hold Hyl. Yes or else we have nothing to trust to If clear and distinct Perception is not the infallible Mark of Truth 't is impossible to know any Thing For all Reasoning is at last resolved into Self-evident Principles Now these Magisterial Propositions don't dispute for Belief but demand it They flash Conviction so powerfully that 〈◊〉 there is no resisting them unless you will suppose our Faculties are false And then it will be Madness to argue about any Thing To return Don't you think the Whole is greater than any Part of it Luc. I allow it an indisputable Axiom what follows Hyl. Why as plain and as primary a Truth as it appears 't is but a Consequence of what I mentioned before Luc. What that a Distinction of Ideas infers a Distinction in Things Hyl. Yes For do but attend and you 'll find that the reason why you pronounce the whole bigger than a Part is because the first takes up a greater room in the Notion and includes a more comprehensive Reality than the later Luc. It seems then the Functions of Life and Reasoning proceed from an immaterial Substance and that the Body and Spirit are perfectly distinct Hyl. Nothing more certain And if a Spirit has no Extension it can have no Parts from hence it becomes indivisible and thence immortal Luc. I own these Consequences are very clear but then they are embarrassed with some appendant Difficulties which shock a Man's Understanding Hyl. Look you We must not let go manifest Truths because we cannot answer all Questions about them Objections are no good Evidence against positive Proofs This scrupulous way would make us deny our Senses For there is scarcely any thing we meet with but puts our Reason to a stand in some Circumstance or other But pray where does the Pinch lye Luc. Why by this Scheme all Communication between Soul and Body is cut off and yet nothing is more certain than that These two maintain a large Correspondence You see we move our Limbs at our Pleasure and receive various Impressions according to the Objects of Sense and the Habits of Constitution But how the Soul can move the Body or be affected by it without Extension is past my Comprehension For all Motion is perform'd by Resistance and Resistance supposes Contact and Contact requires a Superficies and this implies Extension so that where Extension is absent the other Requisites must fail of Course At this rate a Soul may as soon push down a Church Steeple as stir a single Atom Hyl. I confess I can't tell you how this Affair is managed 'T is possible the Soul does not move the Body at all Luc. How then comes it to pass that Motion is so perpetually consequent to our Will For the Purpose When I have a Mind to walk the Muscles are immediately put into a Posture of Travelling and do their Office at the least Notice imaginable Hyl. I believe this mysterious Correspondence depends on the Laws of the Union which by Sovereign Appointment are order'd to consist in a certain Reciprocation of Thoughts and Motions and so vice versa Luc. You mean when I would move my Finger God directs the Organ for such a Performance And on the other hand gives me Ideas suitable to the Presence of sensible Objects and to the State of the Union Hyl. Right Luc. But why do you make use of this Supposition Do you believe the Power of Exciting Motion exceeds the Force of the Soul Hyl. 'T is not improbable it may For if this Privilege lay within our reach one would imagine we should know something more of the Manner of using it But I don't pretend to determine any Thing Luc. You don't think it impossible for a Spirit to move Matter Hyl. By no means If it were there would be no such Thing as Motion For Extension implies no Necessity of being Moved It supposes no more than a bare Capacity for such an Event Now that Power which brings this Possibility into Act must be something distinct from Matter Besides The Regularity of Motion visible in the great Variety and Curiosity of Bodies and the constant and even Revolutions of some of them is a Demonstration that the whole Mass of Matter is under the Conduct of a Mighty Intelligence Luc. By your Reasoning I conceive you believe that the Power of Motion is either an incommunicable Perfection of the Supreme Being or else a sort of Prerogative Royal which he is pleased to keep in his Hands that we may be the more sensible of our dependance Hyl. I think that Opinion not improbable You know the Apostle tells us That in Him we Live Move and have our Being Which Words 't is likely will bear a more Literal Sense than is usually imagined Luc. May be so But to return If Matter be so uncapable of Thinking as seems to have been proved How comes it about that the Operations of Sense and Reason vary so much according to the Disposition