for the preuenting of Death for Death of the body depriuing the soule supposing it to be mortal of all good should become her chiefest infelicity and euill and present life her greatest good and happynesse And therefore it followeth that the soule should feare nothing so much as Death and on the other side affect desire and defend nothing so much as present life But now daily experience teacheth the contrary for many do make so small an estimate of life though abounding with all the goods of fortune as that they willingly spend it for prayse fame liberty auoyding of reproach and dishonour and for the exercise of vertue Yea some there are who for the declyning and shuning of disgrace or griefe and affliction of mynd or for the purchasing of a very little reputation sticke not to become their owne parricides murtherers So much more do those things which belong to the soule or mind preponderate ouerballance al that which appertaines to the body THE SIXTH REASON CHAP. VII SO great is the capacity and largnesse of the soule or mind as that no riches no dignities no Kingdomes not the Empire of the whole world no pleasures briefly no finite and limitable good can quench her insatiable thirst and desire but to this end it is needfull that she enioy some one immense infinite and boundlesse good and such as containeth in it selfe by way of eminency or preheminēcy the fulnes of all good whatsoeuer This the Prophet Dauid insinuateth Psalm 16. when he saith Satiabor cum c. I shal be satisfyed and filled when thy glory shall appeare as if he would say no other thing can giue me full contentment except the manifestation of thy glory which is an infinite and illimitable good And to the same end S. Austin saith Fecisti nos c. Thou hast made vs like vnto thee and our hart is vnquyet till it rest in thee Now if the Soule were restrained to the narrownes of the body it should not be capable of an infinite good neither should her desire be extended to any thing but what were conducing and accommodated to a corporall life as it appeareth in other liuing creatures For the Body and the matter doth restraine the appetite desire and capacity of the forme From whence it proceedeth that by how much the forme of any body is more materiall by so much it is more narrow and lesse capable but the more spirituall and more eleuated the forme is the more ample and the more enlarged it is and extendeth it selfe to more things thereby the better to perfect it selfe For bodyes wanting life as stones and metals as also their formes because they are materiall and grosse in the highest degree do desire nothing out of themselues neither do they endeauour any thing to further their perfection but rest in themselnes quiet and dead But Plants because their forme is more pure and perfect do couet after their manner nourishment and do attract it from without as also they change it distributing it through the whole body and conuerting it into their owne substance Besides they send forth flowers fruits and seedes so they continue dayly working to the augmentation conseruation perfection propagation of themselues but because they haue no sense or feeling of their nourishment they therfore receaue neither pleasure nor griefe thereby Liuing Creatures in that their forme is in a higher degree do not only performe all those operations which plants do but with all they haue knowledge and sense of their nourishment yea they mooue themselues to it they seeke it from the vse of it they take pleasure and from the want of it they receaue griefe and molestation Notwithstanding all their knowledge and affection or liking is limited within certaine narrow bounds for it only extendeth it selfe to the profit or hurt of their bodyes so as they apprehend no other thing they couet and fly no other thing they are delighted and grieue at no other thing which is a manifest demonstration that their Soule depends only of their body for their soule therfore perceaues and desires nothing but what conduceth to the rest good of their corporall life because their soule dependeth of the felicity of their body Aboue all other liuing Creatures is man indued with a reasonable soule or mind whose knowledge affection is not limited to things belonging to the body but is altogeather illimitable extending it selfe to euery truth to euery kind of good as is aboue said both which beare no reference or respect to the body And from hence it followeth that the Souls capacity or ability either in knowing desiring or in taking delight is infinite no otherwise then the ability of spirits or celestiall Intelligences which is an vnanswerable argument that the soule of man is not wholly depending of the body and necessarily tyed to the same This point is further thus confirmed Substantiae separatae as they are called that is incorporeall substances do therfore enioy the force of vnderstanding and do extend themselues ad totum ens to euery thing and ad totum verum bonum to euery verity goodnes because they are simple formes eleuated aboue all matter not depending of the same as Philosophy teacheth And hence it is that there is no spirituall substance but euen in that respect it is intelligent and vnderstanding Therfore seing the Soule of man is endued with the faculty of vnderstanding and is in her selfe of that expansion and largnes as that she stretcheth her selfe to the whole latitude of Ens in generall that is to euery truth and euery thing that is good by vnderstanding what is true and affecting and louing what is good no otherwise then spirituall and separated substances do it followeth that the soule doth not depend vpon any matter or bodily substance For where there is effectus adaequatus there is also causa adaquata that is where there is a proper and peculiar effect there also is to be found a proper and peculiar cause from whence the effect riseth But in the Soule of Man the effect is found to wit the force of vnderstanding and the capacity of euery truth and euery good therefore the cause also is to be found that is a spirituall nature independent of matter or of a body THE SEAVENTH REASON CHAP. VIII THere are in the nature of things some liuing formes which are separated from all matter both in their essence and manner of existence with the Philosophers do cal Intelligences or substantias separatas separated substances and Christians tearme them Spirits or Angels There are also some others which both in their Essence and existence are altogether tyed and immersed in the matter wherin they are and such are the Soules of beasts Therfore there oughtto be some other formes betwene the former two which in regard of their Essence may not depend of their body that so they may be like vnto spirits or Angels yet for their
no other end then that the maintainers thereof should not be forced to acknowledge the world to be gouerned by diuyne Prouidence against which Prouidence they had a mighty auersion it selfe of necessity being most formidable and dreadfull to a mynd wallowing in all wickednes voluptuousnes as is euidently gathered out of Lucretius and Pliny That the world and the parts thereof cannot receaue their being from themselues is no lesse euident First among subblunary bodyes as all those be which are vnder the Moone those which are most perfect as Man other liuing Creatures cannot be of themselues for how can those things receaue their being frō themselues which need a preparation and concourse of so many causes that they may be borne and so many externall helpes and furtherrances that they may liue Or how can that be of it selfe which is extinguished perished with so great a facility Here perhaps it may be replyed that those bodies which be Indiuidua as particuler men are not of themselues but that the humane nature in generall as being eternall or for euer is of it selfe and that the like may be said of other Species or kindes of things But this is spoken ignorantly seeing the Species of any creature or body is not a thing separated from the Indiuidua as certaine Platonickes dreamed but doth exist in the Indiuidua neither hath it any esse or being in rerum natura but only by reason of the Indiuidua Yea for exāple species humana or the whole kynd of men is nothing els but the whole multitude of particuler men which haue beene are and may be as they all beare a liknes of nature among themselues Now then if Indiuiduall and particuler Men do depend of another cause then must also the whole Species or kynd which is not distinguished à parte rei as the Philosophers speake from the Indiuidua depend also of another cause This point is further manifested in that the whole Species or kynd may vtterly be extinguished or perishd But what dependeth not of another but hath it being only of it selfe cannot be extinguished for what is of it selfe did neuer begin but had euer its existency and therefore cannot cease or desist to be That it neuer begun is proued in that what once did begin sometimes was not and therefore it is produced as the phrase is à non esle ad esse from the not being of a thing to the being of the thing it selfe Now a thing cannot produce or cause it selfe and the reason is because that which doth produce ought to precede or go before that therby it may draw that which is to be produced à non esle ad esse Therefore whatsoeuer beginneth once to be is produced of another consequently receaueth not it s being of it self for to haue its being of it selfe is to haue its essēce without the influxe of any other efficient cause Therefore it is auident that what is of it selfe did neuer begin therefore shall neuer end and on the contrary syde what did begin hath not its being from it selfe but is necessarily produced of another Furthermore euery thing compounded of matter and forme cannot be of it selfe but necessarily is produed of some efficient cause which must dispose the matter and produce the forme and ioyne the forme to the matter for the matter neither receaueth those dispositions nor the forme from its owne essence since they may be separated therefore this vnion of the matter the forme is occasioned by some extrinsecal cause The same may be said of euery thing consisting of parts for seing the parts are not through any necessity vnited among themselues but may be mutually separated one from another it must needes follow that this vnion proceedeth from some cause which ioyned the parts togeather From these premises afore it appeareth that also the Elements as the earth the water the ayre and the fire are not of thēselues but haue some efficient begining for if those things which are most perfect for their nature among these sublunary bodyes haue not their being from themselues but from some other cause then much more those bodies which are most imperfect as the Elements are must for their being depend of another for to be of it selfe and not to depend of another is a signe of greatest perfection seing what is thus in nature is to it selfe the origen and fountaine of all good and standeth not in need of any thing externall Furthermore the Elements are not for themselues but for others I meane as they are parts of the world and as they afford matter to compounded bodyes therfore they haue not their being from themselues for that Axiome in Philosophy is true to wit Quod habet causam finalem ad quam ordinetur habet etiam efficientem à qua ordinetur What hath a final cause to the which it is directed and ordained the same hath also an efficient cause by the which it is so ordained for nothing is of it selfe to the end that it may serue another but that it may enioy it selfe Therefore euen in this respect that any thing is non propter se sed propter aliud not for it owne self but that it may conduce and be seruiceable to some other thing it followeth that the same thing is ordained by some one which hath intended the good of another Besides in that the Elemēts do enioy this or that magnitude or greatnes this place or that place in respect of the whole space and place in the world they receaue not this from thēselues seing their essence necessarily exacteth none of these circumstances therefore they take them from some extrinsecall cause which appointeth to euery one of the Elements their measure or greatnes their place or situation To conclude the Elements are subiect to so many mutations and changes and to so great a need of extrinsecall causes as that in regard hereof how can it be possibly conceaued that they should be of themselues or be at their owne fredome and liberty and in respect of their being not to depend of another These former reasons do conuince that Materia prima whereof the Philosophers do teach that all things were first made hath not its being from it selfe but from some other cause For this Materia prima either is not distinguished from the Elements as many auncient Philosophers did should who taught that the Elements are mere simple bodies without composition of matter or forme and the last subiect of all former or els if it be distinguished from thē as Aristotle with his followers maintained then is it far more imperfect then the Elements as seruing but for their matter whereof they are made Therefore seing this Materia prima is most imperfect and next to Nothing being subiect to all mutations and as it were a seruant to all natural causes and being of it owne nature depriued of all forme wherwith to be inuested and
