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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
body_n	death_n	soul_n	union_n	6,555	5	9.5716	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A63913	A phisico-theological discourse upon the Divine Being, or first cause of all things, providence of God, general and particular, separate existence of the human soul, certainty of reveal'd religion, fallacy of modern inspiration, and danger of enthusiasm to which is added An appendix concerning the corruption of humane nature, the force of habits, and the necessity of supernatural aid to the acquest of eternal happiness : with epistolary conferences between the deceased Dr. Anthony Horneck and the author, relating to these subjects : in several letters from a gentleman to his doubting friend.	Turner, John, b. 1649 or 50.; Horneck, Anthony, 1641-1697.	1698 (1698)	Wing T3313; ESTC R5343	198,836	236

no Reason assign'd why i● shou'd be otherwise but because there is more of the sensible Nature in one part than there is in another but how can there be more or less when the whole fe●ls both wherefore if there are degrees of Pain in the Sentient Parts if we c●n feel pain in this part and none in the other and can at once feel several distinct Pains in several distinct parts then the Soul must either feel by parts which an Indivisible cann●t or Sensation must belong to another Principle whose Properties are Extension and Divisibility and if those Properties do not belong to Body or can belong to Spirit we have no Notion either of Body or Spirit Whoever throughly considers this Argument will find that the Judgment of most Learned Physician concur with this Opinion of the Corporiety of the Souls of Brutes and that the same is plainly hinted in those places of Scripture which relate to the Jewish Prohibition of Eating Blood because the same contained the Life or Soul For as our Animal Spirits 〈◊〉 off by what we call the insensible Transpiration we are sensibly enfeebled and grow unactive till there are new ones ma●e out of the Arterial Blood which Blood must be again s●p●ly'd by Corporeal Nourishment Thus we see Bodies un●●●ustom'd to hot Countries in those places their Po●es are so much open'd as to cause the Spirits flying away in such quantities that the Life would soon expire without the assistance of spi●●tuous Liquors which give a speedy supply of Spirits On the other hand we find Dormice will sleep whole Months without the help of Food but if you observe those Creatures in their sleep they are stiff and cold their Pores are so contracted that the Life cannot fly off and therefore they want no Recruit but when warmth awakens them whereby their Pores are opened they can fast no longer than other Creatures therefore if the Animal Life flies off by parts which are again renew'd by Corporeal Nourishment it is a clear Evidence that the Soul of Brutes or Animal Life is Corporeal and by this we come to a plain and true Notion of Death that it is not as usually defin'd a Separation of the Soul and Body which is but a Consequence of Death but an absolute Extinguishment of the Animal Life or Vital Flame For to suppose that meer Animals are a Compound of Matter and Spirit and that Death is only a Separation of them is to ridicule all the Natural Arguments for Man's Immortality by making them hold as strong for the Immortality of Brutes which is both against Divinity and Common Sense And indeed the reason why some Physicians who of all Men should admire most the wonderful Works of Creating Wisdom have been Atheistically inclin'd is because they are able to demonstrate that Sense is made by Matter and Motion and therefore have carelesly concluded Reason to spring from the same Principle and all our Actions to be accounted for by Mechanism and those Men help much to the Confirmation of this Opinion who assign the Office of Sensation to the Rational Soul and allow Reason to other Animals there is no Adversary to Religion but will readily grant the Animal Life and Rational Soul to be the same thing and that all Animals are Rational but then he subjoyns that the Animal Life is Corporeal and therefore concludes that Rationality is no Argument either of Immateriality or Immortality My Lord Bacon upon this Subject delivers his Opinion in the following words The sensible Soul or the Soul of Beasts must needs be granted to be a Corporeal Substance attenuated by Heat and made invisible let there be therefore made a more diligent Enquiry touching this Knowledge and the rather for that this Point not well understood bath brought forth superstitious and very contagious Opinions and most vilely abasing the dignity of the Soul of Man of Transmigration of Souls out of one Body into another and lustration of Souls by Periods of Years and finally of the too near affinity in evey point of the Soul of Man with the Soul of Beasts This Soul in Beasts is a principal Soul