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
stay or resting place vntill they be come to those places which God hath appoynted for them Plants cast their rootes downeward and their branches vpward euery one following therein his nature For a plant being to receiue his nourishment from the earth by meanes of his rootes which are vnto it in stead of mouthes and veines to sucke and draw necessary sustenance for the preseruation of it selfe sendeth them alwayes into the ground and disperseth them all about according as they can find nourishment but the stalke stocke branches and boughs which are to be nourished in the ayre alwayes disperse themselues draw and ascend vpward Beasts hauing sense doe much more shewe that liking which they haue to follow their natural inclination For we see that by their proper apprehension and appetite they are driuen hither and thither to seeke and follow after that which they desire and loue being agreeable to their nature and to flie from that which they hate as being contrary thereunto Likewise men who only of all other mortall creatures were by creation made partakers of reason haue their proper motion conuenient to their nature For being created to attaine to that soueraigne and eternall Good which is set before them in the diuine essence they haue receiued from that infinite goodnes power and vertue to wish for that Good with a desire to apply and ioyne themselues thereunto Wherefore all men are naturally pricked and driuen forward with a loue and desire tending to that Good aswell because of that naturall agreement which they haue with the same Idea of Good which is God their soules being of a celestial and immortall essence as also because this Good is of that nature that it ought to be loued of euery nature yea so much the more loued as there is greater measure of reason in the creature to know it But this desire naturally ingrafted in euery mans heart which prouoketh and keepeth men in a loue and liking of euery thing which they thinke meete to content and satisfie them and which they seeke after in diuers things as their affections lead them differeth much from that desire which by heauenly grace is planted a new in those whom God according to his good pleasure and alwaies iust wil hath chosen and elected to euerlasting happinesse and pricked forward guideth and leadeth them to that principall end for which they were created For although the other sort of men being heires of that corruption that hath ouerspread the whole nature of man by the meanes of the sinne of the first father of all be driuen forward in soule and spirit yea many times not thinking thereof to their naturall desire of obtayning that Good yet they seeke it as blind men that goe by groping but cannot find it because the darkenes of error ignorance wherewith their vnderstanding is ouerwhelmed hindreth them from looking directly towards that Good and causeth them to wander out of that only way that could lead them vnto it So that in stead of looking vnto God and to celestiall and heauenly things they stay themselues about earthly corruptible things vnto which the neerer they labor to approch the farther off they are from the end of their wishes desires For this cause the blessed Apostle saith that the natural man perceiueth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishnesse vnto him neyther can he know them because they are spiritually discerned But they that are illuminated and guided by heauenly and supernaturall light and whose vnderstanding is framed by the spirit of God to receiue It know then how they are carried by their proper motion to the contemplation of the true Good in the enioying whereof they shall once for euer be made partakers of a felicitie which eye neuer saw nor eare heard neither came into mans heart I meane when by dissoluing the mortall tabernacle of this body they shall be clothed with glorious immortalitie and shall see him face to face who is all in all in whome they shall be satisfied according to the doctrine of the Prophet In thy presence is the fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand there are pleasures for euermore This is that my companions which ought to whet vs on to direct our sight streight to that place whereat wee ought to leuell namely to heauen and not looke to any other thing then to God who is the scope which we desire and shal one day attaine vnto Nowe if wee can not see this white so farre off and much lesse come vnto it without direction GOD is come neare vnto vs in the person of his Sonne Iesus Christ who being the brightnesse of his glory hath left vs his word for a sure guide besides so many testimonies of his prouidence and goodnesse ouer all creatures that wee daily beholde him as it were visible in them For the ruled motions of the heauens the wonderfull workemanship of so many starry tents the connexion agreement force vertue and beauty of the Elements the situation firmnesse spreading of the earth amidst the waters and so many sundry natures and creatures in this whole frame of the worlde al these things I say are so many interpreters to teach vs that God is the efficient cause of them and that he is manifested in them and by them as their final cause But the glasse wherein we may yet better beholde him is man in whome shineth and is imprinted an image of the diuine essence which is not found againe in any visible creature that is reason and vnderstanding wherof by creation he was made partaker aswel as the Angels This is the chiefe and principall work of the creation whereby God meant to giue such a being to his creatures spiritual natures to the end he might communicate his wisdom goodnes with them thereby lead them to eternal felicitie Wherefore if it be good for men to consider the works of God in his creatures and in their nature created by him and that for the reasons and ends declared by vs it is better and more necessary that they should do the same thing in their owne person nature wherein there are almost as many maruailous works of the almighty power of God as ther are in the whole frame besids and in all other creatures Therefore that sentence which saith Knowe thy selfe was not without good reason so much praised and renowmed amongst al the ancient Greeke and Latin Philosophers as that which is worthy to be taken for a heauenly oracle a sentence pronounced by the mouth of God For whosoeuer shall know himselfe well cannot faile to know God his creator and to honour him as he ought if he follow the chiefe end for which man was created as wel as the residue of the creatures Plato in his Phaedrus and in the tenth booke of Lawes searching and inquiring by the meanes of motion what was the substance nature and immortalitie of
the soule attained to the vnderstanding of the diuine essence Aristotle also taking the same way in his 8. booke of naturall Philosophy sheweth that he knew God vnder the name of the first moouer who was perpetual and vnmoueable But we may attaine to the knowledge of God of our selues a great deale better then al the Philosophers could who were ignorant of the true beginning and end of things if we be guided by the word which is the light of the trueth and whereof al the humane philosophy of the wisest that were is but a liâ—â—e shadow Now then if vnder this heauenly guide wee feede our spirites with a doctrine that teacheth man to know himselfe well wee beginne at that science which of all other is most necessary profitable and pleasant I say necessary as that which guideth and leadeth vs as it were by the hand to find out God profitable because it bringeth a maruailous commoditie to this present life both in regarde of bodily health as also of ruling all our actions according to vertue and pleasant because a man may see therein as it were in a sacred temple all the images of the wonderfull workes of the world ACHITOB. I cannot but greatly commend those Philosophers that reprehended and condemned them who spent all their time only in the contemplation of heauen and earth and of the nature of other creatures and in the meane while descended not into themselues to know themselues and their nature but especially their soule For what will it profite a man to take so great paines as to measure the whole world and to compasse on euery side all the elementarie region to knowe the things that are contained in them and their nature and yet in the meane time hee can not measure or knowe himselfe being but alittle handfull of earth For although the knowledge of the rest of the creatures that are in this great visible worlde will greatly helpe to leade him to the knowledge of God the Creatour neuerthelessâ— he shall neuer be able to know him well if withall he know not himselfe Yea these two knowledges are so ioyned togither that it is very hard matter to seuer them For as a man can not know himselfe if he know not God so he cannot know God wel if in like sort he know not himselfe So that I take this for most certain that neither Astronomy Geometry Geography or Cosmography nor any other Mathematical science is so necessary for man as that whereby he may learne to know himselfe wel to measure himselfe wel by the measure of his owne nature that he may thereby know how to contayne himselfe within the limits thereof As for Mathematicians natural Philosophers Phisicions who bestow their trauaile in the knowledge of nature and natural things and in the meane time forget God and themselues whereas they ought to learne both the one and the other by that knowledge that God hath giuen them of his works I say they are not worthy to be taken for naturall Philosophers Phisicions or Mathematicians but rather for blockheaded beasts In my opinion they behaue themselues as if a man should be alwayes occupied in looking vpon his house and handling of his mooueables and houshold stuffe and in the meane time did not put them to those principall and speciall vses for which they ought to serue but were altogether forget full of himselfe of his wife and of his children Moreouer concerning Phisicions if their care to know their own soule with the nature and parts therof be not more to minister that food and phisicke which is necessary for it to liue wel and happily and that for euer then to know the nature of mens bodies that they may cure others it may worthly be said vnto them Phisicion heale thy selfe For if he be worthily derided that taketh in hand the cure of other men and cannot heale himselfe or at the least hath no care to doe it surely that man is well worthy to be had in greater derision that is more carefull not only of his owne but also of other mens bodies then he is of his owne soule whereby he differeth from brute beasts and is made partaker of an immortall nature Wherefore it is very requisite that all students in naturall philosophy should profit so well in the study thereof as to be able to turne it into true naturall diuinity whereby they may learne to know God their creator in that nature which he hath created to this end to make himselfe seene and knowen therein to all men We haue therefore good cause my companions to bestow al possible paines trauaile that we may proceede on in so necessary profitable a knowledge Wherfore we must lay before our eyes two bookes which God hath giuen vnto vs to instruct vs by and to lead vs to the knowledge of himselfe namely the booke of nature and the booke of his word which we must ioyne both together as also that doctrine which is set forth vnto vs in them concerning the knowledge of our selues especially of the soule which is the true man For the first booke would stand vs in small stead without the second as we see it dayly by experience yea euery one of vs hath trial thereof in himselfe Therefore God of his great mercy hath added the second booke vnto the first to supply the want that is in our nature through sinne For if man had not sinned this booke of nature would haue sufficed to haue kept him alwayes in the knowledge contemplation and obedience of God his creator For then he should himselfe haue caried the booke whole and perfect imprinted in his heart and mind neyther should his soule haue needed any teacher to know to selfe but in it selfe it should haue cleerely beheld and contemplated it selfe so long as she preserued â—er first light and aboad in that harmony wherein God had created her But now that she is in the body as it were some excellent picture of Apelles fallen into a sinke of mire couered and compassed about with thicke mists and obscure darknesse it is very needfull that we should haue another new light brought vnto vs from heauen which is not naturall as the first but supernaturall For this cause God hath farther giuen vs this second booke of which I spake euen now by means wherof and by the vertue of his holy spirit hee communicateth vnto vs as much celestiall and heauenly light as is needfull for the knowledge of our selues and of his high Maiestie Being therefore guided by the spirit of God whereby our spirit doth see and contemplate let vs read in these two bookes diligently note in them the parts and powers force and vertue aswell of the body as of the soule of man especially the immortality thereof whereby we shall make the way easie for vs to walke and sport our minds hereafter in the large and goodly fields of the whole world by discoursing of
insensible as the bones gristles are neither can they giue any motion or sense as the sinewes can but serue only for baÌ„ds to tie the bones one to another to knit the other members vnto them But the sinews which proceede either from the braine or from the marrow of the backe bone whose originall is from the braine are of a teÌ„der soft white substance of that nature that they haue al sense which they impart to al the sinewy parts of the body And of theÌ„ also some giue both sense motion together Therfore their substance is not so dry nor so hard as that of the ligaments neyther yet is it so soft tender as is the substaÌ„ce of the flâ—sh or of the kernels or of the skinnes of such other like parts wherof we wil speake hereafter As for the pannicles cords or filaments which are litle long threeds slender white solide strong we may comprehend them vnder the name of sinews ligaments because they take part of both natures For some of them haue sense with the sinewes others haue none with the ligaments The office of the pannicles which are litle skins made of sinews ligaments is to defend to knit together the members to impart to many of them sense as to the liuer the heart the lungs the splene the kidneis And as for the filaments they serue the body some to draw nourishment others to retaine and keep that which is meete to nourish the body and some to driue forward and to cast forth those excrements and superfluities which help not to nourish it but are only a burthen and griefe vnto it The veines are thinne and slender pipes carying the thicker blood wherewith the body is nourished and they haue their beginning from the liuer For in that the hollow veine is greater and larger then the rest and out of that all the other veines extend themselues into all the body as it were branches proceeding from the body of a tree Herein as we will do in all our discourse we follow the common opinion approued of the late learned Philosophers Physicions Anatomists For Aristotle wrote that the heart was the original of the veins But Hippocrates taught otherwise whom Galen followed confuting Aristotles opinion As for the Arteries or pulses they are pipes that proceed froÌ„ the heart For in that is the great artery planted which is the stock of al the rest which serue to cary the vital spirits throghout the body they are couered with litle skins that are strong thick to keep the spirits from breathing out for the same cause they haue their passages more streight So that they haue two skinnes or couerings whereof that which is vnderneath is fiue times thiâ—ker then the skinne of a veine To conclude the Arteries and veines are ioyned together to the ende that the vitall spirites might draw and receiue from the veines conuenient matter for their nourishment as also that by their heat they might warme the blood that is within them For there are certaine mouthes in them both for this mutuall communication both that the spirit might draw his nourishment from the veines as flame fetcheth the preseruation of his light from the lampe and also that the veines might receiue spirit and heat from the arteries As for the flesh it is a substance of blood which is then made when the thickest part of it is as it were congeled and with that all the members of the body are clothed outwardly Wee must speake more largely of the vses and properties of all these simple partes which wee haue here laid open in few wordes In the meane time in this litle that hath bin discoursed wee see a maruailous prouidence of God who hath disposed and tempered the matter of the body in such wise that hee made it so apt to effect that worke which hee purposed that by proportions and mixtures so well contriued from one degree to another as he hath done in the elements to the end that all the partes of the body might the better be preserued one by an other And although mens bodies are compounded of earth and of the other elements as we haue already touched yet God sheweth himselfe very wonâ—e full in this whole worke and matter of man For as he turneth the earth into diuers natures so that of one peece hee maketh gold of another siluer of this brasse iron and other metâ—alles of that mineralles of another pretious stones of sundâ—y sortes which are as it were â—he bones of the earth besides a great many other things of diuers kinds which were infinite to rehearse so of one selfe same matter appointed for the composition of the body hee maketh vaâ—iety of workes that 〈◊〉 may be framed and furnished in al respects For we see what difference there is betweene the bones which partes are most earthy and so consequently driest hardest and coldest because of al other partes they dâ—aw nearest to the nature of the earth Then the gristles obtaine the second degree next after the bones for agreement of nature as that which is in then iddest betweene the bones and the ligaments as the ligaments are of a middle nature betweene the gristles and the filaments and the filaments betweene the ligaments and the sinewes and so of the rest Therefore as God the great workmaster of nature hath framed all the partes of mans body of matter taken from all the elements so also hee hath tempered his matter according to the worke he meant to make and to that office which it pleased him to appoint vnto euery part and member of the body So that the matter of some partes holdeth more of the earth of other partes it hath more water or aire or fire or else is more or lesse mingled of all together Whereby it appeareth how aptly this workemaster can apply himselfe vnto his worke Wee haue also another notable testimony of his prouidence in that hee hath made the ligaments so strong and firme according to the necessitie of their office hauing ordained them to knit the bones in their ioynts and to bee as it were bands cords to tie and conioyne them together euen as the thongs of harnesse keepe the parts thereof bound and tied one to another We may say as much of the filaments but chiefly of the sinewes which in their places serue for bands to the body And here wee haue also to note that because God hath created them to giue both motion and sense to the body therefore hee hath planted their roote partely in the braine partly in the marrow of the backebone which is also deriued from the braine as the originall of the ligaments is either in the bones or in the gristles or in the skinne and the beginning of the filaments both in the ligaments and in the sinewes according to that vse for which they were made And that the motion