proportions temperatures vertues colours and smels Now then this Spirit impresseth all these in the seeds of things as the image of his conceite and then worketh and frameth them according to the same For the vertue impressed in the seeds do not otherwise worke then if it enioyed reason the cause hereof being in that it is a footstep of a diuyne conception and as it were a sealed impression thereof Therefore from this supreme Intelligence or Spirit as being the first inuenting and informing cause the beauty proportion and perfection of all things doth take its emanation flowing and proceeding Neither only this visible fayrnes and all variety which is subiect to the eye is to be ascribed to this cause but also all inuisible beauty which is inwardly hid in those visible things can be apprehended only by reason is to be referred therto For froÌ„ this inuisible pulchritude the externall and visible doth ryse since what appeareth externally in these corporall things either in respect of forme proportion colour kynd c. it cometh altogeather from the internall and inuisible substance which substaÌ„ce is so much the more fayre and to be admired by how much it containeth in it selfe more highly and simply the reason cause of those externall perfections In the vegetatiue soule by the vertue whereof trees hearbs flowers and the like according to their seuerall kynds do lyue the reason or cause of their structure whole forme or shape which so much delighteth the eye is latent and vnseene In like sort in the sensitiue soule which animateth all liuing Creatures the whole reason of the fabricke or forme of the body lyes hidden imperceptible by the eye the same is also latent in the genitall vertue or power by the which all these things are formed Therefore how great bewitching is the pulchritudâ— and splendour of these soules in whom all these perfections are secretly and simply included And how stupendious wonderfull are these soules in their owne nature which after one vniforme manner contayne in themselues so great multitude and variety of formes and figures Furthermore in the sensitiue soule is not only comprehended the entyre reason of the structure of the body but also of all the senses the imagination the sensitiue appetite all naturall instincts and operations euery one of which in respect of the wonders discouered therin transcends maÌ„s apprehension For how great is the power of the senses How far of doth the eye penetrate in a moment viewing all things apprehending the formes of them and expressing them in it selfe How forcible is the power of smelling in dogs Vultures many other such like And as touching the imaginatiue faculty it is neuer idle still reuoluing with it selfe and variously compounding the formes and shapes of things which it receaueth by the ministery of the externall sense The appetite draweth and inuiteth the soule to those things which the Imagination afore conceaued if they be conuenient and auerteth it from them if they be dangerous and hurtfull To conclude the motiue power obeyeth the appetite with incredible celerity and speed as appeareth euen in the motion and flying of flees It were ouer laboursome to prosecute al things in this kynd Euery power or faculty hath its obiect instrument operation its peculiar maÌ„ner of working so occult secret and wonderfull as no man is able to apprehend it and yet the reason of all these is contained inwardly in the soules of the said liuing creatures so as whosoeuer could perfectly penetrate the nature and the misteries of the soules should fynd the reasons of all the rest more clearly Wherfore I am fully perswaded if one could attayne the perfect knowledge of one small flye the pleasure of that knowledge would ouerballance and weigh downe all riches honours and dignities of Kings For if Pythagoraâ— as is written of him at his finding out of a mathematicke demonstration did so immoderatly reioyce as for the tyme he perfectly enioyed not himselfe then how much ioy exultation of mynd will a cleare knowledge of so many and so great misteries bring which are in themselues discouerable in the making euen of the least flye they being such as yet the most eminent Philosopher that euer was could not apprehend them and such as may serue to entertaine a most sweet and serious speculation of theÌ„ for the space of many yeares Verily touching my owne priuate censuâ—e I am of this former opinion as I said and I doubt not but all such as attentiuely consider the workes of God would conspire and agree with me in iudgment herein But now to speake something of the reasonable soule it transceÌ„deth in beauty worke and dignity the former by infinite degrees in the which not only the reason of the structure or making of the body and of all the senses but also the faculty of vnderstaÌ„ding of recordation or remembring and of imbracing or reiecting any thing freely in the which is included true electioÌ„ freedome of will is contained By the vnderstanding the soule coÌ„ceaueth the whole world and frameth to it selfe certaine inuisible images or pictures as it were of al things By the memory it retaineth al those images of things wrought by the vnderstanding and when occasion is ministred it maketh practise and vse of them Now how vast spacious are those entrances which are capable of so innumerable formes By the will the soule taketh fruition of all things disposeth of them according to its best liking yea and which is more it maketh to it selfe election or choyce of any course of life Neither is the difference here much to be regarded whether the soule performeth al these things immediatly by its simple substance or by distinct faculties powers seing the reason of all these are contained in its simple essence Therfore it necessarily followeth that the reasonable Soule is of wonderfull pulchritude splendour and perfection in so much that if it were to be knowne perfectly as it is in it selfe it would seeme to be a kynd of diuinity in the contemplation whereof the mind would be as it were absorpt and swallowed vp with an incredible pleasure delight seing the essence of it surpasseth by many degrees all corporeall things as also the vegetatiue and sensitiue soules of Plants and liuing creatures in worth and dignity Therefore out of the premises we may gather that there are foure degrees of beauty of things in this world The first which is lowest is of bodyes which are seene by the ye the secoÌ„d of the vegetatiue soule the third of the sensitiue soule the fourth of the Rationall or reasonable soule Therefore it is euident that not only the first but also the rest are formed by some most prudent and skilful intelligence or mind For if the beauty which is found in bodyes be to be ascribed to some such spirit or diuine power for the wonderful proportions appearing in them then much more the glorious
fayrenesse which is in the seuerall kynds of soules which comprehends in it selfe the reason and cause of the bodyes beauty and which is much more admirable then it ought to be refered to the same celestiall power Furthermore I would here demaÌ„d how it can possibly happen that any cause not capable of reason wisedome and vnderstanding could forme and make in the beginning so many diuersities of vegetatiue and sensitiue soules seing euery one of theÌ„ is so aâ—mirable and is the Effect or worke of so great a wisedome as that no humane wit is able to penetrate into the seuerall misteries of it or beget in his mynd the true and proper conceit or image thereof To conclude All the pulchritude and perfection of an Effect ought to be contained in the cause for the cause cannot giue that to the Effect which it selfe enioyeth not wherupon it followeth that all the perfection of liuing creatures and all the vigour and naturall working of the senses ought to be comprehended within that cause by the which they were first framed and this not after the same manner as they are in the creatures but after a more excellent eminent sort to wit as the worke is contained in the mynd or art of the workeman This poynt is further confirmed in that there is no cause excepting a mynd or intelligence in the which so great a diuersity of things can rest but in a mynd or intelligence it may well reside euen as the forme of a house and all the measures and proportions of it are said to be in the phantasy or vnderstanding of the artificer Ad heereto for the greater accesse increase of reason herein that himselfe who framed the soule of man endewing it with reason vnderstanding and frewill cannot possibly want reason vnderstanding and frewill but must haue them in more perfect and excellent manner For how can he want reason vnderstanding and will who first made and gaue reason vnderstaÌ„ding and will The Prophet therfore truly said Qui plantauit aurem c. He which planted the eare shall he not heare Or he that formed the eye shall he not see especially seing these are such perfections as the hauing of them is not any impediment to the fruition and enioying of greater perfections since it is far better to be indued with vnderstanding and frewill then to want theÌ„ or to haue any thing which may be repugnant to them from all these considerations then it is most euident that there is a certaine supreme Intelligence or Spirit which is the inuentour authour and architect of all these visible and inuisible beautyes in which spirit as in its cause al pulchritude splendour doth eminently exist this spirit we call God who be eternally blessed praysed and adored THE FIFTH REASON DRAVVNE FROM the structure and disposition of the parts of the world with reference to their ends CHAP. VII EVEN as not any of these things which are subiect to our sight taketh its being from it selfe but from some efficient cause so nothing is made for it selfe but with respect to some extrinsecal end to the which end the whole structure of the thing as also al its parts and faculties of its parts are after a wonderfull manner disposed and framed Therefore of necessity there must be some one most wise mynd or spirit which aforehand conceaued in it selfe all those ends and ordayned proportionable and fitting meanes to the said ends For Nature which is not capable of reason nor endued therwith as it cannot conceaue or comprehend the ends of things so neither caÌ„ it dispose or set downe sutable meanes to the said ends since this is a chiefe worke of art and wisedome we will make this manifest first in heauenly bodyes The Sunne excelling in fayrenesse all visible things is not for it selfe for it can not apprehend or reflect vpon its owne beauty but for the good benefit of other things to wit that it may enlighten the world and cherish al things with its heat not much vnlike as the hart is in man and other liuing creatures which is not for it selfe but for the good of the whole body for as the heart is in the body endued with life so the Sunne is in the whole body of the world which wanteth life This then being thus the Sunne ought to haue a certaine proportionable measure of light and quantity as also a determinate place in the world least that the light being ouer radiant shyning and great or it self in place ouer neere it should burne the earth or on the contrary side the light being too remisse smal or too far of from the earth should not sufficiently lighten it or heat it Now this disposition of a fitting quantity light and place cannot be assigned by any but only by such a mynd or spirit as is able to consider the end and the meanes and of iudgment to set downe a sorting and conuenient proportion betweene them But if the Sunne be made not for it selfe but for some external end then much more the same may be verifyed of the rest of the starres of the heauenly Orbes and of all other corporeal natural bodyes This poynt may be further fortifyed by this ensuing reason That which is for its owne selfe ought to be of that excellency and perfection as nothing can be more excellent for the good whereof this other may be ordained This is euident euen in reason since otherwise it should not be for it self but for that for the benefit wherof it is disposed Furthermore it ought to be of such a nature as that it may conceaue enioy its owne goodnes for if it hath no sense feeling hereof it is nothing aduantaged by such its excellency For what can the domination and gouerment of the whole earth profit a maÌ„ if he neither can take any pleasure therby nor knoweth that he hath such a principality or rule belonging vnto him Therefore it is an euident signe that what caÌ„ not perceaue its owne good is not made for it selfe but for some other thing to the which it becomes profitable But to apply this now no corporeall nature is so excellent but it may be ordained to some other thing more excellent more worthy for the degree of a reasonable nature transceÌ„ds and exceeds much in worth the degree of a corporeall Nature and this to the former for many vses becomes seruiceable Againe a corporeal nature cannot haue any feeling of its owne good but resteth only in being profitable and expedient for some other thing Therefore it followeth that not corporeall or bodily nature is made for it selfe but euen of its essence being is ordained to some other thing to wit to a reasonable nature for whose behoofe and good it existeth From which it may be gathered that if there were no reasonable nature then all the corporeall nature should exist as in vayne bootles as not being able to bring