whereof the Body of the Beast is the Organ but in Man th●s Soul is it self an Organ of the Soul Rational Having made this Enquiry into the Soul of Brutes and given I hope sufficient proof that the same is Corporeal we shall next inform our selves what Knowledge they are endow'd with and enquire whether or no there is a Principle of Reason in the most subtil of their Actions Our common Observation may assure us That all the Actions of meer Animals are either the Effects of a bare Sensitive Nature which in various degrees is common to all or of Sensitive Creatures as they are fram'd of this or that peculiar Species or Kind for what those Creatures act according to the Nature common to all is plainly the Effect of bare Sensation We see Ideots do as much who have no use of Reason they distinguish who feeds them and fear who beats them Outward Objects must affect the Animal Spirits the Animal Spirits must make Traces in the Brain and lodge those Idea's and so far Will and Reason have nothing to do And altho' the Actions of meer Animals as they are of this or that peculiar Species or Kind seem somewhat agreeable to Reason yet they prove only a wise Author of their Beings and that the more strongly because 't is visible that those Actions are not the Effects of a reasoning Principle in those Creatures for Actions that are constantly agreeable to Reason must be somewhere directed by Reason but they are not the Effect of Re●son in those Creatures In earthly created Beings we find Reason is improv'd by degrees from a Series of Observations or from Information Men cannot conclude or reason about any thing but a Posteriori from the operation and effects of things but meer Animals act according to their Nature immediately and without observation which are so many Demonstrations that they are instructed by a secret Instinct and not by Reason or a Knowledge of what they do for they ever act according to their Natures when by plain and visible Accident they act against the most apparent Reason One wou'd think a little very little Reason wou'd instruct Creatures that they cou'd not eat when their Mouths are sewed up at least a trial might learn them that knowledge yet stitch up the Mouth of a Ferret day after day and for all that he 'l as warmly pursue the Rabbits for his food as if his Jaws were at liberty Farthermore Meer Animals must act according to their kind when so acting is visibly their certain ruin Take a Bull-dog and muzzle him throw him Bones that he may find he cannot open his Mouth ●●t after that shew him a Bull and he shall as boldly attack the Bull as if he had no Muzzle on Again It is certain that young Birds bred in Trees will

of the Humane Soul and whatever else belongs to the Science of Metaphysics which teacheth us to abstract from all Matter and Quantity Nay I presume it will not be accounted Paradoxical in me to affirm that Immaterial Objects are most genuine and natural to the Understanding especially since Cartes hath irrefutably demonstrated that the knowledge we have of the Existence of the Supream Being and of our own Souls is more certain clear and distinct than the knowledge of any Corporeal Nature whatever according to that Canon of Aquinas Nulla res qualiscunque est c. The Moral Considerations usually brought in defence of the Soul 's Incorruptibility are principally three 1. The Universal Consent of Mankind 2. Man's inseparable Appetite of Immortality 3. The Justice of God in rewarding good Men and punishing evil Men after Death Now as Cicero judiciously observes Omni in re consentio omnium Gentium Lex naturae putanda est and thus the Notion of the Soul's Immortality is so implanted in the Nature and Mind of Man that whoso denies it doth impugn his own Natural Principles As for that common Objection the Alteration observable in Infancy and old Age we may answer with the great Master of Nature at least one so esteem'd by some Innasci autem Intellectus videtur substantia quaedam esse nec corrumpi nam si corrumperetur quidem id maxime fieret ab habitatione illa quae in Senectute contingit nunc autem res perinde fit ac in ipsismet sensuum instrumentis si enim Senex Occulum Juvenilem reciperet non secus ac ipse Juvenis videret unde Senectus non ex eo est quod quidquam passa Anima sit fed quod simile aliquid ac in Ebrietate morbisque eveniat ipsaque intelligendi contemplandi functio propter aliquid aliud interius corruptum marcescit cum ipsum interim cujus est passionis expers maneat Which words consider'd we have good reason to affirm that all that Change which the Epicurean would have to be in the Rational Soul or Mind during the growth of the Body in Youth and decay of it in old Age doth not proceed from any Mutation in the Soul it self but some other Interiour thing distinct from it as the Imagination or Organ of the common Sense the Brain which being well or ill affected the Soul it self suffereth not at all but only the