THE SECOND PART OF THE FRENCH ACADEMIE VVherein as it were by a naturall historie of the bodie and soule of man the creation matter composition forme nature profite and vse of all the partes of the frame of man are handled with the naturall causes of all affections vertues and vices and chiefly the nature powers workes and immortalitie of the Soule By PETER DE LA PRIMAVDAYE Esquier Lord of the same place and of Barre And translated out of the second Edition which was reuiewed and augmented by the Author AT LONDON Printed by G.B. R.N. R.B. 1594. TO THE RIGHT HONOVrable Sir IOHN PVCKERING knight Lorde Keeper of the great Seale of England T. B. wisheth increase of honour here to the glory of the Highest and endlesse happines with the Saints in the worlde to come HAuing finished Right honourable the translation of the second part of the French Academie and pondering with my selfe vnto whose Patronage I might commendand committ the same as it were into a safe Hauen to be preserued from the tempestuous and surging waues of this Sea-like worlde it came to my minde vpon sundry good considerations that your Honour might chalenge the same as a thing that by all right appertaineth vnto your selfe For first calling to my remembraunce that the principall scope aymed at by this Author in the penning of his book was to vphold the glorious essence of God against all contradiction of Atheists and that by the viewe of his diuine woorkes in the creation of the bodie and soule of man I presently concluded with my selfe that the defence of this poynt against that viperous broode was a woorke best beseeming the sacred seate of Magistracie and such as for their places representing the person of the supreme Iudge wore by the infallible worde of trueth adorned with his owne titles Psal 82. 1. Exod. 21. 6. Nowe forasmuch as by the speciall prouidence of God it hath pleased her royall Maiestie to aduaunce you to that seate of magistracie next vnder her Highnesse in which you are placed it seemed vnto mee that I shoulde after a sort offer wrong vnto your Honour if I did not recommend vnto it the defence of the highest ruler whose person you doe in a higher degree then others represent Secondly when I considered with my selfe that this generation of Earth-wormes which place nature being but a creature in the roome of the Creatour and denie the immortalitie of soules after this life doe therein as much as lieth in them labour to put out the light of their owne conscience which yet could neuer be wholly darkened in the mindes of anie no not of the most desperate Atheist that euer was I thought it most conuenient to craue that your Honours lawfull protection in the behalfe of this Booke and of my small paines taken therein for the benefite of my countrey might bee as it were a Sub paena serued vpon the whole rabble of these deuils incarnate to cause them to appeare at that high court of Conscience in which you enioy the chiefest place next vnder her sacred Maiestie there to make answere to the humble complaint of Conscience vnto which they offer such notorious violence A third reason that moueth mee to become an humble petitioner that this booke may be gathered vnder the wings of your Honours safe defence is the constant report of your great care that none be intertained into your retinue and familie whose hearts are possessed with a liking of that Antichrist of Rome within the compasse of whose iurisdiction this dangerous infection of Atheisme beganne first in this latter age of the worlde to breake foorth and hath nowe set footing euen in those countries from whence by a generall consent of all Estates it hath beene banished long agoe Let Florence testifie this to all posteritie succeeding where that monster Machiauel first beganne to budde who hath nowe spredde abroade his deadly branches of Atheisme ouer the most countries in Christendome insomuch as fewe places but are so well acquainted with his doctrine that the whole course of mens liues almost euery where is nothing else but a continuall practise of his preceptes And yet Machiauel beeing Secretarie to that Florentine estate and employed altogether in ciuill affayres may seeme in some sort inexcusable if hee bee compared with manie of those vnholy Fathers of Rome who making open profession to bee the Ring-leaders forsooth of the whole worlde to bring them vnto GOD were plunged irrecouerably in this bottomlesse gulfe of Atheisme Pope Leo the tenth a Florentine borne was so farre from confessing Christ Iesus to bee the Sonne of God with Peter whose Vicar hee woulde seeme to haue beene that hee blushed not openly to deride the doctrine of the Gospel and to scoffe at Christ Iesus himselfe the Authour thereof For vpon a time as Cardinall Bembo by occasion cited vnto him a place of Scripture concerning the gladde tydings of saluation this sonne of perdition most blasphemously replied vpon him in this manner Howe profitable this fable of Christ hath beene to vs and to our crewe is well knowen to all ages A most horrible saying and such as coulde not proceede but from a flatte Atheist of whom also it is reported that he maintained there was neither Heauen nor Hell after this life Birds of the same feather were Siluester the second Benedict the ninth Gregorie the seuenth Iohn the three twentieth Alexander the sixt Clement the eight Paulus the thirde with diuers others of that rabble of whome some vtterly renounced God and betooke themselues to the Deuill some denyed the immortalitie of the soule some taught most damnable heresies and all of them turned the grace of our God into wantonnesse denying God the onely Lorde and our Lorde Iesus Christ Iude verse 4. It woulde require a long time to anatomize their seuerall liues and your Honours waightie affaires in behalfe of this Church and Common-wealth will suffer no long discourse in regarde whereof I am constrained in few words and yet in most humble wise to recommend my selfe and these my poore labours to bee shrowded vnder your Lordships safe protection most heartily crauing at the handes of the highest so to guide your Honor in the managing of that great charge he hath called you vnto as may make most both for his own glory here and for your blessed and endlesse rewarde else-where * ⎠* Your Honors most addicted T. B. TO THE CHRISTIAN READER Grace and Peace SENECA the Philosopher reporteth gentle Reader that the looking glasse was first inuented to this end that man might vse it as a meane to know himself the better by Now besides that in a glasse wee may attaine to some kinde of knowledge of our selues when wee take a viewe of our owne countenance and of the lineaments proportion of our bodies outwardly Socrates applied the same to a further vse for the instruction of manners For as Apuleius writeth of him he earnestly perswaded his Auditors to looke
nature and composition of the heart and of the midriffe of the tunicles or skinnie couerings of the breast and of the Pericardion or Cawle about the heart of the motion office and vse of the lungs of the heart and of the arteryes Chap. 37. 224 Of the substance situation and counterpoize of the heart of the nature and vse of the vitall spirite and of the forge vessels and instruments thereof of the sundry doores and pipes of the heart and of their vses Chap. 38. 229 Of the second motion of the heart which belongeth to the affections of the soule and of those that goe before or follow after iudgement of the agreement that is betweene the temperature of the body and the affections of the soule Chap. 39. 233 Of the health and diseases of the soule of the agreement betweene corporall and spiritual physicke how necessarie the knowledge of the nature of the body and of the soule is for euery one Chap. 40. The sixt dayes worke 237 OF foure things to bee considered in the will and in the power of desiring in the soule and first of natural inclinations of selfe loue and the vnrulinesse thereof Chap. 41. 241 Of the habite of the soule in the matter of the affections and of what force it is of the causes why the affections are giuen to the soule with the vse of them of the fountaine of vertues and vices Chap. 42 246 That according to the disposition of the iudgement the affections are more or lesse moderate or immoderate of the cause of all the motions of the soule and heart of the variety of affections of the generation nature and kindes of them Chap. 43. 250 That ioy or griefe are alwayes ioyned to the affections and what ioy and griefe are properly Chap. 44. 255 Of the causes why God hath placed these affections of ioy and sorrow in the heart of true and false ioy and of good and bad hope Chap. 45. 260 Of feare and of the nature and effects thereof toward the body the mind and the soule and how it troubleth them of the true harnesse and armour against feare Chap. 46. 265 Of the delight and pleasure that followeth euery ioy and of the moderation that is required therein of diuers degrees of pleasures and how men abuse them especially those pleasures which are receiued by the corporal senses Chap. 47. 270 Of the comparison of pleasures receiued by the internall senses and how men descend by degrees from the best to the basest pleasures of the difference betweene the vse of spirituall delights and corporall and how the one chase the other Chap. 48. The seuenth dayes worke 276 OF the affections of loue of the nature kinds and obiect of it of the beginning of friendship of the vertue and force of alluring that is in likenesse and in beauty of the agreement that is betweene beauty and goodnesse Chap. 49. 281 Of other causes why beauty procureth loue and of diuers degrees and kinds of beauty how it is the nature of loue alwayes to vnite an what other effects it hath how loue descendeth and ascendeth not what power it hath to allure and breed loue Chap. 50. 286 Of desire and coueting and of the kinds of it of the infinitenesse of mens desires and what Good is able to satisfie and content it of the difference betweene desire and loue and of the vtmost limit and end of loue Chap. 51. 291 Of the good things that are in true loue of the diuers valuations of loue and of the benefits which it procureth what knowledge is requisite to allure loue and how one loue groweth by another of the friendshippe that may bee both betweene the good and the badde Chap. 52. 297 Of fauour reuerence and of honour of their nature and effects of those outward signes whereby they shewe themselues of pity and compassion and howe agreeable it is to the nature of man Chap. 53. 302 Of offence in the heart and soule of the degrees of offence and of the good and euill that may be in this affection of contempt that is bredde of it and of mockery which followeth contempt Chap. 54. 307 Of anger and of the vehemency and violency thereof of the difference that is betweene anger and rancor of the affection of reuenge that accompanieth them of the motions of the heart in anger with the effectes thereof wherefore this affection is giuen to man and to what vse it may serue him Chap. 55. 313 Of hatred and of the nature and effects thereof of a good kind of hatred and of the remedy to cure the euill hatred of enuie and of the kindes and effects thereof of the difference betweene good and euill enuy Chap. 56. The eight dayes worke 319 OF iealousie and of the kindes thereof how it may bee eyther a vice or a vertue howe true zeale true iealousie and indignation proceede of loue of their natures and why these affections are giuen to man Chap. 57. 324 Of reuenge cruelty and rage and what agreement there is among them what shame and blushing is and why God hath placed these affections in man and of the good and euill that is in them Chap. 58. 330 Of pride with the consideration thereof aswell in nature intire as corrupted of the orginall thereof and of such as are most inclined thereunto what vices accompany it how great a poison it is and what remedy there is for it Chap. 59. 335 Of the naturall powers of the soule and what sundry vertues they haue in the nourishment of the body of their order and offices of their agreement and necessary vse where the vegetatiue soule is placed in the body and what vertue it hath to augment the same Chap. 60. 341 What instruments the soule vseth in the body about the naturall works of nourishing and augmenting of the ventricle of stomacke and of the figure orifices and filamentes it hath of the stomacke and of what substance and nature it is of the causes of hunger and of appetite of the inferior orifice Chap. 61. 347 Of the intalles and bowels and of their names and offices of the nature of the three smaller guttes and of the other three that are greater of the instructions which wee may learne by these things Chap. 62. 353 Of the Mesentery and Mesareon of the Meseraicall veines of the Pancreas or sweete bread and of their nature and office of the liuer and of his nature and office of the rootes bodies branches of the veines of their names and vses and of the similitude betweene them and the arteries Chap. 63. 358 Of the blood and of other humours in the body of their diuersity and nature and of the agreement they haue with the elementes of the similitude that is betwixt the great garden of this great worlde and that of the little worlde touching the nourishment of things contayned and preserued in them Chap. 64. The ninth dayes worke 363 OF the vapours that ascend vp to the braine
and of the waters and cloudes contayned therein and in what perils men are 〈◊〉 why the soule and blood are put one for another of the temperature of the humors necessarie for the health and life of the body of the causes of health and of diseases and of life and death Chap. 65. 368 Of the vses and commodities of the humors ioyned with the blood and what vessels are assigned vnto them in the body and of their nature and offices and first of the cholericke humor and of the spleene then of the flegmaticke humor and of the kidneys and other vessels which it hath to purge by Chap. 66. 373 Of the names whereby the humors of the body are commonly called with the causes wherefore of the comparison betweene the corruption and temperature of the humors of the body and betweene the manners and the affections of the soule of the meanes whereby the humors corrupt and of the feauers and diseases engendred thereby of the sundry naturall temperatures in euery one Chap. 67. 379 Of the diuers temperatures and complexions of men according to the nature of humors that beare most sway in them of the disposition whereunto they are naturally mooued by them eyther to vertues or vices of the means to correct the vices and defects that may be in our naturall inclinations Chap. 68. 383 Of the restauration and reparation of all natures created by the generatiue power and vertue that is in them and namely in man what generation is and what the generatiue power of the soule is what the seede is and how generation proceedeth of strength and of infirmity Chap. 69. 388 Of the powers of the generatiue vertue and of their offices of the principall cause why God gaue to man the power of generation in what sence the reines are taken for the seate of generation how we ought rightly to consider of the generation of man Chap. 70. 393 Of the fashion of a childe in the wombe and how the members are framed one after another in the mothers belly of the time and daies within which a child is perfectly fashioned Chap. 71. 398 Of childbirth and the natural causes thereof of the great prouidence of God appearing therein of the image of our eternall natiuitic represented vnto vs in our mortall birth Chap. 72. The tenth dayes worke 404 WHy God created man naked and with lesse natural defence then he did all other liuing creatures how many wayes he recompenceth this nakednesse of the generall beauty of the whole body of man ioyned with profite and commodity Chap. 73. 409 Whether the life of the body can proceede eyter of the matter or of the composition forme and figure or of the qualities thereof or else of the harmony coniunction and agreement of all these whether any of these or al of them together can be the soule of the length and shortnes of the diuers degrees and ages and of the ende of mans life of death and of the causes both of life and death of the difference that is betweene naturall and supernaturall Philosophy in the consideration of things Chap. 74. 414 Of the causes generally of the length and shortnesse of bodily life of naturall and of violent death in what maner the life of man consisteth in his breath of the principall things required to life and without which it cannot be of the difference betwixt the life of men and the life of beastes of the image of the spirituall death in the corporall of the true comfort which wee ought to haue therein Chap. 75. 420 Of the chiefe consolations which the wisest among the Pagans and Infidels could draw from their humane reason and naturall Philosophy against death of the blaspemies vsed by Atheists and Epicures against God and nature what nature is and who they be that attribute vnto it that which they ought to attribute to God Chap. 76. 426 That there is but one soule in euery seuerall body that one and the some soule hath in it all those vertues and powers whose effects are dayly seene of the seate of the soule in the body and of the principall instrument thereof of the vnion of the body and soule of the diuers degrees of nature and of the excellency that is in it of the fountaines and bounds of all the powers and vertues of the soule Chap. 77. 432 Of the nature and varietie of the animal spirits how they are only instruments of the soule and not the soule it selfe of the nature of those bodies wherin the soule may dwell and worke of the difference that is not onely betweene the soule and the instrumente by which it worketh but also betweene the instruments themselues and their natures and offices and which of them are nearest or farthest off of the degrees that are in the vnion and coniunction of the soule with the body Chap. 78. 438 Of the diuisions of man made in the holy scriptures aswell in respect of the soule as of the body in what significations the names of soule spirit and heart are vsed therein and the causes why of the intier sanctification of man how the soule is taken for the life and for the members and instrumentes of nourishment and for nourishment it selfe Chap. 79. 444 What is meant by a liuing soule what by a sensuall and naturall body and what by a spirituall body how the name of soule is taken for all the desires of the flesh and for all things belonging to this life and not onely for the whole person aliue but also for the person being dead and for a dead 〈…〉 for the spirite sepâ—rate from the body Chap. 80. The Eleuenth dayes worke 490 WHether the soule of man is engendred with the body and of the same substance that the body is of or whether it be created by it selfe and of another substance whether it be needefull for vs to knowe what the soule is and what is the eâ—â—ence thereof or onely to knowe of what qualitie it is with the workes and effects thereof Chap. 81. 495 Whether there be any thing mortall in the soule of man of the distinction betweene the soule and the powers of it of the opinion of Philosophers and what agreement is betweene them touching the soule of brute beasts and the nature and substance of it of their opinion that deriue the soule of man and the soule of beasts from one souâ—taine of them that ascend higher and of their reasoâ—â— Chap. 82. 499 Of the opinion of Galen of Plato and of Aristotle touching the substance and nature of mans soule of the opinion of Occâ—m touching the vegetatiue and sensitue power thereof and of the distinction of soules he maketh in man of the sentence of the Platonists and of Origen touching the creation birth and nature of the soule of the coniunction of the soule with the body and the estate thereof in the same Chap. 83. 503 Of the opinion of the Platonists and some others touching the substance of mens
God to men that they might serue to receiue the doctrine and instruction of wisedome as we may perceiue if we consider diligently their nature and vse The eares then in mine opinion are also as it were watchmen ouer the whole body aswell as the eyes For it is not onely required that a watchman should see but also that he should both heare and speake Therefore are the eares placed harde by the eyes on eche side aswell for an ornament to the head as for the commoditie and vse of the whole body For that place is fit for them that they may so much the more conueniently receiue those sounds that come vnto them and cause them to heare euen as the eyes receiue the light which causeth them to see Therefore as God hath disposed the matter whereof it pleased him to make the eyes and hath giuen them such a forme as agreeth best to that office which bee would haue them performe so hath he done in regard of the cares as also of all the other members of the body For this cause hee hath made them of gristles which are a great deale harder and more firme then either flesh kernels sinewes or ligaments but yet nothing so hard as the bones are as we haue already learned by that which was spoken before Besides neere about the place where the eares are he hath set the hardest and firmest bones that are about the head Therefore they are called stony bones by reason of their hardnesse and of their naturall agreement with stones whereby the cares are strongly fortified and that very agreeable to their nature and office As for their forme it is halfe round and very well compassed They are also doubled in about the ends as if nature had wrought them about with litle ledges turned in of the same matter in most excellent and decent maner And amongst all liuing creatures God hath giuen vnmoueable eares to none but only to man and to an ape for the rest can moue them vp and downe And as for this externall and eminent part of the eare that appeareth without if it serued onely to beautifie the head the vse of it were not to bee despised For it is euident by such as haue their eares cut off how deformed and vnseemely the head would bee to looke vpon if it were not decked with that part of the â—ares planted there by God for their greater ornament as it were two goodly bruches Heereof it is that those men haue this part cut off who are to be made deformed and infamous for some notorious offence But besides the honour and ornament which this part of the â—ares bringeth to the head it serueth also to couer the brayne which is next to the cares least it should bee hurt And to the ende that they might not bee easily bruzed or broken nor yet hang downewarde they are as I haue saide of a gristly substance as are all those partes that are bare and appeare outward and which are in daunger to receiue iniuries and discommodities from without Likewise this outward growing of the eares bringeth a double commoditie with it to the rest of that member The first is that it keepeth backe the rayne and sweate of the head and much filth that might enter into the eares if those places were flatte and had nothing but the holes of the eares without these bulwarkes Therefore their forme is made so that they ascend and bende vpward without but are hollowe within The other is that it helpeth much for the better receiuing in of the soundes that are brought to the eares by the ayre because thereby the soundes are better conueyed vnto that place which is properly appoynted for the hearing For this cause the cares are not pierced straight outright but their holes are made winding in like the shell of a snayle whose forme they represent so that one cannot thrust straight foorth so much as a litle threede or the bristle of a hogge For if they were boared outright many inconueniences would befall them The first is that the soundes woulde not be conueyed in so well as they are in places that bend and giue backewarde where they haue rebounds which causeth them to stay and sound better The second is that the eares should receiue ouer-great sound and too thick and so being more confused they could not bee discerned and vnderstood so well Againe as too great light doth not onely dazell the eyes but hurteth them withall so ouergreat soundes would marre the instrument of hearing if they were not distributed and compassed according to the capacity therof For there must alwaies be an answerable and apt proportion between the sense the thing subiect to sense and the meane by which the sense is made Hereupon it falleth out ofteÌ„ that many become deafe by hearing ouergreat soundes whereof wee haue experience in Smithes amongest whome many are thicke of hearing because their eares are continually dulled with the noyse and sound of their hammers and anuiles The like oftentimes happeneth to those that deale with artillery by reason of the continual vse and greatnes of the sound Moreouer wee must note that there is a very litle hole in ech of these stonie bones in which the hearing is properly made and within which also there are three very small bones whereof the one is called an anuile the other the hammer because they are made almost of the same fashion so that a man would say that nature had framed a little anuile and a little hammer to make soundes and to cause them to be heard The third small bone was founde out by certaine Phisicions and Anatomists and being boared in the middest is fashioned like to a litle stirrope and is alwaies lesse then any of the other twaine Phisicions that write of Anatomie make no mention of this last or if any speake of it they are but fewe and of late time And in deede it is a harde matter euen for them that are most skilfull and expert to look vnto all how diligent and able so euer they be in Anatomie especially in the view of many instruments of their sundry parts which are so small that hardly can we discerne them with our eyes if we look not very narrowly vnto them and that after we are tolde thereof before As for these small bones whereof I speake nowe and namely the third a man may perceiue them better in a dry Anatomie and in some skull that hath nothing but the bare bones then he shall in a whole bodie Therefore the skilfullest Phisicions and Anatomists confesse that the body of man hath such woonderfull arte in it that euery day they finde some newe thing in it which was not obserued by any in former times But let vs returne to our speech concerning that which remayneth of the composition of the eares Besides these litle bones there are two small skinnes full of nerues which holde and binde these bones
a lampe to moysten the meate to the end that this fire should not consume it so quickly And because it must alwayes be kept burning otherwise the light thereof which is the life will die together with it it must haue new matter continually ministred vnto it as it were to a fire that cannot alwayes continue kindled in the chimney and not goe out if it be not preserued by wood or coale or in a candle or lampe if it haue not alwayes cotton or weeke and oyle or some other tallowy and moyst matter Therefore wee see that when either of them beginneth to fayle another is put in to supplie the place of it And thus as fire and the light thereof are mainteined in a lampe or candle by meanes of that nourishment they haue both in the weeke and in the tallow thereof so life and that naturall fire which giueth life to the bodie are mainteyned by that food which they receiue ordinarily in eating and drinking The meate then in mans bodie is to nourish and preserue the naturall heate thereof as the weeke is in a candle or lampe and the moysture which it receiueth by drinke is vnto it as the â—oyle and tallowe For this cause if heate bee stronger in a man he shall feele thirst which is an appetite and desire of that which is moyst and colde that is of such qualities as are contrary to the fire which is hote and dry For the moysture must be confirmed strengthened to moderate the burning heate as it is when oyle is powred into a lampe And if both heate and moysture consuming eche other beginne to waxe faint and to fayle they must both bee holpen that they may gather more strength as when we put not onely oyle but weeke also into a lampe And this is the cause of hunger which is a desire of that which is hote and moyst But there is difference betweene the humiditie required in hunger and that which is required in thirst because the moysture desired in thirst is more thinne and lesse earthie then that which is required in hunger And if the moisture be increased ouer much so that the heate decreaseth and languisheth and consequently the appetite to meate and drinke and to receiue nourishment decayeth it must be restored againe by physicke For although all nourishment be as it were physick to the body neuerthelesse there is this difference in that foode repaireth the whole person and all the body whereas physicke repaireth onely the instruments of the body which are to serue for nourishment For this cause food is alwayes necessary for all at all times and in all places but besides that all stande not in neede of physicke they that want it vse it but at certaine times as necessitie requireth For if those members that serue to nourish the body be well disposed and discharge their office so well that all the partes of the bodie receiue due nourishment and the whole body bee healthie and sound there needeth nothing but ordinary foode to preserue the body and to keepe it in good health But if any member be weakened and doeth not his duetie well especially any of those that ought to serue to nourish the whole bodie it must be restored again to strength by the meanes of physicke Now albeit the sense of taste whereof we haue presently discoursed be not so apt to teach especially the knowledge of spirituall and diuine things as the senses of sceing and hearing of which we haue spoken heretofore yet we may receiue much good doctrine thereby For as the body cannot liue except it haue such corporall foode as agreeth to the nature thereof so the soule cannot liue if it haue not that knowledge which God hath appointed for it And as life is kept in the body by heate which is the chiefe instrument thereof to the life of our soules consisteth and is preserued and increased by heate namely by the loue charity of God without which it cannot liue that life that is agreeable to it owne nature For the soule that is separated from the loue of God is dead in respect of the true and blessed life seeing God liueth not in it nor it in God For this cause this loue must be alwayes nourished and mainteyned therein by the celestiall and diuine moysture agreeable to the nature thereof Wherefore as it is of a heauenly and celestiall nature so the foode thereof must be answerable thereunto This foode therfore cannot be had but of God who is the life of the soule as the soule is the life of the body and the meanes which he hath appointed to minister this food vnto it is his heauenly eternall word and those spirituall graces which he communicateth vnto vs thereby But let vs follow our matter subiect of corporall senses And seeing we haue intreated of the meanes wherby the body is nourished we ought to consider more particularly of those things that are meet and conuenient to mainteine and preserue the body of man and see how God prepareth them to this end in which thou shalt instruct vs AMANA Of helpes and creatures meete for the preseruation and nourishment of the bodie how God prepareth them to serue for that purpose of their vse Chap. 18. AMANA God being carefull ouer the welfare of his creatures that haue life hath put in them a desire to preserue themselues to the ende they shoulde followe after such things as are profitable for their health and shunne that which is hurtfull and contrarie vnto it Nowe this preseruation consisteth eyther in the equalitie of heate and moisture nourishers of life or els in an inequalitie that may easily be reduced and brought to an equalitie by that which we eate and drinke For if there bee so great excesse of heate or moysture that the one consumeth the other death followeth necessarily if there be no excesse of either but a good equalitie the body is very well affected But it is very hard to finde a bodie so tempered And although such a one might be found yet it could not long continue in that estate but that it would quickly change as we may iudge by that which we haue learned in the former discourse But when this change doeth not bring with it so great excesse and inequalitie but that it may be kept vpright by nourishment the body is neuerthelesse well disposed vntiil such time as the excesse is greater then can bee repaired by foode For then if foode will not serue the turne wee must haue recourse to physicke and if the inequalitie be so great that by the helpe of physicke no remedie can be found there is no other naturall ayde to be had Nowe this inequalitie that approcheth so neere to equalitie is very pleasaunt as that which is the pricke and procurer of naturall pleasures necessarie for the life of man to incite him to desire them and as it were the sawse to make them toothsome For if
there were alwayes equalitie wee shoulde neuer be affected with hunger or thirst nor with any appetite to eate or drinke And if this appetite were not wee shoulde not haue those pleasures which wee receiue by meates and drinkes and by their diuers tastes and relishes So that wee shoulde not haue such a notable testimonie of the goodnesse and bountifulnesse of God towardes vs and of his care as wee haue by the sense of taste which hee hath giuen vnto vs. Wherein also he admonisheth vs in such sort of our mortall nature through the necessitie wee haue of foode for the preseruation of our life as that withall hee supplieth this want and necessitie that wee may the better know and taste the sweetnesse of his loue towards vs. For whereto would those creatures serue that are good for our nourishment if we had no vse of them And how could wee vse them if we stood not in neede of them Therefore seeing the matter standeth thus it appeareth euidently that wee are nourished by such things as are familiar and like to our nature and are healed by things contrarie to that which hurteth vs. For the nearer any thing approcheth to our nature the sooner it is conuerted into it So that amongst those meates that are familiar vnto vs they nourish best that draw neerest to our nature For this cause babes newe borne that are litle and tender haue milke for their foode which is very meete for them by reason of the agreement that is betweene it and the matter whereof their bodies are made For as wee haue alreadie heard the milke is made of the selfe same blood wherewith they were nourished in their mothers wombe and whereof they were before ingendred and conceiued forasmuch as the parents seede of which they were framed is deriued from their owne blood Wherevpon it followeth that the matter of their bodies is of the same substance and so that food which draweth neerest vnto it is most natural and meete for them For this cause we said before that all things are not seruiceable for meate drinke and nourishment but those only that haue a nature agreeable thereto and that for the reasons specified by vs. Here then we must call to minde that which we haue already touched elswhere namely that seeing the body of man is compounded of all the elements it is therefore needfull that the nourishment wherewith it is to be preserued vpholden should participate of all the elements to the end that all euery part of a mans body should be maintained preserued by that which is like to it selfe Therefore God hath wel prouided to this purpose as we see in the matter wherof our bodies are made For we haue heard what differēce there is according to the sundry parts and diuersity of members in the body yet the whole matter of thē all is taken from the substance of the same elements and the difference betweene them commeth of this only that some parts participate more of some elements others of other elements Hereof it is that the hardest parts of the body as the bones are most earthy and so consequently of all the other partes as they haue eyther more or lesse of all the elements and of their qualities For this cause all the parts and members of the body must haue food agreeable to the nature of the elements whereof they participate according to the portion of matter which is in euery one of them Wherein we see a goodly testimonie of the bond and agreement that is among all creatures yea in all nature it selfe together with the correspondencie that euerie creature hath with it like Therefore if wee want ayre for breathing wee drawe it in euen as it is of it owne nature together with those qualities which it bringeth with it selfe If wee desire drinke onely to refresh and to moysten the bodie and the meate it taketh pure water serueth that turne which is common drinke for all creatures and sufficient for the whole life of man although there were no other But God hath giuen this aduantage to men aboue beasts that besides this drink cōmon to them both they haue others not onely more pleasaunt to their taste but also more forceable to nourish them For if the question bee of taking sustenance eyther by meate or drinke we must haue such meates and drinkes as are more firme then the ayre and the water and which are able to sustayne the body according to it owne substance and nature For as the water and the ayre whereof the bodie is made could not consist in the composition thereof but woulde slide and fall away if they were not intermingled with some other matter that is more earthie and solide thereby to keepe and knitte them together euen so if foode consisted onely in liquide and moyst things that had no other substance of more earthie and solide qualitie in which the vertue of heate might remaine and which might bee conuerted into the greatnesse and massinesse of the bodie the liuing creature would alwayes haue an appetite and neuer leaue eating Therefore God hath so framed those creatures which he hath giuen to man for meate that whatsoeuer is earthy therein doeth not still retaine the nature of the earth as if it were nothing but simple earth and so likewise that which is of the nature of fire or of the water or of the ayre but all is so well mingled and tempered one with another that the taste and sauour thereof is pleasaunt and fitte for all the partes of the bodie that are to bee nourished And according as the qualities of the elements are mingled one with another so the meates and drinkes compounded of them haue their sundry tastes together with their other qualities For if God had not so prouided for it man could haue no taste therein and if he tasted not he would haue no appetite and so could neither eate nor drinke And if hee coulde neither eate nor drinke he could not liue as wee may iudge by that which wee haue alreadie hearde Nowe as hee cannot liue without eating and drinking so it is requisite that he eate and drinke with that moderation that he take in no more meate and drinke then he ought to doe For if he take too litle he cannot be sufficiently nourished and if hee take too much instead of being satisfied he shal be burdened and in stead of preseruing his life hee will kill himselfe Therefore it is verie necessarie that euery one shoulde alwayes obserue great sobrietie otherwise God will correct our riot our gluttonie and drunkennesse But the danger that commeth by not keeping a mediocrity is a great deale more to be feared on the one side then on the other For there are but fewe that breake not square oftener in eating and drinking too much then to litle Nowe to ende this speech wee haue farther to gather such good instructions as all men haue in
