that obscure place it receiueth the goodliest and most perfect forme that can be imagined And who will not bee abashed to consider that out of that slymie seede of man there shoulde come bones sinewes flesh skinne and such like things so diuers one from another But yet it is a farre greater marueile to see all this great diuersitie of matter to bee framed in so many sundrie members and of so many sundry formes and that with such excellent beautie so profitable and so fitte for those offices that are assigned vnto them as wee haue learned in our former discourses Nowe as God did not create all creatures in one day although he coulde well haue done it if it had so pleased him so doeth he in the generation of men For albeeit that the members are fashioned all at once so that not one of them is framed before another neuerthelesse because there is great varietie betwixt them both in respect of their dignitie and of their strength nature their mother doeth not set them forwarde all alike For in displaying her power generally towards all the partes of the bodie it commeth to passe that her worke and the figure giuen vnto it appeareth sooner or later in some members more then in others Hereof it is that the greatest and chiefest members appeare naturally before the rest albeit they are not the first that are fashioned So likewise all the members are not beautified and made perfect at the same time but some after others according as they haue heate and nourishment Nature therefore obserueth this order that the worthiest partes and such as haue in them the beginning of motion shew themselues first and then those members that are profitable and seruiceable to the former and are created for their cause And according to this order the highest partes are seene sooner then the lowest and those within before them without and they that receiue their substance from the seed before those that haue it from blood These also amongest them that are most excellent are first notwithstanding many times they haue their accomplishment and perfection after the other as it appeareth in the Nauill For although the heart liuer and braine beeing the chiefest partes of the bodie haue their beginning before that yet is it the first amongest them all that appeareth perfect Nowe then after the Nauil with his pipe or passage is formed and fashioned within the first sixe dayes the blood and spirite are next drawen by those veines and arteries whereof we spake euen now to be sent to the seede and mingled therewith that the principall members might be figured as the liuer the heart and the braine which begin first like to little bladders and so consequently the rest which are fashioned by litle and litle according as they receiue nourishment For the veines whereby the burthen is nourished may well be likened to small rootes whereby plants are cherished as also the burden it selfe may bee compared vnto plants in this point as we haue alreadie learned So that the seed receiuing this forme alreadie spoken of in the first sixe dayes during which time it is called by no other name then seede nine dayes after that the blood is drawne thither of which the liuer and the heart receiue their forme so that after twelue dayes added to the former a man may discerne the lineaments and proportion of these two members and also of the braine albeit they are not then altogether fashioned At this time the burthen is called Faetus of the Latines and Embryon of the Greekes which is as much in our language as Sprouting or Budding Next after this within the space of other eighteene daies all the other members are fashioned and distinguished So that about fiue and fourty dayes after the conception the members receiue their perfect fashion and then doeth the burthen beginne to liue not onely as plants liue but also as other liuing creatures For it hath sense feeling about the sixe and thirtieth day and from that time forward it is called an infant But as yet it is voyde of motion For by and by after it is formed it is very tender vntill that by vertue of the heate it waxeth more dry and firme which is by reason that the moysture wherby it is made so soft and tender consumeth away by litle and litle so that the nayles beginne to take roote at the fingers endes and the haires in the head Now after the childe is come to the thirde moneth if it bee a male or to the fourth if it bee a female it beginneth to stirre it selfe according to the testimonie of Hippocrates because then his bones are more firme and somewhat harder But this is not alwaies alike in all women with childe For there are some that alwayes feele it stirre about the two and fourtieth day others neuer feele the same vntill the middest of the time from the conception to the birth Yea in the same woman the same time and order is not alwayes obserued For according to the strength and good complexion of the child and the nature and disposition of the mother these things change and not onely because of the sexe Neuerthelesse it is most ordinary and vsuall for male children to moue within three moneths or thereabouts as likewise to bee borne at the ninth moneth whereas females are commonly somewhat slower both in stirring and also at their birth the reason whereof is this because male children are naturally a great deale more hote then females Galen attributeth the cause of the generation of sonnes to the strength and heate of the seede and saieth that they are caried on the right side of the wombe as the daughters on the left which is the colder side as being farthest remooued from the liuer He yeldeth also this reason why some children are more like the father and some the mother because of the greater strength of seede which they haue either from the one or from the other And when it commeth to passe that the wombe receiueth seede at two sundry passages which it hath then are twinnes engendred either at one conception or at twaine so that the later bee not long after the former according to the opinion of the Philosophers and namely of Aristotle who rehearseth many examples thereof in his seuenth booke of the historie of liuing creatures saying that a whore was deliuered of two children whereof the one was like the father and the other like the adulterer But nowe wee are to consider of the childe-birth which is as wonderfull a woorke of God in nature as any other It belongeth then to thee ACHITOB to ende this dayes worke by a discourse tending to this purpose Of Child-birth and the naturall causes thereof of the great prouidence of God appearing therein of the image of our eternall natiuitie represented vnto vs in our mortall birth Chap. 72. ACHITOB. Men are of that nature that they cannot acknowledge what they
mainteineth that the vegetatiue and sensitiue soule is no other thing then the temperament of the liuer and of the heart which are assigned to be the seats and chiefe instruments of the nourishing and vitall power and vertue And as for the animall or reasonable power whose seat is commonly placed in the braine we haue alreadie shewed his opinion Now of this part there are many euen of them who greatly magnifie it that are not yet well resolued whether they ought to take it for the animal spirit or for the temperament or for an incorporeall nature that commeth elswhere then from the body Aristotle he calleth the soule by a new Greeke name that signifieth asmuch as a perpetuall motion and sayth that it proceedeth from a fift nature and beginning which he calleth Heauen But he speaketh not so plainly that a man may iudge by his words what he thinketh of the reasonable soule in man whether it be mortall or immortall Neuerthelesse he confesseth that there is great difference betweene that power of the soule which we call more specially by the name of spirite and betweene the other twaine which he calleth the Nutritiue and Sensitiue powers For he vseth this worde Powers and affirmeth that these two first proceede onely from the bodie and are bredde there and that the Vegetatiue soule and power is more in the seede and burden then the Sensitiue But as for the third hee saieth plainely that it onely commeth from without els-where and that this onely is diuine not communicating her action with any corporall action Thus we see sufficient agreement betweene the Philosophers and the Phisitions concerning the Vegetatiue and Sensitiue soule or power but there is not so good accord about the reasonable soule and power Yea many great Diuines Doctors agree with them in the two first points For this cause Occam saith plainly that there are two distinct soules in man the one reasonable the other sensuall the reason is because it is manifest that the Sensitiue soule hath no actions but instrumentall that is to say by meanes of those instruments whereby shee exerciseth her actions and from which she hath them Whereupon he concludeth that this sensuall soule seemeth to haue her originall and generation from the seede and that it is either the temperament or some facultie and power in the bodie He confirmeth this opinion by another argument taken from the contrarie appetites and desires of the reasonable and sensuall soule out of which he draweth this conclusion That it is very likely that these are two distinct substances because it seemeth inconuenient in one and the same nature not diuided or distinguished to place appetites so wholly contrary each to other Hee addeth farther that it is a thing very agreeable to nature that euery liuing creature shoulde beget his like therefore man begetteth man like himselfe at leastwise in respect of the Sensitiue soule if not of the reasonable soule Whereupon it followeth that the Vegetatiue and Sensitiue soule proceede from the nature of the seede The Platonicall Philosophers were of opinion that soules were bred in heauen and were taken out of the diuine nature as a portion thereof and that there they were instructed and adorned with sundry sciences with knowledge and vertue and that afterwarde beeing giuen of God they descended from thence into the bodies of men as into stinking filthy and contagious prisons Whereof it followed that through the infection of these prisons they were corrupted by euill affections as it were with the filthinesse of them So that they forgate all those gifts and celestial vertues where with they had been endued and adorned in their first birth and which they had brought with them And being thus detained as prisoners in this darke and filthy prison they could no more vse all those goodly gifts but onely so farre foorth as they were taught and instructed againe by doctrine which in respect of them may be compared to a light brought to prisoners kept in a darke dungeon to light refresh them For this cause those that were of this opinion affirmed that the knowledge of men is but a remembrance and calling againe to minde of that which their soules had learned and did know in heauen at their first birth before they entred into their bodies according as we heard euen now For being descended into this base and obscure prison and hauing forgotten that which they knew their memories are rubbed vp by doctrine and instruction bestowed vpon them which kindleth againe these celestiall sparkles of their mind and portions of the diuine fire by inflaming them and causing them to burne that were almost vtterly quenched Wherupon like Philosophers they conclude that soules so infected by descending and entring into their bodies cannot returne againe nor be receiued into heauen and into the place assigned for the blessed spirits vnlesse they returne pure and cleane decked with the selfe-same ornaments wherwith they were adorned at their first birth And this they say may bee wrought by good instruction by vertue by good workes or otherwise they say they haue sundry purgings being separated from their bodies Some diuines among the Grecians haue followed at least wise in some part the opinion of these philosophers by name Origen of whom S. August thus writeth But we may marueile much more that some beleeuing with vs that there is but one only beginning of all things that no nature which is not God can haue any being but from the Creator neuertheles would not beleue rightly and simply this point of the creation of the world that is so good and simple namely that God creating all those good thinges that were after him although they were not the same that God is notwithstanding they were al good But they say that the soules not being parts of God but made of God sinned in departing from the Lorde and so by sundrie degrees according to to the diuersitie of sinnes from the heauens vnto the earth haue merited sundry sortes of bodies to be as it were their chaines and fetters This say they is the world and this was the cause of making the worlde not to the ende that the good things might be created but that euill things might be stayed and repressed Of this opinion is Origen who is worthily to be blamed These are the very wordes of this great Doctor of the Church And by that which followeth in the same place hee plainely confuteth Origens errour who in his first booke of Beginnings writeth that things without bodies were first made of God and that amongst spirituall things our spirites or mindes were also created which declining from their estate and dignitie were made or named soules of which the Greeke worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth as it were to grow colde and to decline from a better and more diuine estate beeing so called because it seemeth that the spirite or mind is waxen cold fallen
nature and composition of the heart and of the midriffe of the tunicles or skinnie couerings of the breast and of the Pericardion or Cawle about the heart of the motion office and vse of the lungs of the heart and of the arteryes Chap. 37. 224 Of the substance situation and counterpoize of the heart of the nature and vse of the vitall spirite and of the forge vessels and instruments thereof of the sundry doores and pipes of the heart and of their vses Chap. 38. 229 Of the second motion of the heart which belongeth to the affections of the soule and of those that goe before or follow after iudgement of the agreement that is betweene the temperature of the body and the affections of the soule Chap. 39. 233 Of the health and diseases of the soule of the agreement betweene corporall and spiritual physicke how necessarie the knowledge of the nature of the body and of the soule is for euery one Chap. 40. The sixt dayes worke 237 OF foure things to bee considered in the will and in the power of desiring in the soule and first of natural inclinations of selfe loue and the vnrulinesse thereof Chap. 41. 241 Of the habite of the soule in the matter of the affections and of what force it is of the causes why the affections are giuen to the soule with the vse of them of the fountaine of vertues and vices Chap. 42 246 That according to the disposition of the iudgement the affections are more or lesse moderate or immoderate of the cause of all the motions of the soule and heart of the variety of affections of the generation nature and kindes of them Chap. 43. 250 That ioy or griefe are alwayes ioyned to the affections and what ioy and griefe are properly Chap. 44. 255 Of the causes why God hath placed these affections of ioy and sorrow in the heart of true and false ioy and of good and bad hope Chap. 45. 260 Of feare and of the nature and effects thereof toward the body the mind and the soule and how it troubleth them of the true harnesse and armour against feare Chap. 46. 265 Of the delight and pleasure that followeth euery ioy and of the moderation that is required therein of diuers degrees of pleasures and how men abuse them especially those pleasures which are receiued by the corporal senses Chap. 47. 270 Of the comparison of pleasures receiued by the internall senses and how men descend by degrees from the best to the basest pleasures of the difference betweene the vse of spirituall delights and corporall and how the one chase the other Chap. 48. The seuenth dayes worke 276 OF the affections of loue of the nature kinds and obiect of it of the beginning of friendship of the vertue and force of alluring that is in likenesse and in beauty of the agreement that is betweene beauty and goodnesse Chap. 49. 281 Of other causes why beauty procureth loue and of diuers degrees and kinds of beauty how it is the nature of loue alwayes to vnite an what other effects it hath how loue descendeth and ascendeth not what power it hath to allure and breed loue Chap. 50. 286 Of desire and coueting and of the kinds of it of the infinitenesse of mens desires and what Good is able to satisfie and content it of the difference betweene desire and loue and of the vtmost limit and end of loue Chap. 51. 291 Of the good things that are in true loue of the diuers valuations of loue and of the benefits which it procureth what knowledge is requisite to allure loue and how one loue groweth by another of the friendshippe that may bee both betweene the good and the badde Chap. 52. 297 Of fauour reuerence and of honour of their nature and effects of those outward signes whereby they shewe themselues of pity and compassion and howe agreeable it is to the nature of man Chap. 53. 302 Of offence in the heart and soule of the degrees of offence and of the good and euill that may be in this affection of contempt that is bredde of it and of mockery which followeth contempt Chap. 54. 307 Of anger and of the vehemency and violency thereof of the difference that is betweene anger and rancor of the affection of reuenge that accompanieth them of the motions of the heart in anger with the effectes thereof wherefore this affection is giuen to man and to what vse it may serue him Chap. 55. 313 Of hatred and of the nature and effects thereof of a good kind of hatred and of the remedy to cure the euill hatred of enuie and of the kindes and effects thereof of the difference betweene good and euill enuy Chap. 56. The eight dayes worke 319 OF iealousie and of the kindes thereof how it may bee eyther a vice or a vertue howe true zeale true iealousie and indignation proceede of loue of their natures and why these affections are giuen to man Chap. 57. 324 Of reuenge cruelty and rage and what agreement there is among them what shame and blushing is and why God hath placed these affections in man and of the good and euill that is in them Chap. 58. 330 Of pride with the consideration thereof aswell in nature intire as corrupted of the orginall thereof and of such as are most inclined thereunto what vices accompany it how great a poison it is and what remedy there is for it Chap. 59. 335 Of the naturall powers of the soule and what sundry vertues they haue in the nourishment of the body of their order and offices of their agreement and necessary vse where the vegetatiue soule is placed in the body and what vertue it hath to augment the same Chap. 60. 341 What instruments the soule vseth in the body about the naturall works of nourishing and augmenting of the ventricle of stomacke and of the figure orifices and filamentes it hath of the stomacke and of what substance and nature it is of the causes of hunger and of appetite of the inferior orifice Chap. 61. 347 Of the intalles and bowels and of their names and offices of the nature of the three smaller guttes and of the other three that are greater of the instructions which wee may learne by these things Chap. 62. 353 Of the Mesentery and Mesareon of the Meseraicall veines of the Pancreas or sweete bread and of their nature and office of the liuer and of his nature and office of the rootes bodies branches of the veines of their names and vses and of the similitude betweene them and the arteries Chap. 63. 358 Of the blood and of other humours in the body of their diuersity and nature and of the agreement they haue with the elementes of the similitude that is betwixt the great garden of this great worlde and that of the little worlde touching the nourishment of things contayned and preserued in them Chap. 64. The ninth dayes worke 363 OF the vapours that ascend vp to the braine
and of the waters and cloudes contayned therein and in what perils men are 〈◊〉 why the soule and blood are put one for another of the temperature of the humors necessarie for the health and life of the body of the causes of health and of diseases and of life and death Chap. 65. 368 Of the vses and commodities of the humors ioyned with the blood and what vessels are assigned vnto them in the body and of their nature and offices and first of the cholericke humor and of the spleene then of the flegmaticke humor and of the kidneys and other vessels which it hath to purge by Chap. 66. 373 Of the names whereby the humors of the body are commonly called with the causes wherefore of the comparison betweene the corruption and temperature of the humors of the body and betweene the manners and the affections of the soule of the meanes whereby the humors corrupt and of the feauers and diseases engendred thereby of the sundry naturall temperatures in euery one Chap. 67. 379 Of the diuers temperatures and complexions of men according to the nature of humors that beare most sway in them of the disposition whereunto they are naturally mooued by them eyther to vertues or vices of the means to correct the vices and defects that may be in our naturall inclinations Chap. 68. 383 Of the restauration and reparation of all natures created by the generatiue power and vertue that is in them and namely in man what generation is and what the generatiue power of the soule is what the seede is and how generation proceedeth of strength and of infirmity Chap. 69. 388 Of the powers of the generatiue vertue and of their offices of the principall cause why God gaue to man the power of generation in what sence the reines are taken for the seate of generation how we ought rightly to consider of the generation of man Chap. 70. 393 Of the fashion of a childe in the wombe and how the members are framed one after another in the mothers belly of the time and daies within which a child is perfectly fashioned Chap. 71. 398 Of childbirth and the natural causes thereof of the great prouidence of God appearing therein of the image of our eternall natiuitic represented vnto vs in our mortall birth Chap. 72. The tenth dayes worke 404 WHy God created man naked and with lesse natural defence then he did all other liuing creatures how many wayes he recompenceth this nakednesse of the generall beauty of the whole body of man ioyned with profite and commodity Chap. 73. 409 Whether the life of the body can proceede eyter of the matter or of the composition forme and figure or of the qualities thereof or else of the harmony coniunction and agreement of all these whether any of these or al of them together can be the soule of the length and shortnes of the diuers degrees and ages and of the ende of mans life of death and of the causes both of life and death of the difference that is betweene naturall and supernaturall Philosophy in the consideration of things Chap. 74. 414 Of the causes generally of the length and shortnesse of bodily life of naturall and of violent death in what maner the life of man consisteth in his breath of the principall things required to life and without which it cannot be of the difference betwixt the life of men and the life of beastes of the image of the spirituall death in the corporall of the true comfort which wee ought to haue therein Chap. 75. 420 Of the chiefe consolations which the wisest among the Pagans and Infidels could draw from their humane reason and naturall Philosophy against death of the blaspemies vsed by Atheists and Epicures against God and nature what nature is and who they be that attribute vnto it that which they ought to attribute to God Chap. 76. 426 That there is but one soule in euery seuerall body that one and the some soule hath in it all those vertues and powers whose effects are dayly seene of the seate of the soule in the body and of the principall instrument thereof of the vnion of the body and soule of the diuers degrees of nature and of the excellency that is in it of the fountaines and bounds of all the powers and vertues of the soule Chap. 77. 432 Of the nature and varietie of the animal spirits how they are only instruments of the soule and not the soule it selfe of the nature of those bodies wherin the soule may dwell and worke of the difference that is not onely betweene the soule and the instrumente by which it worketh but also betweene the instruments themselues and their natures and offices and which of them are nearest or farthest off of the degrees that are in the vnion and coniunction of the soule with the body Chap. 78. 438 Of the diuisions of man made in the holy scriptures aswell in respect of the soule as of the body in what significations the names of soule spirit and heart are vsed therein and the causes why of the intier sanctification of man how the soule is taken for the life and for the members and instrumentes of nourishment and for nourishment it selfe Chap. 79. 444 What is meant by a liuing soule what by a sensuall and naturall body and what by a spirituall body how the name of soule is taken for all the desires of the flesh and for all things belonging to this life and not onely for the whole person aliue but also for the person being dead and for a dead 〈…〉 for the spirite sepâ—rate from the body Chap. 80. The Eleuenth dayes worke 490 WHether the soule of man is engendred with the body and of the same substance that the body is of or whether it be created by it selfe and of another substance whether it be needefull for vs to knowe what the soule is and what is the eâ—â—ence thereof or onely to knowe of what qualitie it is with the workes and effects thereof Chap. 81. 495 Whether there be any thing mortall in the soule of man of the distinction betweene the soule and the powers of it of the opinion of Philosophers and what agreement is betweene them touching the soule of brute beasts and the nature and substance of it of their opinion that deriue the soule of man and the soule of beasts from one souâ—taine of them that ascend higher and of their reasoâ—â— Chap. 82. 499 Of the opinion of Galen of Plato and of Aristotle touching the substance and nature of mans soule of the opinion of Occâ—m touching the vegetatiue and sensitue power thereof and of the distinction of soules he maketh in man of the sentence of the Platonists and of Origen touching the creation birth and nature of the soule of the coniunction of the soule with the body and the estate thereof in the same Chap. 83. 503 Of the opinion of the Platonists and some others touching the substance of mens
societie by that coniunction which is the bonde and foundation of all the rest and as it were the spring-head and fountayne of all mankinde Therefore it is written that GOD minding to create woman and to giue her to man for an helper caused an heauie sleepe to fall vpon Adam which name is as much to saye as Of earth and when hee slept hee tooke one of his ribbes and closed vp the flesh in steade thereof And the Lorde God made a woman of the ribbe which he had taken from man then the man said This nowe is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called Mannes or Mannish because she was taken out of man First we see in this history that God woulde not that the male and female should haue two beginnings but onely one and that they should be as it were one stocke of mankinde to the end that the coniunction therof should be more straight firme and inuiolable For if it had beene otherwise the diuersitie of beginnings might haue giuen occasion either of conteâ—ning one another or of enuie dissention and brawlings Therefore God created in the person of Adam the fountaine of mankinde and after framed Euah which is as much to say as aliue or liuing to the ende wee might knowe that the woman was not created as a new creature of an other race or kinde but was onely a portion and part of the nature of man By this meanes Adam had in the woman as it were a glasse to beholde and contemplate himselfe as Euah also had the like in him and as yet to this day euery husband hath the like in his wife and euery wife in her husband For the woman was flesh of the flesh of man bloud of his bloud and bone of his bones euen as it were his owne body and a second-selfe Howe then can the husband despise and hate his wife and not hate himselfe For as Saint Paul witnesseth No man euer yet hated his owne flesh And what cause hath a woman to bee loath to bee obedient to her husband if shee consider that shee is taken out of him and that in setting her selfe against him shee striueth aginst her selfe and doeth her selfe great wrong and iniurie Therefore as the Lord hath declared what place hee woulde haue the husband and wife to keepe euery one in their degree by that order which hee hath obserued in creating the man first and then the woman so he hath done the like in that hee created the woman neyther of the mans head nor of his feete but of his ribbe Whereby as on the one side hee admonisheth the wife not to lift vp her selfe aboue her husband by taking authoritie ouer him and so making her selfe his head so on the other side hee admonisheth the husbande not to abuse his authoritie by putting his wife vnder his feete as if shee were a slaue but to account of her as of his sister and â—ompanion Wee are therefore to consider the great wisedome and prouidence of God in this creation of the woman But Atheists and other contemners of the worde of God besides that goodly ground and foundation of their impietiâ—â— whereof wee heard before take farther occasion to deride this historie of the creation of woman because it is sayde that shee was builded of a ribbe which God tooke from Adam Truely the woorkes of God in the creation of things are not vsuall because they are the first but they which will not beleeue them may as well giue no credit neither to the myracles that haue beene in times past nor to those that are daily seene For they were not to be called by this name of miracles if they were wrought by an ordinarie course of nature They conclude then out of Moses speach either that Adam had then one rib more then he should haue had or else that he had one lesse then he should after the womans creation so that what side soeuer you take they will find a great absurdity They that seeke for occasions in this sort to scofte at the workes of God that study and take delight to cauill at them will alwayes finde absurdities enough in them according to their corrupt will and iudgement For they will daily coine as many as they list to hinder themselues from the knowledge of God and of his workes least they should be constrained by them to glorifie him But indeede what can they doe else but barke against God and his prouidence and laugh at al that is taught vs by the holy spirite concerning the creation of all thinges contained in the world seeing they are not capable of the knowledge and vnderstanding of heauenly mysteries But I demand of them what strange matter they finde in this if it were so that Adam was created with one rib more then men commonly haue which God prepared in his creation for the womans creations or otherwise if hee had one lesse after her creation which is more likely For it is saide expresly that God filled vp with flesh that place out of which hee tooke the ribbe whereof he framed Euah So that Adam lost nothing neither was he lesse perfect in respect of that For God did very well recompence it two wayes First bicause that which he put in steade thereof did serue Adams turne as well as if his rib had remained still Secondly it turned to his great good in that he had a whole woman for one of his ribbes yea such an helpe was giuen vnto him that shee was as it were another halfe of his body to make him a perfect man Besides al this we haue further to note the significations of those things which God meant to represent vnto vs and to teach vs by that manner of proceeding which hee obserued increating the woman of which I haue already spoken But we haue also to marke herein a notable prophecy of Iesus Christ and of his Church and a liuely image of her vnion coniunction and communication with him being her husband For as the rib was taken from the mans side whilest he was asleepe that the woman might bee made so in the death of Iesus Christ signified by this sleepe and whilest he hung vpon the crosse his side was pierced out of which issued blood and water which resemble the Sacraments that tend to the edification of the Church And as Euah was taken from Adam according to the flesh who was the first stocke of mankinde and then ioyned vnto him in marriage that of twaine they might be one in one flesh so the Church was taken from Iesus Christ according to the spirite who is the true stocke of mankind regenerated and reformed after the image of God that she might be one mystical body with Iesus Christ who was giuen vnto her by God for her husband and head For this cause we may say the same things of him and of his Church which we spake before of the authoritie and soueraignty
part of the arme from the elbowe vnto it selfe and it is called the wrest the second is the hollowe palme which is apt to gripe with together with the backe of it on the other side then the fingers make the third part being so made and placed as they are fittest to take easily to gripe to close and to crush In so much that whatsoeuer hath beene spoken by me worthy consideration in the legges and feet touching their office and all those motions that are apt and necessary for them the same also may be plainly seene in the whole hand and arme The second principall part of the whole arme is that which is taken from the elbow vnto the hand the third is from the shoulder vnto the elbow and both the one and the other are so coupled together with their ioynts and bands as is most requisite for all their motions Thus ye see what in my opinion ought chiefly to be knowne in this our present matter Now seeing we haue begun to take a viewe of the foundation of the frame of man by the consideration of the fourth compounded part of the body I thinke that before wee handle the other three wee shall doe well to behold the wonderful composition of many bones which serue also to sustaine the whole stocke of the body and vpon which the backbone is chiefly grounded Therefore thou ASER intreating therof and of the ribbes and other bones of mans body shalt prepare the way for vs to proceede in the description of our building euen vnto the toppe and highest place of the whole frame Of the Backebone and of the marow thereof of the ribbes and of other bones of mans body Chap. 5. ASER. Those Philosophers that were indued with greatest knowledge of those excellent things that are hidde in mans nature stood much vpon the contemplation of this that his face was lift vp towards heauen whereupon they concluded that he ought to abandon all carking care of base and earthly thing to contemplate those things that are aboue and heauenly and in the knowledge of them to satisfie the desires of his soule And truely this is woorthy to be considered that amongest terrestriall creatures which walke vpon the earth God hath created none with two legges onely or that is made straight and bolt vpright but man Therefore he onely and no other hath the ridgebone made according to the straightnesse of the legges which is neither in foure-footed beastes nor in birdes albeit they goe vpon two feete and haue their head lifted vpwarde For as well their legges as those of foure-footed beasts are so placed in regard of the backebone when they walke as mens legges are when they sit downe namely cornerwise not downeright But when men goe their legges are stretched straight with the backebone which is like the keele of a shippe vnto which all the bones belonging to the stock of the bodie are conioyned euery one being answerable each to other according to their proportion as the other peeces of wood whereof a shippe is made are ioyned with the keele by that knitting together which they haue therewith For this cause the whole bodie of man is straight and can stand vpright and sit downe But no beast can doe eyther of them because there is no such vprightnesse voyde of corners betweene their backebone and their legges as there is in man Therefore they can neyther holde nor doe any thing eyther standing or sitting For although they can stay themselues vpon their haunches yet they cannot sitte altogether like to man And contrariwise man can doe nothing well lying along or with his bellie downewarde as beastes vse but standing or sitting hee can doe all his affayres verie easily To this ende hath GOD giuen him legges and feete armes and handes of which wee spake before Now as hitherto wee haue seene the lowest foundation of mans building namely the feete and legges so heere wee must knowe that there is yet another wonderfull frame of bones as it were a newe foundation for the whole stocke of the bodie and residue thereof Amongst others some are verie strong being placed crossewise to vpholde the rest they serue also for the defence of manie inwarde partes that are against them Vpon this second foundation the backebone is layde which reacheth vp to the head and is verie artificially made For first because a man cannot alwayes stande vpright but must sometime bende himselfe or lye downe or turne from one side to another it is not made all one bone but it consisteth of manie bones namely of foure and twentie which are called the knuckles or turning ioyntes of the backebone For this cause Salomon verie fitly calleth it the siluer chaine or coarde which lengtheneth or shrinketh being consumed with extreame olde age For it is framed after the fashion of a chayne and holdeth the lower partes of the bodie as it were tyed and chayned unto the highest part which is the head Againe it is not without good cause called 〈◊〉 chayne of siluer For it is a verie precious part of the bodie and ought to bee greatly accounted of both because the bodie standeth in neede of it and also for manie great benefites which it receiueth thereby True it is that some vnderstand by this chaine of siluer the vniting and agreement of matters whereof the bodie of man is made beeing taken from all the Elements and ioyned together by a goodly harmonie and proportion But the former exposition seemeth to mee most fitte because of that similitude which the backbone and ioyntes of it with their vse haue with a chayne and the vse-thereof For if the chine-bone were all of one piece a man shoulde bee alwayes stiffe like to a pale or like to a logge or bodie of a tree and so the stocke of the body coulde not enioy those motions that are necessarie for it as wee see all the members haue agreeable to their nature For they are nt planted into the stocke of the bodie as boughes and braunches are into the stocke of a tree which are without motion aswell as their stocke Likewise man whome the Philosophers called a Tree turned vpwarde because hee hath his rootes in his head is a farre other kinde of plant then those are which beeyng in the earth stirre not out of one place For it is a tree to be caried about whose braunches haue their naturall motion And as touching those bones whereof the chine-bone is made they are so ordered that the first which sustayneth all the rest as the principall foundation beeing called Os sacrum that is The holie bone is the largest biggest and strongest and beeyng ioyned to the hippes is verie artificially framed of three bones and sometimes of fiue or sixe Wherefore some thinke that it is so called by reason of the artificiall composition thereof others because of the greatnesse and some because it helpeth women in their trauaile as that whose knitting together openeth with
the prouidence of God herein that amongst them members giue by him to the body he hath created some of that nature that a man can in no wise liue without them and others so that albeit they be not necessary for life yet he can not liue at his ease and not receiue great hurt if he want them The members of the first sort are the braine the heart the lungs the liuer the splene the stomacke and such like that are the seates of the animal vital and natural vertues without which there could bee no stay of life For after these members are hurt or perished farewell life The other sort are the eies the eares the nose the tongue the feete the hands and such like For although a man loose some one or many of these members yet he doeth not therefore loose his life but hee shall surely feele the detriment which such a losse bringeth vpon him And as wee commonly say that the Oxe knoweth not the valow of his â—orne vntill the haue lost it so wee may with greater reason say that no man knoweth of what valew the partes of his body are vntill he want them or vntill they be so hindered that they cannot fulfill their office Wherefore we ought to pray to God to preserue them for vs whilest wee haue them and giue him thankes because he hath not created vs lame or maimed of any member And when we see any that were borne without them or that haue lost them since wee ought to be so much the more stirred vp to glorifie him acknowledging it to come from his grace in that he hath dealt better with ratheâ—r with them although we haue deserued no more then they Now because we do not so neither haue this consideration as we ought to giue him thankes and to vse them to his honour and glory therefore he depriueth vs of them many times to punish this ingratitude and to cause vs to know better the valew of these gifts after they are taken from vs and that wee haue lost them seeing we could not knowe it whilest wee had them nor yet him that gaue them vnto vs. And by the same meanes also he would admonish and put vs in minde of the dammage we receiue by the defects of our soule by those which wee feele by experience in our bodies Whereupon wee haue an other goodly point of the prouidence of God to note in that hee hath giuen vs almost all double members without which we could not liue but with great paine and trouble to the end that if we lost one wee might yet vse the other and in some sort supplie the losse of that which is wanting For this cause hee did not create onely one eye or one nosethrill one eare one arme one hand one legge or one foote but twaine This ought to bee well considered that wee might haue the better knowledge of the care that God hath ouer vs seeing hee hath so well prouided for all things that hee will not onely haue vs liue but also furnish vs with all necessary things whereby wee might liue more commodiously more easily and with lesse paine and trouble And when it falleth out that some one of these members or both are wanting God supplieth this defect by maruailous meanes For sometimes wee see that maymed folkes haue done many thinges with their feete or with their necke and head that others could hardly doe with their hands at least wise they haue done things without handes that would seeme altogether incredible to such as haue not seene them And many times wee see dumbe men whose handes stand them in steade both of tongue and eares For by the signes and gestures of their handes they signifie their meaning to others as if they themselues did speake and vnderstand the minde of others that make the like signes Yea there are some that conceiue what others say vnto them onely by seeing them open and mooue their lippes so that we must needs acknowledge it as a miracle of God Now hauing spoken generally of the senses of the body and specially of touching as also of their members and instruments wee must come to their particulars Therefore AMANA thou shalt discourse vnto vs first of the eyes which are as it were the principall windowes of this building which we haue vndertaken to pourtraite and set foorth Of the eyes and of their excellencie profite and vse of the matter and hâ—nors whereof they are made Chap. 10. AMANA It hath alwayes bin the opinion of the Stoics and Academics that the bodily senses did rather hinder then help to obtaine wisedome that no man could know or vnderstand anything that the senses were feeble and slowe that sensible things were so small that they could not be perceiued or els so subiect to motion that no certainetie coulde be found in them that our life is short and full of opinions and customes that all was compassed about with darkenes and hid and therefore that nothing could be perceiued or vnderstoode so that men were to professe that they woulde affirme or approoue of nothing Plato writeth in many places that wee must beleeue nothing but the vnderstanding which beholdeth that that is simple and vniforme and as it is indeede and that there is no science but only in those reasons discourses which the soule maketh wheÌ„ it is not troubled with bodily lets as with sight and hearing or with griefe plesure Eusebius disputing against this sheweth that the senses help much towards the obtaining of wisedome that when they are rightly affected and in their naturall habite they neuer deceiue the mind that it â—tentiue But wee shall knowe more at large what their profit is by continuing our discourses of the instruments of the senses Let vs knowe therefore that the eies were giuen of God to men to cause them to see and to be as it were their watch towers fentinels the guides leaders of the whole body as also they are as it were the chiefe windowes of the body or rather of the soule which is lodged within it For it is a most excellent worke of God whether we coÌ„sider the matter wherof they are made how diuerse or agreeable it is to the office that is assigned them or the beauty that is in their forme in the diuersity of their colours or the commodity vse of their motions and howe they are set in their places as it were goodly pretious stones laide in some curious piece of worke how they are inuironed and armed both aboue and beneath on the right hand and on the left with the eye-lids and the eye-browes not onely for their protection and defense but also to adorne and to make them shew more beautifully And surely it is not without cause that God hath put such great excellencie in them and hath created and framed them so artificially For first they are the chiefest members of all the
qualitie of that Good which being fitte for them is the greatest they can attaine vnto so also hath man a knowledge according to his nature and to the ende for the which hee was created So that the knowledge that God hath giuen him serueth to stirre vp his appetite and desire of that Good which hee knoweth and this appetite also serueth his knowledge so farre foorth as man being mooued and pricked forward to loue God reioyceth and reposeth himselfe in him huing knowen him to bee his soueraigne Good But to the end wee may the better vnderstand this whole matter we must note that there are three kinds of appetites among the creatures which are commonly called the one naturall the other sensitiue and the third voluntary As for the naturall wee may diuide it into two sortes For there is one generall to all creatures whether liuing or without life which is nothing else but a naturall inclination without any action proceeding from any soule or life as when wee say that heauy things desire to go downeward and light things vpward as wee see it in the nature of the Elements which are without soule and life But beside this naturall appetite common to all creatures there is an other that hath action ioyned with the inclination which neuerthelesse proceedeth not of any sense This appetite is proper to the vegetatiue and nourishing soule and life whereof plants are partakers For wee see by experience that they haue a naturall appetite to drawe vnto them and to retaine that which is meete for their nature and foode and to expell the contrary For if a plant waxe drie it desireth to be watered and draweth and keepeth humour and moisture necessary for it selfe Wee see the like in mens bodies For when the members want nourishment they sucke the veynes and the veines drawe vnto them blood And as the members desire their foode so they desire to bee vnburthened when they haue too much The appetite which we call hunger thirst may be referred to this kind of naturall appetite if this be excepted that we can not say it is without sense and feeling For beside the desire of eating and drinking there is withall a sense of this attraction whereby the members sucke the veines and the veines the blood and this sense is not without greefe and displeasure So that euery liuing creature is stirred vp to seeke for his foode and to take his refection Wherevpon wee may diuide this naturall appetite also into two kindes whereof the one shal be proper to plants that haue no sense and the other belong to liuing creatures that haue this feeling of which I made mention euen now and which differeth from that sense that is proper to the outward senses already spoken of The reason whereof is because it is properly such a kind of feeling as those creatures haue which keepe a meane betweene plants and liuing creatures beeing partakers of both their natures and yet are neither simply plants nor perfect liuing creatures as it hath beene already shewed As therefore we heard in our former discourse speaking of the growing vp of mans body and of the manifestation by little and little of the powers of the soule namely that as long as the child is in his mothers wombe he is like to plants so also hee hath then great agreement with these middle sorts of creatures in regard of this kinde of appetite and of the manner of nourishing whereby it is fedde For the seede whereof hee is begotten and conceiued is nourished and groweth vp as plants do vntill such time as the Infant that is fashioned haue sense and feeling much like to that sense of the aforesaide creatures which are partakers of the nature both of plants and of liuing creatures For as yet he hath no vse of his externall senses vntill such time as hee be borne Nowe the seate of this kinde of naturall appetite is chiefly in the liuer and in the stomacke and generally in all the members that serue for nourishment For these members haue that appetite that is ioyned with this kinde of sense of which I spake euen nowe And as for the appetite of the other members which serue not for the nourishing of the whole body but onely for themselues it is more like to that appetite that is in plantes For they feele neither hunger nor thirst as other members doe And thus much for the natural appetite and the kinds thereof Concerning the sensitiue appetite it is that which accompanieth the sense and belongeth onely to liuing creatures There are two sorts of this For either it is made with touching or without touching Pleasure and griefe belong properly to the first kinde and the instruments and seats thereof are in the sinewes or els in that small sinewy skinne which giueth the sense For those things delight the sinewes which agree with their nature and looke what is contrary vnto them the same affecteth them with griefe which tendeth to their destruction as delight procureth their preseruation So that heate colde drynesse and moysture reioyce helpe and comfort the sinewes or els grieue hurt indamage them according as they are eyther wel or ill applied vnto them Therfore the sinewes were created to the end they might be instruments of sense and motion and that they shoulde receiue pleasure and paine Now all these sorts of appetites are not in the will and power of man neither proceed they from his imagination For whether he will or no he shall be subiect to hunger and thirst and shall in the same manner feele and perceiue thinges as they are applied vnto him if he be so disposed in body as he ought to be True it is he may wel abstaine from eating drinking from touching whatsoeuer he pleaseth but this abstinence in the meane time wil not take from him that appetite which hee hath but will increase it the more For it cannot hinder but that all the members will still desire their nourishment and the body will alwayes haue this sense and feeling And as for the sense of touching it will alwayes feele that which it toucheth and euen such as it is when it shal be touched But there are appetites of an other kinde which are bredde without any touch at all and follow the thought and imagination of a man These are properly called affections and haue their seate in the heart Therefore they must bee distinguished from others that hauing sence of delectation and of griefe are placed in the stomacke or in the sinewes or in the rest of the body Now by the affections we meane properly those motions of the heart which follow knowledge and either seeke after or reiect that which is offered vnto them so that according to the order of nature knowledge goeth before these motions Hereof it is that we commonly say that a man must know before he loue and that no man desireth that which
of the affections it is necessary they shoulde agree together For as reason guideth before the affections will followe after Therefore wee may alwayes iudge of reason by the affections which it ought to gouerne as of the gouernement of a good Prince by the estate of his subiects of a good father of a family by those of his houshold Moreouer seeing the affections proceede from the heart there is the seate of that loue which wee ought to beare as well towardes God as towardes men which comprehendeth the whole lawe of God and all iustice For he that loueth God is not onely afraide to offend and displease him but desireth also to serue please him and he that loueth his neighbour doeth not onely abstaine from procuring him any dishonour or losse but laboureth also to aduance his honour and profit Therefore if the minde be lightened and inflamed with diuine light and the reason also that ruleth therein then the heart will waxe hote and burne with the loue of God and of his neighbour Which if it fall out so the heart will not be slacke in shewing foorth those heauenly motions that are within it in giuing matter to the soule to glorifie God and to the tongue and mouth which will speake out of the abundance thereof Likewise there will be an accord and consent betweene it and the voyce and tongue which then will vtter nothing but the trueth And this is the cause of that which wee were taught before namely that God by his prouidence and wise counsaile hath ioyned neere vnto the heart the chiefe instrument of the voyce which is the lungs as the other instruments that are higher are lodged neere to the braine and cheefely the tongue as the Oratours and Embassadours of Kings are placed next vnto them Wherefore if mans nature had not beene corrupted through sinne but had continued perfect and sound there woulde alwayes haue beene a goodly concord and consent betweene the heart and the braine the voice and the tongue the reason and the affections Next wee must note that seeing the heart is the first member of the whole body that receiueth life and thē giueth the same to others as also the last that leaueth life and seeing it is the shop of all the vitall spirits without which neither the braine nor the rest of the members can haue life or perforume their dueties it is not without cause that this member is taken to be as it were the seate not onely of the affections but also of reason Therefore it is taken in the Scripture one while for the minde as when Moses saieth to the people of Israel Yet the Lord hath not giuen you a heart to know and another while it is taken for the affections as when our Sauiour Christ saieth Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soule and with all thy minde For wee see heere howe he putteth a difference betweene the heart and the minde Sometime they are put indifferently one for another or one for both especially the heart as when the Lorde saide to Salomon Beholde I haue giuen thee a wise and an vnderstanding heart the heart is taken for the senses and minde as it appeareth very euidently For the same cause Saint Paul continuing his speach of Gods punishment aboue mentioned against the vngodlinesse and vnrighteousnesse of men hee addeth to that before recited this saying Wherefore also God gaue them vp to their hearts lustes vnto vncleannesse to defile their owne bodies betweene themselues which turned the trueth of God vnto a lie In which place wee see howe the Apostle maketh the heart to be the seate of the appetites and of the affections and howe hee calleth the vnruly and disordered affections of the heart by the name of lustes for so hee expoundeth himselfe by and by after calling them Vile Affections vnto which God gaue them vp Whereupon wee will note this that the naturall affections of the heart which pricke it forward to the desire of pleasure and which minister pleasure vnto it shoulde be no sinne at all vnto men but a benefite giuen them of God in the perfection of their nature were it not that by reason of the corruption which hath raken holde of it such desires and affections cannot containe themselues within the limites of their sound nature but there is alwayes some excesse euen in the perfectest and that being sinne is properly called euill concupiscence because it continually prouoketh vs to euill and causeth vs to goe beyond the bounds which God had set to our affections Whereof it is come to passe that that which should be a benefite vnto men in their naturall pleasures is become hurtfull vnto them Nowe forasmuch as the order of our discourses hath brought vs to the tractate of affections which haue their seate in the heart before wee goe any further we must say somewhat of the nature of this part of the body as we haue done of the braine to the ende we may the better know the seate and instruments of the vital power and vertue of the soule and of the will and affections as those which belong to the animal power and vertue haue bene declared vnto vs. Let vs then heare ASER handle this matter Of the nature and composition of the heart and of the midriffe of the tunicles or skinny couerings of the breast and of the Pericardion or cawle about the heart of the motion office and vse of the lungs of the heart and of the arteries Chap. 37. ASER. It is not without good and iust cause that God hath ordained that reason should lodge in the highest part of the frame of man and that the will and affections should lodge lower namely in the heart For by this order hee would admonish and tell vs what part and power of the soule ought to beare greatest sway therein and that vnderstanding and wisdome which teach vs the true rules according to which wee must square our whole life ought to raigne and haue the first place seeing the principall cause wherefore God hath created vs is to knowe him to the end that knowing him we should loue and honour him as wee ought and as for the affections they are to be 〈◊〉 and gouerned by wisedome and vnderstanding Wherfore if this order appointed by God be confounded and turned topsie turuy in vs hee causeth vs to feele and knowe it well enough For although sinne be the cause yet the impression of that diuine image which God hath set in the nature of man cannot be so wholy defaced in vs but there will alwayes remaine very euident and wonderfull testimonies thereof And therefore presently after we haue ouerthrowne this order and that the will lifteth her selfe vp against reason euen then doth reason condemne that fault of hers and compelleth the heart to take vengeance thereof and to punish in it her selfe disobedience and rebellion