Functions of it flourish or decay accordingly for as the Philosopher remarks if it were possible to give an old Man a young Eye and a young Imagination his Soul would soon declare by exquisite vision and quick reasoning that it was not she that had grown old but her Organs and that she is capable of no more Change from the impairment of the Body than is usually observed to arise pro tempore from a fit of Drunkenness or some Disease of the Brain so that it is evident from hence that whatever Change Men have thought to be in the Soul by reason of that great decay generally attending old Age to not really in the Soul but only in the Imagination and the Organs thereof which are not so well dispos'd as in the Vigour of Life In like manner are we to understand that the Soul when the Members grow cold and mortify'd doth then indeed instantly cease to be in them yet is not cut off by piece-meal or diminisht and gradually dissipated but the whole of it remains in so much of the Body as yet continues warm and perfused by the Vital Heat until ceasing longer to animate the principle Seat of its Residence whether the Brain or Heart it at length bids adieu to the whole and withdraweth it self entire and perfect so that Death is an Extinction of the Vital Flame and not of the Soul which as Solomon calls it is the brightness of the Everlasting Light the unspotted Mirror of the Power of God and the Image of his Goodness and being but one she can do all things and remaining in her self she maketh all things new The like may be said with relation to those failings observable in swooning fits which fall not upon the Soul but on the Vital Organs at those times render'd unfit for the uses and actions to which they were framed and accommodated and if the Causes of such failings shou'd happen to be so violent as to bring on a sudden Death then the Soul must indeed depart yet not by reason of any dissolution in its Substance or imbecility in it self but for want of those dispositions in the Organs of Life by which she was enabled to enliven the Body Now if saith this Author in such a Thesis or Proposition which is not capable of being evinced by Geometrical Demonstration there can yet be expected such substantial and satisfactory Reasons Physical or Moral as may suffice to the full establishment of its Truth in the Mind of a reasonable Man If this be granted I thence argue that the Soul is an Immortal Substance and that its Immortality is not only credible by Faith or upon Authority Divine but also demonstrable by Reason or the Light of Nature To be convinc'd of our Immortality and satisfactorily perswaded whether or no there is any thing in us which shall not perish with the Life we are shortly to lay down is of so great and so important Consequence that I can readily expect your forgiveness if I trespass upon your Patience and inlarge a little farther upon this weighty Argument That there is somewhat in us essentially differing from distinct and superior to other Animals or that the Rational Soul of Man bears no Analogy with the Souls of other Creatures is farther elegantly toucht upon in these words of Dr. Willis The Eminency of the Rational Soul above the Brutal or Corporeal shines clearly by comparing either both as to the Objects and to the chief Acts or Modes of Knowing As to the former when●● every Corporeal Faculty is limited to sensible Things the Object of the Humane Mind is every Ens whether above or subl●mary material or immaterial true or fictitious real or intentional The Acts or Degrees of Knowledge common to either Soul are vulgarly accounted these three to wit Simple Apprehension Enunciation and Discourse How much the power of the Rational excels the other which is Corporeal we shall consider 1. The knowing Faculty of the Corporeal Soul is Phantasie or Imagination which being planted in the middle part of the Brain receives the sensible Species first only impressed on the Organs of Sense and from thence by a most quick irradiation of the Spirits deliver'd inwards and so apprehends all the several Corporeal Things according to their Exterior Appearances which notwithstanding as they are perceived only by the Sense which is often deceived they are admitted under an appearing and not always under a true Image or Species for so we imagine the Sun no bigger than a Bushel the Horizon of the Heaven and the Sea to meet