whole body that they may carry nourishment as also vitall and animall spirits to all parts In the meane ty me euery small portion or part of the body doth attract bloud and conuert â—t into its owne substance the spirit still forming euery thing by little and little and giuing each part its due figure measure proportion and connexion with other parts so as from the seauenth day after the conceptioÌ„ the forme of the whole body and distinctioÌ„ of all parts euen of the fingers doth appeare Now how manifold and various is this labour in framing of so many bones veynes arteryes sinewes and Muscles in the apt distribution deduction or drawing out termination or ending of euery part each of them keeping its due forme temper measure place ioyning together and incision What mynd or vnderstanding can be intent to so many things at once What Art may in the least part seeme to equall this Who therfore considering all these things can doubt but that there is some one most wise most potent Mynd or Soule by whome all this operation and working is directed and to whoÌ„ all this admirable artifice is to be ascribed If an indigested informed heape of stones tyles lyme and wood should begin to make to it selfe a house directing it selfe in the doing thereof and framing all parts thereof as the Art of Architecture requyreth who would not affirme that a certaine VnderstaÌ„ding skilful of building were inuisibly and latently in the said things that they could so artificially dispose themselues Or if a pensill being imbued with diuerse colours should moue it selfe and first should but rudely draw the lineaments of a mans face after should perfect euery part therof by framing the eyes drawing the cheeks figuring the nose mouth eares and the other parts seruing in them all a due proportion and fitting colours as the exact science of painting requireth no man would doubt but that this pensill were directed herein by an intelligent spirit But now in the framing of euery liuing Creature far greater art and wit is desired then in any humane worke whatsoeuer since the skill whereof transcendeth by many degrees all mans skill and artifice for it arriueth to that height of perfection as that the worke cannot in that kynd be possibly bettered neither can the parts of it whether internall or externall haue a more pleasing proportion and connexion Therefore who is so voyd of Reason that can enter into any dubious and vncertaine consideration with himselfe whether all this molition and laboursome endeauour in framing a liuing Creature be directed by a power indued with reason wisedome or no Furthermore there are three things here to be considered among which there ought to be a great proportion to wit the Soule of the liuing Creature the body and the Sâ—â—inall vertue And first the Soule ought to be most proportionable to the body For such ought the small body of any little Creature to be as the Anima or soule of the same doth require to performe its proper functions wherfore how great the difference is of Soules so great also the discrepancy is of bodyes if we insist in the figure the temperature and the conformation of the Organs therefore in the nature of euery soule the whole formall reason is contained so as that if a man did perfectly know the nature of the soule from it he might easily collect what the habit figure and temperature of the body ought to bee But who is ignoraÌ„t of the nature thereof must consequently be ignorant of the other for in some one particular or other he shall euer be wanting and neuer attaine to the due proportion in knowledge thereof As for example if the question be touching the small body of a flye how many feet it ought to haue how many flexures or bendings in their legs or thighes what difference betwene euery flexure what temperature proportion connexion how many â—inews in euery thigh how many veines what proportion to its little nayles of which things many are for their smalnes not to bee discerned by the eye for in the small body of the flye there may be found seuerall thousands of proportions as necessary that its soule may rightly sort to the body to all which no man can attaine except the first doth penetrate and consider in his mynd the nature of the soule in the which the reason of all these as in the root dothâ—y hidden and secret Againe the Seminal power ought to haue most perfect proportion with the body that it may produce such a body in al respects as that soule doth require Therefore who first caused and made this seminall power ought afore hand to haue the whole structure of the body exactly knowne vnto him that so he might sute and proportion this seminall seed to the body For as in the soule as in the finall cause the whole reason of the fabrick of the body lyeth and therefore the body ought in a perfect proportion to be accommodated and made fit to the soule In like sort the reason of the making of the same iâ— latent and hidden in the seminall vertue oâ— power as in the efficient cause Wheruponâ— it followeth that there ought to be as aâ— exact proportion betwene the structure oâ— the body and the seminall vertue as is betwene the efficient cause the adequate effect of the said Cause Now from all these premisses it is mosâ— clearly demonstrated that these three to wit the Soule of euery liuing Creature the structure of the body and the seminall vertue haue their source from one and the same beginning which beginning cannot be any nature depriued of reason vnderstanding seing a beginning voyd of reason could not among different things set downe congruous proportions much lesse so exact and so infinite proportions as are betweene the body and the soule and the seminall vertue and the making or fabricke of the body For to performe this requireth a most perfect and distinct knowledge Therefore it is concluded that there is an intelligence or spirit both most wise and most powerfull which through its wisedome is able to excogitate and inuent through its power is of might to performe all these things The reason why this seminall vertue might seeme to be indued with a mynd or vnderstanding is because this vertue is a certaine impression and as it were a foot step of the diuyne art and skil and therefore it worketh as if it had a particuler art and knowledge in working Euen as if a painter could impresse in his pensill a permanent power and vertue of his art and that therupon the pensill should moue it selfe and draw the images as if there were an art and vnderstanding in the Pensill Furthermore it may be here presumed that this diuyue spirit or Intelligence doth conserue this impressioÌ„ with his continuall influxe and doth cooperate with it thus working with his generall concourse Euen as in liuing creatures
may make our selues apt to enioy it that we ought to lead our life in such sort as it may be approued of God who is the beholder of al things The like matter hereto we may find in Plato Plotinus Cicero Epictetus and other heathen wryters But now it next followeth in Methode that we produce such arguments and after dissolue and answere them as may seeme to impugne the former verity of the Soules Immortality THE ARGVMENTS OBIECTED against the Immortality of the Soule and their Solutions or Answeres CAAP. XXIV THE first may be this That Soule all whose operation and function depends vpon a corporal Organ or instrument cannot consist separated from the body But the reasonable Soule of man is such Therefore the reasonable soule cannot consist separated from the body And thus is this first argument contracted I answere and distinguish of the Maior or first Proposition Two wayes then may the operation of the Soule depend of a corporall or bodily organ or instrument First by it selfe immediatly Secondly accidentally and mediatly Yf the operation and working of the Soule depend of the body in the first manner then is it euident that such an operation cannot be performed without the helpe and assistance of the body and consequently that that Soule whose working dependeth after this sort cannot exist separated from the body And such is the soule of beasts And so in this sense the Maior Proposition is true But if the operation of the soule depend of a corporall instrument after the second māner then is the foresaid Proposition false And the reason hereof is because what agreeth to another thing per accidens as the phraze is per aliud that is accidentally casually and in regard only of a third thing may be taken away Therefore seing the function of the vnderstanding which is an essentiall faculty of the reasonable soule doth not depend of the body by it selfe necessarily and immediatly but only accidentally mediatly there is no hinderance but that it may be performed without the body Now that the function or operation of the vnderstanding doth not depend of the body by it selfe and immediatly may be proued by many reasons And first the function of the vnderstanding chiefly consisteth in iudging but to iudge of a thing the phantasy which is a corporeall internall sense or any Idea or image framed therein is not in any sort furthering or cōducing but rather an impedimēt therto as giuing an occasion oftentimes of erring For the vnderstanding ought not to follow the imagination and conceit of the phantasy neither ought it in iudging to be guided thereby but rather it is to correct the phantasy that it selfe may by this meanes arryue vnto the truth Now if the force of the vnderstanding be so great that it is able to correct the errours and mistakings of the phantasy and to attaine vnto the cleare truth of things which transgresseth the nature or working of the phantasy then may we frō hence conclude that the working of the vnderstanding doth not immediatly or in its owne nature depend of the phantasy Secōdly the former point is further proued because we chiefly couet to know things spirituall of which things the phantasy is in no sort capable Thirdly because the knowledge of truth is not reckoned among the goods of the body but of the mind only and therfore is to be desired for the perfection only of the mind Fourthly because deuout and holy men are somtimes eleuated in an Extasis to that spirituall contemplation which cannot be expressed in words and consequently not to be represented by the imaginatiō or phantasy as may be gathered out of the Apostle in his second Epistle to the Corinthians c. 12. But because I stryue to be short therefore I omit heere to iterate diuers things aboue set downe touching the force of vnderstanding and desiring But some here may demaund How thē cometh it to passe that we cannot vnderstand any thing except we forge a certaine image of it in the phantasy And frō whēce procedeth this necessity To which I answere that this procedeth from the present state of the soule to wit because the soule is the forme of the body actually informing and giuing life to it For as during al that tyme that the soule remaineth in the body it after a certaine manner putteth vpon the state and nature of the body and becometh in a sort grosse and dull that thereby it may better accōmodatate it selfe to the body So all things which then it conceaueth it conceaueth apprehēdeth vnder a certaine corporal shew and forme For it is an axiome in Philosophy that the manner of working followeth the manner of existence But when the soule shal be separated from the body and shal be gathered as it were into it selfe and subsist by it selfe then shall it enioy another degree or kind of vnderstanding neither shall it haue any necessity of framing the Idea's images of things in the phantasy no otherwise then the Intelligences haue which wee call Angels To conclude as long as the Soule is in the body it cānot rightly exercise the vnderstanding and reason except it haue the externall senses loose and it liberty as is euident euen from those dreames which we haue in sleepe Now the cause hereof is not that the function of the senses do aduantage the function of the vnderstanding or that this doth depend of that other but because the faculty of the vnderstanding is the supreme and most excellent faculty of the soule Wherupon it riseth that for the perfect exercise of the vnderstanding it is requisite that the soule be altogether free vnbounded that so it may bend bestow all the force and power of its essence vpon such an operation And of this point a signe is that when we vehemently apply our mind to vnderstand and apprehend any thing we scarcely obserue and note such things as do occurre our sense the force of the soule busiyng it selfe in its most supreme and most noble action of all Ad hereto that there is such a connexiō association and sympathy of the powers of the soule in the body as that the soule cannot exercise the highest most worthy of thē if at the same present it doth alienate and estrange it selfe from the lowest Here I meane of the reciprocall affinity of these powers only which belong to knowledge The second argument Yf the soule after it is disuested of the body be immortall then shall it eyther continually remayne separated from the body or els sometime be restored to it But it seemeth that neither of these can be warranted with reason Not the first because it so should continue in a state which is violent and aduerse to nature for seing the soule of man is the lowest meanest of all spirituall substances it requyreth to be in the body as the forme of it therefore it hath a naturall propension to be vnited with
the body therefore to be separated from the body and to exist and continue separatly is coÌ„trary to its naturall inclination and in some sort violent But Violence perpetuity are incompatible Not the later I meane that sometime after its separatioÌ„ the soule is to be restored and reunited with the body because from hence it would follow that the resurrection of the body should be naturall and due to the naturall course of things which point is not to be granted both because it is a high mistery of Christian fayth as also in that all ancient Heathen Philosophers were vtterly ignorant of this doctrine of the resurrection of bodyes I answere first that Origen and the Platonicks vtterly denyed the reasonable soule to be the forme of the body who placed the same in the body not as a forme in its naturall subiect for the commodity and benefit of the subiect but as one that is guilty and detained in prison for a reuenge of its former errours Whereupon they taught that one substance to wit Man was not properly compounded of the soule and the body but they auerred that only the soule was man and the body the prison therfore they said that euery body was to be auoyded But for confutation of this errouâ— it is manifest that it is repugnant to reason For if the soule be with-houlde in the body as in a prison why then doth it so much feare and auoid death Or why is it so grieuous to the soule to be disioyned and separated from the body Why is it not painful to the soule to stay in a body so stored with filth and impurity As we see it is most displeasing to a man of worth accustomed to places of note and regard to be kept in a sordid and obscure dungeon Why doth it so much affect the commodities and pleasures of the body and is so greatly delighted therewith Why at the hurt and losse of the body is it so infinitly afflicted and molested since otherwise it hath iust reasoÌ„ to reioyce at these corporal endomages no otherwise then captiues and imprisoned persons who are glad to see their chaines fall asunder their prison laid leuell with the ground Therefore seing the reasonabie soule is no lesse seÌ„sible of ioy or griefe touching the pleasures or aduersities of the body then the soules of beasts are it is euident that the reasonable soule is the naturall forme of mans body and that it doth affect and couet to be vnited with it Yet because it is not so immersed in the body as that it ought to be extinguished with it but is able through the benefit of its owne subâ—ilty and spirituall substance to subsist by it selfe Hence then it riseth that it predominateth ouer the affections of the body contemning them at its pleasure so as it yealdeth if it selfe