me again in the right path If not Some Courteous Ghost tell this great Secrecy What 't is you are and we must be Norris For I have small Acquaintance with the Future State and never met with any one of those Millions of Souls that have past into the other World to learn any News concerning the Knowledge they have of each other And therefore 't will be excusable if now and then I advance what I cannot prove and follow their Examples who fill their Maps with Fancies of their own Brains And I am the more willing to treat concerning the Nature and Condition of separate Souls because it agrees with a Humour of Curiosity I have a long time been distemper'd with I have often thought what would I give for the least glimpse of that Invisible World which the first step I take out of this body will present me with and have tryed by an Eye of Faith to look within the Veil but still find my Intellect too light a Plummet and the whole Thread of Life tho spun out in finest Speculations still proves too short to reach the endless bottom But though I have never yet seen the Innumerable company of Angels converst with Abraham Isaac and Jacob or the Spirits of Just Men made perfect which daily minister about the Throne that I might know the mutual Love and Entertainment of the blessed the Spirituality of their Glorify'd Bodies how they communicate their Thoughts to each other or the Knowledge they have of their Old Acquaintance Yet have I here with my Pen drawn a Scheme of my thoughts of our Invisible Friends on purpose to see whither it wou'd lead me and whither I cou'd follow it It was but last Night I was complaining to a VVater Drinker * Mr. Sh ley for I 'm now at Tunbridge swilling on Nature's bounty to Crazy Mortals of my Great Curiosity especially in things relating to the other World and in my Conversation by way of Prolepsis I have frequently been making Remarks that way But I tell you before-hand in treating of this Subject I shall leap over all Subdivisions and inferiour Sects of Christians and profess only to the World that the Divine Mercy and Favour is not limitted to a particular Canton or Party I am not only a Lover of good Men of all Perswasions but a meer Enemy to those Names which distinguish one Party from another in the Church Good men often contend about words when they heartily think the same thing and therefore I as little doubt to find Dr. Sherlock in Heaven as Mr. Aisop And do as little question their being of one mind in Heaven after all their Jangling as that they 'll presently know and rejoyce to see one another when they come there In Heaven says a late * Mr. Dorrington in his Discourse call'd The separate State of Good Souls Writer shall we meet many Dear Relations and Intimate Friends and perhaps some Enemies who shall then to our Great Joy and Satisfaction be perfectly reconciled to us which was that we most passionately desired before but it may be cou'd not find means to accomplish it However be it as it will I Live and Move by the Divine Providence and am willing to assert it in spight of all those Narrow Souls that dare trust God no further then they can see him or think none can be saved but those that are distinguish'd with their own Superscription But I shou'd remember I'm writing to one of an Extensive Charity and need not inlarge here So I come now to prove That if Infinite mercy bring us to Heaven we shall know one another there There are two things that comfort us under the Death of Friends The one is the hopes they are gone to Heaven And the other is That if Infinite Mercy bring us thither we shall one day see 'em again and have those very Friendships which they had Conâ—racted here below Transplanted to the Mansions above But what the knowledge is of our Souls separated and glorified we shall then know when ours come to be such In the mean time we can much less know their thoughts then they can know ours Sure we are they do not know in such manner as they did when they were in our Bosoms by the help of Senses and Phantasms by the discurssive inferences of Ratiocination But though we cannot see what manner of Metaphysical Matters our Souls are yet we know they really exist and act our Bodies although they are not Subject to Sense yet this doth not hinder but that a Spiritual substance may be separated from our Body and may be again Cloathed with a Body or Vehicle that may be Airy Fiery or Cloudy and be visible to our Senses although the existence or essence of the Spirit we cannot see but it's outward Cloathing and that such appearances have been in all Ages the Learned as well as the unlearned affirm from real matters of Fact But now whether the Soul in a state of separation acts independently of Matter purely by the strength of her own Powers or whether in order to the better knowing her self and other beings the makes use of a Body of Air shaped out into such Limbs and Sences as she hath occasional Employment for Whether or no the want of her old Companion is supplyed this way is uncertain But whatever abatements of happiness the pious Soul may suffer for want of a suitable body between the time of Death and the General Judgment then we are sure this inconvenience will be removed and it will be repossessed of its Ancient Seat out of which Violence or Nature had forced it But we cannot know these things Till we are strip'd into Naked Spirits and set a shore on the other invisible World Yet this we know at present that when our Souls are elevated to a condition suitable to the Blessed Angels so they know like them Though not by the means of a Natural Knowledge as they yet by that Supernatural Light of Intimation which they receive by their glorified Estate Whether by virtue of this Divine Illumination They know the particular occurrences which we meet with here below he were bold thas would determine Or if they do I 'm sure Eliza but her Love will tell you the rest only this we may confidently affirm that they do clearly know all those things which do any way appertain to their Estate of Blessedness Amongst which Whether the Knowledge of each other in that Region of Happiness may justly be ranked is not unworthy of our disquisition Doubtless as in God there is all perfection eminently and transcendantly so in the sight and fruition of God there cannot be but full and absolute felicity yet this is so far from excluding the knowledge of those things which Derive their Goodness and Excellency from him as that it compriseth and supposeth it As then we shall perfectly love God and his Saints in him so shall we know both And though it be