them nor whatsoever may be the Opinion of some is it that which they are united to The way and manner how the Spirit assists us in the Spiritual Understanding of Things is either through its immediate indwelling if I may so speak or through the communication of new Principles a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an ablation of every thing extraneous a dissipation of those fuliginous Vapours that both obnubilate the Mind and do imbuere objectum colore suo by the Purification of the Heart the Understanding is clarified By the Spirit of Life in the new Birth the Subject is elevated and adapted to the Object the Divine Grace renders the Mind idoneous for and consimilar to the Truth And farther there is a suggesting of Media for elucidating the Truth there is also frequently an irradiation of the Word it self an attiring and cloathing it with a Garment of Light and upon the whole the Soul both feels and is transform'd into what it knows its apprehensions are no longer dull and languid but vigorous and affective This Mystical Union of the Soul of the true Believer with Jesus Christ however difficult it may appear and hard to be reconciled to the Natural Understanding ought not to be debated or distrusted by us upon the account of our Ignorance in the manner of it We do assent to the Continuity and Adhesion of one part of Matter to another notwithstanding the Difficulties that encounter us about its Mode and tho' there be not yet any Philosophic Hypothesis that can resolve us how it comes to pass that one part more indiscerptibly cleaves to another than if they were fastened together by Adamantine Chains and therefore there is no Reason why the incomprehensibleness of the Manner of our Union with Christ shou'd any ways obstruct or weaken our belief of it having all the assurance that Divine Revelation can give us concerning our being united to Him as we assent to an evident Object of Sense or to that which is plainly demonstrated by Reason tho' there occur many things in the manner of their Existence which are unconceivable so the Quod sit and Reality of our Union with Christ being attested by him who cannot lye it becomes us to embrace it with all steddiness of Belief tho' we cannot conceive the Quo modo or manner how it is we have reason to think that through our Maker's leaving us pos'd and nonplust about the most ordinary and certain Natural Phae●omena he intended to train us up to a mancipation of our Understandings to Articles of Faith when we were once assur'd that He had declar'd them tho' the Difficulties relating to them were to us unaccountable Nor is the manner of the coherence of the Parts of Matter the only Difficulty in Nature relating to Union that perplexes and baffles our Reason but the Mode of the Mystical Incorporation of the Rational Soul with the Humane Body doth every way as much entangle and leave us desperate as the former That Man is a kind of Amphibious Creature allied in his constituent Parts both to the Intellectual and Material Worlds and that the several Species of Beings in the Macrocosm are combined in Him as in a System Reason as well as Scripture instructs us That we have a Body we are fully assur'd by its Density Extension Impenetrability and all the Adjuncts and Affections of Matter and that we have an Immaterial Spirit we are demonstratively convinc'd by its re-acting on it self its consciousness of its own Being and Operations not to mention other Mediums whereof we have spoken elsewhere and that those two are united together to make up the Composition of Man is as plain from the influence that the Body hath upon the Soul in many of its Perceptions and which the Soul hath upon the Body in the Motions of the Spirits and Blood with all that ensues and depends thereupon Nor could the Affections and Adjuncts of the Material Nature nor the Attributes and Properties of the Immaterial be indiff●rently predicated of Man were not the Soul and Body united together in the Unity of Man's Person But now how this can be is a knot too hard for Humane Reason to untye How a pure Spirit should be cemented to an earthly Clod or an immaterial Substance coalesce with Bulk is a Riddle that no Hypothesis of Philosophy can resolve us about 1. The Aristotelick substantial Uniter will not do for besides its repugnancy to Reason that there should be any Substantial Ingredient in the Constitution of Man save his Soul and Body the un●●ion of it self with the Soul supposing it to be Material or with the Body admitting it to be Incorporeal will remain unintelligible and to affirm it to be of a middle Nature partaking of the Affections and Adjuncts of both is that which our rea●onable Faculties will never allow us to subscribe to the Idea's which we have of Body and Spirit having no Alliance the one with the other and to style it a Substantial Mode is to wrap up Repugnancies in its very Notion for tho' all Modes be the Modification of Substances yet they are predicamental Accidents and how essential soever this or that Modification may be to a Body of such a Species yet it is wholly extrinsecal and accidental to Matter it self In brief the voluminous Discourses of the Aristotelian's both about Union in general and the Union of the Rational Soul to the Organical Humane Body in particular resolve themselves either into idle tattle and insignificant words or obtrude upon us Contradictions and Nonsence 2. To preclude all Union betwixt the Soul and Body on