sound to discerne the images of those things which hee representeth to their mindes from all Diabolicall illusions And surely no maruaile if wicked spirites so oftentimes deceiue men when as Iuglers haue so many waies to abuse them shewing them such strange sights that if they were not wrought by those kinde of men a great many woulde take them for miracles Yea although they be done after this manner yet wee wonder thereat being hardly able by the sharpnesse of our wits to attaine to the knowledge thereof so that many are perswaded that such things cannot be done without the power of the deuill But let vs returne to our matter This imaginatiue power of the soule hath moreouer such vertue that oftentimes the imagination printeth in the body the images of those things which it doeth vehemently thinke of and apprehend the experience whereof is very euident especially in the longings and imaginations of women with childe Many times also we see some that can hardly goe ouer a bridge without falling by reason of the apprehension of the danger which they haue conceiued in their fantasie and imagination But which is yet more strange it falleth out oftentimes that the fancies and imaginations of great bellied women are so vehement and violent that vpon the bodies of the children they goe withall they print the images and shapes of those things vpon which they haue fixed their fancies and vnto which by reason of their fancie they are most affectionated Wee see examples heereof a great many continually Neither is it altogether without reason which wee vse commonly to say that fancie breedes the fact which it imagineth For wee see many fall into those mishaps and inconueniences which they imprint in their fantasie and imagination Wee may also obserue heere howe wee are prouoked to yawne and gape when wee see others doe so and driuen into a desire of many things of which wee should not haue dreamed vnlesse wee had beene incited thereunto by the example of others or by some obiect presented to our senses and prouoking vs thereunto Yea this imaginatiue vertue can do much in beastes as among other things wee may see it in this that they desire rather to make water in a puddle or in a riuer or in some other water or vpon a dunghill or in a stable then else-where For the things that are offred to their senses soone mooue their fantasie and imagination which afterward stirreth them vp either in respect of the agreemēt that is betwixt those things namely water and vrine or because of their custome to doe such a thing in such a place which putteth them in minde and helpeth them to doe it more readily by reason of the imaginatiue vertue that is in them Nowe if imagination hath such vertue in beastes wee may iudge also what it is able to do in the minde of man which is a great deale more quicke and ready Therefore we ought to eschew all occasions of euill that may be presented to our senses to stirre vp our imagination and fantasie to wicked and dishonest things For one only wicked looke or one dishonest speach is sufficient to trouble our minds with diuers imaginations and fantasies Which as it is well knowne to the deuil so knoweth he also how to giue occasion and to offer the means of stirring all the stuffe in our fancies But we keep such bad watch in this respect that in steade of eschewing occasions of euil we seeke after them and where we should shut the doore against euill we set it wide open that it may enter more easily into vs. Wherein wee followe not the example of the Prophet who prayed vnto the Lorde saying Turne away mine eyes that they beholde no vanitie but wee rather take a contrary course to whet our selues forward to all beastlinesse Seeing therefore Imagination and Fantasie haue so little holde of themselues wee haue neede of an other facultie and vertue aboue that to be able to iudge of things imagined and perceiued by sense of which wee haue hitherto spoken and that is reason the discourse where of I reserre to thee AMANA as also of memorie which is the fift and last internall sense of the soule Of Reason and Memorie and of their seate nature and office of the agreement which all the senses both externall and internall haue one with another and of their vertues Chap. 26. AMANA They that haue curiously searched into the nature of beasts haue found in them especially in such as were most perfect as many externall and internal senses as are in man yea they perceiued that their braine and all the partes thereof did not differ much from that of men whether wee respect the substance or the fashion But all these excellent giftes of nature reach no farther in them then to the vses of this present life and the necessities thereof For they haue no reason giuen them to enquire after that which is good to the ende their will might followe and embrace the same Moreouer their Good consisteth only in corporall things belonging to the bodie which they easily knowe and discerne as standing in neede of no other reason or vnderstanding to make enquirie after it then of that bare knowledge and naturall inclination that is giuen them But the Good that belongeth to man is hidden in the soule and spirite For this cause hee must of necessitie enquire after it that hee may come to the knowledge thereof least he chuse euill in steade of good for want of knowledge of his proper and true Good and so be deceiued by the appearance of a false Good which is not so in trueth but in opinion onely and by errour whereby the greatest part of men are commonly beguiled preferring the supposed Goods of the body before the true goods of the soule and temporall things before eternall Therefore as our eyes stand in neede of light to keepe vs and to cause vs to see in darkenes so our soule and spirite hath neede of reason to guide it in the middest of errour and ignorance that it may discerne trueth from lying the true Good from the false and that which is profitable from the contraty This facultie and vertue of the soule so necessary in man and which is able to iudge of things imagined and perceiued by the other senses of which we haue spoken before to knowe whether they be good or bad and what is to be embraced or eschewed is called the Iudging or discoursing facultie namely Reason which is the principall part and vertue of the soule and beareth rule among all the other senses For this cause he hath his seate by good right assigned him in the midst of the braine as in the highest and safest fortresse of the whole frame of man to raigne amiddest all the other senses as Prince and Lord ouer them all For it is he that discourseth and iudgeth of trueth from falshoode that knoweth the agreement
of the affections it is necessary they shoulde agree together For as reason guideth before the affections will followe after Therefore wee may alwayes iudge of reason by the affections which it ought to gouerne as of the gouernement of a good Prince by the estate of his subiects of a good father of a family by those of his houshold Moreouer seeing the affections proceede from the heart there is the seate of that loue which wee ought to beare as well towardes God as towardes men which comprehendeth the whole lawe of God and all iustice For he that loueth God is not onely afraide to offend and displease him but desireth also to serue please him and he that loueth his neighbour doeth not onely abstaine from procuring him any dishonour or losse but laboureth also to aduance his honour and profit Therefore if the minde be lightened and inflamed with diuine light and the reason also that ruleth therein then the heart will waxe hote and burne with the loue of God and of his neighbour Which if it fall out so the heart will not be slacke in shewing foorth those heauenly motions that are within it in giuing matter to the soule to glorifie God and to the tongue and mouth which will speake out of the abundance thereof Likewise there will be an accord and consent betweene it and the voyce and tongue which then will vtter nothing but the trueth And this is the cause of that which wee were taught before namely that God by his prouidence and wise counsaile hath ioyned neere vnto the heart the chiefe instrument of the voyce which is the lungs as the other instruments that are higher are lodged neere to the braine and cheefely the tongue as the Oratours and Embassadours of Kings are placed next vnto them Wherefore if mans nature had not beene corrupted through sinne but had continued perfect and sound there woulde alwayes haue beene a goodly concord and consent betweene the heart and the braine the voice and the tongue the reason and the affections Next wee must note that seeing the heart is the first member of the whole body that receiueth life and thē giueth the same to others as also the last that leaueth life and seeing it is the shop of all the vitall spirits without which neither the braine nor the rest of the members can haue life or perforume their dueties it is not without cause that this member is taken to be as it were the seate not onely of the affections but also of reason Therefore it is taken in the Scripture one while for the minde as when Moses saieth to the people of Israel Yet the Lord hath not giuen you a heart to know and another while it is taken for the affections as when our Sauiour Christ saieth Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soule and with all thy minde For wee see heere howe he putteth a difference betweene the heart and the minde Sometime they are put indifferently one for another or one for both especially the heart as when the Lorde saide to Salomon Beholde I haue giuen thee a wise and an vnderstanding heart the heart is taken for the senses and minde as it appeareth very euidently For the same cause Saint Paul continuing his speach of Gods punishment aboue mentioned against the vngodlinesse and vnrighteousnesse of men hee addeth to that before recited this saying Wherefore also God gaue them vp to their hearts lustes vnto vncleannesse to defile their owne bodies betweene themselues which turned the trueth of God vnto a lie In which place wee see howe the Apostle maketh the heart to be the seate of the appetites and of the affections and howe hee calleth the vnruly and disordered affections of the heart by the name of lustes for so hee expoundeth himselfe by and by after calling them Vile Affections vnto which God gaue them vp Whereupon wee will note this that the naturall affections of the heart which pricke it forward to the desire of pleasure and which minister pleasure vnto it shoulde be no sinne at all vnto men but a benefite giuen them of God in the perfection of their nature were it not that by reason of the corruption which hath raken holde of it such desires and affections cannot containe themselues within the limites of their sound nature but there is alwayes some excesse euen in the perfectest and that being sinne is properly called euill concupiscence because it continually prouoketh vs to euill and causeth vs to goe beyond the bounds which God had set to our affections Whereof it is come to passe that that which should be a benefite vnto men in their naturall pleasures is become hurtfull vnto them Nowe forasmuch as the order of our discourses hath brought vs to the tractate of affections which haue their seate in the heart before wee goe any further we must say somewhat of the nature of this part of the body as we haue done of the braine to the ende we may the better know the seate and instruments of the vital power and vertue of the soule and of the will and affections as those which belong to the animal power and vertue haue bene declared vnto vs. Let vs then heare ASER handle this matter Of the nature and composition of the heart and of the midriffe of the tunicles or skinny couerings of the breast and of the Pericardion or cawle about the heart of the motion office and vse of the lungs of the heart and of the arteries Chap. 37. ASER. It is not without good and iust cause that God hath ordained that reason should lodge in the highest part of the frame of man and that the will and affections should lodge lower namely in the heart For by this order hee would admonish and tell vs what part and power of the soule ought to beare greatest sway therein and that vnderstanding and wisdome which teach vs the true rules according to which wee must square our whole life ought to raigne and haue the first place seeing the principall cause wherefore God hath created vs is to knowe him to the end that knowing him we should loue and honour him as wee ought and as for the affections they are to be 〈◊〉 and gouerned by wisedome and vnderstanding Wherfore if this order appointed by God be confounded and turned topsie turuy in vs hee causeth vs to feele and knowe it well enough For although sinne be the cause yet the impression of that diuine image which God hath set in the nature of man cannot be so wholy defaced in vs but there will alwayes remaine very euident and wonderfull testimonies thereof And therefore presently after we haue ouerthrowne this order and that the will lifteth her selfe vp against reason euen then doth reason condemne that fault of hers and compelleth the heart to take vengeance thereof and to punish in it her selfe disobedience and rebellion
hath prouided in this sort Wherein wee see it resembleth a pot set to seething which retaineth the heate and seetheth that which it containeth better when it is close couered then when it is without a couer Now we are further to knowe that the stomacke is made of two coats or skins one within an other consisting partly of a fleshy and partly of a sinowy substance The innermost is fuller of sinewes and thicker hauing straight filaments within wherewith as it were with fingers it draweth the meate downeward and without it hath certaine oblique filaments which compasse it about and serue to holde it in The outward coate which is more fleshy hath ouerthwart filaments that serue for expulsion For when the stomacke is sometime ouercharged with meate so that it is not able to embrace and keepe it for digestion then by meanes of the expulsiue vertue it driueth out that which is superfluous and prouoketh a man to vomite to the end it be not stifled through the waight and burthen of the meate it beareth For this cause the throate is a pipe appointed for the moouing of things vp and downe not hauing any attractiue force in it but being onely a meere way and place of passage through which meates and drinkes passe to and fro as neede requireth Concerning the seate of the stomach it is placed in the middest of the body betweene the liuer and the splene and that in such sort that the liuer embraceth and warmeth it on the right side and the splene doeth the like on the left side As for the substance of it it is of the nature of sinewes that is cold and drie For it is very conuenient it should bee so first because of the sense and feeling that it might bee incited by such things as agree with it reiecting all others secondly in regarde of appetite that it might be the greater and of more efficacie Moreouer it was requisite that it shoulde be of such matter to the ende it might bee the harder and receiue the lesse hurt from the hardenesse and sharpnesse of meates And besides the naturall heate which it hath of it selfe it is heated also by the neighbour partes to the ende it may the better perfourme that duetie that lyeth vpon it For this cause it hath on the right side the liuer which is vnto it in steade of a boyling pot or cauldron and on the left side it hath the splene for the same purpose the muscles of the chine bone are behind it and before is the skinne commonly called the Kell Likewise as the heart is not farre from it so the midriffe lying ouer it doeth greatly heate it by continuall motion Whereby we see how the prouidence of God hath well fenced and clothed it on all sides that it might haue as much heate as is needefull for it Touching this skinne called the Kell it is a double coate or couering spreading it selfe wholly ouer the intralles being in fashion like to a purse by reason that it is double and wouen like to a nette consisting of fatte of veines of atteries and of a skinne Moreouer the stomach is warmed by the spirits that enter into it in great abundance by reason that it is knit vnto the neighbour partes by veines and arteries Nowe because it serueth to the nutritiue facultie the naturall vertue thereof is to desire foode the sense and feeling of which appetite is in the vpper Orifice into which many sinewes are wouen that come downe from the braine Therefore when the members of the bodie being empty desire nourishment and labour to drawe it from the veines and the veines from the liuer and the liuer from the stomach and the stomach from the Orifice then is there a certaine contraction and wrinckling as it were of the Orifice by reason of the veines that sucke it In which contraction and gathering together of the stomachs mouth there is by meanes of the nerues a kinde of sense and griefe which we call Hunger whereby liuing creatures are stirred vp to seeke after foode and nourishment I make no repetition heere of that which hath beene spoken before namely of the drawing reteining altering and expulsing vertues of the vegetatiue soule For by our discourses wee may easily vnderstand how euery one of them doeth his duety both in the stomach and liuer and in all the other members of the body But the altering vertue is the chiefest whose office is to change in the stomach and to conuert into iuyce and liquor that meate which it hath receiued This liquor is called by the Physicions Chylus which is a Greeke worde and resembleth the reme of a ptisame it is concocted in the stomach vntill it bee so well prepared that it may be sent vnto the liuer Which concoction is first and principally made by the naturall vertue of the stomach as it appeareth in this that euery stomach doth after a wonderfull manner embrace and warme all the meate which it receiueth euen as the whole wombe embraceth her burthen and fruite vntil it come to ripenesse and when the time of birth is come the expulsiue vertue thereof driueth it foorth So fareth it with the meate in the stomach excepting this difference that the stomach needeth not so long a time to finish his worke in as the wombe doth Afterward this naturall vertue of the stomach is holpen and warmed by those meanes before declared And when the stomach hath finished this first concoction whereby the meate receiued is so duely prepared that it may bee sent into the liuer then the lower Orifice and doore called the Porter openeth it selfe and sendeth this liquor into the intralles and bowelles which are ordained as well to receiue it as to purge foorth the superfluities and excrements Therefore AMANA thy speach shall be of these that so wee may goe forward with our matter of those instruments of the vegetatiue soule which shee vseth in her naturall workes Of the intralles and bowelles and of their names and offices of the nature of the three smaller guttes and of the other three that are greater of the instructions which wee may learne by these things Chap. 62. AMANA If there were no other reason but this that the poorest and basest persons amongest men are the creatures of GOD and created after his image and likenesse as well as the richest mightiest and highest in dignities and honours and that as well the one as the other are members of the bodie of mankinde it were enough to with-holde vs from contemning any person of what condition estate or qualitie soeuer hee bee so that his vocation bee of GOD and profitable for mankinde For in contemning any creature and his estate GOD who created him and ordained his vocation is contemned and iniuried thereby considering that hee is his worke which cannot be mocked but the workemaster that framed it must needes bee scorned Besides wee are to consider that many of
