Lemuel Adams.

HARTFORD.









C A T O's






LETTERS






VOL. III.






9












LONDON:

Printed for W. WILKINS, T. WOOD-
WARD, J.WALTHOE, and J.PEELE.

MDCCXXIV.




^.^








CAT




L E T T E




SIR,

S HALL bellow this P4-"
per in confidering what
Dr. Prideanx fays of Bren-
nus the Gnu!, his Expedi-
tion, Death, and Crime.
This Man, at the Head
of a great Number of his
Countrymen, fent Abroad
to feek new Habitations,
patting through nungary, lllyrlum, and Macedo-
nia, plundering, ravaging, and deHroying as
they went, at lalt invaded Greece, and " marched
1 on towards Ds'phos, to plunder the Temple
in that City of the vaft Riches which were
VOL. ill A a, there




4 Giro's LETTERS.

** there laid up. But he there met a wonder-
** ful Defeat : For on his approaching the
** Place, there happened a terrible Storm of
** Thunder, Lightning, and Hail, which de-
*' ftroyed great Numbers of his iMen ; and at
* 6 the fame Time there was as terrible an
*' Earthquake, which rending the Mountains
66 in Pieces, threw down whole Rocks upon
*' them, which overwhelmed them by Hun-
* c dreds at a Time ; by which the whole Army
46 being much difinayed, they were the folio w-
" ing Night feized with fiich a pannick Fear,
44 that every Man fuppofing him that was nexc
** to him to be a Grecian Enemy, they fell upon
** each other, (b that before there was DayLight
* c enough to make them fee the Miftake, one
** half of the Army had deftroyed the other, By
** all this the Greeks, who were now come to-
*' gether from all Parts to defend their Temple,
*' being much animated, fell furiouily on them;
*' and altho' now Acichorus was come up with
<c Brennus, yet both their Forces together could
*' not ftand the Affault ; but great Numbers of
** them were ilain, and great Numbers were
*' wounded ; and amongft theie laft was Brer?-
" mis himfelf, Vv'ho had received feveral
*' Wounds ; snd altho' none of them were

mortal, yet feeing all now loft, and the
16 whole Expedition, which he had been the

Author of, thus ended in a difmal Ruin, he

was fb confounded at the Mifcarriage, that
" he refblved not to out-live it : And therefore
" calling to him as many of the chief Leaders as

he-could get together amidit that calamitous
" Hurry ,he advifed them to Hay all theWound-

"



LETTERS.



cc

(C









"



ed, and with the Remainder make as good a
Retreat backward as they could ; and then
having guzzled down as much Wine as he
could drink, he run himfelf through and
died - The reft being to march thro' Ene-
my's Countries, they were as they pafled fc>

Cc diitrefTed for Want of Provifions, which
they were everywhere to fight for, foincom-
moded at Night by lodging moftly upon the
Ground in a Winter Seafbn, and in fuch a
Manner harraffed and fallen upon wherc-
ever they came by the People of thole-
Countries through which they pafled, that
what with Famine, Cold, and Sicknefs, and
what with the Sword of their Enemies, they
were all cut off and deilroyed : So that of
the numerous Company which did firft fes
out on this Expedition, net lb much as one

" Man efcaped the calamitous Fate of miferably

(I r>

perilhing in ir.

This is the Story of Ercnnuf, which I have
told in the Doctor's own Words : Now follows
his Reflection upon it : " Thus God was pleaied
in a very extraordinaryManner toexecutehis
Vengeance upon thofe facrilegious Wretches,
for the Sake of Religion in general, hov/'
falfe and idolatrous foever that particular
Religion was, for which that Temple at
Delphos was erected. For, to believe a Re-
ligion true, and offer facrilegious Violences
to the Places confecrated to the Devotions of
that Religion, is abfblute Impiety, and aSia
againft all Religion ; and there are many
In (lances of very fignal Judgments with which
" God hath punifhed it even amongfl the won't

A of



's LETTERS.

1 of Heathens and Infidels; and much more may
they expect it, who having the Truth of
God eftablidied among them, (hall become
** guilty hereof.