therefore it tendeth to disliking which is wholly against consent For this cause wee call Opinion a knowledge that moueth vs to encline rather on the one side then on the other in regard of the appearance and shewe of reason that it hath so that wee are not fully resolued therein Nowe albeeit this consent which is called opinion or coniecture bee not altogether so firme as that which wee call beleefe neuerthelesse it differeth from Doubting which is as it were a neuter iudgement hanging betweene consent and his contrary and inclining neither to the one side nor to the other As for that beleefe which is of diuine things there is such a firme consent required therein as that all doubting must be vtterly excluded For faith is not perfect if it doe not allowe for certaine whatsoeuer God hath reuealed vnto men by his worde which is a certaine testimonie of his will And although hee hath giuen vnto vs the same meanes to instruct vs by in these things that he hath done in humane things yet hee goeth further For hee doeth not onely teach vs by experience by reasons and demonstrations which appeare manifestly to-our senses both externall and internall and of which our minde can iudge as well as of humane things but he requireth chiefely of vs that wee shoulde beleeue his testimony and those witnesses which he sendeth vnto vs and that wee shoulde content our selues with his authoritie And because heauenly things surpasse the capacitie of our vnderstandings God maketh them capable by the light of faith which is a supernaturall and diuine light whereby wee see that in God which we cannot beholde in all the creatures and which our humane reason cannot naturally comprehend Now as much as this light is more certaine then all other naturall light either externall of the eyes of the body or internall in respect of the eyes of the soule and minde so much more certaine is our sight and knowledge of that which wee see and knowe by meanes of that light For this cause when our vnderstandings are lightned with this light wee beleeue more firmely that which it manifesteth vnto vs I say not onely then that whereunto wee may bee perswaded by all the humane reasons which can be alleadged but also then that which we see with our owne eyes and heare with our eares and touch with our hands For these externall senses and those internall senses also whose messengers the other are are not so certaine witnesses to our spirite as the senses of faith which are more then humane For they are heauenly Wherefore shee hath eies whereby she seeth diuinely and not humanely which can neuer be deceiued as the eyes of the body may The like wee may say of her eares and of her handes For there is no sense so certaine as all hers are because she receiueth them diuinely by the spirit Therfore as she hath not in her any imagination or fantasie that can deceiue her so she can neuer faile either in her discourses or in her iudgements whereupon shee resolueth because she is alwayes guided in them by the holy spirite whome she followeth for her rule in all things and who assureth her by his testimony as if she bare the markes and seales imprinted in her selfe and in their mindes and hearts in whome shee dwelleth Heereof it is that Saint Paul so often saieth that God hath sealed vs by his holy Spirite speaking as it were of a seale imprinted in our hearts and mindes and as of an earnest and gage which God hath giuen vs for the best and most certaine assurance that can bee No maruell therefore if the children of God endewed with this true faith become so resolute so firme and constant that no authoritie power wisedome force eloquence no humane reasons nor any thing that men or deuils can imagine think say or doe is able to make them to change their mindes whereof we haue most euident examples especially in the person of all the Martyres who could neuer by any violence in the world be ouercome but their faith hath euermore gotten the victory and triumphed ouer all their enemies And by this wee may assuredly knowe that it is better grounded then vpon all the reasons and perswasions of men that may be Therefore it is not without cause that S. Paul calleth it the gift of God neither is it without great reason commended so much in the Epistle to the Hebrewes For being come to that point that it hath such an illumination as to accompt all that God reuealeth in his worde to bee more certaine then any thing that wee either see with our eies or touch with our hands hereof to haue a true sense and feeling of the testimony of the holy spirit then doth it exclude al doubting which is contrary thereunto and differeth much from that which we hold only in opinion wherein there is as yet no great assurance So that we may conclude hereupon that according as faith is more or lesse in vs wee shall neuer conclude ill nor at any time giue ouer our conclusions For faith neuer concludeth any thing which God hath not before spoken whose word and authoritie is vnto it as in deede it ought to be in steade of all reason For seeing it is that wisedome and trueth which can neuer faile or lie it needeth not to doubt in any respect to conclude alwayes therewith neyther hath it cause at any time afterward to forsake or change the conclusion it hath set downe Wherefore when our faith is shaken and beginneth to alter it is a signe and testimony that it holdeth more of the nature of opinion then of beleefe and that it hath not yet a iudgement throughly resolued in the conclusion which it hath taken So that heere wee may learne what difference there is betwixt beleefe opinion doubting and infidelitie or incredulitie For seeing incredulitie is contrary to beleefe it goeth farther then doubting which concludeth nothing on either side as both beleefe and opinion doe but incredulitie concludeth contrarie to them both For it giueth no consent as beleefe and opinion doe but taketh the cleane contrary and therefore it may well be called dissent or disagreement as being opposite to that consent that is in beleefe Now to end this speech and to take away al doubting that may arise of this word Beleefe or Faith I will only adde this that wee are to know that it is diuersly takē in the holy scripturs For the name which it hath in the Hebrew tongue is taken frō the word whereby they expresse veritie or truth which they also take for constancie assurance The word which the Euangelists and Apostles vse according to the Graecians in whose language they wrote signifieth properly Perswasion And the name vsed by the Latines from whome wee haue taken our Faith signifieth that constancie and trueth which men keepe in their wordes and promises whereupon
that reuengeth himselfe and will obserue his offences narrowely Forgiue thy neighbour his misdeede and when thou prayest thy sinnes shall bee forgiuen thee Shall man keepe anger against man and will hee aske remission at the Lordes handes Hee will take no pitie vpon his like and shall he demaund pardon for his sinnes Seeing hee that is but flesh keepeth his anger and yet sueth vnto God for pardon who will blot out his iniquities But this ought not to be forgottten of vs to cause vs to abstaine from all anger towards them that by offring vs iniury prouoke vs thereunto namely that we acknowledge thē to be the scourges of God to chastice our faultes which are worthy of greater punishment Thus let vs alwayes looke to the first cause of our affliction and to God who visiteth vs iustly whatsoeuer the meanes are which hee vseth and not to second causes and to the next meanes to the ende that we doe not as dogges doe which runne after the stone throwne against them that by byting it they may be reuenged of it not looking vnto him that threwe it For if we consider that the blowe giuen vnto vs commeth from God we will let the stone goe and not followe after it with anger and reuenge but turne vnto God who threwe it not to stirre vp our selues to despite him or to bee auenged of him but to craue for pardon and grace at his handes And this is the right way which wee are to take for the quenching of our choler that so wee may bridle our anger and keepe our selues quiet Nowe for the ende of this matter it remayneth that wee shoulde knowe whether this affection bee altogether vicious and wholly proceeding from our corrupt nature or whether it haue within it any seede of vertue as well as the rest It is certaine that it is giuen of GOD to man to stirre him vp to the desire of excellent things to the ende that when hee seeth himselfe despised and reiected for base actions and abiect things and is grieued for the same hee shoulde endeuour to leaue and forsake them and to addict himselfe to better and more noble things which can not bee contemned nor hee despised in regarde of them And this kinde of anger is verie good For beeing angrie in this sort our anger is turned vpon our selues onely to blame and reprehende our selues for our slouth and loosenesse and for our other vices and imperfections and by this meanes our anger should not bee sinne but being acceptable vnto God it woulde be vnto vs a Schoolemaster and as a spurre to sollicite and perswade vs vnto vertue and to such things as beseeme vs and that estate whereunto we are called If then wee would be angrie according to the will of God let vs first be angrie against our selues for our faultes and imperfections and when wee haue iust occasion to whet our selues against others let our anger bee turned against their vices not against their persons And such an anger will shewe zeale for the honour of God and the saluation of our neighbours Nowe the sequele of our speech requireth that wee shoulde speake of hatred and of enuie which for the most part followe offence and anger Let vs then heare ACHITOB discourse of these affections Of Hatred and of the nature and effects thereof of a good kinde of Hatred and of the remedy to cure the euill Hatred of Enuy and of the kindes and effects thereof of the difference betweene good and euill Enuy. Chap. 56. ACHITOB. Forasmuch as nature wisedome and goodnes teach that men ought to be knit together by loue as wee haue seene heretofore and that we are by the selfe same nature framed and fashioned thereunto as wee may learne by that which we haue heard of the forme and disposition of the heart wee must needes confesse that the spirite of man can bring foorth nothing more vnworthy it selfe then to suffer it selfe to be ouercome of Hatred and Enuy which are so contrary to loue that they comprehend vnder them all generall iniustice and wickednesse of men For from these wilde plants nothing can proceede by reason of the corruption of mans nature but effects that draw vs cleane contrary from wishing well to our neighbour So that if we plucke out of our heart the cause of this naturall obligation concerning the succour we owe one to another namely Loue what can be either found or placed there but hardnesse inhumanitie crueltie and all kinde of barbarousnesse which are to bee accompted and taken for monsters in mans nature For howe strange and monstrous a thing were it to vnclothe a mans heart of Loue and to put vpon it hatred enuy extreame backebiting bitternesse and crueltie which proceede all from one fountaine Neuerthelesse we see that men are enclined rather to Hatred then to Loue but let vs search out the cause thereof There are many that take Hatred to be an inueterate anger because it is a habite of anger wherby the heart escheweth something as euil and desireth to repell and driue it away Wherefore this affection is directly contrary to loue so likewise is anger For it is an offence rooted in the hart which causeth it to wish greatly his hurt by whom it taketh it selfe to be offended Nowe because contempt doeth often accompany hatred and enuy is neuer without it besides that it breedeth strife contentions manslaughters and murthers therefore in the holy Scriptures hatred is often taken for all these things As for the vehement causes of hatred they are in euery one according as a man esteemeth of the things he hateth Therefore prowd and enuious persons are alwaies very much enclined to hatred Some men also are of such a hatefull nature that they scarce wish wel to any body and surely these are very deuillish natures Some likewise are giuen thereunto of custome which they haue gotten by reioicing at other mens harms But the cause why it is easier for vs to hate then to loue and why Hatred taketh deeper roote in our heart then loue is because hatred findeth a better soile there and a more apt foundation to bee laide vpon then loue doth and that chiefly for two reasons The first is the corruption of mans nature which being left vnto it selfe fauoureth more of the nature of Satan who is hatefull a lyar and enuious from the beginning then of the nature of God who is loue trueth and charitie Therefore Saint Iohn saith that Cain hated his brother and slewe him because he was of the deuill and Abel was of God This hatred will be alwayes in those that haue one and the same Father that Cain had against all good men and children of God The second is because the infirmitie of our nature will not permit vs to enioy any good things in this worlde that are pure and of long continuance and therefore they suffer vs to haue but a little sense and taste of them But
and to diminish and as it were to retire backe and to restrayne it selfe And as for the vertue of engendering it differeth from both the other first in that it is not giuen so generally to all liuing creatures as they are and then in that it beginneth not so soone For it commeth then when the liuing creature through nourishment and growth hath attayned to those vertues that are necessary for generation Besides it hath this common with the vertue of augmentation that it hath certaine limites and bounds vnto which after it is once come it weakeneth and in the ende decayeth vtterly Wherein it differeth from the nourishing vertue Nowe the vertue of growing greater hath as many other particular vertues vnder it for the execution of it owne office as the vertue of nourishing hath according as was touched before Whereby wee learne that bodies growe not greater neither augment by the heaping vp of much matter outwardely applied as when a house is set vp wee see timber ioyned to timber and stone to stone in the building of it but this is done by the same hidden and secrete arte and cunning in nature whereby wee are nourished For in this poynt there is no difference betweene the vertue of nourishing and that of augmenting but onelie heerein that in nourishment the meate is turned into the substance of the bodie and in augmenting the foode beeing thus turned doeth from within stretch foorth the quantitie of the bodie outwardly And so this vertue of augmenting dependeth of the nourishing vertue For meate nourisheth as it is a substance with qualities meete for nourishment and augmenteth by reason of the quantitie it hath For this cause hath God created the bodies of liuing creatures with such a substance that as they haue sundrie passages and holes in them like to sponges to the ende to purge by them so he would that the substance they receiue by their foode might passe by the same holes that they might augment and grow greater So that all of them haue their pores and litle holes albeit they appeare not to the eye whereby nourishment entreth and extendeth it selfe in greatnesse length and thicknesse The consideration hereof hath caused some skilfull men to place mettals and stones in the ranke of liuing creatures because they growe in the earth as the bodies of plants and liuing creatures doe Neither is their opinion without some shewe of reason For wee knowe that they grow and increase and that inwardly which seemeth not to bee done without drawing vnto themselues some inward nourishment as liuing creatures vse to doe Besides they haue also their pores and passages to stretch foorâ—h and augment themselues by Notwithstanding all this there is greater reason to place them in the ranke of those natures and creatures which augment and grow greater by adding and ioyning of matter vnto them as wee see fountaines and riuers to increase and so likewise fire Which albeit it seemeth to be nourished and augmented with that matter which is put vnto it yet is it not nourished as liuing creatures are by meanes of that foode which they receiue For they haue their boundes of growing set them which they cannot passe as wee see the like also in plantes but fire hath no limites as that which alwayes increaseth as long as it findeth any matter to burne Whereby we may conclude that naturall heate in man or in other liuing creatures is not the cause of their nourishing and growth but onely the instrument and that the true cause in regarde of second causes is in the soule next after God who is the first cause of all things yea the cause of causes Therefore it is hee that hath alotted out to euerie man the terme first of his life and growth and then of his declining and death so that according as hee will eyther prolong or shorten our life and cause vs to encrease or diminish so hee disposeth the seconde causes and those meanes whereby hee will bring it to passe Nowe wee must consider what instrumentes the soule vseth to execute in the bodie of man her naturall woorkes of nourishing and augmenting it of which wee haue nowe spoken and after what manner shee vseth them First then wee will looke into the ventricle and stomacke and see what figure what Orifices and filaments it hath This matter then ASER belongeth to thee to intreate of What instrumentes the Soule vseth in the bodie about the naturall woorke of nourishing and augmenting of the Ventricle or stomacke and of the figure Orifices and Filaments it hath of the coates of the stomacke and of what substance and nature it is of the causes of hunger and of appetite of the inferiour Orifice Chap. 61. ASER. Wee shoulde bee very happie if wee knewe howe to followe that order in all our doings which God hath set downe in all his woorkes and whereof he giueth nature vnto vs for a Mistresse But if the simplicitie of our vnderstanding bee not able to attaine to so high wisedome at the least we may knowe howe farre short euery one of vs commeth of our duetie and from whence proceedeth all the confusion that is in the life of man and all those miseries which wee commonly beholde On the other side nothing coulde hinder vs were it not a voluntarie and malicious ignorance in that wee consider not what a marueilous and excellent Woorkemaster God the Creator sheweth himselfe to bee in this part of the soule whereof our present discourses are and in that order which hee hath set therein and in those vertues which hee hath bestowed vpon it For his woorke is so excellent and woorthie of so great admiration that no wisedome or power whatsoeuer is able so much as to imitate it Wherefore wee are to account it a very great and noble blessing to haue onely some knowledge of it and to bee able to comprehende some thing thereof by our vnderstanding For there will be alwayes enough whereat to marueile greatly and namely in the consideration of those instruments which the soule vseth in the nourishment and growth of bodies as we shall know in the sequele of our discourses Therefore as heeretofore wee haue handled and spoken of the diuers powers of the soule and of those instruments it hath in regarde of the Animal and Vital partes as of the braine heart head and other externall members of the bodie so nowe wee are to consider of the internall instruments which serue the naturall powers of the soule And first it hath the liquors and humours of the bodie tempered together by a certaine Lawe and reason of the Creator that created them Secondly the other instruments of the soule are those members both externall and internall which are framed and haue their seuerall proportion euery one as neede requireth for the office assigned vnto them by God their Creator For before the soule bee clothed with the bodie these instrumentes are fashioned and made fitte for it by nature
belonging to the sight are of which bring the facultie and vertue of seeing vnto the eyes as likewise it is of the same temperament with the coats and humors of which the eyes are compounded being diuided and distributed to eche sundrie part by a naturall propertie inherent in them The like is done in the eares and in other members and instruments of the corporal senses and in all the other partes of the body euen to the very nailes and haires thereof Wherein truely wee see wonderfull alterations and a most admirable woorke of Gods prouidence whether it bee considered in the whole earth and in this great world or in man who is the litle world Now for the sequele of our speech before wee come to speake of the speciall offices and effectes of the three humours ioyned with the blood of which wee haue heere spoken wee are to consider besides this distribution made of the nourishment by meanes of the veynes as it hath beene tolde vs of another meane by which these humours and especially the flegmatike ascend vp vnto the braine whereby it commeth to passe that in man as well as in the great world there are waters aboue and belowe which are the cause that mans life swimmeth in the middest of a great danger Also wee are to knowe why the soule and the blood are often taken eche for other and to be instructed in the temperature of the humors necessarily belonging to the bodie for the health and life thereof as likewise to consider of the causes of health and sicknesse and of life and death But this shall bee for to morowe when thou ASER shalt vndertake the discourse of these things so farre foorth as is requisite for vs to know The end of the eight dayes worke THE NINTH dayes worke Of the vapours that ascend vp to the braine and of the waters and cloudes conteined therein and in what perils men are thereby why the soule and blood are put one for another of the temperature of the humors necessary for the health and life of the body of the causes of health and of diseases and of life and death Chap. 65. ASER It is the saying of an ancient Philosopher that they which saile vpon the water are not aboue two or three fingers breadth distant from death namely so farre off as the thicknes of the plankes and timber of the ship is in which they are caried into the Sea For if that timber were taken from vnder them they cannot auoyd drowning vnlesse they can swimme like fishes But not to saile on the sea or vpon a lake or riuer to approch neere to death we haue it a great deale neerer vs when we cary about vs infinite causes and meanes whereby we are euery houre in danger of stifling and as it were of drowning and that both waking sleeping eating and drinking within doores and without at all times and in al places whersoeuer we become Insomuch that of what estate and disposition soeuer men are we are oftentimes astonished to heare tydings of a mans death sooner then of his sickenesse whom wee saw not long before mery cheerefull and in good health Now we may learne some chiefe causes hereof by this dayes handling of that matter Subiect which was yesterday propounded to bee discoursed vpon And first we must know that besides the distribution of all the humours together with the blood into all parts of the bodie by the veines and that for the causes before learned there is yet another meane whereby these humors especially the flegmatike humour which is of the nature of the water ascend vp vnto the braine by reason of vapours arising vpward out of the stomacke like to the vapour of a potte seething on the fire with liquor in it and like to vapours that ascend vp from the earth into the ayre of which raine is engendred Now when these vapours are come vp to the braine they returne to their naturall place and into the nature of those humours of which they were bred as the vapours that are held in the aire turne againe into the same nature of water of which they came Therefore as the waters are contained within the cloudes in the region of the aire allotted vnto them so is it with our braine which is of a colde nature and of a spongie substance fitte for that purpose So that we alwayes carie within it as it were cloudes full of water and of other humours that distil and runne downe continually by the members and passages which God hath appointed to that ende as wee haue alreadie hearde And these places albeit they serue especially to purge seuerall humors as hath beene tolde vs yet oftentimes they voide them altogether both by reason of their mingling and coniunction as of their ouer great abundance Yea many times they are so plentifull namely the flegmatike humour that because the braine cannot sufficiently discharge it selfe of them by the ordinary way these humors ouerflowe on all sides wheresoeuer they can finde any vent and issue euen as when a thundering cloude bursteth asunder So that the water runneth not downe as it were a milde and gentle raine but as a mighty flood that bringeth great ruines with it or as a riuer passing his ordinary course breaketh downe both banke and wall and ouerfloweth euery where Therefore we may well say that many times we haue floods of water enclosed within our heads and braines when wee neuer thinke of it nor yet consider in what danger we are Which the more secrete and vnknowen it is vnto vs the more perillous it is and greatlier to be feared especially considering it is so neere vs and that wee haue fewer meanes to auoyde it as wee haue daily examples in many who being in health and mery are sodainely choked by catarrhes which like to floods of waters runne downewards as the very name deriued from the Grecians doeth import as much or by some sodaine Apoplexie how healthy soeuer before they seemed to bee Others also there are who if they be not presently choked with such floods from the brain yet they are taken with palsies lamenesse and impotencie in all their members or at leastwise in some of them as if some waterflood had caried them away so that nothing had beene saued but the bare life and that more fraile and miserable then death it selfe I speake not of gowtie persons who although they be not assaulted with such great and vehement floods of waters and with euill and superfluous humours so that some few droppes onely of which they are so called fall vpon some partes of them yet are they greatly tormented constrained to crie out and that oftentimes in extreme distresse Which consideration ought to stirre vs vp to know wherein our life and preseruation thereof consisteth and of whom we holde it And on the other side although we had no examples of floods and inundations of waters of earthquakes and such other
the compression and contraction of the Midriffe I speake not heere of the stone which wee carie in our kidneyes or of that which oftentimes breedeth both in the kidnes and in the bladder I meane of such stones as bake there as it were in a Tile-kill or potters fornace I omitte also the passions of the kidneyes and the extreame paines proceeding from thence which are further instructions vnto vs of our infirmities and miseries and of the frailetie of mans life but the handling of these things properly belongeth to the Physicions I will onely adde to that which I haue spoken of the necke of the bladder where the Vrinary pipes ende that the hole thereof is full of wreathings and turnings to the ende it may the better holde and keepe in the water And for this cause also it hath a muskle as well as the fundament to open and to shut and to yeelde and retaine the vrine according to natures will euen as it is with the other excrementes that are purged by the bowels Wee propounde these things as it were a generall Anatomie of the bodie because if I should lay them open at large and by peece-meale eche member hath in it sufficient whereof to make a great booke For as I haue alreadie declared the artificiall woorkemanship of mans bodie is incredible and incomprehensible if a man consider all the partes of it For there is nothing bee it neuer so small but the woorke of it is very marueilous the vse great and so fitted to the purpose as cannot possibly be better But wee neede not discourse more particularly of the composition and nature of mans body and of the partes of it seeing our intent is not to become Physicions but in some sort naturall Diuines by learning to knowe the prouidence of God in his woorkes especially in our creation composition nourishment and preseruation that wee may glorifie him in them as becommeth vs. Nowe in all that wee haue hitherto propounded of the foure naturall humours of the bodie wee haue spoken of them according as naturally they are and ought to bee without corruption and such as are necessary for the life of man But forasmuch as they are of great vertue and power in regarde of the affections and manners of men whether they abide in their right nature or whether they be corrupted wee must speake somewhat of their corruption and of the hurt that commeth thereby not onely to the health and life of the bodie but also to that of the soule considering withall what are the sundry naturall temperaments of men Marke therefore ARAM what you haue to say vnto vs concerning this matter Of the names wherby the humors of the bodie are commonly called with the causes wherefore of the comparison betweene the corruption and temperature of the humors of the body and betweene the manners and affections of the Soule of the meanes whereby the humours corrupt and of the Feuers and diseases engendred thereby of the sundry natural temperatures in euery one Chap. 67. ARAM. The nourishment of mans body hath many degrees and passeth through many pipes and vessels before it bee perfect and conuerted by true generation into the proper substaunce of euery member whither it is caried as wee may iudge by that which wee haue alreadie hearde to this purpose But there is such an accorde betweene all the members of the bodie whereby euery one executeth his office and such a communion of all their powers that eche member keepeth his ranke and order neyther doeth any one retayne and keepe to it selfe more nourishment then is requisite but sendeth as much as is needefull vnto the rest euen vnto the nayles and haires and vttermost excrements Nowe if through some defect or corruption falling out in their nature any of them breake the order of this equall distribution a common detriment seazeth vpon the whole bodie and vpon all the members generally so that those partes also taste of the hurte that offered wrong vnto the residue For they cannot liue alone nor without helpe from others The like is seene in the Common-wealth and in the members thereof For what is the cause that some are readie to burst for farnesse and multitude of meates whereas others are emptie and die of hunger that some haue so much wealth that they are greately troubled therewith and others are so poore Nay what is the cause of all the confusion in the worlde but that euerie one raketh to himselfe and no such equalitie and communion is obserued as becommeth the estate of euerie one Wherefore as sundrie diseases are bredde in mans bodie whereby in the ende it is vtterly ouerthrowen when there is no such communion betweene the members thereof nor any such distribution of the nourishment as there ought to bee so is it with the bodie of the Common-wealth when some oppresse others and when euerie one hath not that that belongeth vnto him For first there followeth great confusion and of confusion subuersion as diseases followe faultes committed by the members and after diseases death it selfe Nowe the infinite number of infirmities and ordinarie diseases whereby moe violent deathes are procured then naturall by reason of the defectes and excesses brought in by sinne into the whole life of man causeth men to speake diuersely of the foure humours of the bodie necessarie for the preseruation and nourishment thereof For they are more often taken for the vices and excesses whereby they are corrupted then for the true naturall humours which are the chiefe instruments of the soule whereby it giueth life and nourishment to the bodie The cause whereof as I thinke is because men doe sooner and more easily perceiue and marke what is euill and hurtfull vnto them then that which breedeth their good and profite And indeede it falleth out commonly that they knowe not the good thinges they haue vntill they haue lost them or else are become hurtfull vnto them No marueile then if they knowe not from whence these good things come or of whome they haue receiued them and so become ingratefull towardes GOD. Wherefore let vs not woonder when God withdraweth them from vs or suffereth them to corrupt and to bee spoyled that they might hurt vs in steede of helping vs to the ende that by this meanes wee might learne to acknowledge that good which before wee knewe not and not to despise it when wee haue it I meane that wee shoulde learne this by the euill that succeedeth after wee haue lost the good For wee are such scholers as cannot otherwise imprint in our mindes those good thinges which God bestoweth vpon vs but by beeing depriued of them and by our owne hurt Heereof it is that wee alwayes learne to our owne cost as wee say because wee cannot conceiue so well as wee ought to doe of the free goodnesse of God Nay it were well if all coulde learne aright by their owne harmes For there are but fewe that profite
that is preserued for the soule neither eateth nor drinketh But Ezechiel sheweth vs this yet more clearely saying They shall not satisfie their soules nor fill their bowelles For himselfe expoundeth that by the worde Bowelles which before hee called soules Moreouer wee haue further to note that forasmuch as the soule can no more giue life to the body without foode then without these members and instruments by which it distributeth and deliuereth the same it is likewise taken not onely for the foode of the bodie but also for those instruments and meanes whereby men get and obtaine foode Therefore it is written in the Lawe of the hired seruant that is poore and needy Thou shalt giue him his hire for his day that is the same day hee laboureth neither shall the sunne goe downe vpon it for hee is poore and therewith sustaineth his soule as if hee shoulde say it is his life and foode whereby hee must bee sustained So that hee which beguileth him of his hire taketh away his soule and life from him as much as in him lieth It is written also That no man shall take the neather nor the vpper milstone to pledge for this gage is his soule By which phrase of two milstones that serue to grinde the corne the Lorde comprehendeth all those instruments wherewith men get their liuing by their labour of what occupation and trade soeuer they be For as a man can not grinde without a milstone or without corne to haue meale for breade to maintaine life withall so poore Artificers and Handicraftsmen can not grinde nor consequently liue if those tooles and instruments bee taken from them whereby they must get both their owne liuing and the liuing of their wiues and children Therefore God sayeth that such a gage is the soule by which he vnderstandeth the life and by life the foode and nourishment that preserueth it and consequently the instrumentes by which poore men and Artificers get their liuing To conclude it seemeth that this kinde of phrase vsed by the Hebrewes agreeth well enough with our common speech in which we often take the life for foode and charges to maintaine life As when wee say that a man getteth and purchaseth his life or liuing with the sweate of his face We say likewise that we giue life to those whome wee feede and take life from them whom we depriue of foode and nourishment and of the means to get it But wee must learne some other significations of this worde soule taught vs in the holy Scriptures And first what is meant by a liuing soule and what by a naturall or sensuall body and what is a spirituall body and howe the name of soule is taken for the desires of the flesh and for all things belonging to this life Therefore it belongeth to thee ACHITOB to discourse vpon this matter What is meant by a liuing soule what by a sensuall and naturall body and what by a spirituall body howe the name of soule is taken for all the desires of the flesh and for all things belonging to this life and not onely for the whole person aliue but also for the person being dead and for a dead corps and lastly for the spirite separate from the bodie Chap. 80. ACHITOB. Men may well study in the schooles of the most skilfull and excellent Law-makers Philosophers Oratours and Doctors that are in the worlde yet they shall reape small profit thereby except they come to that schoole where the spirite of God is our master and teacher For this cause Iesus Christ after he heard the confession that Peter made of him saide thus vnto him Blessed art thou Simon the sonne of Ionas for flesh and blood hath not reueiled it vnto thee but my Father which is in heauen Nowe in that hee opposeth flesh and blood to the Father in heauen hee declareth sufficiently that according to the manner of the Hebrew speach hee vnderstandeth by these two words whatsoeuer is in man that is of man As when Saint Iohn saieth that as many as receiued Christ to them hee gaue power to bee the sonnes of God euen to them that beleeue in his name which are borne not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God And to confirme this it is saide elsewhere What man knoweth the things of a man saue the spirite of a man which is in him euen so the things of God knoweth no man but the spirite of God Now we haue receiued not the spirite of the worlde but the spirite which is of God that wee might know the things that are giuen to vs of God To this purpose when Saint Paul opposeth a spirituall man to him whome he called before a naturall man and altogether vncapable of the spirite of God he saith that the spirituall man discerneth all things and is iudged of no man For being such a one he hath certaine knowledge of heauenly things to be able to discerne light from darkenesse and trueth from lies that hee be not deceiued by a false shewe of trueth Neither is hee iudged of any body because the trueth of God is not subiect to the iudgement of men how skilfull and conceited soeuer they be without the spirit of regeneration Nowe then as wee haue heard that the soule is taken in sundrie significations declared by vs wee may nowe knowe that it is taken oftentimes in the holy Scriptures for al the vertues for al naturall gifts and graces for all affections and desires for all pleasures and commodities and for other things appertaining to this life For this cause liuing soule signifieth in the Scriptures as much as creature hauing soule and naturall life and it is so taken for all liuing creatures of what nature and kinde soeuer they be And Saint Paul in the place alleadged and in the fifteenth of the same Epistle calleth a naturall man and a naturall body that man and that body which liueth with such a soule and such a life vnto whome hee opposeth diuersly a spirituall man and a spirituall body For by a naturall man hee vnderstandeth a man not regenerated by the Spirite of GOD and by a spirituall a man regenerated and by a naturall body hee meaneth a body that liueth by this corporall life such as it is in this worlde before the death and resurrection thereof By a spirituall bodie he vnderstandeth not only such a body as men haue that are already regenerated in this life but also such a one as it shall bee after the resurrection when it shall bee fully regenerated and made immortall and like to the glorious body of Iesus Christ For besides the humane soule wherewith it liueth heere and in regarde of which Saint Paul called it naturall it shall haue also a diuine vertue that shall wholly change in it all corruptible and mortall qualities and all humane infirmities vnto which it is subiect in this life into incorruptible
22. Of the ioy of the godly Luâ—e 6. 21. matth 5. 4. Esay 61. 3. Ioh. 16. 20 21. Philip. 44. Eccles. 7. 4 6. Prou. 6. 25. How worldlings deceiue themselues What hope is Difference betweene ioy and hope Of the true and certaine hope The profite and necessitie of hope Ephes 4. 4. Rom. 5. 3 4 5. Psal 25. 3. Rom. 5. 2. Rom. 12. 12. 15. 13. Hebr. 6. 19. Ier. 17. 7 13 17. psal 65. 5. and 91. 2 9. psal 31 1. and 71. Psal 118. 8 9. Prou. 10. 28. Iob 8. 13 14 15 The wickâ—d can not abide to speake or heare of God What feare is How palenesse colde and shaking are bâ—ed in the body How death commeth through feare Esay 13. 7 8. A place of Esay expounded The cause of cowardlines and the signe of courage Iob 41. 16. Effects of Feare in the soule Iosua 7. 5. Psal 22. 14. Ierem. 4. 9. The definitions of assurance and boldnesse Iosua 2. 9. Psal 53. 5. Psal 112. 1 7 8 Psal 56. 3 11. and 118. 6. prou 14. 26. Iohn 14. 1. Lâ—uit 26. 36. Deu. 28. 65 66 67. God is the authour of courage Why God hath giuen men affections The diuers effects of feare in the godly and in the wicked A fantasticall Good Who are to bee accounted wise men Eccles. 2. 1. Of delight and pleasure what it is and how it is receiued How God communicateth himselfe vnto men Of the diuers degrees of pleasures according to euery mans nature The delights of the bodily senses The delights of the internall senses CoÌ„templation is the greatest delight of the soule Of the abuse of pleasures Against the immoderate vse of pleasures The cause why a little griefe is stronger in vs theÌ„ a great pleasure Of the pleasures of fantasie The pleasures of reason and of the minde How we descend from true pleasures to false delights Of pleasures which men seeke crosse-wayes Of the vse of the delights of the spirite How the spirit is hindred in his actions How the spirite must bee occupied How corporall and spirituall pleasures chase each other Natural pleasures are more purethen artificiall Degrees to ascend vpto sound and perfect delight The knowledge of the affections very requisite What loue is How loue is engendred Of the kindes of desire Of the loue of men towards God The loue of parents towardes thir children The loue of God towards men The originall of friendship In what sort by loue we ascend vp to God and descend againt Of the vnion that is in loue Similitude is a cause of loue Beautie draweth loue Gen. 1. Beautie a flower of goodnes A caueat for faire women The force of Beautie The causes of the abuse in beautie Beautie maketh vice more vgly A good vse of Looking-glasses Three kindes of Loue. God created the world by Loue. Diuers kindes of beauty and loue Loue tendeth to vnitie Iohn 17. 21. Iohn 11. 52. 1. Iohn 3. 8. Sinne the cause of our seperation from God A double ground of loue Loue is free Iob 1. 9. Two sortes of hired loue Actes 20. 35. Loue descendeth but doth not ascend 1. Iohn 4. 8. Loue breedeth Loue. The heart of a louer compared to a looking glasse Loue ought to shew it selfe by workes Euils must be resisted in the beginning What Desire is Diuersitie of Goods Goodâ— belonging to this life Goods of fanciâ— and in opinion onely The effects of ambition and couetousnesse Of the false opinion of want The right vse of coueting The diuerse kinds of Desires Two sorts of Loue. The last ende of Loue. Acts 4. 32. Communitie among friends Loue bringeth equalitie Loue must first beginne at God Three meanes of knowledge The benefites that come of true loue whose scope is God The first benefite of true loue Diuers estimations of Loue. The cause of mens errour from the true Good The second benefite that is in true Loue. The third benefit Galat. 2. 20. The highest degree of Loue. Knowledge requisit in Loue. Two sortes of knowledge in Loue. The difference betweene Loue and Desire Rom. 8. 22. 1. Cor. 13. 12. Of friendship betweene wicked men What foundation the friendship of good men hath 1. Corint 13. 8 A similitude shewing the vanity of the loue of worldly delights What sauour is Why God fauoureth vs. Of reuerence The caause of humilitie A good lesson for princes Reuerence requisite in true friendship Of honour and of maiestie Rom. 12. 16. Of the signes of honour and of reuerence Of Mercie and Compassion Rom. 12. 8 9 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. Cor. 12. Heb. 13. 3. Math. 5. 7. Luke 6. 36. Prou. 21. 21. Iam. 2. 13. Foure causes of all the troubles of the soule The nature of corporall goods How the passions may be good Of offence What euill may offend vs. Why men are so easily offended What offences are most grieuous Of the nature of mankind how hardly it is pleased Of the degrees of offence How offence may be welâ— vsed The remedy to cure offences What contempt is Of mockery Esay 53. 7. Diuers opinions of the Philosophers touching the affections What anger is How it differeth from offence Of rancour The violence of anger Prou. 27. 4. Ecclus. 8. The fruites of anger What effect it hath in the body The fountaine of the appetite of reuenge The causes of looking pale and red How anger troubleth the braine The best remedy against anger Ecclus. 28. Another remedy against anger Why the affection of anger is naturall what good commeth by it What Hatred is The causes of it Why it is an easier matter to hate then to loue 1. Ioh. 3. 10 12. The fruits of Hatred Of a good kinde of hatred Rom. â—2 9. Amos 5. 15. How loue is turned into hatred Remedies against the euill kinde of hatred Description of Enuy. Diuers sorts of Enuy. Enuy is neuer without griefe Against what good things Enuy is most bent How an enuious body is tormented The countenance of an enuious man Prouer. 14. 30. Ecclus. 30. 17 24. Of a good kinde of enuy 1. Cor. 12. 31. 2. Cor. 9. 2. Roman 13. galat. 5. 21. Esay 3. 16. and 48. 4. Ezech. 3. 8 9. Psal 34. 15. 1. Pet. 3. 22. Esay 29. 23. Exod 13. 14. Iob 40. 4. Exod. 15. 7 8. Iob 9. 17. What Iealousie is Iames 4. 1 2. A good kinde of iealousie What mutuall loue ought to be betweene man and wife Why Iealousie is attributed to God What Indignation is From whence Zeale proceedeth Ioel 2. 18. Isaiah 9. 7. What Zeale is 2. Cor. 11. 2. A good lesson for Princes and Pastors The abuse of Indignation and of Zeale Rom. 10. 2. 1. Timot. 1. 13. Act. 26. 10 11. Hebr. 10. 30. Matth. 10. 28. Luke 21. 19. prouer 20. 22. What reuenge is What Rage is Of Crueltie Three sortes of Crueltie How magistrates ought to punish With what affection God punisheth offendors What Shame is Blushing commendable in some persons A second kind of