hath not giuen it to any of them but to him only by that he hath put a difference betweene him the beasts as also by reason and vnderstanding whereof he hath made him partaker in respect wherof he hath giuen him speech which is as naturall vnto him as reason which is the spring head thereof and from whence it proceedeth as a riuerfrom his fountaine For how could men make known their counsailes thoughts without speech And what good should they receiue by that sense vnderstanding which God hath giuen them more theÌ„ to beasts if they had no more speech then they haue wherby to make it known And to what purpose would speech serue them if they knew not what to say And what should they haue to speake if they had no more vnderstaÌ„ding reason then other liuing creatures haue Were it not sufficient then to haue a coÌ„fused voice only as they haue Therfore also we see how God hath ioined these twothings together graunting speech vnto man because hee hath created him paâ—taker of reason and vnderstanding And hauing depriued beasts of the one hee hath also depriued them of the other so that they are partakers neither of reason nor speech For this cause Ecclesiasticus hath ioyned these things together saying That God hath giuen to men counsell and tongue and eyes eares and an heart to vnderstand and sixtly he gaue them a spirite and seuenthly he gaue them speech to declare his woorkes Hee filled them with knowledge of vnderstanding and shewed them good and euill Whereby he teacheth vs plainly what is the right true vse of speech to what end it is giuen to man and from whence it springeth For he placeth counsell in the first place and next the tongue Againe after the heart and spirite he placeth speech that we might know who is their messenger Whereupon we may conclude that the one is giuen for the other and both to glorifie God by shewing foorth his works and marueilous actes To which effect Basil the great saith very well that God hath created vs and graunted vs the vse of speech to the end we might haue the ability and meanes to lay open one to another the counsels and thoughtes of our heartes and to distribute amongst vs that which is in euery one by reason of that communicable nature in which we are created For the heart ought to bee in man as a secrete treasurie or as a larder or pantry in a house out of which all things necessary for the vse thereof and for the maintenaunce of the whole familie are dayly taken The heart also is like to a seller or garner wherein counsels and thoughts are locked and closed vp and the tongue is like to the steward who draweth out and dispenseth whatsoeuer is to bee distributed For as wee saide in the beginning of our speech our soule vseth thoughts and discourses which cannot bee declared so long as it is inclosed in this tabernacle of flesh without speech wordes and names by meanes of which she bringeth foorth and publisheth that which was inclosed and hidden in the secrete closet of her vnderstanding And so wee say that there are two kindes of speech in man one internall and of the minde the other externall which is pronounced and is the messenger of the internall that speaketh in the heart Therefore that which is framed in voyce pronounced in speech and brought into vse is as a riuer sent from the thought with the voyce as from his fountaine For before the thought can vtter any outward speech by meanes of the voyce first the minde must receiue the images of things presented vnto it by the corporall senses And then hauing receiued them by the imaginatiue vertue that is in it reason must discourse to knowe and to consider of them well and to separate or ioyne things according to that agreement or difference that concorde or discord which they may haue amongst them Next it is necessary that iudgement should follow this discourse to make choise of and to followe that which it shall iudge to be meete and conuenient and to reiect and shunne the contrary Lastly all must be vttered by significations apt and conuenient for euery thing so that when the minde hath giuen ouer to the office of the vocall instruments that which it hath comprised and resolued vpon in manner aforesaid the same is manifestly declared outwardly by the aire framed into voyce I meane by the moouing of the articulate and distinct voice whereas before it was hid and couered Now when this voice and speach is pronounced with the mouth as it is inuisible to the eyes so it hath no body whereby the hands may take hold of it but is insensible to all the senses except the hearing which neuerthelesse cannot lay hold of it or keepe it fast as it were with griping hands but entring in of it selfe it is so long detained there whilest the sound reboundeth in the eares and then vanisheth away suddenly But albeit the sound and the voyce passeth so sodainely as if presently it flew away hauing respect to the outward speech neuerthelesse the internall speach remaineth not onely in the spirite heart and thought that ingendred it not being in any sort diuided cut off or seperated but also it filleth all the hearers by reason of the agreement that is betweene the spirites and mindes of men and the speach that is bred there and because it differeth not much from the minde and from the thought where it first beganne and was bred And thus the thoughtes and counsailes of the minde and spirite are discouered and manifested by speach So that al voice is not speach For the name of voyce generally taken comprehendeth all sounds and things which bring any noise to the eares Neuerthelesse it is more properly and specially attributed to those sounds which all sortes of liuing creatures are able to make with their throat to signifie any thing therby But man onely hath articulate and well distinguished soundes vnto which birdes of all other beastes approch neerest so that euen many of them are taught in some sort to frame mans voyce but it is without vnderstanding And because that instruments of musicke do after a sort imitate the distinct voyce of men wee attribute voyce to them although the sounds which they make be more without iudgement and vnderstanding then that of beasts But in men voyces framed into wordes are signes and significations of the whole soule and minde both generally and specially namely of the fantasie and imagination of reason and iudgement of vnderstanding and memory of will and affections Wherefore it is an easie matter to iudge by his speach howe all these partes are affected namely whether they bee sound or haue any defect in them For if a man be dull witted or haue his fantasie and imagination troubled and his memory slowe and heauy he shall haue much adoe to speake
is in him But I speake not nowe of this diuersitie but of another which happeneth to men in all ages and at all times For there is great difference to be seene in a mans face according as hee is either merry or sad angry or pacified humble and modest or loftie and proude For if hee be quiet and modest hee will haue a sweete milde and gracious countenance if hee bee angry hee will haue a furious face as though hee were transfigured into a sauage beast hauing fierie eyes as if hee cast from them flames of fire hee will cast foorth smoake at his nosethrilles as if hee had a fornace kindled within him his whole countenance will be as redde as if fire came out of it Therefore it was not without reason saide of a Philosopher that angry and furious men shoulde beholde themselues in a glasse to the ende they might know thereby how such passions change their countenance and how they are transformed thereby and looke hideous and fearefull And if a man be lofty and arrogant his visage will testifie the same sufficiently especially his eyes and eie-lids which will be lifted vp as if pride and arrogancie had there placed their seate For if wee denie or graunt any thing that pleaseth or displeaseth vs wee declare it by them speaking by signes as the tongue doeth by woordes And although pride be conceiued and bredde in the heart yet it is seated on the eye-liddes where it sheweth and manifesteth it selfe For seeing it desireth alwayes to be aduaunced and to be lift vp aboue all yea to be alone without any companion that place is very fitte and conuenient for it being high emiuent and apparant But a proud person ought to consider that that place is very much declining to the ende hee may thinke of the danger of falling downe as they that are in some high and sleepe place where they can take no holde For it can not bee but that pride will haue a fall howsoeuer it may seeme long first For that sentence of Iesus Christ is alwayes true who sayeth that Whosoeuer will exalt himselfe shall be brought low and whosoeuer will humble himselfe shall be exalted The eyes also do speake and testifie of the heart within For if the heart bee humble modest chaste and well stayed the eyes will be so answerable thereunto that their very lookes will declare sufficiently howe it standeth affected Contrariwise if the heart bee proude vnchaste loose impudent and lasciuious the looke and countenaunce of the eyes will openly bewray the same Also wee say commonly of such as haue lost all shame that they haue brazen and shamelesse foreheads And it seemeth that the French worde Affronteur is deriued from thence because they that are of that occupation must haue good foreheads they must be bolde and shamelesse like to harlots and murtherers And as shame is seated and appeareth principally in the forehead and cheekes so is it a note of impudencie when shame is banished from thence as that which then possesseth the place assigned to shame and modestie Therefore the Scripture attributeth a brow of brasse and of yron a hard forehead and a strong face to them that are impudent and past grace to such as are vntractable and rebellious By these things then we know how the face is the image messenger and witnesse of all the affections of the heart insomuch that it is very hard for him do what he can to couer and conceale them Also it is the image and witnes of a good and euill conscience For as a good conscience causeth it to appeare ioyfull and open so contrariwise an euill conscience maketh it sadde and hidden as it were the visage of a condemned person We commonly call Physiognomy the Science whereby men iudge of the nature complexion and manners of euery one by the contemplation of all the members of the body and chiefely of the face and countenance But there is no Physiognomy so certaine as that which-wee haue nowe touched whereby men may bee easily conuinced of that which they thinke to hide in their heartes which notwithstanding is quickely descried in their countenances as if wee read it in a Booke Nowe it is time to enter into our edifice and building there to contemplate the internall and spirituall senses which the foule vseth in her woorkes and operations But first wee will make the way more easie to attaine to so high a matter by learning briefely what is the nature faculties and powers of mans soule and what are the sundry kindes of soules the burthen whereof I lay vpon thee ASER. Of the nature faculties and powers of mans soule of the knowledge which we may haue in this life and how excellent and necessary it is into what kindes the life and soule are diuided Chap. 21. ASER. If God hath shewed himselfe wonderfull in the creation composition nature and vse of the externall senses and members of mans body of which wee haue hitherto discoursed both in the matter whereof they are made and in the forme giuen vnto them and in all other things that belong vnto them no doubt but wee shall haue much more cause to maruaile at the excellent workemanshippe of his prouidence in the composition nature and vse of the internall senses and members which lie hidden within the bodie whereof the sequele of our speach requireth that wee shoulde intreate For these are the principall by meanes of which the other receiue life and are kept and preserued in life But forasmuch as the soule giueth life to the whole body and to all the members thereof wee are withall to consider of the nature thereof what faculties and vertues it hath and howe it worketh in all the partes of the bodie according to that knowledge which GOD hath giuen to men both by the testimonie of his worde and by the effectes of the soule For neither the bodie nor any member thereof shoulde haue any more motion or feeling then is in a blocke or stone if it had no soule to giue it life For this cause after Iob hath spoken of the creation and composition of his body hee addeth Thou hast giuen mee life and grace and thy visitation that is to say thy prouidence hath preserued my spirite This agreeth with that which we haue heard before of Moses where hee sayeth That the Lorde made man of the dust of the ground and breathed in his face breath of life and the man was a liuing soule First therefore wee must vnderstand that there are in man three kindes of faculties and vertues that worke continually within him and neuer cease the first is commonly called Animal the second Vital the third Natural Of these two latter wee will speake heereafter Concerning the Animal facultie it is diuided into three kinds the first is called Principall the second Sensitiue the third Motiue The Principall is diuided by some into three kindes by others into
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
alwayes Therefore wee may well say of a woman if shee bee a Mother it is very like that she loueth her childe because it is naturall But wee cannot conclude certainely that it is alwayes so seeing wee often see the contrarie There are also oftentimes many signes which haue such apparant significations that they seeme to signifie things vnto vs certainely enough wherein neuerthelesse we are deceiued as it falleth out often in our suspicions opinions which are not grounded vpon certaine and firme arguments and most euident reasons Wherefore the knowledge that wee may haue of such thinges cannot properly be called science but onely coniecture opinion probabilitie or likelihood because there is great shew of trueth but yet not very certaine Nowe albeeit the nature of thinges bee mutable yet if they alwayes keepe one and the same tenour and constancie which continueth alike alwayes to it selfe a man may haue a certayne knowledge of them and that is called science example whereof wee haue in celestiall bodies and in naturall thinges which alwayes keepe one and the selfe same order and nature both in the elements and in liuing creatures in plantes also and such like things For as for the heauens although they bee mutable creatures yet they haue alwayes certayne courses and motions which followe their accustomed order without ceassing In like manner we see that all these thinges mentioned euen nowe are distinguished in their kindes and haue their naturall meanes whereby they are mainteyned and preserued For it is naturall in man to beget man and by this meanes mankinde is preserued The same may be saide of other liuing creatures of plantes also and of such other things which neuer faile in keeping their order We haue this light in vs by nature Wherfore when I see a childe or a man I may alwayes say certainly that no painter hath painted and fashioned him in that sort and that it is none of his worke but that he was begotten and bred of a man and a woman that were his parents For God doeth not nowe create men and women as he created Adam and Eue in the beginning and as wee shewed in our first discourse but by the common order which he established at that time and in regard of which he instituted the holy estate of Mariage as we will intreate hereafter But if the question be concerning immutable perpetuall and supernaturall things we haue neede of another light that is greater and more agreeable to their nature which is giuen to men by diuine inspiration This light or knowledge is called Sapience or Wisedome For this cause Saint Paul writing to the Ephesians saith I cease not to giue thankes for you making mention of you in my prayers that the God of our Lorde Iesus Christ the father of glory might giue vnto you the spirite of wisedome and reuelation through the knowledge of him that the eyes of your vnderstanding may bee lightened that yee may know what the hope is of his calling and what the riches of his glorious inheritance is in the Saintes Wee see here how the Apostle ioyneth together wisedome reuelation and illumination of the vnderstanding the authour of which hee maketh the spirite of God by whose reuelation and lightning we obtain true wisdome of which the wisedome of the world is not capable And therefore afterward he calleth this wisedome the knowledge that passeth all knowledge For although by our naturall light wee haue some obscure knowledge of God as we haue already touched it yet it cannot so farre lighten vs nor cause vs to ascend so high except God giue vs this also of which I spake euen now Therefore howe great soeuer the naturall light be which