concerned about parting for I hope we shall both meet where we shall never part That she dy'd in this Belief yet furthet appears by the Letter she writ about her Funeral which concludes with saying My Dear as to what you mention about our Funerals I like it well and am yet further pleased with our Ground Bedfellows I doubt not but dear O thee and I shall make as wholesome a Morsel for the Worms as any and as we sleep together in the same Grave so I hope we shall be happy hereafter in the Enjoyment of the Beatifick Vision and in the Knowledge of one another for adds she I agree with you that we shall know our Friends in Heaven Wise and Learned Men of all Ages and several Scriptures plainly shew it tho I verily believe was there none but God and one Saint in Heaven that Saint wou'd be perfectly happy so as to desire no more but whilst on Earth we may lawfully please our selves with Hopes of meeting hereafter and lying in the same Grave where we shall be happy hereafter if a Senseless Happiness can be call'd so You mention Writing your Thoughts of the Nature of the Soul and that other World we are hastening too but seeing you did not send them I shall wait with Patience till those things are no longer the Object of our Faith but Vision I shall only add my hearty Prayer that God wou'd bless you both in Soul and Body and that when you die you may be conveyed by the Angels into Abraham's Bosom where I hope you 'll find your constant Eliza. And as Eliza that part of my self now in Heaven believ'd she shou'd know me â—â—ere so I also find my Reverend Father of this Opinion as appears by the following Letter (*) This Letter was sent me during my Apprentiship in the City of London Viz. My Dear Child If you endeavour to please God and your Master I do not doubt but I shall meet thy Face in Heaven hereafter tho thro my Corporal Indisposition I fear I shall see thy Face no more on Earth and in that New-Jerusalem if thou diest in Christ I shall see thee not disfigured with Pockholes but dignified with Celestial Glory and there thou wilt see thine own Mothers Face who kill'd her self with Excess of Love to thee and who died praying so earnestly for thy Everlasting Salvation 'T is clear from hence that my Father thought he shou'd know my Face in Heaven and that I shou d see my Mother there so as to know her again My dear Mother was also of this Opinion as appears by the Letter to her Brother Jeremiah it concluding thus Pray Brother earnestly contend for the Faith once delivered to the Saints that you may follow the Lord fully in your Generation and that you and I with all our Relations may one day sit down in Heavenly Places together with Jesus Christ. And Cloris too for I can't speak of Heaven without her is of this Opinion where she says speaking of Mr. That Saints and Angels listen to his Song and knew him so very well that not an Angel Critick durst correct his Verse Dear Charmer shall we see thee too in Heaven Phil. Then Cloris know in Heaven I 'll be Your Friend and Guardian-Angel too And tho with more refined Society I 'll leave Elysium to converse with you Cloris But grant Sir Phil. you still are kind You cannot long continue so When I like you become all Thought and Mind By what Mark then shall we each other know Phil. With Care on your last Hour I wi l attend And least like Souls shou'd me deceive I closely will imbrace my new-born Friend And never after my dear Pithia leave You see Ignotus I am all Rapture when I talk of Cloris but 't is Excusable sure if not Phil Forgive Bright Maid this little Extasie Ah! who can be compos'd that thinks of thee Who can Pindarick Flights refuse Whilst thou doest lash the Fiery-foaming Muse I 'll curb her in and try if I can be As Grave as Sober and as Wise as thee Nor think dear Friend I ramble now from you for I never talk to the Purpose but when I bring in Cloris our Friendship both here and hereafter wou'd be imperfect without her It shou'd sweeten the Thoughts of Heaven to us both to think we shall one day see her there Which if we do with what Ardours shall we then caress one another With what Transports of Divine Affection as one expresses it shall we mutually embrace and vent those Innocent Flames which had so long lain smothering in the Grave How Passionately Rhetorical and Elegant will our Expressions be when our Tender Sentiments which an aged Father and Death had frozen up when he congeal'd our Blood shall now be thaw'd again in the warm Airs of Paradice like Men that have escaped a common Shipwreck and swim safe to the Shoar shall we there Congratulate each other with Joy and Wonder I need not tell you says the Ingenious Boyle Tha we shall be more justly Transported at this Meeting than was good old Jacob at that of his Son Joseph whom having long mourn'd for dead and lost he found not only Alive but a great Favourite ready to welcome him to an unknown Court For whereas the Patriarch said to his Son Now let me dye since I have seen thy Face the seeing of our Friends in Heaven will assure us that we shall for ever Live with them there Dear Ignotus wonder not at this Rapture for if Eliza whilest on Earth had Christian love enough to Embrace the whole World in Heaven she has not left her Nature but only its imperfections she has not changed her affections but only hightened and improved them and therefore judge how happy I shall be when I see her again and how much more happy in her Excellent friendship for my part I can imagine nothing but an Extacy when we shall Live in such great Hearts which are nothing else but LOVE and JOY Nay this seems to be the summ of what we can say of the happiness of that State that it consists in a rapturous Love of God and one another Where this is found that Place is Heaven * * See Mr. Foes Car. of Dr. Annesly Could I Reheatse to your Conception what is Heaven above t would be Concisely thus all Heauen is Love Sure I am we shall behold no narrow Conclusive Soul in Heaven habitually prefering their private before a publick good and on this Score had I no better Grounds I should hope to meet Eliza in Heaven as she preferred that and the pleasing her Husband to all the Baggs in the World Then surely if I meet her again my first Address to Eliza will be 'a Dialect of Interjectons and short Periods the most Pathetick Language of surprise and high wrought Joy and all our after Converse even to Eternity will be Couch'd in the highest Strains of Heavenly Oratory methinks