Shame Impudencie a very dangerous disease Ierem. 3. 3. Ezech. 2. 4. and 3. 7. The cause of rednesse in the face in blushing A cause of feare in men The rule of all true iudgement Shame of well doing The cause why men deceiue themselues What pride is Two kindes of pride Three causes why God created man so excellent Of a good kind of pride Ecclus. 10. 14 19. Of the euil pride Ecclus. 10. 7. Who are most giuen to pride Causes of pride What vices follow pride Pride lifteth men against God Prou. 13. 10. Pride bred of vertue A similitude A remedy against pride Three kindes of the Vegetatiue facultie in the soule A profitable meditation Of the third and last belly of the body The office of heate in man The power order and office of the Vegetatiue soule A similitude taken from 〈…〉 A good lesson for euery one Of the seates of the naturall vertues How excrements are voyded Of the growing of bodies Wherein the natural vertues differ ech from other How meate nourisheth the body How mettals and stones growe The true cause or nourishing in creatures The instruments of the naturall powers of the soule How the soule vseth the instruments of the body Of the Ventricle and stomackâ— Of the figure of the stomacke Of the mouths of the stomacke How the name of the heart is abused The originall of appetite The doore of the vpper Orifice Of the lower Orifice Of the small strings of the Orifices The stomake compared to a pot on the fire Howe the stomacke is placed Of the substance of it How it is warmed by other neighbour partes Of 〈◊〉 Kell or Kall The causes of appetite in the stomach The originall of hunger The stomach compared to a wombe The office of the lower Orifice The poorer sort are not to be contemned The necessitie of the bowelles The number and names of the guttes The bowelles haue two couerings Of the Peritone or inner â—ine of the belly ioyned to the kall The vses of it The substance of the bowels The bowels are made of two coates Of the three 〈◊〉 gutâ— Of their names The Duodene or stomacke gut The hungry gut The Ileon or folded Gut Of the three great Guts The blinde Gut The fift gut called Colon or the great gut The colike and Ileacke passions The straight gut The vse of it Of the muscle Sphincter A lesson against pride Against the contempt of inferiour persons Of the Mesentery Of the Mesareon The chiefe vse of it Other vses of the Mesentery Of the Meseraicall veines Their vse Of the Pancreas or sweet bread The vses of it Of the liuer and excellencie thereof The seconde coction is made in the liuer Foure degrees of concoction in the liuer The fountaines of the blood and veines spirites and arteries Our life compared to a lamp Two great veines in the body The Port-veine The hollow veine Eccles. 12. 6. A place of Salomon expounded Of the arterie Aorta A similitude What a humour is Of the nature of blood Of the cholericke humour Of the flegmaticke humour Of the melancholicke humor The agreement betwixt the humours and the elements How the humours and elements agree in places Agreement betwixt the great garden of the world and that of the litle world A goodly conteÌ„plation in nature Of the heart of plants The body of man compared to a garden Mans life in the midst of two waters Vapours ascending vp to the braine Watry clouds in the braine Inconueniences that come from the braine Instruction for euery one Testimonie of the prouidence of God Gen. 9. 4 5. The mixture of the humors necessary The causes of health and of sicknesse Sinne the cause of all the discord in the world The causes of death A politike instruction Of the cholericke humor Of the Gall and of his bladder The vses of the cholericke humour Of the melancholicke humor Of the spleene What effects follow the oppilation of the liuer The commodities of the melancholike humour Of the flegmatike humour and profite of it Of the kidneyes Emulgent vcines How the vrine is made yellow Of the Vreteres and of the bladder Of the necke of the bladder What it is to be a naturall diuine What communion ought to be among men Why the humors are taken in the euill part The cause of mens ingratitude The agreement betweene the maners and humors of the body By what meanes the naturall humors corrupt The originall of Feuers and other diseases The corruption of the flegmatike humour Of the cholerike humour From whence all sortes of agues proceede The corruption of the melancholie humor From whence madnesse commeth Three chiefe workers of mens actions He speaketh of such goodnes and vertues as were â—o esteemed of by the heathen that knew not their naturall corruption God ruleth in all and ouer all Ierem. 1. Galat. 1. Actes 9. 15. The nature of flegmatike persons The nature of a cholericke complexion The nature of the melancholicke body What natures are most abused by euill spirites Matth. 17. 15. mar 9. 20. luke 9. 39. How vigilant the Deuil is to hurt vs. What profit we reape by the knowledge of our complexions What natures we are to eschew The true meanes to cure our vices Matth. 7. 11. Luke 11. 13. Psal 127. 1. Verse 3. Genes 1. 28. The vertue of the blessing of God for generation Of the Radicall humour Of the defect of mans life with the causes therof What is meant by nature Genes 1. What Generation is What the generatiue power is What seede is What is meant by a vegetatiue soule Of the cause of monsters Malach. 2. 15. Two effectes of ignorance Of the similitude that is in generation From whence the seede commeth The seuerall vertues of the generatiue power The chiefe cause why the generatiue power was giuen to man Of the seate of Generation Hebr. 7. 10. Genes 35. 11. Psal 139. 13. Iob 10. 10 11 What is man properly Psalm 139. 5. Verse 6. Iob 10. 8. Psalm 36. and 138. A good lesson to be learned from our creation The afflictions of Gods children turne to their good No mans knowledge perfect Gen. 2. 4. The creation of the world and of man compared together An argumont of the prouidence of God Of the forme of an infant Of the After-burthen The first sixe dayes work from the conception Psal 139. 16. All the members receiue their forme together The nauill first made perfect When the seed is called Embryon When the burthen is called a child or infant When the childe fâ—â—st moueth Galens opinion of the birth of sonnes The word profitable for all Mans birth a woonderfull worke of God How the childe is nourished in the wombe The cause of child-birth Which is the easiest kinde of child-birth Why children cry when they are borne A testimonie of Gods prouidence in the wombe Gal. de vs◠〈◊〉 lib. 15. An argument against Atheists Psal 139. 17 18. 22. 9. Two things to be considered of in
our birth What similitude there is betweene our spirituall and our natural birth Why we abhorre natural death The first point to be considered touching mans nakednes Gen. 3. 19. The second point Man by nature hath least defence for himselfe A commendation of the hand of man The third point A double vse to be made of our wants Wherin men excell all other liuing creatures The fourth point What we ought to learne by the proportion of our bodies What man is The excellent frame of mans body Who they be that know not themselues Ioh. 15. 1 2 3 4 The soule proceedeth not of the matter Nor of the qualities Nor of the harmonie Nor of the composition of the body The nature of a Hog And of an Elephant The soule of a beast differeth from the substance and nature of his body The facultie of sense commeth not from the body The cause of the life of the body The degrees of mans age Iob 14. 5. The cause of the length and shortnes of life What naturall death is Psal 90. 10. Psal 7. 8 9. Iob 14. 1 2. Of the true difference betweene naturall and diuine Philosophie The cause of so many Atheists Gen. 3. 17 18. Iob 5. 6. The cause of barrennes Nothing abideth still in the same state The cause of the length of life What death is Naturall death Violent death Of the windpipe From whence the cough commeth Esay 2. 22. The blood necessary for life The difference betweene the death of beasts and of man An image of our spirituall death in the bodily Only sinne hurteth the soule What it is to be well A comfort against death Rom. 8. 22. Naturall philosophie affoordeth no found comfort against afflictions or death A profitable contemplation in nature The miserable estate of Atheists that haue no hope of another life Philosophicall reasons against the feare of death Sinne the cause of death Atheists more miserable then beasts The common sayings of Atheists Naturall reason not sufficient to stay the conscience Two sorts of Atheists Why there must needes be a second life What Nature is Nature is a creature The error of Galen such like Atheists nowe adayes What we are to iudge of Nature 1. Thes 5. 23. Dan. 9. 24. Man diuided into three parts One soule in one bodie The soule like to a man that hath many offices Of the seate of the soule in the body The soule compared to an Husbandman The chiefe instruments of the soule Two kinds of vniting things together Of the vnion betweene the soule and the body How the soule is ioyned to the bodie Diuers degrees of nature in the soule Beasts haue some kinde of knowledge The originall of the powers of the Soule An admirable worke of God Why God hath ioyned the body to the soule The naturall knowledge of mans body very profitable Why the soule worketh with sundry instruments Of the Vital and Animal spirites and of their operations The effects of the Vital and Animal spirits in man The Vital Animal spirits are not the soule A wonderfull worke of God 1. Sam. 18. 10. 31. 4. 2. Sam. 17 23. Matth. 27. 5. 1. Thess 5. 23. A comparison of the soule and a workeman A similitude Against the transmigration of soules The aptest instrument for the soule The necessary vse of the humours The humors are in continuall motion What partes of the body come nerest to the soule 1. Cor. 6. 19. Of the entire sanctification of mans bodie The body liueth not to eate but eateth to liue 1. Thes 5. 23. The name of Soule taken diuersly Math. 10. 28. Gen. 6. 17. esai 40. 6. luc 3. 6. leuit 4. 2. ezech 18. 4. rom 13. 1. Gen. 14. 21. 46. 27. When a man is perfectly sanctified Esay 26. 8 9. Luk. 1. 46 47. The soule deuided into three partes Ephe 4. 17 18. Iohn 1. 9. and 8. 12. and 9. 5. and 12. 46. Why the naturall powers are not mentioned in these diuisions Genes 37. 21. Deut. 19. 21. Ierem. 11. 21. Matth. 2. 20. Esay 5. 14. Esay 29. 8. Ierem. 31. 25. Ezech. 7. 19. Deut. 24. 15. leuit 19. 13. Deute 24. 6. Matth. 16. 17. Iohn 1. 12 13. 1. Cor. 2. 11 12 What is meant by liuing soule Genes 1. 1. Cor. 15. 44. What is meant by a naturall and by a spirituall man Genes 2. 7. What is meant by an animal or naturall man The soule put so the affections Gen. 34. 3. Gen. 44. 30. 1. Sam. 18. 1. Deut. 6. 5. matth 10. 39. mar 8. 35. luke 9. 24. iohn 12. 25. How we are to vnderstand that the soule dieth Num. 23. 10. Gen. 22. 16. Ierem. 51. 14. Amos 6. 8. Leuit. 21. 1. The name of soule put for the dead body Iob 33. 18 22. Psalme 30. 3. Psalm 56. 13. and 22. 20. What is meant by Spirite in the Scriptures Psalme 31. 5. luke 23. 46. Actes 7. 59. Eccles. 12. 7. Iob 27. 3 4. Rom. 8. 16. 1. Cor. 2. 11. Psal 33. 20 21. 1. Pet. 2. 11 12. Wisd 1. How the soule is after a sort mortall The ancient Academicall kinde of teaching Pâ—atâ—n Phad The word of God the true glasse for the minde Who know the soule best The soule is not bred of corporall seede Genes 1. Modestie requisite in searching the trueth How we become guiltie of original sinne What originall sinne is How wee must learne to know the soule When wee shall know our sâ—lues perfectly What the soule is Varietie of opinions touching the essence of the soule Iohn 3. 6. Why one soule is called vegetatiue another sensitiue the third reasonable Iohn 3. 12. Of the distinction of the soule from the powers there of The soule of the beast is of a corporal substance Gen. 9. 4. Leui. 17. 14. The Vitall spirite compared to the flame of a lampe It is engendred of the blood in the heart God the author of nature Sundry opinion of the reasonable soule The soule proceedeth not froÌ„ the elements Rom. 11. 33. Galens opinion of the soule Gal. dâ— plâ—s Hip. Platoes opinion touching the soule Aristotles opinion of the soule Occams opinion of the soule Of the creation of soules according to the Platonists Lib 11. chap. 23. of the citie of God Origens opinion of soules The Platonists opinion of the soule confuted God is not the soule of the world Act. 17. 28. Arat. Phae. How men are the linage of God Platoes opinion of Daemones or celestial spirits Plato dwelt with the Egyptians Lactautius lib. 2. cap. 13. Ecclus. 24. 5. The Soule created of nothing Of the transmigration of soules The regeneration of the Pythagoreans A fond opinion of certaine Heretikes Against the transmigration of soules Why Plato inuented the transmigration of soules Mans nature compared to a Monster How meÌ„ become like to beasts The ignorant wrest the sence of good writers Math. 14. 2. marke 6. 14. Luke 9. 7 8. Mat. 16. 13 14. luke 9. 19. Of the Iewes opinion of the transmigration
French Academy as it is diuided into seuerall dayes workes and distinguished by Chapters The first dayes worke Pag. 15 OF the creation of the first man and of the matter whereof the body of man is made Chap. 1. 22 Of the creation of woman Chap. 2. 28 Of the simple or similarie parts of the body namely the bones ligaments gristles sinowes pannicles cords or filaments vaines arteries and flesh Chap. 3. 34 Of the compound parts of the body and first of the feete and legges and of the armes and hands Chap. 4. 41 Of the backbone of the marrow thereof of the ribs and of other bones of mans body Chap. 5. 47 Of the share bone and marrow of the bones of the bones in the head and of the flesh of the muscles and of their office Chap. 6. 52 Of the kernels in the body and of their sundry vses especially of the breasts of women of their beauty and profite in the nourishing of children and of the generation of milke Chap. 7. 57 Of the fatte and skins of mans body and of their vse of the haires thereof Chap. 8. The second dayes worke 62 Of the bodily and external sences especially of touching of their members instruments and offices Chap. 9. 67 Of the eyes and of their excellency profite and vse of the matter and humors whereof they are made Chap. 10. 73 Of the tunicles and skinnes of the eyes of their forme motions of their sundry coulors of the sinewes whereby they receiue sight and of other parts about the eyes Chap. 11. 79 Of the eares and of their composition office and vse Chap. 12. 85 Of the diuers vses of the tongue of the instrumēts necessary both for voyce and speach howe there is a double speach of the forme thereof how the spirite of man is represented thereby Chap. 13. 91 Of the agreement which the instruments of the voyce and speach haue with a payre of Organs what things are to be considered in placing of the lungs next the heart of the pipes and instruments of the voyce Chap. 14. 96 Of the tongue and of the nature and office thereof of the excellency profite of speach which is the art of the tongue what is to bee considered touching the situation thereof in the head and neare the braine Chap. 15. 103 Of the office of the tongue in tasting and in preparing meat for the nourishment of the body of the teeth and of their nature and office of the conduite or pipe that receiueth and swalloweth downe meates Chap. 16. The third dayes worke 108 OF the sence of tast giuen to the palal what tastes are good to nourish the body of the diuersitie of them of hunger and thirst and of their causes Chap. 17. 113 Of helps and creatures meete for the preseruation and nourishment of the body how God prepareth them to serue for that purpose of their vse Chap. 18. 119 Of the nose and of the sence of smelling and of their profit and vse of the composition matter and forme of the nose Chap. 19. 124 Of the vse briefly of all the outward sences of mans body namely in purging the superfluities and ordures of his nose of the diuersity that is in mens faces and of the image of the minde and heart in them Chap. 20. 130 Of the nature faculties and powers of mans soule of the knowledge which we may haue in this life and how excellent necessary it is into what kinds the life and soule are diuided Chap. 21. 136 Of the two natures of which man is compounded how the body is the lodge and instrument of the soule how the soule may be letted from doing her proper actions by the body and be separated from it and yet remaine in her perfection Chap. 22. 142 Of the braine and of the nature therof of the sundry kinds of knowledge that are in man of the similitude that is betweene the actions and workes of the naturall vertues of the soule and of the internall senses Chap. 23. 147 Of the composition of the braine with the members and parts thereof of their offices and that knowledge which ought to content vs touching the principall cause of the vertues and wonderfull powers of the soule Chap. 24. The fourth dayes worke 148 OF the seate of voluntary motion and sense of the office and nature of the common sense of imagination and of fantasie how light and dangerous fantasie is of the power which both good and bad spirits haue to mooue it Chap. 25. 158 Of reason and memorie and of their seate nature office of the agreement which all the senses both external and internall haue one with another and of their vertues Chap. 26. 164 That the internall senses are so distinguished that some of them may bee troubled and hindered and the rest bee safe and whole according as their places and instruments assigned vnto them in the body are sound or perished and of those that are possessed with deuils Chap. 27. 170 Of the reasonable soule and life and of vertue of the vnderstanding and will that are in the soule and of their dignity and excellency Chap. 28. 176 Of the variety and contrarietie that is found in the opinions deliberations counsayles discourses and iugdements of men with the cause thereof and of the good order and ende of all discourses Chap. 29. 182 Of iudgement and of his office after the discourse of reason and how beliefe opinion or doubting followe it of the difference that is betweene them Chap. 30. 187 Of the meanes whereby a man may haue certaine knowledge of those things which hee ought to beleeue and to take for true of the naturall and supernatural light that is in man and how they beare witnesse of the image of God in him Chap. 31. 192 How the vertues and powers of the soule shew themselues by litle and litle and by degrees of contemplation and of the good that is in it of that true and diuine contemplation which wee looke for after this life Chap. 32. The fift dayes worke 198 OF the appetites that are in all liuing creatures and namely in man and of their kinds and particularly of the naturall and sensitiue appetite Chap. 33. 203 Of will and of the diuers significations and vses of these words Reason and Will of the actions freedome and nature thereof of the power which reason may haue ouer her Chap. 34. 208 Of those good things which both men only guided by the light of nature are able to propound to themselues and to follow and they also that are guided by the spirit of God of the power and liberty of the will in her actions both externall and internall Chap. 35. 214 Of the distinction that ought to bee betweene the vnderstanding knowledge and the will and affections in the soule and betweene the scates and instruments which they haue in the body of the agreement that is betweene the heart and the braine Chap. 36. 219 Of the
the soule attained to the vnderstanding of the diuine essence Aristotle also taking the same way in his 8. booke of naturall Philosophy sheweth that he knew God vnder the name of the first moouer who was perpetual and vnmoueable But we may attaine to the knowledge of God of our selues a great deale better then al the Philosophers could who were ignorant of the true beginning and end of things if we be guided by the word which is the light of the trueth and whereof al the humane philosophy of the wisest that were is but a liâ—â—e shadow Now then if vnder this heauenly guide wee feede our spirites with a doctrine that teacheth man to know himselfe well wee beginne at that science which of all other is most necessary profitable and pleasant I say necessary as that which guideth and leadeth vs as it were by the hand to find out God profitable because it bringeth a maruailous commoditie to this present life both in regarde of bodily health as also of ruling all our actions according to vertue and pleasant because a man may see therein as it were in a sacred temple all the images of the wonderfull workes of the world ACHITOB. I cannot but greatly commend those Philosophers that reprehended and condemned them who spent all their time only in the contemplation of heauen and earth and of the nature of other creatures and in the meane while descended not into themselues to know themselues and their nature but especially their soule For what will it profite a man to take so great paines as to measure the whole world and to compasse on euery side all the elementarie region to knowe the things that are contained in them and their nature and yet in the meane time hee can not measure or knowe himselfe being but alittle handfull of earth For although the knowledge of the rest of the creatures that are in this great visible worlde will greatly helpe to leade him to the knowledge of God the Creatour neuerthelessâ— he shall neuer be able to know him well if withall he know not himselfe Yea these two knowledges are so ioyned togither that it is very hard matter to seuer them For as a man can not know himselfe if he know not God so he cannot know God wel if in like sort he know not himselfe So that I take this for most certain that neither Astronomy Geometry Geography or Cosmography nor any other Mathematical science is so necessary for man as that whereby he may learne to know himselfe wel to measure himselfe wel by the measure of his owne nature that he may thereby know how to contayne himselfe within the limits thereof As for Mathematicians natural Philosophers Phisicions who bestow their trauaile in the knowledge of nature and natural things and in the meane time forget God and themselues whereas they ought to learne both the one and the other by that knowledge that God hath giuen them of his works I say they are not worthy to be taken for naturall Philosophers Phisicions or Mathematicians but rather for blockheaded beasts In my opinion they behaue themselues as if a man should be alwayes occupied in looking vpon his house and handling of his mooueables and houshold stuffe and in the meane time did not put them to those principall and speciall vses for which they ought to serue but were altogether forget full of himselfe of his wife and of his children Moreouer concerning Phisicions if their care to know their own soule with the nature and parts therof be not more to minister that food and phisicke which is necessary for it to liue wel and happily and that for euer then to know the nature of mens bodies that they may cure others it may worthly be said vnto them Phisicion heale thy selfe For if he be worthily derided that taketh in hand the cure of other men and cannot heale himselfe or at the least hath no care to doe it surely that man is well worthy to be had in greater derision that is more carefull not only of his owne but also of other mens bodies then he is of his owne soule whereby he differeth from brute beasts and is made partaker of an immortall nature Wherefore it is very requisite that all students in naturall philosophy should profit so well in the study thereof as to be able to turne it into true naturall diuinity whereby they may learne to know God their creator in that nature which he hath created to this end to make himselfe seene and knowen therein to all men We haue therefore good cause my companions to bestow al possible paines trauaile that we may proceede on in so necessary profitable a knowledge Wherfore we must lay before our eyes two bookes which God hath giuen vnto vs to instruct vs by and to lead vs to the knowledge of himselfe namely the booke of nature and the booke of his word which we must ioyne both together as also that doctrine which is set forth vnto vs in them concerning the knowledge of our selues especially of the soule which is the true man For the first booke would stand vs in small stead without the second as we see it dayly by experience yea euery one of vs hath trial thereof in himselfe Therefore God of his great mercy hath added the second booke vnto the first to supply the want that is in our nature through sinne For if man had not sinned this booke of nature would haue sufficed to haue kept him alwayes in the knowledge contemplation and obedience of God his creator For then he should himselfe haue caried the booke whole and perfect imprinted in his heart and mind neyther should his soule haue needed any teacher to know to selfe but in it selfe it should haue cleerely beheld and contemplated it selfe so long as she preserued â—er first light and aboad in that harmony wherein God had created her But now that she is in the body as it were some excellent picture of Apelles fallen into a sinke of mire couered and compassed about with thicke mists and obscure darknesse it is very needfull that we should haue another new light brought vnto vs from heauen which is not naturall as the first but supernaturall For this cause God hath farther giuen vs this second booke of which I spake euen now by means wherof and by the vertue of his holy spirit hee communicateth vnto vs as much celestiall and heauenly light as is needfull for the knowledge of our selues and of his high Maiestie Being therefore guided by the spirit of God whereby our spirit doth see and contemplate let vs read in these two bookes diligently note in them the parts and powers force and vertue aswell of the body as of the soule of man especially the immortality thereof whereby we shall make the way easie for vs to walke and sport our minds hereafter in the large and goodly fields of the whole world by discoursing of
by any newe and sodaine motion but by an immutable and eternall counsaile For no newe thing can befall him neither is there any thing in him that is mutable but according to the height and depth of his riches hee hath multiplied the children of men And let them thinke imagine and dispute what they list yet all things haue had their beginning according to the good prouidence of God which no man in the worlde can sufficiently comprehend O great mysterie that God hath alwayes beene and that it pleased him some time past to make man first who was neuer made before and yet not to change his purpose and will Thus you see howe wee must steppe by steppe ascend by the workes of God vnto himselfe as we haue alreadie touched in the beginning of our speech and as wee can doe it well ynough in mens workes For when I behold a worke it by and by putteth me in minde of the instruments wherewith it was made and the instruments of him that made them and of him that set them aworke Then the Workemaster putteth me in minde of him that made him such a one namely both of his master that taught him and also of his parents that begate him Thus climing vp still from one to one and from degree to degree I must needes in the ende conclude that there is one chiefe Workmaster of whom all others are descended by their order degree And there I must stay as in like maner proceeding from one essence to another I may come to the contemplation of that infinite and eternall essence which is the spring and first cause of euery nature namely vnto God who hath giuen to that matter whereof he made all things a forme meete and conuenient for that worke which he would make of it This is that which I thinke we ought to conceaue touching the creation of the matter of mans body Now before we consider the disposition therof I thinke we ought to intreate of the creation of woman who is one selfe same flesh differing onely in sexe and appointed of God to bee a necessarie helpe for the originall and preseruation of mankinde which I desire to heare you discourse of AMANA Of the creation of Woman Chap. 2. AMANA No maruaile if the eye of mans soule be often dimmed yea looseth all light in the diligent consideration of the wonderful workes of Gods prouidence For as the eye of the body although cleare of it selfe cannot behold colours figures other visible things except it bee illuminated with light from heauen or from some other lightsome body so albeit our vnderstanding of it owne nature be very cleare sighted as being a beame of the diuine brightnes yet by reason of the bond that conioyneth it to the body wherein it is ouerwhelmed with the darknes of the matter it can in no wise attain to the glittering conceptions of eternall wisedome vnlesse it alwaies haue God that great euerlasting Sunne and his heauenly light to illuminat it and to guide it to the faithful contemplation of the woorkes of his almighty hand This hath bin the cause why so many great wits discoursing philosophically of the originall and beginning of things and looking on euery side yea doubting and fearing many things which they found contrary to humane reason haue bin caried hither and thither with diuers opinions like to a vessel tossed in a deep sea but could neuer come neere to the knowledge of the trueth But if wee follow the bright starre of trueth fixed in the heauenly booke of life as wee haue learned therein the creation of man so we may as easily be instructed in the creation of the woman to the confusion of the wise men of the world and of all Epicures and Atheists The holy scriptures teach vs that after God had created man placed him in the garden of Eden to dresse it and keepe it had forbidden him to eate of the tree of the knowledge of good euil which was a signe tokē of the homage obedience and subiection he did owe to God his creator Lord and of that blessed life appointed for him as a recompence and crowne of this obedience It is not good then saide hee that man shoulde bee himselfe alone I will make him an helpe meete for him And to shew the better how this helpe was not onely meete but also necessary for man Moses saith that God had already brought all the beasts before Adam that he might name them according to their natures and kinds which hee perfourmed Whereby we may iudge what great knowledge of naturall things was in Adam before he sinned For otherwise hee could not haue giuen to all liuing creatures names agreeable to their nature and if hee had not named them as he should hee had brought in great confusion in nature Afterwarde Moses addeth that amongst all those liuing creatures hee found no helpe meete for Adam yea the Lorde had spoken of him before as if he had bene alone in the worlde For although all the beastes and all the residue of the creatures were giuen to man to assist him so that being in that estate of innocencie wherein hee was then hee might receiue all seruice and readie obedience from all the creatures neuerthelesse hee had not as yet any helpe of his kinde For hee coulde not haue that familiaritie and conuesation with the beastes nor receiue such helpe from them as hee coulde from creatures of his owne kinde Therefore when the Lorde saide that it was not good for man to be alone hee declared plainely that he did not create him to liue and solitary in the world but with companie and that his will was that there should be men vpon earth who should liue in societie and fellowship together Nowe seeing that man was created for this ende he coulde not liue in company with others of his kinde without generation and multiplication thereof which coulde not be except hee were ioyned to a wise seeing it pleased GOD to appoynt it so Wherefore as hee created the other liuing and sensible creatures of two sexes in one kinde namely some males and others females that they might increase and multiplie by generation so likewise dealt hee with mankinde But as hee tooke an other course in the creation of man then he did in that of beastes so also dealt he in the creation of the woman whome hee purposed to giue vnto man for a companion For hee created not man and woman both together but man first and then woman afterwarde as wee will declare by and by Nowe because there is no coniunction or communion in any humane societie wherein that holy bonde which ought to knitte all men together and ioyne them one to another is better declared then in that whereby man wife are conioyned and vnited as it were in one selfe same bodie and in one soule therefore it pleased God not without cause to beginne this holie
his prouidence towards vs to make vs more then ashamed and confounded We haue yet another point to bee noted touching their situation which causeth a certaine proportion and agreement to bee betweene the heauens and the head and betweene the eyes of the great little worlde and those of the body and soule For it is most certaine that they could not be placed more conueniently then in the highest part of al the bodie as it were in the highest towre seeing they are to serue all the other members in place of Warders and Watchmen and of guides and leaders Therefore Salomon had reason to call them the Lookers aut by the windowes For the holes of the head in which they are placed as it were Looking-glasses are their windowes through which they see and behold We may also say asmuch of the apple of the eye which looketh within his litle circle as it were by a window For this cause as God hath placed the sunne moone and all the rest of the lights aboue in the heauens so he would that there should bee some proportion betweene the heauens and the head of man and betweene those goodly lights aboue named and the eyes that are created to receiue light from them and to be that in man who is the litle world which the sunne moone other lights of heauen are in this great vniuersall world Therefore forasmuch as the eyes are as it were the images of these goodly bodies and celestiall glasses they occupie the highest place in this bodie of the litle worlde as the lights doe in the great bodie of the world whereof they are as it were the eyes to giue it light on euery side For this cause also the eyes are more fierie and haue more agreement with the nature of fire then any other member that belongeth to the corporall senses And as they are in a high place so they are admonished thereby of the place vnto which they ought to looke according to that which Dauid saith I lift vp mine eyes to thee that dwellest in the heauens In all these things we see a goodly harmonie and agreement between the great and the litle world the like whereof we shall also finde betweene the worlde and the spirituall heauen whose sunne and light is God and between the eyes of the soule and of the mind Therefore Iesus Christ said very well The light of the bodie is the eye if then thine eye be single thy whole body shal be light but if thine eye be wicked then all thy body shal be dark Wherfore if the light that is in thee be darknes how great is that darknes So that the eyes being as it were the lanterne lampe and flame of the whole body they could not haue a more apt place or more conuenient for their nature then that where God hath placed them The like also may be said of the spirituall eyes of the soule of the mind For God hath lodged the vnderstanding and reason in the braine of man as it were in a high towre in which it ought to raigne as a Queene and Princesse and guide vnder her lawes all the affections and actions of men as the eyes guide all the members of the body And when God who is the sunne and light of the world of the spiritual heauen reacheth out his beames to these eyes of the soule by his eternall Sonne and giueth them life vigour and vertue by his spirite then is the minde wel lightned and then doth she happily and to her proper end direct al the parts of the soule Now for the conclusion of our speech seeing wee haue spoken largely enough of the eyes of the bodie and of their nature beautie and excellencie and what goodly images of the spiritual eyes they represent vnto vs let vs yet a litle better acknowledge the greatnesse of their Woorkmaster by considering apart the matter whereof they are made I meane by it selfe and without the woorkmanship as if we should now behold their substance without that disposition and form which he hath giuen them What is an eye pluckt out of the head but a litle clay and mire as indeed it is the matter whereof it is made Now what a wonderfull thing is it that God hath so appropriated it as to make such a goodly piece of woorke thereof and such faire instruments for the seruice of men And therefore our Sauiour Iesus Christ meant to represent this diuine woorke when hee made the blinde to see by putting clay vpon his eyes Let vs therefore vse their sight which is such an excellent gift of God to behold his workes and those goodly images of the diuine nature which on euery side and continually are before our eyes and let vs beware that wee feede them not with the sight of prophane and dishonest things least they serue to poyson the minde and soule whereas they ought to become messengers to declare vnto it honest healthful things For he that doth otherwise is woorthy to haue not onely his bodily eyes put out and pluckt out of his head but also the eyes of his mind that so he may be blinde both in body and soule as it commonly falleth out to many But let vs follow our matter propounded touching the senses and their members and speake vnto vs ACHITOB of the eares and of their composition offices and vse Of the Eares and of their composition offices and vse Chap. 5. ACHITOB. The wisedome of God is so great he prouideth so wel for al things by his prouidence that he neuer doth any thing in vain insomuch that there is nothing whatsoeuer in all nature which hath not his proper vse and which is not compounded of matter and forme agreeable thereto for the instruction of men But forasmuch as men are rude of vnderstanding and by reason of their natural corruption easily turned aside from the chiefe ende of their being namely the contemplation of celestiall and heauenly things in place whereof they betake thēselues to the care of those things that are earthly corruptible it commeth to passe that hauing eyes and eares they neither see nor heare any spirituall thing so that their very light is become 〈◊〉 And then how great may we thinke the darknes to be in those partes that ought to be guided by thē that are capable of light Therfore as we haue learned that the eyes are the first guides and houshold masters that God hath giuen to euery one and the first authours and inuentors almost of all artes sciences and disciplines because by their sight we know the light colour greatnes figure number situation and motion of bodily things both neere and farre off so now we are to know that the heating and the cares are very conuenient for one man to communicate his knowledge with another as if one shoulde powre wine or water out of one vessell into another But they are especially giuen by
