JMifcelianea Curio fa. J 



iiths^may poffibly be judged too high a Degree 

 for an Oral Conveyance, to the diftance of 

 Twenty Years. But in Written Tradition^ the 

 Chances againft the Truth or Confervation of 

 a fingle Writing, are far lefs.*, and feveral Co- 

 pies may alfo be eafily fuppos'd to concur ; and 

 thofe fince the Invention of Printing exaftly 

 thefime: feveral alfo diftinft Succeflions- of 

 fuch Copies may be as well fuppos'd, taken by 

 different Hands, and preferv'd in different 

 Places or Languages. 



And therefore if 6ral Tradition by any one 

 Man or Company of Men might be fuppos'd 

 to be Credible, after Twenty Years at *$hs 

 of Certainty; or but \^ihs\ or £ths : a- Writ- 

 ten Tradition may be well imagin'd to conti- 

 nue, by the Joint Copies that may be taken of 

 it for one Place, (like the feveral Copies of the 

 fame Impreflion) during the fpace of a 100, if 

 not 200 Years ; and to be then Credible at 

 r^jths of Certainty, or at the Proportion of a 

 Hundred to one. And then, feeing that the 

 Succefllve Tranfmilfions of this f-~° t of Certain- 

 ty, will not diminifh it to a Half, until it paf- 

 Tes the Sixty ninth Hand ; (for it will -be-near 

 Seventy Years before the Rebate of Mony, at 

 that Intereft, will fink it to half: ) It is plain, 

 that written Tradition, if preferv'd but by a 

 fingle Succeffion of Copies, will not lofe half of 

 its full Certainty, until 70 times a Hundred (if 

 not two Hundred) Years are pan: j that is, Se- 

 ven Thoufand, if not Fourteen thouiand Years., 

 and further, that, if it be likewife preferv'd 

 by Concurrent Succeffion s of fuch Copies, its 

 Credibility at that Diftance may be even en- 

 creas'd, and grow far more certain from the 

 feveral agreeing Deliveries at the end of Se- 

 B 4 vcnty 