we haue yet if we follow it any thing farre we are presently cōpassed with darknes which proceedeth not of the things we are to know but from our owne mindes which being pressed with the heauy burden of our body are hindred and made more slowe or els it is because our minds are troubled as if some cloud troubled the sight of our eyes So that the more light is in our mind the greater knowledge we haue there and the lesse doubting If there be no light at all or so litle that it be no better then none at al then ignorance spreadeth it selfe as it were darknes in an obscure and troubled night insomuch that there is neyther science nor opinion nor likelihood nor doubting Heere of it is that we commonly say ignorant persons cast no perils Thus then as euery one hath more light in the minde hee beholdeth obscure things more clearely because his vnderstanding is better eyther by the benefite of nature or by study and exercise or by a speciall gift of God Others see nothing at all or very litle no not into those thinges that are very cleare manifest so that they are like to men compassed couered with darknes at Midday This befalleth thē either through the ignorance that is in their vnderstanding or by reason of their blockish slouthfulnes that neglecteth exercise or by the iust iudgement of God who because of their sinnes hath blinded their minds giuing thē ouer to Satan to blind them who vseth to shut vp the eyes of worldly carnal and vnfaithful men whom he hath in his power So that if there be any errour in the mindes of men if they approoue and follow after lying in stead of trueth and euill in place of goodnesse this commeth not from the naturall or supernaturall light that God hath giuen them nor of the knowledge they haue thereby how great or small soeuer it be but of the darknesse that is mingled amiddest this light which sinne hath made more dark and wholly ouerwhelmed and the Deuill dayly increaseth to the vttermost of his power because hee woulde gladly haue all light in vs as well naturall as supernaturall cleane extinguished and put out For as brightnesse breedeth not clouds and obscurity so science and knowledge doeth not bring forth ignoraunce and errour For contraries are not made one of another Wherefore that commeth to passe in the lightning of our vnderstandings which wee see to happen in the change of light in regarde of our eyes For according to that which is put betwixt so doeth the qualitie and vertue of the light chaunge in respect of our sight If it be a verie thicke bodie which the light cannot pearce through then is it wholly taken from vs and as it is more or lesse thicke or thinne and transparent so doe our eyes receiue more or lesse light In like manner the lightening of our vnderstanding is wonderfull variable because of the great diuersitie of thinges that are set before it in this life to hinder it sundrie wayes in some more in some lesse according to those obiectes that are offered to euerie one or as men procure to themselues From hence it is that there are so many diuers opinions
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
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
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
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
cheerefull his affection was towards them what ioy he receiued thereby as himselfe speaking plainly doth with his mouth giue full testimony of his heart writeth thus vnto them O Corinthians our mouth is open vnto you our heart is made large you are not kept straite in vs. And then complaining of them that their heart was not so bent towardes him he saieth But ye are kept straite in your owne bowels And heere we may note that by this worde Bowels is meant generally all the internall members and parts of man especially the heart and those that are next vnto it Now because the heart is the seate of the affections and the other members neere vnto it serue for his vse therefore the bowels are taken in the holy Scriptures for all the motions of the heart and for all the affections of men that proceed from it but chiefly for loue also for ioy pitie and compassion which haue their beginning from loue whose nature is to open the heart which in steade of opening shutteth vp it selfe against those that are not loued or that a man hateth Therefore as loue or hatred is great or small hote or cold so doth the heart open or close it selfe Hereof it is saide in the historie of the two women that stoode before Salomons iudgement seat about their two children whereof the one was dead and the other aliue that the bowels of the true mother were mooued towardes her childe And Saint Paul exhorting the Colossians to charitie and compassion saieth Now therefore as the elect of God holy and beloued put on the bowels of mercy that is to say of tender affection kindnesse humblenesse of minde meekenesse long suffering forbearing one another and forgiuing one another if any man haue a quarrell to another euen as Christ forgaue you so doe ye And aboue all these things put on loue which is the bond of perfectnesse and let the peace of God namely that which God hath established among his rule in your hearts to the which ye are called in one body and be gracious or amiable We see here what vertues accompany these bowels of mercy of which hee spake in the beginning as in deed al thâ—se vertues and heauenly gifts are so knit together that they cannot be separated one from an other And Saint Iohn speaking of that liberalitie and loue which ought to be among Christians saieth Whosoeuer hath this worldes good and seeth his brother haue neede and shutteth vp his bowels from him how dwelleth the loue of God in him Then he addeth Let vs not loue in worde neither in tongue onely but in worke and in trueth And to this purpose Esaias saith If thou powre out thy soule to the hungry and refresh the troubled soule then shall thy light spring out in the darkenesse and thy darkenesse shal be as the noone-day All which places agree very well to that which wee haue touched concerning the motion of the heart whereby it is either opened or closed vp as the affections are disposed that mooue it But let vs consider more narrowly the nature of these affections of ioy and sorrowe and what difference is betweene them seeing we haue taken them for the ground of our speach For the first let vs know that ioy is properly a motion or an affection of the heart whereby it taketh pleasure and stayeth it selfe in that Good which is offered vnto it or if wee had rather thus it is a motion of the soule proceeding from the iudgement of some Good which is already present or certainely neere at hand And therefore when the heart is enlarged therewith not onely laughter is bred but all the body also leapeth when the ioy is so great that the breast cannot containe nor keepe in the heart But when the ioy is moderate it purgeth the blood by heate it confirmeth health and bringeth with it a liuely and vigorous heate which is very wholsome and acceptable to the heart True it is that the heart and will often deceiue themselues in the choice and election of that which is Good whether it be that following reason and iudgement corrupted which should shew what is Good they embrace their errour or whether it be that Will being corrupted of it selfe through sinne letteth loose the bridle against the iudgement of reason and so suffereth her selfe to be carried headlong by her euill affections in following some false shewe of good Whereupon it commonly commeth to passe that in steade of ioy which the heart should receiue of Good vnto which the will tendeth naturally it receiueth great sorrow and griefe after knowledge taken of the fault This is the cause why we are so often admonished by the spirite of God to renounce our owne sense reason prudence and wisedome and to submit our selues wholly to the counsaile and wisedome of God and to iudge of good and of euill of the true and false Goods according to his iudgement and not according to our owne as also to renounce our owne desires to followe his will As for griefe or sorrow wee may iudge of this affection by the contrary which is ioy namely that it is a motion and an affection of the heart whereby it is restrained and pressed either with some present euill or with some that is in a manner present which displeaseth the heart as if it had receiued some grieuous wound Therefore it trembleth and languisheth as a sicke body who drying vp with griefe by little and little in the end dicth except hee haue some remedy against his sickenesse For the like happeneth to the heart of man through griefe as long as it is within it insomuch that it neuer forsaketh it vntil it hath quite dried vp and consumed the same And therefore as there is pleasure and rest in ioy so in sorrow there is dolour and torment For it ingendreth melancholy and melancholy ingendreth it and increaseth it more so that wee often see melancholy men very sadde although no harme hath befallen them neither can they giue any reason of their heauines Moreouer this blacke melancholy humor is of this nature that it will make the spirit and mind darkish whereby it groweth to be blockish the heart looseth all his cheerefulnes And because the braine is cooled thereby it waxeth very heauy drowsie Now when griefe is in great measure it bringeth withal a kind of loathing tediousnes which causeth a man to hate to be weary of all things euen of the light and of a mans selfe so that he shal take pleasure in nothing but in his melancholy in feeding himselfe therewithall in plunging himselfe deeper into it and in refusing of all ioy and consolation To conclude some growe so farre as to hate themselues and so fall to dispaire yea many kill and destroy themselues And as the heart by enlarging it selfe with ioy appeareth in the countenance so doeth it also in sorrow and griefe For as
hope maketh not ashamed because the loue of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost which is giuen vnto vs as if he should say that they which stay themselues vpon such a hope shal neuer be ashamed nor deceiued For the expectation thereof is neuer frustrated but it hath alwaies a good a happy issue For when we perceiue that we are deceiued of our hope we are ashamed and confounded But this neuer hapneth to true hope which proceedeth of a sound faith in Iesus Christ by means whereof we haue accesse through him vnto this grace wherein wee stand and reioyce vnder the hope of the glory of God as Saint Paul said alitle before Therefore he exhorteth christiaÌ„s to reioice in hope calleth God the God of Hope praying that he would fil the Romans with al ioy peace in belieuing that they may abound in hope through the power of the holy ghost And in the epistle to the Hebrews hope is compared to a sure and stedfast ancre of the soule For this cause God is so often called in the holy Scriptures the hope and fortresse of his people and of his It is written also that they which hope in the Lord do reioyce For hee that hopeth in him shal be healed and preserued Therefore it is not without cause that the spirite of God so often repeateth vnto vs this sentence Blessed are they that put their trust in the Lord for they shal neuer be confounded It is better to hope in him then to put any confidence in Princes But vnfaithful and wicked men can neuer be partakers of such a Good because they haue no such hope For it is written The expectation of the iust is gladnesse but the hope of the wicked shall perish And againe The hope of the hypocrite shall perish his confidence shal be cut off and his truct shall be as the house of a spider He shall leane vpon his house but it shall not stand he shall holde him fast by it yet shall it not endure But to prosecuâ—e our matter nowe that wee haue seene the hope of good men together with their ioy let vs consider what remaineth to the wicked of their vaine and false ioy namely Feare which is the second kinde of sorrowe mentioned by vs. Tell vs then AMANA what Feare is with the nature and effectes thereof Of Feare and of the nature and effects thereof towards the body the minde and soule and how it troubleth them of the true harnesse and armour against Feare Chap. 46. AMANA As wicked men can haue no certaine hope of any good they looke for so they neuer haue any true ioy of any present good because they alwayes forsake the true Good and stay in that which is not Good but in their opinion and fantasie neither doe they at any time refâ—rre the ende of good things vnto God but looke onely vpon the things themselues Therefore it is neuer in their power to reioice in that ioy which they accompt to be their true ioy but only by offending God as we heard before Which is the cause why they seek after nothing more then to hide themselues to depart from him as much as they can possible so that they would neuer heare any speech of him but desire to bury the remembrance of him for euer because they can heare nothing spoken of him but as of their iudge neither think of him but he awakeneth their coÌ„science which they labor with might and maine to rocke asleepe Wherein they take a cleane contrary course to that which they ought to follow to obtaine the true Good For seeing God is the soueraigne Good of all creatures what Good can they finde that is greater wherein they can fully reioyce and satisfie themselues Or what other Good dare they promise to themselues to finde without him and when they haue him for their enemy But they are like to drunken men who cannot vnderstand this Diuinitie vntill they haue slept out their wine and are awaked out of their drunkennesse Then shall they knowe what is true and false Ioy what is good and badde Hope when their ioy shall bee turned into sorrowe their expectation and hope into feare and terrour wherewith the wicked shall be continually haunted as the Spirite of God teacheth vs. Nowe as sorrow is a griefe for some euil which a man presently feeleth shutting vp the heart as vnwilling to receiue it so feare is a sorrow which the heart conceiueth of some looked for euill that may come vnto it Therefore it restraineth the heart also and closeth it vp as being desirous to auoide the euill Wee see then that there is the same difference betwixt sorrowe and feare in respect of euill that is betweene Ioy and Hope in regarde of Good So that we may well say that Feare is not onely a fantasie and imagination of euill approching or a perturbation of the soule proceeding from the opinion it hath of some euill to come but it is also a contraction and closing vp of the heart which commeth from that which euery one iudgeth to be euill for himselfe when hee thinketh it is at hand and will light vpon him Therefore first of all it draweth in and shutteth vp the heart and so weakneth the same Whereupon nature being desirous to relieue and succour it sendeth heate vnto it from the vpper partes and if that bee not sufficient shee draweth away that heate also which is in the neather parts By which doing she sodainely calleth backe the blood and spirites vnto the heart and then followeth a generall palenesse and cold in all the outward partes and chiefly in the face with a shiuering throughout the whole body For seeing the first moouing thereof is in the heart the other alwayes followeth so that when the heart trembleth the whole body doth so likewise Whereupon it followeth that by reason of the great beating and panting of the heart the tongue faltereth and the voice is interrupted Yea it commeth to passe sometimes that present death followeth a great and sodaine feare because al the blood retiring to the heart choaketh it and vtterly extinguisheth naturall heate and the spirites so that death must needes ensue thereof Therefore we cannot doubt but that feare hath greaâ— power ouer all the body and ouer life it selfe For this cause Esaias after he had denounced the iudgement of God against the Babylonians the comming of the Medes and Persians by whome their citie shoulde be taken and themselues slaine saieth thus Therefore shall all handes be weakened and all mens hearts shall melt which is as much to say as that their hearts shall faile them for feare And therefore hee addeth They shal be afraid anguish sorrow shall take them and they shall haue paine as a woman that trauaileth euery one shal be amased at his neighbour their faces shal be like flames of fire But here we