their helping hand The woman likewise laboureth and helpeth as much as she is able and the childe falling downward with his head turned towardes the mouth of the wombe maketh way for all the rest of his bodie and so casteth it selfe foorth at whose issuing out the humour wherewithall it was before abundantly moistened helpeth very much by reason that both the childs body and the way also is thereby made more gliding and slippery Wherein wee haue a great argument of Gods prouidence to be obserued For the childs head being of a round fashiō his comming forth cannot be so hindred as we see it is when the child offreth it selfe crosse-wise or when the armes or legs come forwarde Besides all the rest of the members are greatly benefited hereby both because the way is alreadie made before them as also because themselues are thereby the better placed to preuent all impediments with which otherwise they might encounter For we see by experience what inconueniences fall out in childbirths in what dangers the mothers children are how often the death of the one or the other or of both ensueth when the child commeth otherwise then by this order which is most naturall most ordinary Wherefore women with child haue great occasiō offred to recommend themselues vnto God especially at that time For howsoeuer the child cōmeth we must then acknowledge the almighty hand of God his help assistāce both towards the mothers their children For let there be neuer so good concord and agreement in the ioynt-labour of the child of the mother of the womb yet the work being so difficult who wil not wonder that euer it could be borne Who would euer beleeue that a child should come forth or that it could be drawn out of the mothers belly without cleauing the same asunder in the midst or without the death of the one of them if not of both but that wee see the experience thereof daily before our eies Galen who made such an idol of nature confesseth that he knoweth not how the child can find any issue and passage out therfore wondreth at it very much Auicenna thinketh that there is an opening of some bones but he is deceiued for it cannot be so neither hath experience euer shewed the same Wherfore both Philosophers Physicions but especially Epicures Atheists must needs be driuen into an astonishment at this haue their mouthes stopped closed vp except they wil open them to giue glory to God to acknowledge and magnifie his great prouidence goodnes towards men singing with Dauid O God how precious are thy thoughts vnto me how great is the summe of them If I shoulde count them they are moe then the sand It was thou that didst draw me out of the wombe thou gauest me hope euen at my mothers breasts But wee haue here to note that there are many causes which hasten forward the child-birth but we speak here of thē that are most cōmon ordinary Children that are borne at the sixt moneth or sooner liue not as not hauing then their whole perfection They that are borne in the seuenth moneth may liue for then is the fruit perfect And yet they that are borne at the eight moneth commonly die and the reason is because the child stirreth very much in the seuēth moneth preparing it self for the birth So that if the child be of a strong nature it commeth thē into the light but if it be yet weake it cannot come forth but tarieth two moneths longer in the womb to gather new strength For it remoueth from the one side of the wombe to the other Therfore when the child after the seuenth moneth is presently borne in the eight it cannot liue For nature was weak in the first endeuour neither could it be to purpose before the matter receiueth motion after the criticall time with which name the Philosophers call the seuenth moneth Moreouer double motion weakneth the strength of the childe For it had remoued vnto the other side of the womb as is said presently after it came into the light but the nature of the child cannot sustaine two brunts one in the neck of another so that death followeth thereupon The Astrologians likewise allege these reasons why the seuenth moneth is critical namely either because the sunne is caried into a signe that is opposite to the signe of conception or els because euery planet answering his seueral moneth the eight moneth is giuen to Saturne who is an enemie to them that are borne Now for the end of this matter we wil consider two things in our generation birth which offer vnto vs great cause both of humilitie and of spiritual ioy First then we see how God would haue vs humbled in our generation by creating vs of a matter that is but slime and dung wherunto notwithstanding he hath giuen such an excellent and goodly forme to the end that his powerfull vertue wisdome iustice and kindnesse should bee so much the better manifested vnto vs and that in our selues so that we shal not need to seeke for testimonies thereof elsewhere So that as our beginning ought to take out of our heart all swelling and pride euen so the forme and beautie wherewithall God hath honoured this mire of which hee hath made men and the great graces which hee hath communicated with them especially in regarde of the soule which hee hath ioyned to the body ought to teache vs to acknowledge and to celebrate incessantly his prouidence and great goodnes towards vs. To conclude wee ought to consider the image and similitude we haue of our eternall natiuitie in this our mortal birth and that birth whereby we are borne vnto an immortal life as here on earth we are borne to enioy a life that is subiect to mortality For first as man is formed and fashioned in dark places in the belly of his mother that afterward he might come forth and enioy the light of the world so likewise being come hither he is after a manner so vpon the earth as if he were to be borne againe For this worlde is vnto him as his mothers wombe wherein the light is to him as darkenesse and as a very obscure night in comparison of that other diuine and eternall light in which he is to enioy a happie and an immortall life And therefore as the childe is prepared in the darkenesse of his mothers bellie that after hee may come foorth into the light of the world so are we prepared in this dim light that wee may attaine to that other diuine light which is farre greater and more excellent without comparison Againe when the time of birth approcheth the life and vigour of the wombe which is as it were the childs mother withereth and decayeth and the childe likewise is as if hee were dead in regard of that kinde of life which he enioyed in his mothers bellie For as he liueth
to declare the better what is meant by Spirite And before he shewed the meanes whereby this spirite shoulde be giuen him when he said that hee should be filled with the holy Ghost from his mothers wombe that is with the gifts and graces thereof as the Scripture calleth them ordinarily Afterwardes also the Angell declareth more at large after what manner Saint Iohn came in the power and spirite of Elias signifying that hee ought to behaue himselfe and to doe as Elias had done in his time and as Malachy had foretolde of him Moreouer we haue in the Scripture other kindes of speaking that agree very fitly with this of the Angel so that the one may well serue to open the other For it is written of Moses that the Lorde did separate of the spirite that was vpon him and did put it vpon the seuentie ancient men whom he appointed vnder him to be an helpe and comfort vnto him in the gouernement of the people of Israel and when the spirite rested vpon them they prophecied continually Euery one knoweth that the spirite of Moses whereof the Lord speaketh is not his naturall spirite but that he meaneth by this spirite part of the gifts and graces which Moses had receiued of the Lord such as were necessary for their charge as likewise he gaue to Moses according to the charge committed to him Some also vnderstand this separation of the spirite of Moses to be onely a communication of the graces of the spirite of God like to those which Moses had receiued for his charge that was giuen to those who were ioyned vnto him for his helpe Nowe if wee take it in this sense we may say that God vseth this manner of speech the better to let vs vnderstand thereby the nature of his gifts and graces and the meanes hee obserueth in dispensing of them For hee doeth not onelie distribute so much as is needefull for them whome hee mindeth to employ in his woorke but giueth also vnto them such manner of graces as are requisite for the worke as Saint Paul testifieth Besides all this his purpose is also to teach vs what agreement there is betwixt all his giftes as likewise what vnitie proceedeth heereof betwixt them that are partakers of these gifts whereby wee may perceiue that they come all from one spirite which albeit God thereby powreth out his graces in so great abundance is yet a fountaine and sea that is not onely not dried vp but not so much as any way diminished Thus wee see howe one and the same Spirite of GOD gouerned Moses and the rest that were ioyned with him inspiring them all with his grace and distributing to euery one according to his measure as the winde is dispenced into many Organ-pipes all at once according to their seuerall capacitie and according to that sound which euery one is to yeelde for the making of a good harmony or as many Candles or Lampes are lighted by an other with the same fire wherewith that was first tined Also wee are to vnderstand in this sence the request that Eliseus made to Elias when hee demaunded a double portion of his Spirite because hee succeeded him in regarde whereof hee stoode in neede of such giftes and graces of Gods Spirite as Elias was guided by that hee might faithfully execute his charge as hee had done before Thus wee see howe places of Scripture expound one an other and howe little they help the Pythagoreans of whome I woulde not haue made so long a discourse if this foppery were driuen out of mens braines and namely among Christians For to this day there are too many fantasticall heades I say not amongest true Christians but amongest them that falsely beare that name who are as much or rather more infected heerewith then any Pythagoreans or Platonists in former times And for this cause AMANA I leaue you to goe on with this point that afterwardes wee may returne to our chiefe matter of the nature generation and immortalitie of the soule Of the Pythagoreans of these dayes amongst Christians and of their foolish opinions of the opinions of many doctors and diuines touching the creation and ordinary generation of mens soules of the moderation that ought to be kept in that matter of the cause of the filthinesse and corruption of mans soule Chap. 86. AMANA There was neuer yet any opinion errour or heresie so strange or monstrous in the world which hath not always found men enow to receiue it so that there were authours and masters to broach it abroad For God doeth thus punish the curiositie ingratitude malice and peruersenesse of men and that contempt of his word and trueth which is ordinarily in them together with the pleasure and delight they take in vanitie and lies Wherefore God through his iust iudgement deliuereth them vp into a reprobate sence insomuch as they can not but reiect the trueth continually and embrace that which is false according as he often threatned them and foretolde it by his Prophets and Apostles And this is the cause why the Pythagoreans do at this day find men voide of sense and vnderstanding who cleaue to their fantasticall opinions and why Epicures and Atheists are neuer without a great number of disciples Now albeit these men be in truth most blockish grosse beasts yet we cannot perswade them so nor many others also who imagin they know much For there are euen doctors and some that read lectures in Vniuersities who keepe not their opinion of the transmigration of soules so secret to themselues but they make some profession therof at lestwise amongst their schollers and familiar acquaintance There are some also who boasting of the knowlege of tongues of the turning ouer of many antiquities haue published this fancie of theirs in books written by them yea they themselues are perswaded and they would make others beleeue the same with them that their soules are the very soules of some famous personages that haue liued heretofore in the world that they haue alredy passed through many excellent bodies which haue done great things as likewise they promise to themselues that they shal bring to passe great matters seeing they haue their souls True it is that according to our maner of speaking we say sometimes of such as agree in manners with others who haue liued before them that their soules whom they resemble is entred into them that the others are raised vp in their persons For example sake if there be a cruel tyrant like to Nero we say that Neroes soule is entred into his body and that Nero is raised vp in him But yet euery one knoweth well enough that we vse to speake so by reason of the agreement of natures and of manners not because of any transmigration of soule And this may be spoken in respect of that Deuillish spirite which possesseth the wicked and ruleth in them as wee say of the Spirite of Gods
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
that his 〈◊〉 â—â—â—cheth ouer all that the soule of man is immortall and that after this lâ—se there is a place of happinesse for the good and of torments for the wicked is as I may terme it a supernaturall error or rather cleunâ— againsst 〈◊〉 religion nature and all The trueth whereof appeareth both by the common consent of all nations who haue generally approoâ—ed those points as inuiolable principles and maximes in nature and also by the iudgement of the sounder sort of Phylosophers and Lawmakers amongst the Heathâ—â— who knowing that all mens consciences did naturally acknowledge not onely a being of a diuine power but a subiection also thereunto pretâ—nded that their lawes and superstitions came from some one or other of their supposed gods goddesses as Minos King of the Cretensians made the people beleeue that he had receyued his lawes of Iupiter Lycurgus the Dâ—â—â—demonian lawmaker of Apollos oracle Numa Pompilius a Romanâ— king of Aegeria the Nimph and so the rest of others And in truâ—th they that deny the diuine essence what do they but deny themselues and the being of all things in the world besides For as Aratus the heathen Poet 〈…〉 is also confirmed vnto vs by the Apostle Paul In God we liue 〈…〉 haue our being so that without him it is impossible wee should haue any being one moment of an houre And it is strange to consider 〈◊〉 these reaonable beastes for men I dare not call them standing so 〈◊〉 vpon reason and sense as they would seeme to do cannot in reason 〈◊〉 that this great variety exquisite order which they behold and see in nature natural things must of necessity haue some superiour cause from which they receiued both their first beeing and their contiâ—â—al 〈◊〉 in the same When they looke vpon any excellent picture they presently iudge as the truth is that it was wrought by some cunning painter and euery 〈◊〉 building leadeth all men to the consideration of some exquisite master builder that framed it And shall not the view of the worlde and the knowledge of so many admirable things therein as are subiect to all our senses constraâ—â—â—â—s to acknowledge a superiour cause and creator of them all Doeth any shippe sayle his right course without a Pilot or is there any Citie well gouerned without a Magistrate And shall any surmize that the celestiall lights could obserue their right motions without the direction of him that made them or that the terrestriall globe of the earth coulde 〈◊〉 so well ordered by the course of nature were it not that all things are 〈◊〉 by him that 〈◊〉 them all But such is the blockishnesse of these 〈…〉 that they will beleeue nothing but that which they may see with their eyes and 〈◊〉 knowledge of by the light of their bodies As though if their eyes were plucked out of their heads there could be no sunne in the 〈…〉 nor light in the worlde because themselues were in darkenesse and coulde see nothing How many things are there in nature which 〈…〉 and yet no man maketh any question of their being no not they 〈◊〉 who notwithstanding deny that there is any diuine nature any 〈◊〉 soule Angell or spirite because they are not visible and subâ—ect to â—ight Can any of them see the winde looke vpon the voice of a man beholde the sweete harmony of musicke Nay can they take a viewe of the heartes in their bodies or of the braines in their heades Are they therefore without heart and brainelesse Surely it seemeth they