those things which God hath giuen them for nourishment yea in their mouth also to the end to render vnto him honour glorie and prayse Whensoeuer beastes doe eate their tongue serueth to feede them no otherwise then that of men doeth helpe them but they prayse not God with that tongue which serueth to nourish them because he hath not giuen them that gift of speech wherewith he hath endued man and that for the cause which we haue already heard For as a fountain cannot be without a riuer so a riuer cannot be without a fountaine For this cause seeing reason of which God hath made man partaker is as it were a fountaine in him and speech as the riuer that issueth from it the Grecians expresse both reason and speech with one and the same worde which Saint Iohn also vsed when speaking of the Deitie of Iesus Christ he said In the beginning was the worde and the worde was with God and that worde was God For as all the woorkes of God are perfect in their kinde so hee maketh nothing without cause and which hath not his vse So likewise he giueth nothing to any creature but withall he giueth the instruments and meanes which it ought to vse thereby to be made seruiceable as the thing it selfe requireth Heereof it is that hee gaue not speech to beastes because hee made them not partakers of reason without which speech would stande them in no steade so that it woulde haue beene a superfluous woorke of GOD. Therefore seeing it is so God requireth not of beastes that they should by speech praise him with their tongue as he requireth it of men vnto whome hee hath giuen the meanes to performe it For beastes haue neyther reason to vnderstande what is spoken nor speech to vtter any thing thereby whereas man hath both the one and the other He hath both the fountaine and also the riuer that runneth from it Wherefore when hee sitteth downe to meate and whilest hee is taking his refection to which vse his tongue serueth him according as we heard before and when hee riseth from table truely he is much more brutish then any brute beast if with the selfe same tongue he doeth not prayse and glorifie God acknowledging as he ought the goodnesse of that celestiall Father that giueth him that foode and that nourisheth him If he doe otherwise hee looketh no more from whence the meate commeth vnto him then doeth the hogge who with his snowte alwayes towardes the earth feedeth vpon the akornes that are vnderneath the Oakes and neuer looketh or considereth from whence they fall Yea the hogge doeth a great deale better discharge his duetie in praysing GOD then such men doe that eate and drinke as brute beastes without giuing thankes to God for the benefites hee distributeth amongest them For hee prayseth God in his kinde as all other creatures doe in theirs according as the kingly Psalmist testifieth in many places of his Psalmes Neither doeth God require more of them then he hath giuen vnto them But seeing he hath giuen more to man then to all other visible and bodily creatures he requireth so much the more of him and that very iustly For as it is written To whome much is committed more shal be demaunded of him Wherefore man is not onely too too inexcusable but more vile and sauage then any brute beast if his tongue serue him no farther at the table for the praysing of God thereby then if beastlike his snowte and nose were in a cratch or manger For howe shall the foode in the vse thereof bee sanctified by the worde of God and prayer if hee take it after that sort And if it bee not sanctified vnto him by that meane as Paul teacheth hee vseth it not as the childe of GOD but as a theefe and a very prophane man For as Euery creature of God is good when it is receiued with thankesgiuing so it is defiled to the filthie not through any fault of the creature but of such as abuse it like to Infidels But all they abuse it that giue not thankes for it to the Creator Wherefore as euery thing is cleane to the cleane that haue their heartes purified by the worde of God which they haue receiued by faith so nothing is cleane to the defiled and to infidels But if these men of whome we speake bee vnwoorthy to be taken for men yea to be compared with hogges then whom they are much more vile and detestable wee may easily iudge what is to be saide of those that doe not onely not prayse God or giue him any thankes but which is woorse blaspheme and as it were despite him in liew of recompensing him for the benefites they haue receiued of him which is vsually done by gluttons drunkards and swearers What shall wee say of such men but that they deserue rather to bee called madde dogges then men except wee had rather call them children of the Deuill whose instrument tongue and mouth they are And as for those that cease not to prattle and babble about vaine and vnprofitable matters and that take delight in backbiting and slandering euery one wee may with good reason compare their tongue to the clacket of a mill For seeing euery one of vs carrieth a mill in his mouth as wee shewed before these men may truely boast that their mill is better furnished with all kinde of instruments then others are But they are not the more to bee esteemed for that but rather the lesse for the reasons which wee haue alreadie hearde And when they adde to their clacking euill speech and backebiting infecting all tables where they come with their tongue they may well bee compared to dogges that doe not onely barke but also bite But it is time to draw the last draught of the pensill vpon the face of mans bodie by considering the sense of smelling with the member that belongeth vnto it wherein we looke to be instructed by thee ARAM. Of the Nose and of the sense of smelling and of their profite and vse of the composition matter and forme of the Nose Chap. 19. ARAM. Forasmuch as beautie is a grace that proceedeth of the proportion agreement and harmonie of things it is then very seemely in mans bodie when it followeth nature onely and is without any blemish or defect Nowe this beautie consisteth in soure thinges namely in figure in number in greatnesse and in situation For the members of the bodie are well or ill coloured according to the disposition of the matter And the correspondencie of the members one towardes another aswell in the number as in the length and greatnesse of eache of them well compassed and proportioned together is one cause also of beautie as likewise the placing of euerie one of them in his proper place most conuement and agreeable to his nature and vse For if any thing bee wanting of all these thinges in any member of the bodie there is
is in him But I speake not nowe of this diuersitie but of another which happeneth to men in all ages and at all times For there is great difference to be seene in a mans face according as hee is either merry or sad angry or pacified humble and modest or loftie and proude For if hee be quiet and modest hee will haue a sweete milde and gracious countenance if hee bee angry hee will haue a furious face as though hee were transfigured into a sauage beast hauing fierie eyes as if hee cast from them flames of fire hee will cast foorth smoake at his nosethrilles as if hee had a fornace kindled within him his whole countenance will be as redde as if fire came out of it Therefore it was not without reason saide of a Philosopher that angry and furious men shoulde beholde themselues in a glasse to the ende they might know thereby how such passions change their countenance and how they are transformed thereby and looke hideous and fearefull And if a man be lofty and arrogant his visage will testifie the same sufficiently especially his eyes and eie-lids which will be lifted vp as if pride and arrogancie had there placed their seate For if wee denie or graunt any thing that pleaseth or displeaseth vs wee declare it by them speaking by signes as the tongue doeth by woordes And although pride be conceiued and bredde in the heart yet it is seated on the eye-liddes where it sheweth and manifesteth it selfe For seeing it desireth alwayes to be aduaunced and to be lift vp aboue all yea to be alone without any companion that place is very fitte and conuenient for it being high emiuent and apparant But a proud person ought to consider that that place is very much declining to the ende hee may thinke of the danger of falling downe as they that are in some high and sleepe place where they can take no holde For it can not bee but that pride will haue a fall howsoeuer it may seeme long first For that sentence of Iesus Christ is alwayes true who sayeth that Whosoeuer will exalt himselfe shall be brought low and whosoeuer will humble himselfe shall be exalted The eyes also do speake and testifie of the heart within For if the heart bee humble modest chaste and well stayed the eyes will be so answerable thereunto that their very lookes will declare sufficiently howe it standeth affected Contrariwise if the heart bee proude vnchaste loose impudent and lasciuious the looke and countenaunce of the eyes will openly bewray the same Also wee say commonly of such as haue lost all shame that they haue brazen and shamelesse foreheads And it seemeth that the French worde Affronteur is deriued from thence because they that are of that occupation must haue good foreheads they must be bolde and shamelesse like to harlots and murtherers And as shame is seated and appeareth principally in the forehead and cheekes so is it a note of impudencie when shame is banished from thence as that which then possesseth the place assigned to shame and modestie Therefore the Scripture attributeth a brow of brasse and of yron a hard forehead and a strong face to them that are impudent and past grace to such as are vntractable and rebellious By these things then we know how the face is the image messenger and witnesse of all the affections of the heart insomuch that it is very hard for him do what he can to couer and conceale them Also it is the image and witnes of a good and euill conscience For as a good conscience causeth it to appeare ioyfull and open so contrariwise an euill conscience maketh it sadde and hidden as it were the visage of a condemned person We commonly call Physiognomy the Science whereby men iudge of the nature complexion and manners of euery one by the contemplation of all the members of the body and chiefely of the face and countenance But there is no Physiognomy so certaine as that which-wee haue nowe touched whereby men may bee easily conuinced of that which they thinke to hide in their heartes which notwithstanding is quickely descried in their countenances as if wee read it in a Booke Nowe it is time to enter into our edifice and building there to contemplate the internall and spirituall senses which the foule vseth in her woorkes and operations But first wee will make the way more easie to attaine to so high a matter by learning briefely what is the nature faculties and powers of mans soule and what are the sundry kindes of soules the burthen whereof I lay vpon thee ASER. Of the nature faculties and powers of mans soule of the knowledge which we may haue in this life and how excellent and necessary it is into what kindes the life and soule are diuided Chap. 21. ASER. If God hath shewed himselfe wonderfull in the creation composition nature and vse of the externall senses and members of mans body of which wee haue hitherto discoursed both in the matter whereof they are made and in the forme giuen vnto them and in all other things that belong vnto them no doubt but wee shall haue much more cause to maruaile at the excellent workemanshippe of his prouidence in the composition nature and vse of the internall senses and members which lie hidden within the bodie whereof the sequele of our speach requireth that wee shoulde intreate For these are the principall by meanes of which the other receiue life and are kept and preserued in life But forasmuch as the soule giueth life to the whole body and to all the members thereof wee are withall to consider of the nature thereof what faculties and vertues it hath and howe it worketh in all the partes of the bodie according to that knowledge which GOD hath giuen to men both by the testimonie of his worde and by the effectes of the soule For neither the bodie nor any member thereof shoulde haue any more motion or feeling then is in a blocke or stone if it had no soule to giue it life For this cause after Iob hath spoken of the creation and composition of his body hee addeth Thou hast giuen mee life and grace and thy visitation that is to say thy prouidence hath preserued my spirite This agreeth with that which we haue heard before of Moses where hee sayeth That the Lorde made man of the dust of the ground and breathed in his face breath of life and the man was a liuing soule First therefore wee must vnderstand that there are in man three kindes of faculties and vertues that worke continually within him and neuer cease the first is commonly called Animal the second Vital the third Natural Of these two latter wee will speake heereafter Concerning the Animal facultie it is diuided into three kinds the first is called Principall the second Sensitiue the third Motiue The Principall is diuided by some into three kindes by others into
sound to discerne the images of those things which hee representeth to their mindes from all Diabolicall illusions And surely no maruaile if wicked spirites so oftentimes deceiue men when as Iuglers haue so many waies to abuse them shewing them such strange sights that if they were not wrought by those kinde of men a great many woulde take them for miracles Yea although they be done after this manner yet wee wonder thereat being hardly able by the sharpnesse of our wits to attaine to the knowledge thereof so that many are perswaded that such things cannot be done without the power of the deuill But let vs returne to our matter This imaginatiue power of the soule hath moreouer such vertue that oftentimes the imagination printeth in the body the images of those things which it doeth vehemently thinke of and apprehend the experience whereof is very euident especially in the longings and imaginations of women with childe Many times also we see some that can hardly goe ouer a bridge without falling by reason of the apprehension of the danger which they haue conceiued in their fantasie and imagination But which is yet more strange it falleth out oftentimes that the fancies and imaginations of great bellied women are so vehement and violent that vpon the bodies of the children they goe withall they print the images and shapes of those things vpon which they haue fixed their fancies and vnto which by reason of their fancie they are most affectionated Wee see examples heereof a great many continually Neither is it altogether without reason which wee vse commonly to say that fancie breedes the fact which it imagineth For wee see many fall into those mishaps and inconueniences which they imprint in their fantasie and imagination Wee may also obserue heere howe wee are prouoked to yawne and gape when wee see others doe so and driuen into a desire of many things of which wee should not haue dreamed vnlesse wee had beene incited thereunto by the example of others or by some obiect presented to our senses and prouoking vs thereunto Yea this imaginatiue vertue can do much in beastes as among other things wee may see it in this that they desire rather to make water in a puddle or in a riuer or in some other water or vpon a dunghill or in a stable then else-where For the things that are offred to their senses soone mooue their fantasie and imagination which afterward stirreth them vp either in respect of the agreemēt that is betwixt those things namely water and vrine or because of their custome to doe such a thing in such a place which putteth them in minde and helpeth them to doe it more readily by reason of the imaginatiue vertue that is in them Nowe if imagination hath such vertue in beastes wee may iudge also what it is able to do in the minde of man which is a great deale more quicke and ready Therefore we ought to eschew all occasions of euill that may be presented to our senses to stirre vp our imagination and fantasie to wicked and dishonest things For one only wicked looke or one dishonest speach is sufficient to trouble our minds with diuers imaginations and fantasies Which as it is well knowne to the deuil so knoweth he also how to giue occasion and to offer the means of stirring all the stuffe in our fancies But we keep such bad watch in this respect that in steade of eschewing occasions of euil we seeke after them and where we should shut the doore against euill we set it wide open that it may enter more easily into vs. Wherein wee followe not the example of the Prophet who prayed vnto the Lorde saying Turne away mine eyes that they beholde no vanitie but wee rather take a contrary course to whet our selues forward to all beastlinesse Seeing therefore Imagination and Fantasie haue so little holde of themselues wee haue neede of an other facultie and vertue aboue that to be able to iudge of things imagined and perceiued by sense of which wee haue hitherto spoken and that is reason the discourse where of I reserre to thee AMANA as also of memorie which is the fift and last internall sense of the soule Of Reason and Memorie and of their seate nature and office of the agreement which all the senses both externall and internall haue one with another and of their vertues Chap. 26. AMANA They that haue curiously searched into the nature of beasts haue found in them especially in such as were most perfect as many externall and internal senses as are in man yea they perceiued that their braine and all the partes thereof did not differ much from that of men whether wee respect the substance or the fashion But all these excellent giftes of nature reach no farther in them then to the vses of this present life and the necessities thereof For they haue no reason giuen them to enquire after that which is good to the ende their will might followe and embrace the same Moreouer their Good consisteth only in corporall things belonging to the bodie which they easily knowe and discerne as standing in neede of no other reason or vnderstanding to make enquirie after it then of that bare knowledge and naturall inclination that is giuen them But the Good that belongeth to man is hidden in the soule and spirite For this cause hee must of necessitie enquire after it that hee may come to the knowledge thereof least he chuse euill in steade of good for want of knowledge of his proper and true Good and so be deceiued by the appearance of a false Good which is not so in trueth but in opinion onely and by errour whereby the greatest part of men are commonly beguiled preferring the supposed Goods of the body before the true goods of the soule and temporall things before eternall Therefore as our eyes stand in neede of light to keepe vs and to cause vs to see in darkenes so our soule and spirite hath neede of reason to guide it in the middest of errour and ignorance that it may discerne trueth from lying the true Good from the false and that which is profitable from the contraty This facultie and vertue of the soule so necessary in man and which is able to iudge of things imagined and perceiued by the other senses of which we haue spoken before to knowe whether they be good or bad and what is to be embraced or eschewed is called the Iudging or discoursing facultie namely Reason which is the principall part and vertue of the soule and beareth rule among all the other senses For this cause he hath his seate by good right assigned him in the midst of the braine as in the highest and safest fortresse of the whole frame of man to raigne amiddest all the other senses as Prince and Lord ouer them all For it is he that discourseth and iudgeth of trueth from falshoode that knoweth the agreement
imagination and fantasie being neerer to the corporall senses draw the soule to those things that are bodily but reason and the spirite pricke it forwarde and cause it to lift vp it selfe to more excellent things For the spirite which the Philosophers expresse by Vnderstanding mounteth vp vnto those things that cannot be knowen nor comprehended of imagination and fantasie nor of any other sense Moreouer it keepeth fantasie brideled and bringeth it into the right way which otherwise wandreth farre wide and entereth into many turnings and windings Neither doeth the spirite wholly yeeld vnto euery present profite or decline the contrary but calleth things past to remembrance coniectureth and foreseeth things to come and searcheth out what is true and what false to giue iudgement thereafter and then to followe after or to eschew that which ought to bee followed or fledde from Thus you see what the reasonable soule bringeth to men which is not in beastes nor in their soule Besides from this vigour and nature of the spirite speech proceedeth which being his messenger is wanting vnto beastes because they are voyde of reason and vnderstanding in regard whereof speech is giuen as wee haue already hearde Therefore we vnderstand by the reasonable soule and life such a soule and life as hath counsaile iudgement and reason and which was created to this end that knowing God her Creator and louing him in respect thereof she might honour and serue him and finally by degrees attaine to immortall life and happinesse which is appointed for her ende For as nothing is more excellent then reason whereof God hath made man partaker so there is nothing more beseeming reason then to know loue and honour God seeing there is nothing greater more excellent or that may be compared vnto him Therefore as man differeth from brute beasts in respect of reason wherewith God hath indued him so he differeth from them in that he is capable of religion created and borne thereto which consisteth in the things alreadie touched But beasts are not capable of any kind of religion being altogether voyde thereof as on the other side there is no man but he hath some sense of it Whereby wee may gather a good argument that beasts are not onely voyde of reason but also that their soules are mortall and the soules of men immortall For the fountaine and fruit of the religion and seruice of God consisteth not in this mortall life and therefore it must needes bee in some other that followeth And for this cause Reason which is so great and excellent a gift of God in man is not bestowed vpon vs for things of so smal price and so transitorie as these are which we vse and enioy in this life and in which it is wholly busied much lesse for those whereby the life of beastes is preserued but in regarde of these thinges which I haue nowe declared Therefore as God hath not giuen such a life to stones as he hath giuen to trees and plants nor yet sense imagination and fantasie to trees and plants as he hath done to beasts so hee hath not graunted reason to beasts as he hath to men and that not without iust cause For as it is enough for stones in regarde of the perfection of their nature to bee heauie and such as they are and sufficient likewise for trees and plants to haue a Vegetatiue soule seeing they want not that which beastes haue more then they so beastes stand not in neede of that which men haue aboue them For it sufficeth for the preseruation and defence of their life and beeing that they haue some kinde of cogitation ioyned with imagination and fantasie although they want reason which is not necessary for them as it is for men for the causes already specified and chiefly because they were not created by meanes of the knowledge of God and of true religion to come to a better life then their brutish life is Therefore as man is created to the end that the light of the knowledge of God might shine in him and that God might communicate with him his wisedome and goodnesse so he would that the soule of man shoulde bee an euident testimonie of himselfe For this cause it was said in his creation that God made man after his owne image and likenesse as wee haue already heard Seeing then there are in the reasonable soule so cleere and excellent testimonies of God and that by it especially the difference appeareth betweene man beasts as also in the diuers gouernments of their liues it behoueth vs to conâ—ider thereof very diligently And albeit this glasse of God cannot be so euidently seen as those that are made of steele or of glasse and lead by the hand of man to represent the image of our bodies neuertheles the actions and works of the soule doe plainly shew that there is such a power and vertue in vs which God hath giuen vs more to vse for our benefite then to know it and that for the causes already touched by vs. For the true and perfect knowledge thereof belongeth to God onely who being aboue it hath created and giuen it and will cause vs to know it better when we shal be in that eternall light in which wee shal know those things that are nowe hidden from vs. In the meane time let vs in this life consider of and distinguish the actions and workes of the soule whereby we are seuered from beasts and which being very euident testimonies of God in vs gouerne the life of man and bring foorth all honest sciences and artes We haue spoken alreadie of the powers and vertues of the soule which by the vse of corporall instruments labour and manifest themselues but it appeareth euidently that there is in man another higher power because we haue many actions and doe many woorkes which beastes cannot performe nor imitate For man hath the knowledge of numbers and can reckon hee vnderstandeth not onely particular things but also generall and vniuersall things he discourseth that is gathereth and concludeth one thing of another and that very farre he inuenteth artes and disposeth them he iudgeth of his owne reasons and discourses and marking his owne faults he correcteth them he changeth his intents and purposes he discerneth vertues from vices honest things from those that are dishonest finally hee deliberateth by a long discourse of reason As for beastes they haue not these thinges common with vs as they haue the vse of the senses as of seeing hearing smelling tasting and other such like things wherein they oftentimes excell vs in many respectes For many of them haue these senses more sharpe then wee haue And although they haue some imagination fantasie and apprehension of thinges offered to their bodily senses yet that holdeth but for the present and in the place or fielde where the thinges are offered vnto them The like may bee sayde of those discourses of reason which many thinke are in
So that the whole consultation lieth in the liberty and choyce of Will For men are not drawne by an immutable violence of nature as beasts are but reason enquireth what way is to be taken or left and wayeth and examineth what good or euill is in euery thing Therefore Will may goe about againe with that which was once deliberated of to the end the first conclusion be not approued staied in but that greater inquiry may be made to finde out if it may bee some better or more profitable thing And thus when many thinges are shewed set before her she may choose what pleaseth her although it be not that which was best approued by iudgement and which reason vpon very euident arguments counselled her to follow For if there be another side that hath some shew of good albeit neuer so small she turneth to that if she please so that vpon one onely coniecture or opinion of good she will lay holde vpon that and reiect the other side in which peraduenture the ture good is to bee founde The chiefe cause whereof is in the corruption of our nature and in those impediments of good discoursing and of vpright iudging whereof wee haue alreadie hearde and which hinder reason and iudgement diuers and sundrie wayes And this also taketh place in respect of Will which likewise hath great occasions offered to beguile and deceiue it selfe because all the affaires of men are intermingled with good and euill thinges Therefore it is very hard to be able to discerne and separate them well one from another For men being compounded of diuers natures namely of a body and of a soule they propound also diuersity of good euil things vnto themselues because they know corporall and terrestriall things better then spirituall and eternall things therefore they preferre them oftentimes before the other Which is the cause why there are so many that loue this life a great deale better and those outward good things belonging therevnto then they doe eternall life and those goods which are able to leade men thither and giue them full fruition therof when they come thither Therefore in so great diuersity of good and euill things it is no marueile if there came nothing into deliberation wherein reason findeth not some good or euill which in the end it counsaileth vs to follow or to auoyde according to the circumstances of times places persons qualities and other such like things It commeth to passe also oftentimes that Will refuseth all counsaile and exhortation to doe that onely which she pleaseth thereby to shew that shee is Lady and Mistresse and subiect to none And beeing mounted vp to that pride shee accounteth this Lordshippe which shee taketh to her selfe to bee a great good and so maketh knowne her power and magnificence as it were a tyrannicall prince making choyce in the meane time of a false kinde of good which is no way good but a very great euil And thus much concerning the libertie of the Will in her internall actions which freedome also appeareth plainly enough in the outwarde actions For after she hath liked of a thing she may put it in execution or stay execution yea after she hath begunne she may giue it cleane ouer or doe not so much or so speedily as shee might And although it falleth out oftentimes that men are hindered from executing their Will yea are forced and compelled to doe the cleane contrary yet their Will if we consider the matter well is neither hindred forced or constrained For that keepeth it not from willing still that which it pleaseth but the violence offered outwardly stayeth the effectes and execution thereof Hereof it is that wee commonly say that a mans Will is taken for his deede although it bee not put in execution Nowe to conclude our speech wee knowe that the Will hath hinderances to let her from choosing those good things which shee ought to followe and refusing those euils shee ought to eschewe and auoyde For Reason beeing appoynted as Mistresse to guide and direct Will by her iudgement the selfesame thinges that mooue Reason and Iudgement doe mooue Will also as if the one touched the other or as if there were a certayne knitting and ioyning of them together not vnlike to the linkes of a chayne of which if yee mooue or touch one the like is done to the others that are neere vnto it by reason of the coniunction they haue one with another Wee ought also to knowe that although the Will often choose euill in stead of good yet it ceasseth not therefore euer to desire good naturally which is most fitte and agreeable to the nature therof but it is deceaued in that it hath no skill to discerne between true and false goodes and to distinguish the greater from the lesse And as wee haue hearde that euill spirites may trouble and mooue the fantasie and minde so no doubt they can doe the like towardes the heart and Will to induce them to euill and to driue them to doe greater thinges then weake nature woulde doe of it selfe if it were not holpen by them euen to cause them to committe such crimes as nature abhorreth Therefore wee must without ceassing watch and pray that wee enter not into temptation and if wee bee tempted that wee fayle not neither bee ouercome And this wee may assuredly beleeue wee shall obtayne if through regeneration by the spirite of GOD our minde bee taught and our Will guyded by his light Nowe then hauing spoken enough of Vnderstanding and of Will which are the principall powers of the soule let vs come to the affections thereof and first it shall bee good for vs to consider of the distinction that ought to bee made betwixt all these faculties of the soule and betweene their seates and instruments which they haue in the bodie But wee shall learne these thinges of thee ACHITOB Of the distinction that ought to be betweene the Vnderstanding and knowledge and the Will and affections in the soule and betweene the seates and instruments which they haue in the body of the agreement that is betweene the heart and the braine Chap. 36. ACHITOB. The heauens the earth and all the elementes the stones plants beasts al the other creatures that want reason vnderstanding obey God in their kind but yet they know him not the obedience which they yeld vnto him proceedeth not of any knowledge they haue of his will or of iudgement in them to discerne good from euill but only so farre forth as they are drawne by their natural inclination in those things that concerne their nature But Angels and Men in whome God woulde haue his image to shine in euery part of them and after all sorts were created by him of that nature that hee would be knowne of them and that they should follow his Will not without Vnderstanding and iudgement thereof nor without agreement of their willes with his
of the affections it is necessary they shoulde agree together For as reason guideth before the affections will followe after Therefore wee may alwayes iudge of reason by the affections which it ought to gouerne as of the gouernement of a good Prince by the estate of his subiects of a good father of a family by those of his houshold Moreouer seeing the affections proceede from the heart there is the seate of that loue which wee ought to beare as well towardes God as towardes men which comprehendeth the whole lawe of God and all iustice For he that loueth God is not onely afraide to offend and displease him but desireth also to serue please him and he that loueth his neighbour doeth not onely abstaine from procuring him any dishonour or losse but laboureth also to aduance his honour and profit Therefore if the minde be lightened and inflamed with diuine light and the reason also that ruleth therein then the heart will waxe hote and burne with the loue of God and of his neighbour Which if it fall out so the heart will not be slacke in shewing foorth those heauenly motions that are within it in giuing matter to the soule to glorifie God and to the tongue and mouth which will speake out of the abundance thereof Likewise there will be an accord and consent betweene it and the voyce and tongue which then will vtter nothing but the trueth And this is the cause of that which wee were taught before namely that God by his prouidence and wise counsaile hath ioyned neere vnto the heart the chiefe instrument of the voyce which is the lungs as the other instruments that are higher are lodged neere to the braine and cheefely the tongue as the Oratours and Embassadours of Kings are placed next vnto them Wherefore if mans nature had not beene corrupted through sinne but had continued perfect and sound there woulde alwayes haue beene a goodly concord and consent betweene the heart and the braine the voice and the tongue the reason and the affections Next wee must note that seeing the heart is the first member of the whole body that receiueth life and thē giueth the same to others as also the last that leaueth life and seeing it is the shop of all the vitall spirits without which neither the braine nor the rest of the members can haue life or perforume their dueties it is not without cause that this member is taken to be as it were the seate not onely of the affections but also of reason Therefore it is taken in the Scripture one while for the minde as when Moses saieth to the people of Israel Yet the Lord hath not giuen you a heart to know and another while it is taken for the affections as when our Sauiour Christ saieth Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soule and with all thy minde For wee see heere howe he putteth a difference betweene the heart and the minde Sometime they are put indifferently one for another or one for both especially the heart as when the Lorde saide to Salomon Beholde I haue giuen thee a wise and an vnderstanding heart the heart is taken for the senses and minde as it appeareth very euidently For the same cause Saint Paul continuing his speach of Gods punishment aboue mentioned against the vngodlinesse and vnrighteousnesse of men hee addeth to that before recited this saying Wherefore also God gaue them vp to their hearts lustes vnto vncleannesse to defile their owne bodies betweene themselues which turned the trueth of God vnto a lie In which place wee see howe the Apostle maketh the heart to be the seate of the appetites and of the affections and howe hee calleth the vnruly and disordered affections of the heart by the name of lustes for so hee expoundeth himselfe by and by after calling them Vile Affections vnto which God gaue them vp Whereupon wee will note this that the naturall affections of the heart which pricke it forward to the desire of pleasure and which minister pleasure vnto it shoulde be no sinne at all vnto men but a benefite giuen them of God in the perfection of their nature were it not that by reason of the corruption which hath raken holde of it such desires and affections cannot containe themselues within the limites of their sound nature but there is alwayes some excesse euen in the perfectest and that being sinne is properly called euill concupiscence because it continually prouoketh vs to euill and causeth vs to goe beyond the bounds which God had set to our affections Whereof it is come to passe that that which should be a benefite vnto men in their naturall pleasures is become hurtfull vnto them Nowe forasmuch as the order of our discourses hath brought vs to the tractate of affections which haue their seate in the heart before wee goe any further we must say somewhat of the nature of this part of the body as we haue done of the braine to the ende we may the better know the seate and instruments of the vital power and vertue of the soule and of the will and affections as those which belong to the animal power and vertue haue bene declared vnto vs. Let vs then heare ASER handle this matter Of the nature and composition of the heart and of the midriffe of the tunicles or skinny couerings of the breast and of the Pericardion or cawle about the heart of the motion office and vse of the lungs of the heart and of the arteries Chap. 37. ASER. It is not without good and iust cause that God hath ordained that reason should lodge in the highest part of the frame of man and that the will and affections should lodge lower namely in the heart For by this order hee would admonish and tell vs what part and power of the soule ought to beare greatest sway therein and that vnderstanding and wisdome which teach vs the true rules according to which wee must square our whole life ought to raigne and haue the first place seeing the principall cause wherefore God hath created vs is to knowe him to the end that knowing him we should loue and honour him as wee ought and as for the affections they are to be 〈◊〉 and gouerned by wisedome and vnderstanding Wherfore if this order appointed by God be confounded and turned topsie turuy in vs hee causeth vs to feele and knowe it well enough For although sinne be the cause yet the impression of that diuine image which God hath set in the nature of man cannot be so wholy defaced in vs but there will alwayes remaine very euident and wonderfull testimonies thereof And therefore presently after we haue ouerthrowne this order and that the will lifteth her selfe vp against reason euen then doth reason condemne that fault of hers and compelleth the heart to take vengeance thereof and to punish in it her selfe disobedience and rebellion
with great torments and griefs insomuch that either it must consume away and perish or els returne to his due order and place and the wil must know that she hath a mistres not onely to teach her but also to correct her when she shall do amisse and peruert her order But let vs speake of that which more particularly concerneth so wonderfull a part of the body namely the heart First wee must remember how wee diuided before the internall parts of the frame and building of man into three bellies and lodgings of which the first I meane the braine was shewed vnto vs with all his partes Nowe we will come to the second which is in the middest betweene the other two namely in the breast which containeth the vesselles and instruments of the vitall facultie and vertue and those are the heart the arteries the lungs the rough artery with the appurtenances thereof Heere of it is that the name of the heart is oftentimes taken in the holy Scriptures for the middest or for the inward and secret part of a thing as when it speaketh of the heart of the earth and of the sea and of the heauens Nowe as wee haue heard howe reason hath his throne and iudiciall seate in the braine what ministers and what secretary hee hath neere about him and in what chambers and lodgings they are placed as also what ministers and officers are ioyned with him for the execution of his iudgements and decrees namely the wil and the affections so also wee must consider what manner of lodgings and habitations are assigned to these latter sort in the heart And although these officers and ministers are not alwayes obedient to reason but rise vp against it oftentimes and doe cleane contrary to that which it iudgeth and appointeth to be done yet by that order which God set downe they were to obey and to agree well amongst themselues as he sheweth it by the disposition of their lodgings We haue heard before that the heart and the lungs are lodged within the breast as in a strong holde and are compassed rounde about therewith for their safegard and defence But wee must note that there is a partition called Diaphragma by the Graecians which separateth the 〈◊〉 of the vital partes from the nourishing parts that are in the third belly and lodging of the body of which wee wil speake heereafter in his order This partition is aboue in respect of the naturall instruments appointed for nourishment and beneath in regard of the spirituall instruments that serue the vitall part And because it is a great rounde muscle of the breast about the ende of the neather part thereof it hath two vses of which the first and greatest is to be an instrument of breathing the second is to helpe to purge and expell the excrements of the body Next to that there is a tunicle or skinne which is very thinne and slender much like to a Spiders webbe is spread ouer the whole capacitie of the breast out of which two others proceede that diuide it throughout to the end there might be two distinct places of receipt that if a man had some great wound in one part thereof whereby the office of respiration and breathing which it hath should vtterly perish yet the other part that is vnhurt might at leastwise retaine the one halfe These skinnes serue also to couer and binde together all the vesselles and instruments contained within the breast and the former of them which hemmeth in the ribbes serueth chiefely to defend the lungs on that side where it is ioyned to the bones of the ribbes to the ende they shoulde not touch the bare bones when they execute their office namely when wee breathe Concerning the heart it hath for his next dwelling house a membrane or skinne called by the Graecians Pericardion which signifieth as much as if in our language wee shoulde say in a worde a compasse-heart And therefore this skinne is made of the same fashion the heart is namely very large and ample beneath but afterward it narroweth by litle and litle so that it endeth pointwise being in proportion like to a pine apple or to a pyramide which is the figure of a flame of fire Whereby it seemeth that God hath made the heart of this fashion to admonish vs that it is the place of that naturall fire which is in the body and appointed to giue it so much naturall heate as is necessary for the life thereof This skinne which is also called the litle closet of the heart is of such capacitie that it is seuered from the same on euery side as much as is requisite that his motion might in no wise be impeached Some thinke that there is some water within this vessell or some moisture like to a dew to water the heart that it shoulde not drie vp through the great heate that commeth of continuall motion in which it is without ceasing Nowe because this humour cannot be seene but onely in dead bodies there be that thinke it is made there onely after death through the exhalation and gathering together of the spirites which are there dissolued And in deede it seemeth to be a hard matter to knowe this by Anatomy because commonly it is not practised but vpon dead bodies And although a man woulde trie the experiment vpon quicke and liuing bodies yet they woulde be alwayes dead before he should come to that part or at leastwise there woulde be such a change and alteration that it would be very hard for a man to giue a right iudgement Neuerthelesse this might be knowen by cutting vp that part in some beast or other For there is alwayes some moisture found there euen before it be starke dead although indeed it cannot liue long after that part is opened But let vs returne to that which we begunne to speake of the heart which being the roote and fountaine of naturall heate disperseth it abroade by the arteries into the whole body and giueth life to euery part therof For albeit the instruments of respiration serue the voyce yet they were created principally for the hearts sake that the naturall heate which is in it might bee refreshed increased and fedde by them For this cause hath the Diuine prouidence made the lungs to be as it were the forge and shoppe of respiration to this ende that the aire without might bee sent euen to the heart for the causes and endes before spoken of For the aire that is to be brought to the heart is first prepared in the lungs to the ende it might moderate the heate of the heart and spirites and not enter in thither either too hote or too colde or in too great abundance whereby it might be damnified or quite choaked vp Therefore hath God made the flesh and substance of the lungs very light soft and spungie more then any other part of the body so that it holdeth much of the nature