as some name them hauing regard to the diuerse actions thereof and to the sundrie degrees of concoction made therein They call the first action or degree of concoction by the name of a harth because it serueth to heate the foode as a harth doth in a kitchin The second is called a table namely when the food beginneth to gather it selfe together in the liuer and is there placed as it were vpon a table to be sent vnto the members The third action hath the name of a knife giuen vnto it because it diuideth maketh a separation of the humors And the fourth is as it were the wagoner because there is the carriage and conueiance of all from thence into the hollow veine For the naturall vertues and powers gouerne the humors very well conducting and leading them to their due places For this cause the liuer is the fountaine of blood and the spring of all the veines by which it is distributed throughout the body as the heart is the fountaine of the vital spirits the originall of the arteries whereby the spirits necessary for the body are conueied into it as the blood from the liuer Wherfore euen as the arteries are a kind of veins to carry and to distribute the aire breath and vital spirites so likewise the veines proceeding from the liuer are ordained to distribute the blood into all partes of the body These two are lincked together with such a neere alliance and agreement that the veines administer matter to the vitall spirit which is ingendred in the heart of the purest and most spiritual blood as the spirit likewise helpeth the blood by his heat in the arteries Therfore they haue mouths ioyning each to other to the end the spirit as it were a litle flame may receiue norishmēt out of the veines and that the veins may draw spirit heat from the arteries For as we haue already touched our life is much like to a flame in a lamp that receiueth food from the oile put into the lamp euen so the vital spirit which is as a flame within vs draweth taketh norishmēt from the veins Wherein we haue a goodly example of that mutual societie which we ought to haue one towards another in this life Now of those veins that deriue their originall frō the liuer there are 2. principall ones that are very great of which the others are but as it were branches that from the liuer spread thēselues vpwards downwards through all the partes of the body These two veines comming out of the liuer take their beginning from many little veines which being as it were their rootes ioyne together afterward into two trunks or great bodies that diuide themselues againe into diuers boughs branches whereof some are greater and some lesser after the maner of trees The first is called the Port-veine because it is as it were the doore of the liuer out of which it proceedeth being placed in the hollow part thereof The vse and profit of it is to receiue nourishment prepared by the stomach and guts then to keep it vntill the liuer hath turned it into pure blood for to send it afterward to all the body by the other great veine called the Caue or hollow veine And this proceedeth from the outside of the liuer resembling the body of a tree and diuiding it selfe into two great branches of which the lesser ascendeth vp to the vitall and animall parts and to the ends of them and the bigger branch descendeth downe alongst the hinder part of the liuer vpon that part of the chine bone that is betweene the kidnies and so goeth to those partes that are contained vnder them Forasmuch therefore as the arteries and veines are the principall instruments whereby the soule giueth life vnto the body some learned men expound that of the vitall and naturall parts which Salomon speaketh of the siluer coard not lengthened of the golden ewer broken of the pitcher broken at the well and of the wheele broken at the cisterne Wee haue already spoken of the siluer chaine and of the golden ewer when wee discoursed of the chine bone of the backe and of the marrowe of it Touching the residue they vnderstand by the well the liuer which is the fountaine of blood and by the pitcher the veines because they are the vesselles whereby the blood is taken out of the liuer and drawne thence that it may be distributed to all the bodie and by the cisterne is vnderstoode the heart and by the wheele the head For we may already perceiue by that which wee haue already saide of the heart howe seruiceable the liuer is vnto it considering that the heart is the fountaine of the vitall spirits and the originall of the arteries as the liuer is of the bloud and of the veines and that the vitall spirits are engendred in the heart of the purest and most spirituall bloud which it draweth and receiueth from the liuer Moreouer these vitall spirites are by meane of the heart sent vnto the braine and the head to serue the animal powers that haue their places and instruments there and to serue all the senses as well spirituall as corporall Therefore the head is aptly compared to a wheele both for the roundnesse of it as also because it draweth and receiueth the vitall spirites from the heart which sendeth them vnto it as the water is drawne from his fountaine well or cisterne by meanes of the wheele Further as it is needefull that there shoulde bee a coard to reach from the wheele downe to the well and a pitcher or bucket at the ende of the coard to drawe water withall so the arteries reaching from the heart vp to the head are like to the coarde and pitcher whereby the braine draweth vitall spirites from the heart For the great artery called Aorta by the Physicions which commeth out of the heart and is diuided into two great branches of which the one goeth vpward to carry the vitall spirite to the superiour partes and the other downeward to doe the like belowe forasmuch as it ioyneth vnto the heart may bee taken for the pitcher that draweth from thence the vitall spirites as from a well and the branch that ascendeth vpward may bee taken for the coard ioyned vnto the wheele The like may bee seene in the liuer For the great veines of it are as it were the pitcher and the veines that ascend vp vnto the head as likewise the arteries are the coarde that draweth vp the blood from out of the liuer If then wee ioyne that which wee haue already heard of the siluer chaine or coarde and of the golden ewer with that which wee speake nowe of the pitcher and of the well of the wheele and of the cisterne wee may bee well assured that Salomon hath most wisely comprehended in so small a number of wordes all the internall partes of the body and all the powers both animall
vitall and naturall together with all the instruments which they haue in the bodie and in the members thereof For first beholde the braine signified by the golden ewer then the pith of the chine bone and the chine bone it selfe by the siluer coard uext the liuer by the well which hath also his pitcher and lastly the heart which is signified by the cisterne As for that particularly spoken of the pitcher and wheele broken which drawe water out of the well and cisterne it is all one as if he had saide that when the fountaine of blood in the liuer waxeth drie and decayeth the wheele aboue namely the head is broken because all the senses both exteriour and interiour and the animal vertues faile in the body For the soule wanteth sound instruments to giue life motion and sense vnto it they being worne consumed by those meanes and causes which we shal vnderstand heereafter But to follow our purpose and not to depart from the matter we must intreate of the nature of blood and of other humors in the body of their diuersity and nature This then ACHITOB shal be the matter subiect of thy discourse Of the blood and of other humours in the body of their diuersitie and nature of the agreement they haue with the elements of the similitude that is betweene the great garden of this great world and that of the little world touching the nourishment of things contained and preserued in them Chap. 64. ACHITOB. If in many of our discourses wee sawe great testimonies of the image of the great worlde in man the matter we haue now to handle will set before our eies such as are most cleere and euident For looke howe the sea is as it were the great fountaine and womb of all waters and of the floods riuers that issue out of them to water the whole earth so likewise the liuer is as it were the fountaine of the blood and veines which are like to brooks and riuers to carry distribute the blood throughout the whole body to the ende that all the partes of it might be moistned soaked and nourished according to their seuerall natures So that the liuer in mans body in man who is the litle world is as the sea in the great world and the veines are like to the floods riuers Neither are the parts of the body by this means moistned watred and nourished with blood only but also with all the other humors wherewith it is tempered and without which the body cānot liue For the blood carieth al the rest with it But that we may the better vnderstand this matter and what is the proper nature of blood we must first know what a humor is how many kinds of it there are We vnderstand by a Humor a liquide running body into which the foode is conuerted in the liuer to this ende that bodies might bee nourished and preserued by them And as there are foure elements of which our bodies are compounded so there are foure sorts of humors answerable to their natures being al mingled together with the blood as we may see by experience in blood let out of ones body For vppermost wee see as it were a litle skimme like to the floure or working of new wine or of other wine when it is powred foorth Next we may see as it were small streams of water mingled with the blood And in the bottome is seene a blacker and thicker humour like to the lees of wine in a wine vessell So that if we knowe how to consider wisely of these things it will bee easie for vs to vnderstand the distinction of these sundry humours and their nature Now concerning the first of them wee are to knowe that the proper nature of blood is to bee hote and moist wherein it answereth to the nature of the aire It is temperate sweete and fatty as also the best and chiefest part of nourishment For albeit all the other humours doe nourish likewise and are carried of the blood neuerthelesse that humour which is properly called blood is the chiefest part of nourishment For it is requisit that nourishment should be sweete or at leastwise tempred with sweet liquor Next that thinne skimme which is seene on the top of it resembling the floure of wine is that humour that is called yellow choller or the cholericke humor which is hot and drie of a bitter taste and answering to the nature of fire which is of the same nature For it is bred of the hottest and driest parts of that liquor in which the nourishment of the body consisteth when through their great heate they boile together Moreouer those smal streams of water which we see mingled in the blood proceede of the flegmaticke humour that is colde and moist like to water of whose nature it holdeth For this humour is in part concocted for the turning of it into blood but not wholly perfected Hereof it commeth that the colour of it remaineth white much like to water and without taste or as some affirme it is some what brackish but not fatty Lastly the blacke humour and most earthie which looketh like the very bottome of a deepe redde and thicke wine or like the lees in a vessell full of wine or oyle is the melancholike humour or as some terme it blacke choller being colde and drie like to the earth with which it hath some agreement and of taste somewhat sharpe Nowe in this diuersitie of these humours mingled altogether with the blood two things are worthy to be well marked First the agreement and conformity which they haue with al the elements of which the body of man is compounded so that each of them hath his proper element agreeable to his nature to the end they may nourish and preserue all the parts of the body according to the nature of the elements of which they hold The other point is not only the disagreement but euen the manifest contrariety that is between al these humors as there is betwixt the elements again the vniō that appeares to be betwene thē in the midst of this contrarietie as the like is among the elements whose nature they followe Moreouer wee see that betweene light and darkenesse day and night colde and heate drienesse and moysture betweene the diuerse and contrarie seasons of the yeere besides sundry other such contrarieties that are in nature in al other things I say betweene these so contrary God frameth notwithstanding such a wonderfull concord tempering and knitting them in such sort one with an other that they are so farre from defacing and destroying each other as contrariwise they coulde not possibly bee preserued except they were tied together with such a knot and coniunction Nowe beside that which wee haue heere spoken of the nature of these humours wee haue further to note that they doe not onely agree with the elements in qualities but also in regarde
weapons both because that had bene superfluous hauing giuen vnto him that which is farre better as also because his beautie had bene thereby much diminished and his spirit should not haue bene so well knowen as now it is by meanes of that skill and of those artes of which God hath made it capable For what could he inuent and doe and wherein should he shew that naturall light and dexteritie that is in him if nature had furnished him with all those things wherewith his reason giuen vnto him is able to inrich him But to conclude our speech hauing spoken sufficiently of the creation generation and birth of man let vs looke into this beautie that is in the forme and figure of mans body by calling to remembrance our former discourses And let vs know that both for the matter also for the forme and composition thereof there is not the like worke in all the worlde none so goodly so proper nor so well vnited knit together none so wel proportioned polished in euery respect in euery part thereof So that when we consider thereof from one end of it vnto the other we shal find that the workemaster that made this body hath throughout the whole worke ioyned beautie and profit together But there is yet another excellencie worthy of great admiration in that hee hath not only beautified this body with so goodly a shape as we see it hath but hath also endued it with vertue and abilitie to make other bodies altogether like it selfe as we heard yesterday Wherefore men shewe indeede that they knowe nothing of the excellencie of their nature and that they haue altogether forgotten or at leastwise very ill considered of that instruction which God hath giuen them by the composition of their bodies but principally by the soule that is lodged therein if despising celestiall and eternal things for which they are created they affect and seeke after earthly and transitorie things preferring the earth before heauen as commonly they doe Which is all one as if they declared openly that they are displeased that God hath made them men and not beastes ramping on the earth or marching vpon all foure and turning their snoute alwayes downeward because they haue nothing in them that sauoureth of a diuine and celestiall nature as man hath and so they deale no otherwise then as if they would reproch God for that honour which hee hath bestowed vpon them by creating them differing from brute beastes vnto whome notwithstanding they had rather be like But enough is spoken of this matter And seeing wee may be sufficiently instructed by all our former discourses what are those principall partes powers and offices of the soule I meane the animall vitall and naturall vertues as also what instruments they haue in mans body let vs nowe looke into the life and death thereof and consider more narowly then hitherto we haue done what are the causes both of the one and the other Whether the life of the body can proceede either of the matter or of the composition forme and figure or of the qualities thereof or els of the harmony coniunction and agreement of all these whether any of these or all of them together can be the soule of the length and shortnes of the diuers degrees and ages and of the end of mans life of death and of the causes both of life and death of the difference that is betweene naturall and supernaturall Philosophie in the consideration of things Chap. 74. AMANA Iesus Christ purposing to teach vs that we cannot haue life but in him by him who is the life and who hath the words of eternal life compareth himselfe to a Vine his disciples vnto Branches For as the branch hath life vigor and beareth fruite so long as it remaineth in the vine receiueth nourishment from thence so if it receiueth no sap from thence or if it be cut off it withereth and dyeth We may say the same of the members of the body if the soule be not in euery one of them and if it giue not life vertue and vigor to them all for the performance of their offices For if it fall out so that it withdraweth it selfe altogether from any one part of the body that part is without life as we see by experience in a member dried vp or putrified or cut off from the body And so is it with the whole body when the soule is separated frō it But we are to handle this matter more at large By our former discourses wee may learne the nature both of the soule and of the body what is that vnion and coniunction which they haue together albeit their natures substances and essences are diuers and very different also we haue learned that the one of them namely the spirituall essence is a great deale more excellent then the other which is corporall Wherefore we may well conclude that the life in the body proceedeth not of the matter whereof it is made nor of the qualities ioyned vnto it nor yet of the composition forme and figure thereof For if the life and soule were in the matter of the body the larger and greater mens bodies were and the more matter they had in them the more life and soule the more wit spirit and vnderstanding should be in them But we see by experience that it is farre otherwise and that there is no more life soule in a great body then in a litle And if it were so that the life proceeded from the matter a dead body should bee as well a man as a liuing body We may say the same both of the qualities ioyned to the matter according to the nature of the elements as also of that conformation and agreement that is betweene all the members both within and without And as for the harmony coniunction and concord that floweth from the diuersitie of these qualities and from their temperature it may be increased and diminished Wherefore that cannot be the effect of nature which causeth a thing to be that which it is and giueth vnto the same thing his forme and kinde that continueth alwayes in his estate and naturall disposition For if it were otherwise the nature of kindes might bee changed which neuer any of the Philosophers did so much as imagine or thinke to affirme And as for the composition and figure of the body there is yet lesse reason to say it commeth from thence forasmuch as that continueth the same in a dead body which it was in a liuing Againe those liuing creatures that resemble most the nature and forme of the members of mans body and the matter thereof are oftentimes farther off from the nature of humane sense and vnderstanding then they that do lesse resemble thē Which we may easily know by considering the natures of a Hog and of an Elephant For they that through want and famine haue bene constrained to eate
