, which dwell near the Lake, are at a certain time of the year obliged to fling in certain Vessels full of sundry sorts of Fishes. Here indeed the Doctor appears extreamly to blame that he did not keep more Company with the Boors; and one would judge by our Author's breeding, and way of writing, that he had spent much of his time among them. But after all, unless these Boors are obliged to go to the neighbouring Lakes, and to bring Fish [Page 29] from them, it does not appear how the Fish of Lakes, at a considerable di­stance, should be brought into the Lake of Geneva.

Dr. B. had corrected a Vulgar Mi­stake,7. Art. p. 38. that represents the Rhasne, as running through the Lake unmixt, at which the Reflecter is very angry; and to confute the Doctor, he cites a long passage out of Mr. Spon, which says indeed, That at the entry of the Rhasne into the Lake, and at its is­sue out of it, the course of the Rhasne appears clearly; yet he plainly con­firms what the Doctor said, which is, that through almost the whole length of the Lake one cannot distinguish the Rhasne from the Lake, neither by its Motion nor its Colour, which is the very thing that the Doctor said, That it did not run through it unmixed, as some Travellers had fondly imagined; For through it imports from the one end of it to the other.

The Doctor had commended the real8 Art. [...] 4 [...]. Charity of those in Zurich, who took care of their Poor, without building [Page 30] Magnificent Palaces for them, which he represents as a Vanity that is too general­ly affected elsewhere. And here the Re­flecter flies out into great anger, and thinks that no good man can pardon such Malignity. Here is a common place on which he thought to shew his force; and I dare say the poor man has done his best; and so I leave him. But as I had enough to do to read what he writ on this Head, so I can assure him I will not venture on answering such stuff.

Dr. B gave us an account of some9. Art. p. 43. Lettters he saw at Zurich, from England, concerning the Disputes in the beginning of Queen Elizabeths Reign, relating to the Habits of the Clergy, in which it is said, by some of the Bishops, that Cran­mer and Ridley intended to procure an Act for abolishing the Habits; on which our Author bestows this Judicious Reflection, That Cranmer died before Queen Eliza­beth came to the Crown; as if those Let­ters that were writ Ten years after his death, might not have mentioned an In­tention which he had, though he died be­fore he could execute it.

[Page 31]Our Author finds fault with the Do­ctor's saying, That the Observation which he made on the various readings of that Verse in St. Iohn's Epistle, may may seem too Learned, as if this were his setting an high value on his own Learning. Yet since Books of Travels are writ for all sorts of Readers, it seemed necessary to make some excuse for setting down some Observations that belonged more properly to a Treatise of Divinity. But the malice of our Reflecter is too heavy, and his Raillery is too dull to stand on either of them.

Our Author has a long Discourse con­cerning12. Art. p. 45. that Passage, the meaning of which I do not understand. It is cer­tain from St. Ierome's Preface, that he restored it, having found it struck out in the Copies that the Arrians had vitiated; and therefore those Bibles which have his Prefaces, but have not that passage, must owe that defect only to the negli­gence of the Copiers, since, if they co­pied his Bible truly, they must have co­pied that passage, which, according to that Preface was certainly in it. All [Page 32] our Author's Reflection seems to amount to this, That St. Ierome was exact, that so he might discover the Cheat of the Arrians, but not that he had actually done it: and so he seems to conclude that the passage was not in his Bible. This is stuff worthy of our Author, and I leave him the honour of it.

The Doctor had said, Thus will I fi­nish 12. Art. p. 49. my Account of Zurich; and three or four lines after that, he ends his Letter in these words, And so▪ I will break off. Here comes an heavy Reflection on the Doctor's pride and haughtiness, and his maintaining of falsities; and that he neither believes nor desires that any o­ther should credit what he says, unless he twice repeat it. But if one asks, why so much wrath? It amounts all to this, that the Doctor first says, he will finish his Account of Zurich, and then, that he will put an end to his Letter. And this to him seemed so nauseous a Repetition, that it stirred up all this Choler in him. Certainly he is the tenderest stomached person that ever was. But I leave him to the Physitians; for such stuff as this shews how much he needs their help.