are cleane voyde of brayne â—it and common sense that nayle all their beliefe so fast to the sight of their bâ—dily eyes And yet were it so that they would not most wilfully 〈…〉 the euidence of their owne hearts they should there behold with the eyes of their mind as it were in a christall glasse that which may bee knowen of God Nay the holy Ghost proceedeth further and telleth vs that euen our bodily eyes may and doe after a sort looke vpon the eternall poweâ— and Godhead which are seene by the creation of the worlde being viewed in the workes thereof And because it may so fall out by the 〈◊〉 iudgement of God that these beetle-eyed Atheists may aswell be depriued of their bodily eyes as they want the sight of their mindes the creator and Lorde of the whole worlde hath set such markes of his diety in his workes that such as haue onely the direction of nature may euen with their eyes closed vp touch and handle him if they will but grope after him in whom we all liue mooue and haue our being What should I presse them with the certayne testimony of their owne hearts and consciences which will they will they drawe them to a fearefull acknowledgement of the mighty power of God whensoeuer eyther by his terrible voyce of thunder he shaketh their heartes or by some irrecouerable disease as a messenger of death hee 〈◊〉 them to appeare before his tribunall seate and throne of iustiâ— But there needeth no other proofe to coâ—â—nce them then the wordes of their owne mouthes For doe not their horrible oathes whereby they blasphâ—â— the Maiesty of God and asmuch as lyeth in them teare him in pieces â—e aâ—e â—â—â—nesse against themselues that the Lorde whom they despite in that 〈…〉 hath a being howsoeuer otherwise they deny the same And if no reason will sinke into their braines yet mee thinks the waight of Gods iudgement which haue from time to time seased extraordinarily vpon these Atheists that haue sprung vp in the world should cause them more seriously to consider of their miserable estate It is reported of Protagoras who was one of the first of that stamp that being banished from Athens and his Books publikely burnt he was drowned in the sea as he sailed into Sicilia Diagoras was violently slaine by certain men whom the Athenians had hired with mony for that purpose Epicurus also who placed his felicitie in corporall pleasures died miserably in a vessell of hot water after that he hadbin foureteene daies together extremely tormented with the stone in the bladder Lucianus surnamed by his owne countrimen the Blasphemer as he behaued himselfe most currishly in barking both against the gods of the Heathen and against Christ Iesus the Sauiour of the worlde so his ende was thereafter by being torne in peeces and deuoured of dogges Plinie the elder denying the immortalitie of the soule of man and placing Nature a creature in the steade of God the Creatour whilest he was ouer-curious in searching out the cause of the burning of Aetna was choaked with the smoke that issued from it A iust punishment for him to ende his life by smoke who esteemed his soule to be no better then a little vapour Cassius being a professed Scholler of Epicurus Brutus most brutishly railing vpon the prouidence of God because his enterprises against Caesar succeeded not to his
soules in what sence not only the Poets and heathen Philosophers but also Saint Paul haue sayd that men were the generation and linage of God of their error that say that soules are of the very substance of God of the transmigration of soules according to the opinion of the same Philosophers Chap. 84. 509 The chiefe causes as learned men thinke 〈…〉 Pythagoras and 〈…〉 transmigration of soules and transformation of bodies the ancient opinion of the Iewes touching the same thing Chap. 85. 515 Of the Pythagoreans of these dayes amongst the Christians and of their foolish opinions of the opinions of many Doctors and and Diuines touching the creation and ordinary generation of mens soules of the moderation that ought to be kept in that matter of the cause of the filthinesse and corruption of mans soule Chap. 86. 5â—â— Of those powers and properties which the soule of man hath common with the soule of beastâ—â— of those powers and vertues which are proper and peculiar to it selfe according to the Philosophers of the difference and agreement that is betweene humane philosophie and christian doctrine touching thâ—se things Chap. 87. 5â—6 How men can haue no certaine resolution of the immortality of the soule but by the word of God of the peruersnesse of Epicures and Atheistes in this 〈◊〉 of the chiefe causes that hinder 〈◊〉 from beleeuing the immortality of the soule and of their blockishnesse and euill iudgement therein how wee must seeke for the image of God after which man was created in his soule Chap. 88. The twelfth dayes worke 5â—â— OF those who desire the returne of soules departed to testifie their immortality what witnes hath binne sent vs of God out of another world to resolue vs therin Chap. 89. 53â— Of naturall reasons whereby the immortality of soules may be prooued against Epicures and Atheists and first of the argument taken from the faculty of knowledge which the soule hath and from that knowledge of eternity which 〈…〉 howe it appeareth that it is not begotten of this corruptible nature because it ascendeth vp vnto God and how by a speciall benefite of God it is dayly created and not by the vertue of nature Chap. 90. 541 Of the argument for the immortality of the soule that may bee taken from that natural desire therof of perpetuitie which is in it of another argument to the same purpose of the desire which men haue to continue their name and memory for euer an argument to the same end taken from the apprehension and terrour which men may haue both of the death of the body and also of the soule and spirite Chap. 91. 546 Of the agreement that may be taken from the delights and pleasures of the soule to prooue the immortality therof an argument to the same ende taken from the insatiable desires pleasures of men euen from such as are most carnall of the testimony which they may find euen in their vices to prooue the immortality of their soule Chap. 92. 551 Of the testimony that men haue of the immortall nature of the soule in their very body by the composition and frame thereof of that which is in the motion and rest of their soule how the creation of the whole world shoulde be vaine and how there should be no prouidence of God no religion no diuine iustice if the soule were mortall of the multitude and qualities of the witnesses that stand for the immortality thereof Chap. 93. 556 Of another argument for the immortality of the soule taken from that naturall desire which men haue of knowlege of Aristotles opinion touching the nature and immortality of the soule of other reasons of Philosophers to proue that the spirite cannot be a corruptible and mortall nature and how iust men should be more miserable and shoulde haue more occasion to feare and to eschew death then the vniust and wicked if the soule were mortall Chap. 94. 563 Of that prayse and reward which wisdome and vertue may receiue of man in this worlde how miserable it is â—f there bee no better prepared for them elsewhere how death would bee more grieuous and lamentable to the best learned and wisest men then to the ignorant and foolish if the soule were mortall how the best most certaine iudgement of men is for the immortality of the soule of them who not beleeuing the same say that it is good for men to bee in such an error Chap. 95. 569 Of those internall testimonies which all men cary within themselues to conuince them that doubt of the immortality of the soule and of the iudgement to come which shall be in eternall happinesse for the good and perpetuall torment for the euill howe the very heathen acknowledged asmuch by reasons taken from the testimonies of nature Chap. 96. The thirteenth dayes worke 575 OF the testimonies which euery one may take from his conscience of that feare vnto which all men are naturally subiect to prooue the immortality of the soule a iudgement of God vpon the iust and vniust how that which the Atheistes say that feare causeth gods amongest men serueth to ouerthrow their damnable opinion Chap. 97. 581 Whether Epicures and Atheists bee reasonable beasts yea or no and what reasons they bring to ouerthrow the immortality of the soule of the false opinion of Pliny touching the same and of his friuolous and brutish reasons to this purpose of the brutish conclusion vnbeseeming the whole race of mankind which hee maketh of this matter and of the iudgement of God vpon him Chap. 98. 588 Of them who say that wee cannot know by the light of nature but that the soule is mortall of them that alledge a place of Salomon against the immortality of the soule howe wee ought to consider of the iudgementes of God vpon Epicures and Atheistes how the absurdities which follow their doctrine declare plainly the grossenesse of it of the force of those argumentes that were produced before for the immortality of the soule Chap. 99. 594 Of the image of God in the soule of man and of the image of the worlde in mans body of the coniunction that is betweene God the Angels and men of the sundry degrees of Good that are therein of those lessons and instructions which wee ought to receiue from the wonderfull composition aud coniunction of the soule and body Chap. 100. FINIS THE FORESPEACH OF THE INTERSPEAKERS IN this Academy wherein is handled the cause of their future discourses touching the naturall historie of Man The names of the discoursers ASER which signifieth Felicitie AMANA Trueth ARAM Excellency ACHITOB Brother of goodnesse ASER My companions I greatly bewayle the misery of our age wherein so many Epicures and Atheists liue as are dayly discouered amongst vs in all estates and callings True it is that the disagreement in matters of religion amongst them that beare the name of Christians is very great and causeth much trouble in the Church neuerthelesse I doubt not but that
of liuing creatures might not be hindered hee hath not made the ligaments nor the filaments nor the sinewes of any such boisterous or stiffe matter but that the creatures may easily bend euery way whithersoeuer they list to mooue and turne their members Neyther hath hee made them of so tender and soft matter but that they are strong and powerful enough to holde fast all the members within their ioynts to the ende they might not easily become bare and thrust out of their places as also to furnish the creatures with strength and power which consisteth principally in the force and might of these partes It is requisite also that they shoulde be such because they are as it were in continuall labour and sustaine great stresses Wherefore they must needes bee of such matter as will not easily yeelde or weare away or breake in pieces And because all the members and all the ioyntes are not to sustaine labours and brunts alike therefore the Lorde hath very well prouided for that as hee hath done the like also in the composition and distribution of the bones For those members that must sustaine the heauiest burthens and greatest brunts that are to dispatch most laboursome businesse and therefore require the greater strength haue biggest strongest and mightiest bones ligaments and sinewes so that their bulke bignesse breadth and thickenesse are answerable to their necessary vses The lesser members and such as are to vndergoe lesse paine which are ordained to effect more fine and witty workes wherein Arte is more required then force haue also their bones ligaments and sinewes lesser and smaller so that in certaine places there are some bones passing small and sinewes which are onely as it were little threedes Thus much I thought meete for vs to vnderstand concerning the simple parts of the body nowe wee must consider the compound partes and first intreate of the outermost partes and so followe that which wee spake of the foundation of mans building to the ende that by little and little wee may set him vpright and consider him throughly in all his partes Therefore thy speach ACHITOB shall be of the feete and legges and of the armes and handes Of the compound partes of the body and first of the feete and legges and of the armes and hands Chap. 4. ACHITOB. Among the manifolde and great commodities which wee may reape by the diligent consideration of the Anatomy of the body there are two of greatest weight The first is to put vs in minde of our mortalitie in regarde of our bodies to the ende that we should not please ourselues too much in the beautie of them and so waxe prowde and abuse our selues as also that wee should remember all those testimonies which wee haue in the holie Scriptures of the frailtie of man and of his whole nature For when wee see that those partes of the body that are hardest strongest most firme and such as after the death of a man continue longest before they returne into powder and into that first matter out of which they were taken as namely those partes that were propounded vnto vs in the former discourse especially the bones I say when we see that these notwithstanding their hardnesse must in the ende returne to dust as well as the rest what shall wee thinke of the other partes that are softer and more tender and lesse able to resist corruption Therefore the spirite of God doeth so often by his worde call and send vs backe to that instruction which hee giueth vs by the matter whereof hee made and framed our bodies and by the consideration of our owne originall and birth to the ende wee shoulde learne to containe our selues euermore within the compasse of all humilitie and modestie as well towardes him as one towardes an other Hereof it was that Isaiah had commaundement giuen him from the Lorde to crie that all flesh i◠grasse and all the grace thereof as the floure of the field Man that is borne of a woman saieth Iob is of short continuance and full of trouble Hee shooteth foorth as a floure and is cut downe hee vanisheth also as a shadow and continueth not Againe for the second point wee are taught to consider and to knowe by that prouidence of God which sheweth it selfe in the composition of the vilest and most earthy partes and in that frame which hee maketh for the building of the whole body howe great and woonderfull it ought to be in the residue namely in the noblest partes thereof especially in the soule if wee could see it with our eyes as wee beholde the body Wherfore that wee may the better knowe the excellent worke of God in this building we must raise it vpright before our eyes to the end wee may behold it on the out-side as it were a frame ready made from the foote to the top and from the foundation to the couering and highest part thereof The whole body of man is commonly diuided into foure principall outward parts which are called compound in respect of the simple partes spoken of before which serue for matter to make them of whereupon afterward they take the name of member according to that forme that is giuen to eche of them These foure principall parts are the head the breast the belly the outward partes namely the armes and handes the legges and feete The head endeth where the necke beginneth The breast comprehendeth that part which we commonly call the breast also the backe the ribs and whatsoeuer else is contained in them from the necke vnto the midriffe which is a skinne that separateth the heart and the lungs on the one side and the inferiour intralles on the other The belly reacheth from thence where the breast endeth vnto the bone aboue the priuie members and neare to the groine The extreme or outward parts are already named by vs and of them our present discourse shall be beginning as it were at the foundation vpon which all the body is laide First therefore wee see how God hath so aptly fashioned the feete that they doe not onelie beare vp al the rest of the body but also carry and recarry it wheresoeuer a man wil. Next the legs are set vpon them as it were the pillers of this whole building being closed in such sorte vnto them as neede requireth to helpe the feete to sustaine and beare vp all the rest of the frame laide vpon them For this cause Salomon calleth them the strong men that stoope in olde age when their vertue and strength faileth them For they bow through weakenes and tremble as the hands do which the same Prophet calleth the keepers of the house Now because the chief strēgth of the body lieth in the bones when the scriptures meane to set forth any violēt griefe as when a man is extremly pressed as it were altogether oppressed they say that his bones are vexed or broken or out of ioynt that is to say all