this corporall life consisteth in the preseruation of those instruments which the soule vseth in the body and that the chiefest of them is heate the second moysture agreeable to the heate which must needes haue something to feede it and keepe it in a moderate stay Lastly wee learned that the nourishing and cherishing of the heate is the preseruation of the moysture and therefore those liuing creatures that are best able to mainteine and keepe these two qualities within themselues are of longest continuance in life So that the chiefe naturall cause of the long continuance of life consisteth in euery mans composition namely if it be hot and moyst by due proportion both in the sinewes and in the marrow in the liquors and humors and in the spirits The second cause consisteth in the long continuance of this temperature which being interrupted and marred by diseases the instruments of life are thereby also spoyled so they failing life it selfe must needes cease Whereupon death ensueth euen as when the instruments and tooles of some handicraftes man are worne and faile him it cannot be but that his arte and occupation should also be at an ende So that death is a defect of those instruments of the soule whereby life is prolonged For the soule leaueth the body by reason of the defect of instruments and not for any disagreement that is betweene the body and it as may appeare by this that it was not any proportion or agreement that ioyned the soule and the body together For albeit a workeman vseth his instruments yet there is no proportion and agreement betweene him and them in regard of the matter and forme of him and of his tooles vnlesse peraduenture this proportion may be imagined 〈◊〉 be betweene the arte of the workeman as he is a workeman and betweene the aptnesse of the toole he vseth whereby it is made fit for the doing of that which the workeman hath in hand Seeing then all life consisteth both in heate as we haue already sayd and also in moysture requisite for the heate wee call that naturall death when heate faileth by reason that the moysture is dryed vp through the heate that drinketh it vp which heate also in the end vanisheth away euen as a lampe doeth when the oyle of it is consumed But that is called a violent death when through some accident either the moysture is drawne out of the body or the heate is put out and extinguished either by some inward or els some outward oppression and violence Internall violence is either by poyson or by gluttony and drunkennes or by such excesse as a when a lampe goeth out because there is too much oyle powred into it And if this oppression be done outwardly it is called externall as when the ayre and breath that refresheth the heart is shut vp and reteined either in the sharpe artery or in the mouth For it is as if a fire were suddenly couered and choked by some great heape of stones or of earth or of ashes layde vpon it We heard before that if the Lungs had no respiration by the mouth nostrils no man could breath but he should be choked by and by as we see it by experience in them that are strangled The reason hereof is because the pipe that reacheth from the Lungs to the throat is so closed vp that it is altogether stopr or at least so narrow and strait that there is not space enough for the ayre and breath to passe in and out by We see also dayly how this windpipe is troubled if whiles wee eate or drinke there fall into it a litle crumb of bread or meate or els a drop of water or of wine or of any other drinke yea although it were but a little drop of our owne spettle For the breath that ascendeth vp from the lungs by this pipe will not suffer any other thing to enter in thereat except it be as subtill and thinne as the ayre is but it driueth it vpward insomuch as when that happeneth to any man hee is in great paine and as it were stifeled for the time We see the like also in the cough For from whence proceedeth it but onely of those distillations that descend from the braine vnto the lungs by this pipe And truely the consideration of all this ought to be vnto vs in place of an other speciall testimony of the infirmitie of our nature that wee may alwayes learne the better by this to humble our selues For what an excellent gift is this life which God hath giuen to man and yet a matter of nothing will depriue him of it For let his breath onely bee taken away which is but a little winde and beholde hee is stifled and dead by and by And for the taking away of his breath and so of his life withall there needeth nothing else but the stopping of his mouth and nosethrilles or of his windepipe onely which is soone done and hee is dispatched presently without all help and remedy by man Therefore Esay hath a good speach depart saieth he from the man whose breath is in his nosethrilles for wherein is hee to be esteemed In a worde his meaning is that man is but as it were a little winde and blast as if hee had his life in his nosethrilles and as if it were as easie a matter to take away his life as his breath Moreouer the mixture and temperature of all the elementary qualities and of all the humours is so necessary for life as wee haue already heard that if anie one be wanting our life can not continue But the chiefest and most necessary of all are heate and moisture placed in the blood which is so necessary for the maintenance of life that after it is out of the body death followeth presently Concerning the members of the body it hath beene tolde vs already that there are som of thē without which the body can not keep life nor bee kept therein amongest which the heart is the chiefest of all for the reasons which wee haue already heard Nowe these things standing thus wee must consider what difference there is betweene the death of bruite beastes and that of man namely this that the soule of beastes perisheth vtterly in their death as doeth the vigour of mens senses in the death of man But the soule of man suruiueth after the death of his body and continueth alwayes in beeing and in life For considering that beastes doe in this life all that can bee done by them according to those giftes which they haue receiued of nature therefore they liue and die heere altogether hauing nothing bestowed vpon them for an other better life But forasmuch as GOD hath giuen vnto man a diuine and immortall spirite which hath heere great impediments and can not well exercise all his offices it is requisite that it shoulde haue an other life wherein it may display all the vertues it hath and
appeare vnto vs and contrariwise the more pure and thinne it is the brighter and more shining it will shew it selfe vnto vs. Nowe for this matter wee must call to minde what wee heard concerning the generation of spirites both Vitall and Animall in those discourses of the nature and office of the heart And as they are thinne vapours engendered of blood concocted and sette on fire through the vertue of the heart that they might bee as it were little flames hauing diuers actions in diuers members so according to the puritie and impuritie of the blood in the composition of the bodie wee are to iudge of the spirites that proceede from them And albeeit they haue all one and the same fountaine namely the heart in which they are bredde neuerthelesse they change according to those places and members wherein they woorke and being so changed they haue diuers and seuerall actions Wee vnderstand then by the Vitall spirite a little flame bredde and borne in the heart of the purest blood whose office is to carie naturall heate to the other members and to giue them vertue and strength to put in practise those actions and offices which they exercise by the same heat It hath beene tolde vs also before that the arteries serue to carie this vitall spirite to all the members But wee are farther to learne that when the vitall spirites bredde in the heart are in part transported to the braine others are engendered of them which are called Animall spirites in that sence in which wee called those Animall faculties and powers from whence the Soule deriueth her vessels and instrumentes in the brayne For after the spirites sent by the heart are come thither they are made more cleane and bright through the vertue of the braine and agreeable to the temperament thereof and then beeing infused into the brayne by meanes of the sinewes they are insteade of a light whereby the actions of the sences are incited and stirred vp as also those motions which are from place to place And as wee haue hearde that a good temperature of the blood and of other humours doeth much helpe forwarde and profite the manners and conditions of men the same may bee saide of the heart and of the spirites proceeding from the same For when the heart is in good temper so that it is not troubled either with anger or sadnesse or any other euill affection it is manifest that the spirites are a great deale the better in the braine Nowe let vs consider the woonderfull woorke of God wrought in man by meanes of the Vitall and Animall spirites For what are the chiefe actions effected in him Are they not the preseruation of life nourishment and generation and then sense and motion with cogitation and the affections of the heart And what were all these thinges without spirites Hence it commeth that in the holy Scriptures the heart is taken for the fountaine not onely of life but also of all the actions of men as it hath beene alreadie declared vnto vs. And for this cause also some haue sayde that these spirites and little Vitall and Animall flames were the soule it selfe or the immediate instrument thereof that is to say the verie next whereby it woorketh immediately so that there is none betwixt them twayne But the latter is more certaine and more agreeable to trueth then the former For if the soule were nothing else but the Vitall and Animall spirites it shoulde fayle and perish with them as the bodily life doeth and so it shoulde not bee immortall But seeing they are but the instruments thereof as the humours of the bodie are and namely the blood from which they proceede the soule can well bee without them albeeit they cannot bee without it and although it cannot without them perfourme the woorkes it doeth with and by them And forasmuch as God hath giuen them to bee as it were a light it is certaine that the light of these surmounteth the light of the Sunne Moone or starres and that all these lights haue great agreement one with another But it is yet a farre more woonderfull woorke of GOD when not onelie the soule vseth these instrumentes for the life of man but also when the celestiall spirite ioyneth it selfe vnto them vsing them in the elect and making them more cleere by his heauenly light that the knowledge of God might bee more euident that their assuraunce and trust in him might bee more firme and that all the motions of his children might bee kindeled the more towardes him So likewise the euill spirite knoweth well howe to take occasion by the badde temperature of the humors to abuse men as wee haue alreadie declared thereby to set forwarde their ruine when hee possesseth the heart troubleth and poysoneth the spirites in that and in the brayne Whereupon hee attempteth to hinder reason and iudgement to bring men to furie and madnesse and to thrust forwarde their heart and their other members to committe foule and execrable factes Whereof wee haue examples in the furie of Saul and in his death in the death of Achitophel of Iudas and of manie others whome hee hath brought to slaye themselues as likewise in manie other horrible factes dayly committed by men Therefore it is very requisite that wee shoulde diligently consider our nature and bee carefull to gouerne and guide it well Wee are to knowe that our spirites are the habitations of the holy spirite and therefore wee are to pray to God through his sonne Christ Iesus to repell and keepe backe euill spirites farre from vs and to inspire his diuine and celestiall spirite into our spirites heartes and mindes that it may guide and gouerne them And this agreeth verie fitly with that prayer which wee hearde alreadie vttered by Saint Paul touching the entire sanctification of the whole man whome hee diuided into spirite soule and bodie So that if wee haue throughly tasted of the former discourses as well concerning the nature of the bodie as of the soule wee may perceiue wherefore the Apostle hath thus diuided the whole man For first wee cannot doubt but that the soule beeing the principall Woorker is such a substaunce and nature as dwelleth in a bodie apt and meete to receiue life in I speake this purposely because all sortes of bodies are not capable of soule and life and they that are capable are not yet capable of euerie kinde of soule and life but onelie of such as are agreeable to their nature hauing those instrumentes in themselues which may bee vsed by them according to their nature Wherefore the soule of man must of necessitie haue another bodie with other instruments and of another nature then the soule of beastesmay haue and the soule of beastes another then the soule of plantes according as euerie one of them differeth from other both in nature and offices But of what nature soeuer eyther the soule or the bodie is the soule hath this
propertie like a busie woorkeman to bee in the bodie hauing all her instrumentes therein Nowe when a woorkeman woorketh with his tooles hee must haue within himselfe the vertue and skill to doe that which hee doeth because it is not in the instrumentes whereby he worketh For albeit they be appropriated and fitted to the woorke that is wrought yet of themselues they can doe nothing at all except they bee set on woorke by the woorkeman because they haue not in them any vertue to woorke But this power and facultie is onelie in the woorkeman to whome it belongeth to perfect his woorke So if the vertue of woorking were not in the soule it coulde woorke no more with instrumentes then without Therefore albeit it seemeth that the natural heate the humors and the spirits woorke in the body and effect something therein yet wee must knowe that they doe nothing there of themselues but that they receiue of the soule whatsoeuer they haue As when a Paynter draweth a picture his pensill and colours haue it not of themselues to doe that which is done by them but of the Painter The soule then is the Woorkeman that worketh receiuing her vertue and facultie of working not from without but euen in the selfe-same bodie in which it is Therefore to speake properly we may say that shee dwelleth in the bodie because shee abideth therein as in her house with all her implements and houshold instruments so that shee must needes haue the bodie appropriated and made fitte vnto her nature For euery soule cannot be indifferently ioyned to euery forme and figure of a bodie to exercise and execute therein the woorkes of life but it must woorke by that order of nature and according to those lawes which the Creator of all things hath ordained from the beginning of the world Whereupon wee may note that if wee had no other reason but the consideration heereof against the Pythagoricall transmigration of soules from one bodie to another it were sufficient to make knowne the greatnesse of this foppery and what error there is in that opinion For if it were so there would be no difference betwixt the soules of men of beastes and of plants neither shoulde there bee any proprietie and aptnesse of bodie and instruments more to one soule then to another Whereupon all nature touching this poynt and order appoynted by God heerein shoulde bee confounded and ouerthrowen But to returne to our matter forasmuch as the temperature of liquors humors and qualities vnder which I also comprehend the spirites is most inward and profound aswell in the body as in the workmanshippe of nature it is vndoubtedly the fittest instrument the soule hath and such a one as is neerest linked by agreement and coniunction with the workman that vseth the same Insomuch that if the soule want this instrument it departeth away and if the soule bee gone and so bee wanting to it then must it also necessarily fayle presently although the members abide yet after the departure of the soule For the confirmation and strengthening of the members both internall and externall is separated farther from the Soule but the mixture of the humours and spirite that is in the members is more neere and more inwarde True it is that the humours and qualities are instrumentes of the soule as well as the members but the humours are such instrumentes as set the rest on woorking I meane the members yea by meanes of them the soule vseth the members Wherefore if the humours fayle the members are verie vnprofitable as it appeareth in them that are drie or puffed vp or taken with the palsie or oppressed with any other maladie For the members are fitte instruments for outwarde vses and excercise but the temperature and mixture of the humours and spirites is ordained to preserue such instruments to the end they might alwayes bee apt and readie to doe their dueties Therefore the humours and qualities are in perpetuall motion but the members are not For the humours must alwayes keepe the members in a readinesse to woorke if neede require Nowe in the consideration of all these things wee see wonderful degrees in the vnion and coniunction that is betweene the bodie and the soule and the instruments which it vseth in the bodie For as all the elements haue their combinations and are linked together according to that agreement of nature which they haue one with another euery one in his degree from heauen downe to the earth and so likewise all the humors and qualities of all things euen so is it with the soule and bodie and with those instruments and meanes whereby they are ioyned and knitte together euery one in his degree according as their natures are more or lesse corporall or spirituall terrestriall or celestiall For as the vitall and animall spirites approch neerest to the nature of the soule secondly the humours come neerest to the nature of the spirites thirdly the members next to the humours so all of them keepe their ranke and order in their degrees and in that coniunction which the bodie and soule haue together as also the instruments whereby the soule woorketh in the bodie whether wee consider them either in ascending vpwarde from the lowest to the highest or els in descending from the highest to the lowest as wee consider the vnion and coniunction that is betwixt all the elements from the earth to the heauens and from the heauens to the earth Whereby wee dayly see more and more the great marueiles of God and by what meanes and arte hee ioyneth the heauens with the earth and bodily natures with spirituall This beeing thus wee are to learne that all the instruments of the soule are prepared for it in the bodie as it were for a Woorkeman that is to doe some woorke and that there is none but the soule that doeth vse them So that it is verie euident that the soule is the perfection of this aptnesse of the bodie and that there is great agreement betweene the soule and the bodie and betweene all the partes and faculties of both Forasmuch then as there is such a coniunction and that GOD hath created them both to bee glorified in them Saint Paul hath good cause to pray for sanctification in them both to the ende that God might be serued and honoured and that both of them might be glorified in the day of the Lorde But that our speech may yet bee better vnderstoode wee must consider in what signification the names of soule spirite and heart are commonly taken namely in the holy Scriptures and howe wee may and ought to vse them This will helpe vs greatly to attaine to the knowledge of the nature and immortalitie of the soule wherein wee are to bee instructed before wee dissolue our present assemblie Teach vs therefore ARAM what diuisions the scripture maketh of the whole man aswell in regarde of the soule as of the bodie and in what significations the names