that the foggy blood may not euaporate and sweate through For this cause it is called the veiny artery because it holdeth of the nature both of an artery and of a veine and hath this office belonging properly vnto it to carry the ayre and the spirit There are also in the heart other small peeces which Anatomists distinguish from it as the two little eares the right and the left which are as it were little doores as there is also in all the pipes thereof which are so small that vnneth may they be discerned by the eyes These doores and pipes that are in them â—erue partly to this ende that when the heart sucketh such blood as is necessary for it selfe the veine wherewith it draweth shoulde not breake through any ouer-great vehement and sodaine attraction and partly that the ayre might enter in more gently and better wrought according as neede requireth For this cause also it is why the heart doeth not drawe the ayre immediately from the mouth both because if this space were not betweene it coulde not drawe so much as it wanteth and so woulde bee choaked as also because it shoulde receiue it in too colde whereupon it woulde be greatly hurt Therefore it hath pipes passages and instruments not onely to bring this ayre vnto it as it is brought to the lungs but also to dispence and prepare it as is most conuenient for it as wee haue learned already by our speach of the rough artery and of other instruments of the voyce and of respiration Out of which wee are to note two goodly points of the prouidence and wisedome whereby hee doeth admonish vs of that moderation which wee ought to keepe in all things and how we ought to behaue our selues not only in one worke but also in all things that wee take in hand For concerning the first GOD hath prouided alwaies throughout the whole worke of mans body in such sort that there should be no violeÌ„t thing but hath so wel framed disposed and linked all together that no one part or member shoulde receiue hurt of another but al might help support ech other Therfore if there be any burthen to cary from one to an other God hath so distributed it by little and little and by such conuenient means that no part is pressed teaching vs thereby that he loueth moderation and hateth violence in all things for which cause hee dispenseth all and distributeth drop by drop as it were by destillation And to the end he may conioyne in one things of a contrary nature hee alwayes placeth between two contraries things of a middle disposition which are most apt to tie them together and to keep them Besides we see howe hee hath ordred al the parts of the body so wel that one only member and instrument serueth oftentimes for many offices vses as we haue already touched it Wherin God doth admonish vs further of two things wel worthy the noting The first is that we ought to looke so wel vnto al things that we neither forget nor omit any thing that shal be requisit necessary The other that we should imploy our selues about euery thing that we can and may do according to those gifts and graces which wee haue receiued of God and that we should vse al things to euery such purpose as they will serue and so auoid al vaine and superfluous charges For as it is commonly said nothing is to be done by many things that can be performed by fewer otherwise there will be more hindrance then helpe and greater losse then profit For this cause as God hath not giuen to the body one member lesse then there ought to be so he hath not giuen it one more For if there were either more or lesse it would not only be monstrous but there would be eyther some want or some let hinderance And when as one member is able to satisfy two offices he hath not created many to do it if either profit or necessitie required not the help of many Whereupon gouernours of Common-wealths ought to learne that their people are not to bee burthened with vnprofitable and vnnecessary offices and persons If therefore men woulde learne those lessons that God giueth them in their owne bodies and in the members thereof they woulde alwayes keepe a meane in all things following this heauenly example and neuer offend either with too little or too much But notwithstanding wee haue all Nature to be our Mistres so that shee keepe a schoole within vs and teach vs these things her selfe yet wee profite little thereby Nowe leauing this speach seeing wee haue taken a viewe of the nature of the body and of the naturall motion thereof which is commonly called the Pulse and what vse it hath in this corporall life as also of other things concerning this matter it shall be good for vs nowe to speake of another motion that is in the nature of the soule which serueth not onely for this life but also for the spirituall in respect of which especially it is giuen vnto it an image and representation whereof wee haue had in this motion of which wee haue already spoken It belongeth to thee ARAM to discourse vpon this matter Of the second motion of the heart which belongeth to the affections of the soule and of those that goe before or follow after iudgement of the agreement that is betweene the temperature of the body and the affections of the soule Chap. 39. ARAM. As God is not onely an eternall and infinite essence but also infinitely good and happy so hath hee not rested in giuing vnto his creatures life and beeing as it were imparting to them some part of his being but it hath pleased him also to make them partakers of that Good which is essentiall in him and of his blessednesse and felicitie according as euery one was capable thereof in his kinde For he will not onely haue them to be but also to be well For this cause we see that although men desire much to be and therefore are greatly afraid of death as of an enemy that seeketh to vndoe them yet many times it falleth out so that they desire death to the end they might be no more because they thinke it a greater good or at leastwise a lesse euil to be no more theÌ„ to be miserable vnhappy And by this we may knowe that man was not created of God only to be neither was that his principal end but also to be blessed For this cause as God hath giuen to the creatures an inclination to preserue themselues in their life to the end they might be so he hath put into them a natural appetite desire of that which is good to the ende they might be well and that good might be fall them but man specially is thus affected which desire of good is also ioyned with an eschewing of euill For in the pursuite of good his contrary which is
so some of them are brideled and restrained by others For the first enuy hatâ—ed and anger spring of loue For they are motions of the heart that loueth against him that hateth or hurteth her who is deâ—re or beloued And desire riseth of reuenge and the ioy that commeth thereby proceede from anger and malice If a man loue any thing he wisheth it would come and hopeth also that he shall enioy it and contrariwise hee feareth that it will not come to passe If it come to passe hee reioyceth If it come not to passe when hee thinketh it will or when hee expecteth it he is grieued In like manner great ioy is lessened through greefe and enuy through mercy or through feare And one greefe altereth another when it is greater and feare maketh griefe to be forgotten and causeth the lame to runne To be short these sundry motions of affections are like to stormy waues and billowes which being driuen one of another doe either augment or diminish or wholy oppresse one another Wherefore the like happeneth in the motion of our affections that commeth to passe in a sedition and ciuill dissention in which no man considereth who is the worthier person to obey and folow him but who is the stronger and most mighty So in the fight of the affections there is no respect had to that which is most iust but only to that which is strongest and most violent and which hath gotten such power ouer the soule that it hath wholly subdued her to it selfe which thing wee ought to stand in great feare of But whatsoeuer affections are in vs there is alwayes some griefe or some ioy ioyned with them Therefore following our matter it shal be good for vs to consider particularly of the nature of these two contrary motions of which ioy serueth greatly for the preseruation of life but griefe drieth vp and consumeth the heart euen vnto the death of it as wee shall now learne of ACHITOB. That Ioy or Griefe are alwayes ioyned to the affections and what Ioy and Griefe are properly Chap. 44. ACHITOB. The knowledge of the Affections of the heart and soule is very necessary for euery one because they are very euill and dangerous diseases in the soule but yet being knowen they may be cured more easily This cause hath mooued vs after wee haue spoken of the heart and of the naturall motion thereof and of the vse it hath in this life of the body to enter into the consideration of a second motion it hath which serueth not onely for this corporall life but also for that spirituall life in regard of which it was chiefely giuen and of which we saide that there was as it were an image and representation thereof in the first motion Now we shall better vnderstand this by the subiect of this discourse propounded vnto vs being handled particularly as wee intend to doe For as by the first naturall motion of the heart it receiueth such refreshing as is necessary for the sending of life vnto the whole body and for the maintenance and preseruation of the same as also for the expelling and driuing out of all such things as might hurt and stifle it euen so is it in this second motion as farre as wee can conceiue of the nature of it For seeing God hath appointed ioy as a meanes to preserue life hee hath likewise put this affection in the heart whereby it is as it were enlarged to receiue within it selfe and to embrace all Good that is offered vnto it as also it restraineth and shutteth it selfe vp through griefe which is contrary thereunto Moreouer wee shall finde that there is no affection in vs which is not intermingled with some griefe or else with some ioy For seeing the heart is the proper seate and instrument of all the affections when it is as it were stricken and beaten with some vnpleasant thing that is offered vnto it then doeth it retire close vp it selfe and feele griefe as if it had receiued a wound then doeth it flie from the thing it liketh not Yea the heart doeth alwayes either enlarge or shut vp it selfe according to those affections that are within it the causes of which are in it owne nature God hauing so disposed and willed the same for the reasons which we haue already touched For if the heart be ioyfull the ioy that it hath doeth bring so great pleasure vnto it that thereby it is opened and enlarged as if it would receiue imbrace and lay holde vpon that thing which reioyceth it and bringeth vnto it that pleasure which it hath in this ioy Nowe because there is ioy in loue and hope the blood and spirites are gently and mildely dispersed by their moouings by reason of the reioycing at the Good that is present or that is expected as if it were already present And forasmuch as such motions are made by the enlarging of the heart whereby we embrace the thing offered vnto vs the face also appeareth smiling cheerefull and ruddy For a man may easily iudge that the obiect presented to the heart mooueth that power whereby it is stirred vp because that before the heart doth mooue it selfe it must know the thing that offereth occasion vnto it to be moued either with ioy or griefe or some such like affection For as wee haue learned already the outward senses do first perceiue the things that are offered vnto them and then they present them vnto the common sense which presently by a singular prouidence of God sendeth them to al the other senses and to al those powers that are in the sundry parts of the soule and body This done if there be matter of ioy the heart being striken with that which is acceptable vnto it enlargeth it selfe and being thus gently enlarged as it were to embrace the same it disperseth much naturall heate with the blood besides great quantitie of spirites of which it sendeth a good portion to the face if the ioy be so great that it mooueth a man to hearty laughter For the face it selfe is in some sort blowen vp and enlarged the forehead is made cleere and smoothe the eyes glister and shine the cheekes become ruddy and the lippes gather in themselues In a worde the heart doeth so enlarge it selfe that it is represented in the face as it were in a glasse or in an image framed to expresse the ioy and gladnes which it hath Moreouer experience teacheth vs sufficiently what difference there is between a cheerfull and a sad countenance Therfore when we loue one wee embrace him as if wee woulde ioyne him to our selues and put him into our bosome and heart as some deere and very pretious thing Which wee see chiefly in mothers when they holde their little infants betweene their armes and embrace them with great affection of heart For this cause Saint Paul being desirous to let the Corinthians vnderstand what good will hee bare them howe louing ready and
of their places in mans body I meane in the whole masse and distribution of the blood and in the coniunction they haue together euen as the elements haue their places each after other For as the fire of it owne nature is light and therefore laboureth alwayes to ascend vpward to attaine to his naturall place so the cholerike humour which agreeth with the nature thereof occupieth the highest place among the humours mingled with the blood as we may perceiue by that that hath beene already spoken of the floure and skimme of blood according to that comparison which wee made betwixt blood and wine The like may be saide of the rest For as the aire is lightest next to the fire and the neerest element vnto it and to the rest of the celestiall fires so the blood properly so called keepeth the place of the aire among the humours of the body For it is not so light as the fire nor so heauie as the water or the earth And so consequently the flegmatike and melancholike humours occupy the lower places according to their degrees as the water and the earth doe in this great world For this cause all these humours besides their common offices and effects haue others more speciall agreeable to their nature as God willing we wil declare heereafter And namely the flegmatike humour that holdeth of the nature of the water is to be considered of For as in this great visible world there are waters both aboue and beneath I meane those that are contained and retained within the clouds in the ayre those that are in the sea in riuers kept within their bounds assigned them for their course so the like is to be foūd in the litle world which is mā Nowe hitherto haue wee learned howe the water and the other humours are carried with the blood throughout the body aswell vpwarde as downewarde by meanes of the veines which water all the partes of it howe high or lowe soeuer they be and therewithall carrie vnto them their foode and nourishement And this agreeth fitly to the woonderfull worke of GODS prouidence in nature which of the vapours arising out of the earth gathereth the cloudes together and these like to sponges sucke vp vapours from the waters of which themselues are engendered and which afterward they cary about as it were in chariots to distribute them into all quarters of the worlde according as it shall please God to dispose of them by sending his blessing vpon the earth by the meanes of raine wherewith being watred it nourisheth all those herbs trees plantes and fruites which it bringeth foorth not onely for the sustenance of men but also of beasts Let vs then imagine before vs a garden wherein is infinite varietie of trees and plantes of all sortes and that this garden is watred either by raine from heauen or by pipes and conduites whereby the water is brought thither and dispersed in all places thereof We shall see that in this great diuersitie of nature there is but one and the same nourishment for them all and but one place And albeeit the liquor that affoordeth this nourishment to so many sorts of plants be but one neuerthelesse it is conuerted into the nature of all those things which it nourisheth so that the nature of it is changed according to the distinct propertie of each of them For there are plants and herbes of all qualities and of all tastes and colours Some are hote others colde some drie others moist either in the first or second or third or fourth degree or else are tempered and intermingled according to their seuerall natures As for their tastes some are sweet others sharpe or bitter or of no certaine taste In a worde there are of all kindes of tastes both simple and compound And yet the humour or liquor is but one that receiueth all these qualities as in wormwood it becommeth bitter and in the Vine or Figge-tree sweete And if the herbes bee either for food or for physicke or of a poysonfull nature the same may be saide of the humour that nourisheth them The like is seene also in colours Neither doe wee obserue all this by experience onely in some great diuersitie of trees and of all sortes of plantes but euen in eche of them seuerally For I pray you what difference is there in euery herbe or in euery seuerall tree I meane betweene the roote and the stalke the body and the branches the boughes and the leaues the floures seedes and fruites And yet all these sundry partes receiue nourishment from one Mother and from one and the same substance and liquor Moreouer we see that as man and all other liuing creatures haue their heart in the midst of their bodies which is the fountaine of life so all trees herbes and plantes haue their heart in the middest of them according to their nature without which they could not liue For we call their heart the inwarde part within which their pith remaineth which is vnto them as the heart is to liuing and sensible creaatures Whereupon we haue further to note in regard of those herbes that haue weak stalks especially hollow ones or such as haue strawes insteede of stalkes that the prouidence of God hath giuen vnto them knots seuered as it were into sundry smal knees which are vnto thē in place of their stomack and of other nutritiue members to reteine their nourishment the longer to concoct it the better as also to strengthē them thereby And this we may euidently see in all sorts of corne and pulse Euen so doth nature or rather the prince therof worke in a mans body which is as it were a garden that hath a soule Wherein the Creator of this whole frame sheweth himselfe no lesse wonderful nay rather much more then in this great garden of the whole earth and of the great world of both which he is the Gardener that watreth them to nourish all the fruits they bring forth to cause them to grow For frō whence proceed or are nourished the bones gristles ligamēts sinews arteries veines flesh kernels fatte together with all the other partes of which the body is compounded May not the like be saide of the eyes of their coats and humors of the eares nose tongue teeth belly stomack guts liuer spleene kidneies of all the other bowls and inward parts And if we come to the hands and feet and to the other outward members to al the other parts called Instrumentall distinguished according to their office we shall finde that onely through the alteration of their foode into liquor they all receiue such nourishment as is proper to eche of them Yet notwithstanding one and the same sustenance is offered to so many sundry members beeing made familiar and of the same nature with that part vnto which it is ioyned For if it goe to the eyes it becommeth of the same temperament that the nerues and spirites
to declare the better what is meant by Spirite And before he shewed the meanes whereby this spirite shoulde be giuen him when he said that hee should be filled with the holy Ghost from his mothers wombe that is with the gifts and graces thereof as the Scripture calleth them ordinarily Afterwardes also the Angell declareth more at large after what manner Saint Iohn came in the power and spirite of Elias signifying that hee ought to behaue himselfe and to doe as Elias had done in his time and as Malachy had foretolde of him Moreouer we haue in the Scripture other kindes of speaking that agree very fitly with this of the Angel so that the one may well serue to open the other For it is written of Moses that the Lorde did separate of the spirite that was vpon him and did put it vpon the seuentie ancient men whom he appointed vnder him to be an helpe and comfort vnto him in the gouernement of the people of Israel and when the spirite rested vpon them they prophecied continually Euery one knoweth that the spirite of Moses whereof the Lord speaketh is not his naturall spirite but that he meaneth by this spirite part of the gifts and graces which Moses had receiued of the Lord such as were necessary for their charge as likewise he gaue to Moses according to the charge committed to him Some also vnderstand this separation of the spirite of Moses to be onely a communication of the graces of the spirite of God like to those which Moses had receiued for his charge that was giuen to those who were ioyned vnto him for his helpe Nowe if wee take it in this sense we may say that God vseth this manner of speech the better to let vs vnderstand thereby the nature of his gifts and graces and the meanes hee obserueth in dispensing of them For hee doeth not onelie distribute so much as is needefull for them whome hee mindeth to employ in his woorke but giueth also vnto them such manner of graces as are requisite for the worke as Saint Paul testifieth Besides all this his purpose is also to teach vs what agreement there is betwixt all his giftes as likewise what vnitie proceedeth heereof betwixt them that are partakers of these gifts whereby wee may perceiue that they come all from one spirite which albeit God thereby powreth out his graces in so great abundance is yet a fountaine and sea that is not onely not dried vp but not so much as any way diminished Thus wee see howe one and the same Spirite of GOD gouerned Moses and the rest that were ioyned with him inspiring them all with his grace and distributing to euery one according to his measure as the winde is dispenced into many Organ-pipes all at once according to their seuerall capacitie and according to that sound which euery one is to yeelde for the making of a good harmony or as many Candles or Lampes are lighted by an other with the same fire wherewith that was first tined Also wee are to vnderstand in this sence the request that Eliseus made to Elias when hee demaunded a double portion of his Spirite because hee succeeded him in regarde whereof hee stoode in neede of such giftes and graces of Gods Spirite as Elias was guided by that hee might faithfully execute his charge as hee had done before Thus wee see howe places of Scripture expound one an other and howe little they help the Pythagoreans of whome I woulde not haue made so long a discourse if this foppery were driuen out of mens braines and namely among Christians For to this day there are too many fantasticall heades I say not amongest true Christians but amongest them that falsely beare that name who are as much or rather more infected heerewith then any Pythagoreans or Platonists in former times And for this cause AMANA I leaue you to goe on with this point that afterwardes wee may returne to our chiefe matter of the nature generation and immortalitie of the soule Of the Pythagoreans of these dayes amongst Christians and of their foolish opinions of the opinions of many doctors and diuines touching the creation and ordinary generation of mens soules of the moderation that ought to be kept in that matter of the cause of the filthinesse and corruption of mans soule Chap. 86. AMANA There was neuer yet any opinion errour or heresie so strange or monstrous in the world which hath not always found men enow to receiue it so that there were authours and masters to broach it abroad For God doeth thus punish the curiositie ingratitude malice and peruersenesse of men and that contempt of his word and trueth which is ordinarily in them together with the pleasure and delight they take in vanitie and lies Wherefore God through his iust iudgement deliuereth them vp into a reprobate sence insomuch as they can not but reiect the trueth continually and embrace that which is false according as he often threatned them and foretolde it by his Prophets and Apostles And this is the cause why the Pythagoreans do at this day find men voide of sense and vnderstanding who cleaue to their fantasticall opinions and why Epicures and Atheists are neuer without a great number of disciples Now albeit these men be in truth most blockish grosse beasts yet we cannot perswade them so nor many others also who imagin they know much For there are euen doctors and some that read lectures in Vniuersities who keepe not their opinion of the transmigration of soules so secret to themselues but they make some profession therof at lestwise amongst their schollers and familiar acquaintance There are some also who boasting of the knowlege of tongues of the turning ouer of many antiquities haue published this fancie of theirs in books written by them yea they themselues are perswaded and they would make others beleeue the same with them that their soules are the very soules of some famous personages that haue liued heretofore in the world that they haue alredy passed through many excellent bodies which haue done great things as likewise they promise to themselues that they shal bring to passe great matters seeing they haue their souls True it is that according to our maner of speaking we say sometimes of such as agree in manners with others who haue liued before them that their soules whom they resemble is entred into them that the others are raised vp in their persons For example sake if there be a cruel tyrant like to Nero we say that Neroes soule is entred into his body and that Nero is raised vp in him But yet euery one knoweth well enough that we vse to speake so by reason of the agreement of natures and of manners not because of any transmigration of soule And this may be spoken in respect of that Deuillish spirite which possesseth the wicked and ruleth in them as wee say of the Spirite of Gods
of the moule and of other such like beasts Therefore if the Good that is proper and peculiar to the nature of man consist not in this eternitie and celestiall immortalitie of which wee speake to what purpose is his head lift vpward and his eies looking towards heauen especially seeing God hath ioyned these things with a soule that is partaker of reason and vnderstanding For among the beasts we find one fish that hath the eyes set in the top of the head and therefore it is called by the Graecians Vranoscopos which signifieth as much as a Beholder of heauen or looking towards heauen But because it is not partaker of vnderstanding and reason more then other beasts are and seeing the soule of it differeth not from theirs we may easily iudge that the eies of it were not set in that place for the same reason that man hath his lifted vp towardes heauen Shall wee say then that God hath created man and endewed him with so many graces and singular properties to make him more wretched then beastes in this life who otherwise is so miserable and compassed about with so many euilles on euery side For whereto serueth the disposition of his nature but to torment him the more by looking vp towardes heauen and by that knowledge which hee hath more then beasts haue thereby encreasing in him a vaine desire of such a happinesse as hee can neuer enioy And which is woorse the more noble spirite that any one hath the more learned and vertuous hee is or the more and longer oppressed he is with the miseries of this life the more woulde this vaine desire pricke and torment him And if there bee some who like beasts passe ouer al these things without any sense and feeling this befalleth them either because they are of a heauy sleepie and blockish spirite or else because they are drunken with that which is commonly called Fortunes fauour namely with the honours riches and pleasures of this world So that wee must conclude vpon this speech that because beasts do here all that they haue to do according to those powers and gifts that are naturally in them therefore they liue and die heere but because the Spirite giuen to man can not doe heere according to his naturall disposition it followeth necessarily that as it is borne in an other place so it must haue another place wherein to effect that which it hath to do And contrariwise if the soule of man be mortall all that hee hath to doe is in this life as it is with beasts and then also it followeth that hee was created in vaine and without cause For God created nothing but hee propounded to himselfe the ende for which hee created it and that such an ende as is agreeable to the nature and dignitie of euery one of his woorkes else all things shoulde haue beene created in vaine by him Nowe if he created man onely to liue in this worlde as hee did other creatures then did he not in his creation propound to himselfe an end beseeming the excellencie of such a nature Which thing the greatest Philosophers amongest the heathen haue after due consideration bin constrained to confesse And if man for whose sake the whole visible worlde was created and who only can will and knoweth how to vse all things contained therein was created and receiued this life in vaine what shal we think of al other things that wee created because of him and for his sake Shall not the whole worke of creation be in vaine and vnworthy the infinite maiestie and wisedome of God the Creator and hee that is the Gouernour of the world shall hee not be spoiled of all prouidence Who ought not to abhorre the very cogitation of such a thing And yet the religion of God his prouidence and the immortalitie of our soule are so fast linked and ioyned together and depend in such sort one vpon an other that they can not be separated neither indeede is it lawfull to separate them For he that abolisheth the one shaketh also that faith which wee ought to holde of the rest because if our soules be not immortall there is neither punishment nor reward either for vertue or vice or for the good or ill deedes of men For wee see euidently howe all things are mingled and confused in the course of this present life that they are turned into a common robbery that the woorst men make themselues Masters and Lordes of the worlde as if it were created onely for them that they might bee in it as gods vpon the earth and contrariwise that good and iust men may seeme to haue beene created onely for a pray to the wicked and to be lesse accompted of them then the brute beasts Which if it were so then shoulde God haue no care of men and if hee haue no care of them howe shall hee be their GOD and Creator and why shoulde they rather then beasts call vpon him and honor him For if it were so what hath hee done or what doeth hee yet more for them vnto whome he hath giuen his lawe and commandement to call vpon him to honour and serue him then he doeth for beasts to whome hee hath giuen no such lawe or commaundement and who do not call vpon him nor honour him according to the same as men doe And what may wee accompt all religion all feare and reuerence of God to be all holinesse honestie and vertue but superstition and a vaine and foolish opinion and fancie of the mind of man Notwithstanding there hath alwayes beene a common testimonie and consent of religion among all nations euen amongest the most barbarous and rudest people that euer werefound Neither euer were any so ill taught but they haue put some difference betweene vertue and vice and betweene honestie and dishonestie It can not be then but that religion and vertue naturally engrauen in the heart of man are good things yea farre better then their contraries Whereas if God had no more respect to the one then to the other were not to iudge thereof to what purpose serueth this difference which men make betweene them and what profit shall they reape to themselues by esteeming better of that which is good then of euil Good men should not only receiue lesse profit by vertue then by vice but further they should be damnified by the same wicked men should euer haue the better yea they should be rewarded insteade of being punished For the best and iustest men are commonly a pray vnto the wicked And who shall deliuer them out of their hands seeing for the most part they are the strongest and haue in a maner the gouernement of the worlde in their power so that the most innocent persons are at their mercie as it were except God should let them haue iustice either heere in this worlde or in some other And if God shoulde faile in doing iustice vpon what right should the
22. Of the ioy of the godly Luâ—e 6. 21. matth 5. 4. Esay 61. 3. Ioh. 16. 20 21. Philip. 44. Eccles. 7. 4 6. Prou. 6. 25. How worldlings deceiue themselues What hope is Difference betweene ioy and hope Of the true and certaine hope The profite and necessitie of hope Ephes 4. 4. Rom. 5. 3 4 5. Psal 25. 3. Rom. 5. 2. Rom. 12. 12. 15. 13. Hebr. 6. 19. Ier. 17. 7 13 17. psal 65. 5. and 91. 2 9. psal 31 1. and 71. Psal 118. 8 9. Prou. 10. 28. Iob 8. 13 14 15 The wickâ—d can not abide to speake or heare of God What feare is How palenesse colde and shaking are bâ—ed in the body How death commeth through feare Esay 13. 7 8. A place of Esay expounded The cause of cowardlines and the signe of courage Iob 41. 16. Effects of Feare in the soule Iosua 7. 5. Psal 22. 14. Ierem. 4. 9. The definitions of assurance and boldnesse Iosua 2. 9. Psal 53. 5. Psal 112. 1 7 8 Psal 56. 3 11. and 118. 6. prou 14. 26. Iohn 14. 1. Lâ—uit 26. 36. Deu. 28. 65 66 67. God is the authour of courage Why God hath giuen men affections The diuers effects of feare in the godly and in the wicked A fantasticall Good Who are to bee accounted wise men Eccles. 2. 1. Of delight and pleasure what it is and how it is receiued How God communicateth himselfe vnto men Of the diuers degrees of pleasures according to euery mans nature The delights of the bodily senses The delights of the internall senses CoÌ„templation is the greatest delight of the soule Of the abuse of pleasures Against the immoderate vse of pleasures The cause why a little griefe is stronger in vs theÌ„ a great pleasure Of the pleasures of fantasie The pleasures of reason and of the minde How we descend from true pleasures to false delights Of pleasures which men seeke crosse-wayes Of the vse of the delights of the spirite How the spirit is hindred in his actions How the spirite must bee occupied How corporall and spirituall pleasures chase each other Natural pleasures are more purethen artificiall Degrees to ascend vpto sound and perfect delight The knowledge of the affections very requisite What loue is How loue is engendred Of the kindes of desire Of the loue of men towards God The loue of parents towardes thir children The loue of God towards men The originall of friendship In what sort by loue we ascend vp to God and descend againt Of the vnion that is in loue Similitude is a cause of loue Beautie draweth loue Gen. 1. Beautie a flower of goodnes A caueat for faire women The force of Beautie The causes of the abuse in beautie Beautie maketh vice more vgly A good vse of Looking-glasses Three kindes of Loue. God created the world by Loue. Diuers kindes of beauty and loue Loue tendeth to vnitie Iohn 17. 21. Iohn 11. 52. 1. Iohn 3. 8. Sinne the cause of our seperation from God A double ground of loue Loue is free Iob 1. 9. Two sortes of hired loue Actes 20. 35. Loue descendeth but doth not ascend 1. Iohn 4. 8. Loue breedeth Loue. The heart of a louer compared to a looking glasse Loue ought to shew it selfe by workes Euils must be resisted in the beginning What Desire is Diuersitie of Goods Goodâ— belonging to this life Goods of fanciâ— and in opinion onely The effects of ambition and couetousnesse Of the false opinion of want The right vse of coueting The diuerse kinds of Desires Two sorts of Loue. The last ende of Loue. Acts 4. 32. Communitie among friends Loue bringeth equalitie Loue must first beginne at God Three meanes of knowledge The benefites that come of true loue whose scope is God The first benefite of true loue Diuers estimations of Loue. The cause of mens errour from the true Good The second benefite that is in true Loue. The third benefit Galat. 2. 20. The highest degree of Loue. Knowledge requisit in Loue. Two sortes of knowledge in Loue. The difference betweene Loue and Desire Rom. 8. 22. 1. Cor. 13. 12. Of friendship betweene wicked men What foundation the friendship of good men hath 1. Corint 13. 8 A similitude shewing the vanity of the loue of worldly delights What sauour is Why God fauoureth vs. Of reuerence The caause of humilitie A good lesson for princes Reuerence requisite in true friendship Of honour and of maiestie Rom. 12. 16. Of the signes of honour and of reuerence Of Mercie and Compassion Rom. 12. 8 9 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. Cor. 12. Heb. 13. 3. Math. 5. 7. Luke 6. 36. Prou. 21. 21. Iam. 2. 13. Foure causes of all the troubles of the soule The nature of corporall goods How the passions may be good Of offence What euill may offend vs. Why men are so easily offended What offences are most grieuous Of the nature of mankind how hardly it is pleased Of the degrees of offence How offence may be welâ— vsed The remedy to cure offences What contempt is Of mockery Esay 53. 7. Diuers opinions of the Philosophers touching the affections What anger is How it differeth from offence Of rancour The violence of anger Prou. 27. 4. Ecclus. 8. The fruites of anger What effect it hath in the body The fountaine of the appetite of reuenge The causes of looking pale and red How anger troubleth the braine The best remedy against anger Ecclus. 28. Another remedy against anger Why the affection of anger is naturall what good commeth by it What Hatred is The causes of it Why it is an easier matter to hate then to loue 1. Ioh. 3. 10 12. The fruits of Hatred Of a good kinde of hatred Rom. â—2 9. Amos 5. 15. How loue is turned into hatred Remedies against the euill kinde of hatred Description of Enuy. Diuers sorts of Enuy. Enuy is neuer without griefe Against what good things Enuy is most bent How an enuious body is tormented The countenance of an enuious man Prouer. 14. 30. Ecclus. 30. 17 24. Of a good kinde of enuy 1. Cor. 12. 31. 2. Cor. 9. 2. Roman 13. galat. 5. 21. Esay 3. 16. and 48. 4. Ezech. 3. 8 9. Psal 34. 15. 1. Pet. 3. 22. Esay 29. 23. Exod 13. 14. Iob 40. 4. Exod. 15. 7 8. Iob 9. 17. What Iealousie is Iames 4. 1 2. A good kinde of iealousie What mutuall loue ought to be betweene man and wife Why Iealousie is attributed to God What Indignation is From whence Zeale proceedeth Ioel 2. 18. Isaiah 9. 7. What Zeale is 2. Cor. 11. 2. A good lesson for Princes and Pastors The abuse of Indignation and of Zeale Rom. 10. 2. 1. Timot. 1. 13. Act. 26. 10 11. Hebr. 10. 30. Matth. 10. 28. Luke 21. 19. prouer 20. 22. What reuenge is What Rage is Of Crueltie Three sortes of Crueltie How magistrates ought to punish With what affection God punisheth offendors What Shame is Blushing commendable in some persons A second kind of
soules in what sence not only the Poets and heathen Philosophers but also Saint Paul haue sayd that men were the generation and linage of God of their error that say that soules are of the very substance of God of the transmigration of soules according to the opinion of the same Philosophers Chap. 84. 509 The chiefe causes as learned men thinke 〈…〉 Pythagoras and 〈…〉 transmigration of soules and transformation of bodies the ancient opinion of the Iewes touching the same thing Chap. 85. 515 Of the Pythagoreans of these dayes amongst the Christians and of their foolish opinions of the opinions of many Doctors and and Diuines touching the creation and ordinary generation of mens soules of the moderation that ought to be kept in that matter of the cause of the filthinesse and corruption of mans soule Chap. 86. 5â—â— Of those powers and properties which the soule of man hath common with the soule of beastâ—â— of those powers and vertues which are proper and peculiar to it selfe according to the Philosophers of the difference and agreement that is betweene humane philosophie and christian doctrine touching thâ—se things Chap. 87. 5â—6 How men can haue no certaine resolution of the immortality of the soule but by the word of God of the peruersnesse of Epicures and Atheistes in this 〈◊〉 of the chiefe causes that hinder 〈◊〉 from beleeuing the immortality of the soule and of their blockishnesse and euill iudgement therein how wee must seeke for the image of God after which man was created in his soule Chap. 88. The twelfth dayes worke 5â—â— OF those who desire the returne of soules departed to testifie their immortality what witnes hath binne sent vs of God out of another world to resolue vs therin Chap. 89. 53â— Of naturall reasons whereby the immortality of soules may be prooued against Epicures and Atheists and first of the argument taken from the faculty of knowledge which the soule hath and from that knowledge of eternity which 〈…〉 howe it appeareth that it is not begotten of this corruptible nature because it ascendeth vp vnto God and how by a speciall benefite of God it is dayly created and not by the vertue of nature Chap. 90. 541 Of the argument for the immortality of the soule that may bee taken from that natural desire therof of perpetuitie which is in it of another argument to the same purpose of the desire which men haue to continue their name and memory for euer an argument to the same end taken from the apprehension and terrour which men may haue both of the death of the body and also of the soule and spirite Chap. 91. 546 Of the agreement that may be taken from the delights and pleasures of the soule to prooue the immortality therof an argument to the same ende taken from the insatiable desires pleasures of men euen from such as are most carnall of the testimony which they may find euen in their vices to prooue the immortality of their soule Chap. 92. 551 Of the testimony that men haue of the immortall nature of the soule in their very body by the composition and frame thereof of that which is in the motion and rest of their soule how the creation of the whole world shoulde be vaine and how there should be no prouidence of God no religion no diuine iustice if the soule were mortall of the multitude and qualities of the witnesses that stand for the immortality thereof Chap. 93. 556 Of another argument for the immortality of the soule taken from that naturall desire which men haue of knowlege of Aristotles opinion touching the nature and immortality of the soule of other reasons of Philosophers to proue that the spirite cannot be a corruptible and mortall nature and how iust men should be more miserable and shoulde haue more occasion to feare and to eschew death then the vniust and wicked if the soule were mortall Chap. 94. 563 Of that prayse and reward which wisdome and vertue may receiue of man in this worlde how miserable it is â—f there bee no better prepared for them elsewhere how death would bee more grieuous and lamentable to the best learned and wisest men then to the ignorant and foolish if the soule were mortall how the best most certaine iudgement of men is for the immortality of the soule of them who not beleeuing the same say that it is good for men to bee in such an error Chap. 95. 569 Of those internall testimonies which all men cary within themselues to conuince them that doubt of the immortality of the soule and of the iudgement to come which shall be in eternall happinesse for the good and perpetuall torment for the euill howe the very heathen acknowledged asmuch by reasons taken from the testimonies of nature Chap. 96. The thirteenth dayes worke 575 OF the testimonies which euery one may take from his conscience of that feare vnto which all men are naturally subiect to prooue the immortality of the soule a iudgement of God vpon the iust and vniust how that which the Atheistes say that feare causeth gods amongest men serueth to ouerthrow their damnable opinion Chap. 97. 581 Whether Epicures and Atheists bee reasonable beasts yea or no and what reasons they bring to ouerthrow the immortality of the soule of the false opinion of Pliny touching the same and of his friuolous and brutish reasons to this purpose of the brutish conclusion vnbeseeming the whole race of mankind which hee maketh of this matter and of the iudgement of God vpon him Chap. 98. 588 Of them who say that wee cannot know by the light of nature but that the soule is mortall of them that alledge a place of Salomon against the immortality of the soule howe wee ought to consider of the iudgementes of God vpon Epicures and Atheistes how the absurdities which follow their doctrine declare plainly the grossenesse of it of the force of those argumentes that were produced before for the immortality of the soule Chap. 99. 594 Of the image of God in the soule of man and of the image of the worlde in mans body of the coniunction that is betweene God the Angels and men of the sundry degrees of Good that are therein of those lessons and instructions which wee ought to receiue from the wonderfull composition aud coniunction of the soule and body Chap. 100. FINIS THE FORESPEACH OF THE INTERSPEAKERS IN this Academy wherein is handled the cause of their future discourses touching the naturall historie of Man The names of the discoursers ASER which signifieth Felicitie AMANA Trueth ARAM Excellency ACHITOB Brother of goodnesse ASER My companions I greatly bewayle the misery of our age wherein so many Epicures and Atheists liue as are dayly discouered amongst vs in all estates and callings True it is that the disagreement in matters of religion amongst them that beare the name of Christians is very great and causeth much trouble in the Church neuerthelesse I doubt not but that
consumed but haue also their proper action to congele and gather it together Nowe we must vnderstand that of this first matter which contained all the elements and which God made the mother of all things and capable of all formes euery bodie is compounded euery one returneth into the same againe of that taketh a new forme so that the true matter of all corporall things doth not turne into nothing neither increaseth or decreaseth in any sort So that euer since the Eternall that can doe all things made this whole great frame of nothing no one thing is made of nothing neither doth any thing vanish into nothing but the change of euery thing that is bred or that dieth is only in forme Now by this knowledge of the matter of the first mans body we may easily vnderstand of what matter al mens bodies are made For certain it is that of one only man al others haue had their beginning being all his seed offspring multiplying daily according to his first vertue The reason hereof is this because this power is naturally ingraffed in euery thing to bring forth his like to continue it selfe in the same kind being inhabled therunto through a quickening vertue infused into it by that diuine reason which is the efficient preseruing cause of all creatures Now I doubt not but the Epicures Atheists such like deriders of God his word with whom this age is pestred more then any age past will account all this to bee a very fable that hath bene hitherto spoken of the creation of the first man For they giue no more credite to the writings of Moses and of all the Prophets Apostles then to an old wiues tale or to the fables of doting dreames Neither wil they beleeue any more of God of his prouidence and of his workes then they are able to vnderstand know and comprehend by their naturall reason They will say then that they haue not seene the like workes in nature which they put in stead of God and so by the same reason they wil account for lies whatsoeuer the word of God teacheth vs cōcerning the creation of this great visible world of all things contayned therein as also that which we shal heare anon touching the creation of woman And thus because they saw not when God created the worlde because he did set another order in nature after the creation thereof then there was before he had created nature therefore according to their goodly phylosophie there shal be neither God nor Creator nor difference betwixt the workes of the creation in which nature it selfe was created and those that sollowed after God and disposed the order of nature created by him What then shall we say of man of al the world Shal he be without a creator and eternall or made of some matter that was eternall with God or shall he be God himselfe For eyther he was created or he was not created If he were not created then is he eternall as euen Aristotle saith following the discourse of humane reason which notwithstanding blinded him in this marter of creation Wherein hee is not onely contrarie to the worde but also to his master Plato and to the best and most excellent amongst the Philosophers But if the worlde was created it must needes bee that it had some beginning that the first man as likewise euery other creature was begotten after another maner then the vse is at this present But what would these sharpe wittes or rather dull beasts say if they had not seene by experience the woorke of God which they call the worke of nature onely in the generation of men For of what are they daily begotten and conceiued but of a supersluitie and as it were of an excrement of mans body as hereafter we shall vnderstand more at large Is this farre more easie to digest in humane reason then the first creation of man If these skorners had neuer seen such a thing and if they were not conuicted heereof by dayly experience they would giue as litle credite to those that should tell them of it as they doe to the spirite of God speaking of his workes by the mouth of his Prophets As for those that set nature in the place of God what greater brutishnes can proceede from them For doeth not the very same of nature declare sufficiently that nature is a thing made and created and so consequently hath her creation and her birth of God as all other creatures haue But God punisheth these poore ignorant fellows with the like iudgement that he doeth many other skilfull and great Philosophers whome hee oftentimes giueth ouer into a reprobate sence because through their pride and ingratitude they abuse the knowledge of naturall things which God giueth them and so that science which should lead them to a greater knowledge of God maketh them more beast-like then any other through their owne fault For it cannot be otherwise but that euery one considering the nature and composition euen of one only member of mans body most of necessitie acknowledge and confesse that some Woorke-master made it and that this Woorke-master is of no bodily or humane nature but of a spirituall and diuine being that hee hath not onely vnderstanding and knowledge of all things but also that hee is vnderstanding it selfe that hee knoweth loueth and is the authour of all order and that his wisedome and vertue is so infinite that it surmounteth all mens vnderstandings Heereupon it followeth that hee is worthie to be esteemed for God and to bee woorshipped of all men There are others that aske why man was not created an infinite space of time before hee beganne to be by the testimonie of the holy Scripture which teacheth vs that it is not yet fully 6000. yeeres since his creation as though he had bene created very late But if the shortnesse of time offendethe them because they thinke that there are so fewe yeers since we reade in holy Scripture that man was created let them consider that nothing lasteth long if it haue any ende and that the whole space of ages past if it be compared with eternitie that is endlesse is not onely not to be thought litle but none at all Therefore that question which now they aske after 5000. yeres they might with the same curiositie demaund after sixe hundred thousand yeeres if the world had endured so long They also that were before vs when man was but newely created might haue moued this question yea the first man might haue enquired also assoone as hee was made why he was not made before And so this controuersie about the beginning of mans being had neuer at any time heretofore any other reasons then it hath nowe neither shall haue heereafter Let vs knowe then that God being eternall and without beginning began time and in time made man whome hee had neuer made before being ledde thereunto not
by any newe and sodaine motion but by an immutable and eternall counsaile For no newe thing can befall him neither is there any thing in him that is mutable but according to the height and depth of his riches hee hath multiplied the children of men And let them thinke imagine and dispute what they list yet all things haue had their beginning according to the good prouidence of God which no man in the worlde can sufficiently comprehend O great mysterie that God hath alwayes beene and that it pleased him some time past to make man first who was neuer made before and yet not to change his purpose and will Thus you see howe wee must steppe by steppe ascend by the workes of God vnto himselfe as we haue alreadie touched in the beginning of our speech and as wee can doe it well ynough in mens workes For when I behold a worke it by and by putteth me in minde of the instruments wherewith it was made and the instruments of him that made them and of him that set them aworke Then the Workemaster putteth me in minde of him that made him such a one namely both of his master that taught him and also of his parents that begate him Thus climing vp still from one to one and from degree to degree I must needes in the ende conclude that there is one chiefe Workmaster of whom all others are descended by their order degree And there I must stay as in like maner proceeding from one essence to another I may come to the contemplation of that infinite and eternall essence which is the spring and first cause of euery nature namely vnto God who hath giuen to that matter whereof he made all things a forme meete and conuenient for that worke which he would make of it This is that which I thinke we ought to conceaue touching the creation of the matter of mans body Now before we consider the disposition therof I thinke we ought to intreate of the creation of woman who is one selfe same flesh differing onely in sexe and appointed of God to bee a necessarie helpe for the originall and preseruation of mankinde which I desire to heare you discourse of AMANA Of the creation of Woman Chap. 2. AMANA No maruaile if the eye of mans soule be often dimmed yea looseth all light in the diligent consideration of the wonderful workes of Gods prouidence For as the eye of the body although cleare of it selfe cannot behold colours figures other visible things except it bee illuminated with light from heauen or from some other lightsome body so albeit our vnderstanding of it owne nature be very cleare sighted as being a beame of the diuine brightnes yet by reason of the bond that conioyneth it to the body wherein it is ouerwhelmed with the darknes of the matter it can in no wise attain to the glittering conceptions of eternall wisedome vnlesse it alwaies haue God that great euerlasting Sunne and his heauenly light to illuminat it and to guide it to the faithful contemplation of the woorkes of his almighty hand This hath bin the cause why so many great wits discoursing philosophically of the originall and beginning of things and looking on euery side yea doubting and fearing many things which they found contrary to humane reason haue bin caried hither and thither with diuers opinions like to a vessel tossed in a deep sea but could neuer come neere to the knowledge of the trueth But if wee follow the bright starre of trueth fixed in the heauenly booke of life as wee haue learned therein the creation of man so we may as easily be instructed in the creation of the woman to the confusion of the wise men of the world and of all Epicures and Atheists The holy scriptures teach vs that after God had created man placed him in the garden of Eden to dresse it and keepe it had forbidden him to eate of the tree of the knowledge of good euil which was a signe tokē of the homage obedience and subiection he did owe to God his creator Lord and of that blessed life appointed for him as a recompence and crowne of this obedience It is not good then saide hee that man shoulde bee himselfe alone I will make him an helpe meete for him And to shew the better how this helpe was not onely meete but also necessary for man Moses saith that God had already brought all the beasts before Adam that he might name them according to their natures and kinds which hee perfourmed Whereby we may iudge what great knowledge of naturall things was in Adam before he sinned For otherwise hee could not haue giuen to all liuing creatures names agreeable to their nature and if hee had not named them as he should hee had brought in great confusion in nature Afterwarde Moses addeth that amongst all those liuing creatures hee found no helpe meete for Adam yea the Lorde had spoken of him before as if he had bene alone in the worlde For although all the beastes and all the residue of the creatures were giuen to man to assist him so that being in that estate of innocencie wherein hee was then hee might receiue all seruice and readie obedience from all the creatures neuerthelesse hee had not as yet any helpe of his kinde For hee coulde not haue that familiaritie and conuesation with the beastes nor receiue such helpe from them as hee coulde from creatures of his owne kinde Therefore when the Lorde saide that it was not good for man to be alone hee declared plainely that he did not create him to liue and solitary in the world but with companie and that his will was that there should be men vpon earth who should liue in societie and fellowship together Nowe seeing that man was created for this ende he coulde not liue in company with others of his kinde without generation and multiplication thereof which coulde not be except hee were ioyned to a wise seeing it pleased GOD to appoynt it so Wherefore as hee created the other liuing and sensible creatures of two sexes in one kinde namely some males and others females that they might increase and multiplie by generation so likewise dealt hee with mankinde But as hee tooke an other course in the creation of man then he did in that of beastes so also dealt he in the creation of the woman whome hee purposed to giue vnto man for a companion For hee created not man and woman both together but man first and then woman afterwarde as wee will declare by and by Nowe because there is no coniunction or communion in any humane societie wherein that holy bonde which ought to knitte all men together and ioyne them one to another is better declared then in that whereby man wife are conioyned and vnited as it were in one selfe same bodie and in one soule therefore it pleased God not without cause to beginne this holie