rehearse manie moe vses if we woulde speake more particularly of this matter whereof wee meane to speake but generally as also of all the rest that concerne the anatomie of the bodie according to that ende which wee propounded to our selues in the entrie of our speeches namely to open a gappe onely to the consideration first of the matter whereof mans bodie is compounded and of the diuersitie thereof then of that forme which God hath giuen vnto it and lastly of the profit and vse of both to the ende wee might dayly learne the better to knowe the great power skill wisedome goodnesse and prouidence of him that hath created and disposed all things in so good order But as touching that which we spake of the pappes and of their substance wee haue yet to consider of two poynts well worthie the noting concerning the place where God hath seated them First they are there placed where they serue to shroude and to defend the noblest and most necessarie partes for life that are in the breast namely the heart and the lungs For they are set before them to countergard and keepe them both from ouer great heate and from excessiue colde and from many other inconueniences And as they serue for the heate of the heart so their owne heate is increased by reason they are so neere the heart whereby the milke that is ingendred in them is the better baked So that wee see that although GOD hath not giuen men pappes for the generation of milke and nourishing of children as women haue neuerthelesse they are not without profite and vse in them as wee haue hearde Whereunto also wee may adde the beautifying of that part of the bodie where they are placed especially in women Againe could they possibly be set in any place that were more fit and more easie both for Mothers and Nurses and for the children to whome they giue sucke and nourishment For if the mother bee disposed to giue her childe sucke shee hath this commoditie to sitte downe if she will to holde it in her bosome and vpon her knees and likewise to imbrace it in her armes whether she sit lye downe or stande also shee may carie it vp and downe whither shee please euen whilest shee giueth it sucke and feedeth it This commoditie is not graunted to the females of beastes when they giue sucke and nourish their little ones with their teates Wherein wee haue to marke one notable difference which GOD hath put betweene men and beastes For beastes haue no other care of their yong ones but onely to nourish their bodies with foode vntill they bee able to feede and gouerne themselues afterward both syre and damme and little ones forget one another taking no more knowledge eche of other nor louing one another more then other beastes of their kinde But amongst men both the father and the mother are caried with an affection towardes their little children which is the cause why they forget them not as beastes doe And as they loue their children so are they loued of them insomuch that there is a mutuall loue proceeding from that naturall affection which they beare one towardes another On the other side this loue causeth parents to let their children haue instruction that they may bee wise and vertuous And therefore it is not without good cause that womens pappes are placed in the breast namely to the ende they shoulde bee vnto them as signes and testimonies of the affection of the heart and of that loue which they ought to beare towardes their children whereof they ought to make them partakers aswell as of the milke of their breastes and as if they gaue vnto them their heart as they giue them their blood turned into milke Likewise children are by the selfe-same meanes to bee admonished of that mutuall affection and loue which they ought to carie towards their mothers as if they had sucked it out of their breasts and from their heart together with their milke that they may returne the like vnto them againe Wherefore mothers and children haue a wise mistres in nature and in the prouidence of God that appeareth therein if they knew how to followe it well Againe for this cause mothers ought to take greater delight in nourishing their owne children then in committing them to the handes of strangers and hyred Nurses For out of doubt the mutuall affection and loue of eche to other woulde greatly increase thereby Nowe hauing spoken of the place which God hath assigned to the pappes let vs consider his prouidence in their forme which is such that fayrer and more fitte for that office of theirs coulde not bee deuised For wee see howe they hang there in the breast of the mother and Nurse as it were two bottles hauing nipples and holes made fit for the infants mouth that hee might take holde of them and drawe and sucke the milke that is within the dugges which are filled presently after the child is borne so that hee is no sooner come into the worlde but hee hath such foode and nourishment readie drest as is meete for him For albeit the infant bringeth his teeth with him from his mothers wombe yet because they are hidde within the gummes and are not yet come foorth hee must haue such meate as needeth no chewing but may bee sucked which GOD hath prouided for him Wherein wee haue a woonderfull testimonie of the care hee hath ouer vs and what kinde of Father and cherisher hee is For this cause Dauid had good reason to say Out of the mouth of babes and suckelings hast thou ordeyned strength because of thine enemies For if one consider the prouidence of God which dayly sheweth it selfe ouer children onely there is no Atheist Epicure or other enemie of God so great which shall not bee confounded conuinced and constrayned will hee nill hee to giue glorie to GOD. For before children can speake euen from their mothers breastes they shewe foorth and preache the prouidence of God in prouiding milke for them But wee shall finde it a matter of greater admiration if wee consider not onely in what manner they are nourished presently after their birth but also howe they are nourished in their mothers wombe For there they are not sustayned by the mouth nor with milke as they are after their byrth but with their mothers owne blood receiued by the Nauill which is in the middest of the bodie But God hath made such an agreement betweene the wombe in which the little childe is nourished in his mothers belly and betwixt her breasts that that blood wherewith the Infant was feede before it was borne presently after the birth ascendeth into her pappes in which by reason of the aboade it maketh there it becommeth white and is so well heated and prepared that it hath as conuenient and pleasant a taste as can be put into the infants mouth And as for the substance of the milke there cannot be any
are soone perswaded to giue ouer all care to seeke for and to prouide thinges necessary for the soule And if the bodie be neuer so little out of square yea the verie feare least they should procure it any griefe causeth them wholly to abstaine from labouring the minde in the searching out of wisedome and trueth so that they voluntary become ignorant There are others that haue running heads who will neuer continue and stay in one thing and some also that when they shoulde hearken to that which they are about haue their wittes a wool-gathering and as wee vse commonly to say are building of castles in Spaine But aboue all we must herein acknowledge that God distributeth his giftes and graces to men and bestoweth witte and vnderstanding as it pleaseth him Nowe that we haue intreated sufficiently of the vnderstanding and of the discourses of reason therein let vs speake of Iudgement which followeth it and of his office This then shal be the matter subiect of thy speech AMANA Of Iudgement and of his office after the discourse of reason and how Beleefe Opinion or doubting follow it of the difference that is betweene them Chap. 30. AMANA If I iudge aright of the doctrine contained in our former discourses which handled the nature powers faculties and vertues of the soule I finde that the spirite is as it were the chiefe part therin in which is the Mind the Vnderstanding Memory The Mind is as it were a white paper wherein as a man groweth in yeeres and iudgement so he writeth his cogitations and thoughts which he hath by learning and by the instruction of wisedome Vnderstanding is framed by the knowledge of reason and last of all Memorie followeth For there is great difference betweene that which the senses and the vnderstanding are able to doe in the time of infancie and that which is done by them in other ages wherein there is greater vse of them And although the seeds of al the operations of the soule are included within it euen from the beginning of the creation thereof neuertheles God hath created it of that nature that as hee hath ioyned it to the body which hath his degrees of growth in euery part thereof so the soule hath some agreement therewith in this respect touching the manifestation of her powers and vertues If then any man bee endued with an excellent spirite that is quicke and ready to conceiue and with a memory apt to retaine and holde fast it is a great meane for him whereby to attaine to the knowledge of the trueth But for the perfection of these two great giftes of nature it is necessary hee shoulde haue a good and found iudgement proceeding from a sounde disputing and discoursing of reason lightened by the spirit of God and by it purged of errour illusion and of all vaine opinions which the nature of man hath of his owne inheritance and which hindereth him from iudging aright of the trueth Nowe the office of Iudgement is to like or dislike the discourses of reason and the conclusions which are made thereby For it belongeth to Iudgement to iudge whether reason discourse and conclude well as it ought to doe And therefore it is in the spirite and in the minde as a rule or as the skoles in a payre of balance and whilest reason is a woorking it is quiet But when shee hath concluded and done iudgement afterwarde examineth and considereth whether there bee any fault in the discoursing or in the conclusion or in both or whether all bee well referred before it eyther approue or mislike any thing And if it finde any thing that breedeth feare least it be deceiued then it beginneth againe to aduise of the matter Nowe the greatest cause it hath to feare least it bee deceiued ariseth of probable reasons which albeeit they bee like to bee true yet indeede are not true And because there are some which haue such great shewe of trueth that it is a very harde matter to bee able to discerne them from true reasons and not take them to bee such indeede therefore the Iudgement may bee often deceiued by this meanes For it will not easily flippe aside but abide constant in that wherein it is once setled if it bee not ledde and induced to allowe or disallowe of a thing eyther by vertue of true and certaine reasons that may mooue it or of such reasons as are so verie likely and carry so greate a shewe of trueth that they cannot bee knowne and discerned for others Therefore wee may well saye that a good vpright and sounde iudgement is an excellent gift of God neither is there any thing more necessary in all artes and disciplines yea in the whole course of mans life and chiefly for the principall end of our being which is to know and to serue God For as Good is a thing agreeable to the Will so is Trueth agreeable to the Minde whereupon it followeth likewise that as Euill is contrarie and an enemie to the Will so is lying in respect of the minde Wherefore if iudgement iudgeth that the conclusion made by reason is true and followeth well it ioyneth it selfe thereunto receiuing and imbracing it as agreeable to it selfe This approbation is called Consent But if it iudge the conclusion to be false it turneth aside and reiecteth it and this refusall may be called dissent because it is contrary to consent when there is no agreement of sentences but disagreement and contrarietie As touching Consent we may diuide it into two kindes For one kinde thereof is firme and stedfast and another weake and vnstayed If the consent bee firme certaine and throughly resolued it is called Beleefe But there is difference betwixt that beleefe or faith which concerneth humane matters and that which is of diuine thinges For then doe wee giue credite to humane thinges when wee take them to bee so certaine that wee doubt nothing thereof as namely when wee are so perswaded eyther by very euident reasons which remoue all doubting from vs or els by testimonies which we take to bee most certaine Wherefore wee may say that there is great agreement betwixt this kinde of beleefe and betweene Science because there is a certaine resolution both in the one and in the other For Science is a kind of knowledge in which the demonstration made vnto vs compelleth vs to approue that which is spoken because we see the reasons so certaine that we cannot gainsay them nor thinke otherwise The like is done in beleefe which is a kinde of knowledge that causeth vs without doubting to giue credite vnto that which is tolde vs because wee are ouercome by witnesses and by authoritie which wee approue For if wee doubted any thing our consent woulde bee yet weake and so it coulde not properly be called beleefe but rather Coniecture or Opinion For considering that in this there is some kinde of consent which inclineth to one part rather then to another
they call it the foundation of iustice Therefore faithfull signifieth as much as true constant and firme in that which a man hath spoken and promised namely when one hath kept his faith Heereof it is also that God is so often in the holy Scriptures called Faithfull in respect of vs because hee neuer falfifieth his faith but is alwayes firme and constant in al his words and workes But when the Scripture speaketh of Faith in regarde of men towardes God it doth not onely comprehend a beleefe whereby wee beleeue that to bee true which wee heare and which is spoken vnto vs as when one telleth vs some historie but it is also a trust which assureth vs that God will performe that vnto vs which he hath promised vs. Therefore true faith includeth in it a certaine and vndoubted confidence of heauenly things and an assured perswasion of the accomplishment of Gods promises towards vs. Now to prosecute our purpose seeing we haue learned that the knowledge of the truth which is the principall obiect of reason and vnderstanding is verie hard for men to attaine vnto let vs consider of the meanes whereby wee may bee certaine and sure of those things which we are to beleeue This discourse ARAM. belongeth vnto thee Of the meanes whereby a man may haue certaine knowledge of those thinges which he ought to beleeue and take for true of the naturall and supernaturall light that is in man and how they beare witnesse of the image of God in him Chap. 31. ARAM For a man to knowe himselfe to be ignorant is a goodlie science and so necessary for men that without it they cannot be truely skilfull For the ignorant person that knoweth not himselfe to be such a one but supposeth hee knoweth that which hee doeth not in deede is as vnteachable a beast as can be because hee will neuer seeke for a master to be instructed by but if any offer themselues hee will reiect them and rather himselfe take vpon him to teach them Therefore Socrates was greatly commended by the ancients because he saide that hee knewe but one onely thing namely that he was ignorant and knewe nothing True it is that if wee speake of things which may be knowen by the corporall and spirituall senses of men euen as nature hath giuen them vnto vs and of things belonging to naturall and morall Philosophie there are many men to bee founde whose knowledge therein is so great that other men in respect of them may seeme to bee but poore beasts But when we must ascend vp to the knowledge of things reuealed vnto vs in Iesus Christ and in the Gospell no sense or vnderstanding of man is able to comprehend any thing therein if the spirite of God doe not teach him and dwell in him to seale and to confirme in his soule the doctrine of those heauenly mysteries wherein the skilfullest men are no better taught of themselues then those that are most ignorant For that abideth alwayes true which Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians that the naturall man perceiueth not the things of the spirite of God for they are foolishnesse vnto him neither can hee knowe them because they are spiritually discerned Nowe I finde foure meanes whereby men may be made certaine of those things vnto which they ought to giue credite whereof three of them are naturall and according to naturall Philosophie the fourth goeth further and is proper to diuinitie The first is generall experience the second the knowledge of principles the third naturall iudgement of these three wee will first speake and then come to the fourth Generall experience is that iudgement which al men of sound mindes doe giue all after one sort of those things whereof they haue certaine experience by their corporall senses as is to be seene in naturall things For who knoweth not that the fire is hote And who woulde not take him for a senselesse man that should affirme the contrary Yea who coulde affirme it being conuinced of the trueth thereof by his owne senses Likewise who seeth not the difference that is betweene death and life and what are the effectes both of the one and the other For euery one knoweth these thinges by a generall experience common to all Wherefore this knowledge is certaine and where it is so there needeth no other proofe or demonstration fetched farther then from such experience For God hath so created the nature of things that men must needes confesse it to be so as generall experience doth declare it to be And he that will not beleeue it let him take triall thereof himselfe and he shall know whether it be so or no. So that whosoeuer would stand against this common and generall experience he should make open warre against God and nature in denying all order which he hath set downe therein Concerning the knowledge of principles wee must first knowe that there is vnderstoode by principles that naturall knowledge that is borne with vs which is the seede of all Artes and a beame of the light of God in vs to the ende that by this meanes all Artes necessary for life should be inuented and put in vse As for example euery one knoweth naturally that the whole of any thing is more then the halfe or then a part of it onely and that three are moe then two To be briefe the knowledge of numbers of measures and of other such like things is naturall vnto vs and is not found in the nature of beastes and therefore they haue neither the inuention nor vse of any Arte as wee haue already heard But let vs proceede farther and consider whether there be no natural knowledge in men whereby they vnderstand that there is a diuine nature wise iust true good that loueth goodnesse and hateth and punisheth euil with which nature the soule of man hath some agreement and is as it were an image thereof for which cause he ought to be made conformable to God by folowing after wisedome trueth iustice goodnesse and all vertue and by shunning the contrary vices In this respect he that followeth this rule obeyeth God doing that which is pleasant and right in his eies and he that leaueth this rule disobeyeth and displeaseth him committing wicked and dishonest things whereby hee becommeth woorthy of punishment In a worde wee may referre to these naturall principles whatsoeuer God hath imprinted in mens hearts and mindes of the law of nature which serueth all men for naturall diuinitie the Bookes of which they carry printed in their soules And yet out of all question this diuinitie will scarce serue vs but to condemnation if we go no farther because the booke thereof is so blotted in vs that there is not so much as one small peece or leafe thereof whole sound which is not very much blurred torne Neuertheles that which remaineth is a sufficient processe against vs before God and able to conuince and condemne vs at
