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The Preface.

then ſeated in his Throne, and about him the reſt of his Society, where having firſt placed Apollonius in the Seat Royal of Phraotes, Jarchas welcomes him with this unconfined Liberty: Ἐς άτα ὅ τι βέλφ, παοὰ ἄνδοας γὰς ἤκεις πάντα εἰδότας. Propound (ſaid he) what Queſtions thou wilt, for thou art come to Men that know all things. Here Tyaneus puts in, and very wiſely asks them, What Principles the World was compounded of? To this the Brachmans reply, It was compounded of the Elements. Is it made then (ſaith Apollonius) of the four Elements? No (ſaid the great Jarchas) but of Five. Here the Grecian is puzzled; for beſides Earth (ſaith he) and Water, Air, and Fire, I know not any thing: What then is this fifth Subſtance? It is (ſaith Jarchas) the Æther, which is the Element of Spirits: for thoſe Creatures which draw in the Air, are Mortal; but thoſe which draw in the Æther, are Immortal. And here I cannot but obſerve the groß Ignorance of Apollonius, who being a profeſt Pythagorean, had never heard of the Æther, that famous Pythagorean Principle.

But

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