[Page 33]The Doctor dated his Letter from Zu­rich, 13 Art. p. 50. as he did the others from Millan, Florence, Rome and Nimegu [...]n, at which our Author is extream uneasie: For if you but tread hard near a sick man, you discompose him quite. He finds some passages in some of the Letters, that shew, that the Doctor had seen the places which are mentioned in his following Letters, when he wrote the former. And indeed if the Doctor had cast his Observations into so many Let­ters, and had made the Dates only at pleasure, I do not see any great mis­chief in it. He might also have writ the Letters in those places from which he dates them, and yet have added pas­sages that belonged to the things which occurred to him, in other places, and I see no great hurt in all this.

The Doctor had mentioned the Swit­zers 14. Art. p. 52▪ throwing off the Austrian and German Yoke; upon which our Refle­cter triumphs, as if the Doctor had represented the Switzers as oppressed at the same time by Two Nations. But though the Archdukes of Austria were [Page 34] their Immediate Lords, yet they were likewise Members of the German Em­pire; and the Switzers having not only shaken off the Tyranny of the Austri­ans, but having likewise separated them­selves from the German Empire, and formed themselves into a Free and In­dependent Commonwealth, the Doctor had not fully expressed that matter, if he had not made mention of the German Yoke, as well as of the Au­strian.

And thus I have examined all that is Reflected on in the Doctor's first Let­ter, and have found, that as every one of the Particulars is ill-grounded, so if every one of them were acknowledged to be well grounded, there is not one of them all that leaves the least Reflecti­on on the Doctor's Vertue and Sincerity; the uttermost to which they can amount being to discover some neglect in the Do­ctor's way of expressing himself. But e­ven in that I have made it clear, that the Doctor writ with more exactness than at first view, perhaps, every Reader might imagine.

[Page 35]Dr. B. had said, that the Remnants of15. Art. p. 57. St. Emerita's Veil, which were shewed him at Coire, that are pretended to have been saved out of the Fire, looked as if the burning had not been a Month old; at which the Reflecter laughs, as ve­ry ridiculous, since by this the Doctor seems to judge of Ashes, how long ago they were burnt: but the Doctor only speaks of the pieces of Linnen: And certainly it is no hard thing, by looking on a piece of Linnen-cloth, that is burnt all about the edges, to judge whether it seems fresh and lately burnt, or not. He concludes this Article, after some coarse Raillery, that he fears that it will be said, both of him and the Doctor, That too much Learning had made them both mad. I dare say every body will be of opinion, that he is not far from being mad. But unless he gives other Proofs than ap­pear in this Book, I am very confident no body will ascribe the cause of it to too much Learning.

The Doctor had mentioned the Arch­dukes16. Art. p. 59. of Inchspruck, upon which the Re­flecter runs division, according to his Ta­lent [Page 36] of Raillery, as if there were no such Archduke. One should have expected, that if the Reflecter knew any thing, it should have appeared in matters that re­late to Germany, where the Branches of the Great Families, though their Dignity is really no other than that of the Great Family from which they are derived, yet they carry their Title in common compellation from the Principality which falls to their share: So all the Branches of the Family Palatine, are known by the Titles of Zweyburg, Simmeren, Vil­den, &c. So the Dukes of Lunenburg are distinguished by the Titles of Cell and Hanover: So the present regnant Family of Austria was distinguished Sixty years ago by that of the Archduke of Grats and Leopold: This Emperor's Uncle was known by the distinction of the Archduke of Inchpruck, though the dignity in it self was that of Austria, with the distinction of Inchpruck.

The Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Articles, are such strains that I will not meddle with them. He who thinks it worth his while, to see to what a degree the stupidity of the Author [Page 37] can carry him, may consult the Refle­ctions themselves, and he will soon see, that what reason soever there may be to conclude the Reflecter mad, there is no reason to think that it flows from too much Learning.

Our Author cannot comprehend why20. Art. p. 62. the French concerned themselves with the passes of the Alps; and he thinks, that though the Venetians were concerned in it, yet the French had nothing to do with it. But if he does not know, that the French did interpose in that mat­ter, he is as Ignorant of the History of this Age, as he is of all other things: and if he does not apprehend how they were concerned in that matter, it is not to be wondered at, if a man of his size of Capacity should not understand how the Maximes of holding the ballance, of weakening an Enemy, and of a Supe­rior Power's being always ready to run to the aid of an Inferior, should have go­verned the Councils of France. Cer­tainly a man that cannot comprehend this, should meddle with somewhat else than Politicks.