euil must of necessitie be fled from And of this naturall inclination to good proceede all those affections of the soule that draw it hither and thither to seeke for it but because of her badde iudgement proceeding of the darkenesse of ignorance which is in the minde she chooseth oftentimes the cleane contrary to that which she desireth as we haue already touched We call then properly by the name of affections the motions and acts of that naturall power of the soule which consisteth in following after good eschewing of euil For receiuing of God in our first creation to be to be wel we haue still some naturall seedes of the perfection of these two great gifts which teach vs naturally that it is a good thing for one to preserue himselfe and his beeing as also to be wel and happy in his beeing but this is only generally For wheÌ„ we are to come from these generalities vnto particulars there are wonderful errors and disorders throughout the whole course of mans life Now among the motions of the soule some go before iudgement others follow after although oftentimes they are so sodaine headstrong withall that it appeareth plainly they haue shaken off the bridle neuer expected staied for any iudgemeÌ„t Notwithstanding it is true that the hart is not moued before there hath bin some iudgement to determine whether that which is then offred vnto it be good or euil But bicause the motions of our spirit mind are very light sodain and need not so long time as otherwise is requisit for vs if wee will take good heede to our matters hereof it is that they seem to vs many times to preuent goe before iudgement giuen when indeed they follow it And as for those naturall motions which in truth go before it they are such as are bred borne of the disposition of the body as the desire to eate in hunger and to drinke in thirst sorrow in time of sickenes or the motion of a melancholike humor or ioy proceeding from good and pure blood in the heart But the other motions follow the aduice of iudgement as that is mooued and changed diuersly by such meanes as haue alreadie bin declared so the affections alter and increase or decrease or otherwise vanish cleane away and come to nothing Whereof it followeth that they are appeased by the same meanes by which they are moued according as they are applied vnto them But although it behooueth that the affections should be pricked forward by iudgement yet it followeth not thereupon that they can not be stirred vp except this mature ripe iudgement be alwaies there which ordaineth things to be done after the discourse of reason For it is enough for them if they haue another iudgement that obserueth not such an exact diligent examination but onely that which fantasie offereth without any other discoursing And this iudgement thus moued by fancie is most vsual ordinary and that which most guideth ruleth the affections of men Therfore it is a sodain tumultuous iudgement of which a man may truly say a short sentence of a sottish iudge Thus fancie being very turbulent skittish drawing to it selfe confusedly some shew and apparance of opinion iudgement whereby it deemeth that which is offred vnto it to be either good or bad is the cause that wee liue in the middest of marueilous troubles in respect of our affections of feare of desire of sorrow of ioy and that one while we weep and sodainly we laugh againe And because it hath great power ouer the body as wee haue already declared these perturbations doe manifestly incline that way We see also by experience that there is great agreement betweene the qualities and temperature of the body and the affections of the soule insomuch that as the bodies of men are compounded of the qualities of heate colde moisture and drienesse so among the affections some are hote others colde some moist others drie some mingled of these diuers qualities So that euery one is most subiect to those affections that come neerest to the nature temperature complexion of his body As for example the affection of ioy is hote and moist therefore they that are hot and moist as children yong men sound and healthy folkes and idle persons are more easily inclined to that affection Contrariwise sorrow is a colde and drie affection and therefore they that are colde and drie are most giuen to that affection and such are olde folkes and they that are of a melancholy humour which is earthy cold and drie For the like reason they that haue a soft and tender heart receiue more easily the impression of ioy and griefe as wax taketh the print of a seale and they that haue a haâ—d and hote heart quickly receiue ioy keep it a long time And on the other side they that haue hard and cold hearts receiue sorrowe and grieâ—e very soone and retaine it long as appeareth in melancholy and melancholike persons And as the affections followe the temperature and complexion of the body so they for their parts haue great vertue and power ouer the body Therefore we see that ioy is as it were a medicine to the body and foode to the naturall heate and moisture in which two qualities life chiefely consisteth as we haue already heard For it greatly preserueth and increaseth them forasmuch as it strengtheneth the animall and naturall vertues stirreth vp the spirites helpeth digestion and generally profiteth the habite and disposition of the whole body For the heart thereby sendeth with the blood much naturall heate and more spirites vnto all parts of the body By meanes whereof the members are watred and moistned by the humiditie contained in the fountaine of blood whereupon it followeth that all the partes increase in bignesse and waxe fatte For this cause Physicions alwayes exhort sicke persons to be as merry as they may and to auoide sorrowe and sadnesse which being colde and drie is contrary to life and so consumeth men For it drieth vp the whole body because the heart thereby is closed vp and restrained so that no great quantitie of spirites can bee made there and those fewe that are there can not easily bee distributed and dispersed with the blood throughout the members Whereupon the vitall vertue and her companions being weakened the liuely colour of the face waxeth wanne and pale and in a manner vanisheth cleane away and so consequently the whole bodie becommeth leane and consumeth as if it tooke no nourishment yea death oftentimes followeth thereupon This agreement therefore which is as we see betweene the temperature and complexion of the body the affections of the soule ought to teach vs to be very temperate in our eating and drinking and in all other things belonging to our life For as wee arre either temperate or intemperate so will the qualities be whereof our bodies are
and euill to the ende that all the actions therof might agree with these rules which are the beames of heauenly wisedome in our selues For it is an order which God hath so ordained established And forasmuch as the soule was to dwell in the body God gaue vnto it this naturall power of the affections that it might bee wakened and stirred vp by them as it were with prickes thereby to be kept from idlenesse and from being lulled asleepe and oppressed with the heauines of the body and so neglect all care of good things of that which is very expedient profitable for it self For this cause the soule hath her affections of which some serue for spurres to pricke her hither thither as oftē as need requireth others serue for a bridle to keep her back to stay her from rushing vnto euill from following those things that are hurtful for her And indeede we stand in need of such spurtes and bridles but herein we erre greatly in that we knowe not howe to keepe a moderation betweene these twaine For because wee make these spurres too sharpe and pricke the horse too much which we haue to guide the bridle on the other side is two grieuous vnto him so that he lifteth vp and girdeth forward ouer furiously And this commeth to passe because wee doe not content our selues with that which is requisite for the succouring of our naturall necessities but we adde there vnto infinite superfluities For vpon some light necessitie that might soone be dispatched we torment our selues a great deale more then neede is because wee perswade our selues that our necessities are greater then they bee and so seeke after moe remedies and helpes then is requisite Of this wee haue daily experience in that care which wee take for thinges necessarie for this life which is the cause that wee burne continually with insatiable couetousnesse which is such a marueilous spurre vnto vs that wee take very little rest for it For if wee woulde bee contented with enough it woulde not put vs to that torment which wee dayly suffer But nothing sufficeth vs and therefore the affections are in our soule as the windes vpon the sea For some windes are very small and mooue the water but a little others are more vehement and rayse vp certaine waues and some againe are so tempestuous and make such horrible stormes and gustes whereby the Sea is so mooued that sea and sande and fishe and all seeme to bee turned topsie toruie The like may bee sayde of the motions of the soule For some are so light that they seeme to bee nothing els but small beginnings of moouing There are others stronger which moue it somewhat more And some also are so violent that they altogether trouble the soule euen in such a vehement manner that they driue her from her seate of iudgement Therefore these two first kindes of motions are properly called affections and the other that are so violent are termed Commotions and Perturbations For they bring a kinde of blindnesse with them which is the cause that iudgement and reason see neuer a whit Whereupon it followeth seeing neither Reason nor Iudgement beare any more rule that the soule is as if shee had no more power ouer her selfe but were subiect to the iurisdiction of some other The Grecians terme such affections with a worde that signifieth as much as if wee shoulde say passions And in deede wee commonly say that a man is passionate when hee is tormented by such violent affections For as the whole bodie suffereth when it is mooued or thrust too and fro and stricken on euerie side so is it with the soule beeng violently mooued euerie way And as the moouing is more or lesse moderate so shee suffereth more or lesse and if the motion bee verie violent confusion followeth thereupon Nowe for the sequele of this speech let vs consider how the affections are more or lesse moderate according to the disposition of the iudgement and what is the spring and originall of so many sundry affections as we see in men It belongeth then to thee ARAM to handle this matter That according to the dispposition of the iudgement the affections are more or lesse moderate or immoderate of the cause of all the motions of the soule and heart of the varietie of affections of the generation nature and kindes of them Chap. 43. ARAM. Whatsoeuer we doe or wish for wee doe or desire it for some Good whether that which we iudge to bee good bee so in trueth or in opinion onely And therein wee resemble God our Creator who is not only good but also goodnes it selfe euen the perfection of all Good Wherefore if we desire to know what is the true Good we must vnderstand that there is but one onely true Good euen the same by participation of which we are first made good and then of good most happie For we cannot be happy and blessed which is the end we all looke for but we must first become good For as there is no true felicitie and blessednes but in Good being th source and fountaine yea the perfection of all happines and contentation so also there is no felicitie nor blesse dues but in goodnes which is as proper to God as his very diuinitie because that as he cannot be God except he be good so he cannot be good with that goodnesse that is in him but he must bee God And as he is the essence of all essences so he is the essential Good and the essential Goodnes of al Goods and of al Goodnesses But although our nature doeth of it selfe alwayes tend to that which is Good as wee haue shewed in the handling of the chiefe powers of the soule Vnderstanding and Will neuertheles we differ much nay we are cleane contrary to God when wee come to the election of Good because of the bad iudgement we haue by reason of the darknes of ignoraunce wherewith our mindes are blinded Hereof it commeth that the more the iudgement is corrupted infected and deeper plunged in the flesh the more euill and carnal are the affections the moe in number and the more violent yea such as doe not onely trouble and peruert the internal senses of the soule but the external senses also of the body This we may obserue in them that are caried away with loue who thinke oftentimes and are verily perswaded that they see and heare those thinges which indeede are nothing so Contrariwise the purer the iudgement is and the higher it is lifted vp from the fleshe and from the earth the fewe◠and lighter are the affections which trouble and molest it For then it taketh greater heed and marketh what trueth or what falsehood what good or what euill there is in all thinges Whereupon it commeth to passe that the iudgement is not so often nor so easily mooued And when it is mooued it is not so violent nor headie but more mature
hope maketh not ashamed because the loue of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost which is giuen vnto vs as if he should say that they which stay themselues vpon such a hope shal neuer be ashamed nor deceiued For the expectation thereof is neuer frustrated but it hath alwaies a good a happy issue For when we perceiue that we are deceiued of our hope we are ashamed and confounded But this neuer hapneth to true hope which proceedeth of a sound faith in Iesus Christ by means whereof we haue accesse through him vnto this grace wherein wee stand and reioyce vnder the hope of the glory of God as Saint Paul said alitle before Therefore he exhorteth christiaÌ„s to reioice in hope calleth God the God of Hope praying that he would fil the Romans with al ioy peace in belieuing that they may abound in hope through the power of the holy ghost And in the epistle to the Hebrews hope is compared to a sure and stedfast ancre of the soule For this cause God is so often called in the holy Scriptures the hope and fortresse of his people and of his It is written also that they which hope in the Lord do reioyce For hee that hopeth in him shal be healed and preserued Therefore it is not without cause that the spirite of God so often repeateth vnto vs this sentence Blessed are they that put their trust in the Lord for they shal neuer be confounded It is better to hope in him then to put any confidence in Princes But vnfaithful and wicked men can neuer be partakers of such a Good because they haue no such hope For it is written The expectation of the iust is gladnesse but the hope of the wicked shall perish And againe The hope of the hypocrite shall perish his confidence shal be cut off and his truct shall be as the house of a spider He shall leane vpon his house but it shall not stand he shall holde him fast by it yet shall it not endure But to prosecuâ—e our matter nowe that wee haue seene the hope of good men together with their ioy let vs consider what remaineth to the wicked of their vaine and false ioy namely Feare which is the second kinde of sorrowe mentioned by vs. Tell vs then AMANA what Feare is with the nature and effectes thereof Of Feare and of the nature and effects thereof towards the body the minde and soule and how it troubleth them of the true harnesse and armour against Feare Chap. 46. AMANA As wicked men can haue no certaine hope of any good they looke for so they neuer haue any true ioy of any present good because they alwayes forsake the true Good and stay in that which is not Good but in their opinion and fantasie neither doe they at any time refâ—rre the ende of good things vnto God but looke onely vpon the things themselues Therefore it is neuer in their power to reioice in that ioy which they accompt to be their true ioy but only by offending God as we heard before Which is the cause why they seek after nothing more then to hide themselues to depart from him as much as they can possible so that they would neuer heare any speech of him but desire to bury the remembrance of him for euer because they can heare nothing spoken of him but as of their iudge neither think of him but he awakeneth their coÌ„science which they labor with might and maine to rocke asleepe Wherein they take a cleane contrary course to that which they ought to follow to obtaine the true Good For seeing God is the soueraigne Good of all creatures what Good can they finde that is greater wherein they can fully reioyce and satisfie themselues Or what other Good dare they promise to themselues to finde without him and when they haue him for their enemy But they are like to drunken men who cannot vnderstand this Diuinitie vntill they haue slept out their wine and are awaked out of their drunkennesse Then shall they knowe what is true and false Ioy what is good and badde Hope when their ioy shall bee turned into sorrowe their expectation and hope into feare and terrour wherewith the wicked shall be continually haunted as the Spirite of God teacheth vs. Nowe as sorrow is a griefe for some euil which a man presently feeleth shutting vp the heart as vnwilling to receiue it so feare is a sorrow which the heart conceiueth of some looked for euill that may come vnto it Therefore it restraineth the heart also and closeth it vp as being desirous to auoide the euill Wee see then that there is the same difference betwixt sorrowe and feare in respect of euill that is betweene Ioy and Hope in regarde of Good So that we may well say that Feare is not onely a fantasie and imagination of euill approching or a perturbation of the soule proceeding from the opinion it hath of some euill to come but it is also a contraction and closing vp of the heart which commeth from that which euery one iudgeth to be euill for himselfe when hee thinketh it is at hand and will light vpon him Therefore first of all it draweth in and shutteth vp the heart and so weakneth the same Whereupon nature being desirous to relieue and succour it sendeth heate vnto it from the vpper partes and if that bee not sufficient shee draweth away that heate also which is in the neather parts By which doing she sodainely calleth backe the blood and spirites vnto the heart and then followeth a generall palenesse and cold in all the outward partes and chiefly in the face with a shiuering throughout the whole body For seeing the first moouing thereof is in the heart the other alwayes followeth so that when the heart trembleth the whole body doth so likewise Whereupon it followeth that by reason of the great beating and panting of the heart the tongue faltereth and the voice is interrupted Yea it commeth to passe sometimes that present death followeth a great and sodaine feare because al the blood retiring to the heart choaketh it and vtterly extinguisheth naturall heate and the spirites so that death must needes ensue thereof Therefore we cannot doubt but that feare hath greaâ— power ouer all the body and ouer life it selfe For this cause Esaias after he had denounced the iudgement of God against the Babylonians the comming of the Medes and Persians by whome their citie shoulde be taken and themselues slaine saieth thus Therefore shall all handes be weakened and all mens hearts shall melt which is as much to say as that their hearts shall faile them for feare And therefore hee addeth They shal be afraid anguish sorrow shall take them and they shall haue paine as a woman that trauaileth euery one shal be amased at his neighbour their faces shal be like flames of fire But here we
man shewe vs the goodliest woorkes that can bee either of golde or of filuer or pictures or garments or houses as curiously wrought as can bee deuised eyther for beautie or cost yet when wee haue seene them foure or fiue times wee beginne to bee full of it and take not so great pleasure therein as wee did But who is euer wearie of beholding I will not say the heauens the sunne the moone and the starres but the earth the sea riuers mountaines valleyes gardens trees herbes and flowres The cause heereof is the agreement of nature For wee being naturall naturall things are more agreeable vnto vs then artificiall And because wee were created and made not by the hande of a Paynter and mortall man but by the hande of the liuing God who paynteth liuing images and pictures therefore wee take greater delight in his handie woorkes then in the woorkes of any other howe excellent a woorkeman soeuer hee bee And indeede they are are of farre greater perfection then those that are made by the arte of man Therefore Arte laboreth alwayes to follow nature and to expresse her workes as neere as it can insomuch that they are accounted the best woorkemen and men delight most in their doings that come neerest vnto nature Howe much more then ought wee to like the woorkes of nature and consequently God himselfe who is the Author and Creator of nature and of all her woorkes For the least woorke of his in nature is more excellent in his kinde then the perfectest woorke that humane arte is able to shewe Nowe if wee come from his naturall woorkes to those that are supernaturall and aboue the reach of nature wee shall finde in them a great deale more matter of all kinde of delight For if wee coulde consider aright of these thinges we woulde ascende vp from artificiall thinges and from that delight which they affoorde vs euen vnto naturall thinges and from these vnto the Author and Creator of them and of all nature and there wee woulde seeke for our true delight and pleasure Herein nature her selfe is our good Mistresse as shee that leadeth vs thereunto as it were by the hande But our inconsideratenesse our blockishnesse and ingratitude is the cause why wee cannot learne this lesson of her and why wee haue not the maruellous and excellent workes of GOD and nature in such due admiration as wee ought to haue Whereupon it commeth to passe also that wee take not so great delight and pleasure in them and that custome which ought to increase this delight in vs is a meane rather to diminish the same And by this meanes also wee are kept from that admiration which wee ought to haue of God the Woorkemaster of them and of that delight and pleasure which wee shoulde finde in him if we mounted vp so high and sought him there But because wee are alwayes musing about vile and abiect thinges wee haue no leasure to consider of and to contemplate higher and more woonderfull thinges Nowe to ende this dayes speech seeing wee are taught that God hath giuen vs the affections of ioy and of sorowe to induce and mooue vs to seeke him to the ende that by eschewing the euill that is contrary vnto vs we might attaine to that soueraigne Good which he hath prepared for vs and to that true delight pleasure and blisse which wee may finde in him let vs knowe that we haue good occasion to pray vnto him incessantly that he woulde vouchsafe so to lighten our senses and minde and to rule all our affections and willes in such sort that we may at the length attaine thereunto For then we shall not onely be deliuered from all sorowe and griefe but haue the full fruition of perfect ioy and perpetuall delight And to the ende that we may goe forwarde to morowe with our matter of the affections of the heart and soule thou shalt intreate ASER of the affections of loue which follow those of which we haue alreadie spoken The ende of the sixt dayes worke THE SEVENTH dayes worke Of the affections of loue of the nature kindes and obiect of it of the beginning of friendshippe of the vertue and force of alluring that is in likenesse and in beautie of the agreement that is betweene beautie and goodnesse Chap. 49. ASER If wee know not throughly the affections of our soule which by reason of the corruption of our nature are so many diseases in vs wee shall neuer know our selues well nor the image of God which is imprinted in our soule nor the affectiō of his goodnes towards vs. Likewise wee can neuer learne what pure and sound parts of the nature of the affections remain yet in man what is added thereunto by reason of sinne that is in vs neither yet what vertue vice are except we truly know the nature of the affections Moreouer without this knowledge we can neuer make choice of good from euil or of truth from lying For being as we must needes be during this life subiect vnto and tossed on euery side with an infinite number of strange passions if they be vnknowen vnto vs we cannot discerne amongst a multitude of contrary opinions which of them is soundest euery one of thē pretending some shew of good of truth Therefore as we saw yesterday the affections of ioy and of sorow of hope and of feare and of delight and pleasure which folow ioy wherby we may conceiue the contrary vnto it namely griefe and torment which follow sorow so this day we are to proceede in learning what other affections there are of the heart and soule I wil begin then with the affection of loue which is a motion wherby the heart lusteth after that which is good indeed or which seemeth vnto it to be so desiring to draw the good to it selfe to the ende it may enioy the same This affection commeth neere to the nature of hope but it is a great deale more hote Therefore after the heart is once moued it presently draweth vnto it that thing which is offered for good labouring as it were to haue the fruition of some great Good But let vs consider howe this affection is bredde in the heart After that Iudgement hath iudged a thing to bee good so soone as the same thing is presented to the Will it doth by and by moue allure and draw the same vnto it selfe by a certaine naturall agreement euen as the like is betweene the minde and the trueth and betweene the eye and beautie This motion of the heart and will hath euen then ioyned with it a certaine kinde of reioycing as testifying thereby that the thing pleaseth it and is very good and agreeable vnto it Now when this reioycing is confirmed it is called loue which is an inclination or a proceeding of the will towards that which is Good For it fareth with the Will as if it went before to meete with the good that is comming to
And as it is written in Genesis That he created nothing but that which was verie good so there was nothing made but it was very beautifull in his kinde Therefore as there is agreement between the body the soule so bodily beautie is as it were an image of the beautie of the soule and promiseth after a sort some good thing of the inwarde beautie For internall perfection breedeth the external Whereupon the internal is called goodnes and the external beauty which is as it were a floure of goodnes that is the seed It is true that this which we say doeth not alwayes fall out so but that oftentimes a man may see the cleane contrary whereupon wee haue this common prouerbe Proper fellowes at the gallowes and faire women in the stewes For ordinarily the goodliest mē such as are best furnished with the gifts of nature in the disposition of their body are most wicked and vicious more beautiful women are strumpets then foule womē at leastwise they are in greatest danger and haue much more a doe to keepe their chastitie For there is alwaies great strife betweene chastitie and beautie which is so much the more increased as beautie is the greater because it is so violent that oftentimes many desire willingly to die for the beautie of others and some are so tossed and tormented that they become senselesse and out of their wits being ouertaken with looking vpon a beautifull face which hath such prickes that they pearce euen to the liueliest part of their heart and soule Wherevpon it commeth to passe that poore silly louers are so tormented and ful of passions that they stand altogether amazed and are like to them that are rosted by a soft fire yea their soule is so subiected to their concupiscence and desire that she must obey them as if shee were some poore chambermaide and drudge Whereby wee may know what good there is in such beautie and what good commeth with it also what coniunction agreement it may haue with goodnesse and whether a man may not truely say according to our common prouerbe That beauty without goodnes is worth nothing But we are to consider what is the cause hereof For we speake not of that which is now done but of that which should be done if the nature of man had continued sound and of that which yet would most commonly bee put in vre were it not that euill education besides that naturall corruption which is already in euery one did infect euen that little good of naturall inclination which remaineth in man But howsouer it be bodily beautie doeth alwaies promise more good of the soule then deformitie doeth If it fall out otherwise it is because God will shew that all good things come from his onely grace and not from nature and therefore he doeth not alwayes followe one course and one selfesame order without any change Besides he commonly recompenceth in one thing that which is wanting in another so that he supplieth that in the spirite which is wanting in the body or in the body which is wanting in the spirite On the other side because many abuse that beautie of the body which God hath bestowed vpon them as they do all other his giftes hee letteth them fall oftentimes into great vices whereby they shew the deformitie of their soule which bringeth also their bodily beautie into great obloquie and shame For as beautie causeth vertue to appeare more faire when it is ioyned therewith so contrariwise it maketh vice more vgly and loathsome to looke vpon Therefore Socrates had reason to say that it was good for euery one to beholde himselfe in a glasse that they which sawe themselues faire shoulde bee the more afraide to blotte their beautie with vices and that they which were foule shoulde labour to beautifie themselues with vertues Nowe seeing we are entered into the causes why beautie draweth loue following this matter we woulde knowe of thee AMANA what other thinges are to bee considered heerein with the sundrie degrees and kindes of beautie and what is the proper effect of loue Of other causes why Beauty procureth Loue and of diuers degrees and kindes of Beauty howe it is the nature of Loue alwayes to vnite and what other effectes it hath howe Loue descendeth and ascendeth not what power it hath to allure and breed Loue. Chap. 50. AMANA Many amongst the Philosophers haue made three kindes of good or of good things namely that which is pleasant profitable and honest Hereupon forasmuch as Loue is a desire of good or goodly things or at leastwise of things so accompted they haue also made three kinds or fortes of Loue of which the first is towards delightful and pleasant things and such are those things which tickle and delight our senses being properly called the goodes of the body The second kinde of Loue is towardes profitable things as honours riches greatnesse and such other like things called externall goodes or the goodes of fortune The third kinde is towardes honest things as wisedome prudence and other vertues which are the goods of the soule As for the two first kindes of Loue wee may well place them amongst the perturbations of the soule because so many euill affections spring from them that al confusion proceedeth from them yea euery mans life is thereby made miserable But to loue and desire good and honest things is that which truely maketh a man famous For this loue maketh the chiefe part of his soule excellent euen that part whereby he is man and which is farthest remooued from bodily matter and from obscuritie and neerest to diuine brightnesse I meane the spirit and vnderstanding which of all the other partes and powers of man onely is voide of the blot of mortalitie The consideration of the diuers degrees and sundry sortes of beautie doth prepare the way whereby we may come to this laudable and honest loue For by them wee may ascend vp from the lowest to the highest and turne our corporall and earthly loues into spirituall and heauenly They that are most ignorant know that Loue is a desire of beauty and that Beauty draweth Loue. Yea some of the learned Heathens haue taught that it was Loue which mooued God not onely to create the world but also to create it beautifull and of so goodly a forme in euery part of it And the name whereby it is called yeeldeth testimony of the beauty of it For worlde signifieth as much as a goodly and well decked ornament Therefore seeing God hath created and framed it by loue no doubt but loue is dispersed and shedde throughout the whole world and is continually drawen and procured by beauty to the ende it might bee conformable and like to the fountaine from whence it came On the other side all beautie is as it were a beame of that infinite and diuine beautie that is in God and therefore as the diuine forme draweth
vitall and naturall together with all the instruments which they haue in the bodie and in the members thereof For first beholde the braine signified by the golden ewer then the pith of the chine bone and the chine bone it selfe by the siluer coard uext the liuer by the well which hath also his pitcher and lastly the heart which is signified by the cisterne As for that particularly spoken of the pitcher and wheele broken which drawe water out of the well and cisterne it is all one as if he had saide that when the fountaine of blood in the liuer waxeth drie and decayeth the wheele aboue namely the head is broken because all the senses both exteriour and interiour and the animal vertues faile in the body For the soule wanteth sound instruments to giue life motion and sense vnto it they being worne consumed by those meanes and causes which we shal vnderstand heereafter But to follow our purpose and not to depart from the matter we must intreate of the nature of blood and of other humors in the body of their diuersity and nature This then ACHITOB shal be the matter subiect of thy discourse Of the blood and of other humours in the body of their diuersitie and nature of the agreement they haue with the elements of the similitude that is betweene the great garden of this great world and that of the little world touching the nourishment of things contained and preserued in them Chap. 64. ACHITOB. If in many of our discourses wee sawe great testimonies of the image of the great worlde in man the matter we haue now to handle will set before our eies such as are most cleere and euident For looke howe the sea is as it were the great fountaine and womb of all waters and of the floods riuers that issue out of them to water the whole earth so likewise the liuer is as it were the fountaine of the blood and veines which are like to brooks and riuers to carry distribute the blood throughout the whole body to the ende that all the partes of it might be moistned soaked and nourished according to their seuerall natures So that the liuer in mans body in man who is the litle world is as the sea in the great world and the veines are like to the floods riuers Neither are the parts of the body by this means moistned watred and nourished with blood only but also with all the other humors wherewith it is tempered and without which the body cānot liue For the blood carieth al the rest with it But that we may the better vnderstand this matter and what is the proper nature of blood we must first know what a humor is how many kinds of it there are We vnderstand by a Humor a liquide running body into which the foode is conuerted in the liuer to this ende that bodies might bee nourished and preserued by them And as there are foure elements of which our bodies are compounded so there are foure sorts of humors answerable to their natures being al mingled together with the blood as we may see by experience in blood let out of ones body For vppermost wee see as it were a litle skimme like to the floure or working of new wine or of other wine when it is powred foorth Next we may see as it were small streams of water mingled with the blood And in the bottome is seene a blacker and thicker humour like to the lees of wine in a wine vessell So that if we knowe how to consider wisely of these things it will bee easie for vs to vnderstand the distinction of these sundry humours and their nature Now concerning the first of them wee are to knowe that the proper nature of blood is to bee hote and moist wherein it answereth to the nature of the aire It is temperate sweete and fatty as also the best and chiefest part of nourishment For albeit all the other humours doe nourish likewise and are carried of the blood neuerthelesse that humour which is properly called blood is the chiefest part of nourishment For it is requisit that nourishment should be sweete or at leastwise tempred with sweet liquor Next that thinne skimme which is seene on the top of it resembling the floure of wine is that humour that is called yellow choller or the cholericke humor which is hot and drie of a bitter taste and answering to the nature of fire which is of the same nature For it is bred of the hottest and driest parts of that liquor in which the nourishment of the body consisteth when through their great heate they boile together Moreouer those smal streams of water which we see mingled in the blood proceede of the flegmaticke humour that is colde and moist like to water of whose nature it holdeth For this humour is in part concocted for the turning of it into blood but not wholly perfected Hereof it commeth that the colour of it remaineth white much like to water and without taste or as some affirme it is some what brackish but not fatty Lastly the blacke humour and most earthie which looketh like the very bottome of a deepe redde and thicke wine or like the lees in a vessell full of wine or oyle is the melancholike humour or as some terme it blacke choller being colde and drie like to the earth with which it hath some agreement and of taste somewhat sharpe Nowe in this diuersitie of these humours mingled altogether with the blood two things are worthy to be well marked First the agreement and conformity which they haue with al the elements of which the body of man is compounded so that each of them hath his proper element agreeable to his nature to the end they may nourish and preserue all the parts of the body according to the nature of the elements of which they hold The other point is not only the disagreement but euen the manifest contrariety that is between al these humors as there is betwixt the elements again the vniō that appeares to be betwene thē in the midst of this contrarietie as the like is among the elements whose nature they followe Moreouer wee see that betweene light and darkenesse day and night colde and heate drienesse and moysture betweene the diuerse and contrarie seasons of the yeere besides sundry other such contrarieties that are in nature in al other things I say betweene these so contrary God frameth notwithstanding such a wonderfull concord tempering and knitting them in such sort one with an other that they are so farre from defacing and destroying each other as contrariwise they coulde not possibly bee preserued except they were tied together with such a knot and coniunction Nowe beside that which wee haue heere spoken of the nature of these humours wee haue further to note that they doe not onely agree with the elements in qualities but also in regarde