the hippe-bones in them that bring foorth children Others saye that there is no opening but onely that it stretcheth foorth and inlargeth it selfe There are some also that thinke it is so called because it is so necessarie vnto life that after it is once hurt death followeth After this bone the rest that followe are lesse and lesse vntill you come to the highest insomuch that the lowest are biggest and the highest least to the ende that as they are the foundation one of another so they might bee able to beare that charge which they are to sustayne and bee the lesse burdened And as for the coniunction and vniting of them together it is so well contriued that it hath so much strength as is necessarie for it and is neyther too soft nor too harde too drie nor too wette and slipperie but that which is meete for their motions This order of bones and turning ioynts thus raunged is properly called the Backebone or Chine and in Latine Spina dorsi because of the sharpe endes or poyntes which eche of them hath oneuerie side for his defence as it were thornes This whole chine hath a marow proceeding from the hinder part of the braine and reaching downe to the nether ende of the backebone which beeyng rounde in shape is as a riuer whose spring is in the brayne from whence it proceedeth as the great Arterie doeth out of the heart and the hollow veyne out of the liuer as wee haue alreadie declared and may intreate thereof more at large in speaking of the inner partes of the bodie Therefore as the great arterie is as it were the stocke of all the rest being planted in the heart from whence it springeth and the hollowe veyne whose fountaine is in the liuer is as it were the stocke of the other veines so the marrowe of the chine is as it were the stocke and spring from whence all the sinewes issue which afterward like to litle riuers impart their sence and motion And because the fountaine of this riuer is in the braine therfore also the originall of sinewes is attributed thereunto notwithstanding that all those sinewes which giue motion and sence to the partes that are vnder the head except it be to the intrals and guttes proceede from the marrowe of the chine Hereby we may note once againe that that place alleadged by mee out of Salomon where hee calleth the backbone a siluer chaine agreeeth also very fitly with that which is here spoken For seeing the sinewes distribute sence and motion to all the members of the body as it hath bene already told vs and haue their beginning from the braine and marrow of the chine we may well say that it is a chaine and coaâ—d of a great length which extendeth it selfe very farre by reason of other chaines and strings proceeding from it For as the backbone may be resembled to a chaine so the marrowe within it is like to a coarde whereof all the sinewes which are as it were the little strings of all the members of the body haue their beginning and increase And therfore some in stead of a siluer chaine translate a coard or threede of siluer as wee reade in the common Latine translation but the sence is all one And that which Salomon addeth after of the golden ewer which is broken in olde-age with the exposition of the best learned giuen thereof agreeth also very well to this effect For by this golden Ewer they vnderstand the skinne that couereth the braine which is of a yellowish colour resembling the colour of golde It is very fitly called a Ewer because it is a vessell contianing the matter and nourishment of the sinewes and as it were the fountaine of all the motions and sences of the body it is as it were the lodging of all the animall partes and the originall of all the sences both internall and externall Wherefore the matter of the braine contayned within it is of a more celestiall nature then any other part of the bodie and commeth neerest to the spiritual and diuine natures So that this vessell is not without good and iust cause called by Salomon the Ewer of gold For there is in it a fountaine out of which man receiueth great treasures Nowe because the sinewes arteries and veynes were to haue their passage and issue from their fountaine without let or hinderaunce it was requisite that the backebone should haue such holes as it hath and that the bones therof should be of that fashion they are to the ende that neyther themselues nor the marrow within might be easily broken and that the next partes and members might not be hurt For it is very dangerous to haue any rupture or hurt in the chine aswell by reason of the marrow as of the sinewes And because it pleased God to lodge there those internall members of the bodie that are most necessarie for life and for the preseruation thereof he fastened the ribbes to both sides of the backebone namely twelue on euery side and hath left a sufficient space betwixt them that the place might bee able to receiue those members for whose cause they were so built disposed So that there are before and behinde especially about the noblest members very long and large bones to defend them on al sides as it were good harnesse and strong bulwarkes but chiefly behind because the armes and handes cannot so well defend them as they may the other before Therefore God hath better armed them with bones making those of the shoulders so large behind as they are and knitting them also vnto the backebone by their bande but yet so that they touch it not Likewise they are fastened to the highest bone in the brest which reacheth vp to the throate aboue the first ribbe by two litle bones which passe ouer the ribbes that are betwixt them For this cause these bones are called the keyes of the throate For they close and shutte vp these partes as it were keyes so that without them shoulder blades would fall backeward beeing no more able to keepe close together then the poldron of an harnesse not beeing fastened to the gorget The armes likewise are fastened to the shoulders as also the thighes and legges to the hippes then the handes are ioyned to the armes with their ioyntes and bandes as hath beene touched before Now we are to note further according to that I spake euen nowe that the backebone is in a mans body as the keele in a ship so that as the rest of the matter and forme of the shippe must bee well proportioned and framed according to the keele so is it in the composition of mans body and in that correspondencie which all the members ought to haue with the ridgebone of which they all depende otherwise there would be no good agreement but great deformitie And as for the ribbes and brest bones they haue such workemanship as is requisite for the members contained within the
rehearse manie moe vses if we woulde speake more particularly of this matter whereof wee meane to speake but generally as also of all the rest that concerne the anatomie of the bodie according to that ende which wee propounded to our selues in the entrie of our speeches namely to open a gappe onely to the consideration first of the matter whereof mans bodie is compounded and of the diuersitie thereof then of that forme which God hath giuen vnto it and lastly of the profit and vse of both to the ende wee might dayly learne the better to knowe the great power skill wisedome goodnesse and prouidence of him that hath created and disposed all things in so good order But as touching that which we spake of the pappes and of their substance wee haue yet to consider of two poynts well worthie the noting concerning the place where God hath seated them First they are there placed where they serue to shroude and to defend the noblest and most necessarie partes for life that are in the breast namely the heart and the lungs For they are set before them to countergard and keepe them both from ouer great heate and from excessiue colde and from many other inconueniences And as they serue for the heate of the heart so their owne heate is increased by reason they are so neere the heart whereby the milke that is ingendred in them is the better baked So that wee see that although GOD hath not giuen men pappes for the generation of milke and nourishing of children as women haue neuerthelesse they are not without profite and vse in them as wee haue hearde Whereunto also wee may adde the beautifying of that part of the bodie where they are placed especially in women Againe could they possibly be set in any place that were more fit and more easie both for Mothers and Nurses and for the children to whome they giue sucke and nourishment For if the mother bee disposed to giue her childe sucke shee hath this commoditie to sitte downe if she will to holde it in her bosome and vpon her knees and likewise to imbrace it in her armes whether she sit lye downe or stande also shee may carie it vp and downe whither shee please euen whilest shee giueth it sucke and feedeth it This commoditie is not graunted to the females of beastes when they giue sucke and nourish their little ones with their teates Wherein wee haue to marke one notable difference which GOD hath put betweene men and beastes For beastes haue no other care of their yong ones but onely to nourish their bodies with foode vntill they bee able to feede and gouerne themselues afterward both syre and damme and little ones forget one another taking no more knowledge eche of other nor louing one another more then other beastes of their kinde But amongst men both the father and the mother are caried with an affection towardes their little children which is the cause why they forget them not as beastes doe And as they loue their children so are they loued of them insomuch that there is a mutuall loue proceeding from that naturall affection which they beare one towardes another On the other side this loue causeth parents to let their children haue instruction that they may bee wise and vertuous And therefore it is not without good cause that womens pappes are placed in the breast namely to the ende they shoulde bee vnto them as signes and testimonies of the affection of the heart and of that loue which they ought to beare towardes their children whereof they ought to make them partakers aswell as of the milke of their breastes and as if they gaue vnto them their heart as they giue them their blood turned into milke Likewise children are by the selfe-same meanes to bee admonished of that mutuall affection and loue which they ought to carie towards their mothers as if they had sucked it out of their breasts and from their heart together with their milke that they may returne the like vnto them againe Wherefore mothers and children haue a wise mistres in nature and in the prouidence of God that appeareth therein if they knew how to followe it well Againe for this cause mothers ought to take greater delight in nourishing their owne children then in committing them to the handes of strangers and hyred Nurses For out of doubt the mutuall affection and loue of eche to other woulde greatly increase thereby Nowe hauing spoken of the place which God hath assigned to the pappes let vs consider his prouidence in their forme which is such that fayrer and more fitte for that office of theirs coulde not bee deuised For wee see howe they hang there in the breast of the mother and Nurse as it were two bottles hauing nipples and holes made fit for the infants mouth that hee might take holde of them and drawe and sucke the milke that is within the dugges which are filled presently after the child is borne so that hee is no sooner come into the worlde but hee hath such foode and nourishment readie drest as is meete for him For albeit the infant bringeth his teeth with him from his mothers wombe yet because they are hidde within the gummes and are not yet come foorth hee must haue such meate as needeth no chewing but may bee sucked which GOD hath prouided for him Wherein wee haue a woonderfull testimonie of the care hee hath ouer vs and what kinde of Father and cherisher hee is For this cause Dauid had good reason to say Out of the mouth of babes and suckelings hast thou ordeyned strength because of thine enemies For if one consider the prouidence of God which dayly sheweth it selfe ouer children onely there is no Atheist Epicure or other enemie of God so great which shall not bee confounded conuinced and constrayned will hee nill hee to giue glorie to GOD. For before children can speake euen from their mothers breastes they shewe foorth and preache the prouidence of God in prouiding milke for them But wee shall finde it a matter of greater admiration if wee consider not onely in what manner they are nourished presently after their birth but also howe they are nourished in their mothers wombe For there they are not sustayned by the mouth nor with milke as they are after their byrth but with their mothers owne blood receiued by the Nauill which is in the middest of the bodie But God hath made such an agreement betweene the wombe in which the little childe is nourished in his mothers belly and betwixt her breasts that that blood wherewith the Infant was feede before it was borne presently after the birth ascendeth into her pappes in which by reason of the aboade it maketh there it becommeth white and is so well heated and prepared that it hath as conuenient and pleasant a taste as can be put into the infants mouth And as for the substance of the milke there cannot be any
from bruzing and wasting There is also in many places a certaine humour which serueth to annoint the ioynts and their ligaments and the small endes of the gristles For moisture helpeth motion very much and preserueth those partes that are mooued as wee see by experience in chariot wheeles For when the axeltrees are greazed about which they mooue they doe not onely turne about more easily but also last and continue longer whereas although they were all of yron yet they woulde weare away and be set on fire of themselues if they were not annointed and moistned with some humour Nowe let vs come to consider of the couering of mans body As therefore a man vseth not one onely garment but diuers so is it with the body For first hee is clothed with three skinnes that are great long and large with which hee is couered cleane ouer from the sole of the foote to the toppe of the head The first is a little skinne very thinne which of it selfe hath no feeling being made of the second skinne which it couereth and this second skinne is made of sinewes flesh and litle veines and in some places of little arteries being as it were of a middle nature betweene the sinewes and the flesh Therefore this skinne hath feeling throughout and is not without blood as the first is There is also a third skinne vnder the second which is more fleshy and therefore it is thicker and more strong vnto which the muscles cleaue and through which very thinne arteries and productions of sinewes passe which tie it with the other skinne The fatte of the body is betweene these two skinnes which serue the whole body not onely for a couering but also for an ornament especially those that are most without which in mens bodies stand in steade of that skinne wherewith the bodies of beasts are couered Besides these three skinnes that couer all the body there are within many other particular skins of diuers sortes to couer the members that are there which the Physicions call Membranes and Tunicles with such other names agreeable to their Arte to distinguish them one from an other according to each of their offices For there are many in the head to couer folde vp and to containe the inward partes thereof and of the braine as also in the breast and consequently in other partes and members within Among the rest some are like to nettes and coiffes others resemble littlâ— sackes or bandes according as those members are which they are to couer seruing also for defence vnto them and to distinguish and separate the partes one from an other Wee will leaue to the Physicion to number and to distinguish them and to name euery one by their proper name and nowe come to consider the last couering which is vpon the body in certaine places especially vpon the head and that is the haire which principally aboundeth in the head both in men and women because it proceedeth out of a moyst and soft place And to the ende it might take the better roote there the skinne that is vnderneath it is very thicke and fleshy The profite of the haire is great and serueth for many thinges First it is the ornament and beauty of the head For as the face woulde bee euill fauoured and vnsightly if it were hairy so contrariwise the head woulde bee very deformed if it were skinnelesse where it is couered with haire as we may iudge by them that haue balde heades Therefore because it is the toppe of the building of mans body God woulde haue it adorned with such a couering which also standeth him in some steade to defend his braine and to consume the grossest and most fumy excrements of which the haires of the head are ingendred so that they are a kinde of purgation for it Besides it serueth for a couering to the head which it may vse at pleasure as neede requireth against both heate and colde For it doeth not alwayes neede to bee alike couered at one time and in one age as at an other Therefore a man may let them growe or cut them or shaue them cleane off as is most commodious for euery one And when they waxe gray and white through age they put men in minde of two things First that they drawe towards the graue and death to the ende they might in good time frame themselues thitherward and if they haue gone astray in youth and forgotten God that then at length they should bethinke themselues and consider that they are no more yong and that they must shortly die for although it be late yet better late then neuer But it is best to follow Salomons counsell who admonisheth yong men to remember God before the Almond tree flourish comparing an olde man that is gray and white with age to a blossomed tree by reason of the whitenes of the floures For when a man flourisheth in this sort his floures put him in minde that the tree of his body drieth vp and that it looseth his naturall strength whereas the floures of trees are testimonies of the vigor that is yet in them to beare fruit Therfore we are very miserable if we do not glorify God in our youth neither thinke vpon any other life then this For we come farre short of the life of trees and are not of so long continuance neither are wee yeerely renued as they are which seeming to be dead in winter florish and wax greene in spring time as if they became yong againe Which thing we are not to looke for in this worlde wherein we flourish contrary to trees namely in winter which is our olde age Secondly gray and white haires warneth men to haue such manners as becommeth that age and colour that they may make olde-age reuerent according to that saying of the wise man The glory of the aged is the gray head For such are those ancient men whome God in his Law commaundeth to be honoured when hee saieth Thou shalt rise vp before the horehead and honour the person of the olde man and dread thy God I am the Lorde The same consideration also ought to be in the beard which is a great ornament to the face and serueth to distinguish the sexes and likewise the ages of men vnto whome they bring authoritie and maiestie For this cause the auncients did shaue or powle their beardes and haire in the time of mourning and affliction so that when the Prophets denounced some great aduersitie and desolation they foretolde that euery head should he â—ald and cut and shauen and the beards in like manner as it appeareth in the Prophecie of Esay against Moab and such like Wee 〈◊〉 also that Hanun king of the Ammonites shaued off the halfe of the beards of Dauids messengers to bring them in derision whereupon they would not shewe themselues openly to the people vntil their beards were growen Concerning womens haire Saint Paul testifieth expresly that God
with spirituall eies those images that are offered vnto it by the bodily eies it causeth them to see a great deale more clearely then the eies of brute beasts do For because they want minds vnderstanding their eiesight pierceth no further then vnto those corporall thinges which they behold Wherfore when they see the light of the sunne they only prepare themselues to be guided by it neuer cōsider or looke any further But man if he be not altogether brutish as beasts are stayeth not there but passing further he cōsidereth the beauty of the sunne those great benefits which it bringeth with it And being ascended so hie by the means of corporall light he ascendeth euen to the spirituall diuine light to God who is the eternal infinit Sunne Man also hath so much the more knowledge of the nature of corporall light of the effects therof hath also so much the more celestiall heauēly light whereof bodily light is an image as his mind is illuminated by the word and spirit of God For otherwise men see litle clearer not much farther by the light of the body then brute beasts do Moreouer we made mention in our former speach of 4. things requisit to see by which also are to be vsed in the other sences I will only adde a litle of the fourth thing which is of the meane that receiueth the obiect of the sensible quality beareth it to the instrument If those bodies that are set before our eies are so thicke by nature that the light can not pierce through thē thē doth the light appeare vpon them but not in so great measure nor so cleare as in the aire in other bodies as in glasse christal or such like that are not so thicke that they wil hinder the light frō piercing through them This part of light that is vpon thicke bodies is called colour which is of diuers sorts according to the mixture of light darknes that is in them For first there are 2. kinds of simple colours by mingling of which together al other colours are cōpounded The one is white which hath most light in it of all others and therfore wil take any other colour Thē there is black colour which hath least light in it therfore it wil take no other color Now according as these 2. kinds of colors are mingled together al other colours being infinit in nūber are cōpounded taking their diuersity difference as they haue more white or black mingled in thē For this cause some are red others yellow these greene those skie-color others gray or blew or tawny In a word it wold be a difficult matter yea impossible to reherse al their differences varieties But God sheweth himself yet more wōderful in the diuersitie that is seene euen in one kind of colour For let vs consider in a medow or garden al the herbs trees plants that are there with leaues floures we shal see no green in any one of thē which differeth not in some thing from the greene of another kind although they be all greene The like may be said of their floures For whether they be white or blacke or red or yellow or azure or of any other color we shall not find one that differeth not in somthing frō others of the same colour but of a diuers kind So is it with diuers fethers colors of birds amongst which there are such sundry colours that a mā cannot tel what certain name to giue thē as for exāple we see about the neck of a Ring-doue And althogh Painters indeuor as much as lieth in thē counterfaite all these diuersities in their printings mingled with many colours and howsoeuer as followers of nature they come very neere her yet they can neuer approch so neere as to be able to represent any colour so liuely as she brings it forth Now if the eies were not capable of light they could not see any colour nor discerne one from another and if they could not see colours they should see nothing For nothing can be seene but by meanes of colours no more then it may bee seene without light of which those are made And as the eyes cannot well see if they haue not as much light as is needefull for them so if they haue too much and more then they want they will see a great deale lesse or if it be very great they will be dazeled and as it were blinde Therefore it must be dispensed vnto them by iust measure and proportion according to their capacitie and then through the reflexion of those thinges which it discouereth vnto them it imprinteth their images in them as the image of a ring is imprinted in sealed waxe Now hauing spoken of the principall vse of our eyes if I shoulde enter into a more particular consideration of their nature I knowe not almost at which ende to beginne For there is nothing either in the matter of which they are made or in their forme composition and vse howe small soeuer it be which is not able to cast all men into great admiration For first if you aske after their matter they are compounded of three sortes of humours of which the one is like to water the other to glasse molten or to the white of an egge and the third to yee or christall and therefore they take their names of those things which they resemble Concerning the Christalline humour it is not so thinne but more firme then the other twaine much like to waxe melted Neuerthelesse it is a great deale more cleare and more glistering then both the other so that there is the same difference betweene these three humours and that which may bee seene through them which is betweene christall glasse and water and that which a man may see through them The Christalline humour is giuen to the eye to impart light vnto it therefore it is in the eye as it were a little round Christall glasse very glistering And although the other twaine are very bright so that the light may passe through them as it were through water and glasse yet they haue no light of themselues as the christalline humour hath which coulde not receiue that light which it doeth from without if of it selfe also it were not partaker of light and if by that participation which it hath there were not in it a naturall agreement with the other The other twaine are ioyned vnto it not onelie to nourish and moysten it that it drie not too fast but also to helpe to preserue it and to moderate the vehemencie both of those spirites and colours that might hurt it Nowe because these humours are liquide and soft they had neede of fitte vesselles to keepe euery one in his place appoynted for the executing of their office The christalline humoris in the middest of the other twaine because it is the glasse of the eye which receiueth
God to men that they might serue to receiue the doctrine and instruction of wisedome as we may perceiue if we consider diligently their nature and vse The eares then in mine opinion are also as it were watchmen ouer the whole body aswell as the eyes For it is not onely required that a watchman should see but also that he should both heare and speake Therefore are the eares placed harde by the eyes on eche side aswell for an ornament to the head as for the commoditie and vse of the whole body For that place is fit for them that they may so much the more conueniently receiue those sounds that come vnto them and cause them to heare euen as the eyes receiue the light which causeth them to see Therefore as God hath disposed the matter whereof it pleased him to make the eyes and hath giuen them such a forme as agreeth best to that office which bee would haue them performe so hath he done in regard of the cares as also of all the other members of the body For this cause hee hath made them of gristles which are a great deale harder and more firme then either flesh kernels sinewes or ligaments but yet nothing so hard as the bones are as we haue already learned by that which was spoken before Besides neere about the place where the eares are he hath set the hardest and firmest bones that are about the head Therefore they are called stony bones by reason of their hardnesse and of their naturall agreement with stones whereby the cares are strongly fortified and that very agreeable to their nature and office As for their forme it is halfe round and very well compassed They are also doubled in about the ends as if nature had wrought them about with litle ledges turned in of the same matter in most excellent and decent maner And amongst all liuing creatures God hath giuen vnmoueable eares to none but only to man and to an ape for the rest can moue them vp and downe And as for this externall and eminent part of the eare that appeareth without if it serued onely to beautifie the head the vse of it were not to bee despised For it is euident by such as haue their eares cut off how deformed and vnseemely the head would bee to looke vpon if it were not decked with that part of the â—ares planted there by God for their greater ornament as it were two goodly bruches Heereof it is that those men haue this part cut off who are to be made deformed and infamous for some notorious offence But besides the honour and ornament which this part of the â—ares bringeth to the head it serueth also to couer the brayne which is next to the cares least it should bee hurt And to the ende that they might not bee easily bruzed or broken nor yet hang downewarde they are as I haue saide of a gristly substance as are all those partes that are bare and appeare outward and which are in daunger to receiue iniuries and discommodities from without Likewise this outward growing of the eares bringeth a double commoditie with it to the rest of that member The first is that it keepeth backe the rayne and sweate of the head and much filth that might enter into the eares if those places were flatte and had nothing but the holes of the eares without these bulwarkes Therefore their forme is made so that they ascend and bende vpward without but are hollowe within The other is that it helpeth much for the better receiuing in of the soundes that are brought to the eares by the ayre because thereby the soundes are better conueyed vnto that place which is properly appoynted for the hearing For this cause the cares are not pierced straight outright but their holes are made winding in like the shell of a snayle whose forme they represent so that one cannot thrust straight foorth so much as a litle threede or the bristle of a hogge For if they were boared outright many inconueniences would befall them The first is that the soundes woulde not be conueyed in so well as they are in places that bend and giue backewarde where they haue rebounds which causeth them to stay and sound better The second is that the eares should receiue ouer-great sound and too thick and so being more confused they could not bee discerned and vnderstood so well Againe as too great light doth not onely dazell the eyes but hurteth them withall so ouergreat soundes would marre the instrument of hearing if they were not distributed and compassed according to the capacity therof For there must alwaies be an answerable and apt proportion between the sense the thing subiect to sense and the meane by which the sense is made Hereupon it falleth out ofteÌ„ that many become deafe by hearing ouergreat soundes whereof wee haue experience in Smithes amongest whome many are thicke of hearing because their eares are continually dulled with the noyse and sound of their hammers and anuiles The like oftentimes happeneth to those that deale with artillery by reason of the continual vse and greatnes of the sound Moreouer wee must note that there is a very litle hole in ech of these stonie bones in which the hearing is properly made and within which also there are three very small bones whereof the one is called an anuile the other the hammer because they are made almost of the same fashion so that a man would say that nature had framed a little anuile and a little hammer to make soundes and to cause them to be heard The third small bone was founde out by certaine Phisicions and Anatomists and being boared in the middest is fashioned like to a litle stirrope and is alwaies lesse then any of the other twaine Phisicions that write of Anatomie make no mention of this last or if any speake of it they are but fewe and of late time And in deede it is a harde matter euen for them that are most skilfull and expert to look vnto all how diligent and able so euer they be in Anatomie especially in the view of many instruments of their sundry parts which are so small that hardly can we discerne them with our eyes if we look not very narrowly vnto them and that after we are tolde thereof before As for these small bones whereof I speake nowe and namely the third a man may perceiue them better in a dry Anatomie and in some skull that hath nothing but the bare bones then he shall in a whole bodie Therefore the skilfullest Phisicions and Anatomists confesse that the body of man hath such woonderfull arte in it that euery day they finde some newe thing in it which was not obserued by any in former times But let vs returne to our speech concerning that which remayneth of the composition of the eares Besides these litle bones there are two small skinnes full of nerues which holde and binde these bones
that which he thinketh and conceiueth in mind and haue as we vse to say but a bad vtterance Which thing also may happen to good wits either for want of exercise and vse or through some defect that may be in the body or in the instruments of the voice or because the matter whereof they speake may be profound obscure and difficult so that a man cannot easily find words fitly to expresse the nature of it as the woorthinesse thereof requireth Which reason oft entimes maketh wise and skilfull men slowe to speake because they know what a hard matter it is to vtter in good sort that which is to be spoken in so much that they had rather keepe silence then speake ill or vnproperly But a light-head and a cocke-braine that is void of this consideration wil thinke hee hath a more ready wit For he wil speake before he ponder or discourse in his minde So that whosoeuer hath not a ripe and stayed reason nor temperate and setled senses hee can not haue his wordes set in good order nor his speaches well knit and agreeing one with another as we haue example heereof in children and fooles And if a man haue reason and iudgement ready at hand but not stayed and pithy hee may well prooue some great babbling pleader but not eloquent For hee onely is to bee accompted eloquent who can conceiue well in his spirite and minde that which he ought to speake and then is able to expresse it well both by apt wordes and by sentences that are well tied and knit together We see then how the voyce and speach of man lay open his whole heart minde and spirite But the voyces of beasts haue no significations but onely affections I meane such as are in men and which the Grammarians call Interiections because they are not framed into speach nor well distinguished as others are Nowe if wee vnderstand all these things well they may help very much to instruct and confirme vs in the doctrine of the Trinitie of persons of the Vnitie of the Godhead and of the eternall generation of the Sonne of God who is his diuine and euerlasting word Likewise they will cause vs to conceiue more easily how this heauenly and eternall word namely Iesus Christ is the Image and Character of God the expresse and ingraued forme of his person as it is in the Epistle to the Hebrews and not in shadow or painting For the glorie maiestie and vertue of the Father is alwaies hid from vs but only so farre foorth as it sheweth it selfe ingraued in his sonne and in his word as the image of the minde appeareth imprinted and ingrauen in the speach that is vttered And as the internall word bred in the minde departeth not from it neither is seperated and yet it imprinteth an image thereof in the mindes of the hearers to whom it is declared so the diuine and eternall worde begotten of the Father is alwayeâ— resident in God and yet imprinteth his image in the heartes and mindes of men to whome it is manifested by those meanes which hee hath appointed for that purpose Thus you see a gappe laide open into these high and great secrets of God which wee ought to marke well following such phrases of speach as are taken from humane things and vsed by the spirit of God in the holy scriptures to the end wee might more easily vnderstand them Wherefore if there were no other reason this were sufficient to induce vs to consider more diligently the excellent worke and great prouidence of God which appeareth in the framing of the voyce and speach of man and in the nature and vse thereof and in those members and instrumentes of the bodie which serue to that purpose Therefore AMANA let this matter be the subiect of thy discourse Of the agreement which the instruments of the voyce and speach haue with a paire of Organes what thinges are to bee considered in the placing of the lungs next the heart of the pipes and instruments of the voyce Chap. 14. AMANA When we consider diligently all the instruments created by God in the body as well for the ministery of the voyce as of speach we shall finde amongst them all thinges requisite in the best and most perfect instrument of musicke that can bee to make a good harmony and we shall know that no Organs are so wel made or disposed in such good order for the compassing of their sound and melody as the instruments of the voyce and speach of man are And by the consideration of this concordance wee are admonished alwayes to haue the same thing in the mouth which wee haue in the thought to the end that from such an agreement as it were in euerie part of an Organ and of an instrument of musicke there should proceede a good harmony and pleasant melody For if there shoulde be discord betweene the heart the tongue and the speach the harmony could not be good especially before God the Iudge of most secret thoughts no more then the harmony of a musicall instrument quite out of tune would be pleasant in the eares of men namely of good Musicions who can iudge best of concords and discords First then wee must note that the breast necke and head are as it were the instrument and the body of the Organs within which they are put and inclosed and by which they are sustained next that the lungs are as it were their bellows to blow them Therefore it is made of two pieces ioyned together like to a paire of bellowes to drawe in and to thrust forth the aire and to helpe eche other in respiration and breathing Wherein we must call to minde howe needeful it was that the backebone and breast and the building of the ribbes shoulde bee framed in that sort that we heard before that they might serue to this vse make roome for these bellows to inlarge themselues and to do their duetie Wee see also what their nature is what motion they haue and from whence they receiue it For God hath created them of that nature that they moue and remoue of themselues by the vertue of the soule and life in the body without which they woulde bee voyde of motion and coulde not do their office as we see in dead bodies And because the lungs are the bellowes that blowe winde into the instruments of the voyce without which it coulde not bee made therefore they are lodged next to the heart so that they couer it to this end that men should be admonished that their voyce and their speach is the messenger of their heart and that for this cause the heart and the mouth and the voice and speach which proceede from them alwayes ought to consent and agree together For it would be great dissolutenesse if the heart which ought to be the originall and fountaine of the speach should thinke one thing and the speach which is the messenger of the
aworking when neede requireth For this cause Salomon meaning to shewe the defect of teeth in olde age and what small strength olde men haue to chew their meate saieth that the grinders shall cease because they are fewe and the doores shall be shutte without by the base sound of the grinding These doores are the lippes because they serue the mouth and the mill which is within them For we vnderstand by the mouth all that is from the lippes vnto the throat and winde-pipe wherein not onely the mill of mans body is contained but also as it were a part of the bake-house in which the meale that is grinded is to be kneaded and so made ready for the ouen that afterward it may be baked in the stomacke which is as it were the ouen and kitchin of the whole body to dresse meate for it wherewith all the members thereof are to bee fedde and nourished For foode can not nourish the body if it still continue such as it is put into the mouth vnlesse it bee better prepared and dressed in such sorte that it may easily bee turned into the substaunce of the body that receiueth it As then iawes and teeth are the mill and milstones which bruze and turne to meale the wheate that is put betweene them that is to say all kindes of meates both hard and tender for the nourishing of the bodie so we may say that the tongue in this respect playeth the miller and serueth in stead of a hopper into which those graines that otherwise would skatter from betweene the milstones are put that they may be ground For when the meate falleth on any side from betweene the teeth the tongue serueth to send it backe againe that it may be well chewed and not auoyde the grinding of the iawes and teeth Thus wee dayly come to greater knowledge of strange instruments in the body of man For we heard before what Organs and what kinde of musicall instrument God hath made in him for the voyce and for speech now wee may see how there are within him a mill and a miller a bakehouse and a kitchin Hereupon we ought to thinke that the Master and Maker of these hath not created them that they should be idle as though he had giuen them nothing to grinde or to bake For he is no such workmaster as to make any woorke and not to set it a woorking or to leaue it vnfurnished of things necessary neither any such master or Lord but that he can casily doe it Wherfore although there are as many of these milles and ouens as there are not onely reasonable creatures but also beastes and although he hath vndertaken to maintaine them alwayes euen from the creation of the world vntil the consummation thereof yet hee neuer wanted matter to set them on worke when it pleased him Hereby we may know whether we haue a rich father or no and what cause we haue to feare that he will leaue our milles and ouens emptie although we had many houses full of them as in deed we haue in our selues our wiues and children so long as we acknowledge him to be such a one and that we yeeld obedience vnto him as becommeth his children But we haue further to note that as our mill is not without a Miller and such tooles as are necessary for him so the Ouen and Kitchen haue their Baker and Cooke For first the teeth doe not onely serue for a mill but they discharge some part of a Cookes office because the more they chop the meate and chew it well it is the better prepared for the stomack to bake it so much the sooner Therefore we say commonly that the first preparation and digestion of meate is made in the teeth For this cause God hath giuen a great number of them to man and hath made them of bone and distinguished them into sundry sorts according to that office whereunto he hath assigned euery one of them For right afore there are foure aboue and as many beneath that are broade sharpe and cutting which are called Incisorie teeth because they are apt to diuide and to cut the meate as a knife doeth and these haue but one roote Then there are other twaine on each side commonly called Dogge-teeth because they resemble the teeth of dogges which are broade towardes their roote but sharpe and poynted aboue and these also haue but one roote of a reasonable length Their office is to breake the meates and other things which by reasoÌ„ of their ouer great hardnes could not be cut by the first Next the other teeth are appoynted to bruze very small those meats which haue alreadie passed through the former euen as milstones bruze wheate Therefore they are sharpe broade hard and great and haue more rootes then the other And because of the similitude which they haue with milstones they are called by the same name both of the Grecians and Latines as also iaw-teeth and grinders All teeth are planted in the iawe-bones by meanes of the gummes beeing fastened within them as it were nailes so that they cannot easily bee moued shaken or plucked out And although bones naturally haue no feeling yet teeth are very sensible by reason of certaine braunches of small soft sinewes which enter into their substance For this feeling is necessary for them both because they are bare and not couered with flesh as other boones are as also for the meates sake and for iâ—steâ— as they that in some part are seruiceable to the taste aswell as all the other partes of the mouth Thus you see how the teeth serue at one time both for a mill and a cooke together with the tongue and the rest of the mouth Againe the tongue serueth for a baker hauing this office layde vpon it to gather the meate together after it is well grounde and chewed and to fashion it round like to pilles or small loaues that are yet but dough to this ende that it may with more â—ase be swallowed downe Wherein it dealeth like a baker who first fashioneth his bread into loaues Next it playeth the part of a baker and of a peele both together as that which setteth in the meate and causeth it to descend into the stomacke which is the ouen wherein it must bee baked that afterwarde it may nourish the whole bodie For this cause it was necessarie that the tongue both in breadth and length should bee answerable to the whole mouth in such sort that it might touch all partes of it to discharge so many offices Wee see then that mans bodie is not onely like to such a frame of a house as wee considered of before but also like to a great Citie wherein there are milles and Ouens and Artificers of all occupations Now vpon this that hath beene discoursed touching this last vse of the tongue in preparing and swallowing downe meate wee must further note that as there is a pipe that reacheth from the lungs vnto
but a very litle But God hath prouided a remedy for this by the meanes of salt and of sundry fortes of sawces and spices whereby they may be made to haue a pleasaunt taste There are some things also which are cleane contrary either by reason of their euill taste as gall and wormewood or els because of the hurt which they may bring with them as those things that are venimous and very poyson But God hath very well met with this inconuenience both by this gift of the sense of tasting and also by putting into such things as might hurt either mā or any other liuing creature a certaine qualitie which we call relish or taste that is contrary and very vnpleasant to the sense of tasting as likewise hee hath giuen to those things that are healthful and good to nourish a relish that is agreeable and pleasant vnto our taste This is to be vnderstoode if our taste bee not corrupted either by sickenesse or by some vnbrideled appetite the like is to be said of the spittle which beside the vse before named hath this also that it helpeth the taste Wherefore if it bee already infected with some euill taste it will not well receiue others but will cause euerything to be of the same taste wherewith it is infected and corrupted Now those things are most sauoury and haue the best relish that haue in them the best mixture of heate and moisture which two qualities make the relish of things and without which we see that all extreme colde and dry things haue no smacke or taste as flaxe or towe and drye wood or water that is very pure In other thinges those that haue more moisture then heate haue their taste lesse sharp so that according as heat and humidity are tempered together the diuersitie of tastes is framed For if humidity doth not exceede and surmount earthy drynesse or both of them be consumed by heate there is no taste So that as all bodily thinges are compounded of all the elements and differ one from another according as they haue more or lesse of the elements so is it in tastes For this cause this sense of taste answereth to the element of water and holdeth most of the nature thereof as the sense of touching hath more affinitie with the earth to the ende it might agree better with those thinges that are to bee felt thereby For the vigor and sense thereof ought to be close together and throughout and such as taketh faster holde then any of the rest So likewise the sense of sight agreeth with the fire and that of hearing with the aire as wee haue alreadie touched it And as for the sense of smelling it agreeth both with the fire and with the thicke ayre because smelles are stirred vp by heate as smoke is by fire which afterwardes are by the meanes of the ayre caried to the sense of smelling whereof wee will speake heereafter But let vs goe on with our discourse of tasting and of such things as are apt to nourish the body For wee cannot liue without the helpe of many things amongst which meates and drinks are chiefest because that as hunger requireth meate so thirst desireth drinke Wee must therefore vnderstand that this soule and life which is called Vegetatiue or nourishing and which is common to man with all other liuing creatures hath two principall instruments in the body namely heate and humiditie of which heate is first and chiefe belonging properly to the vertue of nourishing next humiditie is ioyned to heate that it may feede and preserue it For life is preserued in the body by heate which is the chiefe instrument thereof so that as soone as heate is gone it becommeth starke dead And because this heate would easily and quickly consume it selfe if it were not nourished and mainteined moysture is ioyned vnto it in liuing bodies as it were a bridle to keepe it back to the end that life might be prolonged which otherwise woulde faile presently after it were forsaken of heate as heate also would decay if it were not nourished and preserued by humiditie which it necessarily requireth For heate draweth humour vnto it selfe and sucketh and drinketh it vp likewise humour refresheth heate and slaketh the vehemencie thereof all which wee may plainely see in a lampe For let vs compare the light of a lampe with life and then let vs consider whether this light can bee preserued without fire and whether this fire can continue any long time and not bee extinguished vnlesse it haue two thinges The first is matter as namely the wieke of the lampe which matter cannot bee firme if it haue no drynesse in it whereof fire may take holde For fire beeing hote and drie cannot haue any fellowship with coldenesse and humiditie without some middle qualitie agreeable to his nature On the other side it will soone consume the drie matter on which it lighteth if the vehement heate thereof bee not abated and tempered by some humiditie which both resisteth the drynesse and also by the coldenesse it hath moderateth the heate of the fire Therefore wee see that the matter of the wicke of a lampe cannot continue long beeing once lighted if it be not greased with some tallowe or some humide matter to preserue both that and the fire of which it receiueth light For when it is burnt out the fire also dieth with it through want of nourishment that might mainteine it But it is not ynough although the fire haue meet matter to nourish it For they must be so well wrought and mingled one with another that there bee neyther too much nor too litle of eyther but as much as neede requireth For if there bee a great deale of wieke and but a litle oyle and tallowe it will endure so much the lesse while and if there bee too much oyle or tallowe in respect of the wieke it will slake the fire ouermuch yea it may be in such great quantitie that it will put it quite out But if due proportion bee kept betweene the cotton and the oyle or tallowe the fire will preserue it selfe verie well and giue a goodly cleare light The like is done in our bodies For if they were without naturall heate there woulde bee no life in them and if this heate had not meete matter to preserue it selfe within them it woulde quickely bee extinguished Nowe seeing it must bee nourished and mainteined this cannot bee done vnlesse it haue some solide and firme matter which cannot be consumed so quickly but that it may preserue it selfe sometime Againe forasmuch as there is no matter so solide and firme which is able any long time to resist the fire that consumeth all if the violence thereof be not moderated this matter must of necessitie be moistened Here then the meate which is most solide standeth in stead of match or weeke to this naturall fire from whence proceedeth life to the body and drinks are as it were oyle in
those things which God hath giuen them for nourishment yea in their mouth also to the end to render vnto him honour glorie and prayse Whensoeuer beastes doe eate their tongue serueth to feede them no otherwise then that of men doeth helpe them but they prayse not God with that tongue which serueth to nourish them because he hath not giuen them that gift of speech wherewith he hath endued man and that for the cause which we haue already heard For as a fountain cannot be without a riuer so a riuer cannot be without a fountaine For this cause seeing reason of which God hath made man partaker is as it were a fountaine in him and speech as the riuer that issueth from it the Grecians expresse both reason and speech with one and the same worde which Saint Iohn also vsed when speaking of the Deitie of Iesus Christ he said In the beginning was the worde and the worde was with God and that worde was God For as all the woorkes of God are perfect in their kinde so hee maketh nothing without cause and which hath not his vse So likewise he giueth nothing to any creature but withall he giueth the instruments and meanes which it ought to vse thereby to be made seruiceable as the thing it selfe requireth Heereof it is that hee gaue not speech to beastes because hee made them not partakers of reason without which speech would stande them in no steade so that it woulde haue beene a superfluous woorke of GOD. Therefore seeing it is so God requireth not of beastes that they should by speech praise him with their tongue as he requireth it of men vnto whome hee hath giuen the meanes to performe it For beastes haue neyther reason to vnderstande what is spoken nor speech to vtter any thing thereby whereas man hath both the one and the other He hath both the fountaine and also the riuer that runneth from it Wherefore when hee sitteth downe to meate and whilest hee is taking his refection to which vse his tongue serueth him according as we heard before and when hee riseth from table truely he is much more brutish then any brute beast if with the selfe same tongue he doeth not prayse and glorifie God acknowledging as he ought the goodnesse of that celestiall Father that giueth him that foode and that nourisheth him If he doe otherwise hee looketh no more from whence the meate commeth vnto him then doeth the hogge who with his snowte alwayes towardes the earth feedeth vpon the akornes that are vnderneath the Oakes and neuer looketh or considereth from whence they fall Yea the hogge doeth a great deale better discharge his duetie in praysing GOD then such men doe that eate and drinke as brute beastes without giuing thankes to God for the benefites hee distributeth amongest them For hee prayseth God in his kinde as all other creatures doe in theirs according as the kingly Psalmist testifieth in many places of his Psalmes Neither doeth God require more of them then he hath giuen vnto them But seeing he hath giuen more to man then to all other visible and bodily creatures he requireth so much the more of him and that very iustly For as it is written To whome much is committed more shal be demaunded of him Wherefore man is not onely too too inexcusable but more vile and sauage then any brute beast if his tongue serue him no farther at the table for the praysing of God thereby then if beastlike his snowte and nose were in a cratch or manger For howe shall the foode in the vse thereof bee sanctified by the worde of God and prayer if hee take it after that sort And if it bee not sanctified vnto him by that meane as Paul teacheth hee vseth it not as the childe of GOD but as a theefe and a very prophane man For as Euery creature of God is good when it is receiued with thankesgiuing so it is defiled to the filthie not through any fault of the creature but of such as abuse it like to Infidels But all they abuse it that giue not thankes for it to the Creator Wherefore as euery thing is cleane to the cleane that haue their heartes purified by the worde of God which they haue receiued by faith so nothing is cleane to the defiled and to infidels But if these men of whome we speake bee vnwoorthy to be taken for men yea to be compared with hogges then whom they are much more vile and detestable wee may easily iudge what is to be saide of those that doe not onely not prayse God or giue him any thankes but which is woorse blaspheme and as it were despite him in liew of recompensing him for the benefites they haue receiued of him which is vsually done by gluttons drunkards and swearers What shall wee say of such men but that they deserue rather to bee called madde dogges then men except wee had rather call them children of the Deuill whose instrument tongue and mouth they are And as for those that cease not to prattle and babble about vaine and vnprofitable matters and that take delight in backbiting and slandering euery one wee may with good reason compare their tongue to the clacket of a mill For seeing euery one of vs carrieth a mill in his mouth as wee shewed before these men may truely boast that their mill is better furnished with all kinde of instruments then others are But they are not the more to bee esteemed for that but rather the lesse for the reasons which wee haue alreadie hearde And when they adde to their clacking euill speech and backebiting infecting all tables where they come with their tongue they may well bee compared to dogges that doe not onely barke but also bite But it is time to draw the last draught of the pensill vpon the face of mans bodie by considering the sense of smelling with the member that belongeth vnto it wherein we looke to be instructed by thee ARAM. Of the Nose and of the sense of smelling and of their profite and vse of the composition matter and forme of the Nose Chap. 19. ARAM. Forasmuch as beautie is a grace that proceedeth of the proportion agreement and harmonie of things it is then very seemely in mans bodie when it followeth nature onely and is without any blemish or defect Nowe this beautie consisteth in soure thinges namely in figure in number in greatnesse and in situation For the members of the bodie are well or ill coloured according to the disposition of the matter And the correspondencie of the members one towardes another aswell in the number as in the length and greatnesse of eache of them well compassed and proportioned together is one cause also of beautie as likewise the placing of euerie one of them in his proper place most conuement and agreeable to his nature and vse For if any thing bee wanting of all these thinges in any member of the bodie there is