[Page 38]The rest of the Reflections, on to the Thirtieth, which comprehend all the Doctor's Second Letter, are strains so worthy of their Author, that it were too great an abuse of the Reader's patience to examine them.

The Doctor tells us, that the Veneti­ans [...]1. Art. 80. are willing to keep up the quar­rels among the Nobility of the Con­quered Cities; and in opposition to this our Author very judiciously cites la Houssarie, to prove that the Venetians study to keep down all Factions among their own Nobility; as if the Nobles of Venice, and the Nobles of the Conquered Cities, were the same.

The Two and Thirtieth and Three and Thirtieth Articles are left to the Reader.

The Doctor had said, That the Arse­nal [...]. Art. 84. of Venice, was the only one that they had: whereas the Reflecter says, they have Two others in the City it self; but he is only at the pains to name that of St. Mark's Palace, which [Page 39] is indeed called the Little Arsenal, and is only a Repository of some few Arms, that is of no considerable moment; but since the Reflecter named Two in Venice, besides the great one, he should have told us where the other was.

The Five and Thirtieth and Six and Thirtieth Articles, are Remarks of so great Solidity, that I leave them to the Reader, who will see how weightily he contradicts the Doctor, particularly in the Six and Thirtieth.

The Doctor had told us, that an E­minent37. Art. p. 86. man at Venice said to him, That he did not think the Greeks believed Transubstantiation: but in opposition to this, the Reflecter tells us, that he saw a Letter of Olearius's, which asserts, that they do believe it. But what is this to the Doctor? What he says may be very true, though Olearius was of another mind: Nor is Olearius of such Authority in matters of this nature, that his Opinion must determine the Point: but the Reason is considerable that the Doctor's Author gave him, which was the want of Respect in the Greeks to [Page 40] the Sacrament, since their not adoring it seemed a great Evidence that they could not believe Transubstantiation. This Reason seems much more convincing than Olearius's authority.

The Eight and Thirtieth Article is left entire to the Reader, to judge of the Reflecter's strength from it.

The Doctor, after he had mentioned [...]9. Art. [...]. 89. that unequal match of one of the Cor­nara's, goes on to speak of the great­ness and pride of that Family in ge­neral. But the Reflecter, to give us a taste of his Sincerity, knits these Two together, as if the Pride of the Corna­ra's was by reason of the mothers birth, which plainly belongs to another matter. Besides that, the Doctor tells us, that Cornara Piscopia was none of the great Fa­milies of that Name.

The Doctor had shewed the Incon­veniences [...]0. Art. [...]. 90. of the Honour of the Doge of Venice, which were such, that some of the greatest Families declined it; and yet the Grandeur of it was such, that the greatest part of the best Families courted [Page 41] it extreamly: Upon which the Reflecter ac­cuses him, as having contradicted him­self: but it must be a degree of dullness or malice peculiar to him, that made him find a Contradiction between these Two Assertions, That the greatest part courted it, though some decli­ned it.

The Doctor had said, That when a41. Art. p. 91. Duke is chosen, all his Family must re­tire out of the Senate: But the Reflecter lays a judicious Note on this, and says, This is only true, with relation to the Brothers and Children. So if the Doctor meant the word Family, in that which is its natural sense, then here is no difference at all: but if Family is to be taken in the larger sense, for the whole Tribe, even thus supposing that Amelol is to be believed against the Doctor, amounts to no more, but that the Doctor did not distinguish the sense of the word Family Critically.

The Reflecter, without citing his Au­thor42. Art. p 93. for it, pretends, that no Dogess can be Crowned, and that the Inquisitors made a Decree against it. But when [Page 42] this is acknowledged to be true, it does not contradict that which the Doctor had said, and only proves, that he did not know all the Constitutions of that Re­publick.

The Three and Fortieth Article is left to the contempt of the Reader; and in the Four and Fortieth the Reflecter runs out into a commendation of the German Nation, in which I know no man that will contradict him. I am sure Dr. B. says nothing to the contra­ry, though all the World knows, that the general Character of the German Women, is, that they are good house wives, and that they do not amuse themselves with a general Conversation, as the French and English Women do; for which the Doctor is so far from cen­suring them, that he commends them for it.

