The logicians school-master: or, A comment upon Ramus logick.: By Mr. Alexander Richardson, sometime of Queenes Colledge in Cambridge. Whereunto are added, his prelections on Ramus his grammer; Taleus his rhetorick; also his notes on physicks, ethicks, astronomy, medicine, and opticks. Never before published.

Est.

Esse is a general term, and may signifie the essence of a thing, or the tying of some thing to some thing that is not of the essence, as first when I say vir est, secondly, vir est doctus, where I do not respect homo from his causes, but as he hath this adjunct doctrina, and the reason why est is so general, is because this esse is from the causes, which are most general, for nothing can be said to be this, or that, before it be, which is from the causes: by this vis we must under∣stand, that power, and faculty in the thing, that cau∣seth another thing, as if he should say, the cause is affected to argue the effect forcibly, for vis is here the same that affectio is in argumentum. Esse indeed is general to all the causes, and existere is from them all, which appears by this, we say mundus est a Deo, est ex nihilo, est formata, &c. so that est is nothing but the act of the cause, to make the effect: so we shall see in a knife, there are all the four causes, to be in it, and the three former for the end, and therefore if we will not be deceived, here see that whatsoever is de esse of a thing that is a cause, res not effectum: for we have heard what res est, that is the subject of Art,

but if we had said effectum it had bene a posteriore, for we have not the effect wrought: Again, we are but yet in causa in general: by res he meanes res effici∣enda, not yet effecta. Now another fallacie is of non causa pro causa, when we take that to be the cause, which hath the potentia efficiendi, but doth not effice∣re, but is causa, quatenus it hath an hand in that effect: so that if one bring a cause, that is not a cause, though it have vim efficiendi, yet is it not causa.