of the Organs For if the Musick does not depend on the Instrument what 's matter whether 't is in Tune or not Now you know any considerable Degrees of Sickness or Age flat the Senses extinguish the Memory and weaken the Understanding So that the Vigour of the Mind seems almost stifled under these Corporeal Oppressions Hyl. I grant the Powers of Sensation are contracted or enlarged made keen or languid according to the Temper of the Body But 't is likely these Circumstances are no more than occasional Causes of this Variety My Meaning is That there is no natural Connexion between Thought and Matter and Motion Or that the Soul and Body do not act by direct Force upon each other 'T is true Sensations and Passions seem to depend upon a particular Set of Motions And the Body on the other hand seems to fall into different Postures by the Orders of the Mind yet these Effects may not result from any mutual Agency but meerly from the Will of a third Power That this Supposition is possible needs no proof ' That 't is matter of Fact seems likely because the two Parties are so essentially foreign and dissimilar that they seem uncapable of entertaining any Commerce by virtue of their own Strength Luc. If the Operations of Life have no immediate dependance on the Quality of the Organ why are our Senses worn up with Age and decay with the visible Parts of the Body Hyl. When the common Period of the Union is almost expired 't is likely Providence gives us notice of it by such sensible Declensions that we may disengage from the World by degrees and prepare the better for so great an Alteration Luc. Why does Pain follow from Obstructions Dislocation Discontinuity c. and Pleasure from those Actions which support the Frame Hyl. To encourage us to keep the Body in repair and to prevent Dissolution Luc. Your answering in the Final Cause makes me believe you are at a Loss for the Efficient Hyl. As to that 'T is
naturally desire to stand fair in the Opinion of others And to have something of Value to support them in their own Thoughts When they are the worst of their Way and fixt in the Fag-end of Business they are apt to look not kindly upon those who go before them He that can be reconciled to the Character of an insignificant Person has a mean Soul To be easy a Man should examin his Genius and exert his Spirits and try to make the most of himself 'T is true every one cannot expect to distinguish himself in the highest Posts To command an Army or ride Admiral in a Fleet or be at the Head of Iustice or Religion Neither is it material to the Point Notwithstanding there are few but may Shine in their own Orb and be Remarkable in their Station so far at least as to guard off Contempt and secure a moderate Repute And those that are easy at Home will not be envious Abroad Those that are Good for something themselves will be contented that others should be so too All Things considered They have their Share of Regard and let who will take the rest Thirdly The proportioning Reward to Merit which will be done Hereafter is a sufficient Expectation to remove Envy The Perswasion of such a Regulation of Honour is certainly the most solid Principle for this purpose imaginable For this way all the seeming Partialities of Birth and Fortune are set aside And to speak familiarly every one has a fair Turn to be as Great as he pleases Here all People are upon equal Terms of Advantage The Temple of Honour stands open to all Comers and the Peasant has an Opportunity of being as great as a Prince Thus Station and Happiness lies in every ones Power The Management of the Will determines the Precedency A slender Share of present Advantage will do no prejudice to future Pretensions For Men will not be valued by the Size of their Understandings but their Honesty Not consider'd by the Height of their Character but for the Decency of Personation When the Scene of Life is shut up the Slave will be above his Master if he has acted better Thus Nature and Condition are once more brought to a Ballance And as all Men were Equal at first so they may be at last if they take Care This Consideration digs up Envy by the Roots because no Man can be less than another without his own Fault The way To prevent being Envied for that should be thought on too in a Privilege is to shew it not undeserved That 't is either transmitted from worthy Ancestors or acquired by Qualities extraordinary He that rises above a common Performance and goes far in an honorable Danger may be thought to Earn the Distinction of his Circumstances In such Cases People are more inclined to commend the Merit than repine at the Success Especially if the Advantage be civilly managed Conceit and Arrogance and Ostentation spoils all Pride and ill