deformitie in stead of beautie But if wee consider onely the beautie of the head and of the face thereof whereof wee discoursed yesterday wee shall not finde any one member that hath not singular beautie in it and that agreeth not very fitly with the rest being of so good proportion and measure and hauing such a great and excellent grace that a man may truely say that the whole woorke hath in each part thereof so great perfection that nothing can bee added or taken away nothing can bee wished to make it more faire profitable excellent or perfect then it is in it owne nature To the setting foorth of this beautie the nose whereof wee are to speake serueth very much yea so much that hardly any member in all the face or head so disfigureth a man or maketh him more deformed then the nose if it bee euill fauoured disfigured or taken cleane away But besides this beautie which it bringeth to a mans head we are to knowe that it is very seruiceable to the whole bodie and chiefly to the brayne lodged in the top thereof as it were the Lorde and Master that as it giueth motion and sense to all the members so it might bee compassed about with all the senses as it were with seruitours men of garde Therefore as it hath neere about it the eyes eares tongue and palat which are the instruments of seeing hearing and tasting so the nose is needfull to serue the sence of smelling Neither is it placed so neere the sense of tasting without the great prouidence of God For there are many things in nature which if they be tasted onely are deadly or at leastwise very dangerous and hurtfull as appeareth chiefly in thinges that are venimous and poysonfull For this cause albeit the sence of smelling bee not altogether so necessary for liuing creatures namely for such as are most perfect as the other sences so that they may more easily want it neuerthelesse GOD hath giuen it them to the ende it might bee as it were a messenger to the taste to shewe what is good for it and what not and this chiefly for two reasons The first is to keepe men from hazarding themselues through an immoderate desire to eate and drinke before they haue discerned by the smell of such things as are to be taken whether they bee profitable or hurtfull for them The second reason is to take all suspicion and feare from them which otherwise might cause them to abstayne from those thinges that are good and profitable for them And therefore this sense of smelling is neerely conioyned and hath great agreement with the sense of tasting For this is a generall rule that albeit euery thing that smelleth well hath not alwayes a good taste yet whatsoeuer a man findeth good to his taste the same hath also a good smell and contrariwise that which is founde to haue an ill relish the same hath also the like smell For the taste and smell are giuen not onely for profite but for pleasure also and delight Neyther doe those thinges which serue for delectation alwayes bring profite but sometime the contrarie principally through their fault that knowe not howe to vse them moderately For they are so subiect to their pleasures that they can neuer keepe measure in anything as wee see by experience especially in these two senses of taste and smell For as the ordinary meates satisfie not the delicate appetites of men but they must haue new dainties daily inuented to prouoke their appetite further and to cause them to eate and drinke more then is needefull to their great hurt so men are not contented with naturall odours which nature bringeth foorth of it selfe but nowe they must haue muskes and perfumes with infinite varietie of distilled waters and artificial smelles in regard of which naturall fauours are nothing set by And yet if they were vsed with sobrietie there were no cause of reprehension seeing all the creatures of God are good if they be vsed moderately and a they ought with thankesgiuing Heereof it is that they are oftes mentioned in Scripture in the good part And not to seeke farre off for examples we haue the testimonies of the holy Euāgelists as our Lord Iesus Christ himselfe who was neither nice nor voluptuous but the perfect paterne of al sobriety and temperance did not reiect nor condemne pretious ointments and sweete odours but sometime permitted the vse of them vpon his owne person Moreouer it is certaine that the animal spirites in the braine are greatly relieued and recreated by those good and naturall smels that are conueyed vnto them by means of the nose and of the sense of smelling placed therein as contrariwise they are greatly offended by euill odours yea oftentimes by artificial sauours which commonly cause rhumes catharres and great head-aches For the spirits of the head are subtile pure and very neate so that sweete smelles are good for them and stinking sauours contrary vnto them To this end therefore that the braine might receiue this benefit of good odours God hath placed both the sense and instrument of smelling so neare vnto it the instrument to keepe and conuey odours vnto it the sense to discerne and iudge of them Therefore this sense of smelling hath some agreement both with the fire and with thicke aire because smels are stirred vp by heate as smoke is by fire which are after carried by meanes of the aire vnto the sense and receiued and kept by the nose Forasmuch also as the braine needeth aire to nourish and preserue the animal spirites the nose in this respect also standeth it in great steade Therefore God hath created it not only to serue the sense of smelling but also for respiration that it should be the principall pipe and passage by which both the braine and lungs may draw in or let out breath as neede requireth For this cause the braine doeth stretch out and restraine it selfe and as by stretching foorth it selfe it draweth in the aire by the nosethrilles so by keeping it selfe close together it retaineth the aire And so the externall aire being drawen in by the nosethrilles is distributed by the cranies that are open in the palat in such sort that the greatest part is drawen into the lungs and the residue goeth to the braine by the passages holes that leade vnto it And although the mouth serueth also for respiration yet the nose is appointed more especially for that purpose and is much more fit and apte for the same Therefore God hath giuen it both matter and forme agreeable for that office For first concerning the matter it is not made all of bone nor all of gristles because if it were all of bone a double inconuenience woulde ensue thereof The first is that the bones would be in danger of breaking chiefely about the end of the nose when it should hit against any hard thing because they would not bend and giue
place easily as sinewes will do The second inconuenience would be this that the endes of the nosethrilles could neither open nor shut neither enlarge nor restraine themselues but woulde continue alwayes at one stay whereupon two other mischiefs would follow First the nose could not open and inlarge it selfe so much as were requisite many times to drawe in great store of aire to coole and refresh both the lungs and the braine especially when they are heated and set on fire For at such a time there is perill of strangling Secondly forasmuch as the nose is giuen to man that it might serue the braine in stead of a pipe and spowt to purge it of slegmatike humours a man could not by blowing close it together and straine it to get the filth out of it as neede requireth many times For the humours that distill from the braine are not alwaies very liquide running but sometimes so grosse thick that a man cannot easily purge the braine or nose except it be closed and strained hard Thus you see two euident causes why it was needeful that the nose should be compounded of gristles not of bones onely at lest wise from the middle downward On the otherside if this lower part had beene made of flesh onely or of kernelles or of skinnes the nosethrilles could not so well haue bin inlarged or rēstrained nor continued so open as is requisite for the seruice of all those dueties and offices already mentioned besides that those parts could not so well withstand the inconueniences whereunto they might be subiect if they were of a more tender matter Lastly as it was needefull that one part of the nose should consist of that matter for those causes spoken of so also it was necessary that the vpper part should bee made of bones not onely to keepe the sense of smelling the better which is in that part and to be as it were a buckler vnto it but also to serue in steade of rampires both for the eyes and for the braine As for the inward parts there are two nosethrilles distinguished one from another by a gristle which is betweene them both as it were alittle wall to diuide them to the ende that if the one be stopped the other may alwayes discharge the offices assigned to them both And to the end they may more easily draw in the aire for the seruice as well of the lungs as of the braine and also receiue in the odours they are larger at the first entrance and after as they ascend vp they waxe more narrow and that not without good reason of the prouidence of God For hee hath in a manner taken the selfe same course that he did in the composition of the eares which he made large wide at the entry hauing that form that hole within which we heard spoken of before together with the causes why The self same reason in a maner may be rēdred here For as it is to be feared that ouer great soundes woulde hurt the eares if they entred in all at once so the lungs and much more the braine might be ouer cooled by the ayre that should enter in at the nosethrilles if it should ascend vp too fast at once too sodainly or too vehemently By reason wherof it is requisite that it should be retained in some sort to the ende that by the tariance which it maketh it should bee heated and better tempered The like consideration is to bee had of the vapours and smelles in regarde of the braine not onely of euill sauours but also of those that are good For some are so violent by reason of the abundance of heat in them which falleth out chiefly in such as are most excellent that if they be not dispensed moderately they hurt the braine This commeth to passe in some persons through the weaknes of their braine There are others and namely such as care not for sweet things who take no peasure no not in good smels so that oft times the sweetest most delicate odours are hurtful to their head Now God hath wel prouided for al these things hauing placed a little bone in the top of the nose which is pierced through like to a litle siue Hereupon it is called by the Phisicions the siue-bone or otherwise and that more properly the spūgy bone because the holes therof are not strait as are those of a siue but somwhat slopewise like to the holes of a spunge And this serueth for the better more cōmodious discharging of all those vses declared by vs for the auoyding of those discommodities which we haue heard of Whereunto may be added that the humors which descend from the braine may not fall downe so fast together but distill better by little and little and the good humours be kept more easily from falling downe all at once together with the euill I passe ouer heere briefely the muscles giuen to the nosethrilles to mooue them as also the nerues which are sent from the braine to the sense of smelling to bring vnto it the vertue of smelling as the eyes eares palat and tongue receiue from thence their nerues also which bring vnto them that facultie and vertue that is meete for their nature Wherein wee may further note one goodly point of the prouidence of God in that giuing motion and sense to euery member of the bodie by the sinewes hee giueth a speciall and proper sense to those nerues that are to minister vertue and power to euery one of the corporall senses which the other sinewes haue not For there is none that giueth the sense meete for sight but those that are allotted to the eyes for that purpose The same may bee said of those that are giuen to the eares for hearing and to the tongue and palat for the taste and to the nose for smelling Now to end this speach wee are to draw out some instruction meete for the minde according as we haue done in our discourses of the other senses of the body As then wee iudge by the nose sense of smelling which God hath giuen vnto vs what difference there is betwene a good and a stinking smell and how the one is pleasant delightsome and the other vnpleasant abominable so likewise we ought to consider what small pleasure God taketh in the infection and stinch of our sinnes and how he is delighted with the sweete smell of the iustice and vertues of Christ Iesus when wee are prefumed therewith and when hee smelleth the sauour thereof in vs. Therefore whensoeuer and as often as we feele some stinch and abhorre the same that euil smel ought to admonish vs of the filthines of our sinnes and teach vs to haue them in greater abomination then any catrion smell whatsoeuer and to abhorre our selues when wee present our selues before God prefumed with such an infernall sauour For if we turne our faces aside and stoppe our nose and euen spit vpon
imagination and fantasie being neerer to the corporall senses draw the soule to those things that are bodily but reason and the spirite pricke it forwarde and cause it to lift vp it selfe to more excellent things For the spirite which the Philosophers expresse by Vnderstanding mounteth vp vnto those things that cannot be knowen nor comprehended of imagination and fantasie nor of any other sense Moreouer it keepeth fantasie brideled and bringeth it into the right way which otherwise wandreth farre wide and entereth into many turnings and windings Neither doeth the spirite wholly yeeld vnto euery present profite or decline the contrary but calleth things past to remembrance coniectureth and foreseeth things to come and searcheth out what is true and what false to giue iudgement thereafter and then to followe after or to eschew that which ought to bee followed or fledde from Thus you see what the reasonable soule bringeth to men which is not in beastes nor in their soule Besides from this vigour and nature of the spirite speech proceedeth which being his messenger is wanting vnto beastes because they are voyde of reason and vnderstanding in regard whereof speech is giuen as wee haue already hearde Therefore we vnderstand by the reasonable soule and life such a soule and life as hath counsaile iudgement and reason and which was created to this end that knowing God her Creator and louing him in respect thereof she might honour and serue him and finally by degrees attaine to immortall life and happinesse which is appointed for her ende For as nothing is more excellent then reason whereof God hath made man partaker so there is nothing more beseeming reason then to know loue and honour God seeing there is nothing greater more excellent or that may be compared vnto him Therefore as man differeth from brute beasts in respect of reason wherewith God hath indued him so he differeth from them in that he is capable of religion created and borne thereto which consisteth in the things alreadie touched But beasts are not capable of any kind of religion being altogether voyde thereof as on the other side there is no man but he hath some sense of it Whereby wee may gather a good argument that beasts are not onely voyde of reason but also that their soules are mortall and the soules of men immortall For the fountaine and fruit of the religion and seruice of God consisteth not in this mortall life and therefore it must needes bee in some other that followeth And for this cause Reason which is so great and excellent a gift of God in man is not bestowed vpon vs for things of so smal price and so transitorie as these are which we vse and enioy in this life and in which it is wholly busied much lesse for those whereby the life of beastes is preserued but in regarde of these thinges which I haue nowe declared Therefore as God hath not giuen such a life to stones as he hath giuen to trees and plants nor yet sense imagination and fantasie to trees and plants as he hath done to beasts so hee hath not graunted reason to beasts as he hath to men and that not without iust cause For as it is enough for stones in regarde of the perfection of their nature to bee heauie and such as they are and sufficient likewise for trees and plants to haue a Vegetatiue soule seeing they want not that which beastes haue more then they so beastes stand not in neede of that which men haue aboue them For it sufficeth for the preseruation and defence of their life and beeing that they haue some kinde of cogitation ioyned with imagination and fantasie although they want reason which is not necessary for them as it is for men for the causes already specified and chiefly because they were not created by meanes of the knowledge of God and of true religion to come to a better life then their brutish life is Therefore as man is created to the end that the light of the knowledge of God might shine in him and that God might communicate with him his wisedome and goodnesse so he would that the soule of man shoulde bee an euident testimonie of himselfe For this cause it was said in his creation that God made man after his owne image and likenesse as wee haue already heard Seeing then there are in the reasonable soule so cleere and excellent testimonies of God and that by it especially the difference appeareth betweene man beasts as also in the diuers gouernments of their liues it behoueth vs to conâ—ider thereof very diligently And albeit this glasse of God cannot be so euidently seen as those that are made of steele or of glasse and lead by the hand of man to represent the image of our bodies neuertheles the actions and works of the soule doe plainly shew that there is such a power and vertue in vs which God hath giuen vs more to vse for our benefite then to know it and that for the causes already touched by vs. For the true and perfect knowledge thereof belongeth to God onely who being aboue it hath created and giuen it and will cause vs to know it better when we shal be in that eternall light in which wee shal know those things that are nowe hidden from vs. In the meane time let vs in this life consider of and distinguish the actions and workes of the soule whereby we are seuered from beasts and which being very euident testimonies of God in vs gouerne the life of man and bring foorth all honest sciences and artes We haue spoken alreadie of the powers and vertues of the soule which by the vse of corporall instruments labour and manifest themselues but it appeareth euidently that there is in man another higher power because we haue many actions and doe many woorkes which beastes cannot performe nor imitate For man hath the knowledge of numbers and can reckon hee vnderstandeth not onely particular things but also generall and vniuersall things he discourseth that is gathereth and concludeth one thing of another and that very farre he inuenteth artes and disposeth them he iudgeth of his owne reasons and discourses and marking his owne faults he correcteth them he changeth his intents and purposes he discerneth vertues from vices honest things from those that are dishonest finally hee deliberateth by a long discourse of reason As for beastes they haue not these thinges common with vs as they haue the vse of the senses as of seeing hearing smelling tasting and other such like things wherein they oftentimes excell vs in many respectes For many of them haue these senses more sharpe then wee haue And although they haue some imagination fantasie and apprehension of thinges offered to their bodily senses yet that holdeth but for the present and in the place or fielde where the thinges are offered vnto them The like may bee sayde of those discourses of reason which many thinke are in
the perfectest of them For they haue some kinde of discourse in that they can passe from one thing to another But all their iudgements are but of particular things neyther doe they ascend higher In like maner they know not things absent nor passe from thē to others whether it be from things absent to them that are present or from present things to those that are absent For they take or leaue incontinently those present and particular things which they know and make a stop there without any further discourse So that this intellectuall and reasonable power is proper to man onely and is the highest and most soueraigne vertue of the soule of man And although the internall senses are seruiceable vnto it as they are serued of the externall senses neuerthelesse it hath proper actions vertues and motions which it can and doeth exercise without the helpe of bodily instruments when it is separated from the bodie And euen while it is in the bodie it is sometime rauished as if it were altogether out of it as it hath often fallen out to holy men who haue beene rauished in spirite in the contemplation of celestiall and diuine things and that by the reuelation of the spirite of God insomuch that Saint Paul testifieth of himselfe that Hee was taken vp into the thirde heauen and into Paradise not knowing whether hee were in the bodie or out of the bodie but GOD hee knewe Wee will consider therefore in this chiefe and most soueraigne part of the soule two faculties and vertues namely the Vnderstanding and the Will For it beeing so that man is created to attayne to that soueraigne and eternall Good which God hath propounded vnto him therefore hath GOD giuen him the power and vertue to wishe for that Good to the ende hee might desire to applie and ioyne himselfe vnto it This power and vertue is called Will. But the soule cannot haue this appetite and desire if first it vnderstand or know not that Good which it ought to desire and followe after For this cause hath God giuen vnto it another power and vertue which wee call Vnderstanding And forasmuch as our spirite stayeth not alwayes in one thought but discourseth and goeth from one matter to another it had neede of a receptacle and storehouse wherein it may lay vp the first thoughtes when others come as if it placed them in a treasurie that they shoulde not bee lost but might bee founde out and called foorth when neede shoulde require But wee learned by our former speech that this office apperteyneth to memorie which is as it were the Rolles of a Chauncerie court in which the seales of images framed by the thought are imprinted and vpon which the vnderstanding doeth looke as often as it pleaseth And euen as it serueth to the other internall senses vnto which it succeedeth in order so also it serueth the Vnderstanding and Will Concerning the Vnderstanding if we consider it generally it comprehendeth the whole minde but beeing taken more specially we meane a certaine particular office thereof For it vnderstandeth the the thinges that come from without as we conceiue them then it laieth vp that which it hath vnderstoode in some little cofer by it selfe for a time out of which it may take them againe when neede requireth This repetition and taking againe which is as it were an inquiry and searching out is called Consideration from thence it commeth to recordation and remembraunce and so conferreth together the thinges it hath vnderstood and compareth them one with another which being done a discourse thereof is had with others after which discourse it determineth and iudgeth what is true and what false what good and what euill Then doeth the Will choose that which is good and refuseth the euill And as we come from the vnderstanding to the will by these degrees so we must ascend vp by the same steppes euen from the last to the first namely from Will to Vnderstanding For Will doeth not follow after or refuse any thing which the iudgement hath not first determined to be good or euill and the iudgement decreeth nothing before it hath taken aduise of reason and reason aduiseth not before she haue conferred the things one with another and throughly examined them Neither can this conferring bee without consideration nor consideration without requiring that of Memorie which was committed vnto it to keepe and the memorie will keepe nothing safe but that which it hath first knowne and vnderstood So that the reasonable soule hath all these things namely Vnderstanding Will and Memorie And vnder this facultie of vnderstanding there is simple and particuler intelligence after which Consideration followeth next Recordation then Conferring and discoursing after that next Iudgement and last of all Contemplation which is as it were the rest of the soule and spirite Nowe these things being so excellent and wonderfull and somewhat obscure withall deserue to bee discoursed of more at large and to be vttered more clearely And therefore before wee goe to any other matter wee shall doe well to consider of the diuersity that is found in the operations and discourses of the Vnderstanding according to that gift of light which is in it and what is the end of all discourses Prepare therefore thy selfe ASER to intreate of this matter Of the varietie and contrarietie that is founde in the opinions deliberations counsailes discourses and iudgements of men with the cause thereof and of the good order and end of all discourses Chap. 29. ASER. All things whatsoeuer can be rehearsed are either of this mutable and temporary nature or of the other which is immutable perpetuall and aboue that nature If the question be of the first either the varietie and change is such that no certaine rule or determination can be giuen or els there is a perpetuall tenour and constancie in them according to their inbred inclination through a stedfast and continuall order of nature which is alike in all according to their natures and kinds If the variety and change be very vncertaine there can no certain science and knowledge be had of them nor any determination set down so general but that there wil be alwaies some exception For touching the first sort we can haue no sure knowledge of things that are infinite and that haue infinite alterations And because particularities and particular things are infinite in regarde of our capacity there can no entire and certaine knowledge be had of them all in speciall As for generals howbeit they also are variable yet some rules may well bee giuen of them of which the arte followeth afterward and yet no such certaine rules but often it falleth out otherwise as we may see in many artes and in sundry experiences For although it bee ordinarie for women to loue their children yet there are some that murder them cruelly So that howsoeuer it bee very common to loue them yet it falleth not out so
are soone perswaded to giue ouer all care to seeke for and to prouide thinges necessary for the soule And if the bodie be neuer so little out of square yea the verie feare least they should procure it any griefe causeth them wholly to abstaine from labouring the minde in the searching out of wisedome and trueth so that they voluntary become ignorant There are others that haue running heads who will neuer continue and stay in one thing and some also that when they shoulde hearken to that which they are about haue their wittes a wool-gathering and as wee vse commonly to say are building of castles in Spaine But aboue all we must herein acknowledge that God distributeth his giftes and graces to men and bestoweth witte and vnderstanding as it pleaseth him Nowe that we haue intreated sufficiently of the vnderstanding and of the discourses of reason therein let vs speake of Iudgement which followeth it and of his office This then shal be the matter subiect of thy speech AMANA Of Iudgement and of his office after the discourse of reason and how Beleefe Opinion or doubting follow it of the difference that is betweene them Chap. 30. AMANA If I iudge aright of the doctrine contained in our former discourses which handled the nature powers faculties and vertues of the soule I finde that the spirite is as it were the chiefe part therin in which is the Mind the Vnderstanding Memory The Mind is as it were a white paper wherein as a man groweth in yeeres and iudgement so he writeth his cogitations and thoughts which he hath by learning and by the instruction of wisedome Vnderstanding is framed by the knowledge of reason and last of all Memorie followeth For there is great difference betweene that which the senses and the vnderstanding are able to doe in the time of infancie and that which is done by them in other ages wherein there is greater vse of them And although the seeds of al the operations of the soule are included within it euen from the beginning of the creation thereof neuertheles God hath created it of that nature that as hee hath ioyned it to the body which hath his degrees of growth in euery part thereof so the soule hath some agreement therewith in this respect touching the manifestation of her powers and vertues If then any man bee endued with an excellent spirite that is quicke and ready to conceiue and with a memory apt to retaine and holde fast it is a great meane for him whereby to attaine to the knowledge of the trueth But for the perfection of these two great giftes of nature it is necessary hee shoulde haue a good and found iudgement proceeding from a sounde disputing and discoursing of reason lightened by the spirit of God and by it purged of errour illusion and of all vaine opinions which the nature of man hath of his owne inheritance and which hindereth him from iudging aright of the trueth Nowe the office of Iudgement is to like or dislike the discourses of reason and the conclusions which are made thereby For it belongeth to Iudgement to iudge whether reason discourse and conclude well as it ought to doe And therefore it is in the spirite and in the minde as a rule or as the skoles in a payre of balance and whilest reason is a woorking it is quiet But when shee hath concluded and done iudgement afterwarde examineth and considereth whether there bee any fault in the discoursing or in the conclusion or in both or whether all bee well referred before it eyther approue or mislike any thing And if it finde any thing that breedeth feare least it be deceiued then it beginneth againe to aduise of the matter Nowe the greatest cause it hath to feare least it bee deceiued ariseth of probable reasons which albeeit they bee like to bee true yet indeede are not true And because there are some which haue such great shewe of trueth that it is a very harde matter to bee able to discerne them from true reasons and not take them to bee such indeede therefore the Iudgement may bee often deceiued by this meanes For it will not easily flippe aside but abide constant in that wherein it is once setled if it bee not ledde and induced to allowe or disallowe of a thing eyther by vertue of true and certaine reasons that may mooue it or of such reasons as are so verie likely and carry so greate a shewe of trueth that they cannot bee knowne and discerned for others Therefore wee may well saye that a good vpright and sounde iudgement is an excellent gift of God neither is there any thing more necessary in all artes and disciplines yea in the whole course of mans life and chiefly for the principall end of our being which is to know and to serue God For as Good is a thing agreeable to the Will so is Trueth agreeable to the Minde whereupon it followeth likewise that as Euill is contrarie and an enemie to the Will so is lying in respect of the minde Wherefore if iudgement iudgeth that the conclusion made by reason is true and followeth well it ioyneth it selfe thereunto receiuing and imbracing it as agreeable to it selfe This approbation is called Consent But if it iudge the conclusion to be false it turneth aside and reiecteth it and this refusall may be called dissent because it is contrary to consent when there is no agreement of sentences but disagreement and contrarietie As touching Consent we may diuide it into two kindes For one kinde thereof is firme and stedfast and another weake and vnstayed If the consent bee firme certaine and throughly resolued it is called Beleefe But there is difference betwixt that beleefe or faith which concerneth humane matters and that which is of diuine thinges For then doe wee giue credite to humane thinges when wee take them to bee so certaine that wee doubt nothing thereof as namely when wee are so perswaded eyther by very euident reasons which remoue all doubting from vs or els by testimonies which we take to bee most certaine Wherefore wee may say that there is great agreement betwixt this kinde of beleefe and betweene Science because there is a certaine resolution both in the one and in the other For Science is a kind of knowledge in which the demonstration made vnto vs compelleth vs to approue that which is spoken because we see the reasons so certaine that we cannot gainsay them nor thinke otherwise The like is done in beleefe which is a kinde of knowledge that causeth vs without doubting to giue credite vnto that which is tolde vs because wee are ouercome by witnesses and by authoritie which wee approue For if wee doubted any thing our consent woulde bee yet weake and so it coulde not properly be called beleefe but rather Coniecture or Opinion For considering that in this there is some kinde of consent which inclineth to one part rather then to another
therefore it tendeth to disliking which is wholly against consent For this cause wee call Opinion a knowledge that moueth vs to encline rather on the one side then on the other in regard of the appearance and shewe of reason that it hath so that wee are not fully resolued therein Nowe albeeit this consent which is called opinion or coniecture bee not altogether so firme as that which wee call beleefe neuerthelesse it differeth from Doubting which is as it were a neuter iudgement hanging betweene consent and his contrary and inclining neither to the one side nor to the other As for that beleefe which is of diuine things there is such a firme consent required therein as that all doubting must be vtterly excluded For faith is not perfect if it doe not allowe for certaine whatsoeuer God hath reuealed vnto men by his worde which is a certaine testimonie of his will And although hee hath giuen vnto vs the same meanes to instruct vs by in these things that he hath done in humane things yet hee goeth further For hee doeth not onely teach vs by experience by reasons and demonstrations which appeare manifestly to-our senses both externall and internall and of which our minde can iudge as well as of humane things but he requireth chiefely of vs that wee shoulde beleeue his testimony and those witnesses which he sendeth vnto vs and that wee shoulde content our selues with his authoritie And because heauenly things surpasse the capacitie of our vnderstandings God maketh them capable by the light of faith which is a supernaturall and diuine light whereby wee see that in God which we cannot beholde in all the creatures and which our humane reason cannot naturally comprehend Now as much as this light is more certaine then all other naturall light either externall of the eyes of the body or internall in respect of the eyes of the soule and minde so much more certaine is our sight and knowledge of that which wee see and knowe by meanes of that light For this cause when our vnderstandings are lightned with this light wee beleeue more firmely that which it manifesteth vnto vs I say not onely then that whereunto wee may bee perswaded by all the humane reasons which can be alleadged but also then that which we see with our owne eyes and heare with our eares and touch with our hands For these externall senses and those internall senses also whose messengers the other are are not so certaine witnesses to our spirite as the senses of faith which are more then humane For they are heauenly Wherefore shee hath eies whereby she seeth diuinely and not humanely which can neuer be deceiued as the eyes of the body may The like wee may say of her eares and of her handes For there is no sense so certaine as all hers are because she receiueth them diuinely by the spirit Therfore as she hath not in her any imagination or fantasie that can deceiue her so she can neuer faile either in her discourses or in her iudgements whereupon shee resolueth because she is alwayes guided in them by the holy spirite whome she followeth for her rule in all things and who assureth her by his testimony as if she bare the markes and seales imprinted in her selfe and in their mindes and hearts in whome shee dwelleth Heereof it is that Saint Paul so often saieth that God hath sealed vs by his holy Spirite speaking as it were of a seale imprinted in our hearts and mindes and as of an earnest and gage which God hath giuen vs for the best and most certaine assurance that can bee No maruell therefore if the children of God endewed with this true faith become so resolute so firme and constant that no authoritie power wisedome force eloquence no humane reasons nor any thing that men or deuils can imagine think say or doe is able to make them to change their mindes whereof we haue most euident examples especially in the person of all the Martyres who could neuer by any violence in the world be ouercome but their faith hath euermore gotten the victory and triumphed ouer all their enemies And by this wee may assuredly knowe that it is better grounded then vpon all the reasons and perswasions of men that may be Therefore it is not without cause that S. Paul calleth it the gift of God neither is it without great reason commended so much in the Epistle to the Hebrewes For being come to that point that it hath such an illumination as to accompt all that God reuealeth in his worde to bee more certaine then any thing that wee either see with our eies or touch with our hands hereof to haue a true sense and feeling of the testimony of the holy spirit then doth it exclude al doubting which is contrary thereunto and differeth much from that which we hold only in opinion wherein there is as yet no great assurance So that we may conclude hereupon that according as faith is more or lesse in vs wee shall neuer conclude ill nor at any time giue ouer our conclusions For faith neuer concludeth any thing which God hath not before spoken whose word and authoritie is vnto it as in deede it ought to be in steade of all reason For seeing it is that wisedome and trueth which can neuer faile or lie it needeth not to doubt in any respect to conclude alwayes therewith neyther hath it cause at any time afterward to forsake or change the conclusion it hath set downe Wherefore when our faith is shaken and beginneth to alter it is a signe and testimony that it holdeth more of the nature of opinion then of beleefe and that it hath not yet a iudgement throughly resolued in the conclusion which it hath taken So that heere wee may learne what difference there is betwixt beleefe opinion doubting and infidelitie or incredulitie For seeing incredulitie is contrary to beleefe it goeth farther then doubting which concludeth nothing on either side as both beleefe and opinion doe but incredulitie concludeth contrarie to them both For it giueth no consent as beleefe and opinion doe but taketh the cleane contrary and therefore it may well be called dissent or disagreement as being opposite to that consent that is in beleefe Now to end this speech and to take away al doubting that may arise of this word Beleefe or Faith I will only adde this that wee are to know that it is diuersly takē in the holy scripturs For the name which it hath in the Hebrew tongue is taken frō the word whereby they expresse veritie or truth which they also take for constancie assurance The word which the Euangelists and Apostles vse according to the Graecians in whose language they wrote signifieth properly Perswasion And the name vsed by the Latines from whome wee haue taken our Faith signifieth that constancie and trueth which men keepe in their wordes and promises whereupon
his iudgement Of this wee our selues may iudge in that wee see that there is no nation or people that liue with no religion at all but they haue one eyther true or false whereby they labour to appease the wrath of God and to be vnder his fauour and protection according to that measure of knowledge which they haue of him Whereby they plainely declare that there is a certaine lawe within them taken from the Booke of this naturall diuinitie which condemneth them in their hearts vrgeth constraineth them to do that which they do euen as we feele our selues pressed and cnndemned by the written law which God hath giuen vnto vs. Wherefore if wee knew how to profit by them both they would both serue vs in steade of a Schoolemaster to direct leade vs vnto Iesus Christ For both of them if we vnderstand them wel testifie sufficiently vnto vs that we stand in need of a Mediator by whom we may haue accesse to God and be reconciled vnto him seeing wee feele our condemnation within our selues and in our owne consciences As for the third meane to make a man certaine of that which hee is to accompt for true which wee saide was naturall Iudgement it is the vnderstanding of that order that ought to be in things and of the consequence of them whereby to iudge in some sort of the agreement or disagreement they haue one with an other insomuch that euery one hath within himselfe as it were a naturall logicke whereby hee is able to iudge at leastwise of common things It remaineth nowe that we learne the fourth meane which passeth all the former and that is diuine reuelation whereof wee haue made mention and those certaine and infallible testimonies which wee learne of the holy Scriptures I meane the Bookes of the Prophets and Apostles with the confirmation and vnderstanding of them by the holy Spirite For it were not enough for vs to haue the worde of God deliuered vnto vs by them except the holy Ghost had his working both in them in vs. Wherfore although naturally we more easily and firmely beleeue that which our minde is able to see knowe and comprehend by the naturall light thereof then that which goeth beyond it yet forasmuch as God hath made vs capable of vnderstanding and reason wee ought to giue no lesse credite to all that he hath reuealed vnto vs by his worde yea much more to this howsoeuer by that light of nature which remaineth in vs wee neither see nor knowe howe true and firme it is and that for the causes before vttered Hereof it is that in the Epistle to the Hebrewes faith is called the substance and ground of things hoped for and such an euident demonstration of things not seene that it conuinceth men and causeth them to perceiue and knowe the trueth of them very cleerely Whereupon wee haue to note that this naturall light and that which wee call supernaturall are not to speake properly two diuers and different lights but one and the same as wee shoulde well haue knowen if our nature had continued in perfection and in that image of God in which it was created and framed farre differing from all other creatures For although there is in them some image of God yet they haue not vnderstanding to knowe it as it is neither to knowe God their creator who hath imprinted it in them But it is farre otherwise in man For God will be knowen of him and therefore hee hath so imprinted his image in his nature that hee will haue him to see and knowe it For this cause hee hath giuen him a minde and vnderstanding able to to receiue this knowledge For the greatest likenesse and resemblance that man can haue with God consisteth in the agreement with him in wisdome and iustice which cannot be but in a nature that is capable and partaker of reason and vnderstanding Nowe because God is good yea a common and generall Good hee will not withholde this good in himselfe without communicating it but maketh all his creatures partakers thereof especially man with whome it hath pleased him to communicate this Good of wisedome and iustice which is the greatest and most excellent good that is in him Therefore did God together with his image imprint his knowledge in the nature of man For man could not otherwise know this image and similitude neither what it is to be like or vnlike to God if hee had no more knowledge of God who and what manner a one hee is then other creatures that want this knowledge because they are not capable of vnderstanding and reason nor of this image of wisedome and iustice which is in God and by which man is made like vnto him Wherefore the first degree of this image and similitude that is in man appeareth in that power and facultie of vnderstanding which God hath giuen him and in that wisedome whereof hee hath made him partaker and which hath some agreement with the wisedome of God So that before man sinned the image of God was such in him that there was a perfect agreement of all the powers and vertues of the soule betweene God and him For the diuine light did so shine in his minde that hee had certaine and firme knowledge of GOD neither was there any resistance against either in his heart or in his will but a sounde and perpetuall concord and consent So that there was alwayes betweene the minde and the will an vprightnesse and iustice agreeable with God neither was the freedome of the will hindered or driuen forward to euill because man had not yet made himselfe the subiect and salue of sinne As long therefore as man kept this image of God within him the Lord dwelt therein as in his own lodging and by that meanes would haue giuen to men such perpetual life ioy as shold neuer haue bin broken off or extinguished either by sorow or by death if he had suffred himselfe to be alwayes guided by God neuer turned aside nor seuered himselfe from him Therefore S. Paul speaking of this first image and the renewing thereof in man saith Put on the new man which after God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse Seeing then it is thus there is no doubt but that if man had continued in his integritie the light which is nowe supernaturall in him woulde haue beene naturall in all that knowledge of God which is necessary for him to that ende whereunto he was created For hee had neuer beene ouerwhelmed with darkenesse which dimmed and hindered this heauenly light that shined in him and made him the habitation and temple of God but had seene cleerely the image of the father of the sonne and of the holy ghost shining in his soule in which it was imprinted the draughts and beames whereof are yet euident enough in him I meane to them that consider of them as it appertaineth following the light of the
the body which in the infancie of man hinder it from doing that which it doeth by them in other ages Besides wee may truely say that God hath created it of that nature that as hee hath ioyned it vnto the body which hath his degrees of growth so the soule hath some agreement therewith in this respect touching the manifestation of her naturall powers and vertues Neither is it any strange thing if God deale so with it in this matter In the meane time wee see that although the soule of man seemeth in nothing or very little to differ from that of plants as long as it is in the mothers womb nor from the soule of beasts during the time of his infancie neuerthelesse afterward it sheweth very well wherein it differeth from them and that it hath certaine vertues which are not in any other soule For if this were not so both in respect of the age and growth of the body as also in regarde of that property which is in the nature thereof it woulde be alwayes like to that which it is in the beginning as wee see it is with plantes and beastes in whose soule wee can perceiue no more change in the ende and when they growe vp then in their beginning and first birth According then to that I haue now saide we see by experience that in the gifts and graces wherewith GOD daily adorneth and enricheth his children he doeth not communicate all at once vnto them but by little and little and by degrees as hee iudgeth it expedient and as they are capable of reason and vnderstanding Therefore it is written of Iohn Baptist that the childe grewe and waxed strong in spirite which is as much to say as that according as hee grewe in age God increased the graces of his holie spirite vpon him wherewith hee had indued him euen from his mothers wombe And when wee haue profited well in his schoole so that wee are assured of and instructed in those things which wee ought to followe according to the worde of GOD wee easily attaine to that Good which is the ende of all inquirie of the trueth namely to contemplation which followeth iudgement as iudgement followeth reason and the discourse thereof For reason discoursing is as it were the inquisition of the trueth that is sought for and iudgement is as the election that maketh choice of the trueth and of that which it taketh to be most certaine and Contemplation is as it were a quiet and setled beholding of all those things which were gathered together by reason and receiued with approbation by iudgement For there is no more place for disputation seeing all things are certaine and cleere Nowe all pleasure and delight proceedeth from the conuenience and agreement that is betwixt the thing that pleaseth and him whome it doeth please And because there is nothing more agreeable to the nature of the spirite and minde of man then trueth hereof it commeth that notwithstanding al corruption that is in him there is no man but naturally desireth knowledge and skill accounting science to bee excellent and woorthie of great praise and ignorance to bee full of shame yea hee iudgeth it a verie ill thing to bee deceiued Wherefore wee may not doubt but that as knowledge is more true and certaine so doeth the spirite receiue greater pleasure and when it hath found the trueth it delighteth greatly therein And if for the causes before touched by vs it can not find the trueth so certainely as it desireth yet it taketh singular pleasure in approching so neere vnto it as it can For this cause the more certaine the trueth is which it knoweth it is the more agreeable and pleasant vnto it especially when it knoweth the true spring and first causes thereof Therefore as the mindes of men delight more in those things that resemble them most of so much the more noble and excellent nature they are yea more heauenly and diuine and so will take pleasure in such things as are most excellent and celestiall Contrariwise the more earthly vile and abiect they shall be the more will they delight in mortall base and contemptible things and despise such as are of greatest value For this cause many Philosophers haue esteemed more of the studie of Philosophie and the knowledge thereof then of kingdomes and great riches being prouoked and pricked thereunto by an vnspeakeable pleasure which their spirite tooke in the knowledge of those things that were reueled vnto them therein On the other side wee see that ambitious men delight more in honours and worldely greatnesse then they woulde doe at leastwise in their owne opinion in all the skill of the Philosophers A couerous man pleaseth himselfe a great deale more in telling and beholding his crownes then in any other thing whatsoeuer It is no maruell therefore if ambitious couetous and voluptuous men and such like doe commonly deride those that take delight in learning and chiefly in the doctrine and contemplation of those celestiall and eternall things which they set before their eyes or if they preferre greatly their owne estate and condition before others that take pleasure in such things For they are pearles cast before swine which are not valued as they are woorth but onely of such as knowe them and their value Nowe if heathen Philosophers haue oftentimes willingly abandoned all their goodes that they might wholly addict themselues to the study of their humane Philosophie to the contemplation of such things as they could know thereby notwithstanding that it was alwayes accompanied with some doubting and that they could neuer attaine to a certaine knowledge either of the beginning or ende of things what ought Christians to do when the question is of Diuine Philosophie and Wisedome the treasures of which are opened and offered vnto them in the word of God For it is without all comparision farre more certayne then any science and containeth in it other trueths and matters that are great deale more profound excellent and more worthy of contemplation And they to whome God hath beene so gratious as to giue some taste and experience of these things are able to iudge well of them yea farre better then any others For it is certaine that euen for a little true knowledge of God and of the trueth of those things which hee hath reuealed vnto vs in his doctrine wee receiue singular delight with great ioy and sweete consolation So that euery man may perceiue howe much greater the pleasure will bee when the knowledge shall be greater If then this small taste which wee may haue in this worlde of these delicacies and spirituall delights bringeth vnto vs such singular ioy we may easily iudge howe great it will be in that most happy contemplation which wee shall haue in heauen with God when wee shall beholde him face to face and knowe him as wee are knowen whereas heere wee see him but as it were in a glasse and
So that the whole consultation lieth in the liberty and choyce of Will For men are not drawne by an immutable violence of nature as beasts are but reason enquireth what way is to be taken or left and wayeth and examineth what good or euill is in euery thing Therefore Will may goe about againe with that which was once deliberated of to the end the first conclusion be not approued staied in but that greater inquiry may be made to finde out if it may bee some better or more profitable thing And thus when many thinges are shewed set before her she may choose what pleaseth her although it be not that which was best approued by iudgement and which reason vpon very euident arguments counselled her to follow For if there be another side that hath some shew of good albeit neuer so small she turneth to that if she please so that vpon one onely coniecture or opinion of good she will lay holde vpon that and reiect the other side in which peraduenture the ture good is to bee founde The chiefe cause whereof is in the corruption of our nature and in those impediments of good discoursing and of vpright iudging whereof wee haue alreadie hearde and which hinder reason and iudgement diuers and sundrie wayes And this also taketh place in respect of Will which likewise hath great occasions offered to beguile and deceiue it selfe because all the affaires of men are intermingled with good and euill thinges Therefore it is very hard to be able to discerne and separate them well one from another For men being compounded of diuers natures namely of a body and of a soule they propound also diuersity of good euil things vnto themselues because they know corporall and terrestriall things better then spirituall and eternall things therefore they preferre them oftentimes before the other Which is the cause why there are so many that loue this life a great deale better and those outward good things belonging therevnto then they doe eternall life and those goods which are able to leade men thither and giue them full fruition therof when they come thither Therefore in so great diuersity of good and euill things it is no marueile if there came nothing into deliberation wherein reason findeth not some good or euill which in the end it counsaileth vs to follow or to auoyde according to the circumstances of times places persons qualities and other such like things It commeth to passe also oftentimes that Will refuseth all counsaile and exhortation to doe that onely which she pleaseth thereby to shew that shee is Lady and Mistresse and subiect to none And beeing mounted vp to that pride shee accounteth this Lordshippe which shee taketh to her selfe to bee a great good and so maketh knowne her power and magnificence as it were a tyrannicall prince making choyce in the meane time of a false kinde of good which is no way good but a very great euil And thus much concerning the libertie of the Will in her internall actions which freedome also appeareth plainly enough in the outwarde actions For after she hath liked of a thing she may put it in execution or stay execution yea after she hath begunne she may giue it cleane ouer or doe not so much or so speedily as shee might And although it falleth out oftentimes that men are hindered from executing their Will yea are forced and compelled to doe the cleane contrary yet their Will if we consider the matter well is neither hindred forced or constrained For that keepeth it not from willing still that which it pleaseth but the violence offered outwardly stayeth the effectes and execution thereof Hereof it is that wee commonly say that a mans Will is taken for his deede although it bee not put in execution Nowe to conclude our speech wee knowe that the Will hath hinderances to let her from choosing those good things which shee ought to followe and refusing those euils shee ought to eschewe and auoyde For Reason beeing appoynted as Mistresse to guide and direct Will by her iudgement the selfesame thinges that mooue Reason and Iudgement doe mooue Will also as if the one touched the other or as if there were a certayne knitting and ioyning of them together not vnlike to the linkes of a chayne of which if yee mooue or touch one the like is done to the others that are neere vnto it by reason of the coniunction they haue one with another Wee ought also to knowe that although the Will often choose euill in stead of good yet it ceasseth not therefore euer to desire good naturally which is most fitte and agreeable to the nature therof but it is deceaued in that it hath no skill to discerne between true and false goodes and to distinguish the greater from the lesse And as wee haue hearde that euill spirites may trouble and mooue the fantasie and minde so no doubt they can doe the like towardes the heart and Will to induce them to euill and to driue them to doe greater thinges then weake nature woulde doe of it selfe if it were not holpen by them euen to cause them to committe such crimes as nature abhorreth Therefore wee must without ceassing watch and pray that wee enter not into temptation and if wee bee tempted that wee fayle not neither bee ouercome And this wee may assuredly beleeue wee shall obtayne if through regeneration by the spirite of GOD our minde bee taught and our Will guyded by his light Nowe then hauing spoken enough of Vnderstanding and of Will which are the principall powers of the soule let vs come to the affections thereof and first it shall bee good for vs to consider of the distinction that ought to bee made betwixt all these faculties of the soule and betweene their seates and instruments which they haue in the bodie But wee shall learne these thinges of thee ACHITOB Of the distinction that ought to be betweene the Vnderstanding and knowledge and the Will and affections in the soule and betweene the seates and instruments which they haue in the body of the agreement that is betweene the heart and the braine Chap. 36. ACHITOB. The heauens the earth and all the elementes the stones plants beasts al the other creatures that want reason vnderstanding obey God in their kind but yet they know him not the obedience which they yeld vnto him proceedeth not of any knowledge they haue of his will or of iudgement in them to discerne good from euill but only so farre forth as they are drawne by their natural inclination in those things that concerne their nature But Angels and Men in whome God woulde haue his image to shine in euery part of them and after all sorts were created by him of that nature that hee would be knowne of them and that they should follow his Will not without Vnderstanding and iudgement thereof nor without agreement of their willes with his