to preserve each other in the Way And they who would wear the same Crown of rejoycing in the Presence of Christ will assist each other here that they perish not in the agony and conflict The Egyptians Embalmed the Carcasses of the Dead to preserve them if it were possible through all the parts of Time being guided by an opinion that so long as the Body continued undissolved the Soul would not forsake the Earth but continue hovering about the place where the Bodies lay In like manner the Souls of men which by many kinds of Association may be united into one mass and heap and as it were become parts of one another will continue the more vigilant and active for each others everlasting Welfare so long as they are perswaded against an eternal divorce and dissolution and do contrarily believe they shall be rewarded by a sense of each others happiness and that that union which is among themselves as of one member to another shall not be dissolved but perfected by that Union which shall unite them to Christ as to their Head and through him unto God Ignotus I might stop here for I hope by this time I have made it plain that the Saints know one another in Heaven But this being a Curious Point I shall yet bring more Authoritys to prove it and the next I shall Name is the Pious * See His four last things Bolton Who positively asserts The knowing of our Friends in Heaven his Words are these All comfortable knowledge shall be so far from being abolished in Heaven that it will be inlarged increased and perfected But to know one another is a comfortaâ—lâ— knowledge Yherefore we shall know one another in Heaven Our knowledge shall be perfected For We shall know as we are known 1. Cor. 13.12 Which is set out by Comparison of the less That our knowledge then shall differ from that now as the knowledge of a Child from that of a Perfect Man In Heaven all the mists of Ignorance and Blindness being perfectly cleared up and taken away we shall see one another together with all the Saints though we did not know them before For if Adam by vertue of the Divine Image stampt upon him knew Eve though taken out of his Body while he was asleep Why should not we being Transformed according to the same Image from Glory to Glory by the Father Son and Holy Ghost know the Members of the same Body Those full of the Spirit and Wisdom of God may as easily be suppos'd to know one another as Adam before the Fall while he retained the Image of God knew Eve who and whence she came And as Samuel knew Saul by the Inspiration of God though he had not seen him before Sam. 9.17 And John knew our Lord Christ in the Womb of the Blessed Virgin So their Minds were Enlightened by the Rayes of the Holy Spirit Then Conceive if thou canst Ignotus how grateful that knowledg will be by which we shall know all others as all others shall know us The Knowledge which all men in this Life unprofitably desire shall be such to the Good that they shall be ignorant of nothing they are willing to know For the Good shall be filled with the perfect Wisdom of God and shall see Him Face to Face and in seeing of this shall behold the Nature of all Creatures which they shall see in God better then themselves For then the Just shall know all things which God hath made knowable as well those which are past as those which are to come When the Elect shall see the antient Fathers in their Eternal Inheritance they shall know them by Sight whom they knew in their Work for they shall see them all by a common Illumination What is it they can there be ignorant of when they know him who knows all things The Vision of God is not only promised to the Saints in Heaven but also of all things that God has made as the Sun Moon Stars Earth Seas Rivers Living Creatures Trees and Mettals But our Minds know nothing i. e. No perfect Substance nor Essential Differences nor Properties nor Virtues Nor did ever any Man see his own Soul but we grope like the Blind and acquire the Knowledge we have by Discourse VVhat shall the Joy then be when we shall see by the Light bestowed upon us the nature of all things barefaced And how wonderfully shall we be transported when we shall see innumerable Armies of Angels in the Differences of their Degrees and Order And in Heaven as we shall know the Saints not in Outward Worldly Respects but as we know them in Christ by the Illumination of the Spirit so also we shall know the Spiritual Substances Offices Orders Excellencies of the Angels and the Nature Immutability Operations and Original of our own Souls c. and in a Word all things knowable Here 't is the happy Residentiaries Understandings are wide open'd to all the amazing Lights and Discoveries of Truth to the Mysteries of Creation and Providence of Redemption and Sanctification to the now puzzling Difficulties of Nature and of Grace of God's Prescience and Man's Free Will Here 't is the Wills also of the Glorified are render'd conformable unto are swallowed up in and made one with God's Holy Will and Pleasure ' There says the ingenious Boyle we shall have clearly expounded to us those Riddles of Providence which have but too often tempted even good Men to question God's Conduct in the Government of the World whilst the Calamities and Persecutions of Virtue and Innocence seem approved by him who accumulates Prosperities on their Criminal Opposers And I must profess adds he as Vnfashionable as such a Profession maâ— seem in a Gentleman not yet Two and Twenty that I find the Study of those excellent Themes Gods Word and his Providence so Di ficult and yet so Pleasing and Inviting that could Heaven afford me no greater Blessing than a clear Accompt of the Abstruse Mysteries of Divinity and Providence I should value the having my Vnderstanding Gratified and Enriched with Truths of so Noble and Precious a Nature enough to court Heaven at the rate of renouncing for it all those unmanly Sensualities and trifling Vanities for which Inconsiderate Mortals are wont to forfeit the Interest their Saviour so dearly bought them in it But this is not all for here we shall with wonderful Ravishment of Spirit and Spiritual Joy be admitted to the sight of those Sacred Secrets and Glorious Mysteries 1. Of the Holy Trinity into which some Divines may audaciously dive but shall never be able to explicate 2. Of the Union of Christ's Humanity to the Divine Nature and of the Faithful to Christ 3. Of the causes of God's Eternal Counsel in Election and Reprobation 4. Of the Angels Fall 5. Of the manner of the Creation of the World c. Neither is this all for we shall also be beatifically enlightned with a clear and glorious Sight of