his iudgement Of this wee our selues may iudge in that wee see that there is no nation or people that liue with no religion at all but they haue one eyther true or false whereby they labour to appease the wrath of God and to be vnder his fauour and protection according to that measure of knowledge which they haue of him Whereby they plainely declare that there is a certaine lawe within them taken from the Booke of this naturall diuinitie which condemneth them in their hearts vrgeth constraineth them to do that which they do euen as we feele our selues pressed and cnndemned by the written law which God hath giuen vnto vs. Wherefore if wee knew how to profit by them both they would both serue vs in steade of a Schoolemaster to direct leade vs vnto Iesus Christ For both of them if we vnderstand them wel testifie sufficiently vnto vs that we stand in need of a Mediator by whom we may haue accesse to God and be reconciled vnto him seeing wee feele our condemnation within our selues and in our owne consciences As for the third meane to make a man certaine of that which hee is to accompt for true which wee saide was naturall Iudgement it is the vnderstanding of that order that ought to be in things and of the consequence of them whereby to iudge in some sort of the agreement or disagreement they haue one with an other insomuch that euery one hath within himselfe as it were a naturall logicke whereby hee is able to iudge at leastwise of common things It remaineth nowe that we learne the fourth meane which passeth all the former and that is diuine reuelation whereof wee haue made mention and those certaine and infallible testimonies which wee learne of the holy Scriptures I meane the Bookes of the Prophets and Apostles with the confirmation and vnderstanding of them by the holy Spirite For it were not enough for vs to haue the worde of God deliuered vnto vs by them except the holy Ghost had his working both in them in vs. Wherfore although naturally we more easily and firmely beleeue that which our minde is able to see knowe and comprehend by the naturall light thereof then that which goeth beyond it yet forasmuch as God hath made vs capable of vnderstanding and reason wee ought to giue no lesse credite to all that he hath reuealed vnto vs by his worde yea much more to this howsoeuer by that light of nature which remaineth in vs wee neither see nor knowe howe true and firme it is and that for the causes before vttered Hereof it is that in the Epistle to the Hebrewes faith is called the substance and ground of things hoped for and such an euident demonstration of things not seene that it conuinceth men and causeth them to perceiue and knowe the trueth of them very cleerely Whereupon wee haue to note that this naturall light and that which wee call supernaturall are not to speake properly two diuers and different lights but one and the same as wee shoulde well haue knowen if our nature had continued in perfection and in that image of God in which it was created and framed farre differing from all other creatures For although there is in them some image of God yet they haue not vnderstanding to knowe it as it is neither to knowe God their creator who hath imprinted it in them But it is farre otherwise in man For God will be knowen of him and therefore hee hath so imprinted his image in his nature that hee will haue him to see and knowe it For this cause hee hath giuen him a minde and vnderstanding able to to receiue this knowledge For the greatest likenesse and resemblance that man can haue with God consisteth in the agreement with him in wisdome and iustice which cannot be but in a nature that is capable and partaker of reason and vnderstanding Nowe because God is good yea a common and generall Good hee will not withholde this good in himselfe without communicating it but maketh all his creatures partakers thereof especially man with whome it hath pleased him to communicate this Good of wisedome and iustice which is the greatest and most excellent good that is in him Therefore did God together with his image imprint his knowledge in the nature of man For man could not otherwise know this image and similitude neither what it is to be like or vnlike to God if hee had no more knowledge of God who and what manner a one hee is then other creatures that want this knowledge because they are not capable of vnderstanding and reason nor of this image of wisedome and iustice which is in God and by which man is made like vnto him Wherefore the first degree of this image and similitude that is in man appeareth in that power and facultie of vnderstanding which God hath giuen him and in that wisedome whereof hee hath made him partaker and which hath some agreement with the wisedome of God So that before man sinned the image of God was such in him that there was a perfect agreement of all the powers and vertues of the soule betweene God and him For the diuine light did so shine in his minde that hee had certaine and firme knowledge of GOD neither was there any resistance against either in his heart or in his will but a sounde and perpetuall concord and consent So that there was alwayes betweene the minde and the will an vprightnesse and iustice agreeable with God neither was the freedome of the will hindered or driuen forward to euill because man had not yet made himselfe the subiect and salue of sinne As long therefore as man kept this image of God within him the Lord dwelt therein as in his own lodging and by that meanes would haue giuen to men such perpetual life ioy as shold neuer haue bin broken off or extinguished either by sorow or by death if he had suffred himselfe to be alwayes guided by God neuer turned aside nor seuered himselfe from him Therefore S. Paul speaking of this first image and the renewing thereof in man saith Put on the new man which after God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse Seeing then it is thus there is no doubt but that if man had continued in his integritie the light which is nowe supernaturall in him woulde haue beene naturall in all that knowledge of God which is necessary for him to that ende whereunto he was created For hee had neuer beene ouerwhelmed with darkenesse which dimmed and hindered this heauenly light that shined in him and made him the habitation and temple of God but had seene cleerely the image of the father of the sonne and of the holy ghost shining in his soule in which it was imprinted the draughts and beames whereof are yet euident enough in him I meane to them that consider of them as it appertaineth following the light of the
the body which in the infancie of man hinder it from doing that which it doeth by them in other ages Besides wee may truely say that God hath created it of that nature that as hee hath ioyned it vnto the body which hath his degrees of growth so the soule hath some agreement therewith in this respect touching the manifestation of her naturall powers and vertues Neither is it any strange thing if God deale so with it in this matter In the meane time wee see that although the soule of man seemeth in nothing or very little to differ from that of plants as long as it is in the mothers womb nor from the soule of beasts during the time of his infancie neuerthelesse afterward it sheweth very well wherein it differeth from them and that it hath certaine vertues which are not in any other soule For if this were not so both in respect of the age and growth of the body as also in regarde of that property which is in the nature thereof it woulde be alwayes like to that which it is in the beginning as wee see it is with plantes and beastes in whose soule wee can perceiue no more change in the ende and when they growe vp then in their beginning and first birth According then to that I haue now saide we see by experience that in the gifts and graces wherewith GOD daily adorneth and enricheth his children he doeth not communicate all at once vnto them but by little and little and by degrees as hee iudgeth it expedient and as they are capable of reason and vnderstanding Therefore it is written of Iohn Baptist that the childe grewe and waxed strong in spirite which is as much to say as that according as hee grewe in age God increased the graces of his holie spirite vpon him wherewith hee had indued him euen from his mothers wombe And when wee haue profited well in his schoole so that wee are assured of and instructed in those things which wee ought to followe according to the worde of GOD wee easily attaine to that Good which is the ende of all inquirie of the trueth namely to contemplation which followeth iudgement as iudgement followeth reason and the discourse thereof For reason discoursing is as it were the inquisition of the trueth that is sought for and iudgement is as the election that maketh choice of the trueth and of that which it taketh to be most certaine and Contemplation is as it were a quiet and setled beholding of all those things which were gathered together by reason and receiued with approbation by iudgement For there is no more place for disputation seeing all things are certaine and cleere Nowe all pleasure and delight proceedeth from the conuenience and agreement that is betwixt the thing that pleaseth and him whome it doeth please And because there is nothing more agreeable to the nature of the spirite and minde of man then trueth hereof it commeth that notwithstanding al corruption that is in him there is no man but naturally desireth knowledge and skill accounting science to bee excellent and woorthie of great praise and ignorance to bee full of shame yea hee iudgeth it a verie ill thing to bee deceiued Wherefore wee may not doubt but that as knowledge is more true and certaine so doeth the spirite receiue greater pleasure and when it hath found the trueth it delighteth greatly therein And if for the causes before touched by vs it can not find the trueth so certainely as it desireth yet it taketh singular pleasure in approching so neere vnto it as it can For this cause the more certaine the trueth is which it knoweth it is the more agreeable and pleasant vnto it especially when it knoweth the true spring and first causes thereof Therefore as the mindes of men delight more in those things that resemble them most of so much the more noble and excellent nature they are yea more heauenly and diuine and so will take pleasure in such things as are most excellent and celestiall Contrariwise the more earthly vile and abiect they shall be the more will they delight in mortall base and contemptible things and despise such as are of greatest value For this cause many Philosophers haue esteemed more of the studie of Philosophie and the knowledge thereof then of kingdomes and great riches being prouoked and pricked thereunto by an vnspeakeable pleasure which their spirite tooke in the knowledge of those things that were reueled vnto them therein On the other side wee see that ambitious men delight more in honours and worldely greatnesse then they woulde doe at leastwise in their owne opinion in all the skill of the Philosophers A couerous man pleaseth himselfe a great deale more in telling and beholding his crownes then in any other thing whatsoeuer It is no maruell therefore if ambitious couetous and voluptuous men and such like doe commonly deride those that take delight in learning and chiefly in the doctrine and contemplation of those celestiall and eternall things which they set before their eyes or if they preferre greatly their owne estate and condition before others that take pleasure in such things For they are pearles cast before swine which are not valued as they are woorth but onely of such as knowe them and their value Nowe if heathen Philosophers haue oftentimes willingly abandoned all their goodes that they might wholly addict themselues to the study of their humane Philosophie to the contemplation of such things as they could know thereby notwithstanding that it was alwayes accompanied with some doubting and that they could neuer attaine to a certaine knowledge either of the beginning or ende of things what ought Christians to do when the question is of Diuine Philosophie and Wisedome the treasures of which are opened and offered vnto them in the word of God For it is without all comparision farre more certayne then any science and containeth in it other trueths and matters that are great deale more profound excellent and more worthy of contemplation And they to whome God hath beene so gratious as to giue some taste and experience of these things are able to iudge well of them yea farre better then any others For it is certaine that euen for a little true knowledge of God and of the trueth of those things which hee hath reuealed vnto vs in his doctrine wee receiue singular delight with great ioy and sweete consolation So that euery man may perceiue howe much greater the pleasure will bee when the knowledge shall be greater If then this small taste which wee may haue in this worlde of these delicacies and spirituall delights bringeth vnto vs such singular ioy we may easily iudge howe great it will be in that most happy contemplation which wee shall haue in heauen with God when wee shall beholde him face to face and knowe him as wee are knowen whereas heere wee see him but as it were in a glasse and
preferred before another For how do we see men giuen ouer to those pleasures wherein they delight not onely in eating and drinking in dainty morsels and delicate drinkes but also in other carnall pleasures that are more earthy and vile especially when they are excessiue and vnmeasurable as they are in whoredome For those which wee receiue in eating and drinking belong to the sense of taste which is brutish enough but these others to the sense of touching which is a great deale more brutish We know by experience also that these senses are sooner wearied and tyred with their pleasures then any other and that such delights commonly bring with them more yrkesomnes and loathing then ioy and pleasure leauing many times behind them a long and shamefull repentance for pollutions receiued by them The pleasures that belong to the other senses as they are of longer continuance so they weary not a man so quickly especially those that delight the sight Yea the baser and more vile the pleasures are the sooner doe they loathe a man as they know by experience that are giuen to whoredome For how insatiable soeuer they be yet can they not but be glutted therewith neither are they able to continue their vnrulinesse so long in that pleasure howsoeuer they want no good-will as in the pleasures that come by eating and drinking Neither can the greatest gluttons drunkards and daintie mouthed persons follow so long together after the delights of their gluttony drunkennes and daintie diet as they may after those which they receiue either in smelling or in hearing or in seeing As for the pains that are to be taken in the obtaining and vsing of these pleasures the more earthy brutish the delight is the greater labour is to bee had about it and the more excessiuely the pleasure is vsed the greater hurt commeth thereby as wee daily see in gluttons drunkards and whoremongers by the testimonie of those diseases which take holde of them through their excesse Thus then we may learne by the vse of those pleasures which are receiued by the bodily and outward senses which of them are to be preferred before others with the agreement necessary therein and the moderation that alwayes ought to bee obserued in them But to goe forward with our matter we are now to compare together the delights and pleasures that are receiued by the spirituall and internall senses and to vnderstand what difference there is betweene the vse of the pleasures of the spirite and of the body and howe the one driue away the other Nowe let vs heare what ACHITOB will tell vs of this point Of the comparison of pleasures receiued by the internall senses and howe men descend by degrees from the best to the basest pleasures of the difference betweene the vse of spirituall delights and corporall and howe the one chase the other Chap. 48. ACHITOB. Experience daily teacheth vs that we need but a little griefe to diminish a great pleasure or otherwise to take it cleane away and to change it into great displeasure yea to turne a great ioy into extreame sorow and sadnes But few there are that meditate and knowe the cause thereof The trueth is we can thinke of no other cause then of the corruption of our nature of the estate and disposition of our bodie of the course of our age and life which decline continually and waxe worse and worse Therefore a small griefe findeth greater strength within vs to cause our heart to giue back and to close vp it selfe and wholly to cast vs downe then a great ioy and delight is able to open and inlarge it and to sustaine and holde vs vp For a little force will throwe downe this shaking and reeling bodie but there had neede to bee a great deale of strength to vnderproppe and stay it vp firme and stedfast On the other side wee can more easily want pleasures then not feele their contrary griefes For wee doe not perceiue so much the want of a good which we haue not as the presence of an euill which wee suffer For in the first it seemeth that wee want nothing but in the other the sense is afflicted and the sounde estate and disposition thereof is cleane taken away and ouerthrowne Nowe if wee desire to feele such griefes as little as we may and to approach as neere as our nature will permit to true delight and pleasures wee must withdrawe our selues from vile and abiect things and contemplate most high and excellent things Nowe as we haue learned by the former discourse that those delights and pleasures which are receiued by the chiefest senses that sauour least of the earth are of longer continuance then the other so we are to knowe that the pleasures of the fancie are more stable and firme then those which come by the corporall senses Hereof it is that men are cloyed a great deale sooner not onely with the pleasures of eating and drinking and of other more abiect thinges but also of sweete smelles of musicke of harmonicall soundes and of the beholding of goodly sights then with those good that are in the fancy and in opinion whereby the minde is deceiued as namely the getting and possessing of siluer of riches of power of honours and of glorie For these Goods are goods rather in opinion then in truth But because fancie propoundeth them vnto her selfe for Goods therefore shee taketh pleasure and delight in them Therefore the couetous man delighteth in his golde siluer and riches and the ambitious man in his power gloy and honours which are the pleasures of fancie and with which she is not so soone wearied as the bodie is with corporal pleasures but contrariwise the more shee hath the more her delight encreaseth and becommeth insatiable But the pleasures of reason of the minde and of the spirite continue a great deale longer then they because the spirite is not wearie or tyred but is recreated and refreshed But none can iudge well of this but those that haue had experience thereof No maruaile therefore if such men as are addicted to these other more base and earthly pleasures mocke and deride them that contemne their delightes and make so great account of these spirituall and heauenly pleasures that they are content to renounce all the rest and to forgoe all the goods in the worlde that they may enioy these as wee see it was with those holie personages that haue tasted of them As for those carnall and beastlike men wee may say of them as wee doe of hogges that delight more in a puddle or sinke then in pretious stones or sweete odours namely that they followe that which is most agreeable to their naturall disposition because they want iudgement to discerne the value of those thinges which they contemne and make no account of Nowe among the pleasures of the spirite those that consist in contemplation are of their nature by which wee shall become blessed in the the