Nature will be hated in Spight of all the worth in the World But he that is obliging in his Exaltation and makes a modest Use of his Superiority may sit secure and have the Odds of good Wishes on his Side OF THE ASPECT THE Countenance seems designed not only for Ornament but Information The Passions there displayed make way for Commerce and Communication and help to let one Man into the Sentiments and Affections of another 'T is true the Soul is not altogether Discovered If the Thoughts lay open to Observation there would great Inconveniences follow Many good Designs would be defeated Many improper Aversions and Desires would appear The Business of Life would be disturbed and Conversation made almost impracticable In such Cases People would chuse to converse in the dark rather than trust themselves with the Sight of each other However though the Soul can't be all forced into the Face yet there is no small part of it to be seen there especially when it comes of its own accord Here the different Apprehensions of the Mind discover themselves I grant they are not always fully distinguished in their Causes and their Kind But though they are not drawn at Length you have something of the Colour and Proportion Here Joy and Grief Resolution and Fear Modesty and Conceit Inclination Indifferency and Disgust are made legible The Character is fairest and best marked in Children and those who are unpractised in the little Hypocrisies of Conversation For when Nature has learnt to put on Art and Disguise the Forehead is not easily read Now 't is very Surprizing to see the Image of the Mind stamp'd upon the Aspect To see the Cheeks take the Dye of the Passions thus naturally and appear in all the Colours and Complexions of Thought Why is this Variety of Changes confined to a single Place What is the Reason a Man's Arm won't Smile and Frown and do all the intellectual Postures of the Countenance The Arm seems to have a finer Skin than the Face 'T is less exposed to the Weather the Veins are larger and more visible and the Pulse beats stronger In short If Matter and Motion would do the Business the Arm excepting the Eye seems to have the Advantage and might put in for the Index and Interpreter of the Mind And yet we see 't is strangely uniform and unaffected upon every Accident and turn of Thought and nothing but a Blow or a Pinch can make it change Colour But the Face being design'd to be uncloath'd and in view God has there fixed the Seat and Visibility of the Passions for the better direction of Conversation The suddain Alteration of the Countenance is very remarkable A forcible Object will rub out the freshest Colours at a stroke and paint others of a quite different Appearance A vigorous Thought or a Surprize of good Fortune dispels the Gloom and brightens the Air immediately To metamorphose the Blood and Spirits thus extempore is not a little Strange It argues an amazing Fineness and Curiosity in the Parts that the least Touch of the Imagination can alter them into almost what Appearances it pleases The Strength of the Representation is another Circumstance worth considering The inward Motions and Temper are sometimes drawn with wonderful Life The Advantages of Youth and Complexion the particular Force of the Mind and Occasion answer to the Fineness of the Colours and the Skill of the Painter When all these Causes meet the Passions are marked with extraordinary Clearness and Strength What can be more significant than the suddain Flushing and Confusion of a Blush than the Sparklings of Rage and the Lightning of a Smile The Soul is as it were Visible upon these Occasions the Passions Ebb and Flow in the Cheeks and are much better distinguished in their Progress than the Change of the Air in a Weather-glass Some People have an Air of Dignity and Greatness and an unusual Vigour in their Aspect Others have a Sweetness and good Humour printed upon them which
Epicureans were all agreed in the folly of forbidden Pleasure They thought the very Question scandalous and that it was in effect to dispute whether 't were better to be a Man or a Beast The general Division of Pleasure is into that of the Mind and the other of the Body The former is the more valuable upon several Accounts I shall mention some of them 1 st The Causes of these Satisfactions are more reputable than the other Corporeal Pleasures are comparatively Ignoble They seem founded in Want and Imperfection There must be something of Uneasiness to introduce them and make them welcom When the Pain of Hunger is once over Eating is but a heavy Entertainment The Senses are some of them so mean that they scarce relish any thing but what they Beg for But Rational Delights have a better Original They spring from noble