will neither to pleasure nor griefe nor death it selfe which priuiledge is not found in irrationable creatures This opinion then being reiected we affirme that the soule is not to continue separated but sometimes to be â—eunited to the body because it was not first ordained to be an entyre and complete substance as an Angell is but to be only a part of a substance to wit the forme and consequently an imperfect and incomplete substance Whereupon it is needfull that we admit the resurrection of bodies And yet we cannot tearme this to be naturall for although the forming of the body and the vnion of the soule with the body be a naturall thing and due to the naturall state perfection of the soule yet this cannot be accomplished by naturall causes but only by diuine power and therefore it is to be called supernaturalis euen as giuing sight to the blynd is so reputed or restoring of decayed and feeble parts of the body and the curing of incurable diseases Neither ought it to seeme strange that the soule of man cannot obtaine for euer its naturall perfection without the power of God and his extraordinary assistance the reason here of being in that it is capable of a double as it were of a contrary nature to wit spirituall and corporall mortall and immortall Therefore the Soule requireth the body once lost to be restored to it but to be restored so firmely strongly as that it is neuer more to be lost is supernaturall since otherwise there ought to be infinite tymes a resurrection of bodyes The Philosophers were ignorant of this resurrection either because they thought the soule not to be the naturall forme of the body but a complete substance or els in that they thought it lesse inconuenyent to teach that the soule remained after death perpetually separated then to introduce bring in as a new doctrine the resurrectioÌ„ of the body For though it be naturall to the soule to be in the body yet in that respect only as it is separated from it it feeleth no griefe but rather it is freed therby from all the inconueniences and discoÌ„modities of this life obtaineth a more high and more worthy degree and becomes more neere to diuine celestial substances Wherefore I do not thinke that the soule being separated doth of it selfe much couet to be reunited with the body though by the force and weight of nature it hath a propension therto And the reason her of is because those goods and priuiledges it possesseth as it is separated are more to be esteemed then those are which it enioyeth in the body Neither is it true that this separation is violent to the soule for although the want of this vnion be in some sort violent to it to wit by way of negation as it is a priuation of that to which the very essence of the soule doth efficaciously propend and inclyne yet that liberty which it then enioyeth and that vigour of the Soule maÌ„ner of vnderstanding is not in any sort violent but most agreable to its nature as it is in state of separation The third Argument The structure of the body may seeme to intimate imply the mortality of the soule for it is almost wholy framed for the temporal vses of this mortall life to wit that the body may be maintained and preserued and nature propagated and continued Thus the teeth and stomacke are ordained to chew and concoct meate the intestines and bowels to auoyd the superfluous and excrementall matter the liuer to confect bloud the gall to receaue the sharper more bitter parts of the nutriment the splen or milt to containe the more grosse bloud the reynes to part and diuyde the serasus wheish matter of the nourishment from the bloud the bladder to receaue and send out this wheish matter the instruments of the sexe to procreatioÌ„ But after this life there shal be no need either of the vse of meates or of procreation therfore there ought not to be these members which are ordayned to those ends and consequently there ought not to be the soule which
absurd assertion are to be weighed which indeed are found to be most friuolous weake and inconsequent as hereafter we will shew To the common iudgment of al ContrieÌ„s and nations herin we may adioyne the like sentence and iudgment of all most learned Philosophers who euer flourished in any place or tyme Since al these most coÌ„fideÌ„tly euer maintained a Deity and Prouidence as Augustinus Eugubinus in his worke de perenni Philosophia largely sheweth Thus did the Patriarchs teach the Prophets and al the wise men among the Iewes thus the Priests among the Egyptians the Magi among the Chaldeans the Gymnasophistae amoÌ„g the Indians the Druides among the French and the chiefe sects of Philosophers among the Grecians to wit the Pithagoreans the Platonickes the Stoicks as Eugubinus proueth the very Academians I heere omit the most excellent seÌ„tences of this poynt which are frequétly found in Trismegistus Orpheus Museus Homer Hesiod Pindarus Sophocles Plato and the Platonicks Seneca Plutarch whoÌ„ if any be desirous to see let him peruse the foresaid mentioned Authour This opinioÌ„ therfore of coÌ„fessing a Deity ProuideÌ„ce is fortified with the authorities of al countries al ages all religions all rites ceremonyes of diuyne worship al Priests al Prophets al discipline of Magi and Wise men and al the more remarkable Philosophers of al nations finally it is warraÌ„ted by the force of nature which hath imprinted this truth at his very birth in maÌ„s soule Therfore what madnes and blyndnes of mynd it is for some few weake sleighty reasons to imbrace the contrary opinion Since this is nothing els but to prefer and aduance a mans owne priuate iudgment aboue the iudgment of the whole world of all tymes and to venditate himselfe for more wise as enioying a more searching and penetrating braine then any other man liuing Therfore the Atheists do herin discouer their wonderfull folly and insupportable pryde which thus hath enchanted them THE SECOND REASON DRAVVNE FROM the motion of the heauenly Orbs. CHAP. IIII. IN this next place I will alledge certaine Philosophical reasons or arguments such as are euideÌ„t cleare to the vnderstaÌ„ding pretermitting the more obscure which be taken out of the Metaphisicks First then we see the heanenly bodies to be carryed about in their Orbs with a most rapid and swift motioÌ„ Now this motion caÌ„not haue it beginning froÌ„ any force of nature impressed in the heauens neither from any corporall cause therefore it procedeth from some intelligent and spirituall substance this substance is God That it doth not ryse froÌ„ any naturall inclination of the heauens is manifest since things which are moued by a propension of nature direct their motion vnto some one end the which end once obtained they cease from further motion and then do rest and are coÌ„serued Thus al sublunary bodyes enioy a power and force to moue that if chance they be taken from their naturall place they striue by motion to returne therto and being returned do there rest and quietly enioy their owne being For all things which stand obnoxius subiect to corruption are preserued in their owne naturall place but being out of it they perish languishing as it were away and loosing their state of nature And there is no body which hath an inclination to motion so as it still moues without end neuer attaynes to its period and desired place of rest for as the Philosophers teach Motus est quiddaâ—â—â—perfectum â—â—pote via ad terminum Motion is a thing imperfect in it selfe as being but only away or passage to an end or rest But there is nothing which couereth to be euer in its way or iourney as I may cal it but all things desire to hasten to their terminus or end and there to repose and rest Wherfore we may necessarily conclude froÌ„ the premises that seing the motion of the heaueÌ„ly Orbs doth not tend nor is directed to any terminus or end where it may find rest and quyet that therefore this motion floweth not from any inclinatioÌ„ of nature as the motion of all in animate things do which we see in this world This poynt is further confirmed from that that euery naturall inclinatioÌ„ to motion is directed to the good of the subiect or body which is moued to wit that the body may obtaine therby its perfection and conseruation and is not directed to the good or benefit of other bodyes for euery particuler thing hath therefore a force and propension to moue that by such a mouing it may obtayne that place which is most agreable to its nature and so may firmely place it selfe and rest there and not that by a motion it may benefit other bodies But now the motion of the heauenly Orbes bringeth no perfection at all to the Orbes or to those other heauenly bodies for what doth that continual rowling about of the Orbes profit or aduantage the Sunne or the other stars but is only beneficiall to the inferiour bodyes whiles by this motion it carryeth their vertues and influences throughout the compasse of the whole Orbes and so by distributing them causeth all things to receaue vegetation life increase perfection and conseruation Therefore it is most euident that this motion of the heauens proceedeth not from any secret inclination of nature in them for those celestiall Orbes cannot apprehend or conceaue their motioÌ„ to be profitable to this inferiour world that out of such a charitable cogitation and thought forsooth they should thus incessantly moue and turne about for so to apprehend and reflect vpon the profit of another is peculiar to a mynd and intelligence endued with reason From all which it is necessarily euicted and inferred that there is some most powerful spirit or intelligence which first conceaued this profit in its mynd and by reason of the said profit first ordained tempered this motion of which spirit it euer dependeth and is gouerned Furthermore the great variety of the heauenly motions doth sufficiently demonstrate that they proceed not from nature whose inclination is euer simple and vniforme For besides their motion from the East to the west vpon the Poles of the world which is common to all the Orbes seuerall Orbes of euery Planet enioy a proper motion froÌ„ the West to the East vpon a different Axis or Pole a different way and with different celerity The Orbe of Saturne perfecteth its course almost in 30. yeares The Orbe of Iupiter in 12 yeares of Mars about 2. yeares of the Sunue in one yeare of Venus in one yeare of Mercury almost in like space of the Moone in 27. daies and 6. houres Behold heere the great diuersity Neither is the poynt here lessened if in place of the motion of the Planets to the West we suppose their motioÌ„ to the East though somewhat slower according to the iudgement of some because euen granting this supposal yet the same variety is obserued the same difference of motion and the
borrowing all its perfection from other things it therefore cannot haue its being of it selfe indepeÌ„dent of all other causes Now then from all this heretofore obserued it followeth demonstratiuely that no Sublunary body hath its being and essence from it selfe but that all things receaue their being from some efficient cause Now that this cause is incorporeall and intelligent or enioying Reason and Vnderstanding appeareth seuerall waies first because Materia prima could not be produced by any corporeall cause seing that euery action of a corporeall thing euer presupposeth the subiect into the which it is receaued as Aristotle and all Philosophers do teach but before Materia Prima was no subiect can be imagined seing it was the first and as I may tearme it the deepest and most fundamentall subiect Againe if this Cause were corporeall theÌ„ doubtlesly the heaueÌ„s should be this Cause since there remaineth no other corporeal Cause to the which it may be ascribed But the heauens could not produce this Materia prima both by reason that the Heauens worke not but by the mediation of light influence of the stars both which qualities require a subiect into the which they may be receaued as also because before this production the whole space in which now the Elements are was voyde as being destitute of any corporeall body and then it followeth that the heauens should produce this Materia prima in vacuo not hauing any precedent subiect matter to worke vpon and therefore should create it of nothing but this doth transcend the power and force of any corporall nature Therefore in regard of this absurdity it followeth that the cause of this Materia prima must be incorporall and most powerfull as being able to giue it an essence and being euen from nothing From which Collection it further followeth that this cause ought to be also intelligent as knowing what it doth or worketh both because euery incorporall substance is intelligent as the Philosophers teach as also in that it did not produce this Materia prima after a blynd and ignorant manner but with a certaine finall intention and determination to wit that of it all other things should be made and that it should be the subiect of all formes This poynt is made further euident in that to a cause which is so perfect high and potent the most perfect manner of working is to be giuen but the most perfect manner is by the vnderstanding and the will Againe the same is become more cleare in that there ought to be contained in the cause all the perfections of the effect and this magis emiâ—â—nter more eminently then is in the effect I meane when the cause is of a different nature from the effect Wherefore seing Mans nature which is endued with reason and the diuers kynd of liuing Creatures which enioy sense are the effects of this incorporeall or spirituall cause it most consequently may be concluded that all the perfection of these to wit reason and sense are after an eminent manner contayned in the said cause That the heauenly bodies haue not their being from themselues appeareth first from their motions for if their motions do depeÌ„d of some other superiour Cause and that spirituall as is afore proued then can it be but acknowledged that their substance and figure are produced of the same cause for who is so voyd of consideratioÌ„ as to thinke that that Supreme cause should enter into the world as into an ample and maisterles house wherunto it can pretend no right or title and should challenge to it selfe the gouernment thereof Can it be thought to be so impotent as not to be able to frame to it selfe as it were a proper house of its owne If this house of the world belong not to this Cause why then doth it assume the regiment thereof Or why hath it stored this our inferiour world with such opulency abundance of riches of al kynd as of metals pretious stones hearbs trees birds fishes earthly creatures and all other variety of things whatsoeuer To conclude if thou considerest the stupendious power which this cause sheweth in the motions of these celestial Orbs thou canst not doubt but that the same Cause is the authour of this whole worke For although the Sunne be incomparably greater then the vniuesalâ— Globe of the earth and water as is euicted from the poynt of the shadow of the earth which reacheth not to the Orbe of Mars yea according to the iudment of the Astronomers the Sunne is an hundred sixty six tymes greater then the earth and water notwithstanding the SuÌ„ne with its whole orbe is carryed about with such a velocity and swiftnes that in compasse of one houre it goeth in its motion aboue ten hundred thousand myles wherupon it is certaine that in the same space of tyme it equalleth the compasse of the earth in its course aboue fifty tymes Among the fixed starres there are many which are 50. 