Angels and Saints of that Heavenly Court are perpetually Singing Praises and Hallelujahs to God Almighty and to the Lamb that sits on the Throne and are daily Embracing each other For that there 's such a thing as Friendship among Angels I do not question for Love each other undoubtedly they must and Love more intensely they may such as have the most beautiful Characters of the Divine Power and Goodness upon them And that there is also a Communication of Angels and Souls in Heaven plainly appears from Rev. 7.9 10 11 12. 1 Cor. 13.1 Dan. 8.13 But I conceive this Communication to be chiefly in an ability of Insinuating their Thoughts to each other by a meer Act of their Wills just as we now speak to God or our selves in our Hearts when our Lips don't move or the least outward sign appear Whether there 's any other Converse I shall enquire at the end of this Essay but that there 's sufficient to know and be known I am fully satisfied But tho this may suffice as to our knowing the Angels Yet Secondly As to the Saints I shall never know them for certain I did know 'em on Earth 't is true but since they are gone to Heaven they are so hugely altered I shall not know one of 'em when I see 'em again Nay Phil. and I can't give an Instance will affect you more you 'l scarce know Eliza there The * See Dr. Sheldon of Mans Last End Glory of her Soul will be seen through her Body in such a sort that they 'l both shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of Heaven Neither can you tell me Philaret what kind of Matter our Bodies shall have in the other Life 'T is in the power of Microscopes to represent a Hair glittering and curious beyond Expression much more can a real Infinite Power effectively make it so Matter is all one to the Maker We have some light of our Resurrection by the first Fruits of it our Saviour who with that very same Body he was Crucified rose again and ascended into Heaven but was changed before he got there it being not a receptacle for Common Flesh and Blood I see no reason why Matter may not be changed to something else and only called so to our apprehension as well as form of Matter We have Instances of the different Forms our Saviour appear'd in after his Resurrection and once that with his Natural Body he appear'd to his Disciples when the doors were shut The Appearance our Bodies will have in Heaven will be shining and bright as may be gathered by Moses his Face shininig when he had seen the Glory of God as also the manner of Moses Enoch and Elias their Appearance to our Saviour in his Transfiguration the Description that St. John gives of our Saviour in the Revelations with many more places in Sacred Writ But to be express in my Definitions of this Matter 't is impossible since all reveal'd are only such Terms as are adapted to express what ever appears most Glorious and Dazling here not being yet capable to entertain greater manifestations and such as we shall really be fitted for hereafter The Mystery lies here when our Bodies shall be Immortalized at the last day we know not what Substance they will be of but I am satisfied the most refined Matter as it is now will be nothing like ' em All that can be said of it is this there will be new inexpressible somethings which will have the same proportion to one another as our place and Matter now have The Bodies of Christ Enoch and Elias are certainly in Heaven and the Sun Moon and Stars are certainly in the Firmament but what those bodies are and the Heaven they are in as also what those Stars are and the Firmament they are in I know not for it does not yet appear what we shall be that is we can give no full or exact account of the Future Condition either of our Bodies or Souls yet this in general we know that as our Souls shall be impeccable so our Bodies shall be incorruptable that they shall be glorified and therefore must be Glorious and Luminous like the Glorious Body of our Saviour at the Transfiguration It 's also probable that the Matter whereof they are composed shall be so refined in quality and perhaps so diminished in quantity that we shall as I mentioned before be in that Sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that our Bodies shall be no longer Clogs to our Souls but obey their Commands and indue the Nature of Spirits in their quick and imperceptible Motion from one Term to another However this is certain * Lessius de summo bono l. 3. c. 5. Our Bodies shall be fully possest with Glory and the Soul full of the Light of Glory shall be diffused through the whole Body and all the parts of it The Eyes those Windows in the Vpper-Story how lightsome shall they be They shall then be renewed and made more Bright and clear than the light of the Sun The very act of Seeing shall be most clear and perfect the Eye shall be able to bear the Brightest Splendor We may conceive that those that are in this place of Blessedness at one single aspect may perfectly see from one end of the Heaven to the other there being no defect in the Objects Medium or Organ or any thing to intercept the sight The Objects being so Trasparent and Glorious What a pleasant sight is the out side of Heaven bedect with the Sun Moon and Stars What then is the inside where the Glory of a God is display'd Not through a Glass darkly but with Eyes enabled perfectly to behold it And as the EYES will be thus wonderfully altered from what they were so the EARS the Nostrils the Mouth the Hands the Lungs the Marrow the Bowels and every particular Member of the Body will be cast into a new Mold But 't is the Opinion of a Learned * See Mr. Colliers Ser. concerning the difference between the present and Future State of our Bodies Writer That though the Sences of Seeing Hearing and possibly that of Smelling too will accompaning the Bodies of the Saints to Heaven but for the other two grosser Sences they are too course and insignificant to have much Employment there And therefore he Judges they 'l be changed into Two-New-Ones of a more Spiritualized and more Refined Nature I may add to this that the Age wherein we shall Live again will so transform us that we can never be known in Heaven to our old Acquaintance for that which refers to the Kingdom of God in this World may in this case be very properly applied to that in the other There shall hencefoth be no more an Old Man neither an Infant of Days It seems not proper to say we shall be raised at Any Age I mean such a State as we were in at such an Age since undoubtedly we shall be endued with
