The next Day (August 16.) the Prisoner was brought again to the Bar. La Fontaine came in with another Man, named Germain Colladon, and upon the 111d Article produced a third time a Copy of Ptolemy, and the Notes inferred at the End of his Defcription of Palestine, of which I fhall fpeak hereafter.

Some

Paffages were alfo produced out of Servetus's Works to convict him of the Herefies charged upon him; but they went no farther than the XIth Article, and the Court adjourned to the next Day. In the meani time la Fontaine préfented a Petition to the Judges. I fall fet down the Beginning of it.

"* Magnificent, Mighty, and most Dreadful Lords, "Nicolas de la Fontaine, humbly fheweth, That having made himself a Prifoner in a criminal Cause againft Michael Servetus, for the great Scandals and Troubles occafioned in Christendom by the "faid Servetus during the Space of 24 Years, of "thereabouts, for the Blafphemies uttered and pub❝lifhed by him against God, [this is a very abfurd

66

Expreffion; for Servetus was no Atheift; t] for the Herefies wherewith he has infected the World, for

"the

Par devant Vous, Magnifiques, Puiffans & très Redoutables Seigneurs, propofe Nicolas de la Fontaine, s'eftant conftitué prifonnier en caufe criminelle, contre Michel Servet pour les grands fcandales & troubles, que ledit Servet a deja fait par l' espace de 24 ans ou environ en la Chreftienté, pour les blafphemes qu'il a prononcé & efcript contre Dieu, pour les herefies dont il a infecté le monde, pour les mefchantes calomnies & faulfes diffamations q'il a publié contre les grands Serviteurs de Dieu notamment contre Monfieur Calvin, duquel ledit Propofant eft tenu de maintenir l'honneur comme de fin Pafteur, s'il veult eftre tenu pour Chreftien, & auffi à caufe du blafme & defhonneur, qui pourroit avenir à l'Eglife de Geneve, pource que ledit Servet condamne par efpecial la doctrine qu'on y prefche, &c.

St. Gregory Nazianzen calls Sabellius an Atheist, becaufe he did not believe the Trinity.

Mr. Thirlby

makes

1

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"the wicked Calumnies and Defamations he has published against the Servants of God; especially against Mr. Calvin, whofe Honour the faid Pe 66 titioner is bound to maintain, as of one who is "his Paftor, if he is willing to be accounted a Chriftian, and alfo by Reafon of the Difhonour that "might accrue from it to the Church of Geneva, "forafmuch as the faid Servetus does particular"ly condemn the Doctrine that is preached in "it." &c.

In the remaining Part of that Petition, the Accu fer befeeches the Judges to compel Servetus to make a formal Answer to each Article produced against him, without any Shift; and that after he has been convicted of publishing and teaching the Herefies contained in the Interrogatories, if they judge him to be guilty, and to deferve to be profecuted by their Attorney, they would be pleased to make a Declaration of it, and to clear him from all Charges,' according to Cuftom.

The Tranfactions of the next Day are too long to be inferted here; and therefore I fhall only fet down the following Letter produced against Servetus on that Day. That Phyfician writ it to Abel Pcupin *, a Minifter of Geneva, above Six Years before he was apprehended in that City. This Letter, is very Curious, and plainly difcovers the Character of Servetus. I hope, Sir, it will be the more acceptable to you, because it was never published.

LICET

makes a judicious Obfervation upon it, as I fhall fhew hereafter. I muft obferve that Servetus was fo ridicu lous and extravagant, as to call the Trinitarians Athe ifs. Such is the Effect of a blind and violent Zeal in Men of all Perfuafions: They are apt to run into Ex

tremes.

He had been a Cordelier.

66

L'

ICET Epiftola mea ad Calvinum duodeci ma vim legis Decalogi effe fublatam do"ceat apertiffime, adhuc tamen locum unum adjun gam, ut innovationem per adventum Chrifti fa"ctam melius intelligatis. Decalogi igitur legem effe "fublatam cognofces tu manifefte, fi locum unum legas Jere, 31. Foedus initum cum patribus quando egrediebantur de Egypto, fublatum docet Propheta. "Hoc autem fuit foedus Decalogi. Dicitur enim

3 Reg. 8. quod in Arca erat foedus initum cum pa"tribus in egreffu de Ægypto, fcilicet Decalogus. "Hinc dicebatur Arca foederis, Tabule foederis, & "decem verba foederis. Hæc autem fuit pacifcendi "formula. Deus promittit illos fore fibi populum, fi 66 ea verba faciant: Et illi ea verba fe facturos recipiunt. Ecce foedus. Hoc autem foedus fubla"tum docet Jeremias dicto cap. 31. & Ezechiel cap. 16. & Paulus Heb. 8. Si ea lege nos nunc in fuos recipiat Deus, eo jugo preffi fimiliter periremus, & effemus fub maledicto. Sublata eft ergo lex illa. Non fub eo foedere nos nunc in fuos recipit Deus, fed fide fola Jefu Chrifti filii dilecti. Afpicite igitur quale fit Evangelium veftrum Lege "confufum. Evangelium veftrum eft fine uno Deo, "fine fide vera, fine bonis operibus. Pro uno Deo "habetis tricipitem Cerberum, pro fide vera ha"betis fatale fomnium, & opera bona dicitis effe in