70. 90. or 100. tymes greater then the whole earth as the Astronomers teach there is none of them which is not 18. tymes greater then the earth and yet they are carryed about with their whole Orbe with such a swiftnes as that such starres as are neare to the equinoctiall lyne do moue euery houre more then 40. millions of myles euery million being ten hundred thousand and so in one houre moueth more then comes to two thousand tymes the coÌ„passe of the earth Now who is he that will not here fall into an astonishing admiration of his boundles power who turneth about such vast and immense bodyes with so incomprehensible and impetuous a celerity Or what greater prints or intimations of Omnipotency can be then these are If any one of the starres should be carryed about neare vnto the earth with the like speed presently all things would be dissipated shiuered asunder the mountaines would be shaken and pulled vp as it were by the roots and turned with the earth and the sea into very dust The swiftnes of a bullet shot out of a great peece of ordinaÌ„ce seemes great and yet if one consider attentiuely supposing the bullet to be carryed the space of a hundred houres with one the same swiftnes yet would it not go so far as once the compasse of the earth For experience sheweth vs that in one minute of an houre it is carryed scarce three myles therefore in one houre 180. myles in an huÌ„dred houres 18. thousand myles which wanteth of the compasse of the earth its circuÌ„ference according to the more true iudgmeÌ„t of Astronomers being 19. thousand myles and 80. Wherfore from this we gather that the Sunne performeth a farre greater course in one houre theÌ„ a bullet would do in fiue thousand houres Now the celerity speed of the fixed starres about the Equinoctiall is forty tymes greater then the celerity of the Sunne Therefore that incorporeal power and vertue which doth so gouerne sterne the celestiall Orbes as that
it is able to driue them about with such a facility with such an incomprehensible velocity and so long a tyme without any slacknes or wearines doth sufficiently discouer it selfe to be the maker and Lord of the said heauens to whose good pleasure they are so seruiceable and obedient and thus it appeareth that from whence they receaue their most wonderfull motion from the same cause also they take their nature and being Doubtlesly no man who entreth into a serious consideration hereof can be otherwise perswaded seing there cannot be a greater argument and signe that a body is not of it selfe but dependeth of another then to shew that it enioyeth not it selfe but is made seruiceable and obedient to another The same poynt is also proued from the consideration of the diuersity of the parts wherof these Orbes do consist For seing these are altogether distinct in themselues and haue different qualities they could neuer meete altogether for the making vp of one and the same Orbe except there were some higher power which did vnyte the said parts distributing to euery one of thē their place their magnitude their measure proprieties and influences And this is further confirmed in that this different situation and disposition of parts whereby for example this Sarre is in this place of the Orbe that starre in another place c. is not of the essence of them nether doth it necessarily flow from their essence therefore it proceedeth from some extrinsecall cause so disposing them THE FOVRTH REASON FROM THE beauty of things and the structure and composition of the parts in respect of the whole CHAP. VI. THE very beauty of things which consisteth in a due proportion of parts both among themselues and with referēce to the whole manifestly sheweth that there is one most wise mynd or intelligence which first conceaued weighed measured and conferred with himselfe all these proportions and then after externally produced them out When we see any magnificent and sumptuous pallace wherein a most precise proportion and symmetry of parts is obserued so as nothing which belongeth to the exact skill of architecture is there wanting no man doubteth but that the same was builded by some one or other most artificiall architect How then cā any one call into question but that this world first had a most excellent and wise artificer and workeman seeing the parts thereof are so perfect and disposed and conioyned together with such an exact proportion sympathy and whose beauty is such as that it is therefore called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifyeth adorning beauty or comlines The heauen being extended aboue like vnto a vast and most large vault couereth and imcompasseth all things least they be seuered and dispersed It is for greater admiration beauty and ornament distinguished with an infinite number of starres as with so many Iewels certainly a most faire and pretious vault or couerture of this worldly pallace Now what is more pleasing to the eye of Man then those blewish and purple colours of the Heauens What more pure then those shining gems pretious stones What more solide then that adamantine firmnes of the heauēly Orbs which being neuer worne nor growing old haue continued so many ages inuiolable What is more admirable then the radiant body of the Sunne being the fountaine of light and heat What Nature hath imparted to all these their forme situation splendour and this celestial and vnchangeable beauty fairnes They do not receaue them from themselues since they haue not their being from themselues but from another And if from some other thing they take their essence then from the same they also take their beauty But this other thing cannot be corporeall since no corporeall thing can be more powerful and fayre then those heauenly bodyes are Therfore that which doth impart to them all these qualities must needs be a certaine incorporeall or spirituall substance whose infinite puissance and incomprehensible fayrnes we are partly able to glasse and see as it were by reflexion in so great a worke The Earth also though it be seated in the lowest place seruing as the flore or pauement of this princely and imperiall pallace or rather as a channell wherinto the excremēts of the elements are disburdened yet what pulchritude and beauty hath it What delight is discouered in the moūtaines and the vallies thereof in the springs floods gardens woods fields of pasture and graine orchards and plaines couered with all kind of colours exceeding al tapistry or other such artificial hangings whatsoeuer through its various and diuers vestment of hearbs flowers and groues Who can once dreame that all things are thus disposed of a Nature voyd of reason and vnderstanding seeing that the soule or mynd of man is not able to excogitate or imagine to it selfe any thing more admirable or beautifull Neither auayleth it any thing here to reply that the Sunne and the starres seeme to be the cause of all these things For although without the heat and influence of the starres wherby the generatiue and seminall power or vertue is stirred and the vegetatiue humors are prepared all these things cannot grow increase and come to their perfectiō notwithstanding these bodyes take not from the Sunne and starres their originall Cause and reason of their particular structure forming and making but from some intelligent mynd or spirit which hath impressed in the seeds a certaine power or vertue being as it were the image of its owne cōceit by the which as by its instrument it disgesteth disposeth and frameth the body that it may be altogether answerable and sorting to the intended forme For nether the Sunne nor the starres can know of what kynd euery tree for example will be or what temperature colour tast smell or medicinable vertue for diseases it will haue or with what leaues it is to be couered with what flowers to be adorned or beautifyed and with what fruites to be enriched finally what measure it ought to haue what figure extensions diffusions connexions and innumerable other such obseruations all which appeare in euery such particuler body with admirable artifice and wisdome for there is in euery worke of nature as their phrase it so great cunning skill and subtility as that no art can attaine to the thousand part thereof nor any wit can cōprehend the same Who then is so voyd of reason that can be perswaded that such bodies in whose making so eminent reason and wisedome is discouered could yet be made by any Cause that enioyeth not reason The Sunne of its owne nature imparteth its light and heat and in these two sorts in one and the same vniforme manner it cooperateth with all seedes to wit in heating the earth nourishing the seedes stirring vp the seminall spirit or vertue and in preparing the humours therefore this infinite diuersity of things and this proportion pulchritude which is in them cannot proceed from this Sunne seing his operation and working is vniforme
any benefit to it selfe or to any other thing euen as the fruition of great riches should be altogeather vnprofitable if the man possessing them should haue neither knowledge vse nor feeling of them The same poynt is further made euident froÌ„ the motion of the celestiall Orbs which motion bringeth no benefit to the heauens themselues but is wholy applyed to the good and vtility of man of those things which are commodious to the vse of man For first the motion of them is so tempered that all Countries of the earth excepting some few which are beyond 66. degrees neere to the Poles enioy within the space of 24. houres both day and night this being so directed to the most gratefull alteration and change of day and night Furthermore the Sunne by his proper motion vnder the Eclyptick eueÌ„ly cutting the equinoctiall lyne and declining sometimes to the south or at other tymes to the north more then 23. degrees causeth the foure seuerall teÌ„peratures of the yeares I meane Winter Spring-tyme Summer and Autumne all these being most accommodate and fitting for the good of such things as the Earth bringeth forth For the winter so worketh by its cold that the spirit and heat which is within the seeds and buds being inwardly receaued all things may be more strengthned with in that so they may better gather humour and nourishment that they may fasten their rootes in the earth and finally that all such things may inwardly swell therby to burst out in due tyme. The spring through its pleasing and teÌ„pered heat calleth all things forth drawing out buds leaues grasse flowers and the like The Summer with its greater heat consumeth the super abundaÌ„t humour disgesteth crude and raw things extenuateth and refineth things grosse openeth passages in the bodyes diffuseth or powreth in the spirit bringeth fruites to their maturity and rypenes To conclude the Autumne with its humour and moderate heat tempereth a new all things correcteth the drynes and heat of things which the summer aforehaÌ„d bestowed it also disposeth the earth to new seedes and new grothes lastly it repaireth the decayed states of liuing bodyes through want of naturall heat Now out of all these obseruations who seeth not that all this motion of the Sunne and the heauenly bodyes was first ordained euer after is perpetuated and continuated to the benefit of man to the grouth increase and fuller aboundance of all liuing creatures other bodies which may in any sort be seruiceable to the vse of man For no other benefit of it can be assigned theÌ„ this nor any other cause can be alledged why the motion of the Sunne and the other celestiall Orbes should be in any such and such sort Now if any enter into consideration of Wynds raine snow and frosts he shall easily discouer that these are ordayned for the good emolument and benefit of liuing creatures but chiefly of Man And first of Wynds the vse of them is various and great for they ventilate and fan the ayre and so mâ—ke it more wholsome to be breathed in which if it should continue vnmoued and vnshaken would putryxy and being by this meanes affected with some pestilent quality would kil both men and beasts For such close places we may obserue wherin the wynds blow not are become most pestiferous and noysome Secondly the wynds serue to carry the clouds about through the ayre and so to disperse and distribute them to seueral countryes regions for without the help of the wynds the mediterranean places and such as are farre distant from the sea would be euer destitute of cloudes and showers and so would become ouer hoate barren and inhabitable For seing from coasts and places far remote from the sea there cannot be drawne vp sufficieÌ„t store of vapours which may serue for clouds and raine except they being eleuated froÌ„ other places be thither carryed by force of the wynds the said mediterranean countryes would be continually scorched with the sunne and be depriued of all rigation and watering For it is the sea which chiefly ministreth matter for clouds out of whose vast bosome being directly and continually opposed to the Sunne great abundance of vapours are attracted vpwards by the heat of the Sunne which being after by force of the cold gathered into Clouds are lastly