retaineth a longer time that liquor and foode that it receiueth For this cause it is of a greater length and hath more foldings and turnings to the ende it may the better concoct the liquor and bee tempering with the foode the longer time whereby it shall not neede to bee filled and stuffed presently with other meates And heerein wee haue to note the good forecast of nature For if wee were presently to returne againe to the Table after we had taken our meate wee shoulde doe nothing all our life time but eate and drinke Therefore some of the ancient Philosophers haue in this respect acknowledged the prouidence of GOD saying that these foldings plites and windings were made to this ende that men might not liue ignorantly as beastes that are destitute of all knowledge which would follow vndoubtedly if they were of necessitie to attend alwayes vpon the belly Nowe let vs speake of the other three great Guts which followe the small ones These then are lower more fleshie and thicke because their chiefe office is to receiue the excrements of the aboue named Guts and to retaine the same vntill the iust time come to send them foorth euen as it is the office of the three former to distribute the liquor and foode by the Meseraicall veines The first of these great ones is called the Blinde Gut because that being large and great it hath but one way both to receiue in and to let out the matter receiued whereupon it is commonly called by some the Sacke or Budget Gut His office is to receiue the excrementes from the last lesser Gut and hauing drawne out some nourishment from them to cast foorth the rest to the other Gut called Colon. For this cause the doores and holes of these three last Guts concurre well together in a hollowe place Nowe because this blinde Gut is wide and round and hath many foldings among other things it standeth in steade of an other stomach to keepe and to preserue meate in it against some want and necessitie to come and to distribute it to the neighbour-members after a long hunger Whereunto the Gut called Colon doeth also helpe both by reason of the capacitie of it as for the oblique situation thereof as also because it keepeth within it foode and nourishment Concerning the name of it the Greeke worde from whence it is taken signifieth Gaine because it is greater and more capable then any of the rest or else it may signifie as a man woulde say Cut because it is as it weree cut into sundry holes and hath diuers turnings For it receiueth the excrementes and to the ende they shoulde not passe away by and by it sendeth them by little and little through straight passages The chollericke humour descendeth out of the hungrie Gut into this whereby the dirt is both coloured and driuen foorth Of this Gut called Colon the Colike passion taketh the name as the Ileaca passion doeth of the Gut Ileon Nowe because this Gut is puffed vp more then any of the rest and is very painefull to them that haue it stopped it hath certaine straight threedes wouen amongest the ouerthwart Fibres which strengthen the coates and skinnes thereof to the ende they shoulde not breake or cracke when they are blowen vp and strained Whereby wee see againe howe the counsaile of Gods prouidence hath notably prouided for all things whose excellent maiestie hath not despised these most base earthly and brute parts Nowe it remaineth that wee shoulde consider of the third Gut called the Straight Gut For although it proceede from the Gut Colon yet it differeth from it both in place and figure and is called the Straight Gut because of the straightnesse of it Some call it the Fatte Gut because it is passing fatte in beastes It reacheth vnto the very fundament at the ende whereof is placed a muscle being fashioned rounde like to a Ring to keepe in and to retaine ventositie and excrementes vntill Nature please to this ende that expulsion of them might not bee made vpon euery occasion and in euery place indifferently against our wils and contrary to naturall and ciuill honestie For the vse of the straight Gut is to carrie and throwe foorth cleane out of the bodie the filth dregs and grossest excrements thereof being such as are altogether vnprofitable and hurtfull to the body Nowe forasmuch as it is the lowest gut and most burthened by reason that it must holde all the grosse excrements of whatsoeuer entreth into the body by the mouth and is oftentimes very much blowen and stretched vp therefore the diuine prouidence hath giuen vnto it more threedes and fibres of all sortes then to any of the rest and hath made it strong and able to beare the charge So likewise his heauenly counsaile hath prouided that amongst all the members of the body those should be strongest that haue the greatest burthen and stresse to beare And for this cause also this straight gutte hath this muscle which the Physicions call Sphincter being taken from a Greeke worde that signifieth to restraine and close vp because it is an instrument of voluntarie motion that openeth and shutteth as wee will when neede requireth Nowe for the ende of this speech if wee consider well of those partes whereof wee haue spoken wee shall finde that wee carrie about with vs sundrie sortes of sinkes which are oftentimes ilfauouredly looked vnto And this ought to put vs in minde of our infirmities and of those goodly shoppes wee haue in our bodies full of stinking drugges which ought to take from vs all matter of pride Moreouer wee may learne here that which was spoken of in the beginning of this discourse namely the vse of these members and the necessitie of the basest and lesse comely partes Therefore if there were no other respect to be had but this of necessitie wee ought to be so farre from despising them especially the workemaster that hath made and disposed them as that wee ought rather thereby to acknowledge his great prouidence and the care hee hath had of vs seeing it hath pleased him euen from the high degree of his maiestie to prouide for the least and last necessities and infirmities of our bodies So likewise by admiring his so great bounty and goodnesse towardes vs wee haue good occasion by his example to doe the like one towardes an other in the performance of all dueties appertaining to a holy and true friendship Nowe that wee may prosecute our matter subiect let vs looke into the other naturall powers of the soule First let vs consider of the Mesentery of the Meseraicall veines of the sweete bread of the liuer and of their natures and offices The handling of these things belong to thee ARAM. Of the Mesentery and Mesareon of the Meseraicall veines of the Pancreas or sweet bread and of their nature and office of the liuer and of his nature and office of the rootes bodies and
that obscure place it receiueth the goodliest and most perfect forme that can be imagined And who will not bee abashed to consider that out of that slymie seede of man there shoulde come bones sinewes flesh skinne and such like things so diuers one from another But yet it is a farre greater marueile to see all this great diuersitie of matter to bee framed in so many sundrie members and of so many sundry formes and that with such excellent beautie so profitable and so fitte for those offices that are assigned vnto them as wee haue learned in our former discourses Nowe as God did not create all creatures in one day although he coulde well haue done it if it had so pleased him so doeth he in the generation of men For albeeit that the members are fashioned all at once so that not one of them is framed before another neuerthelesse because there is great varietie betwixt them both in respect of their dignitie and of their strength nature their mother doeth not set them forwarde all alike For in displaying her power generally towards all the partes of the bodie it commeth to passe that her worke and the figure giuen vnto it appeareth sooner or later in some members more then in others Hereof it is that the greatest and chiefest members appeare naturally before the rest albeit they are not the first that are fashioned So likewise all the members are not beautified and made perfect at the same time but some after others according as they haue heate and nourishment Nature therefore obserueth this order that the worthiest partes and such as haue in them the beginning of motion shew themselues first and then those members that are profitable and seruiceable to the former and are created for their cause And according to this order the highest partes are seene sooner then the lowest and those within before them without and they that receiue their substance from the seed before those that haue it from blood These also amongest them that are most excellent are first notwithstanding many times they haue their accomplishment and perfection after the other as it appeareth in the Nauill For although the heart liuer and braine beeing the chiefest partes of the bodie haue their beginning before that yet is it the first amongest them all that appeareth perfect Nowe then after the Nauil with his pipe or passage is formed and fashioned within the first sixe dayes the blood and spirite are next drawen by those veines and arteries whereof we spake euen now to be sent to the seede and mingled therewith that the principall members might be figured as the liuer the heart and the braine which begin first like to little bladders and so consequently the rest which are fashioned by litle and litle according as they receiue nourishment For the veines whereby the burthen is nourished may well be likened to small rootes whereby plants are cherished as also the burden it selfe may bee compared vnto plants in this point as we haue alreadie learned So that the seed receiuing this forme alreadie spoken of in the first sixe dayes during which time it is called by no other name then seede nine dayes after that the blood is drawne thither of which the liuer and the heart receiue their forme so that after twelue dayes added to the former a man may discerne the lineaments and proportion of these two members and also of the braine albeit they are not then altogether fashioned At this time the burthen is called Faetus of the Latines and Embryon of the Greekes which is as much in our language as Sprouting or Budding Next after this within the space of other eighteene daies all the other members are fashioned and distinguished So that about fiue and fourty dayes after the conception the members receiue their perfect fashion and then doeth the burthen beginne to liue not onely as plants liue but also as other liuing creatures For it hath sense feeling about the sixe and thirtieth day and from that time forward it is called an infant But as yet it is voyde of motion For by and by after it is formed it is very tender vntill that by vertue of the heate it waxeth more dry and firme which is by reason that the moysture wherby it is made so soft and tender consumeth away by litle and litle so that the nayles beginne to take roote at the fingers endes and the haires in the head Now after the childe is come to the thirde moneth if it bee a male or to the fourth if it bee a female it beginneth to stirre it selfe according to the testimonie of Hippocrates because then his bones are more firme and somewhat harder But this is not alwaies alike in all women with childe For there are some that alwayes feele it stirre about the two and fourtieth day others neuer feele the same vntill the middest of the time from the conception to the birth Yea in the same woman the same time and order is not alwayes obserued For according to the strength and good complexion of the child and the nature and disposition of the mother these things change and not onely because of the sexe Neuerthelesse it is most ordinary and vsuall for male children to moue within three moneths or thereabouts as likewise to bee borne at the ninth moneth whereas females are commonly somewhat slower both in stirring and also at their birth the reason whereof is this because male children are naturally a great deale more hote then females Galen attributeth the cause of the generation of sonnes to the strength and heate of the seede and saieth that they are caried on the right side of the wombe as the daughters on the left which is the colder side as being farthest remooued from the liuer He yeldeth also this reason why some children are more like the father and some the mother because of the greater strength of seede which they haue either from the one or from the other And when it commeth to passe that the wombe receiueth seede at two sundry passages which it hath then are twinnes engendred either at one conception or at twaine so that the later bee not long after the former according to the opinion of the Philosophers and namely of Aristotle who rehearseth many examples thereof in his seuenth booke of the historie of liuing creatures saying that a whore was deliuered of two children whereof the one was like the father and the other like the adulterer But nowe wee are to consider of the childe-birth which is as wonderfull a woorke of God in nature as any other It belongeth then to thee ACHITOB to ende this dayes worke by a discourse tending to this purpose Of Child-birth and the naturall causes thereof of the great prouidence of God appearing therein of the image of our eternall natiuitie represented vnto vs in our mortall birth Chap. 72. ACHITOB. Men are of that nature that they cannot acknowledge what they
are themselues or what they haue receaued of God except they bee brought backe to that first dust and earth out of which they are taken euen to their first creation and generation Therefore the holy spirite doeth esteeme it a thing not vnworthy his diuine maiestie often to instruct and to admonish vs by his worde and that so plainely and familiarly as no man be hee neuer so skilfull or so ignorant but he may greatly profit in this schoole at leastwise be made altogether inexcusable if he learne not that which the spirit doeth there teach him For concerning them that are most ignorant he speaketh very plainly to be vnderstood of them propounding that vnto them whereof they cannot be ignorant although they woulde at leastwise which they cannot easily know And as for the skilfuller sort who by their knowledge are able to vnderstand more then others they are so much the more guiltie if they will not giue credite to the woorkes of God as they are propounded vnto vs in the holy scriptures For what idole of nature soeuer they frame to themselues yet must they alwayes come to this first beginning of man which is clean contrary to the reason of humane sense and vnderstanding and so giue glory vnto God otherwise the fruite of all their studie will bee nothing els but confusion and ignorance Now the more we consider of the daily generation of men the more like we shall find it in all admiration to their first originall and creation For who coulde euer I say not beleeue but onely thinke or imagine that out of pressed milk and cruds as it were such as the beginning of man seemeth to bee there could proceede any liuing creature at all especially such an image of God as man is And yet we see this daily come to passe Now from whence commeth this milke Wee cannot for shame speake it without blushing So that if the worke and prouidence of God bee woonderfull in the conception and fashioning of man and in the life and preseruation he affoordeth him in his Mothers belly as wee haue shewed heeretofore surely it is no lesse admirable in his natiuitie and birth as we may now vnderstand Wee haue already heard howe by the faculties and powers of the soule and generatiue vertue thereof the seede is retained and preserued and how the child is formed thereof in the wombe Now all this while it is nourished by blood which is drawne vnto it by the veins of the nauill ordained to that end and therfore also the issue of this blood commonly ceasseth in women with childe as that which is then diuided into three partes For the childe draweth the purest thereof to it selfe and is therewithal nourished Secondly the wombe by veins leading directly to the breasts sendeth that part which is lesse pure wherof the milk is prepared that feedeth the child after it is borne The third part which is the worst staieth still in the wombe and so soone as the child is borne it issueth forth also This foode which the childe receiueth thus in the wombe