Libertines and of Hereticks proceeds from their doubting of the Truth of the Decisions of the Church because they are not Evident and they hope that the Truths of Faith may be demonstrated Now their Love for Novelty is Irregular since that possessing the Truth in the Faith of the Church they ought not to seek farther Besides the Truths of Faith being far above the reach of their Understanding they would not be able to discover them supposing that according to their False Opinion the Church were guilty of Error But if there are many who deceive themselves in refusing to submit to the Authority of the Church there are as many who are deceiv'd in submitting to the Authority of Men. We must submit to the Authority of the Church because it can never submit Blindly to the Authority of Men because they are always liable to Mistakes What the Church teaches us is Infinitely above the reach of Reason What Men teach us is submitted to our Reason So that as it is a Crime and an Insupportable Vanity to endeavour to find out the Truth in Matters of Faith by our Reason without regarding the Authority of the Church So it is a great Indiscretion and a despicable poorness of Spirit to rely blindly on the Authority of Men in Things which relate to Reason Nevertheless most of those that are esteem'd Learned Men in the World have only acquir'd that Reputation by knowing the Opinions of Aristotle of Plato of Epicurus and of some other Philosophers by Heart by submitting blindly to their Sentiments and by defending them with Obstinacy In order to obtain the Reputation of Learning in the Universities it is sufficient to be acquainted with the Sentiments of some Philosopher Provided they will Swear In Verba Magistri they soon become Doctors Most Communities stick to a peculiar Doctrine which the Members are not allow'd to deviate from What is True in some is often False in others They are sometimes Proud of defending the Doctrine of their Order against Reason and Experience and they think themselves oblig'd to wrest the Truth or their Authors to reconcile them This produces a World of Frivolous Distinctions which are so many by ways that lead Infallibly to Error If any Truth is discover'd even in our days Aristotle must have seen it or if Aristotle be against it the Discovery must be False Some make that Philosopher speak one way others another for all those who pretend to Learning make him speak their Language He is made the Author of all sorts of Impertinencies and few Discoveries are made which are not found Enigmatically in some corner or other of his Books In a word he is ever contradicting himself if not in his Works yet at least in the Mouths of those that teach him For though Philosophers protest and even pretend to teach his Doctrine it is difficult to meet two that agree about his Sentiments For indeed Aristotle's Books are so Obscure and fill'd with such rambling general Terms that one may with some Appearance of Truth impute to him the Opinions of those that are most opposite to his It is easie to make him say whatever one has a mind to in some of his Works because he hardly says any thing in them though he makes a great deal of Noise as Children suppose the Sounds of the Bells to say what they please because they make a great deal of Noise and say nothing I must confess that it seems very Rational to fix and to stop the Mind on some particular Opinions to hinder it from running out into Extravagancies But what then Must it needs be done by Falshood and Error Or rather can any one believe that Error can fix the Mind Let Men examine how difficult it is to find Persons of Sense pleased with the reading of Aristotle and that can perswade themselves they have acquir'd any true Science even after having grown old on his Books and it will appear plainly that nothing but Truth and Evidence can fix the Agitations of the Mind and that Disputes Aversions Errors and even Heresies are entertain'd and encourag'd by an Ill Manner of Study Truth consists in Individuality it is not capable of Variety and nothing besides it can reconcile Peoples Minds Falshood and Error only serve to divide and agitate them I do not question but there are some who do verily believe that he they call the Prince of Philosophers is no-wise in an Error and that Real and Solid Philosophy are only to be found in his Works There are some who fancy that though it is Two thousand Years since Aristotle wrote no body has yet been able to discover that he was guilty of any Error and consequently being in some respects Infallible they may boldly follow him and quote him as such But I do not think it worth my while to answer such Persons because their Ignorance is so gross that it only deserves Contempt I only desire them to tell me whether Aristotle or any of his Disciples have ever deduced any Truths from the Principles of Natural Philosophy which may be called his or if they or any of them have done it themselves let them declare