Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 2.djvu/96

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fome particular Good. Thus, a Perfon, for inftance, re- prefents fome Dignity to himfelf as a Good to be wi/h'd tor, immediately the Will dcfires this Good -> that is, the lmpreflion which the Mind continually receives towards Good in general, determines it to this Dignity. But as that Dignity is not the univerfal Good, nor is conceived clearly and diftinclly as fuch by the Mind, (for the Mind cannot conceive a thing clearly which is notj) the Im- prciTion we have towards Good in general, is not entirely exhaultcd by that particular Good 5 the Mind has an In- clination to go further ; it does not love that Dignity ne- ceffarily or invincibly, and in this refpec~l is free. Now its Liberty confifls in this, that not being fully convinced that this Good contains in it all the Good it is capable of loving, it may fufpend its Judgment and its Love. The Cafe is nearly the fame with regard- to the Knowledge of Truth. We love this as we do the Enjoyment of Good, by a natural lmpreflion ; which lmpreflion is not invinci- ble in the latter, excepting Evidence be full, and our Knowledge of the Objeft compleat : We have the fame Liberty in our falfe Judgments, that we have in our irre- gular Appetites. See Judgment, Will, Sic.

Moft of the Schoolmen confound Liberty and the Will together, and make one Definition fcrve for 'em both. They diilingui/h Liberty into a great many Kinds '-, as Li- berty of Contrariety, Contrarietatis ; which is a Liberty of doing two things not only different, but contrary to each other. Liberty of Contradiction, is a Tower of doing a thing, or letting it alone. Jcfus Cbrift had not the Li- berty of Contrariety, with regard to Good and Evil, for he could not do Evil 3 but he had a Liberty of Contradic- tion with regard to Good. Next Liberty, Prox'tma, is a lull abfolute Freedom of doing any thing. Liberty re- mote, is a L-berty that comprehends a natural Power, tho' embarrafs'd with Obilacles, which it is in its power to remove, and to attain to a mxt Liberty. Thus he who has not aftual Grace neceffary for the fulfilling of his Duty, but has yet the actual Grace of Prayer, has a next Liberty with regard to Prayer, and a remote Liberty with regard to his Duty.

Cicero defines L'-berty the Power of living after a Man's own Defire, withoutany Caufe or Impediment to oblige him to do one thing rather than another. The Doctrine of P'elagius, with regard to Liberty, is built on Philofo- phy, which does not allow us to have loft our original L'-berty of doing good.

LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE, a Right or Power of making Profetfion of any Religion that a Man fees fit. This feems to be a natural Right 5 it is vigoroufly op- pofed by the Generality of the Romanes, and even by many of the Reformed, tho' it feems as if the Reforma- tion could fcarcc fubfift without it.

LIBRA, Balance, one of the twelve Signs of the Zo- diack, exactly opposite to Aries.

LIBRA, one of the Mechanical Powers. See Balance. LIBRA, the antient Roman Pound, borrowed from the Sicilians, who called it Libya. It w r as divided into twelve Uncia:, or Ounces, equal to about ic{ Ounces of our Weight. The Divifions of their Libra were the 'Uncia T i, the Sextans y, the Quadrans ^, the Triens j t the Quincunx five Ounces, the Semis fix, the Sep- tunx feven, the Be s eight, the Dodrans nine, the Dextrans ten, the Detmx eleven; lafily, the As weighed twelve Ounces, or one£;7»\7. The Roman Libra was ufed in France for the Meafurc of their Coin till the time of Charlemagne, orperhaps rill that of Philip I. in 10JJ3. their Solsbeingfo proportioned, as that twenty of them were equal to the Libra. By degrees it became a Term of Account, and every thing of the Value of twenty Sols was called a Livrc. See Lhre. The Romans had alfo a Coin called Libra, equal to twenty Denarii. Sca- hger will have it, that Libra was even among them a Term of Account, not a Coin. See Pound.

LIBRA PENSA, in our Law-Books, is a Pound of Money in Weight : it being ufual in former Days not only to tell the Money, but to weigh it; in regard many Ci- ties, Lords, and Bifhops having their Mints, coin'd Mo- ney, and often very bad too : for which reafon, tho the Pound confined of 20 Shillings, they always weigh'd it.

LIBRARH, among the Antients, were properly thofe who tranferibed in beautiful, or at leaft legible Characters, what had been wrote by the Notarii in Notes and Abbre- viatures. The Word was alfo ufed for Copies, or thofe who wrote Books for the Bookfellers.