with great torments and griefs insomuch that either it must consume away and perish or els returne to his due order and place and the wil must know that she hath a mistres not onely to teach her but also to correct her when she shall do amisse and peruert her order But let vs speake of that which more particularly concerneth so wonderfull a part of the body namely the heart First wee must remember how wee diuided before the internall parts of the frame and building of man into three bellies and lodgings of which the first I meane the braine was shewed vnto vs with all his partes Nowe we will come to the second which is in the middest betweene the other two namely in the breast which containeth the vesselles and instruments of the vitall facultie and vertue and those are the heart the arteries the lungs the rough artery with the appurtenances thereof Heere of it is that the name of the heart is oftentimes taken in the holy Scriptures for the middest or for the inward and secret part of a thing as when it speaketh of the heart of the earth and of the sea and of the heauens Nowe as wee haue heard howe reason hath his throne and iudiciall seate in the braine what ministers and what secretary hee hath neere about him and in what chambers and lodgings they are placed as also what ministers and officers are ioyned with him for the execution of his iudgements and decrees namely the wil and the affections so also wee must consider what manner of lodgings and habitations are assigned to these latter sort in the heart And although these officers and ministers are not alwayes obedient to reason but rise vp against it oftentimes and doe cleane contrary to that which it iudgeth and appointeth to be done yet by that order which God set downe they were to obey and to agree well amongst themselues as he sheweth it by the disposition of their lodgings We haue heard before that the heart and the lungs are lodged within the breast as in a strong holde and are compassed rounde about therewith for their safegard and defence But wee must note that there is a partition called Diaphragma by the Graecians which separateth the 〈◊〉 of the vital partes from the nourishing parts that are in the third belly and lodging of the body of which wee wil speake heereafter in his order This partition is aboue in respect of the naturall instruments appointed for nourishment and beneath in regard of the spirituall instruments that serue the vitall part And because it is a great rounde muscle of the breast about the ende of the neather part thereof it hath two vses of which the first and greatest is to be an instrument of breathing the second is to helpe to purge and expell the excrements of the body Next to that there is a tunicle or skinne which is very thinne and slender much like to a Spiders webbe is spread ouer the whole capacitie of the breast out of which two others proceede that diuide it throughout to the end there might be two distinct places of receipt that if a man had some great wound in one part thereof whereby the office of respiration and breathing which it hath should vtterly perish yet the other part that is vnhurt might at leastwise retaine the one halfe These skinnes serue also to couer and binde together all the vesselles and instruments contained within the breast and the former of them which hemmeth in the ribbes serueth chiefely to defend the lungs on that side where it is ioyned to the bones of the ribbes to the ende they shoulde not touch the bare bones when they execute their office namely when wee breathe Concerning the heart it hath for his next dwelling house a membrane or skinne called by the Graecians Pericardion which signifieth as much as if in our language wee shoulde say in a worde a compasse-heart And therefore this skinne is made of the same fashion the heart is namely very large and ample beneath but afterward it narroweth by litle and litle so that it endeth pointwise being in proportion like to a pine apple or to a pyramide which is the figure of a flame of fire Whereby it seemeth that God hath made the heart of this fashion to admonish vs that it is the place of that naturall fire which is in the body and appointed to giue it so much naturall heate as is necessary for the life thereof This skinne which is also called the litle closet of the heart is of such capacitie that it is seuered from the same on euery side as much as is requisite that his motion might in no wise be impeached Some thinke that there is some water within this vessell or some moisture like to a dew to water the heart that it shoulde not drie vp through the great heate that commeth of continuall motion in which it is without ceasing Nowe because this humour cannot be seene but onely in dead bodies there be that thinke it is made there onely after death through the exhalation and gathering together of the spirites which are there dissolued And in deede it seemeth to be a hard matter to knowe this by Anatomy because commonly it is not practised but vpon dead bodies And although a man woulde trie the experiment vpon quicke and liuing bodies yet they woulde be alwayes dead before he should come to that part or at leastwise there woulde be such a change and alteration that it would be very hard for a man to giue a right iudgement Neuerthelesse this might be knowen by cutting vp that part in some beast or other For there is alwayes some moisture found there euen before it be starke dead although indeed it cannot liue long after that part is opened But let vs returne to that which we begunne to speake of the heart which being the roote and fountaine of naturall heate disperseth it abroade by the arteries into the whole body and giueth life to euery part therof For albeit the instruments of respiration serue the voyce yet they were created principally for the hearts sake that the naturall heate which is in it might bee refreshed increased and fedde by them For this cause hath the Diuine prouidence made the lungs to be as it were the forge and shoppe of respiration to this ende that the aire without might bee sent euen to the heart for the causes and endes before spoken of For the aire that is to be brought to the heart is first prepared in the lungs to the ende it might moderate the heate of the heart and spirites and not enter in thither either too hote or too colde or in too great abundance whereby it might be damnified or quite choaked vp Therefore hath God made the flesh and substance of the lungs very light soft and spungie more then any other part of the body so that it holdeth much of the nature
euil must of necessitie be fled from And of this naturall inclination to good proceede all those affections of the soule that draw it hither and thither to seeke for it but because of her badde iudgement proceeding of the darkenesse of ignorance which is in the minde she chooseth oftentimes the cleane contrary to that which she desireth as we haue already touched We call then properly by the name of affections the motions and acts of that naturall power of the soule which consisteth in following after good eschewing of euil For receiuing of God in our first creation to be to be wel we haue still some naturall seedes of the perfection of these two great gifts which teach vs naturally that it is a good thing for one to preserue himselfe and his beeing as also to be wel and happy in his beeing but this is only generally For wheÌ„ we are to come from these generalities vnto particulars there are wonderful errors and disorders throughout the whole course of mans life Now among the motions of the soule some go before iudgement others follow after although oftentimes they are so sodaine headstrong withall that it appeareth plainly they haue shaken off the bridle neuer expected staied for any iudgemeÌ„t Notwithstanding it is true that the hart is not moued before there hath bin some iudgement to determine whether that which is then offred vnto it be good or euil But bicause the motions of our spirit mind are very light sodain and need not so long time as otherwise is requisit for vs if wee will take good heede to our matters hereof it is that they seem to vs many times to preuent goe before iudgement giuen when indeed they follow it And as for those naturall motions which in truth go before it they are such as are bred borne of the disposition of the body as the desire to eate in hunger and to drinke in thirst sorrow in time of sickenes or the motion of a melancholike humor or ioy proceeding from good and pure blood in the heart But the other motions follow the aduice of iudgement as that is mooued and changed diuersly by such meanes as haue alreadie bin declared so the affections alter and increase or decrease or otherwise vanish cleane away and come to nothing Whereof it followeth that they are appeased by the same meanes by which they are moued according as they are applied vnto them But although it behooueth that the affections should be pricked forward by iudgement yet it followeth not thereupon that they can not be stirred vp except this mature ripe iudgement be alwaies there which ordaineth things to be done after the discourse of reason For it is enough for them if they haue another iudgement that obserueth not such an exact diligent examination but onely that which fantasie offereth without any other discoursing And this iudgement thus moued by fancie is most vsual ordinary and that which most guideth ruleth the affections of men Therfore it is a sodain tumultuous iudgement of which a man may truly say a short sentence of a sottish iudge Thus fancie being very turbulent skittish drawing to it selfe confusedly some shew and apparance of opinion iudgement whereby it deemeth that which is offred vnto it to be either good or bad is the cause that wee liue in the middest of marueilous troubles in respect of our affections of feare of desire of sorrow of ioy and that one while we weep and sodainly we laugh againe And because it hath great power ouer the body as wee haue already declared these perturbations doe manifestly incline that way We see also by experience that there is great agreement betweene the qualities and temperature of the body and the affections of the soule insomuch that as the bodies of men are compounded of the qualities of heate colde moisture and drienesse so among the affections some are hote others colde some moist others drie some mingled of these diuers qualities So that euery one is most subiect to those affections that come neerest to the nature temperature complexion of his body As for example the affection of ioy is hote and moist therefore they that are hot and moist as children yong men sound and healthy folkes and idle persons are more easily inclined to that affection Contrariwise sorrow is a colde and drie affection and therefore they that are colde and drie are most giuen to that affection and such are olde folkes and they that are of a melancholy humour which is earthy cold and drie For the like reason they that haue a soft and tender heart receiue more easily the impression of ioy and griefe as wax taketh the print of a seale and they that haue a haâ—d and hote heart quickly receiue ioy keep it a long time And on the other side they that haue hard and cold hearts receiue sorrowe and grieâ—e very soone and retaine it long as appeareth in melancholy and melancholike persons And as the affections followe the temperature and complexion of the body so they for their parts haue great vertue and power ouer the body Therefore we see that ioy is as it were a medicine to the body and foode to the naturall heate and moisture in which two qualities life chiefely consisteth as we haue already heard For it greatly preserueth and increaseth them forasmuch as it strengtheneth the animall and naturall vertues stirreth vp the spirites helpeth digestion and generally profiteth the habite and disposition of the whole body For the heart thereby sendeth with the blood much naturall heate and more spirites vnto all parts of the body By meanes whereof the members are watred and moistned by the humiditie contained in the fountaine of blood whereupon it followeth that all the partes increase in bignesse and waxe fatte For this cause Physicions alwayes exhort sicke persons to be as merry as they may and to auoide sorrowe and sadnesse which being colde and drie is contrary to life and so consumeth men For it drieth vp the whole body because the heart thereby is closed vp and restrained so that no great quantitie of spirites can bee made there and those fewe that are there can not easily bee distributed and dispersed with the blood throughout the members Whereupon the vitall vertue and her companions being weakened the liuely colour of the face waxeth wanne and pale and in a manner vanisheth cleane away and so consequently the whole bodie becommeth leane and consumeth as if it tooke no nourishment yea death oftentimes followeth thereupon This agreement therefore which is as we see betweene the temperature and complexion of the body the affections of the soule ought to teach vs to be very temperate in our eating and drinking and in all other things belonging to our life For as wee arre either temperate or intemperate so will the qualities be whereof our bodies are
would say vnto their ripenesse as we may see by experience in the corporall senses For not long after the childe is borne he seeth and heareth the reason whereof is because the senses of seeing and hearing are by nature absolute and perfect Therefore in such actions there needeth no exercise to cause them to performe that which they doe well but onely a good vigour and strength because in them nature is a great Mistres that hath all efficacie But there are farre more excellent actions as science arte prudence fidelitie and such like which had neede of vse and exercise to cause them to doe readily and well This vse bringeth custome which hath in it a facilitie to worke and a disposition tending therunto And then such actions take the name of habite which is bred by the reiterating thereof Thus the actions of the Wil power of desire in the soule of which wee haue spoken before when they are often reiterated so that they grow to be firme and stedfast are called habits because the Will is so accustomed thereunto that it becommeth more constant eithet in desiring one certain thing or in eschewing the same Therefore as the affections are more or lesse forward more seldome or often vsed more weak or strong so they are called either inclinations or actions or habites But we are to note that habites extende not themselues onely to those things which we doe but also to those which we suffer abide which displease vs and are contrary to our nature For custome diminisheth moderateth by litle and litle the sense of that griefe paine which they bring vs whereof we haue trial in all diseases which commonly seem not so grieuous intollerable after we haue bin long accustomed vnto theÌ„ as in the beginning of them And although pouertie be a heauiâ— burthen neuerthelesse custome maketh it familiar vnto vs and familiarity causeth vs to thinke it lighter Wherefore we ought not to maruel if our God doth vsually send affliction to his children to acquaint them therewith as also to the ende they might obtaine the vertue of patience which is learned by often suffering insomuch that there remaineth a habite in men which being nothing els but a common custome causeth them mildly to beare sustaine all euents Whereas there are some that like furious and desperate men are caried away w e great impatience either because they neuer suffered much before or if they did suffer yet they neuer accustomed theÌ„selues to beare their afflictions patiently Moreouer we know by experience that although the way of vertue at our first entring thereinto seeme vnto vs very difficult to tread in yet afterward we find it very â—asie when wee haue walked in it a certaine time For there is no honest trade of life in which we finde not great difficultie And the more excellent it is so much the more troublesome and tedious it will seeme to our flesh whereas the path of pleasure will seeme to bee very delectable and easie because it is a great deale more naturall to our corrupt nature But howe harde so euer it bee to our flesh to followe after a vertuous honest and sober life yet custome will make it easie to ouerpasse as likewise to forsake that which is contrarie vnto it Therefore it hath not without iust cause beene giuen out long since by wise and skilfull men that it is very good and profitable to bee accustomed to good thinges especially from ones infancie that it skilleth much howe euâ—rie one hath beene brought vp from his youth that nothing is of greater force then custome eyther to good or to euill as that which seemeth to bee another nature Nowe vpon this speech of habites wee are to note further that as all other naturall thinges in the soule are giuen vnto it for the good thereof so is this habite which is no other thing but a custome rooted therein For except continuance of time did confirme this power of the soule I meane that it ought not onely to doe a thing but to doe it well and as it ought to bee done that it is to gette a facilitie therein through vse and excercise to the ende it may doe the same thing afterwarde more freely and readily and bee more willing to occupie it selfe about the same thing and that after the same manner I say except this bee so many inconueniences will ensue thereupon The first is that it shoulde labour altogether in vaine The seconde that it shoulde alwayes come rude and vnskilfull as it were a newe prentice to the exercising of these excellent actions and woorkes Whereof this woulde followe that hauing profited nothing with the time it woulde not doe any thing perfectly And this we ought not onely to vnderstand of those things which wee doe willingly but euen of that which wee suffer and indure maugre our willes where with of all other things we had neede to be best acquainted For seeing wee are compassed about daily with so many miseries seeing wee must suffer and vndergoe so many sharpe and vnworthie assaults howe much greater will our misery be if long custome an habit in suffring should affoord vs no ease refreshing But let vs come now to that which particularly concerneth the affections of the soule that we may be fully instructed in the nature sundry kinds of them First wee will note that wee vnderstand by affection that natural power in the soule which openeth it selfe towards Good and with draweth it selfe from euill as wee haue alreadie declared before Nowe when the actions of an affection are growen to bee habites then are they called either vertues or vices according as they are either well or ill done And from hence proceede good or ill manners of which morall Philosophie tooke that name because it inâ—reateth of them For that sheweth what vertue and vice is howe manie kindes there are of them and what difference there is not onely betweene vertues and vices but also betweene the sundrie sorts of them as we haue discoursed at large in our first Academical assemblie But let vs vnderstande this that the knowledge of the soule and of the powers of it about which wee nowe labour is the right springhead and fountaine of that morall Philosophie and doctrine This knowledge therefore is very profitable and necessary to the ende that by it we may know the originall and beginning of all vertues and vices of their whole generation and their sundrie kindes For if wee be well instructed in all the partes and powers of the soule we know the causes of these actions we knowe how the minde iudgeth how the will chooseth and commaundeth as wee haue alreadie spoken And thus we see that there are most sure and certaine principles of knowledge which shine in the minde as it were a light which are the rules whereby the soule squareth out her actions and which discerne betweene trueth and falsehood good
and euill to the ende that all the actions therof might agree with these rules which are the beames of heauenly wisedome in our selues For it is an order which God hath so ordained established And forasmuch as the soule was to dwell in the body God gaue vnto it this naturall power of the affections that it might bee wakened and stirred vp by them as it were with prickes thereby to be kept from idlenesse and from being lulled asleepe and oppressed with the heauines of the body and so neglect all care of good things of that which is very expedient profitable for it self For this cause the soule hath her affections of which some serue for spurres to pricke her hither thither as oftē as need requireth others serue for a bridle to keep her back to stay her from rushing vnto euill from following those things that are hurtful for her And indeede we stand in need of such spurtes and bridles but herein we erre greatly in that we knowe not howe to keepe a moderation betweene these twaine For because wee make these spurres too sharpe and pricke the horse too much which we haue to guide the bridle on the other side is two grieuous vnto him so that he lifteth vp and girdeth forward ouer furiously And this commeth to passe because wee doe not content our selues with that which is requisite for the succouring of our naturall necessities but we adde there vnto infinite superfluities For vpon some light necessitie that might soone be dispatched we torment our selues a great deale more then neede is because wee perswade our selues that our necessities are greater then they bee and so seeke after moe remedies and helpes then is requisite Of this wee haue daily experience in that care which wee take for thinges necessarie for this life which is the cause that wee burne continually with insatiable couetousnesse which is such a marueilous spurre vnto vs that wee take very little rest for it For if wee woulde bee contented with enough it woulde not put vs to that torment which wee dayly suffer But nothing sufficeth vs and therefore the affections are in our soule as the windes vpon the sea For some windes are very small and mooue the water but a little others are more vehement and rayse vp certaine waues and some againe are so tempestuous and make such horrible stormes and gustes whereby the Sea is so mooued that sea and sande and fishe and all seeme to bee turned topsie toruie The like may bee sayde of the motions of the soule For some are so light that they seeme to bee nothing els but small beginnings of moouing There are others stronger which moue it somewhat more And some also are so violent that they altogether trouble the soule euen in such a vehement manner that they driue her from her seate of iudgement Therefore these two first kindes of motions are properly called affections and the other that are so violent are termed Commotions and Perturbations For they bring a kinde of blindnesse with them which is the cause that iudgement and reason see neuer a whit Whereupon it followeth seeing neither Reason nor Iudgement beare any more rule that the soule is as if shee had no more power ouer her selfe but were subiect to the iurisdiction of some other The Grecians terme such affections with a worde that signifieth as much as if wee shoulde say passions And in deede wee commonly say that a man is passionate when hee is tormented by such violent affections For as the whole bodie suffereth when it is mooued or thrust too and fro and stricken on euerie side so is it with the soule beeng violently mooued euerie way And as the moouing is more or lesse moderate so shee suffereth more or lesse and if the motion bee verie violent confusion followeth thereupon Nowe for the sequele of this speech let vs consider how the affections are more or lesse moderate according to the disposition of the iudgement and what is the spring and originall of so many sundry affections as we see in men It belongeth then to thee ARAM to handle this matter That according to the dispposition of the iudgement the affections are more or lesse moderate or immoderate of the cause of all the motions of the soule and heart of the varietie of affections of the generation nature and kindes of them Chap. 43. ARAM. Whatsoeuer we doe or wish for wee doe or desire it for some Good whether that which we iudge to bee good bee so in trueth or in opinion onely And therein wee resemble God our Creator who is not only good but also goodnes it selfe euen the perfection of all Good Wherefore if we desire to know what is the true Good we must vnderstand that there is but one onely true Good euen the same by participation of which we are first made good and then of good most happie For we cannot be happy and blessed which is the end we all looke for but we must first become good For as there is no true felicitie and blessednes but in Good being th source and fountaine yea the perfection of all happines and contentation so also there is no felicitie nor blesse dues but in goodnes which is as proper to God as his very diuinitie because that as he cannot be God except he be good so he cannot be good with that goodnesse that is in him but he must bee God And as he is the essence of all essences so he is the essential Good and the essential Goodnes of al Goods and of al Goodnesses But although our nature doeth of it selfe alwayes tend to that which is Good as wee haue shewed in the handling of the chiefe powers of the soule Vnderstanding and Will neuertheles we differ much nay we are cleane contrary to God when wee come to the election of Good because of the bad iudgement we haue by reason of the darknes of ignoraunce wherewith our mindes are blinded Hereof it commeth that the more the iudgement is corrupted infected and deeper plunged in the flesh the more euill and carnal are the affections the moe in number and the more violent yea such as doe not onely trouble and peruert the internal senses of the soule but the external senses also of the body This we may obserue in them that are caried away with loue who thinke oftentimes and are verily perswaded that they see and heare those thinges which indeede are nothing so Contrariwise the purer the iudgement is and the higher it is lifted vp from the fleshe and from the earth the fewe◠and lighter are the affections which trouble and molest it For then it taketh greater heed and marketh what trueth or what falsehood what good or what euill there is in all thinges Whereupon it commeth to passe that the iudgement is not so often nor so easily mooued And when it is mooued it is not so violent nor headie but more mature
the world shall reioyce ye shall sorrow but your sorrow shal be turned into ioy And then he compareth their sorrowe and their ioy to that which a woman with childe hath which is pained so long as shee is in trauaile but when shee seeth it borne shee receiueth ioy and soone forgetteth her anguish Whereby the worde of God teacheth vs that the griefe of good men shall be turned into double ioy that their sorrow shal be short and their felicitie of long continuance For there is one ioy euen in being deliuered from euill although it be not so great as when any Good happeneth vnto vs. But the ioy is doubled when besides this deliuerance there commeth vnto vs some ioy which we had not which is procured vnto vs by meanes of that paine and euill which we suffered Therefore our Sauiour saieth further to this effect Yee are nowe in sorrow but I will see you againe and your hearts shall reioyce and your ioy shall no man take from you If this ioy can not be taken away it is eternall so that death it selfe can not abolish it Whereupon it followeth that it remaineth yet after death and that there is an other life after this in which wee shall haue fulnesse of ioy Therefore wee may well call it our owne seeing it alwayes continueth with vs. For if it were not so Iesus Christ who is the trueth it selfe shoulde not bee true But as hee cannot lie so wee may assure our selues of his promise For seeing it is grounded on him and vpon his grace resurrection and immortall life we may bee as certainely perswaded of it as wee are assured of his resurrection and of his eternall ioy and life wherein hee liueth and raigneth for euermore Wherefore all those to whome it is promised and that are assured of the fruition thereof by faith in him haue iust occasion to liue in great ioy So that Saint Paul not without good cause saieth Reioyce alwayes in the Lorde and againe I say reioyce But of the ioy of carnall men wee must say as Salomon writeth That it is better to go to the house of mourning then to the house of feasting And that there is away that seemeth right to a man but the issue thereof is the way of death yea in laughter the heart shall be greeued and the ende of ioy is sorrowe The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning but the heart of fooles is in the house of mirth For they thinke of nothing but of iollitie whereas wise men meditate on the miseries of this worlde Therefore wee may know howe greatly Epicures and such as giue themselues to pleasures and dissolutenesse beguile themselues For they thinke there is no ioy nor pleasure but in their life and that there is no life more sadde or melancholy then that of the children and seruants of God But it is cleane contrary For they that feare and honour GOD haue more ioy in their heart in the middest of their greatest sorrowes by reason of that sense and feeling ingrauen in them of heauenly and eternall ioy which thy certainely expect and beginne already to taste here then all worldlings and carnall men can haue in the greatest triumphs of al their pleasures Now as there are two kinds of ioy in the hear of men so are there also of sorrows For we do not only feele ioy for some Good or sorrow for some euill which we now taste of but also for that which we attend and looke for Concerning this latter kind of ioy it is properly called Hope which is an affection and motion of the heart whereby it wisheth some Good to come and prepareth to open it selfe and to receiue it Therefore wee saide before that Hope was comprehended vnder desire vnto which it giueth forme and being For Hope is a desire ioyned with confidence that the Good which wee wish for will come to passe Therefore the motions of Ioy and Hope are very like seeing Hope is alwayes mingled with Ioy neither is there any difference but in the time because the one is of a present Good and the other of that which is looked for In the meane time Hope hath no euidence or science but is grounded onely vpon coniecture of opinion or likelihoode and probabilitie or possibilitie And yet there is nothing so light or so small or strange vnto which the heart will not easily ioyne it selfe and take holde of it when it seeketh for helpes and proppes to ground and stay it selfe vpon Neuertheles there is great difference betweene hauing already and hoping for a thing namely in respect of men and of hope which hath no other grounds then those of which I nowe made mention But when the expectation is grounded vpon God his promises it is as sure of that which it expecteth as if it did already possesse it which is very comfortable to a man in respect of that which hapneth to them who can haue no certaine hope or expectation of Good For although there bee hope yet if it be not grounded vpon God it can bring no certaine ioy or of any long continuance Besides when such a one shall faile of his hope his griefe wil be doubled Wherefore they that build not their hope vpon the word of God can haue no true and certaine hope but they feed thēselues only with their fantasies as they that dreame they find great riches which vanish away whē they awake Such is the hope of the wicked of al worldly and carnall men Neuerthelesse the perswasion of hope which holdeth vs vp with the expectation of better things is very pleasant and necessary for the life of man in the midst of so many miseries of so many sharpe almost intolerable paines and trauailes which accompany them So that it bringeth great comfort to men and is in steade of sawce vnto them without which they woulde find al things to be not only without taste but also of a very bitter and vnpleasant taste Therefore hath the prouidence of God prouided a remedy for this namely that hope shuld breed of very light causes should leane stay it self easily vpon them as if it self were very light or very hooked and gluish being ready to take hold of and to retaine whatsoeuer it meeteth withall or can lay hands vpon to ground and leane thereon Nowe if men finde so great comfort in hope such as it is and being laide vpon so weake a foundation it is easy to iudge what ioy the faithful receiue by that most certaine hope of eternall life and of al the good things that God hath promised them in regard whereof S. Paul saith There is one body one spirit euen as ye are called in one hope of your vocation It is not then without cause that he saith in another place We reioyce in tribulations knowing that tribulation bringeth forth patience and patience experience and experience hope and
preferred before another For how do we see men giuen ouer to those pleasures wherein they delight not onely in eating and drinking in dainty morsels and delicate drinkes but also in other carnall pleasures that are more earthy and vile especially when they are excessiue and vnmeasurable as they are in whoredome For those which wee receiue in eating and drinking belong to the sense of taste which is brutish enough but these others to the sense of touching which is a great deale more brutish We know by experience also that these senses are sooner wearied and tyred with their pleasures then any other and that such delights commonly bring with them more yrkesomnes and loathing then ioy and pleasure leauing many times behind them a long and shamefull repentance for pollutions receiued by them The pleasures that belong to the other senses as they are of longer continuance so they weary not a man so quickly especially those that delight the sight Yea the baser and more vile the pleasures are the sooner doe they loathe a man as they know by experience that are giuen to whoredome For how insatiable soeuer they be yet can they not but be glutted therewith neither are they able to continue their vnrulinesse so long in that pleasure howsoeuer they want no good-will as in the pleasures that come by eating and drinking Neither can the greatest gluttons drunkards and daintie mouthed persons follow so long together after the delights of their gluttony drunkennes and daintie diet as they may after those which they receiue either in smelling or in hearing or in seeing As for the pains that are to be taken in the obtaining and vsing of these pleasures the more earthy brutish the delight is the greater labour is to bee had about it and the more excessiuely the pleasure is vsed the greater hurt commeth thereby as wee daily see in gluttons drunkards and whoremongers by the testimonie of those diseases which take holde of them through their excesse Thus then we may learne by the vse of those pleasures which are receiued by the bodily and outward senses which of them are to be preferred before others with the agreement necessary therein and the moderation that alwayes ought to bee obserued in them But to goe forward with our matter we are now to compare together the delights and pleasures that are receiued by the spirituall and internall senses and to vnderstand what difference there is betweene the vse of the pleasures of the spirite and of the body and howe the one driue away the other Nowe let vs heare what ACHITOB will tell vs of this point Of the comparison of pleasures receiued by the internall senses and howe men descend by degrees from the best to the basest pleasures of the difference betweene the vse of spirituall delights and corporall and howe the one chase the other Chap. 48. ACHITOB. Experience daily teacheth vs that we need but a little griefe to diminish a great pleasure or otherwise to take it cleane away and to change it into great displeasure yea to turne a great ioy into extreame sorow and sadnes But few there are that meditate and knowe the cause thereof The trueth is we can thinke of no other cause then of the corruption of our nature of the estate and disposition of our bodie of the course of our age and life which decline continually and waxe worse and worse Therefore a small griefe findeth greater strength within vs to cause our heart to giue back and to close vp it selfe and wholly to cast vs downe then a great ioy and delight is able to open and inlarge it and to sustaine and holde vs vp For a little force will throwe downe this shaking and reeling bodie but there had neede to bee a great deale of strength to vnderproppe and stay it vp firme and stedfast On the other side wee can more easily want pleasures then not feele their contrary griefes For wee doe not perceiue so much the want of a good which we haue not as the presence of an euill which wee suffer For in the first it seemeth that wee want nothing but in the other the sense is afflicted and the sounde estate and disposition thereof is cleane taken away and ouerthrowne Nowe if wee desire to feele such griefes as little as we may and to approach as neere as our nature will permit to true delight and pleasures wee must withdrawe our selues from vile and abiect things and contemplate most high and excellent things Nowe as we haue learned by the former discourse that those delights and pleasures which are receiued by the chiefest senses that sauour least of the earth are of longer continuance then the other so we are to knowe that the pleasures of the fancie are more stable and firme then those which come by the corporall senses Hereof it is that men are cloyed a great deale sooner not onely with the pleasures of eating and drinking and of other more abiect thinges but also of sweete smelles of musicke of harmonicall soundes and of the beholding of goodly sights then with those good that are in the fancy and in opinion whereby the minde is deceiued as namely the getting and possessing of siluer of riches of power of honours and of glorie For these Goods are goods rather in opinion then in truth But because fancie propoundeth them vnto her selfe for Goods therefore shee taketh pleasure and delight in them Therefore the couetous man delighteth in his golde siluer and riches and the ambitious man in his power gloy and honours which are the pleasures of fancie and with which she is not so soone wearied as the bodie is with corporal pleasures but contrariwise the more shee hath the more her delight encreaseth and becommeth insatiable But the pleasures of reason of the minde and of the spirite continue a great deale longer then they because the spirite is not wearie or tyred but is recreated and refreshed But none can iudge well of this but those that haue had experience thereof No maruaile therefore if such men as are addicted to these other more base and earthly pleasures mocke and deride them that contemne their delightes and make so great account of these spirituall and heauenly pleasures that they are content to renounce all the rest and to forgoe all the goods in the worlde that they may enioy these as wee see it was with those holie personages that haue tasted of them As for those carnall and beastlike men wee may say of them as wee doe of hogges that delight more in a puddle or sinke then in pretious stones or sweete odours namely that they followe that which is most agreeable to their naturall disposition because they want iudgement to discerne the value of those thinges which they contemne and make no account of Nowe among the pleasures of the spirite those that consist in contemplation are of their nature by which wee shall become blessed in the the
man shewe vs the goodliest woorkes that can bee either of golde or of filuer or pictures or garments or houses as curiously wrought as can bee deuised eyther for beautie or cost yet when wee haue seene them foure or fiue times wee beginne to bee full of it and take not so great pleasure therein as wee did But who is euer wearie of beholding I will not say the heauens the sunne the moone and the starres but the earth the sea riuers mountaines valleyes gardens trees herbes and flowres The cause heereof is the agreement of nature For wee being naturall naturall things are more agreeable vnto vs then artificiall And because wee were created and made not by the hande of a Paynter and mortall man but by the hande of the liuing God who paynteth liuing images and pictures therefore wee take greater delight in his handie woorkes then in the woorkes of any other howe excellent a woorkeman soeuer hee bee And indeede they are are of farre greater perfection then those that are made by the arte of man Therefore Arte laboreth alwayes to follow nature and to expresse her workes as neere as it can insomuch that they are accounted the best woorkemen and men delight most in their doings that come neerest vnto nature Howe much more then ought wee to like the woorkes of nature and consequently God himselfe who is the Author and Creator of nature and of all her woorkes For the least woorke of his in nature is more excellent in his kinde then the perfectest woorke that humane arte is able to shewe Nowe if wee come from his naturall woorkes to those that are supernaturall and aboue the reach of nature wee shall finde in them a great deale more matter of all kinde of delight For if wee coulde consider aright of these thinges we woulde ascende vp from artificiall thinges and from that delight which they affoorde vs euen vnto naturall thinges and from these vnto the Author and Creator of them and of all nature and there wee woulde seeke for our true delight and pleasure Herein nature her selfe is our good Mistresse as shee that leadeth vs thereunto as it were by the hande But our inconsideratenesse our blockishnesse and ingratitude is the cause why wee cannot learne this lesson of her and why wee haue not the maruellous and excellent workes of GOD and nature in such due admiration as wee ought to haue Whereupon it commeth to passe also that wee take not so great delight and pleasure in them and that custome which ought to increase this delight in vs is a meane rather to diminish the same And by this meanes also wee are kept from that admiration which wee ought to haue of God the Woorkemaster of them and of that delight and pleasure which wee shoulde finde in him if we mounted vp so high and sought him there But because wee are alwayes musing about vile and abiect thinges wee haue no leasure to consider of and to contemplate higher and more woonderfull thinges Nowe to ende this dayes speech seeing wee are taught that God hath giuen vs the affections of ioy and of sorowe to induce and mooue vs to seeke him to the ende that by eschewing the euill that is contrary vnto vs we might attaine to that soueraigne Good which he hath prepared for vs and to that true delight pleasure and blisse which wee may finde in him let vs knowe that we haue good occasion to pray vnto him incessantly that he woulde vouchsafe so to lighten our senses and minde and to rule all our affections and willes in such sort that we may at the length attaine thereunto For then we shall not onely be deliuered from all sorowe and griefe but haue the full fruition of perfect ioy and perpetuall delight And to the ende that we may goe forwarde to morowe with our matter of the affections of the heart and soule thou shalt intreate ASER of the affections of loue which follow those of which we haue alreadie spoken The ende of the sixt dayes worke THE SEVENTH dayes worke Of the affections of loue of the nature kindes and obiect of it of the beginning of friendshippe of the vertue and force of alluring that is in likenesse and in beautie of the agreement that is betweene beautie and goodnesse Chap. 49. ASER If wee know not throughly the affections of our soule which by reason of the corruption of our nature are so many diseases in vs wee shall neuer know our selues well nor the image of God which is imprinted in our soule nor the affectiō of his goodnes towards vs. Likewise wee can neuer learne what pure and sound parts of the nature of the affections remain yet in man what is added thereunto by reason of sinne that is in vs neither yet what vertue vice are except we truly know the nature of the affections Moreouer without this knowledge we can neuer make choice of good from euil or of truth from lying For being as we must needes be during this life subiect vnto and tossed on euery side with an infinite number of strange passions if they be vnknowen vnto vs we cannot discerne amongst a multitude of contrary opinions which of them is soundest euery one of thē pretending some shew of good of truth Therefore as we saw yesterday the affections of ioy and of sorow of hope and of feare and of delight and pleasure which folow ioy wherby we may conceiue the contrary vnto it namely griefe and torment which follow sorow so this day we are to proceede in learning what other affections there are of the heart and soule I wil begin then with the affection of loue which is a motion wherby the heart lusteth after that which is good indeed or which seemeth vnto it to be so desiring to draw the good to it selfe to the ende it may enioy the same This affection commeth neere to the nature of hope but it is a great deale more hote Therefore after the heart is once moued it presently draweth vnto it that thing which is offered for good labouring as it were to haue the fruition of some great Good But let vs consider howe this affection is bredde in the heart After that Iudgement hath iudged a thing to bee good so soone as the same thing is presented to the Will it doth by and by moue allure and draw the same vnto it selfe by a certaine naturall agreement euen as the like is betweene the minde and the trueth and betweene the eye and beautie This motion of the heart and will hath euen then ioyned with it a certaine kinde of reioycing as testifying thereby that the thing pleaseth it and is very good and agreeable vnto it Now when this reioycing is confirmed it is called loue which is an inclination or a proceeding of the will towards that which is Good For it fareth with the Will as if it went before to meete with the good that is comming to
receiue and to embrace it Wherupon ariseth a desire of coniunction to knit the same thing to it selfe and this loue is called Cupiditie Lusting or Coueting But because this affection is so out of square in this our corrupt nature these names are commonly taken more in the euill then in the good part Nowe this affection of desire or coueting hath respect either to that good which we enioy alreadie or which we haue yet in hope onely and in expectation If it be already present this cupiditie breedeth a desire to retaine and keepe it still if it be yet in expectation it bringeth forth a desire and longing to enioy it And in this sort we loue all those things which we esteeme and take to bee profitable for vs either for the soule or for the body or for the external goods For this cause many loue God because they know that it is he who giueth good things vnto men But this is not that true loue wherwith we must loue him For although they are very wicked and too vnthankfull which loue him not at leastwise with such a loue and for that cause yet if we goe no further we loue our selues more then wee doe him in this kind of loue seeing the chiefe cause for which we loue him is not in respect of himselfe but of vs. For we loue him by reason of that good which we receiue from him But true loue is that which causeth vs to loue a thing because it is good in it selfe and not in respect of any profite that may come vnto vs thereby With this loue we ought to loue God and our neighbours and friendes and of this loue wee haue a very cleare and manifest image in the loue of Fathers and mothers towards their children For they loue them not because they haue respect to some good which they may receiue of them but because they are their children For although they receiue nothing but trouble by them from the time of their childehood and expences rather then profit yet that letteth them not from louing them tenderly and with great affection Nowe if by this loue grounded vpon such a cause we iudge the like of the loue of God towards vs seeing it is hee that hath imprinted the same in the heartes of parents towards their children as an image of his loue towards vs we conclude well For seeing he is the fountaine of all true and perfect loue all other loues are but as it were little riuers which flowe from this liuely spring But there is none so expresse an image thereof in all the creatures as in the loue of fathers and mothers towards their children For doeth God loue vs in respect of any profite which hee looketh for at our hands Hereof it is that he setteth forth himselfe vnto vs as a Father to the end we may the better know that he loueth vs with a right fatherly loue Therefore also hee will haue vs to call him Father and so to accoūnt of him yea hee will not haue vs to take any other for our Father of whome to depende wholly but him alone And no doubt but we shoulde receiue wonderfull ioy and consolation if we coulde as well feele within vs that loue which this good Father beareth vs as we feele the loue which we beare towardes our children Now when loue is reciprocall and mutuall so that he which is loued doeth also loue for his part the partie that loueth him then is friendship bred of loue wherein there is mutuall beneuolence and goodwil Wherefore as God loueth vs so muust we for our partes loue him seeing this is the chiefe cause why he hath created man according to his image and similitude and hath giuen him a soule that is immortall and endued with vnderstanding and reason to knowe him first and then to loue him Therefore if wee consider by what steppes wee ascend vp to God we shall finde that as by the loue which he first bare vs we descended from the highest to the lowest so likewise we mount vp againe from the lowest vnto the highest by that loue which wee beare him For our soule descendeth from the highest which is God vnto the lowest which is the bodie by the loue of the Creator towards her who by meanes of this descending and coniunction communicateth his blessednesse both with the soule and with the bodie And as she came downe from him so through the knowledge which she hath of God and loue which she beareth him she ascendeth vp again returneth to her first birth Cōcerning those degrees by which we come thither we begin first at materiall and corporal things as the beginning of mans generation and birth teacheth vs then we come to the senses of the bodie by that vse which we haue of them Afterwarde we vse imagination and fantasie and from that we come to reason and iudgement next to contemplation and last of all to loue Heereby we may learne also to know the steppes of descending seeing they are the same but begunne at the contrarie ende Wherefore if iudgement bee gouerned and ouercome by the affections and reason by fantasie the estate of the soule is wholly ouerturned and peruerted as if the bodie beeing minded to walke shoulde set the head vpon the ground and lift the heeles vpwarde So likewise is it if in steede o mounting vp to God by loue we descend in such sort to the creatures that we ascend vp no more to him that wee may bee one with him For loue maketh all things one Therefore if we be vnited with God there must needes be perfect friendshippe betweene him and vs. For as he loueth vs so we loue him and then our selues for loue of him And from the loue of our selues springeth our loue towards our wiues and children as though they were a part of vs as also towardes our like and towards our woorkes For similitude and likenesse is a great cause of loue seeing that when one resembleth vs it is as if wee our selues were another because similitude maketh many things to be as one and the same thing Wherefore seeing God hath created vs to his image and likenesse it cannot bee but that he loueth his image and similitude in vs and vs also in respect of that as if it were himselfe For this cause the more this image is reformed and renewed in vs the more no doubt hee loueth vs and the like also may be said of our loue towards him In like manner beautie hath great vertue to procure loue and that for many causes For first the beautie which appeareth without in any body is as it were a witnesse and testimonie of the beautie in the soule according to that which we haue already spoken of the agreement of the powers affections thereof with the temperature of the bodie For God hath created all things in such manner that he hath commonly ioyned beautie and goodnes together
And as it is written in Genesis That he created nothing but that which was verie good so there was nothing made but it was very beautifull in his kinde Therefore as there is agreement between the body the soule so bodily beautie is as it were an image of the beautie of the soule and promiseth after a sort some good thing of the inwarde beautie For internall perfection breedeth the external Whereupon the internal is called goodnes and the external beauty which is as it were a floure of goodnes that is the seed It is true that this which we say doeth not alwayes fall out so but that oftentimes a man may see the cleane contrary whereupon wee haue this common prouerbe Proper fellowes at the gallowes and faire women in the stewes For ordinarily the goodliest mē such as are best furnished with the gifts of nature in the disposition of their body are most wicked and vicious more beautiful women are strumpets then foule womē at leastwise they are in greatest danger and haue much more a doe to keepe their chastitie For there is alwaies great strife betweene chastitie and beautie which is so much the more increased as beautie is the greater because it is so violent that oftentimes many desire willingly to die for the beautie of others and some are so tossed and tormented that they become senselesse and out of their wits being ouertaken with looking vpon a beautifull face which hath such prickes that they pearce euen to the liueliest part of their heart and soule Wherevpon it commeth to passe that poore silly louers are so tormented and ful of passions that they stand altogether amazed and are like to them that are rosted by a soft fire yea their soule is so subiected to their concupiscence and desire that she must obey them as if shee were some poore chambermaide and drudge Whereby wee may know what good there is in such beautie and what good commeth with it also what coniunction agreement it may haue with goodnesse and whether a man may not truely say according to our common prouerbe That beauty without goodnes is worth nothing But we are to consider what is the cause hereof For we speake not of that which is now done but of that which should be done if the nature of man had continued sound and of that which yet would most commonly bee put in vre were it not that euill education besides that naturall corruption which is already in euery one did infect euen that little good of naturall inclination which remaineth in man But howsouer it be bodily beautie doeth alwaies promise more good of the soule then deformitie doeth If it fall out otherwise it is because God will shew that all good things come from his onely grace and not from nature and therefore he doeth not alwayes followe one course and one selfesame order without any change Besides he commonly recompenceth in one thing that which is wanting in another so that he supplieth that in the spirite which is wanting in the body or in the body which is wanting in the spirite On the other side because many abuse that beautie of the body which God hath bestowed vpon them as they do all other his giftes hee letteth them fall oftentimes into great vices whereby they shew the deformitie of their soule which bringeth also their bodily beautie into great obloquie and shame For as beautie causeth vertue to appeare more faire when it is ioyned therewith so contrariwise it maketh vice more vgly and loathsome to looke vpon Therefore Socrates had reason to say that it was good for euery one to beholde himselfe in a glasse that they which sawe themselues faire shoulde bee the more afraide to blotte their beautie with vices and that they which were foule shoulde labour to beautifie themselues with vertues Nowe seeing we are entered into the causes why beautie draweth loue following this matter we woulde knowe of thee AMANA what other thinges are to bee considered heerein with the sundrie degrees and kindes of beautie and what is the proper effect of loue Of other causes why Beauty procureth Loue and of diuers degrees and kindes of Beauty howe it is the nature of Loue alwayes to vnite and what other effectes it hath howe Loue descendeth and ascendeth not what power it hath to allure and breed Loue. Chap. 50. AMANA Many amongst the Philosophers haue made three kindes of good or of good things namely that which is pleasant profitable and honest Hereupon forasmuch as Loue is a desire of good or goodly things or at leastwise of things so accompted they haue also made three kinds or fortes of Loue of which the first is towards delightful and pleasant things and such are those things which tickle and delight our senses being properly called the goodes of the body The second kinde of Loue is towardes profitable things as honours riches greatnesse and such other like things called externall goodes or the goodes of fortune The third kinde is towardes honest things as wisedome prudence and other vertues which are the goods of the soule As for the two first kindes of Loue wee may well place them amongst the perturbations of the soule because so many euill affections spring from them that al confusion proceedeth from them yea euery mans life is thereby made miserable But to loue and desire good and honest things is that which truely maketh a man famous For this loue maketh the chiefe part of his soule excellent euen that part whereby he is man and which is farthest remooued from bodily matter and from obscuritie and neerest to diuine brightnesse I meane the spirit and vnderstanding which of all the other partes and powers of man onely is voide of the blot of mortalitie The consideration of the diuers degrees and sundry sortes of beautie doth prepare the way whereby we may come to this laudable and honest loue For by them wee may ascend vp from the lowest to the highest and turne our corporall and earthly loues into spirituall and heauenly They that are most ignorant know that Loue is a desire of beauty and that Beauty draweth Loue. Yea some of the learned Heathens haue taught that it was Loue which mooued God not onely to create the world but also to create it beautifull and of so goodly a forme in euery part of it And the name whereby it is called yeeldeth testimony of the beauty of it For worlde signifieth as much as a goodly and well decked ornament Therefore seeing God hath created and framed it by loue no doubt but loue is dispersed and shedde throughout the whole world and is continually drawen and procured by beauty to the ende it might bee conformable and like to the fountaine from whence it came On the other side all beautie is as it were a beame of that infinite and diuine beautie that is in God and therefore as the diuine forme draweth