Supposition that they are distinct constituent parts of Man is plainly to despair of solving the Difficulty for not to dispute whether the Soul and Body may in Philosophic rigour be called Parts or whether Man in reference to them may be stiled a Compositum 't is enough that the one is not the other but that they are different Principles and that neither of them consider'd seperately is the Man Tho' the Soul and Body be perfect Substances in themselves and tho' the Soul can operate in its disjunct State and in its Separation will be no less a Person than Soul and Body now together are yet there are many Operations belonging to the Soul in this Conjunct State of which it is incapable in the Separate and there are many things predicable of the Soul and Body together which cannot be affirmed of them ●sunder How close and intimate soever the Union betwixt the Soul and Body be and how great soever in their mutual Dependancies in most of their Operations upon one another yet not only the Intellectual Spirit and the duly organized Matter remain even in their Consociation classically different their Essences Affections and Operations admitting a diversity as well as a distinction but there are some Operations belong to each of them upon which the other hath no influence For as the Mind is Author of many Cogitations

and Conceptions to which the Body gave no occasion so the Body is the Spring and Fountain of several Functions over which the Soul hath no Dominion nor any direct influence they remain as much distinct nothwithstanding the Union which intercedes between them as they would have done shou'd we suppose them to have had an Existence previous to their Confederations or as they shall be after the dissolution of the L●●gue between them From all which it may be Scientifically concluded That they are distinct and different Principles in Man's Constitut●on but whether thereupon he ought to be called a Compositum or they to be stiled Parts will be resolv'd into a meer Longomachy or Chat about Words tho' to speak my own Mind I see no Cause why Man may not properly enough obtain the Appellation of Compositum and the Soul and Body be allow'd for Constituent Parts Nor thirdly doth the Cartesian Hypothesis tho' the most ingenious and best contrived of any hitherto thought upon fully satisfie an inquisitive Mind in the Matter before us their Hypothesis is briefly this That God in his infinite Wisdom chose to create three distinct and different kinds of Beings 1. Some purely Material which through difference of the Figure Size Number Texture and Modification of their Parts come to multiply into many different Species 2. Some purely Immaterial among whom whether there be any Specifical Difference is Pro and Con disputed 3. Man a Compositum of both having an Immaterial Intellectual Soul joyned to an Organical Body Now say they God having in his Soveraign Pleasure thought good to form Man such a Creature he hath not only by an uncontroulable Law confined the Soul to an intimate Presence with and constant Residence in the Body while it remains a fit Receptacle or till he give it a discharge but withal hath made them dependent upon one another in many of their Operations and in this mutual dependence of one upon the other with respect to many of their Operations they state the Union betwixt the Soul and Body to consist for through the Impressions that are made upon the Organs of Sence there result in the Soul certain Perceptions and on the other hand through the Cogitations that arise in the Soul there ensue certain Emotions in the Animal Spirits and thus say they by the Action of each upon the other and their Passion from one another they are formally united But all this instead of loosing the Knot serves only to tye it faster For 1. this Mutual Dependancy as to Operation of one upon the other cannot be apprehended but in Posteriority of Nature to Union and consequently the formal Reason of Union cannot consist in it 2. There are Cases wherein neither the Impressions of outward Objects upon the Sensory Nerves beget or excite any Perceptions in the Soul which whether it proceed from obstinacy of Mind or intense Contemplation alike answers my drift and also Cases wherein Cogitations of the Mind make not any sensible Impressions upon the Body as in Extasies and yet the Union of the Soul and Body remains undissolved which argues that it imports more than either an intimous Presence or a Dependance between them in point of Operation 3. 