LIBRARY, an Apartment or Place deflined for the placing of Books ; or the Books themfelves lodg'd in that Apartment. Some Authors refer the Origin of Li- braries to the Hebrews, and obferve that the Care they took for the Prefervation of their Sacred Book?, and the Memory of what concern'd the Actions of their Anccftors, became an Example to many other Nations, and parti- cularly the Egyptians. Ofymandrias King of Eg ypt is faid

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to have taken the hint firft, and had a Library built Palace, with this lnfcription over the door, :*•*$« ."Weaay. Nor were the Pt olemys, who reign'd in the fame Country, lefs curious and magnificent in Books. The Scrinrurc fpeaks ot a Library of the Kings of Perfia, EfdrfoW, 15. VI. 1. which fome imagine to have confiftcvf of the lii- itormns of that Nation, and of Memoirs of the A&iirs of the State ; but, in effect, it appears rather to have been a Depofitory of Laws, Charters, and Ordinances of the Kings. The Hebrezu Text calls it the look of Treafures, and afterwards the Houfe of the Books of Trtafures. We* may with more juflice sail that a Library, mention'd in the fecond of Efdras to have been built by Nehemiah, and in which were preferv'd the Bonks of the Prophets and of David, and the Letters of their Kings.

The firft who erected a Library at Athens, was the Ty- rant Pifijlratus 5 and yet Strabo refers the Honour of it to Arijiotle. That of Pifjlratus was tranfportcd by Xerxes into Perfia, and afterwards brought by Sehncus Nicanor to Athens. Long after, it was plundered by Sylla, and rc- cftabliftied by Hadrian. Plutarch fays, that under Eume- nes there was a Library at Fergamus containing icoccc Books. Tarannion, a celebrated Grammarian, Cotempo- rary with Pompey, had a Library of 300c Volumes : That of Ptolemy Philadelphus, according to AmmiaiwsMarcellimts, contain'd 7000, all in Rolls, burnt by Cxfar's Soldiers. Confantine and his Succeflbrs erected a magnificent one at Confiant'mople, which in the eighth Century contain'd 300000 Volumes, all burnt by order Gf Leo Jfauricus -■, and among the reft, one wherein the Had and Odyfjee were written in Letters of Gold on the Guts of a Ser- pent.

Themoft celebrated Libraries of antient Rome were the Vlpian and the Falatin. They alfo boaft much of the Libraries of Patdus Emilius, who conquered Terjius ; ofLa- cilius LucuUus, of Afinius Follio, Atticus, of Julius Severus, Domhian, Seranus, Pamphylus, Martyr, and the Emperors Gordtan and Trajan.

Antiently every large Church had its Libia ry ; as ap- pears by the Writings of St. Jerom, Anaflafius, and others. Pope Nicholas laid the firft Foundation of that of the Vati- can in 1450. It was deftroy'd by the Conllable Bourbon in thefacking of Rome, and reftored by Pope Stxtus V. and has been confiderably enrich 'd with the Ruins of that of Heidelberg, plunder'd by Count Tilly in 1622.

One of themoft compleat Libraries in Europe is faid to be that erected at Florence by Cofmo de Medicis 5 over the? Gate whereof is wrote, Labor ahfqke Labor e. Tho it is now exceeded by that of the French King f begun by Francisl. augmented* by Cardinal Richlieu, and complcat- cd by ^[.Colbert. The Emperor's Library, according to Lambecius, confills of Sccco Volumes, and 15940 Curious Medals.

The Bodleian Library at Oxford, built on the Foundation of that of Duke Humphry, exceeds that of any Univerfity in Europe, and even thofe of all the Sovereigns of Europe y except the Emperor's and French King's, which are each of 'cm older by a hundred Years. It was fir It open'd in 1602, and has fince found a great number of Benefactors 5 particularly Sir Rob. Cotton, Sir H. Saz-il, Archbifhop Laud, Sir Kenchn Digby, Mr. Allen, Dr. Pocock, Mr. Selden, and others. The Vatican, the Medicean, that of Bejfarioni at Venice, and thofe juft mention'd, exceed the Bodleian in Greek Manufcripts 5 which yet outdoes 'em all in Oriental Manufcripts. As to printed Books, the Ambrofi 'an at Milan, and that of Wolfenbuttel, are two of the moft famous, and yet both inferior to the Bodleian. The Cotton Library con- fifts wholly of Manufcripts, particularly of fuch as relate to the Hiftory and Antiquities of England ; which, as they are now bound, make about icoo Volumes,

LIBRATA TERRiE, a Portion of Ground containing 4 Oxgangs, and every Oxgang 13 Acres. With us it is fo much Land as is yearly worth 20 s. In Henry the Illd's time, he that had quindecim Libratas Terra?, was to receive the Order of Knighthood.

Some fay, that as Money is divided into Pounds, Shil- lings, Pence, and Farthings, the fame Degrees are to be obferved in the Divifion of Lands; and therefore as Quadrans fignifies a Farthing, fo Quadrar.tata is the fourth part of an Acre, Oblata an half, Deiiaria a whole Acre, Solid.ua 12, Acres, and Librata 20 times 12 Acres, i. e. 240 Acres.

Spelman compares an Acre to a Mark in Money ; and as in one there are rtfo Pence in Money, fo in the other there are i<5c Perches of Land.

L1BRATION, in Aflronomy, which fome call Trepi- dation, an apparent Irregularity in the Motion of the Moon, by which me feems to librate or fhake about her own Axis, fometimes from the Eaft to the Weft, and fometimes from the Weil to the Eaft : whence fome Parts in her Wefterr. Limb or Margin recede from the Centre of the Disk, and fometimes move towards ir.

Some