caused Galen to allege an ancient sentence out of Athenaeus saying That the childe receiueth more from the mother then from the father euen as the plants draw more from the earth then they doe from the husbandman For this menstrual blood first encreaseth the seede and after serueth towardes the growth of the members by ministring food vnto them And for this cause this Authour teacheth that naturally the loue of the children is very great towardes their Mothers and so of the Mothers towardes their children as also in respect of the exceeding great mixture of their substaunce But when the childe is nowe encreased and growne so great and strong that he is well able to moue himselfe and to receiue his foode at the mouth as he is waxen greater so he must haue more store of nourishment then he is able to draw in at the nauil Likewise forasmuch as naturall heate is more augmented he had neede of the more aire and to receiue it in by respiration and breathing so farre foorth as is necessary for his refreshing Whereupon the childe stirreth and moueth with greater strength and violence so that it breaketh the skinnes bands wherein it was wrapped and some veines also and so maketh an issue and way for it self as that which cannot any longer be kept in the wombe Now when the child feeleth that aire entring in which it desireth and seeketh for the reason before alleadged it mooueth it selfe towardes the mouth of the wombe which is the most naturall and easie way of birth by reason that it is borne with the head forwarde Nowe so soone as it is come into the light it cryeth as if it did prognosticate and foretell of the miseries of that life into which it is entered The Philosophers and Phisitions referre the cause of this weeping to that motion which driueth it to the birth as also to those handlings and touchings wherewith it is receiued which cannot bee without some sense of griefe conceiued by this litle tender bodie Which body so long as it is in the wombe is bowed round as it were in a lumpe so that the heeles of it ioyne to the buttockes and the handes lay fast holde of the knees towards which it doeth bow downe the head so lowe that the eyes are ioyned to the thumbes as if they were fastened to them and the nose is thrust down betweene the knees Now when it hath attained to the ninth moneth so that it may no longer tarie there for the reasons before mentioned it turneth it selfe in the womb first with the head downeward and stretching out the legges and other members vpward Then when the houre of child-birth approcheth the babe by kicking and turning it selfe more violently maketh many ruptures by litle and litle so that the skinnes wherein both the Vrine and the sweate are contained bursting asunder whole streames gush out which shew that the birth is hard at hand For presently vpon the renting and breach of the After-burthen through the violence of the childe because there is nothing els that holdeth it vp the babe falleth downe euen as an apple or a peare falleth from the tree when it is ripe And as the childe doeth his best to come foorth at that time which God hath prescribed vnto it so the wombe and the mother of the child doe their partes as much as lieth in them to performe by the prouidence of God who hath prouided accordingly For during the space of those nine monethes wherein the childe is contained in the wombe it is shut vp and embraceth the burthen as close as it may And when the time of birth commeth the wombe doeth not onely open it selfe by litle and litle but all the top of it doeth gather it selfe as close together as it can and so thrust the babe towards the mouth of it wherunto also the neighbour parts lend
no more after that fashion so hee is in an estate that differeth much from the former So fareth it with man when hee is to depart out of the life of this worlde as if hee were to bee deliuered of it in childbirth for another life For hee dieth in regarde of this life to the ende he may liue another life which as farre excelleth this as this is better then the other which hee enioyed before in his mothers bellie yea it is so much the better of higher price in that the length of time of this second and blessed life shal be eternall and endles Moreouer as a childe commeth out when hee is borne so doth a man when he dieth And in comming forth both of them enter into a new and vnacquainted light into a place where they finde all things much altered and farre differing from those which they vsed to haue in their other kind of liuing For which cause both the one the other being troubled and scared with this nouelty are vnwilling to come forth of their clapper to forsake their closet were it not that they are vrged constrained thereunto by the arte lawes rights of nature wherby God hath better prouided for our affaires then wee our selues could conceiue or cōprehend both in our natiuity life also in our death The ignorance whereof causeth our spirit to abhorre the departure out of this life in regard of this great chāge that is therein because it knoweth not what good is brought to it thereby no more then the litle child knoweth wherefore he is borne into the world or what he shall finde there And therefore albeit nature presseth to come foorth neuerthelesse according to that sense which it can haue it weepeth by and by after it is borne as if it were fallen into some great inconuenience and that some great euil were fallen vnto it as we doe also at our death for the cause before alleged not considering that it is our second and better birth Thus you see what I haue thought requisite to be noted in the discourse of our generation and to morow God willing we must looke into the life and death of mans bodie But it shall not be without profite if first we speake somewhat of the causes why God created man naked and with lesse defence for himselfe then hee did other liuing creatures It belongeth then to thee ASER to speake of this matter The end of the ninth dayes worke THE TENTH dayes worke Why God created man naked and with lesse naturall defence then hee did all other liuing creatures how many wayes he recompenceth this nakednes of the generall beautie of the whole bodie of man ioyned with profit and commoditie Chap. 73. ASER As often as men shall consider in such sort as becommeth them that they are borne men and not brute beasts they wil be suffciētly admonished of the ciuil and sociable nature in which God hath created them of that humanitie for which he hath endued them with such a nature so that they wil keepe them selues from being transformed into sauage cruell beasts to hurt one another as commonly they do Truly it is not without some great and notable cause that among al liuing creatures there is not one to be found that hath a more delicate tender skin lesse furnished with couerings for the defence thereof then man hath considering that God himselfe created him as his principall woorke amongest all visible creatures and made him as it were Lorde of the whole worlde And yet hee is of that nature that the skinne wherewith he is clothed is not so sufficient a garment for him as is necessary to keep him from heat cold from other inconueniences that might happen vnto him except he be clad with some other couering then that which he bringeth frō his mothers belly For hee neither hath feathers as birds haue nor wooll as sheepe haue nor bristles as swine haue neither yet any skin or hide so hard nor so well couered and furnished with haire as foxes wolues beares bulls and other foure footed beasts haue Neither hath he any skales as fishes haue nor any shells as cockles sea creuisses tortoises and such other creatures haue But we haue foure things to consider of touching this point The first is that if man had not sinned after that God by creation had in great larges made him partaker of his heauenly giftes and graces he should not haue bene subiect to the want either of garments or of any such like thing whereunto he is nowe after a sort brought in subiection at leastwise he should haue had all these things without paine and griefe For this cause it is sayd in Genesis that after our first parents had transgressed the ordinance of God by eating of the forbidden fruite they knewe that they were naked and couered themselues with leaues And for a punishment of their offence it was sayd vnto them that they should eate their bread in the sweate of their face vnder which worde of bread was comprehended all things whereof they stood in neede for the maintenance preseruation of their life as we vnderstand it in that prayer which we dayly make to God when wee demaund of him our dayly bread The second point which we ought to note in this matter touching the nakednes of man is this that God would admonish him not onely by the whole frame and composition of his body and of all his members but also by his very skinne that he created him to liue in company and felowship and in peace with those of his owne kinde to helpe all and to hurt none Therefore hee did not create him with naturall weapons as he did other liuing creatures vnto whome he gaue all things necessary for their defence preseruation For some of them haue strength and weapons by nature to resist their enemies others wanting this haue swiftnes to conuey themselues out of all dangers and some wanting both these haue yet subtiltie places of refuge to defend themselues withall As for man God hath placed him in this world vnarmed and naked so that if men be disposed to hurt and to warre one vpon another they must deforme themselues and borowe weapons from others wherby they transforme themselues become monstrous as though they were transfigured into sauage beasts into monsters For they haue not as hath bene said hard strong hydes as some brute beasts haue neither prickles darts in them as Hedge-hogs and Porcupines haue Neither are their feete hands nailes like to the hoofes of Horses Asses Mules or to the tallents of birds that liue by praye or to the pawes of wild beasts neither yet are their teeth like to theirs God hath not giuen them sharp bils like to birds neither hath he armed them with stings or with venim as he hath done venimous beasts True it is that man hath
mans body no man will take them that haue some defect of Nature or that are more deformed and monstrous then others but the soundest goodliest and most perfect bodies We must doe the like when wee search into the nature and essence of the soule For to know it wel we must not make choice of men that are borne brutish so that a man can knowe nothing in them whereby they differ from brute beasts except the outward shape of a man Yea there are some borne with lesse sense and gouernement of themselues then beasts haue The like may bee saide of them who being better borne voluntarily become brutish of themselues For this cause we must chiefly consider what effectes the noblest and most excellent soules bring foorth if wee wil iudge of the nature of al other soules that are of the same kind For albeit the soules of some men are more brutish then of others yet it followeth not but they are al of one and the same nature substance seeing they are all of one kind but the difference betwene them proceedeth from hence that some are more degenerated from their true and proper nature then others are Neuertheles this changeth not their naturall essence but that alwayes continueth one and the same in all as the ill disposition of bodies taketh not from them that nature essence which they haue common with others notwithstanding they differ from them as a sicke and deformed body differeth from a sound and perfect body Nowe there is no doubt but that the noblest and most excellent soules take more pleasure in the internall senses then in the externall and more in reason then in fancie and imagination but aboue all in the contemplation of the Spirit And among those things which the Spirit doth contemplate it delighteth most stayeth longest in them that are spirituall and eternal that are highest of greatest soueraigntie And as the spirit longeth most after these pleasures and retaineth them with greatest affection so it is lesse wearie in searching for them and in the contemplation of them Whereupon it followeth that spirituall and eternall things are more conformable to the Spirite then those that are corporall and temporary and that it hath greater participation and agreement with heauenly things then with earthly For it is maruailously delighted and contented with spirituall things as if they were his owne things which is by similitude proportion and agreement of nature as contrariwise both the internall and externall senses please themselues in corporall things and are not able to comprehend or attaine to the other but onely by coniecture Whereas if the Spirite were as mortall as the senses then the excellentest Spirites and such as approch nearest to the heauenly Spirites and to the nature of God woulde giue themselues to transitorie and corruptible things as much as the senses doe and would search after them as earnestly as it doeth after true and perfect pleasures But wee see by experience that they ascend vp a great deale higher Yea the Spirits euen of most carnall and brutish men in that they neuer meete with any pleasures in transitorie things that doe fully content and satisfie them thereby giue euident testimonie that they are borne to enioy greater pleasures then they can find in all this nature and that they are of another nature surpassing them which mounteth aboue corporal and temporary things For who euer sawe an ambitious man satisfied with honours or a couetous wretch with riches And from whence commeth this that they are so insatiable but onely because the spirite that God hath giuen them is of so noble a race and of such an excellent nature that howe much soeuer it be fallen from his first nature and nobilitie yet it can neuer content it selfe with any thing that is of another nature more base and vile then it owne as that which is too much vnworthie and vnbeseeming the Spirite and very much disagreeing from the essence of it For although being buried in this body as in a sinke of all carnall and brutish affections it can not so well perceiue it owne nature dignitie and nobilitie nor acknowledge the same so well as the noblest and most excellent spirites and such as are farthest from this stincking puddle are able to do neuertheles without thinking therevpon as it were it hath euermore a secret sense of it owne nature and dignitie which keepeth it from being contented with any thing whatsoeuer although it be with neuer so great liking and abundance except it enioy that thing which is most proper and agreeable to his natural disposition which is of a more high noble and excellent nature then any thing proceeding from this mortall and transitorie masse But because it is buried in this darknesse which sinne hath brought vpon the mindes of men the same thing happeneth to the spirite of which wee haue already spoken concerning the immortalitie and eternitie of name and renowne For the right and naturall desire of true and immortall honours and of eternall riches agreeable to the nature of mans soule is degenerated into this false and corrupted appetite of worldly honours and temporall riches Notwithstanding this is manifest heereby that as euery Spirit always searcheth after God as a blind man goeth by groaping as wee haue heard already so it seeketh after riches and honours agreeable to it owne nature But because that darkenesse with which it is ouerwhelmed hindereth it from knowing them well and so consequently from taking that way which it ought to enter in that it may attaine vnto them therefore it changeth them into others that are of a differing and cleane contrary nature So that it can neuer finde out or attaine to that which it seeketh because it is ignorant thereof and so seeketh for it vnder a maske which it taketh for the true face and vnder a shadow which it taketh for the very body whereby it commeth to passe that the maske and shadow remaine with it instead of the very face and body that are lost by means of thē In which the same thing hapneth to the spirite that doth in the matter of religion when it forgeth vnto it self new strange gods and idoles instead of the true God whō it searcheth after because it knoweth not who he is although it seeketh him desireth to find him Wherefore being thus deceiued not knowing it neither the means whereby it is deceiued it still desireth because it perceiueth very well whether it wil or no that it hath not attained to that which it wanteth as indeede it might wel know the same if it were not becom very brutish by reason that it neuer findeth any contentation in any thing that it doeth or can attain vnto By which things we may further learne that men shall find euen in their vices testimonies of the nature essence and immortality of their soules wherby they may be conuicted namely in their ambition couetousnes