resolued into showers of raine wherfore except the wynds did carry these clouds vnto another place all raine would fall into the sea from whence the matter of it doth ryse and the whole earth through want of watering would remaine barren and vnprofitable Neither this aboue would happen but also all fountaines riuers would in a short tyme be drawne dry for these take their begining and continuance from the srow showers which fall vpon the mediterraneaÌ„ and mountanous places For the Snow which during the winter falleth vpon the hils melting by little and little through the Suns heat and distilling into the hollowes and concauityes of the hils doth in the end cause springs or fountaines In lyke sort the waters of showers being receaued and drink vp into the higher places of the hils and after many wyndings to and â—â—o vnder the earth meeting together do in the end fynding an issue or passage breake out into fountaines or springs Now of springs being mixed with other waters whether proceeding of snow or of showers running into one common channel are begotten Riuers And hence it followeth that during the summer when it but seldome raineth riuers are greatly decreased and except they be sed with snow water they are sometymes dryed vp So as if for the space of two or three yeares it should neither raine nor snow it would follow that all riuers and almost all fountaines would cease their ruÌ„ning through want of matter But these things are so disposed and gouerned that for certaine seasons so great store of raine and snow may fall as that therby the springs and riuers may be continually maintayned and fed Furthermore the wynds are necessary to dry vp the vnprofitable humour of the earth to recreate and refresh the bodyes of liuing creatures to rypen fruites to the turning of mils and such machines or workes and finally to the vse of Nauigation for â—â—â—â—â—â—â—ting there were no wynds all Nauigation would almost cease But what great proâ—â— doth ryse by Nauigation to Man For by this what merchandize is in forraine countryes which conduceth either to the commodities of mans lyfe or to the vse of phisick or to the delicacy of nature the same is most easily transported throughout the whole world and what is peculiar to few is by this meanes communicated imparted to all mankynd Neither is the profit of the showers raine inferiour to that of the wynds for it cooleth the ayre refresheth the bodyes of liuing creatures perpetuateth and continueth springs riuers ministers drinke to beasts watereth the earth and maketh it fruitful for without showers of raine the
thus rather then otherwise or to what end they so doe though all these he who thus taught them well knew Now if man can transfer a certaine imitation and shew of his art vpoÌ„ irrationable creatures to effect certaine functions and for certaine ends proiects theÌ„ how much more easily may that most wise most powerfull spirit and vnderstanding which we call God plant in all creatures a print of his Art and Prouidence which extendeth it selfe to al things necessary to the conseruation of their lyues and future propagation of their kynds Man in that he enioyeth reason and a certaine generall ProuideÌ„ce by the which he gouerneth himselfe setteth downe his owne end and disposeth of fitting meanes for the same end hath no need of these naturall instincts which other creatures haue And although diuers men in regard of their peculiar temperature of body haue peculiar instincts both for the stirring vp of seuerall motions and passions of the mynd as also for inclyning them to certaine artes yet they are not to gouerne themselues by these instincts but by the guyde and force of reason which is granted vnto them But other Creatures because they are depriued of reason cannot gouerne themselues nor direct their particuler operations to sutable coÌ„uenient ends therefore they stand in need of a certaine prudentiall instinct by the which they are to be directed both in the performance of their working as also in the directing and disposing of it to an end Therfore Man hath an vniuersal prudence or wisedome by the which he leuelleth all his actions to his end But other Creatures haue as it were a certaine sparke of prudence or rather a peculiar instinct lyke vnto prudeÌ„ce in certaine peculiar workes of their owne This instinct so far forth as it artificially performeth its worke as the web in the Spider and the hony combe in the Bee is a certaine participation of diuine art this not vniuersally but particularly to wit as it is considered in this or that worke In like sort as it fittingly directeth its working to an end it beareth the shew of diuyne Prouidence Now this instinct in beasts coÌ„sisteth chiefly in the disposition of the phantasy by the which it is brought to passe that it apprehendeth after a certaine manner a thing as conuenient or hurtfull according to tyme place and as occasion serueth Secondly it consisteth in the inclinatioÌ„ of the Appetite and in a certaine dexterity or hability of working From all thâ—se considerations theÌ„ I hould it sufficiently demonstrated that there is one Supreme Intelligence Mynd or Spirit whose wisedom is equally paralelled with his power by whom not only the principall parts of the world were framed and disposed to their particuler ends but also all the members and least parts of all liuing Creatures and plants as also the seed of all things by whose sweet prouidence the operations of al liuing Creatures are most coÌ„gruently and orderly directed to their defigned ends Out of which poynt this resultacy or collection also riseth to wit that his prouidence extendeth it selfe to the least things and that nothing is made without the same seing nothing can haue its being or essence without its vertue or instinct coÌ„municated and imparted by the foresaid Intelligence or Mynd But here it may seeme to be replyed that granting that Gods prouidence hath collated vertue power to all things to worke yet followeth not that his prouidence therfore stretcheth it selfe forth to all the operations and workings Euen as he who teacheth a Dog to dance or a Parret to speake Greeke doth not because he so taught theÌ„ know all things which after they may do by reason of their teaching To this I answere and say that here is a great disparity and difference for Man may be far remoued and distant from his worke and then he knoweth not what his worke performeth But God cannot depart from his worke but alwaies remaineth within the same both because God is euery where filling all places whatsoeuer as also in that he is to preserue support sustaine his owne worke since otherwise it would instantly decay vanishing away like a shadow For though a Wright for example building a house and after departing from it the house remaineth by it selfe to be seene yet neither the world nor any thing of the world can haue its subsisteÌ„ce being after God hath withdrawne himselfe from it And the reason of the difference here is diuers first because the Wright maketh his worke in a matter or substance which he neither made nor ought to conserue but which God made conserueth the Wright doing nothing therin but either by way of adding to or taking from or placing all things in a certaine order But now God worketh in that matter which himselfe only made and he only can destroy or preserue it Secondly because God made all things of nothing eleuating aduancing euery thing to its essence and being and therfore all things may againe reuert turne to nothing euen as a heauy body being by force lifted vp from the earth doth of it owne nature declyne towards the earth againe Wherfore as this body is continually to be supported that it doth not precipitate and fall headlong downewards euen so all things being first created by diuyne power need to be sustentated by the said power that they be not reduced againe to nothing And here I do not vnderstand by the word Nothing any positiue inclination such as the heauens or the earth is but a defect of power or hability to retaine its owne being because it hath no power preseruing it selfe but only from God Thirdly because all things haue their dependance of God after a perfect manner as the light of the ayre depends vpon the Sunne and the intentionall species or formes of Colours vpoÌ„ their obiect or as the shadow vpon the body exposed to the Sunne as the ancient Philosophers do teach and especially the Platonicks for we are not to thinke that there is lesser but rather far greater dependency of things created vpon God being the most vniuersall cause then is of these effects vpoÌ„ their particuler causes Therefore all things do need a continual preseruation and a continual influxe in so much that if God should but for a moment withdraw or diuert this substance-making beame for so doth Dionysiâ—s call it terming it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then would all things instantly vanish away returne to nothing I omit diuers other reasons which here might be alledged Only it sufficeth here to shew that God can in no sort be absent from his worke from which poynt it necessarily may be concluded that nothing can be concealed and hid from his Prouidence seing that himselfe is most intrinsecally inwardly present to al things THE EIGHT REASON FROM THE diuersity of Mens countenances and voices and from the pouerty of Man CHAP. X. THESE two things I meane the great diuersity of faces and
euill it hereupon manifestly followeth that the Soule of beasts doth perish together with their body For if the soule of a beast cannot eleuate it selfe in knowing and apprehending to some thing which is aboue the body and which properly belongeth to a spirituall nature it is euident that that soule is not spirituall nor eleuated aboue its body but altogether immersed and drowned in a corporeall and bodily nature For the substance of any thing is knowne from it operation and the operation from the obiect about which it is conuersant or busied Therefore seeing this Obiect and its ratio formalis or the true natiue reason which is the profit or hurt comming to the body doth only respect the body it must of necessity be granted that the substance of the soule in beasts is tyed and restrayned to the body But this point is farre otherwise in Man THE FIRST REASON PROVING THE Soules Immortality CHAP. II. THE first reason may bee in that the knowledge of the Soule is altogether illimitable For it conceaueth and apprehendeth all kinds of things all degrees of natures neither doth it appreheÌ„d only things which are but also things which are not for if forgeth in the vnderstanding any thing and frameth therein new worlds It also conceaueth the vniuersall reasons of things as they are abstracted from particulars from sensible matter from place and tyme and contemplateth the same as they are in themselues It searcheth into the reasons causes effectes and proprietyes of al things and finally iudgeth of all things Al which considerations are manifest arguments that the Soule of Man is not immersed in the body but that it is a spirituall substance separable from the body since all these actions and operations beare no reference to the benefit or profit of the body but are ornaments only of the mind In like sort the very Obiects of the former operations are not apprehended as they are advantagious to the body or sense to wit of tast feeling but they are apprehended according to their proper reasons as they are true and conformable to vniuersall and eternall principles or reasons in which respect they belong only to the mind or soule and not in any sort to the body THE SECOND REASON Proouing the same CHAP. III. THE second reason may be taken from Mans desire which is in like sort infinite and boundlesse for the soule doth not only desire such things as belong to the body to wit to satisfy their sense of tasting and feeling as beasts do but it stretcheth it selfe forth to euery truth desiring the knowledge and contemplation of euery verity Neither is it enlarged only to ech truth but also to euery thing that is good to the which goodnes the appetite and loue of all things is finally directed For all particular things whatsoeuer do affect and loue after a certaine manner that which is best sorting and agreable to their natures Now man comprehendeth al those things within his loue seeing he desireth not only those things which are profitable to himselfe but wisheth to euery thing whatsoeuer is best fitting to it and as much as in him lyeth procureth the same Therefore he coueteth both to himselfe and al other things besides what is best agreable to them to himselfe he wisheth those things in knowledge or as the Philosophers do speake in esse cognito to all other particular things in esse realâ— that they may really and truly enioy them Here then appeareth how much the power of desiring in man is eleuated aduanced aboue the matter condition of his body THE THIRD REASON CHAP. IIII. THE same point is further confirmed from the delights and pleasures wherewith the Soule soâ—aceth her selfe For she is delighted chiefly with the contemplation of truth and with truth it selfe She is delighted with the pulchritude and beauty of all things and in admyring the art skill which appeareth in euery thing She is delighted with proportions and mathematicall disciplines She is delighted with the workes of Religion Piety Iustice and the exercise of other vertues Finally she is delighted with fame honour glory rule and domination All these are proper goods of the Soule and are so esteemed by man as that in compare hereof he contemneth and vilifyeth al profits pleasures of the body Therefore seeing the capacity and the largenes of the soule of man is so ample and great that it comprehendeth all things and compasseth about as it were all the latitude altitude and profundity of Ens in generall containing it within it selfe seing also the soule hath her proper motions or knowledge her desires loues delights and peculiar ornaments none of all which belongeth to the benefit of the body but all are touching spirituall obiects or at least concerning such things which are estranged from the benefits or pleasures of the body and lastly seeing the Soule esteemeth all these things farre more then any corporall goods It is therefore most perspicuous and euident that the Soule is of a farre higher more worthy disposition then the body of such a diuine nature as that it dependeth not at all of the commerse or entercourse which she hath with the flesh THE FOVRTH REASON CHAP. V. THIS verity is also warranted from the dominion which the Soule hath ouer the body and from the soules enioying of Freewill For the Soule doth so direct gouerne and ouerrule the body in her affections and passions as that neither the expectation of rewards nor the feare of torments can force the body to say or do any thing then what the Soule willeth which point is euident both from many examples as also from the testimony of Iosephus in his small worke or booke bearing this title Quod ratio affectuum sit Domina Now of this matter no other reason can be assigned but because the Soule doth not depend of the body but is sui iuris of its owne freedome liberty and and finall determination wherupon it riseth that the soule so valueth those things which appertaine to the body as if they did not belong vnto her she being contented and fully satisfyed with her owne proper goods and delights but the contrary falleth out in beasts for seing their Soule is altogeather mancipated and enthralled to the body depending of it in regard of her owne essence she is necessarily and as it were violently carryed to such things as are pleasing and beneficiall to the body and flyeth all those things which seeme aduerse and distastfull to it and hence it is that the Soule in beasts hath neyther her passions nor externall motions in her owne power and at her owne command THE FIFTH REASON CHAP. VI. IF the the Soule should haue all her dependance of the body could not consist the body being once extinct then should she haue against nothing a greater horrour and auersion then against Death nor would she prize any thing at so high a rate which willingly she would not loose