of their places in mans body I meane in the whole masse and distribution of the blood and in the coniunction they haue together euen as the elements haue their places each after other For as the fire of it owne nature is light and therefore laboureth alwayes to ascend vpward to attaine to his naturall place so the cholerike humour which agreeth with the nature thereof occupieth the highest place among the humours mingled with the blood as we may perceiue by that that hath beene already spoken of the floure and skimme of blood according to that comparison which wee made betwixt blood and wine The like may be saide of the rest For as the aire is lightest next to the fire and the neerest element vnto it and to the rest of the celestiall fires so the blood properly so called keepeth the place of the aire among the humours of the body For it is not so light as the fire nor so heauie as the water or the earth And so consequently the flegmatike and melancholike humours occupy the lower places according to their degrees as the water and the earth doe in this great world For this cause all these humours besides their common offices and effects haue others more speciall agreeable to their nature as God willing we wil declare heereafter And namely the flegmatike humour that holdeth of the nature of the water is to be considered of For as in this great visible world there are waters both aboue and beneath I meane those that are contained and retained within the clouds in the ayre those that are in the sea in riuers kept within their bounds assigned them for their course so the like is to be foūd in the litle world which is mā Nowe hitherto haue wee learned howe the water and the other humours are carried with the blood throughout the body aswell vpwarde as downewarde by meanes of the veines which water all the partes of it howe high or lowe soeuer they be and therewithall carrie vnto them their foode and nourishement And this agreeth fitly to the woonderfull worke of GODS prouidence in nature which of the vapours arising out of the earth gathereth the cloudes together and these like to sponges sucke vp vapours from the waters of which themselues are engendered and which afterward they cary about as it were in chariots to distribute them into all quarters of the worlde according as it shall please God to dispose of them by sending his blessing vpon the earth by the meanes of raine wherewith being watred it nourisheth all those herbs trees plantes and fruites which it bringeth foorth not onely for the sustenance of men but also of beasts Let vs then imagine before vs a garden wherein is infinite varietie of trees and plantes of all sortes and that this garden is watred either by raine from heauen or by pipes and conduites whereby the water is brought thither and dispersed in all places thereof We shall see that in this great diuersitie of nature there is but one and the same nourishment for them all and but one place And albeeit the liquor that affoordeth this nourishment to so many sorts of plants be but one neuerthelesse it is conuerted into the nature of all those things which it nourisheth so that the nature of it is changed according to the distinct propertie of each of them For there are plants and herbes of all qualities and of all tastes and colours Some are hote others colde some drie others moist either in the first or second or third or fourth degree or else are tempered and intermingled according to their seuerall natures As for their tastes some are sweet others sharpe or bitter or of no certaine taste In a worde there are of all kindes of tastes both simple and compound And yet the humour or liquor is but one that receiueth all these qualities as in wormwood it becommeth bitter and in the Vine or Figge-tree sweete And if the herbes bee either for food or for physicke or of a poysonfull nature the same may be saide of the humour that nourisheth them The like is seene also in colours Neither doe wee obserue all this by experience onely in some great diuersitie of trees and of all sortes of plantes but euen in eche of them seuerally For I pray you what difference is there in euery herbe or in euery seuerall tree I meane betweene the roote and the stalke the body and the branches the boughes and the leaues the floures seedes and fruites And yet all these sundry partes receiue nourishment from one Mother and from one and the same substance and liquor Moreouer we see that as man and all other liuing creatures haue their heart in the midst of their bodies which is the fountaine of life so all trees herbes and plantes haue their heart in the middest of them according to their nature without which they could not liue For we call their heart the inwarde part within which their pith remaineth which is vnto them as the heart is to liuing and sensible creaatures Whereupon we haue further to note in regard of those herbes that haue weak stalks especially hollow ones or such as haue strawes insteede of stalkes that the prouidence of God hath giuen vnto them knots seuered as it were into sundry smal knees which are vnto thē in place of their stomack and of other nutritiue members to reteine their nourishment the longer to concoct it the better as also to strengthē them thereby And this we may euidently see in all sorts of corne and pulse Euen so doth nature or rather the prince therof worke in a mans body which is as it were a garden that hath a soule Wherein the Creator of this whole frame sheweth himselfe no lesse wonderful nay rather much more then in this great garden of the whole earth and of the great world of both which he is the Gardener that watreth them to nourish all the fruits they bring forth to cause them to grow For frō whence proceed or are nourished the bones gristles ligamēts sinews arteries veines flesh kernels fatte together with all the other partes of which the body is compounded May not the like be saide of the eyes of their coats and humors of the eares nose tongue teeth belly stomack guts liuer spleene kidneies of all the other bowls and inward parts And if we come to the hands and feet and to the other outward members to al the other parts called Instrumentall distinguished according to their office we shall finde that onely through the alteration of their foode into liquor they all receiue such nourishment as is proper to eche of them Yet notwithstanding one and the same sustenance is offered to so many sundry members beeing made familiar and of the same nature with that part vnto which it is ioyned For if it goe to the eyes it becommeth of the same temperament that the nerues and spirites
that nothing is so secrete in nature which they knowe not and whereof they are not able to shewe the causes and reasons But experience sheweth vnto vs daily how farre short they are of that which they thinke and in what ignorance the best learned are wrapped at this day For how many things are daily manifested vnto them which the greatest searchers of nature that euer haue beene were ignorant of vnto whome notwithstanding they that nowe liue are but disciples And how many things doe continually come to passe into which the chiefest sharpest sighted and most expert haue no sight at all or very small And among them that suppose they haue good knowledge howe are they deceiued oftentimes Howe many are doubtfull in many thinges whereof they haue but small coniectures whereupon they gesse at all aduenture and as they imagine We may easily iudge hereof by this that continually one reprehendeth correcteth another and that the later writers condemne sundry things in the former But not to seeke afarre off for examples we may see them daily in the science of the Anatomie of mens bodies For there was neuer yet Physicion or Anatomist either olde or newe that attayned to perfect knowledge and coulde render a reason of euerie thing that is but in one bodie notwithstanding that they are continually conuersant in that matter Therefore to leaue vnto God that secrete which is hidden from our vnderstanding let vs consider of that which wee may knowe touching the forme of a childe in the wombe If wee looke narrowely into that order that nature followeth in the framing of man who is the little worlde wee shall finde it like to that which the Authour of nature obserued in the creation of the worlde which Moses calleth the generations of the heauens and of the earth For in the beginning the earth was without forme and voyd and couered with a great gulph of waters so that the earth and waters and matter of all the elements and of all creatures created afterwardes were mingled and confounded together in this great heape Vnto this the Almightie afterwards added a forme and created so manie goodly creatures and of so diuers natures and kindes as are to bee seene in the whole worlde which hee hath adorned with them and endued with so great beautie that it hath receiued the name of that which is as much as Ornament or Order of things well disposed After the same manner doeth nature or rather God by nature woorke in the creation and generation of men For the seede of which they are formed and which is the matter prepared disposed and tempered by the same prouidence of God for the worke he hath in hand receiueth not fashion presently vpon the conception but remaineth for a time without any figure or lineaments or proportion and shewe of a humane body or of any member thereof The naturall Philosophers and Physicions who haue searched most carefully into this woorke and haue had greatest experience they say that there are certaine membranes and skinnes that are wrapped round about the infant in the wombe which some commonly call the Matrix others call the Mother and that within these skinnes which are three in number as some Anatomistes say others but two as it were within certaine bandes the fruite is preserued vntill the birth Wherein wee are to acknowledge the prouidence of GOD who hath so disposed of nature that euen from our mothers wombe shee is in steade of a mother to vs folding vs vp within bandes before shee that hath conceiued vs can perfourme the same But let vs proceede on with our matter so farre foorth as wee haue learned of the fashion of the childe in the discourse of Philosophers and Physicions They say then that after the wombe hath receaued the seedes ioyned together of both which the childe is to bee framed it commeth to passe that the heate of the Matrix warmeth all this matter as it were in a litle fornace and so rayseth a skinne ouer it which beeing as it were rosted by little and little waxeth crustie and harde rounde about the seede This causeth the whole matter to resemble an egge by reason that this skinne compasseth about the seede which boyleth inwardly through the abundance of naturall spirites that are within it This is that skinne which is commonly called the Secundine or After-burthen beeing ioyned on euerie side to the wombe by reason of a great number of Orifices veynes and arteries reaching thereunto to the ende that by them the blood spirites and nourishment shoulde bee conuayed to the infant For as the whole wombe imbraceth the seede so likewise it heateth and nourisheth the same Therefore this skinne that serueth in steade of little bandes hath two vses the first is to take fast holde of the wombe the other to serue for the nourishment of the burthen and of the childe For this cause there are two veynes and two arteries in it besides a passage in the middest which are as it were the rootes of the burthen and make the Nauill This woorke with other circumstances belonging thereunto which wee omitte for breuitie sake is brought to passe the first sixe dayes of the conception After this skinne they that make three speake of a seconde skinne that is in the middest which they saye was created to receiue the vrine of the childe which in the former monethes is voyded by the Nauill and in the latter moneths by the ordinarie passage This voyding place is ordayned to this ende that the vrine might not frette and rent in sunder the tender skinne of the infant who is therefore couered with a thirde skinne next to the other and that is very tender So that the vrine toucheth not the infant but is voyded by the middle way as I haue alreadie declared Thus you see the beginning of the conception before the burthen bee wholly formed like to an infant Whereunto that saying of the Prophet hath relation Thine eyes sayeth hee did see mee when I was without forme for in thy booke were all things written which in continuance were fashioned when there was none of them before Then hee compareth the secrete partes seruing for generation especially the bellie and wombe of the woman vnto the earth and to an obscure secrete and hidde place euen to deepe and darke caues in the ground For as the earth hauing receiued the seede in which is the vigour keepeth cherisheth increaseth the same euen so fareth it with the wombe and with the mother On the other side as these parts are lowest in regard of the trunke of the body and of all the receptacles and vessels thereof so are they very secret and hidden and as it were in the midst and center of the body if the whole be considered together namely the trunke with both endes thereof For this cause the worke that is there wrought by God is so much the more marueilous because euen in
no more after that fashion so hee is in an estate that differeth much from the former So fareth it with man when hee is to depart out of the life of this worlde as if hee were to bee deliuered of it in childbirth for another life For hee dieth in regarde of this life to the ende he may liue another life which as farre excelleth this as this is better then the other which hee enioyed before in his mothers bellie yea it is so much the better of higher price in that the length of time of this second and blessed life shal be eternall and endles Moreouer as a childe commeth out when hee is borne so doth a man when he dieth And in comming forth both of them enter into a new and vnacquainted light into a place where they finde all things much altered and farre differing from those which they vsed to haue in their other kind of liuing For which cause both the one the other being troubled and scared with this nouelty are vnwilling to come forth of their clapper to forsake their closet were it not that they are vrged constrained thereunto by the arte lawes rights of nature wherby God hath better prouided for our affaires then wee our selues could conceiue or cōprehend both in our natiuity life also in our death The ignorance whereof causeth our spirit to abhorre the departure out of this life in regard of this great chāge that is therein because it knoweth not what good is brought to it thereby no more then the litle child knoweth wherefore he is borne into the world or what he shall finde there And therefore albeit nature presseth to come foorth neuerthelesse according to that sense which it can haue it weepeth by and by after it is borne as if it were fallen into some great inconuenience and that some great euil were fallen vnto it as we doe also at our death for the cause before alleged not considering that it is our second and better birth Thus you see what I haue thought requisite to be noted in the discourse of our generation and to morow God willing we must looke into the life and death of mans bodie But it shall not be without profite if first we speake somewhat of the causes why God created man naked and with lesse defence for himselfe then hee did other liuing creatures It belongeth then to thee ASER to speake of this matter The end of the ninth dayes worke THE TENTH dayes worke Why God created man naked and with lesse naturall defence then hee did all other liuing creatures how many wayes he recompenceth this nakednes of the generall beautie of the whole bodie of man ioyned with profit and commoditie Chap. 73. ASER As often as men shall consider in such sort as becommeth them that they are borne men and not brute beasts they wil be suffciētly admonished of the ciuil and sociable nature in which God hath created them of that humanitie for which he hath endued them with such a nature so that they wil keepe them selues from being transformed into sauage cruell beasts to hurt one another as commonly they do Truly it is not without some great and notable cause that among al liuing creatures there is not one to be found that hath a more delicate tender skin lesse furnished with couerings for the defence thereof then man hath considering that God himselfe created him as his principall woorke amongest all visible creatures and made him as it were Lorde of the whole worlde And yet hee is of that nature that the skinne wherewith he is clothed is not so sufficient a garment for him as is necessary to keep him from heat cold from other inconueniences that might happen vnto him except he be clad with some other couering then that which he bringeth frō his mothers belly For hee neither hath feathers as birds haue nor wooll as sheepe haue nor bristles as swine haue neither yet any skin or hide so hard nor so well couered and furnished with haire as foxes wolues beares bulls and other foure footed beasts haue Neither hath he any skales as fishes haue nor any shells as cockles sea creuisses tortoises and such other creatures haue But we haue foure things to consider of touching this point The first is that if man had not sinned after that God by creation had in great larges made him partaker of his heauenly giftes and graces he should not haue bene subiect to the want either of garments or of any such like thing whereunto he is nowe after a sort brought in subiection at leastwise he should haue had all these things without paine and griefe For this cause it is sayd in Genesis that after our first parents had transgressed the ordinance of God by eating of the forbidden fruite they knewe that they were naked and couered themselues with leaues And for a punishment of their offence it was sayd vnto them that they should eate their bread in the sweate of their face vnder which worde of bread was comprehended all things whereof they stood in neede for the maintenance preseruation of their life as we vnderstand it in that prayer which we dayly make to God when wee demaund of him our dayly bread The second point which we ought to note in this matter touching the nakednes of man is this that God would admonish him not onely by the whole frame and composition of his body and of all his members but also by his very skinne that he created him to liue in company and felowship and in peace with those of his owne kinde to helpe all and to hurt none Therefore hee did not create him with naturall weapons as he did other liuing creatures vnto whome he gaue all things necessary for their defence preseruation For some of them haue strength and weapons by nature to resist their enemies others wanting this haue swiftnes to conuey themselues out of all dangers and some wanting both these haue yet subtiltie places of refuge to defend themselues withall As for man God hath placed him in this world vnarmed and naked so that if men be disposed to hurt and to warre one vpon another they must deforme themselues and borowe weapons from others wherby they transforme themselues become monstrous as though they were transfigured into sauage beasts into monsters For they haue not as hath bene said hard strong hydes as some brute beasts haue neither prickles darts in them as Hedge-hogs and Porcupines haue Neither are their feete hands nailes like to the hoofes of Horses Asses Mules or to the tallents of birds that liue by praye or to the pawes of wild beasts neither yet are their teeth like to theirs God hath not giuen them sharp bils like to birds neither hath he armed them with stings or with venim as he hath done venimous beasts True it is that man hath
weapons both because that had bene superfluous hauing giuen vnto him that which is farre better as also because his beautie had bene thereby much diminished and his spirit should not haue bene so well knowen as now it is by meanes of that skill and of those artes of which God hath made it capable For what could he inuent and doe and wherein should he shew that naturall light and dexteritie that is in him if nature had furnished him with all those things wherewith his reason giuen vnto him is able to inrich him But to conclude our speech hauing spoken sufficiently of the creation generation and birth of man let vs looke into this beautie that is in the forme and figure of mans body by calling to remembrance our former discourses And let vs know that both for the matter also for the forme and composition thereof there is not the like worke in all the worlde none so goodly so proper nor so well vnited knit together none so wel proportioned polished in euery respect in euery part thereof So that when we consider thereof from one end of it vnto the other we shal find that the workemaster that made this body hath throughout the whole worke ioyned beautie and profit together But there is yet another excellencie worthy of great admiration in that hee hath not only beautified this body with so goodly a shape as we see it hath but hath also endued it with vertue and abilitie to make other bodies altogether like it selfe as we heard yesterday Wherefore men shewe indeede that they knowe nothing of the excellencie of their nature and that they haue altogether forgotten or at leastwise very ill considered of that instruction which God hath giuen them by the composition of their bodies but principally by the soule that is lodged therein if despising celestiall and eternal things for which they are created they affect and seeke after earthly and transitorie things preferring the earth before heauen as commonly they doe Which is all one as if they declared openly that they are displeased that God hath made them men and not beastes ramping on the earth or marching vpon all foure and turning their snoute alwayes downeward because they haue nothing in them that sauoureth of a diuine and celestiall nature as man hath and so they deale no otherwise then as if they would reproch God for that honour which hee hath bestowed vpon them by creating them differing from brute beastes vnto whome notwithstanding they had rather be like But enough is spoken of this matter And seeing wee may be sufficiently instructed by all our former discourses what are those principall partes powers and offices of the soule I meane the animall vitall and naturall vertues as also what instruments they haue in mans body let vs nowe looke into the life and death thereof and consider more narowly then hitherto we haue done what are the causes both of the one and the other Whether the life of the body can proceede either of the matter or of the composition forme and figure or of the qualities thereof or els of the harmony coniunction and agreement of all these whether any of these or all of them together can be the soule of the length and shortnes of the diuers degrees and ages and of the end of mans life of death and of the causes both of life and death of the difference that is betweene naturall and supernaturall Philosophie in the consideration of things Chap. 74. AMANA Iesus Christ purposing to teach vs that we cannot haue life but in him by him who is the life and who hath the words of eternal life compareth himselfe to a Vine his disciples vnto Branches For as the branch hath life vigor and beareth fruite so long as it remaineth in the vine receiueth nourishment from thence so if it receiueth no sap from thence or if it be cut off it withereth and dyeth We may say the same of the members of the body if the soule be not in euery one of them and if it giue not life vertue and vigor to them all for the performance of their offices For if it fall out so that it withdraweth it selfe altogether from any one part of the body that part is without life as we see by experience in a member dried vp or putrified or cut off from the body And so is it with the whole body when the soule is separated frō it But we are to handle this matter more at large By our former discourses wee may learne the nature both of the soule and of the body what is that vnion and coniunction which they haue together albeit their natures substances and essences are diuers and very different also we haue learned that the one of them namely the spirituall essence is a great deale more excellent then the other which is corporall Wherefore we may well conclude that the life in the body proceedeth not of the matter whereof it is made nor of the qualities ioyned vnto it nor yet of the composition forme and figure thereof For if the life and soule were in the matter of the body the larger and greater mens bodies were and the more matter they had in them the more life and soule the more wit spirit and vnderstanding should be in them But we see by experience that it is farre otherwise and that there is no more life soule in a great body then in a litle And if it were so that the life proceeded from the matter a dead body should bee as well a man as a liuing body We may say the same both of the qualities ioyned to the matter according to the nature of the elements as also of that conformation and agreement that is betweene all the members both within and without And as for the harmony coniunction and concord that floweth from the diuersitie of these qualities and from their temperature it may be increased and diminished Wherefore that cannot be the effect of nature which causeth a thing to be that which it is and giueth vnto the same thing his forme and kinde that continueth alwayes in his estate and naturall disposition For if it were otherwise the nature of kindes might bee changed which neuer any of the Philosophers did so much as imagine or thinke to affirme And as for the composition and figure of the body there is yet lesse reason to say it commeth from thence forasmuch as that continueth the same in a dead body which it was in a liuing Againe those liuing creatures that resemble most the nature and forme of the members of mans body and the matter thereof are oftentimes farther off from the nature of humane sense and vnderstanding then they that do lesse resemble thē Which we may easily know by considering the natures of a Hog and of an Elephant For they that through want and famine haue bene constrained to eate
woman is of short continuance and full of trouble He shooteth forth as a flowre and is cut downe he vanisheth also as a shadow and continueth not Nowe it is certaine that if we looke to the causes of the life death of men layd downe by vs we shal thinke that all this is done naturally that there is a certaine order of nature vnto which we must all be subiect and a naturall necessitie which none can eschew But wee see that Moses mounteth aloft and searcheth higher for the cause for hee seekth it in God and in his determination yea in his wrath conceiued against our sinnes Therefore the children and seruants of God that haue bene instructed in his worde doe not onely consider of that in death which prophane men beholde there but they mount vp euen to this highest cause and behold there the wrath of God against sinne against all mankinde for the same So that wee may knowe by that whith hath bene sayd what difference there is betweene humane and naturall Philosophie and that which is diuine and supernaturall and wherein they deceiue themselues that stay altogether in naturall Philosphie And hereby also wee may learne the cause why so many become Atheists and Epicures thereby whereas it should serue them in place of steps and degrees to cause them to ascend vp to that Philosophie that is supernaturall and heauenly For their noses are altogether poring in this base kitchin of which we haue intreated in our former discourses as though God had not created men for another life and end then hee hath done beasts Whereupon we may imagine what true ioye and consolation they can haue I say not only in death but also throughout their whole life seeing their life wil they nill they must passe through so many dangers and miseries For whether they will or no they must be subiect to this sentence passed from God against all mankinde in the person of our first parents when hee sayd to Adam Cursed is the earth for thy sake in sorow shalt thou eate of it all the daies of thy life Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee and thou shalt eate the herbe of the fielde In the sweate of thy face shalt thou eate bread till thou returne to the earth for out of it wast thou taken because thou art dust to dust shalt thou returne Therefore Eliphaz sayth in the booke of Iob that miserie proceedeth not out of the dust that affliction buddeth not out of the earth Which is asmuch to say as that the cause of barrennes of ground proceedeth not from the earth but from the sinne of man Wherefore men cannot lay the blame vpon any other beside themselues as being the cause of all the euils which they suffer because they beare the matter of them in themselues Now if any thinke that this sentence pronounced by God against all mankinde is not so much executed vpon the wicked that are without God as vpon others because wee see commonly that they are richest liue in greatest ease in pleasures in delightes we must know that they are not therefore exempted from those miseries whereunto the life of man is subiect and which are all comprehended vnder this sweate of the face mentioned in the holy Scriptures For there is not one of them to be found that can so saue himselfe but that he hath alwayes his part portion in these things And if we could consider wel the whole course of their life who seeme to be the happiest amongst them and had the patience to waite vntill the end of their race we should still finde by experience the trueth of that we speake of But let vs goe on with our speeches touching the causes of the length and shortnes of this bodily life and of naturall death as also of that which is violent whereof wee haue not yet spoken Also let vs consider of the things that are chiefly required for the vpholding of this bodily life and without which it could not consist This then shall be the matter subiect of which thou ARAM shalt take vpon thee to discourse Of the causes generally of the length and shortnes of bodily life of naturall and of violent death in what manner the life of man consisteth in his breath of the principall things required to life and without which it cannot be of the difference betwixt the life of men the life of beasts of the image of the spirituall death in the corporall of the true comfort which we ought to haue therein Chap. 75. ARAM. This lawe was layde vpon nature by GOD the Creator thereof that the things which it should bring forth in this inferiour world should haue small beginnings at the first and after growe by litle and litle when they were come to their full greatnes should stand a while at a stay and then fall by litle and litle and returne to their originall and first beginning as we see a patterne hereof and an example twise a day in the Ocean sea For after it is mounted vp to the highest and hath spread it selfe in length and breadth as much as it may it returneth againe vnto the fountaine and wombe from whence it came and there closeth vp it selfe For God hath compassed it with certaine bounds beyond which it cannot passe So likewise euery thing hath his course and set time of continuance neither doe we see any thing vnder the Moone either of the workes of God or of the inuentions of men which keepeth not this course And so is it with the body which being created by litle and litle decayeth after the same maner as it were by the same degrees by which it mounted vpward And that which we see in euery particular body the same we perceiue to be in the whole frame and course of the world in all the estates thereof For the world hath had his infancie next his youth then his mans estate and now he is in his olde-age For we see howe all things decline dayly and continually waxe worse and worse as it were approching to their end In like maner if we would consider the course and estate of all Common-wealths Principalities Kingdomes and Empires and of all the greatest and chiefest Monarchies that euer were from the creation of the world we should finde that all of them were very small and weake in their beginnings and that afterwards they increased and mounted vp vntill they came to their highest degrees and after they had attained thither they descended fell by litle and litle continually vntill in the ende they were wholy ruinated Nowe the first causes of all these things proceeding from God and from his eternall counsell we know that the second causes are in the nature of euery thing that hath beginning and must end and chiefly in the nature of mens bodies By our formmer speech wee haue learned already howe
vnto others And if we take it so then God and Nature shal be taken to be all one Wherefore in this respect it were better to let the name of Nature alone and to speake of God onely to whom Nature is but a seruant and seeing that by him it was created and that all things were made before Nature had her being Otherwise we are like to fall into that errour of Galen and others his like in these dayes who albeit they be conuicted and rauished with admiration through the contemplation of those wonderfull workes which they beholde in all the partes and powers of mans body are notwithstanding so vngratefull that insteade of yeelding vnto God that honour that belongeth vnto him it seemeth they woulde despite him to his face and seeke all possible meanes to put out their owne eyes and wholly to blinde their vnderstandings to the end they might not be constrained to acknowledge that there is a God the Creator maker of this so excellent a piece of worke and so to glorifie him as becommeth them Nowe rather then they would giue him this honour they will make an idole of Nature thereby to cast a vaile before mens eyes that they should not see and acknowledge God in his workes They will rather put out their owne eyes then follow this Nature which they forge vnto themselues as a soueraigne Mistresse whereas she is but the meanes to leade them to God her and their Creator of whom shee is but a seruant and a verie small image Thus much I thought meete to bee knowen concerning Nature that wee might learne to speake better and more reuerently both of God and of his woorkes and that we might know that Nature is nothing els but the order and continuance of the woorkes of God Now that wee are instructed in the causes of life and death and what true comfort and consolation we may haue against the horrour therof and so haue finished our discourses concerning the frame of the body and of the powers and faculties of the soule therein we must enter into a particular contemplation of the nature of the soule and learne what is the creation and immortalitie thereof so farre foorth as the minde of man is able to comprehend and as the worde of trueth shall affoord vs sure and certaine doctrine thereof First then it is necessary and very profitable for vs to consider that there is but one soule in one bodie which hath all those powers and vertues of which the effects are daily seene also what place the soule hath in the bodie and what vnion there is betweene them Nowe ASER this shall bee that matter Subiect which thou shalt haue to continue our speech withall That there is but one Soule in euerie seuerall bodie that one and the same soule hath in it all those vertues and powers whose effectes are dayly seene of the seate of the Soule in the bodie and of the principall instrument thereof of the vnion of the bodie and Soule of the diuers degrees of nature and of the excellencie that is in it of the fountaines and bounds of all the powers and vertues of the Soule Chap. 77. A SER. Saint Paul maketh a prayer in the end of his first Epistle to the Thessalonians which agreeth very well both to that matter whereof wee haue alreadie intreated touching the nature as well of the soule as of the body and to that also which wee haue yet to handle concerning the nature creation and immortalitie of the soule Now the very God of peace saith he sanctifie you throughout and I pray God that your whole spirite and soule and bodie may be kept blamelesse vnto the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ Where first he sheweth vs that none but God who onely is holy sanctifieth vs through Iesus Christ his sonne the most Holy and that by the vertue of his holy spirite Moreouer hee teacheth vs that as we are to acknowledge all sanctification alreadie begunne in vs to proceede from God alone so wee must expect from him the accomplishment of that woorke which he hath begunne in vs. For as hee is the beginning so from him must proceede the perfection which comprehendeth all the partes of man Therefore the Apostle heere maketh a diuision of three members placing the spirite first in the second place the soule and in the third the bodie Then he teacheth vs that the entire and absolute sanctification of all these partes of man shall be in the comming of Iesus Christ in which it shall obtaine the last perfection Nowe we vnderstand already sufficiently by our former discourses that man is compounded of two diuers natures namely of a body and of a soule and yet heere wee see that Saint Paul setteth downe three partes and ioyneth the spirite vnto the soule as if they were two diuers and different thinges as well as the soule and the bodie are Therefore wee must searche out the cause of this diuision of man after this manner But before wee enter into this matter it shal be very profitable for vs to refresh our memorie with those things wee haue alreadie intreated of so farre forth as they may serue for the vnderstanding of this and that according to the matter subiect propounded to discourse vpon Wee hearde before howe the bodie is the lodging and instrument of the soule and howe the soule serueth it selfe with all the members thereof and setteth them on worke And as for the Soule albeit there be but one in each seuerall body neuerthelesse that one soule hath diuers faculties powers and vertues which wee also call partes and offices thereof Wherefore as wee saye not that there are so many bodies in one bodie of a man as there is diuersitie of partes members and offices therein but account them all ioyntly together as one and the same bodie euen so wee meane not that there are so manie soules as there are powers and offices in the Soule or according to that varietie of effectes that appeareth in euerie part and member thereof albeeit wee knowe verie well that they are distinguished one from another both in time and place For we perceiue by the effectes thereof that the sight is in the eyes hearing in the eares vnderstanding and cogitation in the braine and the like is to bee sayde of all the other partes and members of the bodie according to the nature and office of euerie one and according to the offices of the Soule in them as wee haue alreadie shewed when wee handeled all the powers thereof particularly Moreouer wee see howe the childe so long as it is in the Mothers wombe differeth almost nothing at all from plantes and after it is borne howe it differeth but a little from brute beastes as else-where it hath beene alreadie declared vnto vs. Neuerthelesse as in euerie bodie there is but one and the same kinde fashion and essentiall forme of nature whereby it commeth to bee that which
be disgraded from the title of Nobilitie both hee and his children This depriuation of gifts bestowed vpon man by God of which wee shoulde haue beene the Inheritours but for the sinne of our first Parents is called by the Diuines Originall sinne To proceede then with our former matter first I say that in my minde it is not so necessarily required of vs to knowe what the soule is or what is the essence and substance thereof as to knowe of what qualitie it is and what are the actions and woorkes of it And that this is so wee may iudge by that bountifulnesse which GOD the Lorde of nature vseth towardes vs and which hee manifesteth vnto vs on euery side by manifolde signes and testimonies For whatsoeuer is expedient for vs the same hee propoundeth vnto vs both very abundantly and with such facilitie that wee may easily finde it out and bring it into vse Wherefore wee can haue no more euident token that a thing is not profitable or not very necessary for vs then this that it is rare farre off and hidde from vs yea very hard to finde out and to attaine to the vse of it So that when wee are admonished to knowe our selues we must not referre this to the knowledge of the essence of the soule which wee are not able to knowe or comprehend but to the knowledge of the effectes and woorkes of it thereby to knowe howe to frame our manners and our whole life to the ende that chasing vice away we might followe after vertue And this by the grace of Christ Iesus will leade vs to that life in which wee shall bee perfectly wise and good and liue immortall and blessed with GOD for euermore Then as wee shall see the Creatour of all things face to face who otherwise is incomprehensible vnto vs so wee shall knowe our selues perfectly in him True it is if wee vnderstand well the principall cause that is taught vs in his worde why hee created man after his image and likenesse and gaue him an immortall soule partaker of vnderstanding and reason wee shall bee well instructed in that point wee desire to knowe touching the nature of the soule So that although wee can not throughly knowe or define what is the essence or substance thereof neuerthelesse seeing it was created of GOD that being ioyned vnto him it might haue eternall happinesse wee must needes say that it is a substance in some sort capable of the diuine nature and that may bee ioyned therewith For being indued with the knowledge of the diuinitie the loue of the same is bredde within it by which loue the soule is so ioyned vnto GOD that it is indued with perpetuall happinesse And thus wee may say that the soule of man is a spirit that giueth life to the body whereunto it is ioyned and which is capable of the knowledge of GOD to loue him as being meete to be vnited vnto him through loue to eternall felicitie But let vs consider the diuersitie of opinions of the best learned as well vpon this matter as vpon the doubts mentioned by vs in our speech For the first there are many who thinke that wee take our generation and birth of our fathers and mothers not onely in regard of our bodies but also of our soules and that soules are produced of soules as bodies are begotten of bodies being ledde by the reasons before spoken of For they can not conceiue howe originall sinne which is the pollution of our nature that before was good and pure by reason of the hereditary corruption of the first father of men can bee deriued from Adam to all his successours and from father to sonne if the soules of children take not their originall from the soules of their Parents as the bodies do of their bodies considering that the soule is the chiefe subiect of originall sinne and of all the rest that proceede from it as riuers issue from their fountaine Wherefore as wee set Adam before our eyes for the first stocke or roote of all mankinde in regarde of mens bodies that haue all their beginning from him so these men doe the like with his soule and the soules of all other men as if soules were deriued from soules and bodies from bodies And in deede at the first blush a man might thinke that Christ Iesus was of this minde when hee saide That which is borne of the flesh is flesh and that which is borne of the spirite is spirite if it bee so that the name of flesh in that place ought to be taken for the whole man comprehending vnder it the body soule and spirite and whatsoeuer excellent thing is in man being considered in his corrupt nature as the worde flesh is commonly taken in the holy Scriptures when it is opposed to the spirite or to God And for this cause many do not take this worde flesh so largely neither in this place nor in any other like to this as if the spirite of man and the chiefe power of his soule were comprehended therein but they restraine it to that part which they call sensuall vnder which they vnderstand not onely the body of man but also those powers of the soule which we haue common with beasts Therefore they doubt not to say that the soule which is called Vegetatiue and sensitiue like to that of plants and beasts is produced of the same seede that the body is and that it is aswel contained in the seede as the matter and nature of which the body is compounded Whereupon it would follow that in this respect there is no difference betwixt the soule of man and the soule of beasts and plants They say well that euery liuing creature hath but one onely soule albeit there be diuers powers thereof in certaine creatures in some more in some lesse Hereof it is that they call that of plants by a more speciall name Vegetatiue because it hath but this vertue and office only of which it taketh the name And albeit the soule of beasts hath the same vertue also yet they call it not by the same name but onely sensitiue vnder which they place the vegetatiue soule that is in plants as a power and propertie thereof So likewise although the soule of man hath both these together yet they call it not either vegetatiue or sensitiue but onely reasonable vnder which they place the vegetatiue and sensitiue soule that is in beasts for powers and properties thereof as before I said they placed the vegetatiue vnder the sensitiue But I woulde very gladly AMANA bee instructed in that which thou canst deliuer very well to this purpose following this excellent matter which will serue greatly to cause vs more specially to vnderstand the nature and immortalitie of the soule the chiefe obiect whereat we aime Whether there be any thing mortall in the soule of man of the distinction betweene the soule and the powers of it of the opinions of Philosophers
