1bution of Aqueducts is, that as the buſineſſe is now governed, it
lieth in the power of a ſordid Maſon to take unjuſtly from one,
and give undeſervedly to another more or leſſe Water than be
longeth to them of right: And I have ſeen it done, of my
own experience. But in our way of meaſuring and diſtri
buting Waters, there can no fraud be committed; and put
ting the caſe that they ſhould be committed, its an eaſie mat
ter to know it, and amend it, by repairing to the Tribunal
appointed.
lieth in the power of a ſordid Maſon to take unjuſtly from one,
and give undeſervedly to another more or leſſe Water than be
longeth to them of right: And I have ſeen it done, of my
own experience. But in our way of meaſuring and diſtri
buting Waters, there can no fraud be committed; and put
ting the caſe that they ſhould be committed, its an eaſie mat
ter to know it, and amend it, by repairing to the Tribunal
appointed.
Thirdly, it happens very often, (and we have examples there
of both antient and modern) that in diſpenſing the Water after
the common and vulgar way; there is ſometimes more Water diſ
pended than there is in the Regiſter, in which there will be regi
ſtred, as they ſay, two hundred inches (for example) and there
will be diſpenſed two hundred and fifty inches, or more. Which
paſſage happened in the time of Nerva the Emperour, as Giulio
Frontino writes, in his 2. Book, De Aquaductibus Vrbis Romæ,
where he obſerveth that they had in Commentariis 12755. Qui
naries of Water; and found that they diſpenſed 14018. Qui
naries. And the like Errour hath continued, and is in uſe alſo
modernly until our times. But if our Rule ſhall be obſerved,
we ſhall incur no ſuch diſorder, nay there will alwayes be given
to every one his ſhare, according to the holy end of exact juſtice,
which dat unicuique quod ſuum eſt. As on the contrary, it is
manifeſt, that His Divine Majeſty hateth and abominateth Pon
dus & pondus, Menſura & menſura, as the Holy Ghoſt ſpeak
eth by the mouth of Solomon in the Proverbs, Chap. 20. Pondus
& Pondus, Menſura & Menſura, utrumque abominabile eſt apud
Deum. And therefore who is it that ſeeth not that the way of
dividing and meaſuring of Waters, commonly uſed, is expreſly
againſt the Law of God. Since that thereby the ſame meaſure
is made ſometimes greater, and ſometimes leſſer; A diſorder ſo
enormous and execrable, that I ſhall take the boldneſs to ſay, that
for this ſole reſpect it ought to be condemned and prohibited like
wiſe by human Law, which ſhould Enact that in this buſineſs there
ſhould be imployed either this our Rule, or ſome other that
is more exquiſite and practicable, whereby the meaſure
might keep one conſtant and determinate tenor, as we make it,
and not, as it is now, to make Pondus & Pondus, Menſur a &
Menſura.
of both antient and modern) that in diſpenſing the Water after
the common and vulgar way; there is ſometimes more Water diſ
pended than there is in the Regiſter, in which there will be regi
ſtred, as they ſay, two hundred inches (for example) and there
will be diſpenſed two hundred and fifty inches, or more. Which
paſſage happened in the time of Nerva the Emperour, as Giulio
Frontino writes, in his 2. Book, De Aquaductibus Vrbis Romæ,
where he obſerveth that they had in Commentariis 12755. Qui
naries of Water; and found that they diſpenſed 14018. Qui
naries. And the like Errour hath continued, and is in uſe alſo
modernly until our times. But if our Rule ſhall be obſerved,
we ſhall incur no ſuch diſorder, nay there will alwayes be given
to every one his ſhare, according to the holy end of exact juſtice,
which dat unicuique quod ſuum eſt. As on the contrary, it is
manifeſt, that His Divine Majeſty hateth and abominateth Pon
dus & pondus, Menſura & menſura, as the Holy Ghoſt ſpeak
eth by the mouth of Solomon in the Proverbs, Chap. 20. Pondus
& Pondus, Menſura & Menſura, utrumque abominabile eſt apud
Deum. And therefore who is it that ſeeth not that the way of
dividing and meaſuring of Waters, commonly uſed, is expreſly
againſt the Law of God. Since that thereby the ſame meaſure
is made ſometimes greater, and ſometimes leſſer; A diſorder ſo
enormous and execrable, that I ſhall take the boldneſs to ſay, that
for this ſole reſpect it ought to be condemned and prohibited like
wiſe by human Law, which ſhould Enact that in this buſineſs there
ſhould be imployed either this our Rule, or ſome other that
is more exquiſite and practicable, whereby the meaſure
might keep one conſtant and determinate tenor, as we make it,
and not, as it is now, to make Pondus & Pondus, Menſur a &
Menſura.
And this is all that I had to offer to Your moſt Illuſtrious
Lordſhip, in obedience to your commands, reſerving to my ſelf
the giving of a more exact account of this my invention, when
the occaſion ſhall offer, of reducing to practice ſo holy, juſt, and
Lordſhip, in obedience to your commands, reſerving to my ſelf
the giving of a more exact account of this my invention, when
the occaſion ſhall offer, of reducing to practice ſo holy, juſt, and
zoom in
zoom out
zoom area
full page
page width
set mark
remove mark
get reference
digilib