man cannot possibly performe except it continueth after this life immortall Now the perfection of Mans Soule consisteth in wisdome vertue with the which her chiefest powers are beautifyed adorned and by meanes of which those powers obtayne their ends chiefe perfection But few there are who in this life giue themselues to the obtaining of wisdome and therefore the greatest part of men make small or no progresse therein and those who spend their tyme in the search or purchasing of it do scarcely get the hundreth part of that abundance of wisdome wherof the mynd of man is capable for though a man should liue a thousand yeares yet might he daily profit and increase therein yet not obtaine it in its highest measure Therfore it is necessary that the Soule of Man doth liue after the death of the body that in the next life seing in this it cannot it may come arryue to its perfectioÌ„ since otherwise in vaine should that capacity and extension of the Soule be giuen her in vaine should that vnquenchbale desire of knowledge be engrafted in her for that capacity and desire is in vayne which cannot be filled and satisfyed Besides it is most absurd to say that Nature which in the smallest most despicable things neuer doth any thing without a due purpose end should in the most noble creature of all worke and labour so much in vaine and to no designed drift or proiect THE XIIII REASON CHAP. XV. IT is certaine that the Soule of man cannot know it selfe in this life except it be very obscurely and confusedly euen as he which seeth a thing farre of through a cloud perceaueth it imperfectly as not being able to discerne the colours or lineaments of it Now this want of the Soules perfect knowledge of it selfe was the cause of so many different opinions of the Philosophers touching its owne substance some of them teaching it to be of a fiery substance others an â—yery and some others that it was a substance taken from the ayre from the soule of the world as their phrase was The Soule then knoweth not either what it selfe is or of what quality whether a simple or pure spirit or consisting of a most thin body whether it hath distinct faculties and powers in it selfe or that it performeth all her operations immediatly by it selfe what is the power and nature of those faculties how they performe their functions how the obiects do meet and associate themselues with their faculties how the organs and instruments of the senses do concurre and cooperate with the animal spirits In these and almost all other things belonging to her selfe the Soule is strangely blind and diuineth and coniectureth of them as it were in a dreame Therfore if the Soule doth perish togeather with the body she neuer knoweth her selfe but remaines ignorant thereof both when she is first ingendred whyle she liueth and after her death But now it is most fitting both in nature and reason that sometimes she might be able to contemplate her selfe to see and perfectly to apprehend her owne beauty nature and ornaments for as nothing more clearly belongeth to the Soule then her owne Nature and such things as are intrinsecall and inward to her so no knowledge is more necessary to her then the knowledge of her selfe and things appertaining to her for she is most neere and deâ—re to her selfe Therefore it must necessarily be granted that she is not extinguished after this life but that after she is once freed of the body and of all corporall obiects which afore she apprehended by helpe of the externall senses and that by meanes thereof she enioyeth her owne simplicity then shall she see her selfe distinctly and clearly and shall daily esteeme those her goods ornaments which in this life she so smally prized For one kind of vnderstanding agrees to her whiles she is tyed to this mortall body another when by meanes of the bodyes death she shal be set at liberty shal nakedly exist by her selfe For while she remaynes in the body she can know nothing perfectly but what is corporall and vnder a corporall shew wherupon it followeth that she cannot see or know her selfe but after she is once diuorced from the body she shall then take the forme and manner of vnderstanding answerable to spirits and then shall discerne spirituall things as now she apprehendeth by her eyes corporall things For the manner of knowing doth euer answere to the manner of existence and agreeth to the state of the thing which knoweth since euery thing worketh according to the manner of its owne nature THE XV. REASON CHAP. XVI THIS corporeall World as also all things contained therein were made for man as is aboue shewed for all things are disposed in that sort as they may best serue to the benefit and profit of man Thus the world seemeth nothing els then a vast house furnished withall things necessary whose inhabitant possessour or Fructuarius is man So that supposing man were not then were there no vse of the world but it should be as a desart seruing only for a denne of wild beasts and for a wood of thornes Therfore seeing all things are first instituted for man it followeth that man is a most excellent thing and created for a far greater and higher end then it can attaine in this life for seing so many different seruices of things and so wonderfull riches are prepared for man for his better and more easy leading of this short and mortall life how can it be thought that no good or happynes expecteth him after his death but that his Soule vtterly decayeth with his body Doubtlesly this is a great argument that he is ordained to enioy after his emigration passing out of this life a most noble honourable and admirable felicity happines This point is further confirmed If the Soule doth perish with the body theÌ„ it followeth that the world and al its admirable furniture was only framed by nature that man for a short season and tyme might liue eate drinke sleepe in gender and then presently for euer decay Thus this should be all the good the end and the â—ruite oâ— so worthy and admirable a worke But it is not likely that to so meane small an end the heauens should be incessantly caryed about with such a daily motion That the Sunne Moone and Starrs should still continue their courses that the change of day and night and the vicissitude or continuall circles of tymes and seasons as spring summer autumne and winter should be ordained Againe that winds should blow the clouds should be gathered togeather the showers should be powred downe that the earth should cause so many kinds of flowers and fruits should containe within its bosome such inestimable treasure that the Sea should bring forth such seuerall sorts of fish the ayre should abound with so great store of byrds Nature her selfe should so painfully labour in the producing
workemans mynd Furthermore light cannot occasion darkenes But truth is light and the square of what is right and vice is darkenes a lye and a deuiation or declining away from the path rule of truth Now this opinion which teacheth the Soule to be mortall corruptible doth subuert and ouerthrow the foundation of al probity and vertue and giueth the raynes to all licentiousnes and sensuality For who would walke in the cragged way of vertue refraine his desires tame his lusts abstayne from doing wrong and worship a diuine power if he did expect no reward for such his deportment and carriage nor fruite of this his labour Wherefore we find euen by experience that such as maintaine the Souls mortality are of a most licentious and prophane life conuersation for as in a commonwealth it cannot be brought to passe that externall iustice and politicall honesty be obserued and violence and iniury be restrained except rewards and punishments be ordayned by force of established lawes Euen so vertue in mankind cannot be practized vice prohibited where there is no expectation of reward and commination of chastisement set downe by the decree and ordinance of God The which remunerations and recompensations seeing they are not euer payed in this life it followeth that they are to be reserued for the life to come since otherwise it might be said which were a heynous offence to auerre that a coÌ„monwealth is more wisely and prudently ordayned and gouerned by man then mankind is by God The Wiseman in the second chapter excellently describeth the improbity of such as deny the soules Immortality in these words Exiguum cum taedio c. Our life is short and tedious and in the death of a man there is no recouery neyther was any knowne that hath returned from the graue For we are borne at all aduenture and we shall be hereafter as though we neuer had been c. Come therfore let vs enioy the pleasures that are present and let vs cheerfully vse the creatures as in youth c. Let vs leaue some token of our pleasure in euery place for this is our portion and this is our lot Thus we see how these men do place their chiefe felicity in the pleasures of the body Now after this Salomon proceedeth further shewing how such men beare themselues to the vertuous how they spoyle them afflict them kill them making their owne power and might the law of iustice so holding that for lawfull which they can and will execute then the which nothing can be reputed more iniurious for thus he bringeth in them saying Fortitudo nostra c. Let our strength be the law of our vnrighteousnes for the thing that is feeble is reproued as vnprofitable To conclude the Wiseman endeth thus in his owne person Haec cogitauerunt c. Such things do they imagine go astray for their owne wickednes hath blinded them and they doe not vnderstand the mysteries of God neither hope for the reward of righteousnes nor can discerne the honour of the soules that are faultlesse For God created man without corruption â— made him after the image of his owne likenes In which words he giueth a reason why man according to his Soule is inexterminable without end and incorruptible to wit because he is like to God as being his image For in respect of his mind and soule man is capable of diuinity as also of euery truth and goodnes Therefore seing this perswasion of the death and mortality of the soule is so pernicious to all vertue morality and conuersation we may infallibly conclude that it is most false as being not warranted with any iust shew of truth Againe that sentence which is the source and welspring of all iustice piety vertue cannot be false for as light cannot proceed out of darkenes so the shining spleÌ„dour of truth cannot rise from the obscurity of errours And certainly it is absurd in it selfe that the errour of iudgment and a false perswasion of mynd should become the fountaine of all iustice and probity But this article which teacheth the soules immortality and that after this life it is to be rewarded or punished is the ground-worke of all iustice and probity since through this expectation man is deterred from vice and impelled and perswaded to vertue Wherupon it hath been euer obserued that such men as euer grew eminent through the prayse of vertue were incited to the practise of it through the perswasion of the soules immortality from thence then it followeth that this sentence must be most true since it is is incredible that the nature of the mynd or soule should be so ordained as that the true perfect knowledge of it selfe should be the cause of all improbity and lewdnes and an erroneous perswasion the occasion of vertue For so it would follow that nothing would be more necessary and conuenient for the Soule then to be ignorant of its owne nature and nothing more dangerous then to haue a true knowledge of it selfe which paradox is most incongruous and absurd since all wisemen esteemed this sentence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nosce teipsum as an Oracle in so much that Plato in Charmide witnesseth that these words were inscribed in the front of the temple of Apollo at Delphos to the end no doubt that all should take notice that the obseruing of this sentence is the only way to true felicity reuealed to man by a supernaturall power Whereupon Iâ—uenal thus writeth E calo descendit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is this sentence Know thy selfe descended from heauen Perhaps thou mâ—ist heere say that vertue is a reward to it selfe and vice its owne punishment therefore though the Soule be mortall and that it is not to expect after this life either reward or to feare punishment yet by this meanes it is sufficiently incyted and stirred vp to imbrace vertue and flie vice I answere hereto and say that this Stoicall imagination is but weake and of small force to gouerne the affections of men though at the first appearance it heareth some shew of probability and this for seuerall reasons First because the beauty of vertue and deformity of vice is a very secret hidden thing and apprehended but by few wherupon it riseth that it cannot efficaciously mooue the mynds of men since nothing which is vnknowne stirreth the affection Secondly because this reason is little preuailing euen in those minds which make shew to admit the force of it for who is he which flieth pleasure only by reason of its inward turpitude as it is aduerse to the law of reason and imbraceth the way of vertue only because the vertue is in it selfe fayre and agreable to reason not being induced thereto through any other motiues For the Stoicks themselues who first did venditate and teach this doctrine were not perswaded to â—ine answerably hereto as mooued only through the force of vertue and vice but rather through honour