If this unhappy End of Brennus and his Fol-
lowers was a Judgment, as doubtlefs this reve-
rend and worthy Author thinks, I cannot fee
why an Intention to pillage a ftupid Idol cf his
ufelefs Wealth and devout Bawbles, given and
tiled for the Ends of Idolatry and "Delufion,
foould be reckoned the Caufe of it. I would
be glad to know how any Part of Mankind
would have differed in their Religion or For-
tune, tho' the Shrine and Temple of Apdh had
been ftript of all their fiiperftjtious and ill-got
Finery j> or, How God Almighty came to fhew-
him (elf thus miraculouily the Guardian of art
Idol^ let up to^ rival him, and to deceive the
World by uttering oraculous Lies? or, How
the taking away of thofe Riches that were ac-
quired by belying God and deceiving Man,
and employed for the Ornament and Support of
a blafphemous Impofture, could be called Sa-
crilege or robbing of God, who was really
robbed by an Idol of that only which he can be
robbed of, divine Worfhip and Homage?

But becaufe People are apt to be mifguided
and terrified by Words, efpecially by fuch as
are applied to Devotion and holy Things, I
(hall here bettow Tome Reflections upon the
awful Word Sacrilege, and (hew that it is but
ill underftood.

Sacrilege, we are told by fome, fignifies the
robbing^or dealing from God any Thing which
is peculiarly his. Now nothing can be ftolen

from



LETTERS. 7

from God, nor can any Thing be concealed
from him. Every Thing being his, ft is as
much his in the Hands of one Man as in the
Hands of another ; for, let who will have the
life of it, the Property cannot be altered : God
who has all Things, can never be put out of
the PofTeflion of any Thing ; and as nothing
can be taken from him, fb neither can any
Thing be given to him, becaufe all the Worlci
and every Thing in it is already his ; and it is
abfurd to imagine that any Form of Words, or
Change of Place or Pofition, can enlarge or
leflen his Property in any Thing. All that we
have, we have from him ; and to return him
his own Gifts back again, which we want and
he does not, is no Compliment, nor any Part of
Religion or of Renfbn : It is (hewing our felves
wifer than him, in letting apart for his life
thole Things which he has gracioufly created
and fet apart for ours. Can we feed him ? or
can we cloth, adorn or enrich him? Can we
build him a City to dwell in, or furnifh him with
Guards for the Security of his Perfon ?

Sacrliegp therefore is either the robbing oF
Men, or no Robbery at all. A*. a xi-^^-:^
is greater or lefs, according to the Meafure of
Mifchief done. To ^rcb a poor Man of his
Loaf, is- a greater Crime, in foro Confcienti**
than to rob a rich Man of an Ox : To rob a
Man of a final! Part of a Thing that is neceflary"
to him, is a greater Crime, than robbing him
of a great Superfluity ; and if I rob a Man of
a Thing that will do him Hurt, I hope I do
him lefs an Injury, than if 1 rob'd him of a
Thing which does him Good. But if, I take a

* '

4



S CATQ's LETTERS.

Thmg which no Man has a Right to, I my felf
have a Right to it, by pofletflng it.

To apply all this to the Bufmefs of Sacrilege;

a Man takes away any of the Books, Veft-
ments, or Utenfils, made ufe of in Devotion,
he only robs the Congregation, who muft buy
more ; and many being more able than one to
bear this Lofs, the Offence, as to its Effects,
is lefs than if he robbed but one Man. But if
he takes away from a Heathen Temple, Plate,
or hidden^ Treafure, laid up there, but not
ufed ; he indeed does an A&ion that he has no
Right to do, but an A-5Hon that however does
good to the World, by running into life, that
-which was of none, or of bad Ufe.

>ad Treafure, firft drawn from the People
in fuperflitious Offerings, and then laid up in a
Heathen Temple, and kept and ufed for im*
pious and idolatrous Ends, but never to return?
again into the World, for the neceifary Purposes
of Life and Commerce, is the Plunder of Man-
kind ; and the worft of all Plunders, becaufe it
never circulates ; and People are greatly the
\vorfe for it, in Refpeft both of Spnl *nd BoJ/,
K..I. - - -" ^c ine better. It is firft taking
trotri them, and afterwards denying them, the
great and chief Means of Life and Conveni-
ence. He therefore, whoever he be, that takes

from thence, let him take it in what manner
he will, does a better and more publick Thine,
tnan he who keeps it there.