Immoderate Sorrow for the Death of Friends 1 Thess 4.13 14 18. I wou'd not have you says he to be ignorant Brethren concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him wherefore comfort ye one another with these Words Now if our Friends were to rise in such a disguised manner as not to be known again by us this kind of Consolation wou'd be Impertinent and Vain Neither let the many Cavils my dear Ignotus which Atheistical Scoffers oppose against the Resurrection of the Dead with the same Bodies startle us since besides the Divine and Rational Proofs I have urged for it there are more Natural Arguments against than for these Opposers for to omit other Allegations it must needs be very Absurd in 'em to grant that God first took a Parsel of Matter and moulded it into the Body of such and such a particular Man fashioning it with such and such Features as might distinguish it from the Bodies of other Men and yet not be willing to own he can tell how to take up and collect together the same Individual Parts of Matter again and make them up again into the same Fabrick with the same Features since Nature it self assisted by a little Art is daily found to effect something very approaching that Divine Operation it being a very usual thing with expert Chymists by their Skill and Conduct to make the dispersed Particles of a calcin'd Flower or Plant to fly up and assemble together again in the perfect Shape and with the lively Colour of the Flower or Plant to which they belong'd but slighting these Men's trifling Objections let us Ignotus keep fast to that Infalible Word that promises Eternity to our new Friendship and that all the Innocent Joys it gives us here shall be remembred and continued in Heaven Thus have I largely prov'd by Arguments drawn from Scripture Reason and the best Writers that if we get to Heaven we shall know one another there by Face Stature Voice and the Relation we had to each other on Earth And not only so but that we shall know the general Assembly and Church of the First Born whose Names are now written in Heaven the * Heb. 12.23 Patriarcks Prophets Apostles Martyrs and People of God that have lived in all Ages and Nations from the beginning of the World to the end of it Object But may some say if we shall know me another in Heaven I 'de be further inform'd what wi l be the subject Matter of our Discourse there And in what Language shall we then talk Nay good Sir excuse me here for who has ever mounted to the highest Scale of Heavenly Bliss Ler him come down and tell as what is the Pious Conference and Language in Heaven Let him come down and tell us the Mysteries wrapt up in Clouds the Secrets hid within the Veil of Inaccessible Light Let him describe the Wonders of the Beatifick Vision and say how deep the Rivers of Pleasure are which run by Gods Right-Hand for evermore for my part I must confess I 'm lost in that Abyss of Wonders and therefore shou'd modestly withdraw my Pen to Subjects within my Reach However something I 'le guess at tho that 's all to Answer these Curious Inquirers but hold says another before you go any further I wou'd also know strange How far will some mens Curiosity lead them That if we shall know one another in Heaven By Face Stature Voice c. Whether we shan't alse know one another By difference of Sex Answ Yes doubtless we shall and because this Question hath something of Novelty in 't for it opposes the general received Opinion particularly Mr. Baxters who says the Saints shall know one another in Heaven but adds he I think not by Sex I 'le prove this in the First Place And then tell you as far as I can what will be the Discourse and Language of that Blessed Acquaintance that get to Heaven and with that Conclude this tedious Letter And here seeing Novelties make an impression on the Mind before I Handle this Nice-Point I 'le First Premise that 't is charity to lend a Crutch to a lame Conceit However if I am askt for my Authorities I Answer what appears reasonable wants no other Recommendation than being so and as to what appears over strange let Ignotus consider that Philosophy had never been improved had it not been for New-Opinions which afterwards were rectified by abler Pens and so the First Notions were lost and nameless under new Superstructures but such a Fate to use the Words of a late Author is too Agreeable for my Judgement to repine at or my Vanity to hope for But that there 's a difference of Sex in Souls and will be Male and Female in Heaven tho the Notion's new yet I never doubted it and hope to make it plain before we part Object But you 'l say when the Holy Spirit speaks of separated Souls that are gathered up into Heaven he does not speak of Male or Female but only of Souls without distinguishing either kind or Sex And further that 't is said there is no Marrying in Heaven Mark 12.25 And that in Jesus Christ there is neither Male nor Female Gal. 3.28 VVhich it directly contrary to the distinction of Sex in Souls For if Sex be only for the sake of Marriage where there is no Marriage there is no need of Distinct-Sex Then why that in Heaven which there 's no need of All that 's of the Essence of a Man will undoubtedly he there and that 's a Rational Soul united to an Organiz'd Body but what Organs will be necessary then we can't tell however these cannot Besides this difference is only Accidental Man and Woman being in Essence the same But in a State of Bl ss and Perfection all that 's Imperfect or Accidental shall be removed and accordingly one wou'd think Sexes should I won't add for another Reason what as I remember one of the Fathers has said That were there any Woman in Heaven the Angels could not stand long but would certainly be seduced from their Innocency and fall as Adam did But one wou'd think that if Souls were to Marry it ought to be in Heaven which is the Element of Spirits after the Bodies had been united in Marriage upon Earth the Seat of material things Perhaps you 'l also Object the Words of St. Austin who says The Soul is not distinguished into Sexes And that of St. Cyril who liv'd before him who also says The Souls of Men and Women are absolutely alike nor is there any parts of their Bodies wherein there is any difference to be observed To this I Answer That Souls may be distinguish't into Male and Female notwithstanding these Objections since 't is a Common saying The Soul of a Man and the