deny nothing of all this but they say onely that God did then establish this order nowe spoken of which hee daily continueth in the generation of man I omit heere many other opinions touching this matter which come not so neere vnto the trueth namely a great controuersie betweene the Doctors in Diuinitie and in Physicke touching the vegetatiue and sensitiue soule and the time when the burthen beginneth to bee nourished and to haue sence thereby considering that it is a great deale better to inquire of these things to sobrietie and to leaue the resolution to GOD who knoweth that which is hidde from vs then by vaine questions and curious disputations to thinke to determine of the matter according to trueth and to the contentation of euery one For as we haue before touched we can knowe nothing either of the generation or original or of the substance and nature of our soule or of the immortalitie thereof but onely by those testimonies which by the effects it aftoordeth vnto vs and which God setteth downe in his word Wherefore according to that which hath beene already handled wee must distinguish those things vnto which our mindes may in some sort reach and of which wee may haue some knowledge from them that are so hidden from vs that wee can not knowe or iudge of any thing but like blinde men by groping and gessing This is a matter then of which wee must speake very soberly and with great reuerence of God contenting our selues with that which it pleaseth him to make knowne vnto vs by the meanes aforesaid and goe no further by desiring to knowe that which wee can not conceiue or comprehend vntill such time as God himselfe shall giue vs more ample and cleere knowledge thereof And I suppose wee shall not erre if wee say the like touching the question propounded by vs in the beginning of our speech about this matter namely of the meanes by which the reasonable soule shoulde bee infected with originall sinne seeing it is not engendered of that corrupt seede of which the bodie is bredde Let it then suffice vs to knowe that albeit the soule can not be defiled with sinne as it is created of God yet as God created all mankinde in Adam so when he fell all the rest of the worlde fell with him and in him was bereaued both of originall iustice and of other gifts which he lost by his fall So that albeit mens soules are created and produced of God pure and entire yet they keepe not that puritie stil neither can they be the soules of men and ioyned vnto their bodies and so become members of mankinde in them with any other condition then with that into which the first Father brought all his children by his sinne as we haue before touched Wherefore we must not search for the cause of that original sinne wherewith they are infected either in their creation because they are created by God of a diuine and immortall essence or in the generation of the body and in that seede of which it is engendred as if the soule took her originall infection together with the body frō the seede Moreouer we must not as the Pythagoreans do search for the corruption of soules in their entrance and coniunction with their bodies as if they receiued it from them but we must seeke it in that blot of sinne vnto which the whole race of mākind was made subiect through the fall corruption of the first stocke and in that decree of God whereby hee hath condemned all mankinde by his iust iudgement without any further enquirie after the meanes and manner how it came to passe For this cause Saint Paul doth bring vs backe to this consideration when in propounding vnto vs the first stock of mankind he saith that by one man sinne entred into the world and by sinne death And then hee propounded vnto vs this stocke of sinne so on the contrary side he propoudeth to vs the stock of iustice and righteousnesse namely Christ Iesus the new man who is an other stocke of mankinde regenerated renewed and reformed after the image of GOD. Therefore hee saieth that as by the disobedience of one man many were made sinners so by the obedience of one many are made righteous Now as humane Philosopie knoweth not either the corruption of all mankinde such as it is or the fountaine thereof so it is ignorant of the meanes whereby it must bee restored neither knoweth it that the wound is so great and mortall as that it cannot be cured but onely by the hand of God For which cause hee was to giue vs his owne sonne to be the Surgion and Physicion The ignorance heereof is the cause why humane Philosophie so greatly magnifieth the nobilitie and excellencie of the soule as it is well worthy being considered in the first nature in which it was created But the sequele of this matter wee will heare of thee ARAM. Of those powers and properties which the soule of man hath common with the soule of beastes of those powers and vertues which are proper and peculiar to it selfe according to the Philosophers of the difference and agreement that is betweene humane philosophie and Christian doctrine touching these things Chap. 87. ARAM Amongst the heathen they that were most ancient and neerest to the true Church of God and conuersed most with his seruants had greater knowledge and better vnderstanding of the nature of God of Angelles and of mens soules and of other matters belonging to true religion then they that were farthest off and succeeded latest after the other For the farther off that the doctrine of heauenly things was drawne from the fountaine of it the more hath it beene altered and corrupted both by ignorance ouerwhelming it and by false vnderstanding of it as also because euery one hath added to and taken away what seemed him best and that either to boast themselues that they may seeme some body or to couer their thefts that none might knowe from whence that thing was first taken and borrowed that so they might bee thought to bee the first members thereof or lastly to please and satisfie the curiositie and vanitie of the minde of man No maruell therefore if there were heathen Philosophers among the ancients who beleeued and taught many things agreeable to the worde of God and if there be now some amongst vs who boast of their study in philosophie and yet haue no part of that first innocencie and puritie but haue their mindes filled with strange opinions contrary to all reason and trueth We see wel enough by experience what impietie raigneth in this our age For there are an infinite number to be founde of whose religion no man can iudge except it be heerein that they thinke there is none at all and therefore mocke at all religion what shewe soeuer they make to the contrary But I knowe not why they shoulde not blush for shame when they
but of some other thing before and aboue that or else farther off vnto which it tendeth We see this in all the senses both externall and internall which are common to vs with beastes For they know nothing else beside that which is of this nature which we see neither doe they ascend higher but our spirite not content with the sight and knowledge of the heauens starres and Angels themselues mounteth vp to God and being come thither can go no further What other thing els doeth this signifie and declare vnto vs but that the soules of beasts are engendered of this corruptible and mortall nature beyonde which they cannot lift vp themselues but that ours are produced of God aboue the power of this nature And so that may bee saide of our soule which is spoken of a spring water namely that it ascendeth as much vpwarde as it descendeth downeward but can goe no higher For when a man woulde carie the water of a spring any whither and would haue it mount vpwarde it will be an easie matter to bring it as high as the spring-head from whence it floweth but no higher except it bee forced by some other meane then by it owne course and naturall vertue Notwithstanding it will easily descend lower And so fareth it with our spirite For as it came from God so it is able to mount againe to the knowledge of him and no higher but it descendeth a great deale lower And as for our senses they remaine lower then the woorkes of nature and pearce not to the depth of them but are alwayes busied about the externall face of them Neither is it to bee doubted but that Moses meant to teach vs these things by that which hee rehearseth of the meanes vsed by God in the creation of man which differed from that hee kept in the creation of all other creatures either liuing or without life For we haue heard what deliberation and counsaile he vsed before he put hand to the worke how he fashioned the body and how he placed the soule therein by and by after Therefore in that the Prophet describeth the creation of the bodie apart and then that of the soule he giueth vs to vnderstand that wee must seeke for something more high and excellent in that of man then in that of beastes whose soules were created with their bodies and of the selfe-same matter with them Moreouer he teacheth vs this very plainly when he saith that God created man after his owne image and similitude which hee did not say of beasts as we haue alreadie heard Therefore there must needes be in the soule of man some other power and vertue then that by which it giueth life to the bodie and which is common to it with those of brute beastes So that as God gaue to this dead bodie taken out of the earth a soule that endued it with life motion and sense so hee imprinted and ingraued his image into this soule vnto which immortalitie is annexed Therefore when Moses sayeth that man was made a liuing soule no doubt but by the name of soule he meaneth another nature and substance then that of the bodie And in that he calleth it liuing hee declareth plainly that the bodie hath not of it self and of it owne nature that life wherewith it is endued but from the power of this soule And although hee there maketh not any speciall mention of the other vertues thereof it is because hee considered the capacitie of the people with whome he liued vnto whom he would frame himselfe being content to speake openly of that power of the soule which appeared best without and which the externall senses might most easily know perceiue by the effects thereof But I thinke it will not be vnfit for this matter if wee returne to that question which before we touched concerning the creation of the soule namely whether since it was created by God in the first creation of man it be still created after the same sort as it were by a new miracle in them that are daily borne in the worlde or whether it bee naturally created but yet of God by a certaine order appointed for that ende by him Nowe albeeit it bee very requisite that we should bee sober and not rash in this matter for the causes alreadie set downe notwithstanding we will here propound the opinion of some learned men grounded vpon that order which God hath accustomed to obserue in his workes and in his creatures For seeing he hath set a law in nature for all other creatures according to which he createth produceth them not by any new miracle it is more likely that he createth soules naturally and that he hath ordained a stedfast law for mankind but differing from that of beasts so much as his creation differed from theirs For hauing once established an order he vseth not to change it into a diuers or contrarie order but keepeth still the same except it bee that sometimes he vseth extraordinarie meanes by way of a miracle For although all his woorkes bee great miracles and chiefely man neuerthelesse wee call none by that name but onely those which he woorketh by supernaturall meanes not against but beside the common order of nature But that which I say derogateth nothing from the nature immortalitie of mans soule For although it be placed in that matter which is alreadie prepared and appropriated for the fashioning of the body yet he doeth this aboue the vertue of the matter and of the worke of nature by a lawe which he hath established to that effect For this cause he doeth not onely giue a soule to them that are begotten by lawfull marriage but to those also who are brought foorth in whoredome whether it be adultery incest or any other such like For although that honestie which is enioyned mankind by God be not kept in such a birth and generation but contrarieth the same yet it is not contrary to the lawe of generation ordayned by God as that generation is which is by buggerie wherein not only the Law of honesty is violated but also the law of nature We will conclude then that it is not only true that our soule is not brought forth by the power of nature but by the benefit of God only but also that it is expedient and very behoofefull yea necessary for mankind that it should be true and because it is behoofefull and necessary it is true also without all question For God hath omitted nothing that is agreeable to his glory and profitable and expedient for mankinde For seeing the soule is placed within the bodie not by the vertue of nature but properly and peculiarly by a speciall benefite of God man oweth the chiefest and best part of himselfe not to nature but to God Which is the cause why he should acknowledge him as the onely father of his spirite consecrate the same wholly to him alone not yeelding
we haue here but a very little taste and weake beginning Therefore if wee could neuer goe further would it not be a vaine and ridiculous thing if God had giuen this desire onely to men and neuer woulde vouchsafe to let them haue the effect of it And if it were so that God had not ordained an other time and place for the finishing of that which is heere beginne in this life it seemeth that the complaint made by some of the greatest Philosophers against Nature shoulde not be without some ground of reason For what iust cause is there that hee shoulde giue a longer life to some beasts then to men seeing it skilleth not whether beastes liue long or no because long life cannot make them more learned or more wise then they are at their birth But it is otherwise in man For seeing that knowledge and wisedome are his greatest Good whereby hee approcheth neerer to the nature of God and of which all his other good things chiefely depend it seemeth to stand with reason that God should haue giuen a longer life to men then to beasts that so they might the better attaine to so great a Good so necessarie for them in regarde of which especially they are preferred before beasts and differ from them For wee see by experience that wee must die so soone almost as wee beginne to taste of Sciences and to waxe wise But we haue no cause to make this complaint against the wisedome prudence and goodnesse of God who hath granted vs life long enough wherein we may learne heere as much as wee neede if wee coulde vse it well both to passe away this life and also to attaine to the other in which wee shall abound in knowledge and wisedome and be fully satisfied therewithall And although God had giuen vs a life twice as long in this world as that wee nowe enioy so that we might liue as long as the ancient Patriarkes whose yeeres were so many especially before the flood as Moses testifieth yet all that which wee coulde possibly learne during the time of so long life woulde bee very little in comparison of the knowledge reserued for vs in that Eternitie For the eies of our spirite and minde are not able to endure so great brightnesse of heauenly knowledge and wisedome whilest it is heere shut vp and as it were imprisoned in this body of sinne and in a manner wholly ouerwhelmed with darkenesse but it fareth with the spirite in this respect as it doeth with the Owle in regarde of his eies and of the light of the sunne Therefore euery one hath better cause to assure himselfe that God hath appointed an other time and place for the full accomplishment of this desire of knowledge and wisedome that is so firmely engrauen in the nature of men then to accuse God as if he offered them iniurie to depriue them thereof by the shortenesse of their life Now let vs come to other particular reasons of Philosophers concerning this matter wee haue in handling Although Aristotele so famous amongest them be very obscure and wauering where hee handleth the same so that it is a very hard matter to vnderstand what was his opinion and resolution therein neuerthelesse hee dares not plainely say that the spirit of man is of a bodily nature and corruptible matter or that it is mortall as the body is But in one place hee saieth that if the Spirite be able to vnderstand without the fantasie it may bee separated from it but if it cannot vnderstand without it then it cannot be separated Which is all one as if hee saide that if the spirite could vnderstand without the senses and the vnderstanding and reason without fantasie and imagination then a man might certainely conclude that there is a difference in nature and substaunce betweene these things and that there may a separation bee made so that the destruction of the one doeth not bring with it a corruption of the other Wherefore none may conclude the mortalitie of the spirite that is capable of reason and vnderstanding by the mortalitie either of the externall or internall senses But Aristotele leaueth it doubtfull in this place whether this separation may bee made yea or no and whether a man may conclude thereupon that the spirite is of an other nature and substaunce then the senses are and so consequently immortall But it followeth not that if the soule being in the body vnderstandeth things bodily that is to say by the bodily instruments that are outward and then by the conueiance of the internall senses therefore it can vnderstand nothing but that which they declare and bring vnto it For after the internal senses haue gathered together the images and similitudes of those externall things that are offered vnto them and so retaineth them fast being secluded and separated from all matter the vnderstanding is to receiue from thence the first and simple knowledge of things So that as the qualities of externall things are the matter subiect of the internall senses so their images conceiued by the internall senses and purged from all bodily matter are the matter subiect of the vnderstanding and spirit And the spirite labouring about them draweth out certaine motions and knoweth many things from them which can not mooue the senses and which the senses can not know And yet the spirite is first mooued by these images as the senses are by externall things But wee must declare these things somewhat more familiarly We vnderstand already howe corporall things are the subiect and obiects of the corporall senses and that the bodily senses receiue and know them corporally euen such as they are presented vnto them euery one according to his nature and office But they cannot receiue or perceiue any more then that which is laied open vnto them and manifesteth it selfe outwardly Nowe after the outward senses haue thus receiued them and their matter couered with their qualities the internall senses to which the externall are seruiceable conceiue the images without the matters and qualities of those things whereof they are images For the eye cannot see either the sunne or the light of it nor yet any other creature discouered by the light except it bee present before it But the Fantasie and imagination receiue and conceiue the images of things euen in darkenesse although the things of which they are images appearant to the eyes nor yet are perceiued at that present by any corporall sense We see then already how these images are separated from the matter of which they are images and how the internall senses behold them without their matter bodies as the external senses look vpon them being ioined with their bodies Then hauing receiued them thus purged from their corporall matter the spirite receiueth them yet more pure and goeth further in the knowledge and vnderstanding of them then all the senses doe comprehending other things of which the senses can haue no knowledge or
himselfe withall that there is no worlde nor any creature and that himselfe is not the same he is it must I say of necessitie follow that if God be there is also another life in which that iustice shal be perfourmed which is not heere executed and in which both iust and vniust shall receiue euery one the reward of his iustice or iniustice For it is impossible that God who is so good and so iust a nature shoulde create mankinde in that sort as if he had created the best and iustest part thereof onely to misery and wretchednesse and the woorst to ioy and happinesse Now continuing our discourse of those internall testimonies which euerie one of vs beareth within him of the immortalitie of the soule we will speake to morrow of conscience which presseth men to stand in awe of God and of his iudgements It is your part ASER to intreate of this matter The ende of the twelft dayes worke THE THIRTEENTH dayes worke Of the testimonies which euery one may take from his conscience of that feare vnto which all men are naturally subiect to prooue the immortalitie of the soule and a iudgement of God vpon the iust and vniust howe that which the Atheists say that feare causeth gods amongest men serueth to ouerthrow their damnable opinion Chap. 97. ASER The wicked may flatter themselues and labour as much as they list to rocke themselues asleepe in their impieties and horrible vices yet they cannot preuayle so much but they haue continually a warning-peece ringing in their eare and an Apparitour rapping at their doore without ceassing so that they cannot alwayes sleepe at their ease For that is euer true which the Lorde saide to Cain Why art thou wroth and why is thy countenance cast downe If thou doe well shalt thou not bee accepted and if thou doest not well sinne lyeth at the doore Which is as much as if hee had sayde that if Cain doeth as Abel doeth hee shall bee receiued of GOD with that honour that hee is receiued and shall goe with his face looking vpwarde but if hee doe otherwise his sinne will awake him well enough and not suffer him to haue anie rest in his conscience but will so presse him that hee shall bee as a man that lyeth alwayes in a portall or neere vnto it who can take no rest for anie long season by reason of commers and goers that goe in and out by it or that knocke at it euerie houre to haue it opened And therefore it is commonly sayde that Repentaunce euer followeth after sinne For howesoeuer it may bee slowe in comming yet it cannot bee without great heauines and sorow which no vniust person can eschew but he shal be sure to feele it very sharpe and vehement For he must needes feele and haue experience in himselfe that of euill nothing but euill can befall him in the ende and that when he feeleth what euill sinne bringeth vnto him he cannot but bee grieued that he hath committed it and wish that the thing were to doe againe Therefore euery wicked man feeleth himselfe accused and condemned by his owne conscience which is a certaine testimonie vnto him that there is a God and a Iudge whose iudgement he cannot auoyde But before we proceed in this discourse it shal be good for vs to know what conscience is properly Wee are then to knowe that although sinne hath greatly troubled the minde which God hath giuen vs by the darkenesse of errour and ignoraunce wherewith it is filled yet it coulde not so wholly blind it but still there remayned in it some sparkles of that light of the knowledge of God and of good and euil which is naturally in men and which is borne with them This remnant that yet remayneth is commonly called by the Diuines Synteresis which is taken from a Greeke word that signifieth as much as if wee should say Preseruation whereby that remnant of the light and law of nature that remaineth in vs is still preserued and kept in our soule after sinne And so this worde Synteresis signifieth that knowledge of the Lawe which is borne with vs and it is so called because it alwayes keepeth in man yea in the most wicked that can bee an aduertisement or instruction which telleth him what is right and iust and that there is a iudgement of God Some distinguish betweene Synteresis and Conscience others take them both for one and the same thing calling this Synteresis the very conscience it selfe whereas others say it is the naturall iudgement and some the light of our minde and spirite The Philosophers who had some obscure knowledge saide that there are certaine Anticipations in our nature by which they meant the selfe-same thing in a manner For by these Anticipations they vnderstande those principles of knowledge and naturall informations which being as it were rules wee haue not learned of any Masters neither by vse or experience but wee haue drawen and receiued them from nature whom God hath appoynted in this respect to be our mistres For this cause the Philosophers vsed this word Anticipation or som other of the same signification in the language wherein they wrote before we receiue these natural rules from nature as from our mother before we receiue any other either by learning of our masters by vse or by studie For to Anticipate signifieth as much as to preuent and to take before It is true that these rules of nature are in greater number and more certayne in some then in others and so are polished and encreased more by studie by vse by experience and by exercise Nowe by what name soeuer this light of our mind and this naturall censure is called by which we iudge what is right and iust or otherwise sure it is that of it owne nature it is alwaies caried to that which is true good And from hence commeth the approbation of vertues dislike of vices from which also the lawes and commandements of men touching maners doe afterwards flow so the conscience that is within euery one to the ende it may argue reprooue and condemne him for his owne faults So that there is no man but he hath a Iudge within himself except he be altogether depriued of sense and humane vnderstanding and so being turned into a brute beast committeth all vncleannes euen with greedines as S. Paul speaketh to the Ephesians And although some men that are most forsaken of God fall sometimes into this senslesnesse yet it continueth not alwayes with them but God afterwards rowseth them vp well enough causeth thē to apprehend feele the rigor of his iudgements For although nature were so put out smothred in them that no sparkle of naturall light to rectifie their iudgement appeared in them nor yet any flame of Gods wrath which burneth the hart that is turned aside from him yet he hath other means to kindle the fame againe and to set it on
a lamp and mans body The causes of chirst and hunger Of physicke and the causes therof Instructions from the sense of taste The equality of heate and moysture preserueth life Of the inequality that is in the nature of the body A testimonie of the great prouidence of God What meate is fittest for infants From whence commeth the different substance of our members Men haue more varietie of drinks then beasts We must eate neither too much not too litle The chiefe end of foode Iohn 1. Vnthankful men are like to hogs Luke 12. 48. 1. Tim. 4. 4. Food must be receiued with thankeâ— giuing Some more like to madde dogges then men What beautie is and wherein it consisteth The nose is very seruiceable to the braine Why the sense of smelling is placed so neere to that of tasting Of the agreemeÌ„t of these two senses How men abuse these senses Iohn 12. 3. How the spirites are resâ—estâ—ed with sweete odours Of the diuers vses of the nose Of the matter of the nose How the nose is in steade of a spowt to the braine Of the nosethrils and of their parting asunder Of the spungie or siue-bone Of the muscles of the nosethrils and of the sinews of smelling Notable instructions for the soule Psal 16. 11. Of the vse of the externall senses Of the fupersluities that proceede out of the body Of the passages meete to purge the body by Of the pores in the skinne Of the spowts of the braine and head The face compared to a Limbeck Good instructions for all men The profite of care-waxe The diuersitie of faces is wonderfull The great variety of noses Varietie of countenance in one man The description of an angry visage Of an arrogant countenance Pride is seated vpon the eie lids Matth. 23 12. Luke 14. 11. The seate of shame Esay 48. 4. Ezech. 3. 8. Of the true Physiognomy Iob 10. 12. Genes 2. 7. Three sortes of faculties in man Of the animal power Of the sensitiue Of the motiue How we come to the knowledge of the soule The knowledge of the soule how necessary and excellent it is The knowledge of our selues very necessary The diuision of creatures Of creatures without life The celestiall bodies are immutable Of creatures hauing life Of the vegetatiue life Of the sensitiue Of the cogitatiue Of the reasonable soule The soule of man differeth from that of beasts in vnderstanding and immortality The soule is the proper inhabitant of mans body Two natures in man Two sorts of spirites The description of Angels Mens soules haue alwaies life in the. Matth. 10. 28. Luke 12. 4 5. The soule compared to a cunning workman To a musicion To an inhabitant The soule is the workeman the body the toole A glasse to see God in The world is not the body of God How the soule in the body resembleth God in the world The absurd collection of Atheists Of the Animall vertues Three bellies attributed to mans body Of the braine of the image of God therein The braine most resembleth the heauens Three kindes of knowledge Of the first kinde of knowledge common to all liuing creatures Of the second kind of knowledge Of the third kind of knowledge Of the naturall vertue and of the kindes thereof Of the Animal vertues and powers in the internal senses Of Imagination Of Memorie Of Fantasie and Common sense Of Reason and Iudgement The nature of the reasonable part in the soule is hard to be knowne Of the litle Bellies of the braine Of Dâ—â—a mater or the hard mother Of the skull Three vses of the hard Mother Eccles. 12. 6. Of Iia mater or the godly mother Of the braine and office thereof The diuision of the braine Of the presse and Vault in the head Of the Like worme and of his office Of the passage whereby the superfluities of the brain are voyded None can here attaine to a perfect knowledge of the essentiall power of the soule The mind cannot perfectly know it selfe God cannot deceiue nor be deceiued The testimony of the scriptures most firme Rom. 2. 15. Of the seate of voluntary sense and motion Of the Common sense and of his office Of Imagination and of Fantasie Dan. 2. 28 29. The giddinesse of Fantasie Fantasie is dangerous It is very subiect to the motions of good or ill spirites How sorcerers are deluded by the Diuell The deuill counterfaiteth the workes of God Of the force of imagination The strong fancie of women with childe Imagination preuaileth much in beasts Good counsaile for euery one Psal 119. 37. Beasts search only after corporall things belonging to this life Of the seate of reason and of his office Reason is the iudge of Fansie Of Memorie and of his office Dan. 2. Of the seate of memorie Causes of good and bad memories Of the agreement betweene all the senses The memorie is a spirituall eye Of the effects of Reason Of vnderstanding and contemplation A double discourse of Reason in man Memory compared to a picture What remembrance is The minde compared to the keeper of Rolles A good admonition to humble vs. Diuers kindes of madde folkes The imagination troubled Reason troubled The memory lost Dan. 4. How a man may â—â—dge of the â—eats of the senses Of such as are possessed with Deuilles The power of euill spirites Matth. 26. 4â— and 6. 13. Iob 7. 15. 1. Sam. 16. 14 15. 314. Good instructions for all men Psal 148. 8. Of contemplation and action The senses of â—â—â—serue for the good of his soule Contention betwixt the spirite and fantasie What is meant by the reasonable soule Proofe that the soule of beasts is mortall but of men immortal What is in plants aboue stones and in beasts aboue plants in men aboue beasts The end of mâ—nâ— being Only God knoweth the soule perfectly What actions men doe which beasts cannot How beasts discourse Ezech. 37. 1. Act. 10. 3 10 11. 2. cor 12. 2 3. Of the VnderstaÌ„ding and of Will The memory coÌ„pared to the rolles of Chancerie What degrees are betweene Iudgement and Will What knowledge we may haue of variable things In what things coniecture taketh place Of what things science or knowledge may be had In what things wisedome taketh place Ephes 1. 16 17 18. The author of wisedome Ephe. 3. 19. Much darknesse mingled with our natural light The cause of the diuersity of knowledge and of ignorance in men 2. Cor. 4. 4. Causes of the variety of mens opinions The manners of men follow the disposition of their bodies Two kindes of discourses Of the end of al discourses A comparison The seueral powers of the soule Of the office of Iudgement A sound iudgement is an excellent gift of God Two kindes of consents Agreement betwixt Beleefe and Science What Opinion is What doubting is Of saith in diuine things Of the light of faith Of the senses of faith Ephes 4. 30. 2. cor 1. 22. Ephes 2. Hebr. 11. The conclusions of faith are most true
rest and also compound as the Charles-waine the Lion both the beares and others so in the body there are simple or similar partes as the sinewes bones arteries veines c. and compound partes as the heart liuer braine stomacke lungs and such like Moreouer it is certaine that the Planets howsoeuer in regarde of their moouing to and fro they are saide to be wandring starres haue yet their certaine liâ—â—â—tes in the heauens especially in the Zodiacke in which as in their dwelling houses they exercise those naturall powers wherewithall they are endued as the proper mansion of the sunne is in Leo of the Moone in Cancer of Saturne in Capricorne of Iupiter in Sagittarius and so of the rest In like manner although the body of man bee so framed as that there is no one part but it is seruiceable vnto all yet there are certaine seuerall places appointed as peculiar shoppes for each facultie to woorke in especially as the braine for the Animall spirite the heart for the Vitall and the liuer for the Naturall the gall is the receptacle for choler the spleene for Melancholy the sucking veines serue to purge the blood from the serous substaunce of it and so of the other powers and partes of the body To conclude this third vse for a day woulde not suffice to vtter all that might bee spoken in this matter as the Sunne by reason of the Annuall progresse through the twelue signes maketh a sensible diuision of the yeere into foure partes which haue their different seasons and qualities if they fallout according to the course of nature and so likewise the Moone by her 〈◊〉 quartereth the moneth accordingly euen so farethit with the body of man in regarde of his whole age which being considered from the beginning vnto the ending agreeth very fitly to those seuerall seasons both for number and praedominant qualities if the threede of life bee not cutte off in the midway by the rasour of death For the body of man in his first age which is his childehoode is moist and hote and so is the former part of the yeere called the Spring as also the first part of the moneth from the new moone to the ending of the first quarter In the second part of mans age which is his florishing and youthfull time the body of man is hote and dry such as are the qualities of the second part of the yeere or Sommer season and of that second part of the moneth which is from the first quarter to the full Moone Thirdly the bodie of man in the third part of his age commonly called Mans-age is colde and moist according to the disposition of the third part of the yeere called Autumne and of that season of the Moone which is from the full to the last quarter To conclude in the fourth and last quarter of mans age called Olde-age his body is coldâ— and drie like to the Winter season and to the fourth part of the Moneth which is from the last quarter to the next newe Moone Nowe as these three former vses of the Anatomie of mans bodie serue for the commoditie and delight of man so the fourth is the same that ought to be made not onely of the body of man but as Salomon teacheth vs of all the creatures both in heauen and earth and that is the glorie of God For the Lord hauing set in his visible creatures euident markes of himselfe and of his eternitie power goodnes wisedome and prouidence as the Apostle teacheth what remaineth but that man for whose sake seruice the Lord created al things should thereby acknowledge his soueraigne Lord and returne vnto him all glory praise and duetifull obedience for the same That we ought to make this vse of the Anatomicall consideration of our bodies the kingly Prophet Dauid teacheth vs most diuinely by his owne example when after a view taken of the admirable woorke of God in fashioning him in his mothers wombe he breakâ—th forth into this saying I will praise thee for I am fearefully and wonderfully made maruellous are thy works and my soule knoweth it wel And surely vnles we tread in the steps of this worthy king propoâ—â—d this as the scope of all our trauailes in searching out the seuerall parts of our bodies that God our Creatour and gratious preserâ—er may bee praised worshipped feared thereby we shall neuer know our selues aright and as we ought to doe but rather ioyne with the most part of men who not vsing their skill in this behalfe as a ladder to climbe vp by vnto God sticke fast in the very matter and forme of their bodies so that many of them become meère Naturalists and very Atheists One especiall cause whereof as 〈◊〉 it is because they lay not the ground and foundation of their skill in the holy Scriptures the fountaine of all sound knowlege which teach vs that â—t is the Lord that made vs and that formed vs from the womb but followe after some small streames of this knowledge euen such as are polluted with the inâ—entions of mans braine placing the course of nature in the procreation of mankind which is but an effect of Gods almightie working power in the roome of God himself the supreme cause of al. In which respect they may not vnfitly be resembled to Moles that are alwaies plodding in the earth or to swine that finding acorns vpon the ground neuer looke vp to the tree from which they fall They forget that mans eies are therefore set in the head which is the vpper part of the body rather then in his breast belly or feet because he should be admonished thereby to lift vp his mind vnto heauen and heauenly things therfore Plato saith that mens eies were set in a body erected and looking vpward that they might be as guides to leade them to the knowledge of God vpon the sight of the celestiall light notice taken of the heauenly motions Otherwise althogh a mans skill be neuer so great althogh he knowetâ— the way of the stars the walles of the world the foundatioÌ„s of the earth the top of the heauens yet if he be ignorant of the creator moderatour of them all it shal profit him nothing But as no man is to look for grapes of thorns or figs of thistles so we must not thinke that Epicures and Atheists wil once either labor to know God or open their lips to praise him when as yet they haue not learned to beleeue that he is much lesse that he is a rewarder of them that seeke him And surely of all Sathans delusions wrought by him in the hearts of vnbeleeâ—ers this monstrous error of 〈…〉 as that which is destitute of all shew of 〈…〉 selfe into the heart of man For 〈…〉 râ—ption hunger and thirst is not more incident vnto him then 〈…〉 relâ—gion and aberration in 〈◊〉 yet for any man not to see and acknowledge by the dimme candle of nature that God is