No Man can be robbed of a Thing in which
he has no Property. Of this fort was A*M*
Wealth ; and no body was robbed in taking it
away. So that whoever takes away golden



'S LETTERS. 9

Images, or other dead Wealth, the Means and'
Objects of falfe Adoraiion, is guilty of no other
Crime, than that of difturbing erroneous Con-
fciences : Nor need fuch Conferences be much
difhirbed, fince the Crime being committed
without their Confent, they have no (hare in it,
And therefore if fuch idolatrous Images, and
fuchfuperftitious,u(elefs, and pernicious Riches^
be taken away by a lawful Authority, or in a
lawful War, it is no Crime at all. So that in
every Senfe Ersnnus committed a greater Crime
in plundering one Village, than he could haver
committed had he plundered, as he intended*
the Temple of De/phos.

If Brennus had believed in dpollo, he finned'
againfe his Confcience, in defigning to rob him,
But we do not know that Erennus, or thofer
that followed him, believed thus. I do not
remember that/^c/Vo was the God of the Gaufs 9 .
or that the Druids owned him : All Nations a-
greed not in worfhtpping the fame Gods, but
often difputed about the Quality, Birth, and
Precedence of their Gods. And if Brennnf -
defpifed or difregarded Apollc^ he committed no-
Sacrilege; at leait with refpecl: to hirnlelf, Jtr
was no Sacrilege, but only Rapine ; but if 9 ,
believing in him, tho' an Idol, he would have
finned in pillaging him, as doubrlefs he would^
here is an Argument, that a good Confcience
may be an erroneous Confcience', and that if no*
M an muft a6r. againft his own' Ccnfcience,
tho' it be erroneous, as doubtlefs he mail not,,
then much iefs has any other Man v/hatfoever
a R'ght to puniil-i or diftrefs him for it. If
k>d approves^ who is it that condemns ?'

5;. Andl



TO CATffs LETTERS.

And none but God knows the He&rt of
another.

If Brennus had worfhiped Aplh+ he Vas
guilty of Idolatry, in the Opinion of all Chri-
ftians : And if he had robbed him, he was
guilty of Sacrilege in the Opinion of moft.
Now we hear of no Judgment falling upon
thofe that worfhiped Apollo, and fupported that
Idol with fuperftifious Donations; all which
was Idolatry. And is Idolatry, which God has
declared abominable in his Eyes, a lefsSin than
robbing an idolatrous Temple ; which Action
God has no where declared a Sin ? The good
Kings of the Jews dedroyed all Idols and idola-
trcusTemples, wherever they had Power ; and.
the Wrath of God was kindled againft all that
did not. If it was therefore a Sin againft the
true God, not to deftroy them ; How came it
to be Sin only to rob them ?

I think all this is enongh to fliew, that an
Intention to plunder Apollo of his idle and un-
hallowed Wealth, was not the probable Caufe
of any Judgment upon Erennus and his Follow-
ers : But if there rnufl be a Judgment in the
Cafe, there were Reafons for it, much more
powerful, and much more likely to provoke
God to fend it. He was a wild and barbarous
Robber, at the Head of an Army of Savages,
Who cruelly ravaged many Nations, made Spoil
of all Mens Property, and inhumanely mafla-
cred thofe that defended their own. They
were Invaders, Plunderers, and Murderers,
who by Nu.nbers, Barbarity, Rapine, 2nd
Slaughter, laid wafte whole Countries, and
deitroyed, unprovoked. Men and Property. In

this



CATO's LETTERS. rt



this general Pillage, they had already
through and defolated Htmgnry, Illyrium* Mace-
donia, and were now got into Greece. Was not
here Guilt enough to call down a Thoufand
Judgments ? And after all this bloody and
brurifli Violence done to the World, and to the
Laws of God and Man ; Can we imagine thatr
thefe Gnuh fuffcred that terrible Doom for bare-
ly intending a Thing, in which neither God
would have been difhonourd, nor Man injured?
At leaf! in an} 1 Degree of Cornparifbn, with the^
leafr of the other great and terrible Calamities,,,
which they differed from thefe deftroying Bxr-