Soul of a Woman And moreover because it is generally believed and no less sensibly acknowledged that they have each their particular Character the Soul and consequently the Vnderstanding of the one is Resolute and Constant that of the other Light Wavering and Changable Eliza Cloris Daphne Sapho Anonyma Ariadne your Dear Dorinda and my SHE-Angel are all the exceptions I know of from this Rule The Soul of one takes a pride in being Grave and speaking little the other talks much and cannot forbear twatling upon every thing and which is yet more to the purpose does not Moses say That the Sons of God whom several of the Fathers of the Church have Expounded to be Angels Fell in Love with the Daughters of Men And if there be a Sex mark'd out for Love in Angels we need not scruple to go a little farther and say that there is also a Sex in Souls To this we may likewise add certain Experssions of those great Men who are frequently Cited by Tertullian in his Writings I mean Homer who gives the Greeks the Appellation of She Achaeans and Virgil who calls the Trojans She-Phrygians and Cicero who Reports that Hortensius was treated at Rome with the Title of Madam whence could proceed this Custome of giving Men the Epithites of Women but only because that ' tho they had the Bodies of Men they had the Souls of Women And I might mention the Apparitions of Men and Women in the same Shape and Sex they formerly lived is in no contemplible proof of this Assertion But you 'l say perhaps Souls are not furnisht with Organs that make this distinction between 'em and that a Spirit cannot become Visible To this I Answer I own a Spirit cannot become Visible 't is not an Object for a material Eye being it self not Matter but what appears to us in the Shape and Sex of Male and Female is somthing that a Spirit assumes as Condenced Air or the like neither does the Souls not being furnisht with Organs hinder the Distinction of Sex 't is true I acknowledge that Souls are simple Beings which admit of no composition of parts and so they cannot have that Distinction which appears in the Corporeal Sex But can there not be found a Spiritual Distinction seeing that we meet with a * As was hinted before in the Friendship between Ignotus and Philaret Marriage of Minds as well as Bodies Whence it comes to pass that two Minds seek the Injoyment of one another and Love each other by a Secret-Simpathy 'T is Objected that this Union never Produces other Souls But do all Bodies of different Sexes Produce other Bodies There are Insects that are Produced the same in likeness every way without the Assistance of Sexs There are perfect Creatures which have different Sexes which never Procrâ—ate such are Mules and Moyles This then can be no convincing Argument that there is no difference of Sex in Souls because their Union does not Produce another Soul Which is a thing that no Body neither can certainly determin for in regard we know not the Nature of Spirits neither can we have a perfect knowledge of their Faculties till we come to Heaven And Tertullia as was said before does affirm That they â—e able to Pro-create their like seeing that the â—ons of God became enamour'd of the Daughters of Men and that those Sons of God were Angels But that there is a difference of Sex in Souls is further evident if you consider that the Soul is so far from assuming the Disposition of the Body that 't is the Body which conforms to the Disposition of the Soul for this Disposition proceeds only from the Substantial Form The Body cannot give it to it self it is indifferent of it self but the Form is the Vnderstanding which determines it to be such as it is It should be then from the Soul that this distinction of Organs should proceed It should be she that should determine the Sex and consequently the Soul it self that should be Male and Female For as no Body can give that which it has not of necessity the Soul must be furnish'd with Sex before it can bequeath it to the Body Thus having Answered some of the Arguments denying There 's a Sex in Souls I shall next consider the Scripture Passages brought against this Opinion and shall first begin with that of Saint Paul's saying of Christ that He is neither Male nor Female I shall next consider that other Text which says There is no Marrying in Heaven These Texts being brought as the main Arguments to prove There 's no difference of Sex in Souls and that we shan't be known in Heaven by that distinction First as to St. Paul's saying That Christ is neither Male nor Female To this I Answer he speaks of the whole Jesus Christ or only of his Body or only of his Soul He does not speak of his Body for certain it is That as to his Body He was of the Masculine Sex If he speaks of his Soul that makes for my Opinion For in saying that of the Soul of Christ St. Paul intended to say something extraordinary of Him which was not common to Him with the rest of Men and to the end that that shou'd be 't is requisite that the Souls of all other Men shou'd be individually Male and Female else it had been of no Importance to say what he says of Christ The Apostle had told us nothing of Novelty in that particular But to give you a better Interpretation of the thing 't is the Opinion of a Learned Man that St. Paul meant the whole Jesus Christ That is to say that his Person Compos'd of two Natures Divine and Humane is Singular and has nothing of Similitude with other Bodies except some Organs that make the distinction of Sex so as to be enclin'd to the Production of others of the same double Nature and Order So that this makes nothing against my Opinion but much for it And as to that other Text which says That in Heaven there is neither Marrying nor giving in Marriage it directly proves my Assertion For Virginity and Celibacy are so far from denying Sex that they suppose it Thus Christ did not intend to say That there wou'd be no Distinction of Sexes in Heaven And if he does not Assert this we are left at liberty to believe there will for the Reasons I have here given which plainly prove that glorified Bodies shall be admitted into Heaven the Bodies of Male and Female Saints and that at present there are no other than Male and Female Souls in that blessed Place except it be the Body of Jesus Christ I might next consider the Words of St. Austin and Cyril who say all Souls are alike but their Opinion being meer Conjecture without any further Proof I shall pass it by in Silence Thus having largely proved That there 's a difference of Sex in Souls and consequently That we shall know one another in Heaven