it let them explain it and let them prove it and we do engage our selves never more to speak of Aristotle without an Elogy we will no longer say that his Principles are Useless since they have served to prove one Truth but there is no reason to expect it They were long since challeng'd to do it and particularly by Monsieur Descartes in his Metaphysical Meditations about Forty Years ago even with a Promise to demonstrate the Falsity of that Pretended Truth And there is no great likelihood to believe that any body will ever presume to do what Monsieur Descartes greatest Enemies and the most Zealous Defenders of Aristotle's Philosophy have not hitherto dar'd to undertake Therefore I hope I may presume to say that it is a strange Blindness Poorness of Mind and Stupidity of Spirit thus to submit to the Authority of Aristotle of Plato or of any other Philosopher whatever That People lose their time in reading them when their only Design is to get their Opinions by Heart and those that teach them make their Disciples lose theirs likewise Therefore give me leave to say with St. Austin * Quis tam Stulte curiosus est qui filium suum mittat in Scholam ut quid Magister cogitet discat Aug. de Magistro That those are Foolishly Curious who send their Sons to the College in order to learn the Sentiments of their Master That Philosophers cannot instruct us by their own Authority and if they pretend to do it they are Unjust That it is a kind of Folly and Impiety to Swear their Defence Solemnly And finally those Injustly confine Truth who out of Interest oppose the new Opinions of Philosophy which may be True to preserve those which are sufficiently known to be False or Useless CHAP. IV. A Continuation of the
Body for if he had he must have Examin'd the Configurations of the parts of some Fruit with all the parts of his own Body and the Relation resulting from both to be able to Judge whether in the heat of his Blood and a thousand other Dispositions of his Body this Fruit would be proper for his Nourishment 't is plain that his Mind was intirely imploy'd upon things that were unworthy its application and even unprositably enough because he was not long preserv'd after this manner If we consider then that the Mind of Adam was not Infinite we may safely say that he knew not all the Properties of Bodies that were about him since 't is manifest that they are Infinite and if it be granted which cannot reasonably be deny'd that his Mind was not made to Examine the Motions and Configurations of Matter but for the Contemplation of God no one can be displeas'd if we assert that it was biass'd and disorder'd in that time wherein all things should have been perfectly well order'd if he had been oblig'd to turn his Mind from the Consideration of the Perfection of his true Good to Examine the Nature of some Fruit for his Nourishment Adam then had the same Sensations as we have which suggested to him what was necessary for his Body without being diverted from God he was Sensible of Pleasures as we are and even of Pains or prepossess'd and indeliberate Aversions but these Pleasures and Pains could not Enslave him or render him Unhappy like us because that being Absolute Master of all the Motions which were excited in his Body he immediately put a stop to them if he only wish'd they might cease and certainly he always wish'd it in respect of Pain How happy had he been and we also if he had done the same in respect of Pleasure and if he had not voluntary strayed from the presence of his God by suffering his Mind to be taken up with the Beauty and expected Sweetness of the Forbidden Fruit or perhaps with a Presumptuous Joy that was excited in his Soul at the Consideration of his Natural Perfections But after he had Sin'd those Pleasures which before only modestly Accosted him and those Pains which without disturbing his Felicity only put him in mind that he might Fall and become Miserable were not any longer under his Command his Senses and Passions Revolted against him they became Irregular and made him like us a Slave to all Sensible Things Thus the Senses and Passions do not derive their Origination from Sin but only the Power they have of Tyrannizing over Sinners and this Power has not so much disorder'd the Senses as the Mind and Will of Men which ceasing to be so strictly united to God do not any longer receive that Light and Vigour by which they might preserve their Liberty and Happiness From these two ways of Explaining the Disorders of Sin we may easily gather A Remedy for that Disorder which Original Sin hath caused in the World and the foundation of Christian Morality that there are two things necessary for our Recovery The first is That we must lessen that Load we sink under and which drags towards Sensible Goods by continually Retrenching our Pleasures and Mortifying our Sensuality with Repentance and Circumcision of Heart The second is That we must beg the Assistance of God's Grace and that