I [hall now add fbmething more particularly
concerning the wretched End of thefe G/rz//jy
.and enquire how far it can be reckoned a Judg-
ment And here I am of Opinion that either
every Calamity, Publlck or Private, muft be-
accounted a Judgment; which Doclrine, 1 be-
lieve no Man holds; or elfe we mufr determine,,
,by what Marks we can know a Judgment from*
.a Calamity : Nor do I know of any luffideiv;-
Marks- to direct us- in this Matter, but an im-
mediate Miracle, and Declaration from Al
.mighty God, that he means it fb : And in fuchi
a miraculous Declaration, the Crime muPr be-
expredy fpecified, for which fiich Judgment is-
.inm'cl-ed ; berau(e for every Crims Judgments
are not inflicted, nor always for the lateft:
Crimes ; but fometimes overtake the Sinner,,
long after the Sin is committed. All this I take-
to be (elf-evident. We muft remember that.
Men, biaiTed by Paliions and Prejudices, do-
often - confound Good and Evil, and mifhke.-



ii CA ro's LETTERS.

the greateft Wicked nefs for the greateft Merity
and the higheft Merit for the higheft Wicked^-
nefs : Publick Maffacfes have been applauded,
publick Incendiaries have been fainted, and
publick Tyrants deified. While on the other
Side, publick Virtue has pafTed For a publick
Crime, Truth for Rlafphemy, and Chriftianity
lias been rewarded with Fire and Sword. So
that Men thus Blind and Perverfe, do frequently
entitle Vice to the Bleffing and Favour of God,
and Virtue and Merit to his fevereft Judg-
ments.

Wherever therefore, there is a great Compli-
cation of Crimes, and fomerimes of great Crimes,
How can we diftinguifh for which of them the
Judgment is fent, unlefs he that fends it de*
clares the fame ? If he fends it for more Crimes
than one, How (hall we diftinguifh where he,
who only can, does not ? And if the Judgment
is fent for one Sin only, by what certain Token
can We difcover it ? If one Man hurts or di
obliges Twenty, in Twenty different Ways;
^obs one, fteals from another, deceives a Third 1 ,
calumniates a Fourth, wounds a Fifth, bears
fa He Witnefs againft a Sixth, and fb on till he-
has as many Enemies as Crimes, and afterwards
dies by a Dlfafter or the Law ; every one of the
Twenty will be apt to call it a Judgment, and
a particular Judgment, for the particular OR
fence done to himfelf. Now where is the Rule,
by which certainly to know either that this
Man's Death was a Judgment, or to find out
the certain Crime that brought it upon him ?
Or is ever fuch a Rule like to be found, as
kmg as all. Sorts of Evils befal all. Sorts of Men ?



LETTERS. 13

As to the Thunder, Lightning, Hail, and
Earthquakes, that deftroyed fo many of the
Gauls ; were they not the ufual Operations and
Effects of Nature ? And have they not been
from the Beginning ? Have not whole Cities
and Countries been deftroyed by them ? And
has not their impartial Fury been felt by the
Good and the Bad, without Diftin6tion ? In
deftroying Storms by Land and Sea, are the
Wicked only overtaken ? And do not the Vir-
tuous jDerifh undiflinguifhed with them? And
are not juft Men, going upon juft Expeditions,
frequently overwhelmed by them ? And do not
wicked Men> in wicked Enterprises, often
efcape them ? When an impetuous Shock of an
Earthquake overturns a City, or opens a de-
vouring Chafm to fwallow it up ; Do the Dwel-
lings of the Righteous remain unmoved, and
their Perfons unhurt ?