of soule spirite and heart are taken with the causes wherefore Of the diuisions of man made in the holy Scriptures as well in respect of the soule as of the bodie in what significations the names of soule spirit and heart are vsed therein and the causes why of the intire sanctification of man howe the soule is taken for the life and for the members and instruments of nourishment and for nourishment it selfe Chap. 79. ARAM. Forasmuch as God so honoureth our bodies as to call them Temples of his holie spirite I thinke they cannot bee such in deede except they bee wholly dedicated and consecrated vnto him so that wee separate them from all filthinesse and pollution by giuing our selues to all kinde of sanctimonie and honestie of life For then is the body wholly sanctified when all the senses and members applie themselues onely to good and holy woorkes commaunded by God and when they abstaine from the contrarie Whereupon it commeth to passe that the eyes turne aside from beholding all vaine things and take pleasure onely in seeing that which may rauish man with admiration at the excellencie of the woorkes of God and induce him to well-doing The like may bee sayde of soundes of voyces of wordes in regarde of the eares And as for the tongue it is not polluted with vile speeches with lying slandering and blasphemie but prayseth God and rehearseth his works and woonders speaking alwayes with a grace to the edifying of all In like manner the mouth serueth man for the selfe-same vse as the stomacke also and the bellie with all the rest of the members that serue for the nourishing of the bodie are not defiled through gluttonie and drunkennesse So that the bodie liueth not to eate but eateth to liue and to make supplie to those necessities vnto which GOD hath made it subiect Therefore it obserueth sobrietie and is contented to minister to the naturall affections that God may bee serued in this life Neither doeth it abuse the members of generation to whoredome and villanie but conteineth them within their office and lawfull vse And as for the feete and hands with all the rest of the externall members it keepeth them also within the compasse of their duety But seeing the whole body all the members therof take from the soule all their actions and vses they cannot bee sanctified for the seruice of God and of holy things vnlesse the soule be first sanctified which giueth vnto them life motion and sense For this cause Saint Paul speaking of the sanctification which he wisheth to the Thessalonians before hee maketh any mention of that of the bodie hee beginneth with the Spirite and Soule as wee haue alreadie heard Now because the soule hath diuers powers he vseth two wordes the better to note them out especially the chiefest of them For as it hath beene alreadie declared vnto vs albeit the soule hath manie powers and offices in the bodie of man yet there are not so manie soules in the bodie as there are faculties and effectes thereof but one onely soule which doeth all that For this cause the name of soule is diuersly taken in the holy scriptures Sometime it is taken for that spirituall substaunce that is ioyned with the bodie to giue life vnto it and for all the powers thereof and sometime againe for one part of those faculties and powers The like may be sayd of the name of spirite and of heart and that for the same reason Thus doeth the Scripture sometimes diuide the whole man into two partes onelie namelie into bodie and soule as when Iesus Christ sayeth Feare yee not them which kill the bodie but are not able to kill the soule but rather feare him which is able to destroy both soule and bodie in Hell And often also the same holie worde taketh the one of these two partes for the whole euen in that signification wherein wee take the name Person in our tongue For this cause wee reade so often in the worde All flesh and euerie soule for euery person Also Giue mee the Soules for giue mee the persons And all the Soules of the house for all the persons thereof Nowe because the vnderstanding and the will are the principall faculties and powers of the soule when the Scripture meaneth to set them downe distinctly and to expresse them together with the nature and vertue of the soule it taketh the spirite for the one and the soule for the other namely the spirite for the reason and vnderstanding the soule for the wil affections For otherwise how should euery man be entire souÌ„d vnles his thoughts were pure holy all his affections rightly ruled finally his whole bodie made obedient and seruiceable to euerie good woorke For wee haue hearde alreadie what Lordship is attributed to the reason and to the vnderstanding then howe the will and affections are in the middest to commaund and lastly the bodie to serue and obey So that a man is then altogether pure and sounde when he thinketh nothing in his minde desireth nothing in his heart neither executeth any thing with his members but that which pleaseth God Wee haue a place in Esay which teacheth vs verie clearely that the spirite and soule are so taken and distinguished as wee say The desire of our soule saith he is to thy name and to the remembraunce of thee With my soule haue I desired thee in the night and with my spirite within me will I seeke thee in the morning We see how first he attributeth desire to the soule thereby to declare the affection of the people towardes the Lorde Then hee maketh mention of the remembrance and memorie that hee hath of God which is in the minde So that it seemeth hee comprehendeth the vnderstanding and will in the first verse vnder the name of Soule Afteward in the verse following he distinguisheth them more specialy attributing desire to the soule then watchfulnesse and diligent inquisition to the spirit which is not without thinking and discoursing that appertayne to the minde Wherefore the Prophet minding to signifie how he was wholly addicted to the Lordè with all his senses and vnderstanding and with all his heart and will and that all his affection was towardes him hee vseth this distinction betweene the soule and the spirite Likewise wee finde these two names Soule and Spirite ioyned together in this signification in the Psalmes and I am perswaded that for the same reason the blessed Virgine ioyned them together in her song when she sayd My soule magnifieth the Lord and my spirit reioyâ—eth in God my Sauiour Nowe as the Scripture vseth this distinction the better to expresse the faculties and powers of the soule so Saint Paul sometimes distinguisheth them into three that they may the better bee knowen as when hee writeth to the Ephesians in these woordes This I say therefore and testifie in the Lorde
be disgraded from the title of Nobilitie both hee and his children This depriuation of gifts bestowed vpon man by God of which wee shoulde haue beene the Inheritours but for the sinne of our first Parents is called by the Diuines Originall sinne To proceede then with our former matter first I say that in my minde it is not so necessarily required of vs to knowe what the soule is or what is the essence and substance thereof as to knowe of what qualitie it is and what are the actions and woorkes of it And that this is so wee may iudge by that bountifulnesse which GOD the Lorde of nature vseth towardes vs and which hee manifesteth vnto vs on euery side by manifolde signes and testimonies For whatsoeuer is expedient for vs the same hee propoundeth vnto vs both very abundantly and with such facilitie that wee may easily finde it out and bring it into vse Wherefore wee can haue no more euident token that a thing is not profitable or not very necessary for vs then this that it is rare farre off and hidde from vs yea very hard to finde out and to attaine to the vse of it So that when wee are admonished to knowe our selues we must not referre this to the knowledge of the essence of the soule which wee are not able to knowe or comprehend but to the knowledge of the effectes and woorkes of it thereby to knowe howe to frame our manners and our whole life to the ende that chasing vice away we might followe after vertue And this by the grace of Christ Iesus will leade vs to that life in which wee shall bee perfectly wise and good and liue immortall and blessed with GOD for euermore Then as wee shall see the Creatour of all things face to face who otherwise is incomprehensible vnto vs so wee shall knowe our selues perfectly in him True it is if wee vnderstand well the principall cause that is taught vs in his worde why hee created man after his image and likenesse and gaue him an immortall soule partaker of vnderstanding and reason wee shall bee well instructed in that point wee desire to knowe touching the nature of the soule So that although wee can not throughly knowe or define what is the essence or substance thereof neuerthelesse seeing it was created of GOD that being ioyned vnto him it might haue eternall happinesse wee must needes say that it is a substance in some sort capable of the diuine nature and that may bee ioyned therewith For being indued with the knowledge of the diuinitie the loue of the same is bredde within it by which loue the soule is so ioyned vnto GOD that it is indued with perpetuall happinesse And thus wee may say that the soule of man is a spirit that giueth life to the body whereunto it is ioyned and which is capable of the knowledge of GOD to loue him as being meete to be vnited vnto him through loue to eternall felicitie But let vs consider the diuersitie of opinions of the best learned as well vpon this matter as vpon the doubts mentioned by vs in our speech For the first there are many who thinke that wee take our generation and birth of our fathers and mothers not onely in regard of our bodies but also of our soules and that soules are produced of soules as bodies are begotten of bodies being ledde by the reasons before spoken of For they can not conceiue howe originall sinne which is the pollution of our nature that before was good and pure by reason of the hereditary corruption of the first father of men can bee deriued from Adam to all his successours and from father to sonne if the soules of children take not their originall from the soules of their Parents as the bodies do of their bodies considering that the soule is the chiefe subiect of originall sinne and of all the rest that proceede from it as riuers issue from their fountaine Wherefore as wee set Adam before our eyes for the first stocke or roote of all mankinde in regarde of mens bodies that haue all their beginning from him so these men doe the like with his soule and the soules of all other men as if soules were deriued from soules and bodies from bodies And in deede at the first blush a man might thinke that Christ Iesus was of this minde when hee saide That which is borne of the flesh is flesh and that which is borne of the spirite is spirite if it bee so that the name of flesh in that place ought to be taken for the whole man comprehending vnder it the body soule and spirite and whatsoeuer excellent thing is in man being considered in his corrupt nature as the worde flesh is commonly taken in the holy Scriptures when it is opposed to the spirite or to God And for this cause many do not take this worde flesh so largely neither in this place nor in any other like to this as if the spirite of man and the chiefe power of his soule were comprehended therein but they restraine it to that part which they call sensuall vnder which they vnderstand not onely the body of man but also those powers of the soule which we haue common with beasts Therefore they doubt not to say that the soule which is called Vegetatiue and sensitiue like to that of plants and beasts is produced of the same seede that the body is and that it is aswel contained in the seede as the matter and nature of which the body is compounded Whereupon it would follow that in this respect there is no difference betwixt the soule of man and the soule of beasts and plants They say well that euery liuing creature hath but one onely soule albeit there be diuers powers thereof in certaine creatures in some more in some lesse Hereof it is that they call that of plants by a more speciall name Vegetatiue because it hath but this vertue and office only of which it taketh the name And albeit the soule of beasts hath the same vertue also yet they call it not by the same name but onely sensitiue vnder which they place the vegetatiue soule that is in plants as a power and propertie thereof So likewise although the soule of man hath both these together yet they call it not either vegetatiue or sensitiue but onely reasonable vnder which they place the vegetatiue and sensitiue soule that is in beasts for powers and properties thereof as before I said they placed the vegetatiue vnder the sensitiue But I woulde very gladly AMANA bee instructed in that which thou canst deliuer very well to this purpose following this excellent matter which will serue greatly to cause vs more specially to vnderstand the nature and immortalitie of the soule the chiefe obiect whereat we aime Whether there be any thing mortall in the soule of man of the distinction betweene the soule and the powers of it of the opinions of Philosophers
bodie into another vntill such time as it hath done and finished whatsoeuer can bee done in the worlde whether good or euill accounting both euill deedes and good deeds vices as well as vertues to bee a kinde of penance and purgation of soules Besides these Heretikes affirmed as the Libertines their successours doe the like in our dayes that there was no sinne but onely in the opinion and fancie of men and that it is but a conceipt in their minde that breedeth this opinion Nowe when I thinke vpon this manner of regeneration and passage of the soule from one bodie to another I muse howe it is possible that euer any men especially those that are taken for such great Philosophers should fall into such foppery and aboue all how Plato shoulde bee of that opinion who is by them surnamed The diuine For first of all we haue alreadie learned by our discourses of the nature both of body and soule that the soule cannot dwell nor exercise her offices in any other then in the bodie of a man seeing that is the true forme and perfection of man and of that kinde without which hee cannot bee man Wee may say the same of the soule of beastes and of plants For if euery creature had not his proper forme and some thing in which the perfection of it consisteth without which it cannot bee that which it is and by which it differeth in kinde from other creatures there woulde bee a woonderfull confusion throughout all nature yea the whole order thereof woulde bee ouerturned For all kindes of nature shoulde bee confounded together neither shoulde there be anie one kinde certaine and distinct which thing is contrary to all naturall reason and to all order appointed by God Therefore it is a very hard matter to beleeue that euer any man of a sounde minde and good iudgement would admitte of such a fantasticall opinion But wee may learne of thee ASER in proceeding with the matter of our discourse what thou hast learned of skilfull men concerning this that Plato hath written of transmigration of soules The chiefe causes as learned men thinke that mooued Pythagoras and Plato to broache the transmigration of soules and transformation of bodies the ancient opinion of the Iewes touching the same thing Chap. 85. ASER. The worlde was neuer without certaine wittie men that boasted they coulde answere vpon a sodaine to any thing that shoulde be demaunded of them And there haue beene alwayes some others that in euery controuersie and disputation mainteyned one while this part and by and by the contrary which hath giuen occasion as I thinke to certaine of the auncient Philosophers to beleeue that a man can know nothing perfectly and that no man ought certainely to determine any thing otherwise then vpon his bare and simple opinion But in my minde this consideration will finde but fewe defenders nowe adayes except it bee amongst the ignoraunt who leauing all search of things liue onely at all aduenture or else amongest them that beleeue euery thing that is tolde them and are ledde with euerie sentence which they heare of others without any further inquirie made of the reason thereof Nowe as we would bee loath to perish with the ignoraunt so wee must beware that wee commit not our selues and our beleefe so easily to the daunger of other mens errours And in deede oftentimes wee iudge not aright of their meaning namely when the question is concerning the sense of their writing As I purpose to let you see my companions in that which hath beene alreadie spoken of Plato I haue learned of manie skilfull men that Pythagoras and Plato neuer beleeued that transmigration of soules into manie bodies which we reade in their writings but that by these fayned kindes of speech their meaning was rather to withdrawe men from beastly affections vnwoorthie their nature and thereby to paint out and to expresse the diuersitie of those affections and to set them as it were before their eyes thereby to declare vnto them howe by reason of their vnruly affections they resemble all other creatures and chiefely brute beastes Wherefore wee may with good reason call man a little worlde if there were no other cause but this albeeit in this respect it standeth not with his honour and credite For there is no kinde of beast whatsoeuer nor yet of any other creature vnto which hee doeth not in some sort transforme himselfe by his affections and by his maners and vices For when he pleaseth he transformeth himselfe one while into a sheepe then into a woolfe againe into a foxe or into a hogge or into a dogge or into a beare or into a Lion or into some other such like beast Moreouer sometimes hee transfigureth himselfe not onely into one kinde of beast but into many together and yet those very differing and contrarie the one from the other And as he can at his pleasure transforme himselfe into an Angell so doeth hee likewise turne himselfe into a Diuell It is not then altogether voyde of reason that Plato sayeth that the nature of man is as it were a monstrous nature yea hee compareth it to a Monster whose vppermost part resembleth a Virgine whose breast which is the middest is like to a Lyon and the lowest part to a barking and bawling dogge For hee compareth the highest part to a Virgin because hee placeth reason in the head as in the proper seate thereof and of the animal powers of the Soule for their nature and office sake Next hee saieth that the breast resembleth a Lion because he taketh the heart to bee the seate of the Vitall power of the Soule and also of the affections that often may well bee likened to a Lion and to furious beastes Lastly hee compareth the lower partes to dogges because that part is appoynted to be the seate of the naturall and nourishing power of the soule and of the generatiue vertue as that which is very brutish and giuen to all carnall pleasures and chiefely to fornication If then a man cannot moderate his affections and concupiscences hee maketh himselfe like to so many beastes as hee hath affections holding of their nature This also is the cause why the spirite of God in the holy Scriptures so often compareth men to sundry sortes of beasts to teach vs that they are as it were transformed into them and into hideous and horrible monsters to the ende they might bee the more ashamed of themselues and that knowing howe they turne themselues into beastes and into Diuels by their vices they should learne also howe contrariwise through vertue they become men of beastes and angels of Diuels Therefore it is very like that Pythagoras and Plato had respect to this which hath beene saide in those transformations and transmigrations of soules of which they spake I thinke also that the Poets following the same inuention haue for the like reason fayned the transformations of men into diuers beastes and into other
