They ftrike the air, and with a force To zee the woundours o' the kitty, In your paper a question to vamp zur. A fhrewd witte vellow, But for all you zoa hectur and bounce zur How many ts go to an ounce zur. A. Ve'l anfwer your query, Altho' Ralph Ruftick (That's to zay) ve'l come near ye, And arm'd with a v Yet before ve zall part, -t, You'l vind we have courage to hit ye. Vorty thouzan and won, As zure as a gun, Exactly rife up to the wate, If thiz you deny, Pray catch 'em and try, And that will convince you ftrate. (Vor indeed zo you may) That avermatives must be made out; Vor more than you're worth; And there we hit you t'other bout. Q. What is the meaning of Chrift's defcent into hell? 4. We have had several questions fent us upon this fubject, and therefore fhall answer them all at once. Our church in the reign of Edward vi. annex'd this article to a Scripture paffage, whereby the appropriated it's meaning to a determin'd fenfe. But in the reign of queen Elizabeth, she cancell'd the appropriation, and thence tacitly allow'd her fons to fix their own meaning upon fo difficult, so obscure an article. And this is a liberty very fit to be indulg'ð in the cafe before us, fince the ancients were fo lit tle agreed concerning it. In as much as the original "Ads, in one acceptance of the word, fignifies thofe invifible regions, which are the receptacles of departed fouls, fome therefore thought, that Chrift went to that place of separation, without any further conception of it: Others concluded, that he went to the fouls of the faints, whom they believ'd to have been detain'd in those invifible regions, till at least his ascension into heaven; and others confin'd the word to the receptacle of the damn'd. As this article has been varioufly grounded on feveral texts of Scripture, fo bifhop Pearfon (that excellent expofitor of the creed) rejects most of them, but particularly retains a paffage in the Pfalms, which is moft generally receiv'd as the strongest proof. But with all deference to fo great a man, and fo general an opinion, we humbly beg leave to enter our diffent. The paffage is, Thou shalt not leave my foul in hell. But fince the original, which we tranflate, foul, fo often fignifies no more than life, how can we be fure it has another meaning here? And fince what we tranflate, hell, fo frequently imports the grave, with what certainty can we interpret it in another fenfe? And yet an article of faith must be founded upon pofitive, unexceptionable proof: Whereas from fimilar expreffions in the Pfalms, we have good reason to believe, that no more is intended by the words, than thou fhalt raife me from the dead. Some indeed object, that this makes the paffage to be tautological, fince it fo immediately follows, neither shalt thou fuffer thy holy One to fee corruption. But we hope all kind of tautology is not blameable, fince it may fometimes occafion a greater elegance; of which this very book of Pfalms prefents us with undoubted inftances. And yet were all kinds of tautology difallowable, we cou'd eafily acquit this paffage of the charge, fince the firft fentence imports, that God wou'd raise Chrift from the grave; and the second denotes his very speedy performance of it. If this were a prophecy concerning the difpofal of our Saviour's foul after its feparation from the body, it is highly probable, that it wou'd be fomewhere in the New Teftament infisted on to that purpose: Whereas the only place where it is fo much as mentioned, it is cited to no other purpose than in proof of the refurrection. But fince the commencement of this article was fo late; fince all the former creeds were without it, and yet were filed by the fathers perfect fummaries of faith; fince when St. Paul mentions Chrift's death, burial and refurrection, he takes no notice of his feparate exiftence, though it interven'd between the latter two; we therefore conceive, that it was unneceffary to add this article, unless it were done as a criterion of the orthodox, in contradiftinction to the apollinarian hereticks, who denied that our Lord had an human foul. And yet the composers of this doubtful article might more directly have exprefs'd his human foul, and that grounded upon the plaineft Scripture, fince it is exprefly faid, that he grew in wisdom. And furely growth or improvement in wisdom is utterly inconfiftent with that Divinity, which according to the apollinarian bypothesis, supplied the defect of an human foul. Grotius chooses to found the article on that paffage in St. Luke, This day thou shalt be with me in paradife. But here the queries are, whether it be very evident, that paradife was not heaven? and whether it be equally equally evident, that Chrift spoke the words of his human foul, and not of his Divinity, fince he does not fay, thou fhalt go with me into paradife, but thou shalt be with me in paradife: For tho' it fhou'd be matter of opinion, that the Divinity did not difplay it felf to the Saints in paradife, no, not in leffer proportions, than it wou'd do in heaven; yet we muft proceed beyond matter of opinion in articles of faith. We therefore can conceive no properer a method of compliance with this article of our creed, than by taking "Ads, or hell, for the grave (for fo alfo is the English word taken in the Pfalms) and by applying our Lord's defcent thither to his human foul, which muft have neceffarily gone down to the grave in order to its re-union with the body. And this fufficiently distinguishes the prefent article from the preceding one concerning his burial; as apparently af ferts the human foul of Chrift against the Apollinari ans, as any other notion of so obfcure a descent; and as profeffedly maintains the separate existence of the foul against the philosophers taken notice of by Grotius. And tho' the manner of this article, as connected with the foregoing one, leads us to fuppofe, that the compofers of it who were juniors with respect to the more primitive times, and unknown to us (as the very learned Dr. Barrow calls them upon this very occafion) had fomething further in their view; yet, fince by the expofition we have given, we profefs our belief of that, which cou'd be the only proper inducement of fo otherwife unneceffary an addition; fince, if they meant to confine our faith within ftricter bounds, and propofe their own interpretation of any particular text, as an article of faith, by rejecting fo unreasonable a propofal, we yet believe as much, as did the apoftolical and immediately fucceeding ages, whofe feveral creeds had nothing of Chrift's defcent into hell; fince the article will allow of the exposition we have given; fince in fo very difficult a point, a latitude ought to be indulged to to thofe, who diffent from the opinion of others, not from affectation of fingularity, but from fincerity of heart; we therefore humbly prefume, that we may in this fenfe of the expreffion lawfully repeat, He defcended into hell. Q. Whence the cause of thofe fpouts that defcend from. the clouds, in fome parts of the world? 4. The caufe of them is, the more than ordinary condenfation of the waters rarified and exhal'd into thofe regions of the air. Q: I have for thefe last four months or more found a mighty defect in my memory, I think it cannot proceed from age, for I am not above two and thirty, and of a very healthy conftitution; pray tell me what you think is the occafion, and you will infinitely oblige your humble ferDant Jemima? 4. This defect of memory feems to proceed from cold, ferous humours lodging in the brain, and hindring the due fluctuation of the animal fpirits. Q Sirs, I have feen feveral people in deep confumptions have intermitting fevers, fome every day, and fome few ev'ry other day. A Gentlewoman of my acquaintance being in a confumption hath the hot fit for the space of an hour every evening, he hath taken a great deal of Jefuits powder, by the advice of an able phyfician, to no effect. I defire to know why it will not take place in this cafe, as it will do in all other intermitting fevers? Your Speedy answer will oblige your humble fervant J. P. A. The Jefuits powder is daily given to confumptive or hectick perfons with great fuccefs; and fince your friend is under the care of an able physician, we have no reafon to doubt the proper administration of it: But feveral accidents may intervene and prevent its efficacy, as a weak ftomach, flux of the belly, the bark it felf not good, or the disease too far gone; fo that without the knowledge of every particular cir cumftance attending the patient, 'tis impoffible to give a juft determination of the matter. Q: Is it poffible for a Lady that is very short, crooked, of an ill complexion, and deform'd in the eyes of all that |