The Doctor had shewed upon what [...]5. Art. [...]. 97. Reasons he judged that the Secular In­quisitors of Venice, was a great advan­tage to that Body, against which the Re­flecter argues. But as the Doctor gave his opinion, so it is free for the Reflecter [Page 43] to give his; and it is also free for the Reader to pass a judgment on both. The Reflecter is resolved to let the world see in so short an Essay, that he is equally unhappy in all the Subjects which he un­dertakes.

Any Reader, unless he is as dull as46. Art. p. 103. our Reflecter, will clearly perceive the difference that the Doctor puts between the Court of Inquisition, and the Secular Inquisitors of Venice, but nothing is clear to one whose Talent is a composition made of dulness and malice.

The Seven and Fortieth, Eight and Fortieth, and Nine and Fortieth Articles, are left to the Readers judgment.

The Doctor had said, speaking of50. Art. p. 108. Ferrara, that one might conclude it was extream poor, by the meaness of its Churches, and their want of Orna­ments; and that one might take the measure of the Wealth of any place in Italy from the Churches. Upon this the Reflecter finds a Contradiction between this and the Remark that the Doctor made on the poverty of Millan, not­withstanding [Page 44] of the vast Riches that appear in the Churches: But on the one hand, according to the Doctor's Observations, one may conclude where he sees poor Churches, that the Town is poor; yet it does not follow, that where the Churches are rich, the Town must be rich: On the contrary, it must be poor, in proportion to the excessive Wealth that is found in the Churches.

The Doctor had taken notice of the51. Art. p. 110. meanness of the Libraries of Italy, and yet the Reflecter finds that he menti­ons Four good ones; and this he thinks a Contradiction; but it is plain, the Doctor is speaking of the Libraries in the Monasteries, and Three or Four is so small an Exception, that in such a number they deserved not to be na­med: And though the Doctor menti­ons several Italians with much respect, as men of Learning, yet that does not contradict what he says in general of the decay of Learning among them, though there are some Exceptions to be made, and even these owe the Re­putation in which they are, perhaps to [Page 45] the Ignorance of those about them, at least in a great measure.

The Doctor mentions the Reflecti­on52. Art. p. 113. that Magliabecchi made on the Li­brary-Keeper of St. Laurence's at Flo­rence, which puts the Reflecter all in fire against the Doctor, as base, disin­genuous, and ingrateful; whereas the Doctor says nothing of himself, but only repeats what another had told him.

The Three and Fiftieth Article is not medled with, as a great many o­thers are passed over, for a Reason that is not too much to the advantage of the Reflecter, among whom the Four and Fiftieth Article is also to be rec­koned.

If any has a mind to see how well55. Art. p. 121. the Reflecter understands Politicks; he may be at the pains to read this Ar­ticle; for I dare say no body will be at the pains to prove against him, that an Elective Prince ought not to be Ab­solute. And for his Learned perfor­mance, in proving, that the Popedom [Page 46] ought not to be Hereditary, I dare say, that he is the first man who ever thought that it was a point that need­ed so much proof; for his Invention is so copious here, that he bestows six or seven Arguments making out that wise Apho­rism of his.

He quarrels with the Doctor for say­ing,56. Art. p. 125. That the Pope has an Insatia­ble Desire of heaping up Wealth; and thinks that the Doctor contradicts him­self, since he owns, that he has not enriched his Family, and that he has sent great Sums to support the War against the Turk. But Sixtus the Fifth laid up a vast Treasure, though he gave none of it to his Family; and why may not the present Pope be of the same Temper? and his laying out mo­ney may well consist with his laying up of Wealth besides.

Upon the Doctor's naming the va­cant57. Art. p. 127. Caps, the Reflecter tells us what all the Gazetts told us long ago, how these are now disposed of: And after such a Confutation, who can suppose that the Doctor can ever shew his face any more?

[Page 47]The Doctor told us of a Pasquin 58. Art. p. 128. that appeared upon Molinos's business, upon which the Reflecter passes this Censure, That he has found the same Pasquin in a Book Printed One Hundred and Forty Years ago. But does that shew, that it is impossible that the same Pasquin might have ap­peared again upon a New Occa­sion?