'T is altogether unintelligible how either a Body can act upon a Spirit or a Spirit upon a Body I grant it may be demonstrated that they do so but the manner of doing it or indeed how it can be done is not intelligible That a Tremour begot in the Nerves by the jogging of Particles of Matter upon the Sensory Organs shou'd excite Cogitations in the Soul or that the Soul by a meer Thought should both beget a Motion in the Animal Spirits and determine through what Meatus's they are to steer their Course is a Phaenomenon in the Theory of which we are perfectly non-plust How that which penetrates a Body without giving a jogg to or receiving a shove from it shou'd either impress a Motion upon or receive an impression from it is unconceivable so that to state the Union of the Soul and Body in a reciprocal Action upon and Passion by and from one another is to fix it in that which supposeth the Sagacity of our Faculties to conceive how it can be Now if common Unions of whose Reality and Existence we are so well assur'd be nevertheless with respect to their Nature not only so unknown but unconceivable we may lawfully presume if their lye nothing else against the immediate Union of Believers with Christ save that it cannot be comprehended that this is no Argument why we should immediately renounce the Belief of it If we can but once justifie that there is such an Union betwixt the blessed Jesus and sincere Christians the incomprehensibleness of the manner of it ought not to discourage our Faith if we can take up with the Evidence of Sense and Reason as to the reality of other Unions whose Modes are as little understood I see no cause why the Veracity of God provided we can produce the Authority of Divine Testimony shou'd not satisfie us as to the Reality of the Union tho' the manner how it is were a question we cou'd not answer and indeed if Men will not be huff't and talk'd out of the perswasion of those things of whose Existence their Senses and Reason ascertain them tho' they cannot answer all the Difficulties they are accosted with in their Enquiries about them much less ought Christians to be hector'd out of the Belief of the Doctrines of Faith because of the Entanglements which attend the Conception of them 't is the Nature of Faith to embrace things upon the alone Testimony of God tho' it understand nothing of the Mode and Manner how they are the highest Assurance of the Reality of any thing is God's affirming it and what he asserts we are with all reverence to assent unto its Truth tho' we can frame no adaequate Idea of it nor fathom it in our own Conceptions Our Saviour himself hath adjourned the perfect knowledge of this Mystery till the glorified state in these words At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you Thus far you have had the Thoughts of the before-mention'd Author which I shall leave you to consider seriously at your leisure the Subject is indeed noble how despicably soever it may be treated by the Libertine whose Belief is stagger'd because he himself is not possest of what he has slighted and contemned and for that he finds himself at liberty to live as he listeth I must own indeed that it is scarce possible for one Man to infuse such Idea's into another as may be able to perswade that other that he himself is a Partaker of such a Spiritual Refreshment and Divine Consolation as nothing less than the Divine Gaace can communicate to his Soul and on this account I have the less admir'd that both Paelagius Socinus and their Adherents have gain'd so

of that without which we cou'd never know what a Contradiction meant is said to imply one but if for quietness sake and it may be to content their own Minds as well as the World they are willing to admit of a Deity which is a mighty Concession from them who have so much Cause to be afraid of Him then to ease their Minds of such troublesome Companions as their Fears they seek by all means to dispossess Him of his Government of the World by denying his Providence and Care of Humane Affairs They are contented He should be called an Excellent Being that shou'd do nothing and therefore signifie nothing in the World Or if the Activity of their own Spirits may make them think that such an Excellent Being may sometimes draw the Curtain and look abroad into the World then every Advantage which another hath got above them and every cross Accident which befals themselves which by the power of Self-flattery most Men have learnt to call the prosperity of the Wicked and the Sufferings of good Men serve them for mighty Charges against the Justice of Divine Providence Thus either God shall not govern the World at all or if He do it must be upon such terms as they please or approve of So great is the Pride and Arrogance of our Nature that it loves to be condemning what it cannot comprehend and truly there need be no greater Reason given concerning the many Disputes in the World about Divine Providence than that God is wise and we are not but would fain seem to be so while we are in the Dark we shall be always quarrelling and those who contend most do it that they might seem to others to see when they know themselves that they do not The variety of Disputes which have been founded upon the unaccountable Methods of the Divine Providence and the Arguments brought by designing Men to overthrow this Notion as it is