LIBER TERTIUS. 



563 



Quod ad Placita Antiquorum Philosophorum, qualia fuerunt 

 Pythagoras, Philolai, Xenophanis, Anaxagorae, Parmenidis, 

 Leucippi, Democriti, aliorum, (quae homines contemptim per- 

 currere solent,) non abs re fuerit paulo modestius in ea oculoa 

 conjicere. Etsi enim Aristoteles, more Ottomanorum, regnare 

 se haud tuto posse putaret, nisi fratres suos omnes contruci- 

 dasset * ; tamen iis, qui non regnum aut magisterium sed veri- 

 tatis inquisitionem atque illustrationem sibi proponunt, non 

 potest non videri res utilis diversas diversorum circa rerum 

 naturas opiniones sub uno aspectu intueri. Neque tamen 

 subest spes, quod veritas aliqua purior ex illis aut similibus 

 theoriis speranda ullo niodo sit. Quemadmodum enim eadem 

 phaenomena, iidem calculi, et Ptolemaei principiis astronomi- 

 cis et Copernici competunt; ita experientia ista vulgaris qua 

 utimur, atque obvia rerum facies, pluribus diversis theoriis se 

 applicare potest; ubi ad rectam veritatis indagationem longe 

 alia severitate opus fuerit. Eleganter enim Aristoteles; In- 

 fantes primo balbutientes quasvis mulieres appellare matres ; post 

 autem propriam matrem discernere 2 ; sic certe puerilis expe- 

 rientia omnem Philosophiam appellabit matrem ; adulta vero 

 matrem veram internoscet. Interea juvabit Philosophias dis- 

 crepantes, veluti diversas Naturae glossas (quarum una fortasse 

 uno loco, alia alio est emendatior), perlegere. Optarim igitur 

 ex Vitis Antiquorum Philosophorum, ex fasciculo Plutarchi de 

 Placitis eorum, ex citationibus Platonis, ex confutationibus 

 Aristotelis, ex sparsa mentione quae habetur in aliis libris, tarn 

 ecclesiasticis quam ethnicis, (Lactantio, Philone, Philostrato, 

 et reliquis,) opus confici cum diligentia et judicio de Antiquis 

 Philosophiis. Tale enim opus nondum cxtare video. Atta- 



1 Bacon, it is probable, alludes particularly to a memorable and then recent instance 

 of this practice. Mahomet III., on becoming Sultan in 1595, put to death nineteen of 

 his brothers and ten or twelve women supposed to be with child by his father. Pope, 

 perhaps unconsciously, has imitated Bacon. In the character of Addison, he speaks of 

 him as one who could 



*' Bear, like the Turk, no brother near the throne. " 



It is worthy of remark that the practice in question was established as a fundamental 

 law of the state by Mahomet the Second. I quote his words from the French edition 

 of Von Hammer's History of the Ottoman Empire. " La plupart des legistes ont 

 declare que ces de mes illustres fils ou petits-fils qui monterontau troue pourront faire 

 executer leurs freres afin d'assurer le repos du monde ils devront agir en conse- 

 quence." L'Histoire de V Empire Ottoman, iii. p. 302. 



A little further on Von Hammer remarks that " la legalite du meurtre est consacre'e 

 non seulement pour Ics freres du Sultan mes encore pour ses neveux et ses petits- 

 fils." 



2 Physic, i. c. 1. 



o o '2 