Nor is it at all wonderful or uncommon, that
this ignorant Multitude, difmayed by fo many
and fb alarming Misfortunes, thus fuddenly
checked in their Progrefs, at a great Diftance
from Home, befet with Enemies in" an Ene-
my's Country, unskilled in the Phcenomena of
Nature, futfering many Calamities, and dread-
ing more, fell into a Pannick ; and having loll
their Senfes, attacked one another, by a Miftake,
in the Dark. Whole Armies have fallen into
the like Terror upon the Sight of an Eclipfe :
And the fame unaccountable Fear, but without
the fame Effect, feized the victorious Macedo-
nian Army of Alexander the (Jrent^ the very
Night before they fought- one of the greateft
and moft fuccelsfui Battles, And we have ftill



euro's LETTERS:

a much later Tnftance at Home: At the Bat-
tle of Naisby, King Charles the Firft, who was
in if, being pre iTed by fome of his own People
that were behind him, bid them keep back;
which Words being repeated by others to thofe
next them, and by thele to others, the Word
bficl^ was catched up, and run from Man to
Man through all the Ranks, and underftood as
a Sign to fly ; and accordingly the Royal Army
fled, and the Field was loft. And thus a,
Chance- word threw a whole Army into a Pan-
nick. None of the Royal Party have yet told
us, that this was a Judgment upon that King
and his Caufe ; nor, i d^re fay, would they
have believed the other Party, had the other
Party alledged that it was.

Confidering all thefe Calamities and Lbfles-
fuffered by the Gauls, and the Confternation they
were in, I fuppofe there was no great Miracle
-in their being vanquiihed by the Greekj, who*
were now come together frcm all Parrs, to fall
furiouily on a defeated Enemy. And as fmall'
Ire the YVonder of Brennus's killing himself: He
was a refolute Man, and took that Method to
cure himfelf of that Grief and Diiappointment
.which he could not bear, and to preferve him-
it If from falling alive into the Hands of his
Enemies, to whom he had given a Right of
uiing him very ill.

Neither is it any thing furprizing that the
.red:, being to march through Enemies Ccuntrl-s^
we^e, (is they p tiffed, fo diftreffed for want of Pro-
vifions^ which thzy were cve v y vchere to fight' for fo
incommoded, at Xighf by Lodging m r lily en the
Ground in a Winter Sceifon, find in fuch a manner



's LETTERS.

liar raffed and fallen upon whenever they came
the People of thofe Countries through which they
fajjed, that what with Famine, Cold, and Sicl^
nefs, and what with the Sword of their Enemies^
they were all cut off and deftroyed. All this
Misfortune is thus fairly accounted for, and
the Thing is not uncommon. The whole
Nation of the Cimbri were deftroyed in much
greater Numbers, when they left their old Ha-
bitations in queft of new ; though it does not
appear that they intended to rob Temples.
And yet Xerxes deil'royed and plundered all the_
idolatrous Temples in the E/i/?, except that of
Diana at Ephefus,. without thriving the worfe
for it.

They were all cut off and deftroyed I for
which plain, natural, and neceflary Caufes are
afiigned ; and yet it was a Judgment ! Surely
this is ftrapge and unaccountable. Doubtlels
there were Degrees and great Difference of.
Guilt and Innocence amongft Brennus's Follow-
ers ; and why fiiould they who were not all
equally guilty all equally fuffer ? Why fflould
Subjects and Soldiers be punifhed for the Sins of -
a Prince or a General ? Soldiers are often prefs'd !
into the Service, and rarely or never know the
Reaibns of the Commander's Orders ; and it/
is Mutiny and Death to difobey him. And
Princes often run into wild Wars, without the.
Confent of their Subjects, and againil their ln-
tereO: ; and yet if their Subjects oppofe them
in it, they are guilty of Refiftance, which is
reckoned Rebellion, a very terrible and crying
Crime, to which the Judument of God h s -
been pronounced due : And yet the Judgments

of



CA ro's LETTERS.

of God, which fbmetimes fall upon Princes
for an unjuft War, fall alfo upon their Sub-
jects, who were utterly guiltlefs of it. What
ftrange Do&rine is this ? that every Man-
in a Nation fhall fuffer for the Sins of oner
Man, whom they could not reftrain ; or that
any Man (hall fuffer for the Crimes of ano-
ther ? And that the beft Men in an Army or
a Nation (hall bear the Calamities infilled
upon them for the Sins of the worft ; as if it
were a Crime in a good Man to live where his 5
Lot has cad him, without his own Content,
next Door to a wicked Man, or within Ten-
Miles of him !