66

anes picturas. Chrifti fides eft vobis merus fucus, "nihil efficiens: Homo eft vobis fervi arbitrii chi

mæra. Regenerationem ex aqua coeleftem non "agnofcitis, fed velut fabulam habetis. Regnum "coelorum clauditis ante homines, ut rem imagina"riam a nobis excludendo. Væ vobis, væ, væ. Hac tertia Epiftola te ita monitum volo, ut melius coVol. IV. gites,

G

This Letter bears no Date. The Superfcription radi thus: A Monfieur M Abel. Servetus writ a very fait Hand.

66

gites, non amplius ita moniturus. Offendit vos "forfan quod pugnæ illi Michaelis me immifceam, & 66. vos immifceri defiderem. Sed locum illum diligenter expende, & videbis homines fore qui ibi pugnabunt, animas fuas morti exponendo, in fanguine & teftimonio Jefu Chrifti. Angelos verò "dici obvium eft in Scripturis. Annon vides ibi

agi de Ecclefia Chrifti jam tot annos fugata? An"non de re futura eft divifio, ut ipfemet Johannes "afferit? Quis eft ibi accufator ille, qui ob legum & præceptorum tranfgreffionem nos ante accufabat? Ante pugnam ait fore accufationem illam, & orbis feductionem: Ergo fequitur pugna, & tempus prope eft, ut ait. Qui funt illi, qui victo"riam reportabunt de Beftia? Non accipientes characterem ejus. Mihi ob eam rem moriendum effe certo fcio; fed non propterea animo deficior, ut "flam difcipulus fimilis præceptori. Hoc doleo quod per vos non licuit emendare locos aliquot in fcriptis meis, quæ funt apud Calvinum. Vale, & a me non amplius literas expecta.

"Super cuftodiam meam ftabo, contemplabor, & videbo quid fit dicturus.

Nam veniet, cérte veniet, & non tardabit.”

This Letter contains feveral offenfive and extravagant Expreffions. Servetus was a great Zealot, as moft Hereticks are: Can it be expected that a Zealot fhould keep within the Bounds of Moderation? Befides, it ought to be confidered that he lived in an Age, that was not fo polite as ours; in an Age wherein the Great Calvin himself did not fcruple to call him a Dog, even in his Commentaries upon the Bible. The Heterodox Writers of our own Time have much ado to obferve the Rules of Decorum: They break out fometimes into unbecoming Expreffions. I really believe that Servetus expected to fuffer Death for his Doctrine fome time or other. I am, SIR,

Yours, &c.

See the third Letter in Art. XXVIII.

ART

ARTICLE XVII.

ROME.

HE Abbot Fontanini is printing a Catalogue of Cardinal Imperiali's Library. That Library con fifts of many Choice Books; and that Catalogue is drawn up in a very good Method.

PARIS.

M. Billecoq has publifhed a Book that will be of

Ufe to the French, and to Foreigners. He thought it neceffary to print the Rules of the French Pronunciation.

Les Regles de la Prononciation de la Langue Françoife. Par Monfieur B. Paris, 1711. in 12mo. pagg. 356.

The Author owns that Pronunciation is to be learned by Ufe; but because there is a right and a wrong Pronunciation in Ufe, he thinks they cannot be well diftinguished without Rules. The Rules prefcribed in this Book, contain all the Difficulties of the French Pronunciation, difpofed in an Alphabetical Order, and expreffed with great Perfpicuity.

A Third Edition, very much enlarged, of M. de la Mothe's Odes is lately come out.

Les Odes de Mr. de la Mothe de l' Academie Françoise, avec un Difcours fur la Poefie en general, & fur l'Ode en particulier. Troifiéme Edition augmentée de plufieurs ouvrages. Paris, 1711. Two Volumes in 12mo. pagg. 293, and 305.

Six new Pieces have been added to the firft Volume, viz. Five Odes, and a Poem in the Praise of Homer. M. de la Mothe defigns to publifh a French Tranflation of Homer's Illiad in Twelve Books. He takes a great Liberty in his Translation, and leaves out whatever appears to him unworthy of that Excellent Poet. The Author feigns, in one of his new Odes, that Homer appears to him and prescribes to him the following Rules. G 2 CHOISIS