vnto it true and perfect loues so the image and similitude thereof draweth the images of loues And that loue whereby almightie God was mooued to create all things proceeded from his owne goodnesse Nowe forasmuch as beautie is a beame of that goodnes which is shed ouer all as the sunne spreadeth his light by his beames the goodlier any thing is so much the more amiable louely it is For the mother of Loue is goodnesse and the mother also of Beautie is goodnesse so that both of them are bredde and borne as it were of one mother And according to the diuersity of natures created by God so are there diuers kindes of beautie which are all as it were beames flames and lights of that heauenly and infinite beautie which is fountaine of al the rest The first chiefest and most excellent kinde of all is that beame of heauenly beauty whereby the spirit and minde is adorned and polished with vnderstanding and contemplation The secondis in that illumination whereby the soule receiueth knowledge Therefore the vnderstanding mounteth vp to those two first degrees of Loue which is drawen by such beauties and from thence proceedeth the loue of spirituall things The third kind which is as it were an other beame of diuine beauty appeareth in the effectes of lower degrees which are in that fruitfulnesse which God hath giuen vnto the creatures putting into them seedes to preserue and to encrease their kindes The last and lowest yea the most troublesome and earthly kinde is in corporall matters which are purtraited and painted with great varietie of formes and shapes And as the vnderstanding ascendeth vp to the two first degrees of which I haue already spoken so the imagination stayeth it selfe in the two last and from thence proceedeth the loue of the body and of bodily things and the affection to beget of that goodly thing thereby to drawe out a forme like to that beautie towardes the which a man is affectionated Nowe when wee shall consider aright of all these degrees and beames of beauty it is certaine that wee wil striue to ascend vp from the lowest to the highest whereas commonly wee descend from the highest to the lowest feeding our spirites with corporall and terrestriall loues which differ from their nature in steade of spirituall and celestiall loues which is their proper foode But we must note further that the greatest last and chiefest force of loue is of many and diuers things to make one and the same Therefore he that loueth our friend or doth him any good seemeth to do that to vs which is done to him and we esteeme of it as if we receiued it our selues For it is the nature of loue which way souer it turne alwayes to ioyne and knit vnto it selfe as on the contrary side hatred is of this nature that it will euermore disioyne and separate For this cause Iesus Christ prayed so earnestly for his vnto his Father to the ende saieth he that they all may be one as thou O Father arte in mee and I in thee euen that they may be also one in vs. And Saint Iohn saieth likewise of him that hee shoulde gather together in one the children of God which were scattered For seeing hee came to destroy the workes of the deuill as he saieth elswhere and seeing it is the nature of this enemy of mankind to scatter to disioyne and separat by reason of the enuy hatred which he beareth to God men it must needs be that Iesus Christ should gather together that which the deuil hath scattered and vnite in one that which he hath separated to the end that as man was one with God before he was seueuered by sinne through the enuy and malice of Satan so hee might returne into vnity and vnion with his Creator by the abolishing of sinne which is the cause of the seperation and by the likenesse of vertue with God through the meanes of Iesus Christ Therefore so great goodnes beneficence of God toward vs ought to enflame our loue towards him and moreouer to encrease the same when wee daily feele new benefits powred vpon vs which proceed come from his burning loue and charitie wherewith he loueth vs although he receiue no benefite thereby For we are to vnderstand that although he which hath receiued a benefit from another ought to carry greater loue towards him then hee that bestowed the benefite is bounde towardes the other to whome hee hath done a good turne yet the contrary oftentimes falleth out The cause whereof is because his loue that bestoweth a good turne proceedâ—th from his owne bountie and goodnesse whereas the loue of him that receiueth a benefite commeth of necessitie So that the one hath a great deale better foundation then the other For that loue which proceedeth of necessitie respecteth our selues because wee loue for the good which wee haue receiued and not in regarde of the person from whome the good commeth And this loue proceedeth from the loue wee beare to our selues so that it ought rather to be called Loue of concupiscence then true Loue. For as wee loue the person that doth vs good because of the good which wee receiue so we loue him and wish his good not so much for it selfe as for ourselues and for that profite which wee hope will come to vs thereby But after wee haue begunne with this kinde of Loue it serueth vs oftentimes as a steppe for to passe by afterwardes vnto true and perfect loue For acquainting our selues to loue them that doe vs good wee learne afterward to loue them not onely for loue of that good which they doe vnto vs but also because of themselues insomuch that we will not cease to loue them although it fall out so that they can doe vs no more good yea although they stand in neede of the like good at our hands againe Now when wee are come to this degree our loue is a great deale more pure yea then is it true loue which nowe loueth not the person beloued onely for loue of it selfe but for loue of him euen with the like loue wherewith it hath beene and yet is loued of him And as he that loueth is voide of true Loue if he loue onely in respect of the good hee receiueth so hee that doeth good loueth not with true loue if hee do it to receiue some profite thereby and with hope of recompence and not meerely for his loue to whome hee doth it For such a man respecteth himselfe more then him whom he pretendeth to loue Such is the loue of hypocrites towards God Therefore they honour and serue him as hirelings doe so long as hee vseth them wel and they see rewarde as Satan accused and slaundered Iob before God as though hee serued him for no other cause but for the benefites which hee receiued of his goodnesse Whereupon it pleased God to take trial of that loue which his seruant
taste doth breede an other desire to continue therein and to preserue those meanes whereby they may alwayes enioy such pleasure Whereby wee may iudge howe the desire and coueting that is in man wandereth and goeth astray when as notwithstanding it is giuen him of God to the end he might wish for that which hee iudgeth to bee good for him and that hee might followe after it and hauing obtained the same might holde and keepe it fast Now Forasmuch as God is the true stedfast and firme good of man hee doeth naturally wish and desire him and because this good is infinite it falleth out thereupon that the largenesse length and depth of our coueting is infinite and can be filled with no other thing but with God Wherefore when it is come thither there it stayeth and resteth it selfe But whilest it wandreth hither and thither there wil be no end but one desire begetteth another insomuch that there are infinite kindes of them which take their particular names of those things which they couet For the vnmesurable coueting of honours is called ambition of golde and siluer couetousnesse of meates and drinkes gluttony and drunkennesse the vnlawfull and immoderate desire of coniunction betweene man and woman is called Whoredome which also hath diuers kindes vnder it according to the degrees of their filthinesse and enormities in whome it aboundeth The vertues opposite and contrary to these vicious desires are iustice liberalitie continencie chastitie and temperance of which vertues and vices and of others proceeding of them we haue discoursed at large in our fist morall institution Therefore to conclude that which hath beene hitherto spoken of Loue and of Desire I thinke wee ought to make two sortes of Loue the one in vertue the other in vice For that Loue proceeding of Desire and Coueting such as we see commonly in men is false and fained And because it counterfaiteth often the actions of true loue therefore wee ought to be very wary that it beguile vs not and that wee take not the one for the other Concerning the first wee must remember that all loue is begotten of Good that it bendeth and draweth towardes Good as wee haue already learned Now Good is of that nature that it breedeth in vs a desire to bee ioyned vnto it in regarde of that agreement which it hath with vs of which agreement and coniunction commeth delight and then blessednesse and felicitie So that the vtmost bounds and limites of Loue is to be knit together in vnitie as much as may be And the straighter and closer the bond of loue is tied and conioyned in one and the same essence so much the more truely and perfectly is loue come vnto his ende and consisteth in the perfection of his nature Therefore the desire of coniunction which is in Loue is giuen to man to the ende hee shoulde wish and couet to be vnited with God his true Good that being made as it were a little God like vnto him hee might be partaker of his eternall blessednesse This is the true firme and fruitfull coniunction of loue and the great and excellent reward thereof For all the rest are nothing in comparison of this but onely vaine and fruitlesse Nowe the Loue of the body desireth the coniunction of the body and the loue of soules desireth to be ioyned with soules that there may be as it were one soule in many bodies And this coniunction is the greatest truest and of longest continuance which causeth but one heart and one will among friends as if they were one onely body and one onely soule and as if hee that loueth were the same party that is beloued Therefore it is written of the first Christians that were in the Church of Ierusalem that the multitude of them that beleeued were of one heart and one soule neither any of them saide that any thing of that which he possessed was his owne but they had al things common Neither is it saide without reason in common Prouerb that all things are common among friendes which is the cause that a friend calleth and accompteth as his owne whatsoeuer belongeth to his friend whether it be in prosperitie or in aduersitie Therefore also it is commonly said that a stedfast friend is tried in doubtfull matters Wherevpon it commeth to passe in true loue that friends lift vp into great dignitie are more carefull of those whome they loue how base soeuer they be and of their affaires then of themselues and of their particular estate Moreouer we are to knowe that as it is the nature of Loue to ioyne together so doeth it also bring equalitie with it so farre foorth as the nature of those things that are conioyned will beare insomuch that the highest stoope downe to the lowest to lift them vp vnto themselues they that are equall associate themselues together Therefore as we haue often saide that the fountaine and patterne of all true loue is in God so in this point it doth chiefly shew it selfe vnto vs. For hee abaseth himselfe to our smallnesse as though he would reach vs his hand from heauen to drawe and lift vs vp vnto himselfe by the meane of Iesus Christ vnto whome and by whome wee are truely vnited with him But heere wee are to knowe that the desire lust or coueting which is bredde of Loue groweth to bee vicious through the corruption of our nature which otherwise being directed by good meanes and by reason according to the will of God and ayming at the right Good which is God woulde cause vs to loue God first for his owne sake and then his creatures in him and for the loue of him Neither shoulde wee euer couet worldly goods with an vnbrideled desire but woulde rather accompt all mortall things vnworthy to bee cared for by our immortall soules Whereunto wee shall be the rather perswaded if following that which wee haue begunne to speake of true and false loue and of the difference betweene them wee consider what good things are to be found in the one aboue the other what sundry rewards men propound vnto themselues in loue what knowledge is required therein and howe the one is encreased by the other This then shall be thy matter subiect ACHITOB which thou shalt take to make an end of our discoursing of the nature of Loue. Of the good things that are in true Loue of the diuerse valuations of Loue and of the benefits which it procureth what knowledge is requisite to allure Loue and howe one Loue groweth by another of the friendship that may be both betweene the good and the bad Chap. 52. ACHITOB. Good is loued so much as it is knowen and as wee are able to vnderstand what it is For things are first knowen to the end they may be loued Now there are three meanes of knowledge in our soule namely by sense by reason and by the mind From the sense springeth appetite which is common
other as also we shall be altogither a great deale more conioyned with and in God For this cause Saint Paul had good reason to say that Loue doeth neuer fallaway though prophecyings be abolished or tongues cease or knowledge vanish away Wherefore in this respect hee concludeth that loue is the greatest of these three Faith Hope and Loue. But wee haue spoken enough of the nature of Loue for the subiect of our discourse of the naturall historie of man Nowe I thinke it will not bee vnprofitable if wee say somewhat of other affections that are neere neighbours vnto Loue and ioyned with it as of fauour reuerence honour and pitie which haue such good or ill qualities in man as the nature of that loue hath which bringeth them foorth as ASER will giue vs to vnderstand Of fauour reuerence and of honour of their nature and effectes of those outward signes whereby they shew themselues of pitie and compassion and how agreeable it is to the nature of man Chap. 53. ASER. I cannot marueile enough at the drowsines of many great spirits who are so delighted with the vaine dreames of their own fancies that they employ all the giftes and graces of their minde to lift vp euen vnto the heauens the pleasures that are receiued in the loue of humane and mortall things especially in the fruites of concupiscence and yet the least of them cannot be gotten without a thousand troublesome discommodities besides that they leaue alwayes in man an insatiable desire of them I would aske of them gladly when the most voluptuous man of them all hath not euen in the middest of his pleasures sighed and bene subiect to passions desiring some other thing besides or when there was euer founde betweene twaine that loued ech other corruptly that conformitie of wils that communication of thoughts those continual agreements that concord of life which is necessary in all true loue especially seeing it is a hard matter yea impossible to see a wicked man that is not daily at variance with himselfe insomuch that if he could leaue himselfe as two men forsake eche other there are many who vpon euery occasion woulde leaue themselues to take another body or another soule And as when one being very desirous to eate and thereupon falling asleepe dreameth that he is feeding and yet is not satisfied because it is not a dreame of meate that will content the sense and appetite which seeketh to bee appeased but substantiall meate it selfe euen so it falleth out when men dreaming in spirite which is as pernicious a thing as the sleepe of death giue themselues by a certaine natural inclination which they haue to the loue of Good to seeke for the beautie contentation delight thereof vpon earth when they are not to be found in the whole worlde As for their shadowes which in some sort appeare in corporall and earthly things and in those delights which proceede of them they doe not feede their mindes with sound and good thinges but rather abuse and deceiue them Therefore we ought to take great heed that wee set not our heart and affection rather vpon those miserable corruptible and deceiueable pleasures wherein worldlings and carnal men doe glory then vpon that great and infinite brightnesse of which the sunne is but a very small beame and vpon those singular blessed and heauenly trueths which the worde of life doeth teach vs and which are the onely true and solide meates that can content and satisfie our spirits eternally It is certaine that nature mooueth vs to set our affection chiefly vpon some one thing rather then vpon another forasmuch as loue is a gift bestowed by the Creatour vpon all natures at the time of their birth Nowe vnto Loue many other affections are ioyned among which Fauour commonly hath the first place This affection is a kinde of good will and liking which springeth from a iudgement conceiued of some Good so that wee may call it a loue begunne For in this iudgement of Good wee esteeme well of him towardes whome our fauour is extended and iudge him woorthie of some good thing and by this meanes wee beginne to loue him Wherefore although fauour may bee without true loue yet loue cannot bee without fauour Notwithstanding when wee fauour one before wee loue him euen then wee enter into the way that leadeth to loue him And for the least shadowe of loue in our heart towardes another wee fauour him as wee see it in those that are linked vnto vs by some degree eyther of consanguinitie or of affinitie or by meanes of some acquaintance and knowledge Now forasmuch as GOD loueth vs he beareth vs fauour also although not in the regarde or for the iudgement of any good which hee seeth in vs or in our corrupted nature but because of the loue hee beareth vs in Iesus Christ his welbeloued in whome by his grace hee hath made vs acceptable to himselfe Therefore this fauour bringeth with it the perfection of all Good vnto vs. For what can hee want that is fauoured of God who can doe all things This fauour which God beareth vnto vs is called grace and blessing in the holy Scriptures which comprehendeth all those benefites which wee receiue of his goodnesse For they proceede all of this fauour and this fauour of the loue hee beareth vs in Iesus Christ Reuerence also commonly accompanieth loue whereby we vnderstand an affection proceeding from the iudgement of some great good that hurteth vs not For if wee thought it woulde hurt vs there woulde bee feare ioyned with hatred and not true reuerence For although there is euermore in all reuerence some feare mingled with shamefastnesse neuerthelesse this feare bringeth no hatred with it This reuerence is bredde in vs by comparing the greatnesse of another with our smalnesse as if wee admired those excellent thinges that are in him For as the heart doeth enlarge it selfe through the consideration and opinion it hath of it owne greatnesse so doeth it restraine and close vp it selfe vpon the reputation and conceipt of another mans greatnesse so it bee good or at leastwise without hurt Therefore if wee compare our greatnesse with some other mans that is farre greater we know our owne smalnesse thereby Whereupon it commeth to passe that we doe not onely esteeme woorse but euen dislike and contemne our selues by which meanes wee become more humble whereas before wee were puffed vp with pride through the opinion of our greatnesse of which wee haue experience as often as wee compare our selues with GOD and lift vp our spirite euen to the consideration of his diuine maiestie comparing that with our basenesse For then beeing rauished with admiration of his highnesse and infinite greatnesse wee honour and reuerence him by reason of his power vnto which wee ioyne also his wisedome and goodnesse And according to that reuerence wee beare towardes him wee reuerence those also in whome wee see the same
diuers and disagreeing yea cleane contrarie one to another And because there is nothing in all the life of man in which both good and euill are not mingled together or at leastwise some shew of them therefore also there is nothing that may not be taken both wayes eyther this or that way Whereupon that which pleaseth some displeaseth others beside that the want of the true knowledge of things and of examining throughly what good or euill is in euery one of them is the cause of this errour that beguileth men so But howsoeuer it be we ought to be very warie that we offend no man by doing euill and by turning aside from the dueties of true charitie And that which offendeth is so much the more grieuous as it pearceth more inwarde and deepe into the thing offended For the chiefest part of any thing is that which is most inward Wherefore that which entreth in so farre toucheth the quicke indeede and so offendeth and hurteth For this cause that offence and hurt is very grieuous but those offences that are in the will are greatest of all As for those that are in the reason they are not so grieuous and those that are in the other senses especially in the senses of the bodie are lesse then they Nay we thinke not our selues offended at all if our will be not offended Therefore we will suffer many things done by some which we will not abide in others according as we esteeme them to be friendes or enemies and as wee are well or ill affectioned towards them Likewise many things please vs that are done or vttered by our selues which would offend vs if they were spoken or done by others And forasmuch as there is no offence but where there is sense and feeling therefore they are soonest offended and most difficult to please that are most tender and delicate both of body and soule whether they be so naturally or through custome or of weaknesse And surely amongst all liuing creatures man is most testie and can suffer least For hee can beare with nothing and himselfe is intolerable to all Wherefore if all men generally be so harde to serue no marueile if there be nothing so well so iustly and holily spoken that can please a whole people or a great multitude But some are so accustomed to contemne all things that they are offended at euery thing and grieued without any iudgement or distinction Yea there are some to be found amongst them that thinke it a poynt of great wisedome to doe so and to like of nothing howe well soeuer it be done Nowe when men are ledde with such a frowarde and peeuish affection they are very carefull to enquire diligently into all things but with an vniust iudgement to see if they can finde any thing to condemne thinking thereby to shewe their great witte which notwithstanding none will commend but fooles and ignorant persons For they must needes be so who admire such a kinde of people whereas they ought thereby to be moued not onely to despise them but also to hate and condemne them For as we vse to speake in common prouerbe That it is an easier matter to reprehende then to imitate so it is easier for euery one to condemne all or to commende all indifferently then to discerne aright betweene the good and the euill and to giue a good iudgement thereof because there is none so ignoraunt or blockish or malicious which cannot doe the first with ease but the last is not so easily done but by men of good wittes and vpright of heart Nowe hauing saide that offence is the first sense and feeling of euill let vs shewe that it is not without certaine degrees by which it ascendeth vp higher The lowest degree then that is in it is simply to turne aside from that which displeaseth it and this degree may bee called Dislike or Trouble The next aboue that is when offence waxeth hote in it selfe and kindleth the heart in such sort that all the body is mooued therewith And when offence is as it were shut vp that it cannot range at will then it turneth into rage and offereth violence to it selfe extending it selfe euen vnto those that haue not offended it at all For it is stirred vp and waxeth sharpe in it selfe and by this meane it encreaseth more and more continually So that in the ende it is like to a madde dogge which byteth as many as it meeteth withall And although this affection doeth then testifie sufficiently that it sauoureth wholly of the corrupt nature of man neuerthelesse if it were well ordered and did not exceede measure it were commendable so that wee might iustly place it amongest the affections of nature beeing sound which ought to bee the seedes of vertues in vs. For God hath giuen it vnto man to the ende he shoulde presently withdrawe himselfe as soone as hee perceiueth any euill euen at the first taste and touch of it that so it may goe no farther least through custome he growe into a liking of euill and afterwarde followe it with might and mayne For if he sodainly retire as if he touched a serpent and feared to be bitten he will depart so farre from it that it cannot hurt him but if he stay in it and like it neuer so little hee cannot withdrawe himselfe in such due time but that hee shall feele some hurt thereby For euill is like to thornes which a man cannot come neere vnto or handle them but hee shall bee pricked as likewise no man can touch pitch and not be defiled therewith But the remedie to cure offence so farre foorth as it is vicious is the moderation of the heart whereby it becommeth so deepe and so well tempered that it is able with ease to swallow vp and to digest those troubles and offences which others can in no wise beare or endure But nowe that we know what this affection is we may easily conceiue howe it breedeth contempt For contempt is an offence and displeasure conceiued of some euill that cannot hurt and thereupon is esteemed to be vile and abiect So that it proceedeth of an euill whereof wee are not afraide For we vse not to despise them whome we feare but them onely of whome we make small account because they haue not abilitie to hurt vs howsoeuer they want no good will Therefore although wee desire not to doe him good whome wee despise yet wee will not hurt him if there bee in vs but onely a simple contempt of him Wee thinke it enough for vs to mocke him and to shew what small account wee make of him and what small regard is to be had vnto him Heereof it is that proude persons are such great despisers and mockers of others For seeing they esteeme of none but of themselues it cannot bee but that they disdaine others and so consequently mocke them For derision and mockerie followe contempt and they are expressed by manie
him not onely manie diseases but oftentimes death it selfe Therefore although wee knewe not what hurt this affection doeth to the soule yet the euill which it bringeth to the bodie ought to bee of sufficient force to turne vs from it For it is a vice that hath woonderfull effectes in the bodie and such as are verie vnbeseeming a man For first of all when the heart is offended the blood boyleth round about it and the heart is swollen and puffed vp whereupon followeth a continuall panting and trembling of the heart and breast And when these burning flames and kindled spirites are ascended vp from the heart vnto the braine then is anger come to his perfection From hence commeth change of countenance shaking of the lippes and of the whole visage stopping of speech and such other terrible lookes to beholde more meete for a beast then for a man For this cause the Philosopher that counselled an angry man to beholde his face in a glasse had reason so to doe For hee that beholdeth his owne face and countenance when he is in choler shoulde finde matter enough to be appeased Now because anger is a griefe proceeding of the contempt of those good thinges that are in a man who thinketh that it ought not to be so therefore hee desireth to shew that they are not lightly to be esteemed of which he supposeth may be done this way by making his power knowne especially in hurting Whereupon this appetite of reuenge is engendered which is common to anger with offence hatred and enuie so that anger is alwayes mingled with sorow and with desire of reuenge And indeede reuenge is a motion of the heart whereby it doeth not onely turne aside and withdrawe it selfe from that which offendeth but laboureth withall eyther to repell it or to ouercome and vanquish it and to punish him that is the cause of it Wherefore we may note herein two motions as there are two respectes namely the one to eschew the euill that offendeth and the other to pursue with great violence him that is the authour thereof Hereof it is that some when they are angry become pale because the blood retireth vnto the heart and these are most couragious and most dangerous Others waxe redde because the blood ascendeth vp to the head therefore these are not so full of stomacke nor so much to be feared in respect of those causes which were shewed before when we spake of Feare But howsoeuer the difference is yet in anger the blood doeth not wholly goe backe vnto the heart as it doeth in feare and sorow but disperseth it selfe outwardly For the heart is as if he stroue to goe out of his hoste or campe not vnlike to a Prince or Captaine that is desirous to marche forwarde in battell aray whereupon hee sendeth foorth the blood and the spirites as his men of warre to repell the enemie which is not done without great mouing and tumult and much stirring in the heart which setteth it on fire and inflameth the blood and spirites Whereupon it followeth that by reason of this motion of the blood and of the confusion of the spirites which ensue thereof the actions and motions of all the members of the bodie are troubled But the braine is chiefly offended because that also is heated by the inflamed blood and by those burning spirites which mount vp thither by whose motion it is stirred vp and disturbed as also by the sinewes which come euen to the heart For howe hote soeuer the heart and breast are or may bee yet man abideth alwayes still and quiet if the heate pearce not vp to the braine For it falleth out herein as it doeth with a drunken bodie who is not saide to bee drunke because hee hath taken in store of wine except it ascende vp into his head and trouble his braine and senses Heereof it is that vehement anger is often accompanied with frensinesse and with the falling sickenesse And because the heart beeing inflamed the blood and spirites also are set on fire they cause the whole bodie to tremble yea the very bones themselues For the blood that boyleth in the breast puffeth vp and thrusteth forwarde the Midriffe whereupon it followeth that the motions of angrie men are verie troublesome like vnto those of drunkardes Nowe because there are many meanes to stirre men vp to anger and wrath and seeing it is so dangerous a passion it is very needefull for vs to haue manie good remedies against it as indeede there are many to be found Although wee shoulde not stande in neede of so manie if wee woulde onelie consider who wee are and compare our selues with God and marke narowly howe many wayes wee offende him daily what causes wee giue him to bee bitterly incited and kindeled with wrath against vs and howe hee beareth with vs turning his anger into pitie and compassion towardes vs. For if wee enter into this consideration first we shall be greatly ashamed that we are angrie secondly our anger will bee easily appeased For who can despise vs as wee deserue and moue vs to anger seeing wee despise God vnto whome wee owe all honour and reuerence and whome wee ought to set at so high a price aboue all other things that we shoulde esteeme all the worlde as nothing in respect of his value And yet wee shewe plainely howe farre we are off from this seeing we stande in so little awe to offende him yea are more afraide to displease men then him Beside wee commit no offence against him in which there is not great contempt of his maiestie euen hie treason against his diuine maiestie Whereas if wee feared loued and honoured him as wee ought to doe we shoulde rather feare to offende him then to die But there is nothing which wee care for lesse Wherefore questionlesse before him who is a terrible auenger of his contempt wee are all lost if hee shoulde pursue vs in his anger as wee deserue and as wee pursue others and not change his anger into mercie If wee consider well of these things we shall knowe what occasion we haue to swell with pride like toads and to thinke so well of our selues as we doe or to be so soone kindled with choler against them that haue offended vs wee shall know what excellencie and dignitie can be in vs that are but dust and filth whereby we should be so soone prouoked when we see our selues despised and wronged of others Moreouer when we know that we are vtterly vndone except GOD extende his grace and mercie towardes vs shall wee not in steade of anger and reuenge bee ashamed to craue pardon of him if wee continue still to bee angrie and vse no pitie and fauour towardes them that haue offended vs as we desire that God should shew fauour vnto vs And indeede what cause haue we to hope for it vpon any other condition For it is written that the Lorde will take vengeance of him
treatise of these two affections The end of the seuenth dayes worke THE EIGHT dayes worke Of Iealousie and of the kindes thereof howe it may be either a vice or a vertue howe true zeale true iealousie and indignation proceede of loue of their natures and why these affections are giuen to man Chap. 57. ASER The holy Scripture applying it selfe to the capacitie of mans vnderstanding describeth mens affections oftentimes by those testimonies which their outward members affoorde conuincing them of vices rooted in their heart by the carriage of their eies of their eie-liddes of their forehead and of their whole countenance Which is to this ende chiefly that when they know that men may reade one in anothers face as it were in a Booke that which is couered and hidden in the heart they shoulde perswade themselues that God soundeth and seeth more easily the most secret thoughts of their heartes and that they can hide nothing from him Likewise the holy spirite to condescend to our rudenesse and to teach vs to knowe God by our selues not onely by our soule which we see not but also by our body which wee see speaketh often of his high infinite and incomprehensible maiestie as it were of a man attributing vnto him eies eares a nose a mouth armes legges feete hands a heart and bowelles Moreouer albeit this pure simple and eternal essence be in no wise passionated with affections yet the same heauenly word doth not only attribute vnto him wrath reuenge anger iealousie and other affections but doth oftentimes propound him vnto vs as an yrefull man hauing the face behauiour and whole countenance of one greatly stirred vp to wrath reuenge yea euen to great fury Which is done to this end both that by the knowledge which we may haue of the nature of these affections whereunto wee are enclined and of the effectes which they bring foorth and causes from whence they proceede wee shoulde meditate the same things to bee in God when wee offend him and knowe what rewarde wee are to looke for and also to teach vs that right rule of all our affections which wee haue in his diuine goodnesse Nowe if wee remember what hath beene declared vnto vs of the nature of Loue wee heard that true and pure loue was without iealousie and that this affection sprang of the loue of concupiscence and yet it was tolde vs yesterday that Iealousie was placed amongst the kindes of enuy Let vs then see what this affection is properly and whether all iealousie be vicious I vnderstand by Iealousie a feare which a man hath lest an other whome hee woulde not should enioy something This commeth to passe two wayes namely either because wee our selues woulde enioy it alone or else because we would haue some other to whom we wish the same thing to enioy it alone the reason heereof is because we iudge it hurtfull either to our selues or to those whome wee loue if others should enioy it As if the question were of some honour or of some other good which we would haue to our selues alone or for some one whome wee loue and should be greeued that an other enioyeth it and thereupon enuy him either because wee are afraide hee shall enioy it or because hee enioyeth it already heerein appeareth enuy and euill iealousie which bringeth with it great mischiefes For as Saint Iames saieth From whence are warres and contentions among you are they not hence euen of your lustes that fight in your members yee lust and haue not ye enuy and are iealous or haue indignation and can not obtaine ye fight and warre and gâ—t nothing Wherefore to auoide this enuy and euill iealousie wee must consider of what nature that Good is which stirreth vs vp to this affection For according to the nature thereof our iealousie may be either a vice or a vertue For if the question be of some Good thing which belongeth in such sort to mee alone or to any other whome I loue that none may enioy it except it be vniustly and to the dishonour of God it is no euill iealousie if I feare lest any shoulde abuse it or bee grieued when it falleth out so If it concerneth some body whome I lâ—â—ue who is abused by another to the displeasure of God and to the dishonour and hurt of the party beloued I haue yet greater occasion to feare to bee greeued and euen to bee iealous both ouer my owne Good and ouer the good of the partie beloued And as I haue iust cause of Iealousie in this case in that thing which properly belongeth vnto mee so also I haue like occasion when an other vniustly enioyeth that Good which belongeth to him whome I loue and of whome I ought to bee carefull and be greeued when any reproch or wrong is offered vnto him As for example seeing the husband hath such an interest in his wife and the wife in her husband as no other eyther may or ought to haue the like both of them haue iust cause to beware that no other haue the fruition heereof but themselues to take the matter heauily if it fall out otherwise and to bee very much offended and full of indignation against him that shoulde attempt any such thing For that can not be done as not without the great dishonour and dammage of the parties so knit together so also not without the great dishonour of GOD whose lawe and couenant is thereby violated On the other side that mutuall loue which ought to be betwixt the husband and the wife doth binde them to desire and to procure the honour and profite eache of other and to keepe backe all dishonour and hurt that may befall them Wherefore both of them haue iust cause to bee offended with those that seeke to procure any blemish in this respect The like may bee saide of fathers mothers and children and of all that haue anie charge ouer others or that are linked together by friendship But on the other side a man must beware that he be not too suspicious and that hee carry not within himselfe matter of Iealousie and so torment himselfe and others without cause as likewise hee must bee very carefull that hee giue no occasion of Iealousie to any other And thus you see howe there may be a good iealousie notwithstanding that in this case it be mingled with loue and anger For Iealousie causeth the party that loueth to be angry with him by whome that thing which hee doeth loue receiueth any dishonour or detriment Therefore this anger commeth of loue which inciteth him to set himselfe against him that offendeth the thing beloued So that these affections are alwayes commendable arising of this cause and being ruled according to that Zeale and Iealousie which the holy Scripture attributeth vnto GOD in regarde of vs. For hee is called a iealous GOD not onely in regard of his honour and glory which hee will not
be afraide of that shame which the wicked think to bring vpon vs but rather account it honourable and glorious Yea themselues shall bee ashamed and confounded when their vices and vile actions shal be discouered by our honestie and vertue whereas if we ioyne with them we shall cause them to bee voyde of shame when they doe ill yea they will boast and vaunt of it before vs. But enough of this matter Now forasmuch as arrogant and proude persons are farthest off from vsing aright any of those affections of the heart of which wee haue hitherto discoursed especially of shame I am of opinion that we are to looke into the nature and effects of the passion of pride Therefore ARAM this shal be the subiect of thy discourse Of Pride with the consideration thereof as well in nature entire as corrupted of the originall thereof and of such as are most inclined therevnto what vices accompanie it how great a poison it is and what remedie there is for it Chap. 59. ARAM. There is nothing more easie then for a man to deceiue himselfe For looke what a man earnestly desireth hee supposeth it is alreadie as it were come to passe or at least hee promiseth to himselfe that he shal easily obtaine it But oftentimes things fall out otherwise then men looke or hope for Now the chiefe cause of their errour heerein is that presumption which commonly they haue of their owne wisedome and vertue whereby they are lift vp with vaine confidence and puffed vp with pride For when men are caried away with an inordinate and blinde loue of themselues they are soone perswaded that there is nothing in them worthy to be despised yea they thinke that their ignorance is wisedome insomuch that knowing nothing they suppose they know all things and hauing no dexteritie to performe one commendable work they presume very inconsideratly to set their hand to euery great matter But the more care diligence they bestow being led with a desire to shew great skil and thinking to winne honour and renowne so much the more they discouer their ignorance and blockishnes purchasing to themselues shame and infamie Now the trueth of God teacheth vs to consider otherwise of our selues namely that we want both sound vnderstanding and strength also to accomplish any good thing Which knowledge ought to keep vs backe from all presumption and ouerweening of our owne wisedome and strength and take from vs all matter of pride and glorie to leade vs vnto modestie and humilitie This rule wee ought to follow if we will attaine to the white of good iudgement and well doing Now as shame and confusion is bredde of some vile and dishonest fact as we haue heard so vice fetcheth his beginning from pride I call pride a puffing vp of the soule and heart proceeding from the opinion of some excellent good thing in vs more then is in others whereby a man is in estimation honour whether this good thing be present past or to come But we are to consider of two fountains and first causes of this inflation and affection of the heart namely of one that proceedeth from nature pure and intire and of another that commeth from nature as it is corrupted So that we may boldly say that there is a kind of pride which is no vice but a vertue or at leastwise the seede of vertue For there was no vicious or euill thing in the first nature as it was created of God but euery thing in it was vertuous and the seed of vertue as we haue alreadie shewed in the former discourses alreadie made by vs. Wherefore that naturall pride of man beeing such as hee should haue beene if hee had continued in his first nature woulde bee an excellent vertue and as it were the mother of all the rest whereas nowe it is the most vgly and monstrous vice that can bee founde in the whole nature of man corrupted by meanes of which it is become the father of all vices and sinnes For seeing GOD hath done this honour to man aboue all other bodily creatures as to create him in regarde of his soule of a celestiall and diuine nature for which cause the verie Heathen affirme that mankinde is of the linage and parentage of God hee woulde not haue him ignoraunt of the excellencie of his beeing and of those great and woonderfull benefites which hee hath receiued of him in his creation and of which hee hath made him partaker chiefely for three causes The first to this ende that knowing what grace and honour God his Creatour hath bestowed vpon him hee might be moued continually to acknowledge and honour him as it becommeth him The second to the ende that knowing the excellencie of his nature and of the stocke from whence hee came hee shoulde loue himselfe in God his Creator and in him thinke himselfe woorthie of true goodes euen of the greatest and most excellent that may bee namely of heauenly and eternall goodes and that hee shoulde knowe that hee was created for them and that through the knowledge and consideration thereof he might be prouoked to wish for and to desire them with great courage The thirde that by this meanes hee might feare to degenerate from so high and noble a linage as that is from whence hee is descended and to fall from so high a degree of honour and dignitie into dishonour and shame and to loose those excellent goodes whereunto hee was allotted if hee committed any thing vnbeseeming so noble and so excellent a nature as was the nature of God according to the image of which hee was creted This then is that holie pride which ought naturally to remaine in man and whereby hee might well haue desired to bee like vnto GOD especially in goodnesse and that by those onelie meanes by which the Lorde woulde haue him bee brought vnto this similitude and which himselfe had taught him namely obedience and that so farre as was agreeable and meete for his nature But our first parentes giuing eare to him who first degenerated from this holie pride vnder colour of beeyng equall not to the goodnes but to the power and greatnes of God were soon perswaded to beleeue the promise which this lyar had made vnto them of a farre greater and more excellent estate then was that wherin God had created them insomuch as their humilitie and obedience whereby they were vnited and conioyned in great glory with God was turned into arrogancie and disobedience Whereupon doubting of the trueth of Gods worde they hearkened to the Diuels counsel propounded vnto themselues the selfe same meanes and degrees to make themselues equall with God their Creator which this wretch and his angels had taken before and whereby he fell from the highest estate of glorie to the most bottomlesse gulfe of miserie And this is that bastardly and earthly pride that is entred into mans nature of which it is saide That pride is
and to diminish and as it were to retire backe and to restrayne it selfe And as for the vertue of engendering it differeth from both the other first in that it is not giuen so generally to all liuing creatures as they are and then in that it beginneth not so soone For it commeth then when the liuing creature through nourishment and growth hath attayned to those vertues that are necessary for generation Besides it hath this common with the vertue of augmentation that it hath certaine limites and bounds vnto which after it is once come it weakeneth and in the ende decayeth vtterly Wherein it differeth from the nourishing vertue Nowe the vertue of growing greater hath as many other particular vertues vnder it for the execution of it owne office as the vertue of nourishing hath according as was touched before Whereby wee learne that bodies growe not greater neither augment by the heaping vp of much matter outwardely applied as when a house is set vp wee see timber ioyned to timber and stone to stone in the building of it but this is done by the same hidden and secrete arte and cunning in nature whereby wee are nourished For in this poynt there is no difference betweene the vertue of nourishing and that of augmenting but onelie heerein that in nourishment the meate is turned into the substance of the bodie and in augmenting the foode beeing thus turned doeth from within stretch foorth the quantitie of the bodie outwardly And so this vertue of augmenting dependeth of the nourishing vertue For meate nourisheth as it is a substance with qualities meete for nourishment and augmenteth by reason of the quantitie it hath For this cause hath God created the bodies of liuing creatures with such a substance that as they haue sundrie passages and holes in them like to sponges to the ende to purge by them so he would that the substance they receiue by their foode might passe by the same holes that they might augment and grow greater So that all of them haue their pores and litle holes albeit they appeare not to the eye whereby nourishment entreth and extendeth it selfe in greatnesse length and thicknesse The consideration hereof hath caused some skilfull men to place mettals and stones in the ranke of liuing creatures because they growe in the earth as the bodies of plants and liuing creatures doe Neither is their opinion without some shewe of reason For wee knowe that they grow and increase and that inwardly which seemeth not to bee done without drawing vnto themselues some inward nourishment as liuing creatures vse to doe Besides they haue also their pores and passages to stretch foorâ—h and augment themselues by Notwithstanding all this there is greater reason to place them in the ranke of those natures and creatures which augment and grow greater by adding and ioyning of matter vnto them as wee see fountaines and riuers to increase and so likewise fire Which albeit it seemeth to be nourished and augmented with that matter which is put vnto it yet is it not nourished as liuing creatures are by meanes of that foode which they receiue For they haue their boundes of growing set them which they cannot passe as wee see the like also in plantes but fire hath no limites as that which alwayes increaseth as long as it findeth any matter to burne Whereby we may conclude that naturall heate in man or in other liuing creatures is not the cause of their nourishing and growth but onely the instrument and that the true cause in regarde of second causes is in the soule next after God who is the first cause of all things yea the cause of causes Therefore it is hee that hath alotted out to euerie man the terme first of his life and growth and then of his declining and death so that according as hee will eyther prolong or shorten our life and cause vs to encrease or diminish so hee disposeth the seconde causes and those meanes whereby hee will bring it to passe Nowe wee must consider what instrumentes the soule vseth to execute in the bodie of man her naturall woorkes of nourishing and augmenting it of which wee haue nowe spoken and after what manner shee vseth them First then wee will looke into the ventricle and stomacke and see what figure what Orifices and filaments it hath This matter then ASER belongeth to thee to intreate of What instrumentes the Soule vseth in the bodie about the naturall woorke of nourishing and augmenting of the Ventricle or stomacke and of the figure Orifices and Filaments it hath of the coates of the stomacke and of what substance and nature it is of the causes of hunger and of appetite of the inferiour Orifice Chap. 61. ASER. Wee shoulde bee very happie if wee knewe howe to followe that order in all our doings which God hath set downe in all his woorkes and whereof he giueth nature vnto vs for a Mistresse But if the simplicitie of our vnderstanding bee not able to attaine to so high wisedome at the least we may knowe howe farre short euery one of vs commeth of our duetie and from whence proceedeth all the confusion that is in the life of man and all those miseries which wee commonly beholde On the other side nothing coulde hinder vs were it not a voluntarie and malicious ignorance in that wee consider not what a marueilous and excellent Woorkemaster God the Creator sheweth himselfe to bee in this part of the soule whereof our present discourses are and in that order which hee hath set therein and in those vertues which hee hath bestowed vpon it For his woorke is so excellent and woorthie of so great admiration that no wisedome or power whatsoeuer is able so much as to imitate it Wherefore wee are to account it a very great and noble blessing to haue onely some knowledge of it and to bee able to comprehende some thing thereof by our vnderstanding For there will be alwayes enough whereat to marueile greatly and namely in the consideration of those instruments which the soule vseth in the nourishment and growth of bodies as we shall know in the sequele of our discourses Therefore as heeretofore wee haue handled and spoken of the diuers powers of the soule and of those instruments it hath in regarde of the Animal and Vital partes as of the braine heart head and other externall members of the bodie so nowe wee are to consider of the internall instruments which serue the naturall powers of the soule And first it hath the liquors and humours of the bodie tempered together by a certaine Lawe and reason of the Creator that created them Secondly the other instruments of the soule are those members both externall and internall which are framed and haue their seuerall proportion euery one as neede requireth for the office assigned vnto them by God their Creator For before the soule bee clothed with the bodie these instrumentes are fashioned and made fitte for it by nature
them that are taken to bee the vilest and basest persons are a great deale more profitable and necessary and so likewise their callings and offices then many others that are in greater reputation and more honourable according to mans iudgement who notwithstanding might more easily be spared then those of whom there is lesse accompt and reckoning made The like may be said of the vse of the members of our bodies and of the necessitie and need which we haue of them that are accompted most vile and abiect which albeit they be lesse honourable then the rest yet are they more necessary for this life of ours then many others that are a great deale more noble and more excellent For wee may liue without eies without eares without handes without feete and without many other goodly members but not without the intralles and bowelles which are but the sinkes and wide-draughts of our bodies although there be but one of them onely wanting For there is not one of them but it is profitable yea necessary for vs insomuch that no other can doe that office which lieth vpon it the Lord hauing so disposed it that euery one of them must discharge his owne office by himselfe Of these intralles and guttes there are sixe in number neere vnto the stomacke namely three small and three great ones being all of a round and hollowe figure according to the greatnesse and thickenesse of euery one of them They are called the instruments of distribution and purgation because they distribute the foode and send foorth the superfluities and excrements Nowe to conteine all these in their place they are couered and wrapped about together with the other entralles of the naturall partes with two coats or couerings namely with that which is called the Kell whereof mention was made in the former discourse and which couereth the bowells stretching it selfe euen to the priuie partes so that it executeth the same office vnto them that it doeth vnto the stomacke as wee were giuen to vnderstand Besides there is an other coate or skinne called Peritone because it is spread round about the lower belly and enuironeth the stomach the bowelles the kall the liuer the splene and the kidneys in a worde it couereth all the members from the midriffe downe to the sharebone The vse of this is great For first it serueth for a couering to couer all the members then it serueth also for the muscles that are laide vpon them Moreouer it causeth the superfluities of drie meates to descend more speedily Fourthly it keepeth the stomacke and bowels that they swell not easily and fiftly it knitteth together and conioyneth all the members within it as we haue seene howe the other partes of the body are separated and clothed with skinnes and membranes For this cause it is framed and fashioned like to an egge and hath his beginning from the ligaments which binde together the turning ioynts of the reines and is knit vnto them So that the vse of it is to tie and knit vnto the backe the members of the inferiour belly Nowe concerning the intralles and bowels although they â—e vnited to the stomacke and so ioyntly followe each other yet they â—iffer in figure in situation and in offices True it is that their substance differeth little from that of the stomach For they are of a certaine whitish flesh hauing no blood in any of them neither is there any other difference but onely in this that the bigger guts are more full and fatte and the smaller are otherwise Againe they haue all this in common together that they are made of two coates which God hath giuen them for the greater preseruation of them and of the life of liuing creatures For oftentimes vlcers and sores breede chiefely when some great inflammation hath gone before so that they putrifie and fret and one of the coats be spoiled Neuerthelesse a man may liue by the other that continueth sound and dischargeth well enough all his dueties Nowe forasmuch as they are instruments appointed for the purging of the body the fibres or little strings both of the inner and vtter coats are all in a manner crosse-wise except some fewe intermingled long-wise to the ende that the purging might be moderated in such sort as that it neither be too much nor too little The three smaller are placed vppermost which because they were made that the meate being turned into liquor might be conueyed through them therefore it was requisite they shoulde be so slender and that chiefely for two causes The first to the ende the passage might bee more easie the other because that in the very passage some concoction is made of the liquor and foode so that they are the sooner warmed by reason of their slender and thinne making Nowe concerning the name and peculiar office of euery one the first is called Duodene because of the length of it which is without any folding or turning It is as it were a part of the stomach hanging downe or as a changing of the stomach into a gut being twelue fingers long whereupon it was so called by the ancient Physicions although nowe there is none found of that length It beginneth at the porter of the stomach and is so seated beside the liuer that looke where that leaueth and the other following called the hungry gut beginneth there is a passage from the bladder of gall to bring the yellow humour thither called choller to the end it might help forward the meate and make cleane the gut The second called the hungry gut is so termed because it holdeth but a litle foode in regard of the other following so that it may be said after a sort to fast whereof there are three causes The first is the great number of Meseraicall veines and arteries which are in greater number about that gut then about the rest Whereupon they sucke out more speedily the liquor and foode which passeth through that then if they were fewer in number The second cause is because the liuer which is neerest to that gut doeth likewise drawe nourishment from it which is sooner done then from the rest that are farther off The third is the falling downe of the chollericke humour into it which intermedleth not it selfe with the liquor and foode but glideth downe by the side of this gut vnto that which is called Colon to the ende it may thrust forward the excrements and purge the humours which it perfourmeth because it is sharpe and biting Now by reason it continually prouoketh this gut to expulsion it falleth out to be more empty then the residue Then followeth the third small intralle called Ileos by the Graecians both because it hath many fouldings as also for the manifolde knitting of it to the Mesenterium from whence sundrie veines come into this The hungry gut and this haue both one office onely heerein they differ that the hungry Gut is sooner sucked then this which