sweet and to be desired and on the contrary part an inward and serious reflexion and meditation of the most seuere punishments prepared hereafter for vyce and wickednes causeth the pleasure of it to seeme bitter and loathsome Now what is hertofore spoken of the operations of vertue to wit that it selfe should not be a sufficient remuneration for it selfe is to be vnderstood of those actions of vertue which can be performed in this life For we do not deny but after this life there is an action of vertue which is a reward of it selfe and of all other precedent operations of vertue And this is the cleare vision of God and the loue and ioy flowing from thence for these functions or actions of vertue are chiefly to be desired for theÌ„selues so as no other further commodity is to be expected therein seing in this vision our supreme felicity formalis beatitudo as the Schoolemen speake consisteth Now that these operations make vs happy this riseth not froÌ„ thence that they are the operations or functions of any vertues but in that they conioyne and vnyte the Soule with God who is summum verum suÌ„mum pulchrum summum bonum our chiefest truth chiefest beauty and good Wherefore from hence we may obserue that we do not place in these actions our happines as the Stoicks did in vertue for they reposed their supreme happines in vertue it selfe and in a resolution of the mynd subiect to reason not in the Obiect to the which vertue tyeth our mynd thus they made vertue it selfe to be both the formall obiectiue beatitude that is the subiect from whence this beatitude riseth and the formal cause why in these functions of vertue consisteth maÌ„s beatitude But we place not this our felicity principally in these operations of vertue but in the Obiect to the which these operations do vnyte our soule and mind so as these operations cannot be called our felicity but with reference as they are a certaine perfect vnion and vitall coniunction with our summum bonum or supreme happines Besides the Stoicks taught the operation of vertue to be in our power flowing at our owne pleasure from the freedome of our will wheras we maintayne that blessed function not to be in our owne power but to be a celestiall constant immutable and sempiternall guift diuinely infused But it may be heere obiected that glory and praise is a sufficient incytement to the study of vertue and consequently that there is no need of rewards or paynes after this life And of this opinion Tully may seeme to be who wonderfully magnifyeth this reward in these words following Nulla merces à virtute c. No other reward is to be expected for vertue then this of honour glory Of all the rewards of vertue glory is the most ample and large which comforteth the shortnes of life with the memory of posterity which maketh that being absent we are present and being dead we do liue by which degrees of honour men may be thought to ascend to heauen In like sort in another place he thus wryteth Non vita haâ— c. This is not to be tearmed life which consisteth of the body and the soule or mind but that euen that is truly life which flourisheth in the memory of all ages which posterity nourisheth and which eternity it selfe euer behoâ—deth I answere hereto and say that glory humane praise is no sufficient reward for vertue and this for diuerse reasons First because the desire of glory corrupteth the good perfectioÌ„ of vertue leauing therof only an outward shew and a mere representation for vertue as Aristotle and al Philosophers defyne it is a loue of that which is good or honest only in that respect that it is good Therefore if one do a vertuous worke not through any loue of vertue but through the hope either of profit pleasure or praise it is not the worke of true vertue but only an external pretext thereof for the inward life and as it were the soule of vertue is absent heere for as a liuing creature consisteth of soule body so a perfect worke of vertue is grounded vpon an inward liking of what is good an outward worke And as when the soule leaueth the body there remaineth only a dead Carcas euen so the desire and affection of what is good and vertuous being extinguished nothing is left but only an empty shew or image of vertue So far short then is glory and praise from being a sufficient and efficacious incytemeÌ„t of vertue as that true vertue is euen corrupted and depraued therby no otherwise then certaine hoat poisons do so stir vp awaken the sleeping spirits of a man as that they do vtterly dissolue dissipate and extinguish them Secondly Glory is not sufficient hereto because the scope and End of glory is preuailing only in certaine few externall actions which are performed vpon the open stage of the world for as it is aboue shewed it doth not excite and perswade a man to the inward affection and loue of vertue but only to the outward action this not to euery action but to such as may be most conspicuous and markable in the eyes of many For the humour of glory praise is fully satisfyed if a man seeme externally vertuous honest and valorous though in the secret closet of his soule he is found to be wicked and cowardly Therfore this desire of praise which is but an idle diuerberation or empty sound of ayre rather engendreth Hypocrites then true followers of vertue Thirdly because the reward of vertue ought to be a certaine solid and intrinsecal good which may affect the soule it selfe which is more noble then vertue since the End ought euer to be more excellent then the meanes But humane glory is a thing merely extrinsecall resting only in the perswasion and iudgement of men but bringing no perfection or worth to the mynd For what can the opinion of a coÌ„pany of poore mortall men aduantage me Or what can their speaches and words auaile me Thou maist heere reply from whence then procedeth it that almost all men are ouerruled with the desire of praise and glory For as one saith There is no such humility of mynd which cannot be mollifyed with the sweetnes of glory Which saying is so true as that this affection of Philotimy and loue of honour reputation hath suddenly crept into the mynds of most holy and deuoute men I answere that there are three causes hereof First because there is in all men an innate appetite and desire of excellency which mightily ruleth and swayeth in the mynd for there is nothing more to be desired in that which is good whether it be vertue power or nobility then to excell others in the same good Now honour is the testimony of this excellency glory a knowledge and opinion of the same excellency and praise a diuulging and dilating of the same Whereupon when
requireth such members and a body so framed and compacted For those members are to be accounted in vayne superfluous of which there neuer shal be any vse I answere This argument directly immediatly oppugneth the resurrection secundarily and by way of coÌ„sequence the immortality of the soule For the composition and structure of mans body prooueth that in it selfe and by its owne nature it is mortall but it doth not prooue the soule to be in like sort mortall But although the body be disolued and do perish yet it is a facill easy matter for God to frame it againe in its due tyme to reinfuse the soule into it and so to cause that the body shall neuer after be dissolued for as Plato in his Timaeo teacheth Quod natura sua solubile est c. VVhat in its owne nature stands subiect to dissolution and obnoxious vnto death the same by the commandement and will of God may be made immortall so as it shall neuer dye Certainly those functions of the members which belong to nourishment of the body and to generation shall cease notwithstanding it followeth not that those members shal be superfluous because they shall serue to the naturall constitution of the body as parts necessary to its perfection and beauty for this is their chiefe and principall vse to wit to conduce to the making of a perfect and complete body and such as is fitting to the condition state of the soule Now these functions are only a secondary end because they are ordained only for the tyme and serue only to repayre the ruines of mortall body the naturall heat feeding vpon and consuming the substance of the flesh whereupon it followeth that as the augmentation or increase of the bodyes greatnesse ceaseth when it once hath attained its iust stature Euen so shall nutrition or nourishment of the body cease and the functions belonging thereto when the body by a diuine hand and power shall become immortall For seeing these functions are oâ— the lowest degree as agreeing to the soule according to its meanest faculty and parte wherein it participateth with plants and is heerein attended with much drosse filth rottennes it was not conuenient that they should be perpetuall but that in due tyme they should be taken away God reducing the body into a better forme Notwithstanding the function of the senses because they are made after a spirituall manner without corruption they shal be perpetuall In like sort the function of the voyce and speach shal be perpetuall to the which those members shall after their manner either neerely or remotely be seruiceable and therefore in this respect also they shall not be in vaine superfluous The fourth argument may be taken froÌ„ those words which Pliny in his seauenth booke of his history c. 55. setteth downe though they be of small force and validity First then he to this purpose saith Omnibus a suprema die c. The same happeneth to all things after thâ—ir last day which was at their beginning Neither after death is there more sense to the body or soule then there was before its birth I answere and say that that is heere assumed which is first to be prooued and therefore it is denyed with the same facility wherwith it was affirmed And that this saying of his is false it is prooued from the whole schoole of the Platonicks and the Pithagoreans For there is no necessity why that which once begun should sometimes cease especialle if it be a simple and vncompounded substance as the soule and euery spirituall nature is But indeed it is otherwise of corporall things consisting of the Elements of whome only that sentence is verifyed Omne genitum potest corrumpi Euery thing that is made may be corrupted Certainly materia prima because it is simple and vncompounded though it had a beginning yet can it not be corrupted The same also according to the doctrine of the Platonicks is to be said of the celestiall Orbs. Therefore although there was no sense of the soule before its creatioÌ„ yet followeth it not that therefore after death it shall haue no sense And the reason hereof is because though the birth as it were of the soule be ioined with the birth of the body and thereupon the soule did exist before the birth of the body notwithstanding the destruction of the soule doth not follow the destruction of the body for death is not a destruction or extinguishmeÌ„t of them both but only a separation of the body from the soule In the next place Pliny demandeth Cur corpus c. why the body followeth and coueteth the soule I answere that no body followeth the soule departing from hence because the soule as being a naked and simple substance can consist without the body Then saith he Vbi cogitatio illi From whence hath the soule separated its cogitation or discourse The soule being in state of separation hath no need of a braine or a body that it may thinke imagine and discourse euen as we grant that God spirituall substances haue not those Organs because the force of vnderstanding by how much it is more remote distant from the body by so much it is more excellent Next asketh Pliny Quomodo visus auditus From whence hath the soule separated seeing and hearing Whereto it is replyed that the soule needeth not the function and operation of the outward senses seing that it perceaueth all things in its mynd For the the mynd then doth not only serue to cogitate or thinke or to know things abstractiuely but also to behold and apprehend all things which in this life we apprehend with our externall senses euen as Pliny himselfe speaketh of God Quisquis est Deus c. VVhosoeuer God is he is all sense all sight all hearing all soule all vnderstanding all himselfe In like sort we say of the soule being separated that it is all sense all sight all hearing all vnderstanding all vigour and life Againe he questioneth Quid agit qui vsus eius What doth the soule separated Or what vse is there of it Of whom by retortioÌ„ I demand what do other spirits and incorporeall substances As if it were nothing to contemplate praise and loue God and to enioy the fellowship of celestiall spirits Certainly the cecity and blindnesse of this man is wonderfull who may be thought not to haue acknowledged the being of any spirits Therefore how much more wisely deliberatly did the Platonicks and the Peripateticks teach who placed maÌ„s chiefe felicity in conteÌ„plating of the first beginning and cause of all things Pliny proceedeth yet further Quid sine sensibus bonum VVhat can be good which is not to be apprehended by the senses I say to acknowledge no good of the soule without the senses is incident to swyne and beasts not to Philosophers next Quae deinde sedes VVhat seate or mansion for the soules seperated The answere is expedite and ready