(Joseph), a learned and ingenious, but fanciful and credulous writer in the 17th century, was born at Plymouth in 1626, and bred at Oxford. He became a great admirer of Mr Baxter, and a zealous person for a commonwealth. After the restoration, he published The vanity of dogmatizing; was chosen a fellow of the Royal Society; and, taking orders in 1662, was presented to the vicarage of Frome-Stowwood in Somersetshire. This same year he published his Lux Orientalis; in 1665, his Sceptis Scientifica; and in the year following, Some philosophical considerations touching the being of witches and witchcraft, and other pieces on the same subject. In 1666, he published Plus ultra; or, The progress and advancement of knowledge since the days of Aristotle. He likewise published