retaineth a longer time that liquor and foode that it receiueth For this cause it is of a greater length and hath more foldings and turnings to the ende it may the better concoct the liquor and bee tempering with the foode the longer time whereby it shall not neede to bee filled and stuffed presently with other meates And heerein wee haue to note the good forecast of nature For if wee were presently to returne againe to the Table after we had taken our meate wee shoulde doe nothing all our life time but eate and drinke Therefore some of the ancient Philosophers haue in this respect acknowledged the prouidence of GOD saying that these foldings plites and windings were made to this ende that men might not liue ignorantly as beastes that are destitute of all knowledge which would follow vndoubtedly if they were of necessitie to attend alwayes vpon the belly Nowe let vs speake of the other three great Guts which followe the small ones These then are lower more fleshie and thicke because their chiefe office is to receiue the excrements of the aboue named Guts and to retaine the same vntill the iust time come to send them foorth euen as it is the office of the three former to distribute the liquor and foode by the Meseraicall veines The first of these great ones is called the Blinde Gut because that being large and great it hath but one way both to receiue in and to let out the matter receiued whereupon it is commonly called by some the Sacke or Budget Gut His office is to receiue the excrementes from the last lesser Gut and hauing drawne out some nourishment from them to cast foorth the rest to the other Gut called Colon. For this cause the doores and holes of these three last Guts concurre well together in a hollowe place Nowe because this blinde Gut is wide and round and hath many foldings among other things it standeth in steade of an other stomach to keepe and to preserue meate in it against some want and necessitie to come and to distribute it to the neighbour-members after a long hunger Whereunto the Gut called Colon doeth also helpe both by reason of the capacitie of it as for the oblique situation thereof as also because it keepeth within it foode and nourishment Concerning the name of it the Greeke worde from whence it is taken signifieth Gaine because it is greater and more capable then any of the rest or else it may signifie as a man woulde say Cut because it is as it weree cut into sundry holes and hath diuers turnings For it receiueth the excrementes and to the ende they shoulde not passe away by and by it sendeth them by little and little through straight passages The chollericke humour descendeth out of the hungrie Gut into this whereby the dirt is both coloured and driuen foorth Of this Gut called Colon the Colike passion taketh the name as the Ileaca passion doeth of the Gut Ileon Nowe because this Gut is puffed vp more then any of the rest and is very painefull to them that haue it stopped it hath certaine straight threedes wouen amongest the ouerthwart Fibres which strengthen the coates and skinnes thereof to the ende they shoulde not breake or cracke when they are blowen vp and strained Whereby wee see againe howe the counsaile of Gods prouidence hath notably prouided for all things whose excellent maiestie hath not despised these most base earthly and brute parts Nowe it remaineth that wee shoulde consider of the third Gut called the Straight Gut For although it proceede from the Gut Colon yet it differeth from it both in place and figure and is called the Straight Gut because of the straightnesse of it Some call it the Fatte Gut because it is passing fatte in beastes It reacheth vnto the very fundament at the ende whereof is placed a muscle being fashioned rounde like to a Ring to keepe in and to retaine ventositie and excrementes vntill Nature please to this ende that expulsion of them might not bee made vpon euery occasion and in euery place indifferently against our wils and contrary to naturall and ciuill honestie For the vse of the straight Gut is to carrie and throwe foorth cleane out of the bodie the filth dregs and grossest excrements thereof being such as are altogether vnprofitable and hurtfull to the body Nowe forasmuch as it is the lowest gut and most burthened by reason that it must holde all the grosse excrements of whatsoeuer entreth into the body by the mouth and is oftentimes very much blowen and stretched vp therefore the diuine prouidence hath giuen vnto it more threedes and fibres of all sortes then to any of the rest and hath made it strong and able to beare the charge So likewise his heauenly counsaile hath prouided that amongst all the members of the body those should be strongest that haue the greatest burthen and stresse to beare And for this cause also this straight gutte hath this muscle which the Physicions call Sphincter being taken from a Greeke worde that signifieth to restraine and close vp because it is an instrument of voluntarie motion that openeth and shutteth as wee will when neede requireth Nowe for the ende of this speech if wee consider well of those partes whereof wee haue spoken wee shall finde that wee carrie about with vs sundrie sortes of sinkes which are oftentimes ilfauouredly looked vnto And this ought to put vs in minde of our infirmities and of those goodly shoppes wee haue in our bodies full of stinking drugges which ought to take from vs all matter of pride Moreouer wee may learne here that which was spoken of in the beginning of this discourse namely the vse of these members and the necessitie of the basest and lesse comely partes Therefore if there were no other respect to be had but this of necessitie wee ought to be so farre from despising them especially the workemaster that hath made and disposed them as that wee ought rather thereby to acknowledge his great prouidence and the care hee hath had of vs seeing it hath pleased him euen from the high degree of his maiestie to prouide for the least and last necessities and infirmities of our bodies So likewise by admiring his so great bounty and goodnesse towardes vs wee haue good occasion by his example to doe the like one towardes an other in the performance of all dueties appertaining to a holy and true friendship Nowe that wee may prosecute our matter subiect let vs looke into the other naturall powers of the soule First let vs consider of the Mesentery of the Meseraicall veines of the sweete bread of the liuer and of their natures and offices The handling of these things belong to thee ARAM. Of the Mesentery and Mesareon of the Meseraicall veines of the Pancreas or sweet bread and of their nature and office of the liuer and of his nature and office of the rootes bodies and
branches of the veines of their names and vses and of the similitude betweene them and the arteries Chap. 63. ARAM. When we consider how the prouidence of God reacheth so far vnto those things that are profitable necessary in our bodies that it forgetteth not neither omitteth the least thing that is in them we should be very blinde of vnderstanding if we doubted that our God prouided not aswell for all things that are profitable and necessary for our soules for the spirituall foode and growth of them and for their perfect purging and saluation For albeit there is no superfluity or excrement in that spiritual food wherewith the soule is nourished yet is it requisit and needful that the soule be purged from those excrements and filthines of sin wherwith the deuil hath infected filled it And so indeed is it purged in Iesus Christ who hath washed clensed vs from our sins by his blood doth daily purge vs by his holy spirit and by those means which he hath ordained in his church Therefore I am out of doubt that God meant to put men in minde of these things by the order necessitie which he hath appointed in the nature of their bodies both in regard of their food and of their nourishment and that we shal alwaies find good and holy instructions for the soule by considering the nature and office of euery part of the body Let vs then consider of other instruments of the naturall powers of the soule then hitherto we haue spoken of After the entrals guts the Mesentery foloweth which is placed in the midst of them whereupon it is so called of the Graecians as if you would say dwelling in the midst of the guts And because it is carried and lift vp into the middle of all these vessels it is also called by some Mesareon which name signifieth the selfe same thing in Greeke Others take Mesareon to be the highest part of the Mesentery which is also called Calicreas by the Graecians because the flesh of it is very pleasant to eate according as the name giueth vs to vnderstand So that it is no entrall or gut but a coat and folded couering in the midst of them or rather a thicke white flesh of a sinowy and kernelly substance that beareth fat distinguishing the entralles and knitting them vnto the backe But it was chiefely created to beare vp and sustaine the Meseraicall veines and arteries with the sinewes that are in that member which because they are in danger of breaking through the vehement motions of the body such other accidents therefore the prouidence of God would not haue them without a foundation prop and defence to countergard them For this cause he hath fortified and fastened the branches and diuisions of the veins by such a member and instrument which serueth in steade of a band and stay both to the great and little ones Besides his action and vse also is to fasten and keepe the entralles euery one in his place and to conuey vnto the liuer by the meseraicall veines that are called the handes thereof that liquor which the Graecians call Chylus of which wee haue already spoken For as the bodies of trees haue their rootes which spread abroad in the earth to drawe nourishment from thence euen so there are branches dispersed throughout the Mesentery and deriued from the liuer veine which are ioyned to the bowelles as it were small rootes to drawe foode being much like to haires or cob-webs These braunches or small rootes are the Meseraicall veines so called because they are placed in the vpper part of that member and instrument that is called Mesareon whereof I spake euen nowe Their office and nature is to draw and sucke out nourishment from the guts and to carry it to the liuer from whence they haue all their beginning as appeareth by Anatomie howsoeuer there are that thinke that some of them come not from thence The flesh of the Mesentery is kernelly and fatty not only seruing in steade of a munition and defence as hath beene said but also to moisten the entralles and guts and to preserue the heate both of the bowelles and veines So likewise the arteries are ioyned to the veines to giue them heate and to the guts also to concoct the liquor and nourishment Besides the nerues and sinewes there serue to giue sense to the guts There is moreouer a kernelly flesh which the Physicions call Pancreas because it doeth wholly resemble flesh as the Greeke name importeth It is placed in the hollow part of the liuer that it might be as it were a cushion vnto it and a preseruer of the diuided partes thereof by filling the void places that are betwene the stomach the liuer and the spleene to the ende it may vphold and protect the meseraicall veines and keepe euery thing from breaking either by falles or by violent motions Nowe touching the liuer it is a very noble member For it is the principallest member of all the naturall partes and the chiefest instrument belonging to the vegetatiue and nourishing power of the soule It is the first of the nobler partes that is made perfect when the childe is framed in the mothers womb it is the author shop and forge of the blood the originall and fountaine of the veines Therefore the substance of it is a soft and red flesh like to blood newly pressed out clodded Neuertheles in it own nature it is perfect flesh hauing sundry different veins dispersed throughout as it were threeds arteries also ioyned vnto thē for their refreshing Now after the stomach hath finished the first concoction of meat and turned it into liquor as it hath bin declared vnto vs the second is made in the liuer after it hath receiued this liquor so prepared by the stomach and guts as we said and turned it into blood This concoction is perfected in the small veines that are dispersed throughout the body of the liuer And because God hath inioyned this office to this member he hath compounded it of such a flesh matter as hath giuen vnto it this proper and peculiar vertue to conuert into blood that foode and nourishment that is brought vnto it to the end it may bee the instrument of the generation of that thing wherewith the body is nourished Hauing thus transformed the liquor receiued it maketh it redde like vnto it selfe as contrariwise blood is made white in the breasts of a woman both by reason of their nature and substance as also for other causes touched by vs. The temperature of the liuer is hot and moist such as becommeth the blood and concoction it hath to performe which is like to boiled meat Now forasmuch as this instrument and member is the chiefest in the kitchin of mans body GOD hath giuen vnto it such a nature and property as if there were in it a harth a table a knife and a wagoner
belonging to the sight are of which bring the facultie and vertue of seeing vnto the eyes as likewise it is of the same temperament with the coats and humors of which the eyes are compounded being diuided and distributed to eche sundrie part by a naturall propertie inherent in them The like is done in the eares and in other members and instruments of the corporal senses and in all the other partes of the body euen to the very nailes and haires thereof Wherein truely wee see wonderfull alterations and a most admirable woorke of Gods prouidence whether it bee considered in the whole earth and in this great world or in man who is the litle world Now for the sequele of our speech before wee come to speake of the speciall offices and effectes of the three humours ioyned with the blood of which wee haue heere spoken wee are to consider besides this distribution made of the nourishment by meanes of the veynes as it hath beene tolde vs of another meane by which these humours and especially the flegmatike ascend vp vnto the braine whereby it commeth to passe that in man as well as in the great world there are waters aboue and belowe which are the cause that mans life swimmeth in the middest of a great danger Also wee are to knowe why the soule and the blood are often taken eche for other and to be instructed in the temperature of the humors necessarily belonging to the bodie for the health and life thereof as likewise to consider of the causes of health and sicknesse and of life and death But this shall bee for to morowe when thou ASER shalt vndertake the discourse of these things so farre foorth as is requisite for vs to know The end of the eight dayes worke THE NINTH dayes worke Of the vapours that ascend vp to the braine and of the waters and cloudes conteined therein and in what perils men are thereby why the soule and blood are put one for another of the temperature of the humors necessary for the health and life of the body of the causes of health and of diseases and of life and death Chap. 65. ASER It is the saying of an ancient Philosopher that they which saile vpon the water are not aboue two or three fingers breadth distant from death namely so farre off as the thicknes of the plankes and timber of the ship is in which they are caried into the Sea For if that timber were taken from vnder them they cannot auoyd drowning vnlesse they can swimme like fishes But not to saile on the sea or vpon a lake or riuer to approch neere to death we haue it a great deale neerer vs when we cary about vs infinite causes and meanes whereby we are euery houre in danger of stifling and as it were of drowning and that both waking sleeping eating and drinking within doores and without at all times and in al places whersoeuer we become Insomuch that of what estate and disposition soeuer men are we are oftentimes astonished to heare tydings of a mans death sooner then of his sickenesse whom wee saw not long before mery cheerefull and in good health Now we may learne some chiefe causes hereof by this dayes handling of that matter Subiect which was yesterday propounded to bee discoursed vpon And first we must know that besides the distribution of all the humours together with the blood into all parts of the bodie by the veines and that for the causes before learned there is yet another meane whereby these humors especially the flegmatike humour which is of the nature of the water ascend vp vnto the braine by reason of vapours arising vpward out of the stomacke like to the vapour of a potte seething on the fire with liquor in it and like to vapours that ascend vp from the earth into the ayre of which raine is engendred Now when these vapours are come vp to the braine they returne to their naturall place and into the nature of those humours of which they were bred as the vapours that are held in the aire turne againe into the same nature of water of which they came Therefore as the waters are contained within the cloudes in the region of the aire allotted vnto them so is it with our braine which is of a colde nature and of a spongie substance fitte for that purpose So that we alwayes carie within it as it were cloudes full of water and of other humours that distil and runne downe continually by the members and passages which God hath appointed to that ende as wee haue alreadie hearde And these places albeit they serue especially to purge seuerall humors as hath beene tolde vs yet oftentimes they voide them altogether both by reason of their mingling and coniunction as of their ouer great abundance Yea many times they are so plentifull namely the flegmatike humour that because the braine cannot sufficiently discharge it selfe of them by the ordinary way these humors ouerflowe on all sides wheresoeuer they can finde any vent and issue euen as when a thundering cloude bursteth asunder So that the water runneth not downe as it were a milde and gentle raine but as a mighty flood that bringeth great ruines with it or as a riuer passing his ordinary course breaketh downe both banke and wall and ouerfloweth euery where Therefore we may well say that many times we haue floods of water enclosed within our heads and braines when wee neuer thinke of it nor yet consider in what danger we are Which the more secrete and vnknowen it is vnto vs the more perillous it is and greatlier to be feared especially considering it is so neere vs and that wee haue fewer meanes to auoyde it as wee haue daily examples in many who being in health and mery are sodainely choked by catarrhes which like to floods of waters runne downewards as the very name deriued from the Grecians doeth import as much or by some sodaine Apoplexie how healthy soeuer before they seemed to bee Others also there are who if they be not presently choked with such floods from the brain yet they are taken with palsies lamenesse and impotencie in all their members or at leastwise in some of them as if some waterflood had caried them away so that nothing had beene saued but the bare life and that more fraile and miserable then death it selfe I speake not of gowtie persons who although they be not assaulted with such great and vehement floods of waters and with euill and superfluous humours so that some few droppes onely of which they are so called fall vpon some partes of them yet are they greatly tormented constrained to crie out and that oftentimes in extreme distresse Which consideration ought to stirre vs vp to know wherein our life and preseruation thereof consisteth and of whom we holde it And on the other side although we had no examples of floods and inundations of waters of earthquakes and such other
and turned mee to cruddes like cheese he addeth presently Thou hast clothed mee with skinne and flesh and ioyned mee together with bones and sinewes This is that couering whereof the Psalmist spake which was giuen him of God in his mothers wombe after her conception Whereupon wee haue to note that these holy men speaking in this manner teach vs sufficiently what is the chiefe part of man which they accompt to be the true man For they declare vnto vs euidently that the soule which dwelleth in the body is truely man and that the body in comparison thereof is but his couering and the lodging wherein hee dwelleth Therefore the Heathens themselues compared mans soule to one placed in a garrison in which hee is to abide vntill hee be called from thence by the Prince and Captaine that placed him therein meaning thereby to teach vs that wee must abide in this life and discharge our duetie therein so long as it shall please God who hath brought vs into it to haue vs to continue therein Truely if wee consider well of those maruailous woorkes which GOD effecteth daily in the Generation of men wee may well say that it is a great miracle of God in Nature and ought to be diligently considered of as Dauid testifieth that hee did so in his owne person Therefore he saieth Thou holdest mee straight behinde and before and layest thine hand vpon me shewing throughout the whole psalme that there is nothing in man so hidden and couered which is not discouered before GOD and which hee knoweth not and searcheth not vnto the bottome to the ende that men deceiue not themselues through their hipocrisie thinking to hide themselues before him For this cause hee sayeth in the beginning that he is so knowen to GOD on all sides both within and without that there is not so much as one motion in him nor one thought or affection which is not wholly manifested vnto him And to prooue and confirme his saying hee taketh his argument from the creation of man giuing vs to vnderstand thereby that forasmuch as GOD is his Creatour and Maker it can not bee but that he shoulde throughly know his worke Whereby wee haue a certaine testimonie of that which wee spake in our former discourse of the creation of all those men that are dailie created by Generation according to the order of Nature appointed by GOD. For the Prophet doeth no lesse acknowledge that GOD hath made him then Adam the first man did So that looke what the Prophet speaketh of his owne person it is also to bee vnderstoode of euerie one both in regarde of his creation as also of that knowledge which GOD hath of all things in man be they neuer so hidde and couered Afterward hee addeth that this knowledge is too woonderfull for him and so high that hee cannot attaine vnto it Nowe wee may iudge well both of the composition of mans body and also of the nature of the soule by those discourses which wee haue already made And if wee did consider but of the body by it selfe yet had wee iust cause to say as much as Dauid sayeth heere What then might be spoken if wee ioyned the soule with the body and considered onely of that which might generally be knowen by such meanes as are already set downe For by that which we doe knowe wee shall iudge well enough howe farre this knowledge exceedeth our capacitie and what remaineth yet behinde which we cannot comprehend Forasmuch then as the Prophet woondereth so much at this great and high skill whereof God giueth vs so excellent testimonie in the creation and generation of men wee ought not to thinke it superfluous and vnprofitable but well beseeming a Christian man to enquire after that which God would haue vs know and which we may know and to consider well of his woorkes wherein he manifesteth his prouidence and wisedome especially in man who is as wee haue heard the chiefest of all his workes amongst the visible creatures and as it were an other worlde created within this Nowe as Dauid from the creation of man inferreth the knowledge which God hath of him so Iob in the same place that I alleadged euen now concludeth that forasmuch as God is the Creator and Artificer that made man he delighteth not in destroying his woorke Thy hands saieth hee haue made mee and fashioned me wholly round about and wilt thou destroy mee Which is as much as if he had saide is it possible that I who am the woorke of thy hands shoulde be brought to nothing by thee For besides that this were against nature the Scripture testifieth vnto vs in many places that he is not onely a preseruer of that which he hath made but also that hee leaueth not his woorkes vnperfect and that hee is so farre from defacing them that contrariwise it is his manner to leade them to perfection Whereby wee ought to learne that the onely consideration of the worke of our creation ought greatly to solace comfort and confirme vs in all afflictions and aduersities how rigorous soeuer the hand of God should be vpon vs. For first we ought to be throughly resolued of this that no affliction can come vnto vs but by his good will and from his hand whatsoeuer the means and instruments are of which hee maketh his roddes and scourges and by which he striketh and beateth vs. Nowe then seeing the hand that toucheth vs is the same that hath made and fashioned vs wee knowe well that he setteth not himselfe against a strange woorke vnknowen vnto him but against his owne wherewith he is very wel acquainted Whereupon we may certainly conclude that it proceedeth not of crueltie and furie that he striketh vs nor yet without good cause as hee that is neither cruell nor furious nor voyde of reason So that it followeth necessarily eyther that we haue giuen him great occasion or that it is very requisite for vs. But howsoeuer it be he euer knoweth well howe to turne all the afflictions of his children to his glorie and to their great honour and profite as we haue many notable examples hereof in all the seruaunts of God and namely in those two personages Dauid and Iob of whome wee haue spoken in this our discourse Which we continuing so farre forth as it respecteth the work of mans generation are to consider more narrowely of the admirable secrete of nature therein so much as daily experience and diligent searche hath learned men to knowe Tell vs then ARAM of the fashion of a childe in the wombe Of the fashion of a childe in the wombe and how the members are framed one after another in the mothers bellie of the time and dayes within which a childe is perfectly fashioned ARAM. I cannot marueile enough at the pride and presumption of many who thinke themselues to bee such great Philosophers and so skilfull in the knowledge of natural things that they perswade themselues
that nothing is so secrete in nature which they knowe not and whereof they are not able to shewe the causes and reasons But experience sheweth vnto vs daily how farre short they are of that which they thinke and in what ignorance the best learned are wrapped at this day For how many things are daily manifested vnto them which the greatest searchers of nature that euer haue beene were ignorant of vnto whome notwithstanding they that nowe liue are but disciples And how many things doe continually come to passe into which the chiefest sharpest sighted and most expert haue no sight at all or very small And among them that suppose they haue good knowledge howe are they deceiued oftentimes Howe many are doubtfull in many thinges whereof they haue but small coniectures whereupon they gesse at all aduenture and as they imagine We may easily iudge hereof by this that continually one reprehendeth correcteth another and that the later writers condemne sundry things in the former But not to seeke afarre off for examples we may see them daily in the science of the Anatomie of mens bodies For there was neuer yet Physicion or Anatomist either olde or newe that attayned to perfect knowledge and coulde render a reason of euerie thing that is but in one bodie notwithstanding that they are continually conuersant in that matter Therefore to leaue vnto God that secrete which is hidden from our vnderstanding let vs consider of that which wee may knowe touching the forme of a childe in the wombe If wee looke narrowely into that order that nature followeth in the framing of man who is the little worlde wee shall finde it like to that which the Authour of nature obserued in the creation of the worlde which Moses calleth the generations of the heauens and of the earth For in the beginning the earth was without forme and voyd and couered with a great gulph of waters so that the earth and waters and matter of all the elements and of all creatures created afterwardes were mingled and confounded together in this great heape Vnto this the Almightie afterwards added a forme and created so manie goodly creatures and of so diuers natures and kindes as are to bee seene in the whole worlde which hee hath adorned with them and endued with so great beautie that it hath receiued the name of that which is as much as Ornament or Order of things well disposed After the same manner doeth nature or rather God by nature woorke in the creation and generation of men For the seede of which they are formed and which is the matter prepared disposed and tempered by the same prouidence of God for the worke he hath in hand receiueth not fashion presently vpon the conception but remaineth for a time without any figure or lineaments or proportion and shewe of a humane body or of any member thereof The naturall Philosophers and Physicions who haue searched most carefully into this woorke and haue had greatest experience they say that there are certaine membranes and skinnes that are wrapped round about the infant in the wombe which some commonly call the Matrix others call the Mother and that within these skinnes which are three in number as some Anatomistes say others but two as it were within certaine bandes the fruite is preserued vntill the birth Wherein wee are to acknowledge the prouidence of GOD who hath so disposed of nature that euen from our mothers wombe shee is in steade of a mother to vs folding vs vp within bandes before shee that hath conceiued vs can perfourme the same But let vs proceede on with our matter so farre foorth as wee haue learned of the fashion of the childe in the discourse of Philosophers and Physicions They say then that after the wombe hath receaued the seedes ioyned together of both which the childe is to bee framed it commeth to passe that the heate of the Matrix warmeth all this matter as it were in a litle fornace and so rayseth a skinne ouer it which beeing as it were rosted by little and little waxeth crustie and harde rounde about the seede This causeth the whole matter to resemble an egge by reason that this skinne compasseth about the seede which boyleth inwardly through the abundance of naturall spirites that are within it This is that skinne which is commonly called the Secundine or After-burthen beeing ioyned on euerie side to the wombe by reason of a great number of Orifices veynes and arteries reaching thereunto to the ende that by them the blood spirites and nourishment shoulde bee conuayed to the infant For as the whole wombe imbraceth the seede so likewise it heateth and nourisheth the same Therefore this skinne that serueth in steade of little bandes hath two vses the first is to take fast holde of the wombe the other to serue for the nourishment of the burthen and of the childe For this cause there are two veynes and two arteries in it besides a passage in the middest which are as it were the rootes of the burthen and make the Nauill This woorke with other circumstances belonging thereunto which wee omitte for breuitie sake is brought to passe the first sixe dayes of the conception After this skinne they that make three speake of a seconde skinne that is in the middest which they saye was created to receiue the vrine of the childe which in the former monethes is voyded by the Nauill and in the latter moneths by the ordinarie passage This voyding place is ordayned to this ende that the vrine might not frette and rent in sunder the tender skinne of the infant who is therefore couered with a thirde skinne next to the other and that is very tender So that the vrine toucheth not the infant but is voyded by the middle way as I haue alreadie declared Thus you see the beginning of the conception before the burthen bee wholly formed like to an infant Whereunto that saying of the Prophet hath relation Thine eyes sayeth hee did see mee when I was without forme for in thy booke were all things written which in continuance were fashioned when there was none of them before Then hee compareth the secrete partes seruing for generation especially the bellie and wombe of the woman vnto the earth and to an obscure secrete and hidde place euen to deepe and darke caues in the ground For as the earth hauing receiued the seede in which is the vigour keepeth cherisheth increaseth the same euen so fareth it with the wombe and with the mother On the other side as these parts are lowest in regard of the trunke of the body and of all the receptacles and vessels thereof so are they very secret and hidden and as it were in the midst and center of the body if the whole be considered together namely the trunke with both endes thereof For this cause the worke that is there wrought by God is so much the more marueilous because euen in
are themselues or what they haue receaued of God except they bee brought backe to that first dust and earth out of which they are taken euen to their first creation and generation Therefore the holy spirite doeth esteeme it a thing not vnworthy his diuine maiestie often to instruct and to admonish vs by his worde and that so plainely and familiarly as no man be hee neuer so skilfull or so ignorant but he may greatly profit in this schoole at leastwise be made altogether inexcusable if he learne not that which the spirit doeth there teach him For concerning them that are most ignorant he speaketh very plainly to be vnderstood of them propounding that vnto them whereof they cannot be ignorant although they woulde at leastwise which they cannot easily know And as for the skilfuller sort who by their knowledge are able to vnderstand more then others they are so much the more guiltie if they will not giue credite to the woorkes of God as they are propounded vnto vs in the holy scriptures For what idole of nature soeuer they frame to themselues yet must they alwayes come to this first beginning of man which is clean contrary to the reason of humane sense and vnderstanding and so giue glory vnto God otherwise the fruite of all their studie will bee nothing els but confusion and ignorance Now the more we consider of the daily generation of men the more like we shall find it in all admiration to their first originall and creation For who coulde euer I say not beleeue but onely thinke or imagine that out of pressed milk and cruds as it were such as the beginning of man seemeth to bee there could proceede any liuing creature at all especially such an image of God as man is And yet we see this daily come to passe Now from whence commeth this milke Wee cannot for shame speake it without blushing So that if the worke and prouidence of God bee woonderfull in the conception and fashioning of man and in the life and preseruation he affoordeth him in his Mothers belly as wee haue shewed heeretofore surely it is no lesse admirable in his natiuitie and birth as we may now vnderstand Wee haue already heard howe by the faculties and powers of the soule and generatiue vertue thereof the seede is retained and preserued and how the child is formed thereof in the wombe Now all this while it is nourished by blood which is drawne vnto it by the veins of the nauill ordained to that end and therfore also the issue of this blood commonly ceasseth in women with childe as that which is then diuided into three partes For the childe draweth the purest thereof to it selfe and is therewithal nourished Secondly the wombe by veins leading directly to the breasts sendeth that part which is lesse pure wherof the milk is prepared that feedeth the child after it is borne The third part which is the worst staieth still in the wombe and so soone as the child is borne it issueth forth also This foode which the childe receiueth thus in the wombe caused Galen to allege an ancient sentence out of Athenaeus saying That the childe receiueth more from the mother then from the father euen as the plants draw more from the earth then they doe from the husbandman For this menstrual blood first encreaseth the seede and after serueth towardes the growth of the members by ministring food vnto them And for this cause this Authour teacheth that naturally the loue of the children is very great towardes their Mothers and so of the Mothers towardes their children as also in respect of the exceeding great mixture of their substaunce But when the childe is nowe encreased and growne so great and strong that he is well able to moue himselfe and to receiue his foode at the mouth as he is waxen greater so he must haue more store of nourishment then he is able to draw in at the nauil Likewise forasmuch as naturall heate is more augmented he had neede of the more aire and to receiue it in by respiration and breathing so farre foorth as is necessary for his refreshing Whereupon the childe stirreth and moueth with greater strength and violence so that it breaketh the skinnes bands wherein it was wrapped and some veines also and so maketh an issue and way for it self as that which cannot any longer be kept in the wombe Now when the child feeleth that aire entring in which it desireth and seeketh for the reason before alleadged it mooueth it selfe towardes the mouth of the wombe which is the most naturall and easie way of birth by reason that it is borne with the head forwarde Nowe so soone as it is come into the light it cryeth as if it did prognosticate and foretell of the miseries of that life into which it is entered The Philosophers and Phisitions referre the cause of this weeping to that motion which driueth it to the birth as also to those handlings and touchings wherewith it is receiued which cannot bee without some sense of griefe conceiued by this litle tender bodie Which body so long as it is in the wombe is bowed round as it were in a lumpe so that the heeles of it ioyne to the buttockes and the handes lay fast holde of the knees towards which it doeth bow downe the head so lowe that the eyes are ioyned to the thumbes as if they were fastened to them and the nose is thrust down betweene the knees Now when it hath attained to the ninth moneth so that it may no longer tarie there for the reasons before mentioned it turneth it selfe in the womb first with the head downeward and stretching out the legges and other members vpward Then when the houre of child-birth approcheth the babe by kicking and turning it selfe more violently maketh many ruptures by litle and litle so that the skinnes wherein both the Vrine and the sweate are contained bursting asunder whole streames gush out which shew that the birth is hard at hand For presently vpon the renting and breach of the After-burthen through the violence of the childe because there is nothing els that holdeth it vp the babe falleth downe euen as an apple or a peare falleth from the tree when it is ripe And as the childe doeth his best to come foorth at that time which God hath prescribed vnto it so the wombe and the mother of the child doe their partes as much as lieth in them to performe by the prouidence of God who hath prouided accordingly For during the space of those nine monethes wherein the childe is contained in the wombe it is shut vp and embraceth the burthen as close as it may And when the time of birth commeth the wombe doeth not onely open it selfe by litle and litle but all the top of it doeth gather it selfe as close together as it can and so thrust the babe towards the mouth of it wherunto also the neighbour parts lend
no more after that fashion so hee is in an estate that differeth much from the former So fareth it with man when hee is to depart out of the life of this worlde as if hee were to bee deliuered of it in childbirth for another life For hee dieth in regarde of this life to the ende he may liue another life which as farre excelleth this as this is better then the other which hee enioyed before in his mothers bellie yea it is so much the better of higher price in that the length of time of this second and blessed life shal be eternall and endles Moreouer as a childe commeth out when hee is borne so doth a man when he dieth And in comming forth both of them enter into a new and vnacquainted light into a place where they finde all things much altered and farre differing from those which they vsed to haue in their other kind of liuing For which cause both the one the other being troubled and scared with this nouelty are vnwilling to come forth of their clapper to forsake their closet were it not that they are vrged constrained thereunto by the arte lawes rights of nature wherby God hath better prouided for our affaires then wee our selues could conceiue or cōprehend both in our natiuity life also in our death The ignorance whereof causeth our spirit to abhorre the departure out of this life in regard of this great chāge that is therein because it knoweth not what good is brought to it thereby no more then the litle child knoweth wherefore he is borne into the world or what he shall finde there And therefore albeit nature presseth to come foorth neuerthelesse according to that sense which it can haue it weepeth by and by after it is borne as if it were fallen into some great inconuenience and that some great euil were fallen vnto it as we doe also at our death for the cause before alleged not considering that it is our second and better birth Thus you see what I haue thought requisite to be noted in the discourse of our generation and to morow God willing we must looke into the life and death of mans bodie But it shall not be without profite if first we speake somewhat of the causes why God created man naked and with lesse defence for himselfe then hee did other liuing creatures It belongeth then to thee ASER to speake of this matter The end of the ninth dayes worke THE TENTH dayes worke Why God created man naked and with lesse naturall defence then hee did all other liuing creatures how many wayes he recompenceth this nakednes of the generall beautie of the whole bodie of man ioyned with profit and commoditie Chap. 73. ASER As often as men shall consider in such sort as becommeth them that they are borne men and not brute beasts they wil be suffciētly admonished of the ciuil and sociable nature in which God hath created them of that humanitie for which he hath endued them with such a nature so that they wil keepe them selues from being transformed into sauage cruell beasts to hurt one another as commonly they do Truly it is not without some great and notable cause that among al liuing creatures there is not one to be found that hath a more delicate tender skin lesse furnished with couerings for the defence thereof then man hath considering that God himselfe created him as his principall woorke amongest all visible creatures and made him as it were Lorde of the whole worlde And yet hee is of that nature that the skinne wherewith he is clothed is not so sufficient a garment for him as is necessary to keep him from heat cold from other inconueniences that might happen vnto him except he be clad with some other couering then that which he bringeth frō his mothers belly For hee neither hath feathers as birds haue nor wooll as sheepe haue nor bristles as swine haue neither yet any skin or hide so hard nor so well couered and furnished with haire as foxes wolues beares bulls and other foure footed beasts haue Neither hath he any skales as fishes haue nor any shells as cockles sea creuisses tortoises and such other creatures haue But we haue foure things to consider of touching this point The first is that if man had not sinned after that God by creation had in great larges made him partaker of his heauenly giftes and graces he should not haue bene subiect to the want either of garments or of any such like thing whereunto he is nowe after a sort brought in subiection at leastwise he should haue had all these things without paine and griefe For this cause it is sayd in Genesis that after our first parents had transgressed the ordinance of God by eating of the forbidden fruite they knewe that they were naked and couered themselues with leaues And for a punishment of their offence it was sayd vnto them that they should eate their bread in the sweate of their face vnder which worde of bread was comprehended all things whereof they stood in neede for the maintenance preseruation of their life as we vnderstand it in that prayer which we dayly make to God when wee demaund of him our dayly bread The second point which we ought to note in this matter touching the nakednes of man is this that God would admonish him not onely by the whole frame and composition of his body and of all his members but also by his very skinne that he created him to liue in company and felowship and in peace with those of his owne kinde to helpe all and to hurt none Therefore hee did not create him with naturall weapons as he did other liuing creatures vnto whome he gaue all things necessary for their defence preseruation For some of them haue strength and weapons by nature to resist their enemies others wanting this haue swiftnes to conuey themselues out of all dangers and some wanting both these haue yet subtiltie places of refuge to defend themselues withall As for man God hath placed him in this world vnarmed and naked so that if men be disposed to hurt and to warre one vpon another they must deforme themselues and borowe weapons from others wherby they transforme themselues become monstrous as though they were transfigured into sauage beasts into monsters For they haue not as hath bene said hard strong hydes as some brute beasts haue neither prickles darts in them as Hedge-hogs and Porcupines haue Neither are their feete hands nailes like to the hoofes of Horses Asses Mules or to the tallents of birds that liue by praye or to the pawes of wild beasts neither yet are their teeth like to theirs God hath not giuen them sharp bils like to birds neither hath he armed them with stings or with venim as he hath done venimous beasts True it is that man hath
and immortall qualities And so doeth the Apostle expound it saying in the same place The bodie is sowen in corruption and riseth in incorruption it is sowen in dishonour it riseth in glorie it is sowen in weakenesse and is raised in power It is sowen a naturall bodie and is raised a spirituall bodie there is a naturall bodie and there is a spirituall bodie As it is also written The first man Adam was made a liuing soule and the last Adam was made a quickening spirite Whereupon wee haue to note that Saint Paul speaketh still of the selfe same bodie which remaineth alwayes one in substance But forasmuch as it altereth in qualities and kinde of life therefore as hee calleth it spirituall in regarde of the Spirite of Christ and of his spirituall and heauenly vertues by which hee changeth the first qualities of it as the Apostle teacheth vs by such as are opposed against them so it is also called an animall or naturall body of the soule which giueth vnto it onely that naturall life that it hath in this worlde and not that spirituall and immortall life which it shall haue after this For the soule which nowe can giue none but this mortall life by reason of sinne shall then haue another vertue when sinne shall bee wholly abolished to giue vnto the body an immortall and blessed life by meanes of that spirituall and diuine vertue of Iesus Christ whereby it shall bee quickened that it may quicken the body with the same life But because this worde Animal deriued from Anima that signifieth the soule is not very common in our English tongue wee finde in the vsuall translation of these places of Saint Paul alleadged by vs these wordes naturall and sensuall insteade of animal which the Greeke worde properly signifieth Therefore in expounding the sence of these kindes of speech vsed by the Apostle wee must vnderstand that hee doeth not call animal or sensuall and naturall the body of man onely or man by reason of his body onely but the whole man compounded of body and soule For hee is altogether animal that is naturall and sensuall both in body and soule without Christ Iesus but being in him so long as hee liueth in this worlde hee is both animal that is to say naturall and sensuall and also spirituall First hee is animal both because hee is not yet perfectly regenerated as also because hee is not yet immortall and glorified as hee shall bee after his resurrection On the other side hee beginneth euen nowe to bee spirituall because hee hath a beginning of regeneration wrought in him which being once made perfect hee shall bee regenerated much more absolutely and made wholly conformable to Iesus Christ both for immortallitie and eternall happinesse For then hee shall be no more animal naturall sensuall and spirituall altogether but onely spirituall according as I haue already declared Wherefore let vs knowe that euery one shall retaine still the selfe same body and soule which hee hath in this life but by reason of that change of euill qualities which being in both shall bee made in the other life Saint Paul calleth it spirituall and not for any conuersion that shall bee of the bodie into the spirite For as a man is called animal in regarde of the soule that is giuen him because the soule is the chiefest thing in him so hee is called spirituall in respect of the other life and of the excellencie that shall be added to the soule and by the soule to the body through the heauenly and spirituall vertue and power of Iesus Christ Nowe then seeing the soule is taken in the holie Scriptures for the naturall life which is not without affections wee may see it sometimes also put for them Therefore when the worde of God woulde expresse a great affection of loue it sayeth of the sonne of Sichem that his soule claue vnto Dinah and after it is added that hee loued her and spake to the heart of the maide that is to say kindely and as her heart coulde wish In like manner it is written of Iacob that his soule was bound to the soule of Beniamin his sonne to signifie that hee loued him tenderly as his owne soule and life And of Ionathan it is saide that his soule was knit with the soule of Dauid which phrase is afterward expounded by the Scripture where it is saide that Ionathan loued Dauid as his owne soule Wee are also commaunded to loue GOD with all our soule as also with all our heart and minde Therefore Iesus Christ sayeth that whosoeuer seeketh and saueth his soule shall lose it but hee that hateth and loseth it for his sake shall finde it and saue it vnto eternall life In which wordes the soule is not onely taken for the life but also for all the commodities thereof and for the desires of the flesh such as are glorie honours riches pleasures delights ease and all kinde of prosperitie for the obtaining of which things many turne aside from the way of saluation and take the path that leadeth to destruction Also we reade many places in the Scriptures in which the soule is taken not only for the whole person liuing but also for the person dead yea for the dead body and sometimes for the spirite separated from the body But wee must well consider in what sence there is mention made of the death of the soule Balaam wisheth that his soule might die the death of the iust but hee speaketh after the manner of the Hebrews who vse many times to say My soule and thy soule for my selfe and thy selfe or for my person and thy person according to that before mentioned that the name of soule and of flesh are often taken for the whole man and for that which wee call Person For this cause whereas Moses sayde that GOD sware by himselfe Ieremie and Amos say that hee sware by his soule in the same sence and signification Likewise the name of Soule is not onely taken for a liuing person but also for him that is dead as when it is written in the Law Let none of you be defiled by the dead among his people it is in the Hebrew ouer the soule of his people that is ouer the dead body of any of the people by touching it after it is dead And when Iob saieth that the soule of a man draweth to the graue and his life to the buryers and that God deliuereth his soule from going into the pit he taketh not the name of soule for that spirituall essence that giueth life vnto man but for the life it selfe or for the man and body it selfe which is laide in the graue after death So that his meaning is no other then to say that God deliuereth man from death whereby otherwise he should be brought into the pit And when Dauid saith Lord thou hast brought vp my soule out of
and motion that are therein are inflamed by this vital spirite and not by any other means whatsoeuer whether it be the blood or the flesh And yet this spirite is as well of a corporall and bodily matter as all the rest of which the body is compounded so that it hath his originall of the selfe-same elements from whence that matter is deriued out of which it springeth But of such inquisitours I woulde likewise demaund from whence the heauens the Sunne and Moone with the other planets and starres haue their motion their light and properties It is very certaine they can yeeld mee no other true cause but that God hath created them of that nature that hee hath so framed them and that hee alwayes preserueth them such by the diuine vertue and power of his prouidence So I say to them that wee ought not to searche for any other cause or reason of that we mentioned before or goe any further or mount higher in the inquisition thereof But forasmuch as that which wee haue nowe deliuered of the nature and matter of the Soule is proper to that Sensitiue and Sensuall soule which wee attribute to beastes we must come more particularly to that that is proper to men which wee call the reasonable soule This is that matter and poynt about which the greatest and most ingenious wittes haue most laboured and disputed from time to time For they that affirmed the soule of man to bee no other thing then the Vitall and Animall spirites by means of which the body receiueth life or the temperature and temperament of the humours and matter of which the bodie is compounded these men put no difference betweene the soule of beastes and the soule of men And as for them that take it to bee the breath or a fire of which the naturall heate proceedeth they iumpe in opinion with the former who place it in the Vitall spirites And they that say it is in the harmonie of the whole bodie are of the same minde with them that place it in the temperament So that according to the opinion of all these the soule of man is nothing els but naturall heate or els the Vitall spirite that is in the blood as the Physicions commonly take it whose consideration reacheth not farther then to that they can comprehend by their naturall reason following therein Hippocrates who agreeable to this opinion saieth that the soule is daily engendered after that manner which wee haue alreadie declared But they that more diligently looke into the properties and excellent giftes wherewith the reasonable soule is endued know assuredly by their naturall reason that these opinions are very vnworthy the noble excellencie thereof and that they are of no force in regarde thereof For they iudge very well that the vnderstanding and reason with the discourses thereof that the iudgement and such memory as it hath that the discerning of good and euill of thinges honest and dishonest of vertues and vices with the knowledge of humane and diuine thinges whereof it is partaker are woorkes and actions which cannot proceede from such matter as the elements are as we haue touched else-where Whereupon it followeth that it is some other thing then the Vitall spirite or the temperament of the bodie and that it is of a farre differing nature from that of beasts which consisteth in these thinges And by the same reason also they conclude that if the soule of man were of any such matter as to be the Vitall spirite or the temperament of the bodie it would follow that it were mortall like to the bodie and that nothing shoulde remaine of it after the death thereof Which thing they finde to be too much contrarie vnto that which a man may iudge of the nature and substance of the soule by those effectes of it that were euen nowe mentioned which effectes are such as cannot agree to a corruptible and mortall nature nor to any other then to a celestiall and immortall nature like to that of the Angels aud blessed spirits which are endued with such vertues But I desire to heare thee ARAM vpon the things now spoken of that thou maiest goe on with the matter of our discourses Of the opinion of Galen of Platâ— and of Aristotle touching the substance and nature of mans soule of the opinion of Occam touching the Vegetatine and Sensitiue power thereof and of the distinction of soules he maketh in man of the sentence of the Platonists and of Origen touching the creation birth and nature of the soule of the coniunction of the Soule with the bodie and the estate thereof in the same Chap. 83. ARAM. The Ancients speaking of man often call him a great miracle and indeede the more wee bend our mindes to consider of it the more marueilous weshal find it to be Insomuch as in the particular contemplation of the soule which is truely man I woulde gladly aske whether it were better either to discourse Philosophically of this matter hauing store of argument or by way of admiration to crie out with S. Paul O the deepenes of the riches both of the wisedom and knowledge of God! Neuerthelesse being drawen on with the same desire that hath hitherto pricked vs forward to search out and to be instructed in the trueth according to my knowledge I will goe forward ARAM with thy speech For the causes then alleged by thee out of them that consider more diligently the properties excellent gifts of the soule although Galen who otherwise was a prophane man in respect of the knowledge of God and an idolatrous worshipper of nature durst not boldly determine what the reasonable soule was yet as for that which is commonly called the vegetatiue or nourishing and the sensitiue or sensuall soule he feareth not boldly to affirme that it is no other thing then either the naturall and vitall spirits or the temperament But as for the reasonable soule he leaueth it in doubt whether it be of a bodilie nature or of some other that is not corporall and which subsisteth by it selfe being seperated from the bodie Neither doth he conclude any other thing but that it is either a shining substance and an ethereall body that is to say of a more pure and celestiall nature then any of the elements or els that it is of a nature that is not corporall but yet hath this body by which he meaneth the animal spirit to be as a chariot to carie it Plato before him sayd that soules were litle portions taken from the substance of the celestiall fires and hee maketh three parts of a mans soule diuiding them according to the principall parts of the body and those instruments which they haue in the same Which diuision is vnderstood of some as if he made so many sorts of soules as we haue shewed that there are principall powers and offices which haue their seuerall seats and places assigned vnto them in the body Therefore Galen
