T H O 



to (lifcover truth by the fyllogiftic art. No otlier rule is 

 neceffaj-y in reafoning, than that <if following ih.- natural 

 order of invcftigation ; beginning Irom thole things which 

 are beft known, and proceeding, by eafy fteps, to thofe 

 which arc more difficult. 



" Perception is a pailive afFeftion, produced by fomo ex- 

 ternal obj''(ft, cither in tlic intelleftual fcnfc, or in the in- 

 clination of the will. EfTcnce is that without which a thing 

 cannot be perceived. God is not perceived by the intel- 

 leSual feiife, but by the inchnation of the will : for creatures 

 aftect the brain ; but God, the heart. All creatures are in 

 God : nothing is exterior to him. Creation i^ extenfion 

 produced from nothing by the divine power. Creatures are 

 of two kinds, pafTive and aftive ; the former is matter ; the 

 latter, fpirit. Matter is dark and cold, and capable of 

 being atlvd upon by fpirit, which is light, warm, and aftive. 

 Spirit may fubfift: without matter, but defires a union with 

 it. All bodies confift of matter and fpirit, and have there- 

 fore fome kind of life. Spirit attrafts fpirit, and thus fen- 

 ilbly operates upon matter united to fpirit. This attrac- 

 tion in man is called love ; in other bodies, fympathy. A 

 tiiu'te fpirit may be confidered as a limited fphere in which 

 i3ys, luminous, wai-ra, and aftive, flow from a centre, 

 opirit is the region of the body to which it is united. The 

 region of finite fpirits is God. The human foul is a ray 

 from the divine nature ; whence it defires union with God, 

 who is love. Since the eflence of fpirit confifts in aftion, 

 and of body iji paffion, fpirit may exifl without thought : 

 of this kind are light, ether, and other adtive principles in 

 nature. 



" Good confifts in the harmony of other things with man 

 and his feveral powers. The higheft felicity of man con- 

 fills in tranquil delight. The fountain of this delight is 

 t!ie rational love of man and of God. Internal love and 

 reverence are all the homage which nature teaches us to pay 

 to God. With refpeft to God, the two capital errors are 

 atheifm and fuperftition. Superftition is worfe than atheifm. 

 The love of God is a fupernatural afFeftion, which prepares 

 the foul for future felicity. The rational love of man com- 

 prehends all focial virtues. Rational felf-love includes felf- 

 prefervation, temperance, purity, induftry, fortitude. To 

 wife men, virtue is its own reward. Laws are appointed 

 for the fake of fools, to couduft them to internal tran- 

 quillity, and external peace. Of fools, there are three 

 claffes ; thofe who difturb external peace ; thofe who do 

 nothing to promote it ; and thofe who do not enjoy internal 

 peace. The firft have need of authority ; the fecond of 

 authority and counfel ; the third of counfel alone. The 

 obligation of authority and law extends only to external 

 adions, which are juft: when they are conformable to law : 

 juftice is therefore to be diftinguifhed from virtue, which 

 rcfpeils the internal man, and requires a conformity to the 

 law of nature." Brucker by Enfield, vol. ii. 



Thomas. Chrijlians of St. Thomas. See TllOM^ANS. 

 Thomas'^ Hofphal. See Hospital. 

 Thomas, St., in Geography, an ifland of the Atlantic, near 

 the coaft of Guinea, fituated on the equinoftial line, of a cir- 

 cular form, about ten leagues in circumference, difcovered by 

 the Portuguefe in the year 1 640. The chmate is infalubrious, 

 and at fome fcafons of the year the Iky is even darkened by 

 thick fogs, vvhich are difperfed by the winds that blow in the 

 months of July and Auguft. In this ifland the inhabitants 

 have two winters, like thofe of other places that are under 

 the fame parallel, but without the cold that diftinguiflies that 

 feafon in Europe. The rains continue from December to 

 icebruary ; and fpring begins with our fummer, in the month 

 of May. During the hrll three months of this period, the 



T H O 



beat is infupportable, and the firft fettlers gradually inured 

 themfelves to the climate. The foil on this ifland is vifcous 

 and clayey, and mixed with chalk ; but it is rendered fertile 

 by the lieavy night dews. The plants and (hrubs, which it 

 rapidly produces, are burnt to aflies, and applied as the moit 

 beneficial manure to fugar-canea ; which were firft planted 

 here by the Portuguefe : in their endeavours to cultivate 

 which they have been difappointed. Rice and millet fuccccd, 

 and vines of the richeft kind, as well as melons, cucumbers, 

 figs, ginger, and all forts of roots, pulfe, and pot-herbs, are 

 cheaply reared, and they arrive at the utmoft perfeftion. 