prepossess'd Delight which * See the Explanations Jesus Christ hath particularly Merited for us without which whatever we retrench from that first load will still oppress us and however small it is it will Infallibly draw into Sin and Disorder These two things are absolutely Necessary for us to begin and persevere in our Duty Reason as we have show'd does perfectly agree with the Gospel in this and from both we learn that Humility Self-denial and the Diminution of the Power of Sin are necessary Preparations for our Recovery by the Power of Grace and Re-union with God But in our present State tho' we are continually oblig'd to strive against our Senses yet we must not thence conclude that they are absolutely corrupted and deprav'd for if we consider that they are given us for the Preservation of our Bodies we shall find that they admirably well perform their Duty and conduct us after so just and faithful a manner for the end we receiv'd them that it seems very injurious so to accuse them of Corruption and Disorder they so readily inform the Soul by Pain and Pleasure by agreeable and disagreeable Sensations of what is necessary to be done or omitted for the Preservation of Life that we have little reason to say this order and exactness is the Consequence of Sin 'T is not our Serser but our all use of our Lâ—hertâ— that â—◠〈…〉 Our Senses then are not so deprav'd as is imagin'd but the inward Constitution of our Soul 't is our Liberty that is Corrupted 't is not our Senses but our Will that deceives us by its precipitate Judgments For Example when we see the Light 't is certain that we see it when we feel Warmth we are not deceiv'd if we believe we feel it whether before or after Sin but we are deceiv'd when we judge that the Heat we feel is out of the Soul that feels it as shall be Explained hereafter The Senses then do not deceive us if we make a good use of our Liberty and if we accustom not our selves upon their account to Judge of things with too much precipitation but since it is very difficult to refrain from it and we are as it were constrain'd thereto because of the strict Union between our Soul and Body I shall lay down a Method to conduct us in our use of them so as to avoid Error We must exactly observe this Rule A Rule to avoid Error in using our Senses Never to Judge by the Senses of things as they are in themselves but only of the Relation that they have between themselves for indeed they are not given us to know the Truth of Things in themselves but only for the Conservation of our Body But that we may be wholly deliver'd from that easiness and inclination we have of following our Senses in a Search after Truth we shall particularize in the following Chapters some of the chief and general Errors which we are liable to whence the Truth of what we have advanc'd will be more Evident CHAP. VI. I. Of the Errors of the Sight in respect of Extension consider'd in it self II. An Enumeration of these Errors as to Invisible Objects III. Of the Errors of the Sight concerning Relative Extension SIght is the first the most Noble and most Extensive of all the Senses if then they were given us for a Discovery of Truth this alone would assist us more than all the others together So that if we can destroy that Authority which our Eyes have over our Reason there 's little need of any thing else to undeceive us and to
create in us a General Diffidence of all our Senses We shall then show that we must not rely upon the Testimony of our Sight to Judge of the Truth of things as they are in themselves but only to discover what Relation they have to the Preservation of our Body that our Eyes generally deceive in all they represent to us in the Greatness of Bodies in their Figures and Motions in Light and Colours which are the only things we see that all these things are not what they really appear to be that all the World is deceiv'd in them and by this Error led into innumerable others We shall begin with Extension and produce those Proofs which incline us to believe that we never see any thing as it is We commonly see Animals with Microscopes Of the Errors of Sight in respect of Extension consider'd in it self much less than a Grain of Sand that is almost Invisible to the naked Eye * Journal des Scavans du 12. Nov 1668. we have even seen some a thousand times yet less These living Atoms walk as well as other Animals Then they have Legs and Feet and Bones in these Legs to uphold them Muscles to move them Tendons and an infinite Number of Fibres in each Muscle and lastly Blood or Animal Spirits extreamly subtile and fine to fill and contribute successive Motion to these Muscles It 's impossible without this to conceive that they Live are Nourish'd and Transport their little Bodies into different Places according to the different Impression of Objects or rather 't is impossible that even those who have employ'd all their Life time in Anatomy and an Enquiry into Nature should represent