creatures forged by them but men through ignoraunce haue taken them in a wrong sence and so reaped small profite by them No marueile then if this hath happened both to Philosophers and Poets in their doctrine and manner of teaching seeing there are so manie that profite so little by the doctrine of the holie Scriptures themselues and by the studie thereof For were there euer any Heretikes that did not wrest the sence of manie places of Scripture to make them serue for their heresies And doe wee not dayly see the like in all seducers and false prophetes It is verie certayne that there were neuer anie so absurde and straunge heresies which the fauourers of them haue not laboured to mainteyne by the holy Scriptures themselues But to returne to our purpose what meaning soeuer the Authors and inuenters of such things had their doctrine was so vnderstood that manie helde this opinion that mens soules passed from bodie to bodie as we haue heard Insomuch that this errour howe grosse soeuer it were came not onelie to the Iewes but to the Christians also who boast of true religion and of the authoritie and knowledge of the holy Scriptures I speake not of the Manichees auncient Heretikes who were open mainteiners of this opinion But what shall wee say of them who not onely haue their braines infected with this follie but which is woorse imagine they can confirme and prooue it by testimonies out of the worde of God As where it is reported that when Herode hearde the fame of Christ Iesus spread throughout all Iudea hee sayde This is Iohn Baptist hee is risen againe from the dead and therefore great woorkes are wrought by him And Saint Luke sayeth expressely That Herode doubted because that it was sayde of some that Iohn was risen againe from the dead and of some that Elias had appeared and of some that one of the olde Prophets was risen againe We reade likewise that when Iesus Christ demaunded of his disciples saying Whome doe men say that I the Sonne of man am they answered Some say Iohn Baptist and some Elias others Ieremias or one of the Prophets and some that one of the olde Prophetsis risen againe A man my iudge by these speeches that not onelie Herode was tainted with this Pythagoricall and Platonicall opinion but also that it was very common among the Iewes with whome hee conuersed and whose religion hee followed at least in part and in outwarde shewe For Iesus Christ was knowen well enough in Iudea and in Galilee and amongst all the Iewes as it appeareth by the testimonie of the Euangelists They knewe his kinred according to the flesh and coulde tell that he was brought vp in Nazareth in the countrey of Galilee for which cause they called him him a Galilean a Nazarean a Carpenter the sonne of a Carpenter and the sonne of Ioseph and Marie They saide that they knewe his brethren and sisters whereby according to the Hebrewe manner of speaking they meant his cousins Neeces and his kinred taking occasion thereby to despise and reiect him But on the other side many seeing the woorkes and miracles which hee wrought were constrayned to passe farther euen Herode himselfe hearing onely the fame that went of him throughout the countrey so that some tooke him to bee that Christ others to be some great Prophet And of them that helde him for a Prophet it appeareth by those sundry opinions that were among the people that they did not thinke him to bee a Prophet borne at that time but that some one of the olde Prophets was risen againe in him not in bodie but in spirite For they knewe well whence hee issued in respect of his bodie as that which was commonly knowen throughout the countrey Therefore it is easie to iudge that they spake of resurrection in regarde of the soule as the skilfullest Interpreters expounde these places referring these speeches of Herode and of the people vnto that Pythagoricall opinion of the transmigration of soules from bodie to bodie For according thereunto those soules that had behaued themselues vertuously in their first bodies in which they dwelt were sent into other more honourable bodies endued with greater giftes of God according to their deseruing Nowe because Saint Iohn the Baptist had not the gift of miracles annexed to his Ministerie neyther did woorke anie all his life time it might bee thought that this gaue occasion to Herode to thinke thus of him that beeing risen againe from the dead after a Pythagoricall manner hee had this gift and vertue added vnto his former graces that so he might haue the greater authoritie Neither ought wee to thinke it verie strange if a great part of the Iewes were infected with manie foolish and naughtie opinions seeing they were not onely corruptly instructed by their teachers but also had sectes amongst them there which plainely denied the resurrection of the bodie the immortalitie of soules and that there was any Angel or spirite Therefore wee see their great brutishnesse who woulde ground their transmigration vpon that which is saide in the Scriptures touching the opinion of the Iewes in this point which notwithstanding is openly reprehended and condemned by the selfe-same worde of GOD. True it is that the ignorance of the true sense thereof gaue occasion to many to fall into such dreames For the Lorde speaking thus by Malachie Beholde I will sende you Elijah the Prophet before the comming of the great and fearefull day of the Lorde the Iewes vnderstood this place diuersly Some of them thought that the auncient Prophet Elias who was rapt vp into heauen shoulde be sent againe in proper person others vnderstoode it onely of the transmigration of his soule and spirite into an other body For this cause they asked of Iohn Baptist whether hee were Elias but Iesus Christ himselfe expounded those wordes of Malachy and declared vnto the Iewes that Iohn Baptist was that Elias which should come and that although hee were come yet they did not knowe him For when he spake so of him hee meant not that hee was the very person of Elias in body and soule or that the naturall soule and spirite of Elias was entred into his body but his meaning was according as the Angel spake to Zachary when he tolde him of the Natiuitie of Saint Iohn his sonne saying He shall be filled with the holy Ghost euen from his mothers wombe And many of the children of Israel shall he turne to their Lorde God For he shall go before him in the spirite and power of Elias A man may easily iudge by these words that he meant not to say that the naturall spirite of Elias shoulde enter into the body of Saint Iohn Baptist but that God would giue a spirite adourned with such giftes and spirituall graces and with such zeale and constancie as he gaue long before to Elias Therefore he addeth power vnto spirite thereby
recouery neither was any knowen that hath returned from the graue For we were borne at all aduenture and wee shall be heereafter as though wee had neuer beene for the breath is a smoke in the nosethrilles and the woordes as a sparke raised out of our hearts Which being extinguished the body is turned into ashes and the spirite vanisheth as the soft ayre Our life shall passe away as the trace of a cloude and come to naught as the mist that is driuen away with the beames of the Sunne and cast downe with the heate thereof Our name also shall be forgotten in time and no man shall haue our woorkes in remembrance For our time is as a shadowe that passeth away and after our ende there is no returning for it is fast sealed so that no man commeth againe Come therefore let vs enioy the pleasures that are present and let vs cheerfully vse the creatures as in youth Let vs fill our selues with costly wine ointments and let not the floure of life passe by vs. I omit other speeches of a voluptuous wicked vniust life which they purpose to lead exercising al iniustice violence cruelty without al regard had to any right or iustice either to poore or rich yong or old but chiefly against the seruants of God who approue not their kind of life but reproue condemne it Therefore it is said after al the discourse that they imagined such things and went astray For their owne wickednes blinded them They do not vnderstand the mysteries of God neither hope for the reward of righteousnes nor can discerne the honor of the soules that are faultlesse For God created man without corruption and made him after the image of his owne likenesse Neuerthelesse through enuy of the deuill came death into the world and they that hold of his side proue it But the soules of the righteous are in the hands of God and no torment shall touch them In the sight of the vnwise they appeared to die and their end was thought grieuous and their departing from vs destruction but they are in peace Wee see then that these men go no farther then they can see with their bodily senses and because they see that man liueth by breathing and cannot liue without and that hee dyeth when his breath faileth they thinke that the soule of man is but a litle winde and breath and so is scattered and vanisheth away as it were winde and breath or as a cloude in the ayre The same iudgement they are of in regard of the blood because life leaueth the body with the blood as if it had no other soule but the blood or breath And forasmuch as the eye discerneth no difference betweene men and beasts in death they iudge also that there is no difference betweene their soules But if they be resolued to giue credit to nothing but to their corporall senses and in death consider only what difference there is betweene men and beasts they wil not beleeue that either beasts or men haue any soule at all that giueth them life because they see nothing but the body onely And then by the like reason we must conclude that not onely the whole man is no other thing but this body which we see but also that there is nothing in all the world but that which may bee seene by the eyes and perceiued by the other senses and so all that which we haue not seene and knowen by them shal be nothing Which being so men shal differ nothing from beasts as indeed we can say no better of these men For beastes thinke of nothing but that which they beholde and perceiue by their senses and goe no further which is so farre from all science and discipline and from all iudgement of man as nothing can be more Therefore they that beleeue nothing but their corporall senses deserue to be compared not onely to little children or to fooles who when they see pictures or their face in a glasse suppose they are liuing men because they goe no farther then they see but euen to the brute beastes who haue lesse sense and vnderstanding then children It is woonderfull to consider howe men take such great pleasure paines to become brutish For if they doe but see a smoke come out of a place they will iudge that there is some fire within although they behold it not and if they smell any ill sauour their nose will tell them that there is some place infected or some carion lying not farre off albeit they see it not What is the cause then that when by their senses they perceiue somewhat more in men then in beastes they are not induced thereby to thinke that of necessitie there must be some what within them which causeth them to differ much from beasts Which is not by reason of the bodie but of the soule that is not seene but onely by her actions workes and effects Whereupon it followeth that if their actions differ from the actions of that soule whereby beastes liue the cause also from which they proceed must needes differ and so consequently that there is great difference betwixt the soule of men and the soule of beastes For let them consider onely the diuersitie of artes which man exerciseth with his hands and the varietie of so many wittie and woonderfull workes as are wrought by him which cannot proceede but from a great spirite and from a passing excellent nature the like whereof is not to bee seene in beastes or in anie thing they can doe Besides doe they not see how the spirite of man discourseth throughout all nature what reason is in him and howe his speech followeth reason which are such things as haue a certaine vertue and the image of a diuine spirite shining in them Wherefore albeeit wee shoulde make man wholly like to a beast by reason of his bodie both in regarde of his birth and death yet wee must needes confesse that hee is of a farre more excellent nature in respect of that great and manifest difference which wee see is in his soule If then the soule of man bee mortall as well as that of beastes to what purpose serue those graces which it hath aboue the other and from what fountaine shall wee say they flowe in it and to what ende were they giuen vnto it But for this time I will leaue these Atheists hoping that to morowe wee will not leaue any one naturall reason able to vrge them in their demnable opinion which shal not bee laide out at large And I demaund of them that haue anie taste of the holy Scriptures and yet seeme to doubt of the immortalitie of the soule or at leastwise are not fully resolued therein howe man is said to be created after the image of God if he shall be altogether dissolued and brought to nothing and where shall we then seeke for this image in him It is certaine that this is not in
any right and interest therein to any other besides him onely who is soueraigne almightie and the onely father of spirites For if the question be of the body and of all the senses thereof many may claime an interest therein vnder God namely Fathers mothers the children themselues nature the kinred the countrey friends kings Princes Lords But the soule belongeth to none but to God alone which he willeth commandeth should be reserued to him only for our happines because he only is the author and creator thereof If it be so then that our soule is not begotten or produced by this nature which is the handmaide of God and worker vnder him but by God alone it followeth very well that nothing in nature can extinguish it but God onely who is able to do it if he please Now it is not likely or credible that God would make a thing by it selfe and that after a different manner from other things which should haue nothing besides the creation of it then within a while after would destroy it For if it were otherwise why woulde hee obserue another meane in the creation of man then in that of beasts Why would he not rather haue bestowed vpon nature the power of the generation and corruption of mans soule as he hath done that of other liuing creatures Wherefore woulde hee seeme to reserue that thing as proper to himselfe which hee woulde make subiect to the law and common condition of other things Thus much then for those arguments which we may take from the knowledge that God hath giuen to mans soule from his constant worke in the creation of it to proue the nature and immortalitie therof Now we are to consider what arguments we haue to the same purpose in that vertue of desire which is giuen vnto it These things then we may learne of thee Aram. Of the argument for the immortalitie of the soule that may be taken from that naturall desire thereof and of perpetuitie which is in it of another argument to the same purpose of the desire which men haue to continue their name and memory for euer an argument to the same ende taken from the apprehension and terror which men may haue both of the death of the body and also of the soule and spirit Chap. 91. ARAM. These three things are so linked and knit together namely Gods religion his diuine prouidence and the immortalitie of the soule that they neither may nor ought to bee seperated in any wise For if our soules were not immortall no rewarde or punishment for good or bad doings were to be looked for and then God should not seeme to haue any care ouer vs which if he haue not why should wee worship him Our hope should be in vaine and religion vnprofitable But if without the grace and goodnes of God we cannot liue and if he wil be sought vnto of vs by prayer then religion is very necessary and the immortalitie of the soule certaine And euen as a man cannot renounce those excellent giftes which naturally are planted in his spirit and minde and in that reason which God hath bestowed vpon him but hee must renounce himselfe and become like to the bruite beast so fareth it also with him when he renounceth his immortalitie But seeing we are now in handling the powers of the soule to shewe that it dieth not and seeing wee haue spoken of knowledge wee will consider what arguments to the same ende may bee taken from the vertue of desiring that is naturally in it Heretofore we learned that all knowledge both in man and beast is giuen to this ende that they should desire whatsoeuer they know to be good and eschue that which they know to be euil Concerning the knowledge of our sences they conceiue well ynough what it is to be present and so do the sences of beastes of which and of our whole nature we may iudge both by our external and internal sences that are common to vs with them so we may discerne of all such like things But the appetite or desire of beasts goeth no further then the time present For that naturall desire of their owne preseruation which is in them proceedeth not frō any knowledge which they haue of things but from the workemanship of nature and from that naturall inclination which they haue thereunto without any motion of reason or vnderstanding Whereupon it followeth that their desire to preserue themselues and their power of procreation proceedeth not from their knowing vertue that is the chiefest in them but from the vegetatiue vertue which is the basest most abiect But man goeth a great deale further For man hath knowledge of perpetuitie and of eternitie as we heard in the former speach and because he knoweth that eternitie is a good and profitable thing for him he doth also desire the same This desire then is naturall and if naturall it followeth also that it is a very meete and conuenient thing for vs and so consequently that it is not giuen to man without cause and to no purpose Wee must then conclude hereupon that it may be accomplished and that of necessitie it must be sometime or other For if it were otherwise to what purpose should this knowledge serue which man hath of so great a benefite and which also mooueth him to desire the same if he could neuer attaine to the fruition thereof And why should God teach the same to men if he would not make them partakers of it Were it not rather to debase then to aduaunce them aboue beastes whereas hee hath created them Lordes and as it were his last and principall peece of worke in his worke of creation Should it not seeme to be not onely a vaine thing but also if I might so speake as though God delighted to torment men to cause them to desire that thing of which they should neuer haue any participation Were it not better for them at leastwise as good that in this respect hee should haue created them like to bruite beastes For so they should liue a great deale more quiet and not torment themselues as they doe after a thing which is altogether vnpossible for them to attaine vnto Nowe wee haue a very euident signe and testimony in vs of the continuall being of this desire of enternitie in that longing which men haue to make their name eternall as much as may be and that their memory might remaine in all ages that shall follow long time after them And which is more this affection is so naturall and imprinted so deepe into mens hearts that euen they who deny the immortality of soules and who thinke that euery man doeth wholy vanish away by corporall death doe couet notwithstanding the immortality of their name and to haue a good report amongest men still after their death Heereof wee haue very good proofe in the last will and Testament of Epicurus himselfe the Captaine and standard-bearer
iustice that men vse against malefactors be grounded Shall there be more iustice in men who are altogether iniustice themselues then in God who is the fountaine of all iustice yea iustice it selfe All this must be so or else we must confesse that all these things testifie vnto vs that God hath care ouer vs and that there is an other place and time of rewarding euery man according to his workes then in this worlde and heere in this life For this cause Saint Peter calleth the day of the last iudgement in which all shall appeare before God the time of the restauration of all things foretolde of God by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the worlde beganne For considering that al things are so confused and troubled in the worlde that it seemeth there is no difference betwixt the blessings and curses of God pronounced in his lawe and that all things are turned topsie turuy by the malice of men the Lord hath ordained a place and time in which hee will put an end to this disorder and wil restore al things to their right estate and good order Now if the Lord hath appointed that euery one shal be rewarded at that time and place it followeth that then and there also wee must search for the end for which man was created and that his soule shall liue there And if the soule then liueth and in that place it followeth well also that there is the end of it For we take the ende for that which is the last and most perfect in euery thing So that if the question be of the authoritie of men and multitude of witnesses for the confirmation of that which hath beene hitherto saide of the immortalitie of the soules of men wee shall haue for this purpose all those who from the beginning of the worlde amongest all people and nations haue beleeued and thought that there is a God that there is a Diuine nature and prouidence and consequently any religion yea euen those barbarous and sauage nations which were found out of late dayes in those new Ilands commonly called the new found world And if the qualitie of the witnesses is to be considered we shall still haue almost all on our side For if wee looke vnto the most barbarous and strangest nations that are the testimonie of nature which all of them carry in their hearts compelleth them to range themselues on this side And if we come to others that haue bin more ciuil better instructed we shall haue a greater aduantage Or if the question be of the greatest and of such as by the consent and testimonie of all were accompted and were indeede best learned and most vertuous we shal not only finde them to haue beene on our side but also that they haue condemned as ignorant men and vnworthy to liue them that haue beene of a contrary opinion betwixt which men and the other there is great difference For those among the Philosophers that denied the immortalitie of the soule were such as did abolish also all diuine nature and prouidence and all religion and such as placed the soueraigne good of men in pleasure which kinde of men were alwayes woorthily taken to be the vilest and most abiect and as it were the skumme and dregges of the professours of Philosophie For to the ende wee may the better vnderstand this by mine aduise we will consider of the best arguments that are alleadged by Philosophers to prooue the immortalitie of soules that they who will not credite the testimony of the holy Scriptures may feele themselues vrged in their conscience with the sayings of Ethnickes and heathen men who shall rise vp in iudgement against them to aggrauate their condemnation Now it belongeth to thee AMANA to followe this matter Of an other argument for the immortalitie of the soule taken from that naturall desire which men haue of knowledge of Aristoteles opinion touching the nature and immortalitie of the soule of other reasons of Philosophers to prooue that the spirite can not be of a corruptible and mortall nature and how iust men should be more miserable and should haue more occasion to feare and to eschew death then the vniust and wicked if the soule were mortall Chap. 94. AMANA There is in all men a naturall desire of knowledge and wisedome yea a man may perceiue that most barbarous men desire naturally to knowe vnto what Art soeuer they apply their spirite iudging the same to be commendable honest as contrariwise they accompt it vnbeseeming a man and dishonest to be ignorant to erre and to be deceiued From this desire the wisest and most famous among the Philosophers tooke a very good argument to prooue the immortalitie of the soule For seeing this desire is naturall and that in this worlde all the knowledge and wisedome that men can haue is very small and as it were nothing in respect of that which they want they conclude necessarily that there must needes be some other place and time then in this life wherein that which is heere begunne but slenderly is to be accomplished and made perfect The reason from whence they deriue their argument is that common saying that God and Nature the minister of God doe nothing without cause Wherefore seeing this desire of knowledge and wisedome is naturall in man it can not be in vaine neither is it giuen vnto him but that it should attaine to some end and perfection For to what purpose serued the corporal eies of liuing creatures and for what cause should they be giuen them if they could neuer see or were to liue alwaies in darknes So likewise why should the eies of the soule mind be giuen to men thereby to behold celestiall and diuine things which cannot be seene with bodily eies if they could neuer view them but in such darknes as they do heere behold them To what end also should man be naturally pricked forward with a desire to know the truth and to haue skill if he could neuer soundly enioy his desire but should remaine always in ignorance for the greatest part of those things which he desireth to know which are of so great waight that whatsoeuer he is able to vnderstand and know in this world is nothing or very little in regarde of that which yet remaineth behinde for him to knowe For not to speake of those things in which all humane philosophie must acknowledge her ignorance let vs come to that vnderstanding which wee may haue by the holie Scriptures reuealed vnto vs of God For although the knowledge wee haue by them surpasseth without al comparison all humane philosophie and science yet Saint Paul compareth it to a knowledge that is very obscure to a light that is seene through thicke and darke cloudes and to an image represented vnto vs in a glasse in comparison of that most high and perfect knowledge and vnderstanding which is reserued for vs in another life and whereof
oftentimes cruell death What comfort can such a bodie haue if hee thinke that there is no other rewarde after this life nor anie better estate for him then for the most wicked and abhominable person in the worlde And although none of all this shoulde euer happen to good men yet what contentation coulde they finde in all the rewardes which they shoulde receiue in this worlde for recompence of their vertue It is an easie matter to iudge by this that the memorie of the name and prayse of well-doing doeth not alwayes take effect neither is it alwayes due to them that haue it but oftentimes verie vniustly giuen But from thee ARAM wee shall receiue more full instruction touching this matter Of that praise and reward which wisedome and vertue may receiue of men in this world how miserable it is if there be no better prepared for them els-where how death would be more grieuous and lamentable to the best learned and wisest men then to the ignorant and foolish if the soule were mortall how the best and most certaine iudgement of men is for the immortalitie of the soule of them who not beleeuing the same say that it is good for men to be in such an errour Chap. 95. ARAM. If the Philosophers might draw many arguments of great waight from the natural desires of men to proue the immortality of soules this which we haue now to propound of the purpose reward which euery one naturally desireth is of great consideration touching this matter For it is very certain that the best most iust among mē albeit they could auoide all hurt from wicked men wherewith commonly they are rewarded from procuring their good yet they should not enioy any true and sound contentation in any of these rewardes which they might haue in this world as a recompence of their vertue But rather whilest they were expecting and hoping for them they should be euer in doubt and feare of missing them by reason of the inconstancie of men and of the vncertaintie of all humane things So that nature might well seeme to haue giuen vnto them this desire of praise and of reward if they should neuer enioy their desire els-where but in this present life Whereof wee may easily iudge by the reasons that are to be set downe For the first the memory of a mans name and the praise for wel doing doth not alwaies come to passe neither doth it fal out aright in regard of all but is for the most part very vniust For how often is glorie and honour attributed to vices yea to very execrable crimes and to the wicked whereas it ought to be giuen to vertue and to good men And if these haue sometime any commendation yet it is very sparing But it falleth out much woorse when vertue receiueth blame in stead of praise And when something is giuen to them vnto whom it appertaineth it cannot be stretched out farre by reason of the diuersity and contrarietie of natures of minds and of opinions of the manners of men and of people and nations For howe often commeth it to passe that some condemne and blame that which others approoue and prayse Yea manie times one and the same man will contradict himselfe through the inconstancie of his iudgement nowe dispraysing that which before hee had praysed and contrariwise On the other side albeit fame and commendation should be neuer so great yet it could not bee of any long continuance considering that time consumeth and bringeth an ende to all that is vnder the heauens Moreouer we see what great alterations are daily wrought by time and although praise were perpetuall among the liuing yet what could it profite the dead or what feeling can they haue of that more then of blame and infamie For the praise which good kings and Princes haue purchased by their vertues and the memorie they haue left behinde them among men can profit them no more in regard of the world then the memorie of that infamie and dispraise which tyrants haue left behind them can doe them any hurt For how wel or ill soeuer men speake and thinke one of another the dead haue no sense at all thereof Yea it is likely that they care not greatly for it and that they rest neuer the lesse at their ease for all that Therefore wee may well conclude that notwithstanding all the praise and reward which wisedome and vertue can receiue from men in this world yet they are still very miserable if there be no better prouided for them else where And if wise and vertuous men hope for another rewarde they must needes beleeue a second life in which they shall bee recompensed for their good and iust works But further when a learned and wise man hath by his spirite discoursed and gone through the heauens the planets and starres beasts men and through all nature yea hath reached to the Angels and euen to God himselfe the Creator and king of the whole worlde and hath passed through all histories both new old and hath gotten the knowledge of all things contained in them that haue come to passe in the world I pray you let vs consider what hee can be tolde of that wil be more grieuous more bitter and feareful vnto him then of death and what consolation can he receiue when hee shall vnderstand that his soule which hath seene and beheld so great riches so many goodly and excellent things and which hath beene as it were the storehouse and treasurie of them shall be wholly extinguished in the middest of such a goodly pleasaunt and wonderfull scaffold and theatre that is so excellently adorned with all kinde of beautie so that it shall neuer be againe at any time or in any place nor shal haue any more sense and feeling then the soule of a beast hath What is he who after such a consideration of death should not haue great cause to feare it in so great misery as may befall him in this life Doe we thinke that these men among the Heathen who haue heeretofore slain themselues to eschew the hands of their enemies and that shame and infamie which they feared to receiue among men and who haue accounted it an acte of great vertue and constancie to kill themselues in that maner for the auoyding of shame would haue done that which they did if they had not thought that there had beene another life besides this At leastwise Cato Vticensis for his part part testifieth this vnto vs who the same night in which hee had purposed to kill himselfe which he did because he would not fal into the hands and subiection of Iulius Caesar against whom he had taken Armes in that ciuil warre caused those Dialogues of Plato to bee read vnto him in which hee mainteineth and confirmeth the immortalitie of the soule according to the doctrine of his master Socrates We may then iudge by the contrarie what consolation it is to a
flaming euen after such a maner that it amaseth them as if it thundred down vpon thē Therfore it fareth with thē as it doth with drunkards frantik persons who know not whether they haue any soule or sense any mind or conscience so long as they are drunke out of their wits vntil such time as they haue slept their ful are restored againe to their right wits So that howsoeuer this word Conscience is vsed it is properly a iudgement that is in our mind whereby we approoue that which is wel done reprooue the contrary According then as our iudgement is vpright and sound or weake corrupted good or euill so also haue we our conscience either more right or more crooked But as it cannot otherwise be but that they who haue eies see the light although they will not see it or say they doe not see it so it cannot be but that the eies of the mind beholdeth the natural light that is in it and those things that are discouered vnto it thereby seeing it proceedeth from God who is the fountaine of al light and who will neuer suffer it to be so cleane extinguished in man but that still there remaineth sufficient to condemne him withall Therefore the very Heathen coulde say that a wicked person could neuer be absolued by himself nor yet escape and flee from his own iudgement and condemnation he being iudge of himselfe So that although the wicked and vniust oftentimes escape the iudgement of men yet they can neuer saue themselues from their own iudgement which their conscience alwaies executeth after the perfection of their processe For it exerciseth foure offices against them The first is the office of an Accuser the second of a witnes so it is as good as a thousand as we vse to speake the third of a Iudge the fourth of an executioner and hangman For seeing the iudgement of the conscience is ordained and established by God from heauen in that which is well done there alwayes followeth to it tranquilitie rest and ioy of heart and in that which is wickedly done dolor and torment which punisheth the offence taketh vengeance of him that hath committed it Heereof it is that none liue in greater feare then the greatest contemners of God that are most giuen ouer to all kindes of vice and wickednes and who declare most euidently by their works that no feare of God or of his iudgements holdeth them in For they liue as if they carried death alwayes in their bosome howe good a face soeuer they set vpon the matter outwardly And because they cast all feare of God farre from them he vouchsafeth them not the honour to giue them a heart to feare him as they ought but hee beateth downe their pride in such sort that he causeth them to stand in feare not only of men of tempests of thunders and of lightnings but hee terrifieth them also by dreames and maketh them to tremble at their owne fancies yea they quake oftentimes at flies and mice and such contemptible things but yet so as this feare commeth from a higher cause For it is sent of God who thus derideth his aduersaries making himselfe terrible in his creatures to them that know him not neither feare him as their Creatour and the Creator of those his creatures I say then that although we had no other testimonie in vs of any God or of any diuinitie and diuine nature and so consequently of his iudgement in a second life yet this ought to suffice vs that commeth from feare which is a naturall perturbation in man as we haue heard For whosoeuer feareth declareth plainly thereby that there must of necessitie be some power aboue him that is able to hurt him For he that is assuredly perswaded that nothing can hurt him is voide of feare Nowe there is no humane power or creature whatsoeuer it be that is able to deliuer men from all feare no not the greatest Emperours Kings and Princes themselues who are most feared and redoubted and who cause all men to tremble vnder them being as it were terrestriall gods amongst other men Nay these men themselues are so farre from being deliuered from all feare and terrour that very seldome any liue in greater feare then they doe as they declare plainely in that they must alwayes haue a great garde of men about them and yet can not euer auoyde those daungers which they feare For it often commeth to passe that they are slaine eyther by poison or sworde or by some other kinde of violent death and that by such as should haue kept them or whome they trusted most as is to be seene by dayly experience But albeit there were no other feare then the feare of death which is commonly greatest in the wicked and which they can not finally auoyde yet they can not but liue alwayes in feare And liuing so they must acknowledge will they nill they that there is some other power greater then their owne which causeth them to feare and before which they must one day appeare For if it were otherwise why shoulde they feare Nowe whilest wee seeke for this power wee must of necessitie come to one soueraigne power vnder which all other principalities are raunged and which hath no other aboue it selfe And being come thereunto wee must withall conclude that this power can not be humane but must needes bee diuine and so consequently eternall and infinite or at leastwise they must confesse that they cannot comprehend this power This being so I thinke wee may fight against the Atheists with the same reason whereby they woulde perswade themselues that there is neither God nor Diuinitie but onely in the opinion and fantasie of men and that their feare vnto which they are alwayes subiect hath put this opinion of God into their heades Therefore they alleadge that which a Heathen Poet sayde agreeable to this opinion of the Epicures namely that feare was the first that made Gods in the worlde For men being possessed therewith and not finding such helpe amongest all the creatures as can deliuer them from all those dangers which they feare they must seeke for an other without the creatures which can not but bee a diuine power if there be any at all as in trueth there is Whereunto if Epicures and Atheists will giue no credite I would fain know of them what is the cause of this terrour and feare which is of such vertue and power in the hearts of all that no creature whatsoeuer being partaker of reason and vnderstanding can goe beyond it or is able to plucke it wholly out of his heart and vtterly to extinguish it as euery one feeleth by experience in himselfe and as these men of whome wee speake confesse by their owne sayings Therefore I can hope for no better from them in defence of their impietie but that they should stirre maliciously against the testimonies of their owne
of Gods Spirite which illuminateth the eies of the minde a great deale more cleerely then any naturall light can doe as being grounded vpon the testimonie of God himselfe Some also there are who persuade themselues that Salomon putteth no difference betwene the soule of men and of beasts and that he doeth not affirme that one of them is more or lesse mortall or immortall then the other I considered in mine heart saith the Wiseman the state of the children of men that God had purged them yet to see to they are in themselues as beasts For the condition of the children of men and the condition of beasts are euen as one condition vnto them As the one dieth so dieth the other for they haue all one breath and there is no excellencie of man aboue the beast for all is vanitie All goe to one place all was of the dust and all shall returne to the dust Who knoweth whether the spirite of man ascend vpward and the spirite of the beast descend downeward to the earth But they are greatly deceiued that thinke to defend their impietie by this saying of Salomon For it is most certaine that his meaning is not to conclude that it is so indeede as hee speaketh in that place as it appeareth manifestly by his finall resolution in the same Booke made of the matter hee hath in hand wherein he concludeth touching the body of man that dust returneth to the earth as it was and that the spirite returneth to God that gaue it Nowe wee may well thinke that this excellent man or rather the Spirite of God which spake by him woulde not contradict himselfe especially in the very same Booke Wherefore wee must rest in the conclusion he maketh therein in which hee giueth vs the meaning of al his former speech And as for the place alleadged by vs which as Epicures and Atheists thinke maketh for them he would giue vs to vnderstand thereby what a man may iudge of the life and soule both of men and beasts and of the difference between them according to that wee see and perceiue by our corporall sences and that may bee comprehended by the minde and reason of man if wee haue no other testimonie that looketh beyond this life in which these dogges and hogges and all carnall and brutish men stay themselues For if there remained no more of man after his death then there doeth of a beast both the one and the other woulde come to one passe Nay the life of man shoulde bee so farre from happinesse that it woulde bee a great deale more miserable then that of beastes So that it shoulde seeme to bee better for men to passe away the time merrily and to liue like beasts according to the Philosophie of Epicures And although they shoulde take this course yet in the ende all woulde be but vanitie according to Salomons theame which hee handleth in his Booke of the Preacher Therefore being to set downe the conclusion of his Booke hee saieth Remember nowe thy Creatour in the dayes of thy youth whiles the euill dayes come not nor the yeeres approch wherein thou shalt say I haue no pleasure in them Nowe if there were no difference betweene the soule of men and the soule of beastes both which the Prophet calleth by the name of Spirite taking spirite for soule what profit should men reape by this instruction and exhortation For what greater benefite coulde hee looke for who from his youth had giuen ouer himselfe to the seruice of God and had alwayes remembred him then he that forgat him and turned himselfe away from him Thus ye see how Epicures and Atheists feare not to prophane the holy Scriptures by snatching at some places of them very maliciously to the ende to set some colour vpon their damnable opinion against the immortalitie of the soule But wee see what a goodly bulwarke they are able to make euen all one with the rest of the arguments which wee haue already heard of the same matter And although they alleadge heere in defence of their cause Lucian and Lucretius two other Patriarkes and Patrons beside Pliny whome they accompt as principall pillers of their impietie yet wee can heare from them no other arguments woorthie to be so much as once thought vpon besides those which wee haue already handled But wee may obserue the like iudgement of GOD vpon them that was vpon Pliny the great searcher of Nature For Lucian according as Suidas testifieth was torne in peeces and eaten of dogs and Lucretius being madde and franticke slew himselfe For hauing abused so vilely that good wit and skill which God had giuen him did he not worthily deserue to loose it vtterly and to haue lesse of it then brute beasts Hee became so brutish that hee woulde not acknowledge that any either GOD or man had brought so great a benefite to the whole race of mankinde or that was for this cause more woorthie of greater prayse then Epicurus was because by his Philosophie and Doctrine hee abolished all diuine prouidence and so consequently all Diuinitie and immortalitie of the soule all hope of an other life all religion and conscience all difference betweene vertue and vice betweene honest and dishonest thinges and reduced all nature both Diuine and Humane into meere brutishnesse This beastly fellowe thus admiring Epicurus concludeth that men can not but be wretched and miserable all their life time so long as they haue anie opinion of all these thinges because they will holde them in continuall feare and so consequently in perpetuall torment but being dispossessed of all such thoughtes and so of all feare of GOD it will followe thereupon that they shall haue no more conscience to resist or gaine-say them whatsoeuer they thinke speake or doe And so their conscience shall not torment them with any feare and terrour especially of any iudgement of GOD but will suffer them to bee in quiet and not hinder in any respect their carnall pleasures and brutish affections Nowe when they are come to this point they accompt themselues happie For then they are all of them not onely as Kings and Princes but euen as it were gods fearing no other power aboue themselues and hauing no bodie to hinder their pleasure but that they may freely followe their owne heartes lustes So that the last and best conclusion of all this Philosophie will bee this that men can not bee happy except they become very beasts and being spoiled of all things wherein they excell them waxe altogether brutish and retaine nothing at all of mans nature but onely the outward shape of a man Therefore wee may iudge by the examples of these personages of so great skill and so highly esteemed among men what man can doe by his naturall light if it bee not guided by GOD but vtterly forsaken of him seeing those selfe same men who haue beene such great inquisitours and admirers of nature haue
a lamp and mans body The causes of chirst and hunger Of physicke and the causes therof Instructions from the sense of taste The equality of heate and moysture preserueth life Of the inequality that is in the nature of the body A testimonie of the great prouidence of God What meate is fittest for infants From whence commeth the different substance of our members Men haue more varietie of drinks then beasts We must eate neither too much not too litle The chiefe end of foode Iohn 1. Vnthankful men are like to hogs Luke 12. 48. 1. Tim. 4. 4. Food must be receiued with thankeâ— giuing Some more like to madde dogges then men What beautie is and wherein it consisteth The nose is very seruiceable to the braine Why the sense of smelling is placed so neere to that of tasting Of the agreemeÌ„t of these two senses How men abuse these senses Iohn 12. 3. How the spirites are resâ—estâ—ed with sweete odours Of the diuers vses of the nose Of the matter of the nose How the nose is in steade of a spowt to the braine Of the nosethrils and of their parting asunder Of the spungie or siue-bone Of the muscles of the nosethrils and of the sinews of smelling Notable instructions for the soule Psal 16. 11. Of the vse of the externall senses Of the fupersluities that proceede out of the body Of the passages meete to purge the body by Of the pores in the skinne Of the spowts of the braine and head The face compared to a Limbeck Good instructions for all men The profite of care-waxe The diuersitie of faces is wonderfull The great variety of noses Varietie of countenance in one man The description of an angry visage Of an arrogant countenance Pride is seated vpon the eie lids Matth. 23 12. Luke 14. 11. The seate of shame Esay 48. 4. Ezech. 3. 8. Of the true Physiognomy Iob 10. 12. Genes 2. 7. Three sortes of faculties in man Of the animal power Of the sensitiue Of the motiue How we come to the knowledge of the soule The knowledge of the soule how necessary and excellent it is The knowledge of our selues very necessary The diuision of creatures Of creatures without life The celestiall bodies are immutable Of creatures hauing life Of the vegetatiue life Of the sensitiue Of the cogitatiue Of the reasonable soule The soule of man differeth from that of beasts in vnderstanding and immortality The soule is the proper inhabitant of mans body Two natures in man Two sorts of spirites The description of Angels Mens soules haue alwaies life in the. Matth. 10. 28. Luke 12. 4 5. The soule compared to a cunning workman To a musicion To an inhabitant The soule is the workeman the body the toole A glasse to see God in The world is not the body of God How the soule in the body resembleth God in the world The absurd collection of Atheists Of the Animall vertues Three bellies attributed to mans body Of the braine of the image of God therein The braine most resembleth the heauens Three kindes of knowledge Of the first kinde of knowledge common to all liuing creatures Of the second kind of knowledge Of the third kind of knowledge Of the naturall vertue and of the kindes thereof Of the Animal vertues and powers in the internal senses Of Imagination Of Memorie Of Fantasie and Common sense Of Reason and Iudgement The nature of the reasonable part in the soule is hard to be knowne Of the litle Bellies of the braine Of Dâ—â—a mater or the hard mother Of the skull Three vses of the hard Mother Eccles. 12. 6. Of Iia mater or the godly mother Of the braine and office thereof The diuision of the braine Of the presse and Vault in the head Of the Like worme and of his office Of the passage whereby the superfluities of the brain are voyded None can here attaine to a perfect knowledge of the essentiall power of the soule The mind cannot perfectly know it selfe God cannot deceiue nor be deceiued The testimony of the scriptures most firme Rom. 2. 15. Of the seate of voluntary sense and motion Of the Common sense and of his office Of Imagination and of Fantasie Dan. 2. 28 29. The giddinesse of Fantasie Fantasie is dangerous It is very subiect to the motions of good or ill spirites How sorcerers are deluded by the Diuell The deuill counterfaiteth the workes of God Of the force of imagination The strong fancie of women with childe Imagination preuaileth much in beasts Good counsaile for euery one Psal 119. 37. Beasts search only after corporall things belonging to this life Of the seate of reason and of his office Reason is the iudge of Fansie Of Memorie and of his office Dan. 2. Of the seate of memorie Causes of good and bad memories Of the agreement betweene all the senses The memorie is a spirituall eye Of the effects of Reason Of vnderstanding and contemplation A double discourse of Reason in man Memory compared to a picture What remembrance is The minde compared to the keeper of Rolles A good admonition to humble vs. Diuers kindes of madde folkes The imagination troubled Reason troubled The memory lost Dan. 4. How a man may â—â—dge of the â—eats of the senses Of such as are possessed with Deuilles The power of euill spirites Matth. 26. 4â— and 6. 13. Iob 7. 15. 1. Sam. 16. 14 15. 314. Good instructions for all men Psal 148. 8. Of contemplation and action The senses of â—â—â—serue for the good of his soule Contention betwixt the spirite and fantasie What is meant by the reasonable soule Proofe that the soule of beasts is mortall but of men immortal What is in plants aboue stones and in beasts aboue plants in men aboue beasts The end of mâ—nâ— being Only God knoweth the soule perfectly What actions men doe which beasts cannot How beasts discourse Ezech. 37. 1. Act. 10. 3 10 11. 2. cor 12. 2 3. Of the VnderstaÌ„ding and of Will The memory coÌ„pared to the rolles of Chancerie What degrees are betweene Iudgement and Will What knowledge we may haue of variable things In what things coniecture taketh place Of what things science or knowledge may be had In what things wisedome taketh place Ephes 1. 16 17 18. The author of wisedome Ephe. 3. 19. Much darknesse mingled with our natural light The cause of the diuersity of knowledge and of ignorance in men 2. Cor. 4. 4. Causes of the variety of mens opinions The manners of men follow the disposition of their bodies Two kindes of discourses Of the end of al discourses A comparison The seueral powers of the soule Of the office of Iudgement A sound iudgement is an excellent gift of God Two kindes of consents Agreement betwixt Beleefe and Science What Opinion is What doubting is Of saith in diuine things Of the light of faith Of the senses of faith Ephes 4. 30. 2. cor 1. 22. Ephes 2. Hebr. 11. The conclusions of faith are most true
through a cloude For that is the contemplation of all contemplations seeing it is the beholding of God with whome nothing may bee compared Then there shall be no cloude of ignorance when wee shall haue not a likely or probable but a most certaine and true knowledge For the trueth shall bee shewed vnto vs most certaine in GOD who is the Authour and Father thereof in whome wee shall throughly and perfectly see and knowe the causes of all things For our spirites shall be helde no longer in such an obscure and darke prison as heere they are constrained to suffer in our mortall bodies Therefore there shall bee no more diuersities disagreements or contrarieties of opinions and iudgements that some shoulde condemne that which others approoue but all shall be of the same iudgement But seeing we are fallen into the matter of contemplation it shall not be vnprofitable if vpon occasion of that diuision which is commonly made of the actiue and contemplatiue life wee note that although the spirite desireth aboue all things the pleasure that is in contemplation as the proper foode and delight thereof yet wee must alwayes consider that wee are not only borne for ourselues but also for others and to this ende that wee shoulde all in common serue one an other both generally and specially For God doeth not onely commaund the performance of that seruice which hee requireth of vs towardes his owne person according to that which is contained in the first Table of the Lawe but he commaundeth vs also in the second Table to doe that which hee requireth of vs towardes other men Therefore hee will not haue vs dwell alwayes in contemplation but wee must put to our hand and discharge vs of our dutie towards euery one according as he teacheth vs by his word Wee are then to learne that so long as wee liue in this world we must not separate the actiue life from the cōtemplatiue but alwayes ioyne them both together vntil we come to that blessed life which shal be altogither contemplatiue when we shal be deliuered frō al the miseries and necessities and from al the troubles lets in which wee are wrapped and detained in this mortall life God graunt vs his grace to vse all our senses so well both externall and internall and all the powers faculties and vertues of our soule and spirite of which wee haue hitherto spoken that wee may cause them all to serue to his glory and that wee may attaine to that blessed contemplation which is prepared for all his elect in his celestiall pallace and that to this ende hee woulde dispose in vs our will and all the affections of our soule of the nature of which we will beginne to morrowe to discourse And first ASER I thinke thou art to intreate of those appetites that are naturally in man seeing Desire is the proper subiect of the Will as thou shalt instruct vs more at large The end of the fourth dayes worke THE FIFT DAYES worke Of the Appetites that are in al liuing creatures and namely in man and of their kindes and particularly of the Naturall and Sensitiue Appetite Chap. 33. ASER. As God and all that is in the worlde is propounded to the minde of man that hee might knowe him so farre foorth as is needefull for him so is hee also propounded to the will that hee might will desire and folowe him as farre as his nature is capable thereof Wherefore if man had not sinned but had continued in his first estate wherein God created him this great and eternall Goodnes had shed in our soules that diuine worde together with his holy spirite which worde being the eternall sonne of God woulde haue alwayes taught and shewed vs the Father of whome bee was begotten before all time and woulde haue lightened our mindes with the light of all wisedome that we might haue beheld and seene him and the holy spirite would haue ioyned our hearts and willes vnto the Father and to the Sonne through a mutuall loue replenished with all ioy and gladnesse and through certaine motions agreeable with the diuine nature By which meanes there should haue bin in our hearts a great fire of loue towardes God and next to him wee should haue loued all other good things according to that order which is shewed vnto vs in his heauenly wisedome and doctrine and should haue desired them for the loue of him But nowe in the estate of naturall corruption in which wee are all this goodly agreement harmony and concord which ought to be betweene God and man is wholly peruerted and ouerthrowen For in place of the true knowledge of God there is nothing but ignorance and doubting in our mindes and as for the will it searcheth after and desireth other things whereunto it applieth it selfe and seeketh not after God Neither doeth it keepe any order in those things which it hath for obiects and which it setteth downe in steade of the things commanded in his word So that while it thinketh to attaine to that good whereunto naturally it aspireth it obtaineth nothing to it selfe but a very great euill Nowe when wee spake before of the braine and of the internall senses of the soule and of the principall part and vertue thereof we made some mention of the wil which ought to be directed and ledde by vnderstanding and reason It remaineth nowe that we looke more narrowly into the nature thereof and of the affections of the soule of the vitall vertue of the heart and of other members which are the seates and instruments thereof euen as when wee intreated of the animall vertues of the soule wee considered of their seates and instruments First then we must marke what hath beene hitherto spoken namely that God hath giuen to all his creatures a naturall inclination that leadeth euery one of them to that which is naturall and agreeable to itselfe Beasts haue an appetite to follow that good that is fitte for them and therefore also hath God giuen them the knowledge of that good and senses meete for that purpose to the end they might shewe vnto them what is good for their preseruation to followe it and to shunne the contrary Wee haue learned also howe God hath giuen both the one and the other to man and vnto what degree concerning both of them hee hath lifted him vp aboue all liuing creatures For as hee hath created him to enioy a farre greater and more excellent Good then hee hath beastes and hath giuen vnto him a will to wish and desire it so hee hath endued him with a deeper knowledge whereby to knowe that Good because hee coulde not wish for it and desire it except hee did knowe it and he could not knowe it if he had not a minde capable thereof and endewed with greater knowledge then that is which hee hath giuen to beasts For this cause as they haue a kind of knowledge agreeable to their nature and to the