and Philaret to find that siâ—cere Friendship which for 15 Years they had beâ—â— Contracting here below translated to the Mansions â—bove when I shall see and know her again wiâ— whom I had lived so well and slept so long in tâ— Dust I say in the Dust for I desire in my WILâ— to be buried with her that so as our Souls shâ— know each other when they leave the Bodies our Bodies also may rise together after the lâ— Night of Death and you find Eliza * As you nâ— find in the Iâ—dication to 〈…〉 Essay of this Opinion where she says Dear Phil whilst on Earth we may lawfully please our selves with Hopes of meeting hereafter and in lying in the same Grave where we shall be happy together if a sâ—less Happiness can be call'd so Further in answer to the Question whether I and Wife shall love one another above other Saiâ— Let us remember rightly that Instruction our Saviour Jesus Christ who teacheth us how the Fruits of Marriage ought to stretch and what Distinction we are to make between our Habitation and Being in this World and our Rest in Heaven between that Angelical Nature and this which is Corrupt and Humane for in Heaven the Fruits Reasons and Respects of Marriage do cease the only Divine and Angelical Nature bringeth forth her Effects in Spiritual Vertues and not in Humane Passions which having had their Course in this Crasie Life could never pass into Heaven The Husband and Wife shall die I mean the Bodies of Husband and Wife but not the Gift of God which shineth in the Faculty of the Soul and in such Vertues as are inseparable from her Over all which Death and the Grave hath no Power as it hath over the Body and Sensual Affections * See a Treatise call'd The Treasure of a Christian Soul The Corporal Conjunction between the Husband and the Wife shall cease but the Memory in the Soul shall remain not of Bodily Things and of contrary Nature unto that Heavenly Glory but of such things as are agreeable unto a Spiritual Being Likewise also Bodily Temporal and Sensual Love shall remain in the Grave but Charity which desireth to see her in Glory and Immortality shall fly into Heaven and there from Day to Day will inflame it self in such wife as that the Soul of the Departed Husband being in Heaven will there Love and Know her whom he loved in this World yet then not as being his but as being the Spouse of Christ not as having been one Flesh Corruptible and Mortal in times past but as being to be in time to come both of them together as also with all the Holy Ones Bones of the Bones of Christ and Flesh of his Flesh So that if Philaret gets to Heaven he 'll there not only Know but Love his Eliza with a Remembrance becoming a Spiritual Nature freed from Fear void of Care alienate from all Mortal Desire so thâ—t he who in the World remembred her whom then he possessed in Condition of a Wife and for a use both Carnal and Corruptible shall Remember her in Heaven in condition as being a Member of Christ for the Society of the same Glory and for a use Dedicated to God only to Celebrate Eternally his Praises and Immortal Glory Now that this Desire or Remembrance and Charity is in those Blessed Souls not of a quality imperfect or infirm as here in the World but sutable and becoming unto that their Estate of Perfection appeareth by that meeting and Conference of Moses and Elias with our Saviour Jesus Christ Luke 9.30 In the Mount whereon he was Transfigured upon the Subject of his Death and Passion As also by the desire of those Souls which rest in Heaven under the Golden Altar and that their desire and remembrance was of such things as had passed and were done in this World is apparent in this complaint Rev. 6.9 How long Lord Holy and True dost thou not Judge and Avenge our Blood on them that dwell on the Earth But is it so may some say that we shall know and so particularly Love our Wives and Friends again in Heaven Then pray tell us will this Friendship be lasting or shall we be placed according to our Love to God in different Spheres and so get New-Friends My Answer is I believe we shall For God is an Infinite Object that which is Finite tho never so refined and advanced in its Nature cannot know God altogether nay can never know him all I think it therefore fair arguing that our knowledg of him there must be successive our Capacity still augmenting with our Knowledge as our Happiness with both Take another not improbable Argument for the same Head In Heaven we shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like the Angels Their Knowledge is gradual for they look into the Church to learn the Mysteries thereof even though in Heaven And why then may not ours be so too if e're we are so happy by Gods Grace to get thither But if it be so that the Sainâ—s in Heaven not only know their former Acquaintance but are further contracting of new Friendships then I wou'd know says another Inquirer Whether they have any knowledge of or ever concern themselves with the affairs of their Friends in this Life and what is to be thought of the Apparitions of the Dead To this I Answer as formerly that the Platonists have made many bold Assertions both concerning the State of the Soul before it came into the Body as also after but their Reasons are as strange as their Assertions What Priviledges some Souls may enjoy in their separate State above others is yet a Riddle but there are some Instances of this Nature unaccountable To mention one Caesar Baronius in his Annals mentions an entire Friendship betwixt one Michael Mercatus and Marsilius Ficinus and this Friendship was the stronger betwixt them by reason of a mutual Agreement in their Studies and an addictedness to the Doctrines of Plato It fell out that these two Discoursing together as they used of the State of Man after Death according to Plato's Opinions there is Extant a Learned Epistle of Marsilius to Michael Mercatus upon the same Subject but when their Disputation and Discourse was drawn out something long they shut it up with this firm Agreement that whichsoever of them two should first depart out of this Life if it might be should ascertain the Survivor of the State of the other Life and whether the Soul be Immortal or not this Agreement being made and mutualy sworn unto they departed In a short time it fell out that while Michael Mercatus was one Morning early at his Study upon the sudden he heard the noise of an Horse upon the Gallop then stopping at his Door withal he heard the Voice of Marsilius his Friend crying to him Oh Michael Oh Michael those things are true they are true Michael wondering to hear his Frienâ—s Voice rose up and opening the Casement