This Paper, which I could make much lon-
ger, grows already too long. I iliall conclude
with obferving, that we either ^apply God's
Judgment at random, without his Authority;
always in Oppofition to his Commands, and,
for ought we know, as often contrary to his-
Ends and Intention ; or we do it out of ^ Pre-
judices to Men and Opinions : And by this we
give Advantage to Infidels and Men of no Re-
ligion, to reproach us with Prefumption upon
our own Principles, in meddling with the fecrer
Councils of God, in confounding his < Mtrcy
and Juftice, and making hinr a6l capricioufly,
and in confounding one Religion with another,
the Good with the Bad, as if we thought them
all alike. Let us give no more ground for this
Reproach ; and as a Specimen of our Candour-
and equitable Judgment, let us own, in the In-
ftance before us, that the Liberty, Profperity,
and Peace of the World, and ambngft the rdt,
the Liberty of Greece* wet-s Things



CMTO's LETTERS. 17

more facred and inviolable than Apollo's eonfe-
crated Bawbles.

I am, See.

P. S. The Story about King Charles, I relate
upon Memory, and may miftake in Names or
Circumftances.



SIR,

I Have more than once complained in thefe
Letters, that the beft Things being moft
abufed are capable of doing the greateft Harm :
Nor is it a new Obfervation, whatever new
Occafion there may be, at all Times to re-
peat it. Men have been ever deceived by good
Names into an Approbation of ill Things,
fanc~tified by thefe Names. Impofture and Dc-
luficn have been called Religion, and thought:
fo 3 Opprcffion and Rapine have been called
Government , and elteemed Governmenr.
Teachers have degenerated into Deceivers, Sub-
million into Slavery, Taxation into Plundering,
Protection into Deftru^lion, and Magiftrates
into Murderers ; without changing their Names :
Power and Right have been ever confounded ;
and Succcfs, or the want of Succefs, has turned
Villainy into Virtue, and Virtue into Villainy.
Hence it is that little Crimes and imall Cri-
minals have been detefled and punifned, while
great Malefactors have been generally reve-
renced and obeyed. ; and that little Rogues have

beea



i 8. CATO's LETTERS.

been called Thieves, and hanged ; and great
Thieves have been filled Conquerors and Prin-
ces, and fbmetimes have been deified. Your
Alexanders and C&fars were only Felons above
the Gallow?, and fo have been many others of
much lefs Figure than they. Great Crimes
protect themfelves, and one another - fo that,
in effect, Crimes are not always purriflied be-
caufe they are Crime?, but becaufe they are not
mighty Crimes ; nor in the inflicting of Pu-
nifhments, has the Offence or the Offender
been considered, but only the Figure of the
Offender who if he was poor and neceilltous,
has been put to Death ; if great and ambr-
tious, he has been protected or preferred. And
thus it is, that Halrers and Garters, Axes- and
White Staves, Palaces and Dungeons, have
been often miferably confounded and mifplaced.

Thus are -the Boundaries and Diflinclioti
between Good and Evii al mod loft in the
World. To ill u (Irate this in every Inftance
that deferves llluftranon, would be to write a
Folio inftead of a Letter; at prelent I (hall con-
fine my feif to the Coniideration of fclfe Ho-
nour, which has done much more Mifchief to
Mankind than ever real Honour did Good, as-
k is more conducing to the little perfbnal Gra-
tifications and the crooked Self Ends of parti-
cular Men.

True Honour is ait Attachment to honefl and
beneficent Principles, and a good Reputation;
and prompt's a Man to do Good to others, and
indeed ro all Men, at his own Coil:, Pains, or
Peril. Falie Honour is a Pretence to this Cha-
racter, but does Things that deftroy it : And



CATO's LETTERS. 19

the Abufe of Honour is called Honour, by
thofe who from that good Word borrow Credit
to act bafely, rafhly, or foolifhly.

A Man cannot a6r, honourably in a bad
Caufe. That he thinks it a good Caufe, is
not a good Excufe ; for Folly and Miftake is
not Honour : Nor is it a better Excufe that he
is engaged in it, and has pledged his Faith to^
fupport it, and a& for it ; for this is to engage
his Honour againft Honour, and to lift his