knowledge of God and obedience to his will bringeth to our heart wee may also iudge whether there be a paradise and another life and other ioy besides this which we receiue by corporall pleasures as beasts doe For this ioy that commeth to vs from such pleasures is common to vs with them vsually it endeth in sorowe and sadnesse But they haue no other that commeth vnto their soule of which they may haue any appehension as we haue And by the same consideration we may also in some sort iudge of that happines in which we shall be in the other life when this ioy shal be perfect in vs wherof we haue here but a very smal taste in respect of that we shal haue when we shal be fully reformed according to Gods image so that both our vnderstanding reason wil shal be made cōformable vnto him because we shal be wholy swallowed vp in his loue Contrariwise if here we feele a Hel which we cary about vs and which greatly tormenteth vs after we haue offended the maiesty of God especially when we haue cōmitted some horrible crimes this also is another argument whereby we may iudge whether there be not a Hel and vengeance from God to be executed vpon his enemies in another life For that sorow which our crimes committed doe breede in our hearts is within vs as a brand of this fire of Gods wrath which is daily kindled in vs more more Wherfore if there be in vs already such a vehemēt heat thereof when as yet the Lord doeth kindle but a litle the fire-brands of his wrath in our heartes how great shal it then be when all his wrath shal be set on fire Certainly they are very dull that doe not well consider and vnderstand it Now we haue heard heretofore how the heathen Philosophers concluded the immortalitie of mans soule by the nature thereof affirming that it is not created or compounded of corruptible matter but is of a celestiall and diuine nature by reason of that knowledge which it hath not onely of particular and corporal things as the soule of beastes hath but also of vniuersall and spirituall things and namely of God of numbers of order of the difference betweene vertue and vice and betweene honest and dishonest things For the knowledge of al these things is so naturall to mens soules that they are within them albeit they haue not receiued thē from without eyther by doctrine or instruction Whereby a man may easily iudge yea it followeth necessarily that they are created of a more excellent nature then is that of the elements of a nature that is incorruptible and perpetuall Wherefore it is verie euident that this knowledge thus naturall to mens soules is a certaine testimonie that they are not borne at all aduenture but are created by great arte and by a woonderfull prouidence of that diuine and eternall nature by which they haue their beeing namely God their Creatour for which cause also the knowledge of him shineth in vs. So also we may well iudge that God hath not in vaine placed in our nature the knowledge of the difference that is betweene vertue and vice betweene things honest and dishonest and that griefe which is to take vengeance in vs of those vices and crimes of which wee feele our selues guiltie And therefore the Heathen themselues concluded that there was not onelie a diuine iustice and nature which discerned good men from euill but also that there was another life after this in which this iudgement should bee made For they considered what great torments the wicked feele in their heartes and conscience after they haue committed horrible crimes and that there is none so audacious and obdurate not the greatest mocker and contemner of God and of his iudgments that can be who can always exempt himselfe from this dolour and paine notwithstanding hee labour with all his might to the contrarie For there is alwayes a certaine secrete vertue of Gods iustice which goeth beyonde them all and euermore punisheth the wicked Nowe it is certaine that these things come not thus to passe at all aduenture In like manner it is not possible that this knowledge which men haue to discerne vertues from vices shoulde bee a casuall thing and come thus to passe at aduenture without the certaine prouidence of God For if it were so that there were no punishment appoynted for vices and no more benefite or ioye prepared of God for the good then for the euill it should follow that all this knowledge shoulde bee giuen to man in vaine For it should doe him no more good then if hee were without it as brute beasts are Moreouer seeing all the wicked are not punished in this life it followeth necessarily that there is another life wherein they shal be punished and in which also God wil acknowledge the iust and cause them to enioy that good which he hath prepared for them For God cannot bee God but he must bee all-good aliust and almightie If hee be good hee cannot hate the good or them that doe it but loue them so as that hee cannot doe otherwise For howe shoulde hee not loue his like And as he cannot hate goodnesse or good men so hee cannot loue euill nor the wicked that follow after it but hateth them necessarily as contrarie to his nature Nowe Loue is of that nature that it cannot but desire and procure the good and honour of him whome it loueth as contrariwise hatred cannot but desire and procure the hurt and dishonour of him whome it hateth It followeth then necessarily that God beeing good and iust loueth good and iust men desiring and procuring their honour and their good and contrariwise that he hateth vniust and wicked men desiring and procuring their confusion and ruine And if hee haue this desire and this will no doubt but hee can easily and doeth also execute the same seeing hee is all-iust and almightie Truely this conclusion cannot seeme to bee ill grounded and those Heathen Philosophers who thereupon haue concluded the immortalitie of soules and the iudgement of God in another life had good reason so to doe For it is taken not only from the nature of man and from that image of God after which he was created but also from the very nature of God So that whosoeuer gainesayeth the same hath no more reason then if he saide that there is no God and that God is not God and that man is not man and that he differed in nothing from a beast neither God from the deuill And so not onely all nature shoulde bee ouer-throwen but God also the author and Creator thereof For we see almost vsually that the wickedst men haue the greatest honors in this world and liue most at their ease as we haue alreadie shewed If then there be a God and any prouidence and iustice in him now who can so much as thinke there is none but hee may also perswade
mans flesh haue testified that no flesh or meate whatsoeuer approcheth neerer in taste or is more like it then the flesh of a Hog And if we consider the inward members and parts there is no beast if we will giue credite to them that haue had the experience thereof that hath them liker to those in man then the Hog hath both for substance disposition forme and figure Contrariwise wherein doeth the Elephant resemble man either for forme or composition of body or of the members both internal and external in comparison of a Hog And yet there is no beast more teachable then the Elephant or that approcheth neerer to the sense and vnderstanding of man as on the other side there is no beast further off in this respect nor more hard to be taught and more brutish then is the Hog And if any man thinke that the industry and docilitie of an Elephant proceedeth either from the greatnesse of the matter whereof it is made or from the abundance of the qualities ioyned vnto the matter or from the harmony coniunction and concorde that is betweene them or lastly from the composition forme figure of his body and of the members thereof wee will oppose vnto him the Ant which is one of the least among the creatures of the earth as the Elephant is the greatest of all as farre as we know The like may be said of the Bee For are there many creatures although greater in substance that yet haue such industrious ingenious natures as these litle beasts haue that are to be reckoned among the smallest of them And by this it appeareth plainly that the soule of beasts is of some other substance nature then their bodies notwithstanding there is great difference betwixt the soule of beasts the soule of mē But we haue further to note touching the soule of man that the spirit doth not only not folow the nature of the body but which is more gouerneth carieth recarieth it whither it pleaseth yea it withstandeth the affections which approch neerest to the corporal terrestrial nature And as for the facultie of sense of the senses it is a vertue that surpasseth all bodily power and vertue all things depending of the body so that there is no facultie of the body that is able to expresse the actions thereof What shall we say then of the vertue of vnderstanding which is the highest and most soueraigne facultie that is in man Which wee cannot say is a body compounded of matter and forme For that thing is the fountaine and original of life which first mooueth a liuing creature to the works belonging vnto life So that when wee inquire what this fountaine and spring is then doe we seeke to know what the soule is Nowe we may soone know by that which hath bene spoken what the soule is not but as yet we cannot perceiue what the proper substance and nature thereof is And in deede it is not that which wee haue to speake of at this time hereafter we may say somewhat of that matter Let it suffice for this present that we know that the true cause of the life of the body in regard of second causes is in the soule next vnto God who is the first and principall cause of all things Therefore it is hee that hath ordained and limitted to euery liuing creature his appointed time wherein to liue and to grow and next to decrease and to dye and as it pleaseth him either to prolong or to abridge their life so doeth he dispose of the second causes and meanes whereby hee will haue it brought to passe Wherefore although euery one hath his certaine bounds and terme of life set him yet none but God onely can attaine to the knowledge thereof For all come not to the last age which hee hath appointed to be the ordinarie end of euery ones life following those degrees into which it is diuided according to that diuision which we make of dayes and yeeres For the infancie of man may be resembled to the morning and to the spring time of the yeere mans age to midday and to the sommer olde-age to the Euening and to Autumne and death to night and to winter Therefore Iob sayth very well speaking of man the number of his moneths are with thee thou hast appointed his bounds which he cannot passe Nowe if it be demaunded what is the ordinarie terme of life appointed by God we are to know that nature by the ordinance of God appropriateth the matter being in the forme of members vnto the soule that is to giue life vnto the whole body Nowe when the soule is entred into it and hath taken possession thereof by little and little it prepareth and maketh fit the internall instruments vntil at length it hath brought them to that perfection which the qualitie constitution and composition of the matter is able to receiue and to beare And after these instruments are come to their greatest perfection by vsage they waste and consume away returning by little and little vnto their first nature so in the end wholy corrupt and dye Thus you see how the members are appropriated in the belly of the mother howe the spirits and humors are fitted in the time of infancie after which the flower of age in youth is as it were the vigor and vse of the perfection of the instruments and olde-age is the decreasing age wherein they decay continually become worse and worse euen vntill they come to their corruption which is death And this death we call naturall when following this course it attaineth without violence to these bounds Nowe although this bee no long course yet there are but very fewe that hold out to the vttermost end thereof in regard of them that stay by the way of whome some are cut off euen before they haue begunne their course others presently after they haue begun it and some in the midway and that through so many sortes of sicknesses with other inconueniences and accidents that a man cannot possibly comprehend or conceiue them all Therefore Moses sayd long since that the time of our life is threescore yeeres and ten and if they be of strength foure score yeeres yet their strength is but labour and sorowe for it is cut off quickly and we flee away And after hee hath compared man to a streame of water caried violently away to a Morning dreame to the grasse that florisheth and groweth in the Morning and in the Euening is cut downe withereth he giueth the reason of all this saying for we are consumed by thine anger and by thy wrath are we troubled Thou hast set our iniquities before thee and our secret sinnes in the light of thy countenance for all our dayes are past in thine anger we haue spent our yeeres as a thought Iob also agreeth well with Moses in this point when hee sayeth Man that is borne of a
woman is of short continuance and full of trouble He shooteth forth as a flowre and is cut downe he vanisheth also as a shadow and continueth not Nowe it is certaine that if we looke to the causes of the life death of men layd downe by vs we shal thinke that all this is done naturally that there is a certaine order of nature vnto which we must all be subiect and a naturall necessitie which none can eschew But wee see that Moses mounteth aloft and searcheth higher for the cause for hee seekth it in God and in his determination yea in his wrath conceiued against our sinnes Therefore the children and seruants of God that haue bene instructed in his worde doe not onely consider of that in death which prophane men beholde there but they mount vp euen to this highest cause and behold there the wrath of God against sinne against all mankinde for the same So that wee may knowe by that whith hath bene sayd what difference there is betweene humane and naturall Philosophie and that which is diuine and supernaturall and wherein they deceiue themselues that stay altogether in naturall Philosphie And hereby also wee may learne the cause why so many become Atheists and Epicures thereby whereas it should serue them in place of steps and degrees to cause them to ascend vp to that Philosophie that is supernaturall and heauenly For their noses are altogether poring in this base kitchin of which we haue intreated in our former discourses as though God had not created men for another life and end then hee hath done beasts Whereupon we may imagine what true ioye and consolation they can haue I say not only in death but also throughout their whole life seeing their life wil they nill they must passe through so many dangers and miseries For whether they will or no they must be subiect to this sentence passed from God against all mankinde in the person of our first parents when hee sayd to Adam Cursed is the earth for thy sake in sorow shalt thou eate of it all the daies of thy life Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee and thou shalt eate the herbe of the fielde In the sweate of thy face shalt thou eate bread till thou returne to the earth for out of it wast thou taken because thou art dust to dust shalt thou returne Therefore Eliphaz sayth in the booke of Iob that miserie proceedeth not out of the dust that affliction buddeth not out of the earth Which is asmuch to say as that the cause of barrennes of ground proceedeth not from the earth but from the sinne of man Wherefore men cannot lay the blame vpon any other beside themselues as being the cause of all the euils which they suffer because they beare the matter of them in themselues Now if any thinke that this sentence pronounced by God against all mankinde is not so much executed vpon the wicked that are without God as vpon others because wee see commonly that they are richest liue in greatest ease in pleasures in delightes we must know that they are not therefore exempted from those miseries whereunto the life of man is subiect and which are all comprehended vnder this sweate of the face mentioned in the holy Scriptures For there is not one of them to be found that can so saue himselfe but that he hath alwayes his part portion in these things And if we could consider wel the whole course of their life who seeme to be the happiest amongst them and had the patience to waite vntill the end of their race we should still finde by experience the trueth of that we speake of But let vs goe on with our speeches touching the causes of the length and shortnes of this bodily life and of naturall death as also of that which is violent whereof wee haue not yet spoken Also let vs consider of the things that are chiefly required for the vpholding of this bodily life and without which it could not consist This then shall be the matter subiect of which thou ARAM shalt take vpon thee to discourse Of the causes generally of the length and shortnes of bodily life of naturall and of violent death in what manner the life of man consisteth in his breath of the principall things required to life and without which it cannot be of the difference betwixt the life of men the life of beasts of the image of the spirituall death in the corporall of the true comfort which we ought to haue therein Chap. 75. ARAM. This lawe was layde vpon nature by GOD the Creator thereof that the things which it should bring forth in this inferiour world should haue small beginnings at the first and after growe by litle and litle when they were come to their full greatnes should stand a while at a stay and then fall by litle and litle and returne to their originall and first beginning as we see a patterne hereof and an example twise a day in the Ocean sea For after it is mounted vp to the highest and hath spread it selfe in length and breadth as much as it may it returneth againe vnto the fountaine and wombe from whence it came and there closeth vp it selfe For God hath compassed it with certaine bounds beyond which it cannot passe So likewise euery thing hath his course and set time of continuance neither doe we see any thing vnder the Moone either of the workes of God or of the inuentions of men which keepeth not this course And so is it with the body which being created by litle and litle decayeth after the same maner as it were by the same degrees by which it mounted vpward And that which we see in euery particular body the same we perceiue to be in the whole frame and course of the world in all the estates thereof For the world hath had his infancie next his youth then his mans estate and now he is in his olde-age For we see howe all things decline dayly and continually waxe worse and worse as it were approching to their end In like maner if we would consider the course and estate of all Common-wealths Principalities Kingdomes and Empires and of all the greatest and chiefest Monarchies that euer were from the creation of the world we should finde that all of them were very small and weake in their beginnings and that afterwards they increased and mounted vp vntill they came to their highest degrees and after they had attained thither they descended fell by litle and litle continually vntill in the ende they were wholy ruinated Nowe the first causes of all these things proceeding from God and from his eternall counsell we know that the second causes are in the nature of euery thing that hath beginning and must end and chiefly in the nature of mens bodies By our formmer speech wee haue learned already howe