didst prefer before all things the pleasing of God and thy Husband I am unwilling to be diverted from such a delightful Subject of Contemplation but like the Men in a Dream who is pleased for a while with his fancied Enjoyment of things delicious to his Palate Naâ—ure will not be so put off tho the Imagination may but presently convinces him that his Enjoyment is but a Dream and that his Body must needs have a more substantial Support so my real Want of that Happiness which I formerly enjoy'd quickly renews my Grief and redoubles my Desires to be where thou art Should it be my Fate to be engaged again in another Marriage which my Inclinations are at present whoâ—ly averse from because I think it utterly impossible for me ever to find such another as thy self who wert a Meet-help for me of Gods own providing but should it I say be my Fate to draw again in a Matrimonial Yoke and meet with one of a Temper opposite to thine I should look upon it as one of the Greatest Plagues that ever befel a Man Yet this one Comfort it should in spite of ill Nature afford me that is to say It would be a Foil to set off thy Vertue with so much the Greater Iustre and as it is impossible for me ever to Race thy Idea out of my Soul tho God knows whether a Second Marriage may not be made necessary for me by his Providence as it is lawful for me by his Word but if it should be so it must necessarily be a piercing Grief to me and that also more sensible than to another Man if I should meet with one of a Cross Nature after one of thy Mild Temper and tho the Sence of my Duty will never suffer me to be unjust yet Heav'n will pardon me if I cannot express so much Kindness to her as I did to thee for when a Man's House all on a sudden is turn'd from a Family of Love to a meer Billingsgate it may be allow'd to alter his Natural Temper for a kind Wife makes a kind Husband neither can such Alteration detract from his Kindness to his first Wife or to a Third shou'd he marry so often which will scarce be my Fate my Design being to imitate the Primitive Widows who wou'd not hear of a Second Husband If we look back into ancient Times we find there was hardly a Widow among the Primitive Christians that complain'd of Solitariness or sought Comfort in a Second Marriage Second Marriage then was counted little better than Adultery Dr Horneck's Lives of the Primitive Christians I think they carry'd this Point too high tho I must say Second Marriages for the most part are a sort of Who bids most for my own Share I am such an Enemy to 'em that I question whether I shall ever be brought to draw again in the Conjugal Yoke 'T is said by one of the Rabbins concerning Methusalah's Wife that she had Nine Husbands in one for Age and Years so I may say of thee that I had Nine Wives in thee alone for Matrimonial Sweetness and Love and have no need to marry a Tenth 'T is true the World is a Desert without the Society of Women and my self no Enemy to 'em as Argus thinks but for all that they are ay that they are dangerous things to meddle with especially for better for worse whatsoever Gold one bestows upon Fetters and how Glorious soever Servitude may be yet I perswade my self for all the Glittering Shew that Shackles and Slavery are but a couple of bad Masters and therefore will dance no more to the Musick of Fetters except Phoenix like from thy Ashes a New Eliza could arise and then I can't say what I might do for I love to look on thy Image tho but in a Friend or Picture and shall ever receive thy Kindred with honourable Mention of thy Name Then no wonder now you are dead if I live and pine like the constant †As is mention'd in the following Essay Turtle Thy Love deserves a great deal more King Charles the I. told his Queen that he had never strayed from her either in Thought Word or Deed and I am apt to believe him for I am such a Platonick my self as never to touch the Lip or Hand of a Lewd VVoman and as much averse to a Second Marriage Now Eliza's Dead I shall fly the Sex in general there 's Pitch and Birdlime in their Lips and Fingers an Itch of Amourousness of Skin all over Democrates put his Eyes out to avoid the Sight of 'em These Patterns I design to imitate for thy Love was that Nonsuch Love we were prest to in our Wedding Sermon and I must add as the unknown Ariadne told Leander Thou art much above The Vulgar World in Sence as well as Love This was thy true Character and I knew it too which are two Blessings that seldom go together but Miracles are ceased and I must not expect such another We find the First Man Adam the Righteous Lot the Meek Moses the Philosopher Crates and the Orator Cicero were all either over-reach'd or afflicted with Women and I am not so stupid to think I should meet with a better Fate or find a Second Wife that can match the First But shou'd I marry again and meet with a Shrew The General Pity I shou'd have from those that knew how well thee and I lived wou'd not be Vindication enough I 'd therefore in my own Defence write A Parallel 'tween a good and a bad Wife and prove by a Narrative of her Carriage ev'ry day that as a Vertuous Woman is a Crown to her Husband Prov. 12.4 so she that makes ashamed is as Rottenness in his Bones But God forbid I shou'd meet with one whose Folly shou'd urge me to this for 't is nothing but what 's unsufferable shall ever do it but if I shou'd I 'd lay the Saddle on the right Horse and clear my Innocence in the Face of the Sun If this works her Conversion That 's the Thing I drive at Oh! with what Joy wou'd I receive the Returning Prodigal But this Happiness I can't expect for I am pretty sure from an Instance in our Street that the most Soft Constant and exact Humourings wont cure a Grumbling Wife or a Scraping Miser such having no other Cause for their Discontent will quarrel with their good Fortune and suffer even Happiness it self to disappoint them I am told Eliza that the kinder I am to such a Wife if 't is my Fate to have her the deeper she 'll bite and if I oppose her she 'll rave that she 'll make my very Love the Cause of her Hatred or the occasion of some Mean-reflection A Prudent Wife a is from the Lord Prov. 19.14 but such a Spirit is from the Devil should such a one be my fate I mean a Devil in Petty-coats what must I do for I am but Flesh and Blood and