 Yams are in this ifland a ver^' wholefome and delicious diet. 

 Tlie land of this ifland is well watered, and much fertihzed 

 by its rivers and ftreams. In the centre is a high mountain, 

 covered with wood and fruit-trees, whofe fummit is never- 

 thelefs always covered with fnow. Its quadrupeds, birds, 

 and fiflies, are very various, and abundant ; and St. Thomas 

 would be equal to any fpot in the globe, if its temperature 

 correfponded to its other qualities. The inhabitants are 

 the defccndants of the Portuguefe firft fettlers and the ne- 

 groes, who are retained in the fervice of Europeans, and fuch 

 as prefer a refidence here to Angola. They are for the 

 moft part Roman Catholics, and extremely ignorant, fuper- 

 ftitious, and bigotted. The ecclefiaftical government is under 

 the direftion of the bifliop, who is a fuffragan of the arch- 



bifliop of Liftjon. E. long. 8° 6' Alfo, a town of Hin- 



dooftan, on the coaft of Coromandel. Here was formerly 

 a powerful city, called »' Meliapour," or '« Meilabour," 

 the capital of the kingdom of Coromandel ; but on the 

 ruins of this city the Portuguefe erefted the ftately city of 

 St. Thomas. This is inhabited chiefly by weavers and dyers, 

 who manufafture the beft coloured Ruff's in India. The 

 Portuguefe, who rebuilt this place in 1 545, have raifed it from 

 a ftate oi defolation to a flourifhing ftate, both with regard 

 to its buildings and inhabitants. Whilft the Portuguefe 

 retained it, it was a biftiopric under the archbifliop of Goa ; 

 and they had feveral churches, befides monafteries, and a 

 college for the inftruftion of the Portuguefe and Malabar 

 children. Here is alfo the famous church of St. Thomas 

 the Apoftle, where it is pretended that he was buried. ( See 

 Thom^ans, and Christians oJ St. Thomas. ) The city had 

 feven gates, and was, on account of its fituation, guarded by 

 the fea on one fide, and a chain of mountains on the other, 

 very ftrong : neverthelefs it was taken by the Moors after a 

 long fiege, and retained in their pofFefiion. — Alfo, a town of 

 Germany, in the archduchy of "Auftria ; 6 miles N.W. of 



Grein Alfo, a town of Savoy, in the county of Maurienne ; 



3 miles N. of Monftier.^-Alfo, the principal of the Virgin 

 Iflands, in the Weft Indies, about fix leagues in circum- 

 ference, belonging to the Danes. It abounds with potatoes, 

 millet, manioc, and moft forts of fruits and herbage, and 

 efpecially fugar and tobacco, but is much expofed to the 

 attacks of mofquitos and other vermin. The Enghfti had 

 formerly a fpacious fettlement in this ifland ; and here is a 

 fafe and commodious harbour, with two natural mounds upon 

 it, fitted for the reception of two batteries to guard its en- 

 trance. Nearly in the centre of the harbour is a fmall fort ; 

 and about 50 or 60 paces W. of it is the town, confifting 

 chiefly of one long ftreet, at the end of which is the Danilh 

 failory, with convenient warehoufes. On the right fide of 

 this factory is the Brandcnburgh quarter, contaming two 

 fmall ftreets, full of French refugees from Europe and the 

 iflands. Moft of the houfes are built of brick, and one ftory 

 high. The trade of this fmall ifland is confiderable, par- 

 ticularly in time of peace ; as it is the ftapje for fuch articles 

 of traffic as the French, Englifli, Dutch, and Spaniards are 

 not allowed to deal in publicly in their own iflands ; and 

 4 A 2 in 



