OCR Text |
Show [ a 1 . Our firft Father ./i/tfw was left without Excufe, 'when 1^ -tranfgrcfled the Divine Command, as having this IVR* erring Rule to direcl him, without any Seeds of Corruption in his Body or jarring Principles in his Mind $ but after his Default the Pafiions ufurp'd the Throne of Reason, lately their Mailer, and thro' his unhappy Race lave but too much born the Sway, N e w Appetites arofe, and ieveral tnmgs became neceffafy for him which were not fo before. Hence that T i m e and Science which ihould have been applied to the Contemplation of the Works of i G o d andthepurfuit of his Perfection, was aim oft entirely tairn up in the invention and making of what might defend him from the Inclemencies of the Air, and Damages of the brutal World, now at W a r with him. Happy (till in this, that G o d had not withdrawn from him his knowledge in Geometryt by which he and his immediate De-feewknw invented fevcral curious Arts, which have not been loft to this Day, but have all along been the Glory of Mankind, and an Ornament to the World. W e may be very wtll afilir-d, that JLlam inftrucld his Defendants in Geometry and the Application of it, to whatever Crafts were convenient for thole early Times. For Cain built a City, which he called after the Name of hvsdckft Son Enoch 5 and his Pofterity following his Exam pie, improved, not only in Geometry and M A S O N R Y, but made Difcoveries of ieveral other curious Arts, as the W a y of working in Metal b y Tufral-Cain, Mufick by fjfvbtfly Paftorapr, Tent-making, and building in Stone ami Timber by fftubal. Nor is it to be fuppos'd that the Defendants of Sethi who firft taught Altronomy, came any Thing behind thole of Cain in the Cultivation of Geometry and M A - .VONRY. For Enoch, :he fifth from Seth, who prophe-ried of the Deluge and final Conflagration, erected two Pillars, the one of Stone, and the other of Brick, where* vn he engraved the liberal Sciences, £5V. And theSrorid P.ilar remained in Syria until the Days of the Emperoi &% fvum!. The L_ |