Speculations or generous Actions from Enlargements of Knowledge or Instances of Virtue from something which argues Worth and Greatness and Improvement 2 ly The Satisfactions of the Mind are more at command A Man may think of of a handsom Performance or a Notion which pleases him at his leisure This Entertainment is ready with little Warning or Expence A short Recollection brings it upon the Stage brightens the Idea and makes it shine as much as when 't was first stamp'd upon the Memory Thoughts take up no Room When they are right they afford a portable Pleasure One may Travel with it without any trouble or Incumbrance The Case with the Body is much otherwise Here the Satisfaction is more confin'd to Circumstance of Place and moves in a narrower Compass We cannot have a pleasant Taste or Smell unless the Object and the Sense are near together A little Distance makes the Delight withdraw and vanish like a Phantosm There is no Perfuming of the Memory or regaling the Palate with the Fancy 'T is true we have some faint confused Notices of these absent Delights but then 't is Imagination and not Sense which giveth it I grant the Eye and Ear command farther but still these have their Limits And besides they can only reach an Object Present but not make it so Whereas the Mind by a sort of natural Magick raises the Ghost of a departed Pleasure and makes it appear without any dependence upon Space or Time Now the almost Omnipresence of an Advantage is a Circumstance of Value it gives opportunity for Use and Repetition and makes it so much the more one's own 3 dly Intellectual Delights are of a nobler kind than the other They belong to Beings of the highest Order They are the Inclination of Heaven and the Entertainments of the Deity Now God knows the choicest Ingredients of Happiness He can command them without Difficulty and compound them to Advantage Omnipotence and Wisdom will certainly furnish out the richest Materials for its own Contentment 'T is natural for every Being to grasp at Perfection and to give it self all the Satisfactions within Thought and Power Since therefore Contemplation is the Delight of the Deity we may be assured the Flower and Exaltation of Bliss lies in the Operation of the Mind To go no higher than the Standard of Humanity Methinks the Satisfactions of the Mind are of a brighter Complexion and appear with a distinguishing Greatness There is a nothing of Hurry and Mistiness in them The Perceptions are all clear and stay for Perusal and Admiration The Scene is dress'd up like a Triumph the Fancy is Illuminated and the Show marches on with Dignity and State If the Senses have any Advantage it lies in the Strength of the Impression But this point may be fairly disputed When the Mind is well awaken'd and grown up to the Pleasures of Reason they are strangly affecting The Luxury of Thought seems no less than that of the Palate The discovery of a great Invention may be as moving as Epicurism The Entertainments of Plato were as high-season'd as those of Apicius And Archimedes by his Behaviour seems to have passed his time as pleasantly as Sardanapalus The Charms of Authority made Cato aver that Old Age was none of the most undiverting Periods of Life And in all likelihood the Victory at Pharsalia transported Caesar beyond all the Delights of the Roman Court. The Senses seem not to be built strong enough for any great Force of Pleasure A sudden Excess of Joy has sometimes prov'd Mortal 'T is as dangerous as Gun-powder charge too high and you split the Barrel It flashes too hard upon the tender Organ and stupifies more than pleases To look upon the Sun strikes us blind Thus a glorious Appearance from the other World has often over-set the best Men. Nature sunk under the Correspondence and was too weak to bear the Lustre of the Object The Body was not made to be Master in this Affair This may appear from Self-denial which has a mixture of something agreeable 'T is a Pleasure to refuse one To arrest an importunate Appetite to silence the Clamour of a Passion and repel an Assault upon our Virtue is a noble Instance of Force a handsom proof of Temper and Discretion A brave Mind must be entertain'd by surveying its Conquests and being conscious of its Soveraignty And thus by frequent Resistance and generous Thinking the Forbearance grows an Equivalent to Fruition And that which at first was almost too big for Opposition is at last too little for Notice These Satisfactions of Restraint are a fair proof of the Distinction of Soul and Body And that we are made up of something greater than Matter and Motion For that Atomes should Discipline themselves at this rate check their own agreeable Progress and clap one another under Hatches is very