The Doctor had, from the fresh­ness59. Art. p. 129. of the Painting that is in the Catacombs of Naples, concluded, that the Paint could not have been done while the place was imployed for bu­rying. But the Reflecter cannot com­prehend, why the Painting, which the Doctor believes may be Six Hun­dred Years Old, may not be much Ancienter. Yet if he knew any thing of the Remains of Antiquity, he would know, that though there are many Pieces of Painting of Six Hun­dred Years Old, there are none of the time of the Ancient Romans. But the chief Reason that the Do­ctor gives, that the Painting could [Page 49] not have been done while Bodies were buried there, is, That the Steams, occasioned by the Corrupti­on of so many Bodies, must have dissolved both Plaister and Colours: This seems convincing; but our Re­flecter thought not fit to take notice of it. His Conjecture concerning the Letters which the Doctor saw on those Walls, shews how happy a Critick he is, and what great Disco­veries may be expected from him, if he would be at the pains to write upon Old Inscriptions; For a man that will make a Sentence that plain­ly ends in Greek, begin in Latin, is like to afford us many new Read­ings.

The Sixtieth and Sixty First Arti­cles, are left to the Reader's Cen­sure.

The Doctor's Inference from Pope62. Art. p. 134. Martin's Confirming the Council of Constance, seems well grounded; For if he was not Infallible, his Succes­sors, to this day, are not; and if he was, then from that Infallibility we [Page 49] must conclude, That the Confirma­tion which condemns the Infallibility, is likewise an Infallible Decision: But our Reflecter, after a little heavy Raillery, in which he is always unhappy, thinks to turn the matter thus, Either Pope Martin was Fal­lible or Infallible; if Fallible, then the Decision is of no force; if In­fallible, then so were all his Prede­cessors. But though the Pope was Fallible, the Decision is strong a­gainst that See, and against his Suc­cessors, though it does not make the Decision Infallible, by Vertue of any Authority that he could give it. So that this makes clear­ly against the Pretensions of that See.

The Sixty Third Article is very material. The Reflecter tells us, that the person whom the Doctor calls the Pope's Steward, was his Major Domo. Now when he gives us a more proper English word for Major Domo than Stew­ard, he may censure the Doctor as de­fective in our Tongue.

[Page 50]The Sixty Fourth Article pretendsP. 136. to find a Contradiction between the Doctor's calling the Pope's Govern­ment severe, and his commending the Regularity that is now at Rome, as if Vice could not be punished, and the Subjects be oppressed at the same time.

The Sixty Fifth Article is left to the Reader, so is the Sixty Sixth; for they are Strains so well becoming our Reflecter, that I confess I can say no­thing to them.

The Sixty Seventh is pretended toP. 139. be a Contradiction to what the Do­ctor had said of the Queen of Swe­den, as having the best Court of Strangers in Rome; and yet he says of the Dutchess of Bracciano, that the best Assembly of Strangers that is to be found in any of the Palaces of the Italians, is in her Court. Now except the Reflecter can prove, that the Queen of Sweden is an Italian, here is no Contradiction; for it is plain, that the Doctor means, that [Page 51] the Queen of Sweden's Court is the best Assembly of Strangers that is in Rome; and that the Dutchess of Bracciano's is the best of all the As­semblies that is to be found in a­ny of the Palaces of the Italians in Rome.

The Sixty Eighth, Sixty Ninth, and Seventieth Articles, are again left to the Reader's Censure; only in the Seventieth Article an Error of the Press, Places being by all ap­pearance, instead of Palaces, seem­ed to give him some small Co­lour for fixing a little Censure, though even without that Corre­ction, the sense will appear clear e­nough.

Our Reflecter doubts if Cannon was71. Art. p. 147. brought before Morat; by which he shews how well he knows the Hi­story of Gunpowder and Cannon, since he does not think they were found out in the end of the Fifteenth Century.

[Page 52]The Seventy Second Article is a worthy one, I mean, worthy of the Reflecter.

