Sec. 8. Now, if, as appears from what is already said, God has not afforded to Man, any Means whereby he can attain to the more inferior Degree of Prophecy, which consists in having only some part of his Will reveal'd; and that not constantly or habitually, but as occasion serves: How vain and fond is it then for any one to imagine that he has given him a Capacity of enjoying his Presence as he is, and of seeing all things in him?[37] Which is as much above the Attainments of the greatest Prophets, as theirs is above the weakest of Men. For if we consider we shall find that the Prophets Business consisted in delivering a particular Message to one or more; the Contents of which sometimes they receiv'd by Day[38], which sort of Vision is call'd _Machazeh_, or, _Mareeh_, or else by Night in a Dream, and this was call'd _Hhalom, a Dream_, or _Hezyon Hallaiyelah, a Nocturnal Vision_. But what is either or both these to the Intuition of the Divine Presence? There is as much Difference, as there is between a great Courtier and a Favourite, who when he pleases, enjoys the Presence of his Prince, and one who is now and then sent by him on an Errand. And yet to such a degree of Enthusiasm have some gone, as our Author here in particular, and several more of the same strain in those former Ages, and the _Quietists_ and other _Mysticks_ and Enthusiasts in our times, that nothing will down with him less than the Intuition of the Divine-Being, and they despise _Meditation_[39], as a mean thing, and too much below one that aspires to Perfection. And this, it seems, is attainable by Application and continued Exercise; whereby they have at once set all Mankind in a Capacity of out-doing infinitely the ancient Prophets, who if they had known any thing of this way, certainly would not have been so sparing of it in their Writings, especially when their Business was to labour for the Benefit and Instruction of Mankind. But there is not one word in all their Writings which favours this Opinion, from whence we may safely conclude, that they had no such Notion; and yet it must not be in the least doubted, but that they were throughly acquainted with the Will of God, and knew more of his secret Counsel than any other Men in the World whatsoever.