unconceiveable Atomes don't use to be so cross as this comes to Pleasure of what kind soever is nothing but an Agreement between the Object and the Faculty This Description well applied will give us the true Height of our selves and tell us what size we are of If little Things will please us we may conclude we are none of the biggest People Children are as well known by their Diversions as their Stature Those Satisfactions which require Capacity and Understanding to relish them which either suppose Improvement or promote it are of the better sort On the other side To be pleased with Gawdiness in Habit with Gingles and false Ornament in Discourse with antick Motions and Postures is a sign that the Inclinations are trifling and the Judgment vulgar and unpolish'd There should be some what of Greatness and Proportion and Curiosity in Things to justifie our Appetite To be gain'd by every little pretending Entertainment does but shew our Meaness 'T is some what surprising to observe how easily we are some times engag'd and one would think when we were least in Humour For the purpose Here 's a Man that has lately buried his only Son and is embarrass'd with Debts and Disputes in his Fortune How comes it about that he is so airy and unconcern'd on the sudden No longer ago than this Morning he was extreamly sensible of his Misfortune what has made him forget it in so short a time Why nothing but he is just chop'd in with a Pack of Dogs who are Hunting down a Hare and all Opening upon the View The Man needs no more to change his Passions This Noise has drown'd all his Grief He is Cured and made Happy Extempore And if it would last 't was something But alas 't is quickly over 'T is a Happiness without a Fond 'T is no more than a little mantling of the Spirits upon stirring A Childish Exultation at the Harmony of a Rattle It proceeds not from any thing rich or solid in Nature 'T is meer Levity of Mind which snatches him a little from his Misery The Cause of the Intermission is uncreditable The Entertainment is not big enough for the Occasion 'T is true the trouble is remov'd and so far the Point is gain'd But then the Satisfaction is so Fantastick and Feaverish that the Cure it self is an ill Symptom and almost worse than the Disease Upon the whole I think we ought to be concern'd that such Trifles can provoke our Appetite And that we may be toss'd from one State to another by so weak a Motion The truth is as we manage the Matter our Diversions are oftentimes more uncreditable than our Troubles However since Health is kept up and Melancholy discharg'd by these Amusements they may be tolerable enough within a Rule But to pursue them with Application to make them our Profession and boast of our Skill in these little Mysteries is the way to be useless and ridiculous
probable the Divine Oeconomy has settled such an interchangeable Train of Thoughts and Motions between Soul and Body that as soon as the occasional Hints spring out the other will as constantly follow as if they were produced by the most immediate Causality For Instance If I cut my Finger I shall as certainly feel Pain as if my Soul was co-extended with the Limb and had a Piece of it Sawn through So when I am disposed to Strike the Action will be performed with the same Force and Regularity as if it was conducted and pushed on by the will in the most corporeal Manner I mention this both to illustrate the Point and to shew that we ought to guard upon both Parts of our Composition That there may be nothing done which is unbecoming or disagrees with the Intendments of Providence Luc. If the Soul and Body have no intrinsick or essential Aptness to take or receive Impressions from each other why is the Structure of the later so curiously Framed Why is there such variety of Parts and such admirable Proportion By your Scheme the Soul might have the same compass of Sentiment and Perception and do every jot as well if it were united to a Clod. Hyl. So it might though it had never an Atom belong to it However your Question about the Curiosity of the Body may be answer'd by saying That 't is probably so framed to shew the Wisdom and Power of the Architect and to heighten the Beauty and Dignity of the Creature Luc. Do you say the Soul may be as happy without a Body as with it Hyl. I say 't is possible to be so Though God may order it otherwise if he pleases as in Effect he has done with respect to the Resurrection But let this last Dispute lie undecided And before I take my leave I can't but observe to you that there are a great many strange Appearances in Thoughts Methinks if it might be I would gladly understand the Formation of a Soul run it up to its Punctum Saliens and see it beat the first conscious Pulse These