the number diversity and fineness of all the parts whereof these little Bodies are necessarily Compos'd to make them live and execute all those things that we see them do The Imagination is lost and astonish'd at the sight of so surprizing a Smallness it cannot apprehend nor take hold of such Parts that have no hold for it and altho' Reason convinces us of the Truth of what we have said yet the Senses and Imagination oppose it and often compel us to doubt of it Our Sight is extreamly limited but we must not limit its Object the Idea which it gives us of Extension hath very narrow Bounds but we must not thence conclude that Extension hath the same Bounds it is doubtless Infinite in one Sense and this little part of Matter that is hid from Eyes is capable of containing a World in which there are as many things tho' much less in Proportion as in this great World we Inhabit The little Animals we spoke of have perhaps other little Animals which they devour that are Imperceptible because of their Stupendious Smallness That which is a Handworm in respect of us these Animals are so in respect of it and perhaps there are in Nature yet lesser and lesser ad infinitum in so strange a Proportion as this betwixt a Man and a Handworm We have Evident and Mathematical Demonstrations of the infinite Divisibility of Matter and this is sufficient to incline us to believe that there may be Animals lesser and lesser ad Infinitum altho' out Imagination is lost in the Thought God made Matter only to form Admirable Works thereof and since we are certain there are no Particles whose Smallness is capable of limiting his Power in the formation of those little Animals why do we unreasonably limit and diminish the Idea we have of an Infinite Creator by measuring his Power and Operations by our Finite Understanding Experience has already undeceived us in part by shewing us Animals a thousand times less than a Hand-worm why would we have them to be the last and least of all for my part I see no reason to imagine it on the contrary it 's much more probable to believe that there are some yet much lesser than those we have discovered for indeed those little Animals are not so much wanting for Microscopes as Microscopes for them When we examine the * Principle of Generation Germ in the midst of Winter taken out of the Bole of Tulip either by the Naked Eye or a Convex Glass we very easily discover leaves in it that will become green those that are to compose the Flower of the Tulip that little Triangular part which encloses the Seed and the six little Columns which encompass it at the bottom of the Tulip so that we cannot doubt but the Germ in the Bole of the Tulip contains a whole Tulip It is reasonable to believe the same of the Germ of a Grain of Mustard that of the Kernel of an Apple and generally of all sorts of Trees and Plants although undiscoverable by the Naked Eye nor even with a Microscope and it may be confidently said that all Trees are contain'd in little in the Germ of their Seed It does not appear unreasonable to think that there are an infinite number of Trees in one single Germ since it does not only contain the Tree whose Seed it is but also a great number of other Seeds which may also include in themselves new Trees and new Seeds of Trees which last also may contain other Trees and Seeds as fruitful as the first and thus on ad infinitum So that according to this Opinion which cannot appear impertinent or ridiculous to any but those who measure the Wonders of the Almighty Power of God after the Idea's of their own Senses and Imaginations one might say that in one Kernel only of an Apple there might be Apple-Trees Apples and Seeds of Apple-Trees for almost infinite Ages in the proportion of a perfect Apple-Tree to an Apple-Tree in its Seed and that Nature does only unfold these little Trees by administring a sensible growth to that which is out of its Seed and an insensible but real growth proportionable to their bigness to those which we may conceive to be their Seeds for we cannot doubt but that there may be Bodies small enough to insinuate themselves in the Fibres of these Trees which we may conceive to be their Seeds and by that means to nourish them What we have said of Plants and their Germs may be also applied to Animals and the Germ of which they are produc'd We see in the Germ of a Tulip's Bole an entire Tulip * The Germ 〈…〉 〈…〉 we also see in the Germ of a new laid Egg a Chicken perhaps entirely formed although it has not been hatch'd We discover Frogs in the Eggs of Frogs and other Animals besides even in their Germ upon a Curious Inquisition but when the Eyes of the Body can pierce no deeper the Eyes of the Mind must not be limited * Vâ—â—â— De 〈…〉 M. 〈…〉 being much more extended We suppose then that all the Bodies of Men and Animals which shall be produc'd till the Consummation of Ages have probably been produc'd from the Creation of the World * 〈…〉 I mean the first Female