The Reflecter laughs at the Do­ctor73. Art. p. 149. for telling the World, That the Lutherans pay no sort of Re­ligious Respect to the Images that they have in their Churches, as if this was so well known, that it was needless to tell it. But though the Doctrine of the Lutherans, in that point, is well known, yet it was not impertinent to inform the World, that the people followed that point of their Doctrine, since we know, that in the Fifth Century, the Wor­ship of Images was as much dis­owned as it can be by the Luthe­rans; and yet we see, that in Gre­gory the Great's time, the People in many places began to worship them.

The Doctor describing Spire, tells74. Art. p. 149. us, That one of the Prebendaries was, according to the German Cu­stom, a man of greater Quality [Page 53] than Learning; Upon which the Reflecter falls on him in great wrath, as if he had reproached the Ger­man Nation for want of Learn­ing; and with an equal measure of Ignorance and Impudence, he spends several Pages in refuting this Calumny. But the Doctor left no Reproach on that Great Nation; he reflects only on the Constituti­on of their Chapters in all the great Sees of Germany, in which, Birth is the most necessary and in­dispensable of all other Qualifica­tions.

The Doctor is most solidly con­futed in the Seventy Fifth▪ Arti­cle.

The Doctor had said, That the76. Art. p. 155▪ Elector Palatine was as Absolute as any Prince of the Empire; Upon which the Reflecter labours to prove, that other Princes are as Absolute as he is; but this does not con­tradict the Doctor, unless he proves, that some other Princes are mo [...]e Absolute; for that is all that the Do­ctor▪ [Page 54] denies. Besides, many Princes of the Empire are bound to go­vern their Countries by the Assem­bly of the States, to which the Ele­ctor Palatine is not subject.

The Reflecter does not believe77. Art. p. 157. that the Elector Palatine is design­ed in the Publick Prayers their So­veraign; since, besides other sad stuff, he says, there is no word in the German Language that im­ports that. But the French have a Church in Heidelberg, where the Doctor might well have heard the Elector prayed for, and named Their Soveraign, which, as I am told, is the common form there.

For the Seventy Eighth and Se­venty Ninth Article, that relate to the Golden Bull, they are the on­ly Errors that I know in all the Doctor's Letters; for it is certain, that the Original of the Golden Bull in Latin, is in Francfurt. There is also a Great Parchment that contains a Translation of it into Dutch; and that is commonly shewed to the Ger­man [Page 55] Travellers. But men who are more curious, may also see the Origi­nal. So it seems the Doctor's Guide in Francfurt, knew not of any other Copy but that Great Parchment, which is in High Dutch: So that in this point the Dr. was not at pains enough to be rightly informed.

The Eightieth Article runs on the same mistake that appeared in the Se­venty Sixth, where the Dr. had not said, that the Elector Palatine was more Ab­solute, but only as Absolute as any Prince in Germany: And so this is not contra­dicted by his saying, that the Elector of Mentz is an Absolute Prince.

The Eighty First Article is another strain of the Reflecter's Malice. The Dr. found, having been in the Palaces of Four of the Electors, that there was much form, and a great deal of a-do to come within their Courts. But in contradiction to this, the Reflecter tells us of the Magnificence, and easie ac­cess that one finds in the Courts of Bran­denburg and Lunenburg: yet the Dr. not­withstanding this, might have made his [Page 56] Remark, though perhaps he had done better to have restricted it to these Courts which he saw.

And now we are come to the last,82. Art. p. 163. which is no small comfort, when one is engaged to deal with so much weakness and folly. The Reflecter quarrels with the Dr. for telling us, that the Medals found at Bon, were believed to be made about four or five hundred years ago; and he cannot fancy how that could be known. But in this the Dr. affirms no­thing himself; he only tells us what he had from others; and I do not see why this should offend the Reflecter, unless he was beforehand resolved to take eve­ry thing amiss that should come from the Dr.

The Conclusion has nothing in it that is good, but that it is short. The Refle­cter makes an excuse for the flatness of his book, which was no less than was needful, if he could have found a good one; but he comforts himself with this, That he had rather that Wit should be wanting to Truth, than Truth to Wit; but I can assure him, both are equally [Page 57] wanting here. And if he yeilds that there was Wit in the Doctor's book, I am sure he has not brought any one Ar­ticle against him, in which he has so much as pretended to shew any want of Truth. So that it must be confessed, that since he yeilds the Doctor Wit, Truth belongs also to him in as emi­nent a degree as it is wanting to the Re­flecter.