Thoughts whence do they arise What Stuff are they made of And what Vigour is it that gives them such an Instantaneous Production They are conceived in full Maturity and step into Perfection at first They scorn the Gradations of Bodies and the heavy Successions of Motion They gain the Race at a Start out-stretch the Speed of Gunpowder and Distance Light and Lightning Luc. If they come up in that Perfection why are some Thoughts said to be unfinished and to require the working off with Labour and Time Hyl. I grant you Projects Harangues and Chains of Reasoning are not so quickly Wrought up They include Multitude and Order and Choice and therefore must have some Leisure for Ranging and Invention But as to single Ideas Inconnexions and slight Touches my Observation holds good For pray what Time does it take to raise the Notion of a Mountain Or to Think from England to Iapan A Man may set both the Poles together in his Head without trouble and Clutch the whole Globe at one Intellectual Grasp if he pleases To go on Methinks the Conveyance and Disposition of Things in the Mind is very extraordinary What Faculty is it which takes the Model of the largest Objects and draws the Picture in Little That reconciles all disagreing Qualities and lodges Sympathy and Antipathy Fire and Water together without disturbance That contracts the Intervals of Space unites the Distances of Time and draws Past Present and Future into a single View How comes it to pass that such an infinite Number of Things are placed with such Order and Distinction in the Memory notwithstanding the Tumults and Confusions Marches and Counter-marches of the Animal Spirits What room is there for such variety of Characters and length of Records What is the reason some remarkable Passages will remain fresh and entire for Sixty Years together when all the Furniture of the Head has been often renewed in that Period Luc. I confess I can't explain the How to you unless the impregnated Fibres or Spirits at their going off deposit their Charge with those that remain Hyl. They are very just if they do so But I am afraid this handing of Notions from one Piece of Brain to another is somewhat unintelligible In short If you reflect upon the Liberty of Thought the Extent the Abstractions and all the Singularities of its Operations you 'll be obliged to assign it a nobler Original than Matter and Motion Luc. I am satisfied with what you say and upon a through View I find the System of a Mechanical Soul wretchedly ridiculous Hyl. All the Branches of Scepticism are so If the Success of our Hobbists were no better than their Reasoning they would have few Disciples But some People are willing to be imposed upon For loose Practises must have supporting Principles otherwise there will be no Quiet Adieu OF THE ENTERTAINMENT OF BOOKS THE Diversions of Reading though they are not always of the strongest Kind yet they generally Leave a better Effect than the grosser Satisfactions of Sense For if they are well chosen they neither dull the Appetite nor strain the Capacity On the contrary they refresh the Inclinations and strengthen the Power and improve under Experiment And which is best of all they Entertain and Perfect at the same time and convey Wisdom and Knowledge through Pleasure By Reading a Man does as it were Antedate his Life and makes himself contemporary with the Ages past And this way of running up beyond ones Nativity is much better than Plato's Pre-existence because here a Man knows something of the State and is the wiser for it which he is not in the other In conversing with Books we may chuse our Company and disengage without Ceremony or Exception Here we are free from the Formalities of Custom and Respect We need not undergo the Penance of a dull Story from a Fop of Figure but may shake off the Haughty the Impertinent and the Vain at Pleasure Besides Authors like Women commonly Dress when they make a Visit. Respect to themselves makes them polish their Thoughts and exert the Force of their Understanding more than they would or can do in ordinary Conversation So that the Reader has as it were the Spirit and Essence in a narrow Compass which was drawn off from a much larger Proportion of Time Labour and Expence Like an Heir he is born rather than made Rich and comes into a Stock of Sense with little or no trouble of his own 'T is true a Fortune in Knowledg which Descends in this manner as well as an inherited Estate is too often neglected and squandered away because we do not consider the difficulty in Raising it Books are a Guide in Youth and an Entertainment for Age. They support us under Solitude and keep us from being a Burthen to our selves They help us to forget the Crosness of Men and Things compose our