founded in Religious Minds tho' they have perverted the Faith of some and like an impetuous Torrent overwhelmed and confounded a great part of the Christian as well as Heathen World have yet proved ineffectual to Bias or Seduce those whose Modesty has been greater than to set up their own Reason for an adequate Rule of Truth who have had more Piety and solid Wisdom than to limit the Power even of Omnipotence it self to their own bounded and very narrowly circumscribed Intellectuals and too much Consideration to be impos'd on by the Information of their External Senses or to take every slight appearance of Reason for a convincing Argument It is surely the most ridiculous Folly and Presumption of which any Man can be guilty to pretend to set limits to that most Excellent Being by whose Power we live or to deny the All-wise Author that Homage and Fealty due unto Him for no other Reason but because we can't acquaint our selves with the secret● of his Designs have very little knowledge of final Causes cannot dive into the motives of every single Dispensation and are not chosen Privy Councellors to the Majesty of Heaven But before I attempt any Explication of the foregoing Difficulties or make any Reply to these usual Atheistical Objections I will give you the Sentiments of two very Learned Men concerning the general Concourse or Act of Conservation which one of them has been pleased to term a continued Act of Creation a Business of so vast an import and necessity that shou'd it please the Almighty Architect for the least moment of time wholly to withdraw his Divine Power of Preservation or ordinary Concourse the Universal System must fall to ruine and this beautiful Fabric be immediately translated into its Primitive Chaos In our Reflections upon Divine Providence we are to imagine it impossible that any thing shou'd happen otherwise than the same Providence hath determin'd for it must be understood that all things are guided by his Providence whose Decrees are so immutable that unless those things which the said Decrees have pleased to let depend on our free Disposition we ought to think for our parts that nothing happens but what must of necessity nor can we without a Crime desire that the same shou'd happen otherwise Mr. Boyle in his Enquiry into the Notion of Nature has some particular Thoughts which however at first view they may seem to thwart an especial Providence of God for that He does not interpose or miraculously intervene so often as we expect he shou'd yet they will give us a clear insight into our mistaken Notions concerning that Semi-Deity we call Nature and helps us to reconcile some very odd Effects not only to our Belief of the Divine Being but of his general Concourse 1. I conceive saith that Excellent Philosopher that the Omniscient Author of Things who in his vast and boundless Understanding comprehended at once the whole Systeme of his Works and every part did not mainly intend the welfare of such or such particular Creatures but subordinated his Care of their Preservation and Welfare to his Care of maintaining the Universal Systeme and Primitive Scheme and Contrivance of his Works and especially those Catholic Rules of Motion and other grand Laws which he at first establisht amongst the portions of the Mundane Matter so that when there happens such a Concourse of Circumstances that particular Bodies fewer or more must suffer or else the setled Frame or the usual Course of things must be alter'd or general Law of Motion hindred from taking place in such Cases I say the Welfare and Interest of Man himself as an Animal and much more that of inferiour Animals and of other particular Creatures must give way to the Care that Providence takes of Things of a more general and important Nature and Condition This premis'd to obvi●●● Mis-constructions I shall take notice that there are several Instances of Persons who have been choak't with a Hair which they were unable either to cough up or to swallow down The reason of this fatal Accident is probably said to be the irritation that is made by the stay of so unusual a thing as a Hair in the Throat which occasions every violent and disorderly or convulsive Motions to expel it in the Organs of Respiration by which means the continued Circulation of the Blood necessary to the Life of Man is hindred the consequence whereof is speedy Death but this agrees very ill with the Vulgar Supposition of such a kind and provident Being as they represent Nature which is always at hand to preserve the Life of Animals and succour them in their Physical Dangers and Distresses as occasion requires for since a Hair is so slender a Body that it cannot stop the Throat so as to hinder either the free passage of Meat and Drink into the Stomach or that of the Air to and from the Lungs as may he argued from divers no way mortal Excrescencies and Ulcers in the Throat were it not a great deal better for Nature