but of some other thing before and aboue that or else farther off vnto which it tendeth We see this in all the senses both externall and internall which are common to vs with beastes For they know nothing else beside that which is of this nature which we see neither doe they ascend higher but our spirite not content with the sight and knowledge of the heauens starres and Angels themselues mounteth vp to God and being come thither can go no further What other thing els doeth this signifie and declare vnto vs but that the soules of beasts are engendered of this corruptible and mortall nature beyonde which they cannot lift vp themselues but that ours are produced of God aboue the power of this nature And so that may bee saide of our soule which is spoken of a spring water namely that it ascendeth as much vpwarde as it descendeth downeward but can goe no higher For when a man woulde carie the water of a spring any whither and would haue it mount vpwarde it will be an easie matter to bring it as high as the spring-head from whence it floweth but no higher except it bee forced by some other meane then by it owne course and naturall vertue Notwithstanding it will easily descend lower And so fareth it with our spirite For as it came from God so it is able to mount againe to the knowledge of him and no higher but it descendeth a great deale lower And as for our senses they remaine lower then the woorkes of nature and pearce not to the depth of them but are alwayes busied about the externall face of them Neither is it to bee doubted but that Moses meant to teach vs these things by that which hee rehearseth of the meanes vsed by God in the creation of man which differed from that hee kept in the creation of all other creatures either liuing or without life For we haue heard what deliberation and counsaile he vsed before he put hand to the worke how he fashioned the body and how he placed the soule therein by and by after Therefore in that the Prophet describeth the creation of the bodie apart and then that of the soule he giueth vs to vnderstand that wee must seeke for something more high and excellent in that of man then in that of beastes whose soules were created with their bodies and of the selfe-same matter with them Moreouer he teacheth vs this very plainly when he saith that God created man after his owne image and similitude which hee did not say of beasts as we haue alreadie heard Therefore there must needes be in the soule of man some other power and vertue then that by which it giueth life to the bodie and which is common to it with those of brute beastes So that as God gaue to this dead bodie taken out of the earth a soule that endued it with life motion and sense so hee imprinted and ingraued his image into this soule vnto which immortalitie is annexed Therefore when Moses sayeth that man was made a liuing soule no doubt but by the name of soule he meaneth another nature and substance then that of the bodie And in that he calleth it liuing hee declareth plainly that the bodie hath not of it self and of it owne nature that life wherewith it is endued but from the power of this soule And although hee there maketh not any speciall mention of the other vertues thereof it is because hee considered the capacitie of the people with whome he liued vnto whom he would frame himselfe being content to speake openly of that power of the soule which appeared best without and which the externall senses might most easily know perceiue by the effects thereof But I thinke it will not be vnfit for this matter if wee returne to that question which before we touched concerning the creation of the soule namely whether since it was created by God in the first creation of man it be still created after the same sort as it were by a new miracle in them that are daily borne in the worlde or whether it bee naturally created but yet of God by a certaine order appointed for that ende by him Nowe albeeit it bee very requisite that we should bee sober and not rash in this matter for the causes alreadie set downe notwithstanding we will here propound the opinion of some learned men grounded vpon that order which God hath accustomed to obserue in his workes and in his creatures For seeing he hath set a law in nature for all other creatures according to which he createth produceth them not by any new miracle it is more likely that he createth soules naturally and that he hath ordained a stedfast law for mankind but differing from that of beasts so much as his creation differed from theirs For hauing once established an order he vseth not to change it into a diuers or contrarie order but keepeth still the same except it bee that sometimes he vseth extraordinarie meanes by way of a miracle For although all his woorkes bee great miracles and chiefely man neuerthelesse wee call none by that name but onely those which he woorketh by supernaturall meanes not against but beside the common order of nature But that which I say derogateth nothing from the nature immortalitie of mans soule For although it be placed in that matter which is alreadie prepared and appropriated for the fashioning of the body yet he doeth this aboue the vertue of the matter and of the worke of nature by a lawe which he hath established to that effect For this cause he doeth not onely giue a soule to them that are begotten by lawfull marriage but to those also who are brought foorth in whoredome whether it be adultery incest or any other such like For although that honestie which is enioyned mankind by God be not kept in such a birth and generation but contrarieth the same yet it is not contrary to the lawe of generation ordayned by God as that generation is which is by buggerie wherein not only the Law of honesty is violated but also the law of nature We will conclude then that it is not only true that our soule is not brought forth by the power of nature but by the benefit of God only but also that it is expedient and very behoofefull yea necessary for mankind that it should be true and because it is behoofefull and necessary it is true also without all question For God hath omitted nothing that is agreeable to his glory and profitable and expedient for mankinde For seeing the soule is placed within the bodie not by the vertue of nature but properly and peculiarly by a speciall benefite of God man oweth the chiefest and best part of himselfe not to nature but to God Which is the cause why he should acknowledge him as the onely father of his spirite consecrate the same wholly to him alone not yeelding
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
of soules Mark 6. 3. matt 13 55 56 iohn 6. 42. Mala. 4. 5. Iohn 1. 21. Matth. 11. 14. and 17. 12 13 Luke 1. 15 16 17. Numb 11. 25. 1. Cor. 12. 11. The fountaine of Gods graces diminisheth not 2. King 2. 9. Esay 29. 14. 2. tim 3. 2 3. 2. thes 2. 10 11. The Pythagoreans of our time Of the true transmigration of soules Of the creation and generation of soules How God rested the seuenth day Actes 17. 28. Another opinion of the creation of the soule Gen. 2. 7. The nature of the soule is not curiously to be searched after How the soule is stained with sinne Rom. 5. 12 15. Verse 19. Humane philosophie is blinde The causes of errours Three faculties vnder the vegetatiue vertue Two parts of the sensitiue vertue How the Astronomers referre the powers of the soule to the starres Powers proper to the â—easonable soule Of speech Of speech Of the speculatiue and actiue vertue Of the politike vertue The kindes of it Of the heroicall vertue Against the astronomicall influence of vertues Philosophers esteeme too highly of mans nature What iustice God approoueth Foure contemplatiue vertues according to the Platonists Howe those agree in some sort to foure christian vertues Why men encline to lies rather then to the trueth The diuelish infection of Atheisme Reasons to proue the immortalitie of the soule Why men beleeue not the immortalitie of the soule Wisd 2. 1 2 c. The sayings of Epicures Verse 21 c. Wisd 3. 1. The corrupt opinion of Atheists and Epicures Atheists may wel be compared to beasts Reasons to shew the soule of men to differ from that of beasts The image of God is to bee sought in the soule An answere to an obiection A reason of Atheists confuted by a similitude Luke 16. 26. marke 16. 14. Math. 28. 9. luke 24. 36. iohn 20. 19 20 act 1. 2 3 10. 1. Cor. 15 6. Exod. 3. 6. mat 22. 32 33. mar 12. 26. luk 20. 37 38. The resurrection of the dead proued 2. Thess 1. 6 7. How we know the hidden things in nature An argument taken from the knowledge of the soule to proue it immortall Eternitie considered diuerâ—ly A speciall difference betweene the soule of man and 〈◊〉 beasts A firme proofe of the soules immortalitie A fitte comparison Gen. 1. 26. Why man was saide to be a liuing soule How God dayly createth soules What a miracle is Buggery violateth the law of nature God is the onely father of our spirite Three things vnseperable The desire of perpetuitie an argument of the soules immortalitie Another desire which is to continue our memory for euer Another desire of perpetuitie appearing in funerals An obiection The answere to it Of the true immortalitie An argument taken from the apprehension of death to prooue the immortalitie of soules Of the ende of good and euill men The right Armes of Machâ—auâ—llian Nobilitie An argument of the pleasures of the soule to shew the immortalitie thereof Some more like to beasts then men How we must iudge of the nature of the soule Of the true pleasures of the soule An argument from insatiable pleasures for the immortalitie of the soule A corrupt spirite taketh the shadow of things for the things themselues An argument taken from vices for the immortalitie of the soule How God punisheth vicious deâ—ires Esay 38. 12. 2. Pet. 1. 13 14. 2. Cor. 5. 1 2. Hebr. 13. 14. An argument taken from the frame of mans body to prooue the immortalitie of his soule Another argument taken from the motion and rest of the soule Of a fish called Vranoscopos Except the soule be immortal man is created in vaine The immortalitie of the soule is linked to the religion prouidence of God An argument taken from the consent of all people Other reasons to the same end Actes 3. 21. What the endâ— of a thing is Of the multitude and qualitie of witnesses to prooue the immortalitie of the soule What kinde of Philosophers Atheists and Epicures were An argument taken from the desire of wisedometo prooue the immortalitie of the soule 1. Cor. 13. 12. An obiection made by some Philosophers The answere Aristoteles opinion touching the immortalitie of the soule How the vnderstanding commeth to the knowledge of outward things by the senses Howe the outward senses looke vpon things How the internal senses receiue the same things How the Spirite receiueth them from the internall senses Other reasons for the immortalitie of the soule The soule can not be diuided Other reasons for the immortality of the soule Prou. 10. 24. Euery one naturally desireth life Reasons taken from reward and praise to proue the immortality of the soule The dead haue no feeling of praise Death most lamentable to the best men if the soule were not immortal Cato beleeued the immortality of the soule What comfort it is to beleeue a place of rest after this life What store of testimonies stand for the immortality of the soule Of such as say it is good to keepe men in this opinion of the immortalitie of the soule and yet themselues beleeue it not How wee must iudge of a wise man Ioh. 12. 31. 2. cor 4. 4. Ephe. 6. 12. The inconueniences which follow the former opinion of perswading men to goodnesse by false meanes That which corrupteth the spirit is contrary to the nature of it The difference betwixt conuincing and conâ—ounding a man Internal testimonies of the immortality of the soule The cause of true ioy in the spirite Where God is said to be especially The true cause of grief torment How men cary about them the matter of two fires Deut. 4. 24. heb 12. 29. Esay 66. 24. matth 22. 13. 25. 30. A sure argument in the wicked of their future torment in another life Naturall reasons to proue the immortalitie of mens soules The naturall knowledge of good and euill an argument of our immortality The nature of loue and hatred The necessitie of another life after this Gen. 4. 6 7. A similitude Sorow euer followeth sinne What conscience is Why it is called Synteresis Of the Philosophers Anticipations Ephes 4. 19. Atheists compared to drunkards and madde folks A sit similitude The wicked alwaies condemne themselues Foure offices of the conscience The more wicked a maÌ„ is the greater is his feare The Deitie prooued by that feare which is naturally in men The greatest persons liue in most feare The Atheists prouerbe that feare made gods turned against themselues The difference betwixt the feare in men and in beasts Strong reasons against Atheists Feare is a natural testimonie of a diuine essence What this worde Animal signifieth Atheists are reasonable beasts Atheists sitly resembled to Spiders Plinies brutish opinion touching the immortality of the soule Plato his opinion of the creation of soules Plinies reasons against the immortalitie of the soule Plin. lib. 7. ca. 55. Pliny blasphemed God vnder the name of Nature Democritus beleeued the resurrection of bodies What Philosophers went into Egypt to learne wisedome The conclusion of Plinie touching this matter The iudgement of God in Plinies death Plin. Nep epist ad Oâ—â— Taâ— The absurd consequents of Plinies opinion Mat. 28. 12 13. Against them who say that the soule can not be knowen to bee immortall according to nature Of them that alleadge Salomon against the immortalitie of the soule Eccles. 3. 18 19 20 21. Eccles 12. 7. Chap. 12. 1. The iudgement of God vpon Lucian and Luâ—retius two Arch-Atheists Euseb Hier. Crin de Pâ—â—at The doctrine of Epicurus commended by Lâ—cretius Epicures thinke themselues kings and gods The blasphemie of Atheists The absurdities that follow the opinion of the Atheists Of the force of arguments alleaged before for the immortalitie of the soule The summe of this whole book The world compared to mans body and God to his soule Against such as say that God is the soule of the world The image of God in mans soule Iohn 3. 12. Of that coniunction which is betweene God and his creatures Of God the first greatest Good Mal. 3. 6. Of spirituall natures which are the second Good The spirit of a man moueth not in place Of the body which is the 〈◊〉 Good The right end of our creation Mans will must looke vp to the head not downe to the bellie Man is a middle creature between Angels beasts A spirite is not shut vp in a place It is inuisible The coniunction of our soule and body is a wonderful work of God
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
