These words are found in Irenaeus's Treatise against Heresies, and form parts of the system of one of the Gnostic sects, which he describes. Bythus and Sige , Profundity and Silence, were held to be the origin of things. Acamoth was the Spirit of Wisdom, materialized by its adjuncts ; and according to the quotation,
'from her tears comes the substance of moisture, from her laughter that of light, from her sadness that of solid matter, from her fear that of motion.'
The Latin words are a translation of Irenaeus, Bk. I. ch. 4. § 2. The whole fancy is incomprehensible enough; but there is no difficulty in tracing Swift's reference, and the note, ascribed in Scott's edition to Wotton, is not his. Wotton had quite sufficient scholarship to have traced the quotation from Irenaeus.