bodily senses whose nature approcheth nearer to the nature of the soule and spirit then any other by reason of the similitude and agreement that is betweene them Therefore by good right they beare rule among all the senses and all the other members of the body as being their guides For they are giuen to man chiefly to guide and leade him to the knowledge of God by the contemplation of his goodly works which appeare pâ—ncipally in the heauens and in al the order thereof and whereof wâ— can haue no true knowledge and instruction by any other sense but by the eies For without the who could euer haue noted the diuers course and motions of the celestiall bodies yea wee see by experience that the Mathematicall sciences among which Astronomy is one of the chiefest cannot be well and rightly shewed and taught as many others may without the helpe of the eyes because a man must make their demonstrations by figures which are their letters and images I passe ouer many other Sciences as that of the Anatomy of mans body and such like which are very hard yea impossible to bee learned and knowen certainly vnlesse they may be seene with the eie Wherefore seeing the bodily senses are the chiefest masters of man in whose house the spirite and vnderstanding is lodged and enclosed the greatest and first honour is by good right to be giuen to the eies and sight Likewise it is the first mistresse that prouoked men forward to the studie and searching out of science and wisedome For of sight is ingendred admiration and wondering at thinges that are seene and this admiration causeth men afterward to coÌ„sider more seriously of things and to marke them better and from thence it is that men fall to enquire of matters more carefully and to sound them deeper In the ende they come to the studie of science and wisedome which is the knowledge of supernaturall light namely of the light of the minde vnto which science and doctrine is as light is to the eye so that it contemplateth and museth by that as the eye seeth by right Therefore we haue to note that it hath pleased God the creator of al things to scatter his light throughout the whole world ouer all creatures as well spirituall and inuisible as corporall and visible His spirituall light hee hath infused into spirituall creatures and bodily light into bodily creatures to the ende that by this benefite the spirites might haue vnderstanding and the eyes sight So that Angelles and the spirites of men which are spirituall and inuisible creatures are illuminated by the meanes of vnderstanding with that spirituall and heauenly light whereof God hath made them partakers as the bodies of liuing creatures and chiefely of man are illuminated with the corporall light of the Sunne by meanes of the eyes For as bodies haue their bodily eyes so spirites haue their spirituall eyes For that vnderstanding wherewith God hath indued them is vnto them as the eyes are to the body Wherefore by that they see God who is their heauenly Sunne and the fountaine of all diuine and spirituall light as bodily eyes beholde the materiall sunne wherein as in a fountaine God hath placed corporall light which he would haue vs see and know by meanes of the eyes which wee ought to acknowledge as a great benefit For the light is a worke of God woorthy of great admiration which discouereth and sheweth to vs a great part of nature and is vnto vs in steade of an image of the best and most excellent natures which without doubt are lights shining natures Neither coulde any man possibly expresse in wordes or teach in any sorte what the light is which sheweth al other things what is the beautie excellencie thereof vnlesse the eyes did beholde and know it distinguish it from darkenes For by meanes of the eyes we may iudge what our life woulde be if it were buried in perpetuall darkenes or if man had no instrument to apprehend and to receiue the light when it shâ—neth Therefore as God hath created the light to discouer and shew all things by it so he hath giuen eyes to man whereby he may apprehend receiue it To this ende he hath made them of a matter that is partaker of light and meet to receiue it that by the agreement of nature that is betweene them the light they might enioy it and by â—he selfe same meanes they might be messengers to the minde to induce and leade it to the consideration of the diuine light whereof corporall light is a very small resemblance and hereby also the mind might knowe that God who dwelleth in a light that none can attaine vnto is a maruailous light as holy men knowe by experience when hee sheweth himselfe vnto them For as the eie is like to a glasse that receiueth the images of thinges offred vnto it so God imprinteth images of him selfe in our mind as in a glasse Wherefore as a glasse cannot receiue any image but of such things as are set before it so the image of God cannot shine not be imprinted in the mind of man vnlesse he alwayes set God before his eies that he may receiue his image And as the eie is illuminated by the beames that proceed from the sunne so the mind is illuminated by the brightnes of the diuine light in which we consider the Father in the vnitie of the godhead as the spring fountaine of al light the Sonne as the beames brightnes ingendred thereof the holy Ghost as a flame proceeding from it which causeth the eie of the mind to receiue it to be made partaker thereof We see then how our eyes together with the light admonish vs of great thinges of most excellent works of God and of great secrets of spirituall heauenly things whose images he hath imprinted in the light and in our cies to the ende that by these corporall and visible images wee may haue some knowledge of those things wherof they are images which cannot be seene perceiued with corporall senses but only with the spirituall senses of the soule Wherefore wee ought greatly to praise God for this goodly gift both of the light of the eies which cannot sufficiently be valewed For although it did vs no more seruice then it doth to brute beasts namely to guide and leade vs in this corporall life yet we ought seriously to acknowledge the excellencie of so great a gift of God how profitable and necessary it is for vs. But there is a great deale more in it by reason of the mind and vnderstanding which God hath giuen to the spirit and soule of man as it were spirituall eies to the end there might be an agreement proportion betweene theÌ„0 the eyes of the body For as the eies declare to the mind what they see that it might take knowledge therof so when the mind hath seene
let vs not mocke or despise them but rather haue pitie and compassion ouer them pray to God in their behalfe and succour them asmuch as wee can acknowledging the grace of God towards vs in keeping vs from such inconueniences and beseeching him to preserue and keepe vs continually For whatsoeuer befalleth others shoulde as it were hang before our eyes as often as it pleaseth him to beate them with such scourges which we our selues haue no lesse deserued then they that are beaten yea oftentimes a great deale more The Lord striketh whome it pleaseth him that by them others might take instruction Therefore if we cannot profite by such teaching nor learne at other mens cost to feare and honour him to call vpon him and to giue him thankes it is to bee feared that he will send vs asmuch that so we may learne at our owne charges Yea and then also he is very gratious vnto vs if he suffer vs to haue our vnderstandings to knowe how to profite by his roddes and chastisements and giue vs not wholly ouer into the handes of Satan our Aduersarie But enough of this matter And nowe that wee haue seene the nature and office of the internall senses of the soule with their seates and instruments the sequele of our speech requireth as I thinke that we should intreate of vnderstanding and will which are two faculties and vertues in the highest and most principall part and power of the soule of man and in regard of which it is properly called by the name of a reasonable soule and life as wee shall presently learne of ACHITOB. Of the reasonable soule and life and of vertue of the vnderstanding and will that are in the soule and of their dignitie and excellencie Chap. 28. ACHITOB. Although beastes without any iudgement and reason follow after that which they conceaue to be agreeable to their nature and eschew the contrary according as their natural inclination driueth thē thereunto yet they passe not those bounds of nature which God hath set them nor violate the lawes thereof Wherby we see that through a secret sense of nature they draw alwayes towards God their Creator in that their nature bendeth still towardes that which God hath appoynted to bee the chiefe Good vnto which they can attaine And no doubt but God hath giuen them such inclinations to bee as it were rules to direct them to that which is their proper and naturall Good which consisteth onely in corporall thinges belonging to their bodies Nowe if hee bee thus carefull for beastes we may not thinke that hee hath depriued Man of such a benefite but that hee hath also giuen him his inclination to leade him to his proper Good and to the trueth which in respect thereof is necessarie for him For what likelihoode is there that such a woorkeman as God is woulde create Man the most excellent creature vnder heauen in worse estate not onely then beastes but also then all other bodily creatures which are nothing in comparison of the excellencie which is in him who notwithstanding following their naturall disposition Prayse GOD and fulfill his worde as the Psalmist saith As therefore God hath ordayned and prepared a farre greater Good formen then for beastes and hath layde vp the same in his soule and spirite so hath he giuen them the meanes to enquire and finde it out But the difficultie that is in finding it out proceedeth through their owne fault For the darknes of ignorance and error which sinne hath brought into their minds is that which hindereth them which had not taken holde of them if mankind had continued in the perfection of his first nature Neuertheles what defect soeuer there be yet we see that in the minde of man there shineth alwaies this naturall light that is giuen vnto him aboue that which beasts haue I mean Reason which serueth to guide the soule and spirite amidst the darknesse of errour and ignorance to the ende they may be able to discerne trueth from falsehood and the true Good from the false as we see the light serueth the eyes to keepe vs and to cause vs to see in darkenesse Therefore we sayde before that there was a double discourse of reason in man whereof the one is Theoricall and Speculatiue which hath Trueth for his ende and hauing found it goeth no farther The other is Practical hauing Good for his end which being found it stayeth not there but passeth forward to the Will which God hath ioyned vnto it to the end it should loue desire and follow after the Good and contrariwise hate eschew and turne away from euill Therefore when the question ariseth of contemplation reason hath Trueth for her vtmost bounds and when she is to come into action she draweth towardes Good and hauing conferred together that which is true and good she pronounceth iudgement So that reason considereth of thinges with great deliberation and beeing sometimes in doubt which way to take shee stayeth and returneth as it were to her selfe and maketh many discourses before shee iudge and conclude But sinne hath so troubled our spirite that these naturall rules which shoulde euermore cause vs to encline to that which is right and good are greatly depraued and corrupted Neuerthelesse there remayneth in vs a small remnant of that great Good which testifieth sufficiently vnto vs what losse and damage wee receiued by our fall Therefore both the internall and externall senses serue vs not onely for the good of the bodie and for this life as they do to beasts but also for the good of the soule and helpe vs to lift vp the minde higher to seeke for a better life and for a greater Good then can be found among all the creatures and in which alone the minde findeth true felicitie agreeable to such a nature as it selfe is Heereof it commeth that it cannot content it selfe with that wherwith beasts are contented nor stay there where they stay For after the spirite is somewhat setled vpon that knowledge which it hath by his imagination and fantasie he lifteth vp himselfe higher by the meanes of reason namely to the vnderstanding of spirituall and diuine things For hee knoweth well that because he is as it were shut vp in an obscure prison and compassed about with darknesse he is hindered from attaining to the vnderstanding and knowledge of many things whereof he is ignorant and can neither see nor know that which he would so neerely cleerely and perfectly as if hee were at greater libertie nor vse that naturall vigour that he hath being in this prison of the bodie In this sort doeth man consider of himself and of his nature and from that knowledge which he hath of the highest and most excellent things in nature there springeth in him a loue towardes them insomuch that the spirit ascendeth vp and attaineth vnto God who is the authour and Creator of all For this cause there ariseth contention betwixt reason and fantasie For
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
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 fountaine of them that ascend higher and of their reasons Chap. 82. AMANA That which wee read of Iesus Christ his saying to Nicodemus in these woordes If when I tell you earthly things yee beleeue not howe shoulde yee beleeue if I shall tell you of heauenly things may giue vs occasion to say in like maner that if wee can not knowe the earth neither the body and soule of man nor the nature and vertue thereof howe shoulde wee attaine to the knowledge of Heauen and of those spirituall natures of God and of his workes And if wee can not comprehend in our selues the woorkes of our soule howe shall wee vnderstand the woorkes of GOD in the whole world And if wee be not able to conceiue them doeth it followe therefore that hee doeth them not and yet there are many that conclude after that manner For they beleeue no more then they are able to knowe and comprehend by their naturall reason according as they deale also with their soule For because they vnderstand not what is the proper essence of it neither can see it after it is entred into the body and ioyned therewith nor yet when it departeth away therefore they conclude that it is no other thing but as it were a fire that lasteth so long as there is matter agreeable to the nature of it and is quenched when that faileth But for that which you deliuered to vs ASER of the sayings of certaine touching the diuerse kindes of soules and the powers of euery one of them it seemeth to mee that vnderstanding them as you say these men doe one of these three things will followe of their opinion For they must of necessitie yeelde to this either that the soule of man is partly immortall and partly mortall or that a man hath three soules one immortall and two mortall or lastly that the powers of the reasonable soule which wee call Sensitiue and Vegetatiue are not of the proper essence and substance thereof but onely of the body and that they are instruments of the reasonable soule as members thereof For I doubt not but they will readily confesse this that the soule is immortall and if that part of the soule which they call Vegetatiue and Sensitiue be of the selfe same essence and substance in that respect it shall be mortall Nowe if wee so distinguish all these three sortes of soules in man that wee make three kindes of them the first and principall shall be immortall and the other two mortall And if they will say that they take not the vegetatiue and sensitiue soule in man for two diuerse kindes of soules but onely for two sundry powers of the reasonable soule I demaund of them whether these two powers are so ioyned vnto it that it may be a soule as it is both without them and with them euen as before we said that it might be with the body and without the body I doubt not but euery one will answere mee to this question according to that opinion hee hath conceiued of the nature of mans soule If the question be made touching the soule of beastes the Philosophers agree well amongst themselues heerein that it is of the same matter of which their bodies are compounded whether it bee deriued and taken from the same or whether it bee the proprietie of the matter Therefore they meane that it is the Vitall spirite onely therein that giueth life vnto them which is of a corporall matter and substaunce or else that it is the temperature or temperament of the whole bodie generally which is the proprietie of that matter And so the soule in beastes shal be the life it selfe of which the Vitall spirites or the temperament are the instrumentes Which seemeth to agree well with that which Moses saieth That the soule of the flesh in the blood thereof that is to say the life according as we shewed when we spake of the nature of blood and of those meanes by which it giueth life to the creatures For when Moses speaketh so a man might say that it is as much in effect as if he saide that the blood is as it were the pipe and instrument that conueyeth life to the bodie and that the Vitall spirites are the thing that giueth motion sense to the bodie which is the same that we call Soule neither is there any inconuenience to yeelde to this in regard of the soule of beastes And albeeit wee see not with the eye howe these Vitall spirites or the temperament of all the partes of the bodie doe giue vnto it that life which it hath yet a man may iudge and haue some knowledge heereof by the things wee see in nature which haue some agreement and resemblance with this For we conceiue well howe the flame is nourished by the oyle and match that is in a lampe or by the waxe and weeke that is in a candle In which we see two sortes of matter differing one from another ioyned both together Besides we see how that by meanes of this coniunction and of the temperature and agreement that these two matters haue eache with other the flame being kindled in them is nourished and preserued So likewise we propound the Vitall spirite in the bodies of liuing creatures as a thinne flame engendered of the blood by vertue of the heart and this flyeth as it were throughout all the partes of the bodie distributing vnto it Vitall heate which quickeneth it and endueth it with that vertue by which it hath motion and sense and exerciseth all her actions so that euery member doeth his office Nowe we see well in this comparison the matter that is in the lampe or in the candle and the temperature and agreement that is betweene the partes of it and howe the flame is fedde and mainteyned after it is lighted Wee may see also from whence this flame is brought to the lampe and how this matter is lighted and that neither the matter nor the agreement and temperature thereof breede this flame of themselues but that it is brought from elsewhere In like manner we may easily conceiue that which hath beene told vs of the vitall spirite and of the blood whereof it is bredde and of the vertue and power of the heart in the generation of it But one may say vnto mee that there is great difference betweene the comparison we made of a lampe or candle and of his flame and betweene that which we haue spoken of the generation of the vitall spirite because this flame which we cal the vitall spirit springeth of the self-same matter by which it is nourished preserued is kindled there And therfore it were requisite that we should further knowe what is the cause of this as also why the life
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