soules in what sence not only the Poets and heathen Philosophers but also Saint Paul haue sayd that men were the generation and linage of God of their error that say that soules are of the very substance of God of the transmigration of soules according to the opinion of the same Philosophers Chap. 84. 509 The chiefe causes as learned men thinke 〈…〉 Pythagoras and 〈…〉 transmigration of soules and transformation of bodies the ancient opinion of the Iewes touching the same thing Chap. 85. 515 Of the Pythagoreans of these dayes amongst the Christians and of their foolish opinions of the opinions of many Doctors and and Diuines touching the creation and ordinary generation of mens soules of the moderation that ought to be kept in that matter of the cause of the filthinesse and corruption of mans soule Chap. 86. 5â—â— Of those powers and properties which the soule of man hath common with the soule of beastâ—â— of those powers and vertues which are proper and peculiar to it selfe according to the Philosophers of the difference and agreement that is betweene humane philosophie and christian doctrine touching thâ—se things Chap. 87. 5â—6 How men can haue no certaine resolution of the immortality of the soule but by the word of God of the peruersnesse of Epicures and Atheistes in this 〈◊〉 of the chiefe causes that hinder 〈◊〉 from beleeuing the immortality of the soule and of their blockishnesse and euill iudgement therein how wee must seeke for the image of God after which man was created in his soule Chap. 88. The twelfth dayes worke 5â—â— OF those who desire the returne of soules departed to testifie their immortality what witnes hath binne sent vs of God out of another world to resolue vs therin Chap. 89. 53â— Of naturall reasons whereby the immortality of soules may be prooued against Epicures and Atheists and first of the argument taken from the faculty of knowledge which the soule hath and from that knowledge of eternity which 〈…〉 howe it appeareth that it is not begotten of this corruptible nature because it ascendeth vp vnto God and how by a speciall benefite of God it is dayly created and not by the vertue of nature Chap. 90. 541 Of the argument for the immortality of the soule that may bee taken from that natural desire therof of perpetuitie which is in it of another argument to the same purpose of the desire which men haue to continue their name and memory for euer an argument to the same end taken from the apprehension and terrour which men may haue both of the death of the body and also of the soule and spirite Chap. 91. 546 Of the agreement that may be taken from the delights and pleasures of the soule to prooue the immortality therof an argument to the same ende taken from the insatiable desires pleasures of men euen from such as are most carnall of the testimony which they may find euen in their vices to prooue the immortality of their soule Chap. 92. 551 Of the testimony that men haue of the immortall nature of the soule in their very body by the composition and frame thereof of that which is in the motion and rest of their soule how the creation of the whole world shoulde be vaine and how there should be no prouidence of God no religion no diuine iustice if the soule were mortall of the multitude and qualities of the witnesses that stand for the immortality thereof Chap. 93. 556 Of another argument for the immortality of the soule taken from that naturall desire which men haue of knowlege of Aristotles opinion touching the nature and immortality of the soule of other reasons of Philosophers to proue that the spirite cannot be a corruptible and mortall nature and how iust men should be more miserable and shoulde haue more occasion to feare and to eschew death then the vniust and wicked if the soule were mortall Chap. 94. 563 Of that prayse and reward which wisdome and vertue may receiue of man in this worlde how miserable it is â—f there bee no better prepared for them elsewhere how death would bee more grieuous and lamentable to the best learned and wisest men then to the ignorant and foolish if the soule were mortall how the best most certaine iudgement of men is for the immortality of the soule of them who not beleeuing the same say that it is good for men to bee in such an error Chap. 95. 569 Of those internall testimonies which all men cary within themselues to conuince them that doubt of the immortality of the soule and of the iudgement to come which shall be in eternall happinesse for the good and perpetuall torment for the euill howe the very heathen acknowledged asmuch by reasons taken from the testimonies of nature Chap. 96. The thirteenth dayes worke 575 OF the testimonies which euery one may take from his conscience of that feare vnto which all men are naturally subiect to prooue the immortality of the soule a iudgement of God vpon the iust and vniust how that which the Atheistes say that feare causeth gods amongest men serueth to ouerthrow their damnable opinion Chap. 97. 581 Whether Epicures and Atheists bee reasonable beasts yea or no and what reasons they bring to ouerthrow the immortality of the soule of the false opinion of Pliny touching the same and of his friuolous and brutish reasons to this purpose of the brutish conclusion vnbeseeming the whole race of mankind which hee maketh of this matter and of the iudgement of God vpon him Chap. 98. 588 Of them who say that wee cannot know by the light of nature but that the soule is mortall of them that alledge a place of Salomon against the immortality of the soule howe wee ought to consider of the iudgementes of God vpon Epicures and Atheistes how the absurdities which follow their doctrine declare plainly the grossenesse of it of the force of those argumentes that were produced before for the immortality of the soule Chap. 99. 594 Of the image of God in the soule of man and of the image of the worlde in mans body of the coniunction that is betweene God the Angels and men of the sundry degrees of Good that are therein of those lessons and instructions which wee ought to receiue from the wonderfull composition aud coniunction of the soule and body Chap. 100. FINIS THE FORESPEACH OF THE INTERSPEAKERS IN this Academy wherein is handled the cause of their future discourses touching the naturall historie of Man The names of the discoursers ASER which signifieth Felicitie AMANA Trueth ARAM Excellency ACHITOB Brother of goodnesse ASER My companions I greatly bewayle the misery of our age wherein so many Epicures and Atheists liue as are dayly discouered amongst vs in all estates and callings True it is that the disagreement in matters of religion amongst them that beare the name of Christians is very great and causeth much trouble in the Church neuerthelesse I doubt not but that
themselues vnder the vale thereof to the end that men should not take theÌ„ for such as they are indeed as also that they might keepe company with the best But in their hearts amongst their companions they mocke laugh at al religion at al feare of God whatsoeuer els is taught vs by his word touching any other life theÌ„ this wherin ioy is prepared for the good and torments for the wicked Nowe if there were nothing els to doe but to conuince such men of errour lying the matter were easie for they cary all their witnesses and their condemnatioÌ„ with them but they are not so easily confounded For a man is conuinced when he is constrained to acknowledge in his conscieÌ„ce that he hath no reason wherby he is able to withstand gainsay that trueth which is shewed vnto him which condemneth him But if he be obstinate head-strong wickedly giuen fâ—oward he will neuer leaue kicking against the pricke but perseuere in his headinâ—sse and obstinacie in his maliciousnes and peruersenes For wheÌ„ reason faileth him he armeth himselfe with impudencie like to a bold murtherer or to a shamelesse harlot that will blush at nothing Therefore Chrysostome said not without reason that heretiks may wel be conuinced but not confounded For they do but wipe their mouth as Salomon speaketh of an harlot which presently after boasteth that she is an honest woman But howsoeuer wicked men striue to blindfold their vnderstanding to harden their heart against the iudgement of God yet it is neuer propounded vnto them but will they nill they they feele themselues pricked and pressed with some sence thereof True it is that it is not so with them as the childreÌ„ of God are touched as they of whom it is written that after they had heard the preaching of Saint Peter they were pricked in their hearts whereby they were led to true repentance because they had bin touched to the quicke by the word But it is said of the reprobate and of them that are hardened of which sort are all Atheists that God hath giuen them a pricking spirite by reason of their bitter hâ—â—â—t which causeth them alwaies to increase in bitternesse to fret and chafe against God when they feele themselues pressed by his word and by his iudgement Therefore I am of opinion my companions that for this cause and for those reason which ASER recited vnto vs we are now to call to memory all the testimonies that we can bring of God of his prouidence of his iudgement and of the immortalitie of mens soules by the consideration of the nature of man and of his parts the body and soule expecting when sometime hereafter God shall giue vs grace to contemplate the selfe same things in euery nature and in all this great visible world For no doubt but such kind of contemplation will furnish vs sufficiently with arguments to conuince all Epicures and Atheists to constraine them to acknowledge in their conscience a diuine iustice and an eternall life The heauens saieth the Prophet declare the glory of God the firmament sheweth the worke of his hands This hie ornament this firmament so cleare and face of heauen so sumptuous to behold is a thing full of greatnesse Therein we may behold the Master builder thereof clothed with the whole frame as with a garment which is a sure testimonie of his power and vertue He who cannot fall within the compas of mans grosse sences maketh himselfe as it were visible in his terrible workes This worlde is vnto vs a learned schoole wherein the praise of God doth preach it selfe It is a goodly large rich shop wherein this soueraigne and most excellent workman layeth open all his works to this end that he might be knowen by them It is a temple wherein there is no creature so little but it is as it were a similitude and resemblance of the creator thereof to shew and manifest him vnto vs. In a word it is a Theatre where the diuine essence his iustice his prouidence his loue his wisedome haue their working by a wonderfull vertue in euery creature euen from the hiest heauen vnto the center of the earth Aske the beasts saith Iob and they shall teach thee and the foules of the heauen and they shal tel thee or speake to the earth and it shall shew thee or the fishes of the sea and they shall declare vnto thee Who is ignorant of all these but that the hand of the Lorde hath made these But truly there shineth in man more then in all other creatures a beame of the diuinity a proportionable image and similitude of his nature in that God hath framed him of an immortal soule capable of vnderstanding of reason to make him partaker of his eternal glory and felicity O Lord saith the Psalmist who marueilous is thy name in all the wolde What is man that thou art mindfull of him and the sonne of man that thou visitest him Thou hast made him a litle lower then God and crowned him with glory and worship Thou hast made him to haue dominion in the works of thine hands thâ—â— hast put all things vnder his feete But withall as God hath more expresly created man after his owne image then any other visible nature and therefore more excellent then the heauens or the earth or any thing contayned in them so he hath singulerly bound him to know and to honour him in which thing he hath placed his soueraigne Good But man being exalted by God to that honour that he might attaine to so great felicitie could not conceiue or acknowledge it which is the cause that we see so many who following the corruption of mans nature are not onely become like to brute beastes but much more vnthankefull yea farre more forgetfull miserable then they are The Oxe knoweth his owner and the Asse his masters crib but man will not know God his creator of whome he holdeth body soule and goods What a horrible shame is it that the Oxe the Asse which are such dull beasts should giue greater honor and obedience to man of whom they receiue their food then man doth to God of whom he hath and dayly doth receiue so many benefits Let vs make hast therefore my companions to go to the schoole of nature For if we profite well therein I doubt not but we shall easily come to the knowledge of the creator thereof and of the chiefe end of our being ARAM. All things created haue their proper motion which they follow according to that loue that euery one of them beareth to his natural disposition For the heauens continue alwayes constant in their naturall motions And as the fire and ayre naturally loue to be aboue and therefore drawe thitherward without ceasing so the water and earth loue to keepe below so that they alwayes bend that wayes So that none of the elements can find any
societie by that coniunction which is the bonde and foundation of all the rest and as it were the spring-head and fountayne of all mankinde Therefore it is written that GOD minding to create woman and to giue her to man for an helper caused an heauie sleepe to fall vpon Adam which name is as much to saye as Of earth and when hee slept hee tooke one of his ribbes and closed vp the flesh in steade thereof And the Lorde God made a woman of the ribbe which he had taken from man then the man said This nowe is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called Mannes or Mannish because she was taken out of man First we see in this history that God woulde not that the male and female should haue two beginnings but onely one and that they should be as it were one stocke of mankinde to the end that the coniunction therof should be more straight firme and inuiolable For if it had beene otherwise the diuersitie of beginnings might haue giuen occasion either of conteâ—ning one another or of enuie dissention and brawlings Therefore God created in the person of Adam the fountaine of mankinde and after framed Euah which is as much to say as aliue or liuing to the ende wee might knowe that the woman was not created as a new creature of an other race or kinde but was onely a portion and part of the nature of man By this meanes Adam had in the woman as it were a glasse to beholde and contemplate himselfe as Euah also had the like in him and as yet to this day euery husband hath the like in his wife and euery wife in her husband For the woman was flesh of the flesh of man bloud of his bloud and bone of his bones euen as it were his owne body and a second-selfe Howe then can the husband despise and hate his wife and not hate himselfe For as Saint Paul witnesseth No man euer yet hated his owne flesh And what cause hath a woman to bee loath to bee obedient to her husband if shee consider that shee is taken out of him and that in setting her selfe against him shee striueth aginst her selfe and doeth her selfe great wrong and iniurie Therefore as the Lord hath declared what place hee woulde haue the husband and wife to keepe euery one in their degree by that order which hee hath obserued in creating the man first and then the woman so he hath done the like in that hee created the woman neyther of the mans head nor of his feete but of his ribbe Whereby as on the one side hee admonisheth the wife not to lift vp her selfe aboue her husband by taking authoritie ouer him and so making her selfe his head so on the other side hee admonisheth the husbande not to abuse his authoritie by putting his wife vnder his feete as if shee were a slaue but to account of her as of his sister and â—ompanion Wee are therefore to consider the great wisedome and prouidence of God in this creation of the woman But Atheists and other contemners of the worde of God besides that goodly ground and foundation of their impietiâ—â— whereof wee heard before take farther occasion to deride this historie of the creation of woman because it is sayde that shee was builded of a ribbe which God tooke from Adam Truely the woorkes of God in the creation of things are not vsuall because they are the first but they which will not beleeue them may as well giue no credit neither to the myracles that haue beene in times past nor to those that are daily seene For they were not to be called by this name of miracles if they were wrought by an ordinarie course of nature They conclude then out of Moses speach either that Adam had then one rib more then he should haue had or else that he had one lesse then he should after the womans creation so that what side soeuer you take they will find a great absurdity They that seeke for occasions in this sort to scofte at the workes of God that study and take delight to cauill at them will alwayes finde absurdities enough in them according to their corrupt will and iudgement For they will daily coine as many as they list to hinder themselues from the knowledge of God and of his workes least they should be constrained by them to glorifie him But indeede what can they doe else but barke against God and his prouidence and laugh at al that is taught vs by the holy spirite concerning the creation of all thinges contained in the world seeing they are not capable of the knowledge and vnderstanding of heauenly mysteries But I demand of them what strange matter they finde in this if it were so that Adam was created with one rib more then men commonly haue which God prepared in his creation for the womans creations or otherwise if hee had one lesse after her creation which is more likely For it is saide expresly that God filled vp with flesh that place out of which hee tooke the ribbe whereof he framed Euah So that Adam lost nothing neither was he lesse perfect in respect of that For God did very well recompence it two wayes First bicause that which he put in steade thereof did serue Adams turne as well as if his rib had remained still Secondly it turned to his great good in that he had a whole woman for one of his ribbes yea such an helpe was giuen vnto him that shee was as it were another halfe of his body to make him a perfect man Besides al this we haue further to note the significations of those things which God meant to represent vnto vs and to teach vs by that manner of proceeding which hee obserued increating the woman of which I haue already spoken But we haue also to marke herein a notable prophecy of Iesus Christ and of his Church and a liuely image of her vnion coniunction and communication with him being her husband For as the rib was taken from the mans side whilest he was asleepe that the woman might bee made so in the death of Iesus Christ signified by this sleepe and whilest he hung vpon the crosse his side was pierced out of which issued blood and water which resemble the Sacraments that tend to the edification of the Church And as Euah was taken from Adam according to the flesh who was the first stocke of mankinde and then ioyned vnto him in marriage that of twaine they might be one in one flesh so the Church was taken from Iesus Christ according to the spirite who is the true stocke of mankind regenerated and reformed after the image of God that she might be one mystical body with Iesus Christ who was giuen vnto her by God for her husband and head For this cause we may say the same things of him and of his Church which we spake before of the authoritie and soueraignty
commodity or pleasure to the life of man the ignorance of our selues which hurteth this life and the other we looke for is a great deale more shamefull and dishonest Now a man may easily perceiue how commendable excellent and profitable the knowledge of the nature of our bodies and of euery part thereof was iudged to be by men in ancient time in that they had publike schooles amongst them in which euery one might daily behold Anatomies yea Anatomies were shewed to euery one that would see them in the priuate houses of Philosophers and Physicions And for this cause Galen saith that the Ancients would not write of this science But after when this diligence of the first louers thereof beganne to be despised and reiected of the most part of men it was necessary that some should write thereof for their good as also for the benefit of posteritie Otherwise they would haue fallen within short space into a dangerous ignorance of their nature and of the causes and remedies of such diseases as dayly trouble them But wee must referre that knowledge which in our discourses wee seeke for out of this science to another end Neyther do we vndertake to speake of that Art and Science that belongeth to Phisicions as though we made profession thereof but onely to shew the true vse of it and howe it may bee referred to the honour of God and to the knowledge of his wisedome and prouidence as also to the end that in beholding the wonderfull composition and disposition of the members of our body wee shoulde remember the creator thereof who seeth whatsoeuer heth most secret and hidden therein and who is able to make as it pleaseth him an Anatomy both of body and soule and to send them both to euerlasting hell fire when they will not acknowledge him to be the efficient and finall causes of their being Hauing regard therefore to this ende we will consider of the parts of mans body according to the subiect propounded vnto vs. The partes then of the body are diuided into two sortes or kindes the firstis the simple or similary parts the other the compound parts The simple partes are of that nature that euery portion of them howe great or little soeuer it be retaineth alwayes the name that is giuen to the whole whereof it is a part and of these simple partes the other kinde is named whereof wee will intreate heereafter because they are compounded partes and obtaine the place of members whose partes are not called by the name of the whole member but euery part hath his speciall name For all the partes of the head are not called by the name of the head and so it is in the other members of the body But if a bone bee broken into many peeces euery peece is still called a bone and the like may be said of the other simple parts which are nine in number namely the bone the ligament the gristle the sinâ—w the pannicle the cord or filament the veine the artery and the flesh Our speach therefore must be of these No man is ignorant that the foundation of euery building is as much a part thereof rather more although it appeare not then any other part howe sumptuous soeuer it be For the rest are laid and planted vpon the foundation neyther can they long continue in their beauty vnles that be good and firme We may say the like of the bones of a mans body which are made of the seede in generation when the thickest part of it is hardned by heat as stones are baked in the earth by great heat For they are not only like to foundations and pillers which sustaine the body al the members thereof but they are as it were pales and fences vnto it to containe all things that are within the building of the body and to inuiron al the parts of it as it were with walles and rampires For this cause they are more earthy drier and colder then any other part of the body And therefore the prouidence of God appeareth most wonderfull in this composition of the bones seeing that of one selfe same peece of earth or clay he maketh the bones so strong and hard in comparison of the ligaments griâ—tles and oter simple partes so that in respect of these the other are for strength hardnes like to stones and mettals in comparison of the other part of the earth Neither is the wisedome of God worthy of great admiration in this respect onely but also because hee made not the bones all of one peece nor yet of one fashion and forme For minding to giue motioÌ„ not only to man but also to al other liuing sensible creatures the bones were to be diuided distinguished into diuers pieces to the end they should not hinder this motion which is so necessary for those creatures the maner whereof wee may see in men armed at all points For the harnesse must be made of diuers pieces according to the ioynts of the members that their moouing may haue no impediment But because the bones being diuided and separated one froÌ„ another cannot be so conioyned or vnited together that euery one should sustaine that charge which it hath to beare therfore that they might serue more fitly for motion to the creatures God hath framed theÌ„ in such wise that they haue their ioynts in so good proportion so aptly interserted one within another as that the whole combination vniting of theÌ„ al together is maruailous exquisit goodly to behold like to a worke made of many pieces which all meet together in one body For some of them are hollow like to a round box that they may be conioyned with the other that are round in the ends to the end they might be knit together more coÌ„ueniently To be short they haue all their fashions proportionable one with an other according to that maner of vniting which is most meet conuenient for theÌ„ Now because this coniunction of ioynts cannot keep itself at that stay if it haue no other band therfore hath God placed there certaine ligaments or stâ—ings of the bones which are white partes without blood void of sence not holow proceeding from the bones differing from them in nature although not so much as the gristles do For the gristles which serue also for a stay that is softer then the bones to the end they should not rubbe together ouer hardly one within another are more earthy drier and harder then the ligaments and yet not so much as the bones so that they are as it were of a middle substance and nature betweene the bones and the ligaments which are also very earthy drie and hard but lesse then the gristles and the bones and more then the sinewes which also in some sort draw neare to the nature of the ligaments But they differ both in that they haue diuers originalles as also bicause the ligaments are altogether
insensible as the bones gristles are neither can they giue any motion or sense as the sinewes can but serue only for baÌ„ds to tie the bones one to another to knit the other members vnto them But the sinews which proceede either from the braine or from the marrow of the backe bone whose originall is from the braine are of a teÌ„der soft white substance of that nature that they haue al sense which they impart to al the sinewy parts of the body And of theÌ„ also some giue both sense motion together Therfore their substance is not so dry nor so hard as that of the ligaments neyther yet is it so soft tender as is the substaÌ„ce of the flâ—sh or of the kernels or of the skinnes of such other like parts wherof we wil speake hereafter As for the pannicles cords or filaments which are litle long threeds slender white solide strong we may comprehend them vnder the name of sinews ligaments because they take part of both natures For some of them haue sense with the sinewes others haue none with the ligaments The office of the pannicles which are litle skins made of sinews ligaments is to defend to knit together the members to impart to many of them sense as to the liuer the heart the lungs the splene the kidneis And as for the filaments they serue the body some to draw nourishment others to retaine and keep that which is meete to nourish the body and some to driue forward and to cast forth those excrements and superfluities which help not to nourish it but are only a burthen and griefe vnto it The veines are thinne and slender pipes carying the thicker blood wherewith the body is nourished and they haue their beginning from the liuer For in that the hollow veine is greater and larger then the rest and out of that all the other veines extend themselues into all the body as it were branches proceeding from the body of a tree Herein as we will do in all our discourse we follow the common opinion approued of the late learned Philosophers Physicions Anatomists For Aristotle wrote that the heart was the original of the veins But Hippocrates taught otherwise whom Galen followed confuting Aristotles opinion As for the Arteries or pulses they are pipes that proceed froÌ„ the heart For in that is the great artery planted which is the stock of al the rest which serue to cary the vital spirits throghout the body they are couered with litle skins that are strong thick to keep the spirits from breathing out for the same cause they haue their passages more streight So that they haue two skinnes or couerings whereof that which is vnderneath is fiue times thiâ—ker then the skinne of a veine To conclude the Arteries and veines are ioyned together to the ende that the vitall spirites might draw and receiue from the veines conuenient matter for their nourishment as also that by their heat they might warme the blood that is within them For there are certaine mouthes in them both for this mutuall communication both that the spirit might draw his nourishment from the veines as flame fetcheth the preseruation of his light from the lampe and also that the veines might receiue spirit and heat from the arteries As for the flesh it is a substance of blood which is then made when the thickest part of it is as it were congeled and with that all the members of the body are clothed outwardly Wee must speake more largely of the vses and properties of all these simple partes which wee haue here laid open in few wordes In the meane time in this litle that hath bin discoursed wee see a maruailous prouidence of God who hath disposed and tempered the matter of the body in such wise that hee made it so apt to effect that worke which hee purposed that by proportions and mixtures so well contriued from one degree to another as he hath done in the elements to the end that all the partes of the body might the better be preserued one by an other And although mens bodies are compounded of earth and of the other elements as we haue already touched yet God sheweth himselfe very wonâ—e full in this whole worke and matter of man For as he turneth the earth into diuers natures so that of one peece hee maketh gold of another siluer of this brasse iron and other metâ—alles of that mineralles of another pretious stones of sundâ—y sortes which are as it were â—he bones of the earth besides a great many other things of diuers kinds which were infinite to rehearse so of one selfe same matter appointed for the composition of the body hee maketh vaâ—iety of workes that 〈◊〉 may be framed and furnished in al respects For we see what difference there is betweene the bones which partes are most earthy and so consequently driest hardest and coldest because of al other partes they dâ—aw nearest to the nature of the earth Then the gristles obtaine the second degree next after the bones for agreement of nature as that which is in then iddest betweene the bones and the ligaments as the ligaments are of a middle nature betweene the gristles and the filaments and the filaments betweene the ligaments and the sinewes and so of the rest Therefore as God the great workmaster of nature hath framed all the partes of mans body of matter taken from all the elements so also hee hath tempered his matter according to the worke he meant to make and to that office which it pleased him to appoint vnto euery part and member of the body So that the matter of some partes holdeth more of the earth of other partes it hath more water or aire or fire or else is more or lesse mingled of all together Whereby it appeareth how aptly this workemaster can apply himselfe vnto his worke Wee haue also another notable testimony of his prouidence in that hee hath made the ligaments so strong and firme according to the necessitie of their office hauing ordained them to knit the bones in their ioynts and to bee as it were bands cords to tie and conioyne them together euen as the thongs of harnesse keepe the parts thereof bound and tied one to another We may say as much of the filaments but chiefly of the sinewes which in their places serue for bands to the body And here wee haue also to note that because God hath created them to giue both motion and sense to the body therefore hee hath planted their roote partely in the braine partly in the marrow of the backebone which is also deriued from the braine as the originall of the ligaments is either in the bones or in the gristles or in the skinne and the beginning of the filaments both in the ligaments and in the sinewes according to that vse for which they were made And that the motion
part of the arme from the elbowe vnto it selfe and it is called the wrest the second is the hollowe palme which is apt to gripe with together with the backe of it on the other side then the fingers make the third part being so made and placed as they are fittest to take easily to gripe to close and to crush In so much that whatsoeuer hath beene spoken by me worthy consideration in the legges and feet touching their office and all those motions that are apt and necessary for them the same also may be plainly seene in the whole hand and arme The second principall part of the whole arme is that which is taken from the elbow vnto the hand the third is from the shoulder vnto the elbow and both the one and the other are so coupled together with their ioynts and bands as is most requisite for all their motions Thus ye see what in my opinion ought chiefly to be knowne in this our present matter Now seeing we haue begun to take a viewe of the foundation of the frame of man by the consideration of the fourth compounded part of the body I thinke that before wee handle the other three wee shall doe well to behold the wonderful composition of many bones which serue also to sustaine the whole stocke of the body and vpon which the backbone is chiefly grounded Therefore thou ASER intreating therof and of the ribbes and other bones of mans body shalt prepare the way for vs to proceede in the description of our building euen vnto the toppe and highest place of the whole frame Of the Backebone and of the marow thereof of the ribbes and of other bones of mans body Chap. 5. ASER. Those Philosophers that were indued with greatest knowledge of those excellent things that are hidde in mans nature stood much vpon the contemplation of this that his face was lift vp towards heauen whereupon they concluded that he ought to abandon all carking care of base and earthly thing to contemplate those things that are aboue and heauenly and in the knowledge of them to satisfie the desires of his soule And truely this is woorthy to be considered that amongest terrestriall creatures which walke vpon the earth God hath created none with two legges onely or that is made straight and bolt vpright but man Therefore he onely and no other hath the ridgebone made according to the straightnesse of the legges which is neither in foure-footed beastes nor in birdes albeit they goe vpon two feete and haue their head lifted vpwarde For as well their legges as those of foure-footed beasts are so placed in regard of the backebone when they walke as mens legges are when they sit downe namely cornerwise not downeright But when men goe their legges are stretched straight with the backebone which is like the keele of a shippe vnto which all the bones belonging to the stock of the bodie are conioyned euery one being answerable each to other according to their proportion as the other peeces of wood whereof a shippe is made are ioyned with the keele by that knitting together which they haue therewith For this cause the whole bodie of man is straight and can stand vpright and sit downe But no beast can doe eyther of them because there is no such vprightnesse voyde of corners betweene their backebone and their legges as there is in man Therefore they can neyther holde nor doe any thing eyther standing or sitting For although they can stay themselues vpon their haunches yet they cannot sitte altogether like to man And contrariwise man can doe nothing well lying along or with his bellie downewarde as beastes vse but standing or sitting hee can doe all his affayres verie easily To this ende hath GOD giuen him legges and feete armes and handes of which wee spake before Now as hitherto wee haue seene the lowest foundation of mans building namely the feete and legges so heere wee must knowe that there is yet another wonderfull frame of bones as it were a newe foundation for the whole stocke of the bodie and residue thereof Amongst others some are verie strong being placed crossewise to vpholde the rest they serue also for the defence of manie inwarde partes that are against them Vpon this second foundation the backebone is layde which reacheth vp to the head and is verie artificially made For first because a man cannot alwayes stande vpright but must sometime bende himselfe or lye downe or turne from one side to another it is not made all one bone but it consisteth of manie bones namely of foure and twentie which are called the knuckles or turning ioyntes of the backebone For this cause Salomon verie fitly calleth it the siluer chaine or coarde which lengtheneth or shrinketh being consumed with extreame olde age For it is framed after the fashion of a chayne and holdeth the lower partes of the bodie as it were tyed and chayned unto the highest part which is the head Againe it is not without good cause called 〈◊〉 chayne of siluer For it is a verie precious part of the bodie and ought to bee greatly accounted of both because the bodie standeth in neede of it and also for manie great benefites which it receiueth thereby True it is that some vnderstand by this chaine of siluer the vniting and agreement of matters whereof the bodie of man is made beeing taken from all the Elements and ioyned together by a goodly harmonie and proportion But the former exposition seemeth to mee most fitte because of that similitude which the backbone and ioyntes of it with their vse haue with a chayne and the vse-thereof For if the chine-bone were all of one piece a man shoulde bee alwayes stiffe like to a pale or like to a logge or bodie of a tree and so the stocke of the body coulde not enioy those motions that are necessarie for it as wee see all the members haue agreeable to their nature For they are nt planted into the stocke of the bodie as boughes and braunches are into the stocke of a tree which are without motion aswell as their stocke Likewise man whome the Philosophers called a Tree turned vpwarde because hee hath his rootes in his head is a farre other kinde of plant then those are which beeyng in the earth stirre not out of one place For it is a tree to be caried about whose braunches haue their naturall motion And as touching those bones whereof the chine-bone is made they are so ordered that the first which sustayneth all the rest as the principall foundation beeing called Os sacrum that is The holie bone is the largest biggest and strongest and beeyng ioyned to the hippes is verie artificially framed of three bones and sometimes of fiue or sixe Wherefore some thinke that it is so called by reason of the artificiall composition thereof others because of the greatnesse and some because it helpeth women in their trauaile as that whose knitting together openeth with
the hippe-bones in them that bring foorth children Others saye that there is no opening but onely that it stretcheth foorth and inlargeth it selfe There are some also that thinke it is so called because it is so necessarie vnto life that after it is once hurt death followeth After this bone the rest that followe are lesse and lesse vntill you come to the highest insomuch that the lowest are biggest and the highest least to the ende that as they are the foundation one of another so they might bee able to beare that charge which they are to sustayne and bee the lesse burdened And as for the coniunction and vniting of them together it is so well contriued that it hath so much strength as is necessarie for it and is neyther too soft nor too harde too drie nor too wette and slipperie but that which is meete for their motions This order of bones and turning ioynts thus raunged is properly called the Backebone or Chine and in Latine Spina dorsi because of the sharpe endes or poyntes which eche of them hath oneuerie side for his defence as it were thornes This whole chine hath a marow proceeding from the hinder part of the braine and reaching downe to the nether ende of the backebone which beeyng rounde in shape is as a riuer whose spring is in the brayne from whence it proceedeth as the great Arterie doeth out of the heart and the hollow veyne out of the liuer as wee haue alreadie declared and may intreate thereof more at large in speaking of the inner partes of the bodie Therefore as the great arterie is as it were the stocke of all the rest being planted in the heart from whence it springeth and the hollowe veyne whose fountaine is in the liuer is as it were the stocke of the other veines so the marrowe of the chine is as it were the stocke and spring from whence all the sinewes issue which afterward like to litle riuers impart their sence and motion And because the fountaine of this riuer is in the braine therfore also the originall of sinewes is attributed thereunto notwithstanding that all those sinewes which giue motion and sence to the partes that are vnder the head except it be to the intrals and guttes proceede from the marrowe of the chine Hereby we may note once againe that that place alleadged by mee out of Salomon where hee calleth the backbone a siluer chaine agreeeth also very fitly with that which is here spoken For seeing the sinewes distribute sence and motion to all the members of the body as it hath bene already told vs and haue their beginning from the braine and marrow of the chine we may well say that it is a chaine and coaâ—d of a great length which extendeth it selfe very farre by reason of other chaines and strings proceeding from it For as the backbone may be resembled to a chaine so the marrowe within it is like to a coarde whereof all the sinewes which are as it were the little strings of all the members of the body haue their beginning and increase And therfore some in stead of a siluer chaine translate a coard or threede of siluer as wee reade in the common Latine translation but the sence is all one And that which Salomon addeth after of the golden ewer which is broken in olde-age with the exposition of the best learned giuen thereof agreeth also very well to this effect For by this golden Ewer they vnderstand the skinne that couereth the braine which is of a yellowish colour resembling the colour of golde It is very fitly called a Ewer because it is a vessell contianing the matter and nourishment of the sinewes and as it were the fountaine of all the motions and sences of the body it is as it were the lodging of all the animall partes and the originall of all the sences both internall and externall Wherefore the matter of the braine contayned within it is of a more celestiall nature then any other part of the bodie and commeth neerest to the spiritual and diuine natures So that this vessell is not without good and iust cause called by Salomon the Ewer of gold For there is in it a fountaine out of which man receiueth great treasures Nowe because the sinewes arteries and veynes were to haue their passage and issue from their fountaine without let or hinderaunce it was requisite that the backebone should haue such holes as it hath and that the bones therof should be of that fashion they are to the ende that neyther themselues nor the marrow within might be easily broken and that the next partes and members might not be hurt For it is very dangerous to haue any rupture or hurt in the chine aswell by reason of the marrow as of the sinewes And because it pleased God to lodge there those internall members of the bodie that are most necessarie for life and for the preseruation thereof he fastened the ribbes to both sides of the backebone namely twelue on euery side and hath left a sufficient space betwixt them that the place might bee able to receiue those members for whose cause they were so built disposed So that there are before and behinde especially about the noblest members very long and large bones to defend them on al sides as it were good harnesse and strong bulwarkes but chiefly behind because the armes and handes cannot so well defend them as they may the other before Therefore God hath better armed them with bones making those of the shoulders so large behind as they are and knitting them also vnto the backebone by their bande but yet so that they touch it not Likewise they are fastened to the highest bone in the brest which reacheth vp to the throate aboue the first ribbe by two litle bones which passe ouer the ribbes that are betwixt them For this cause these bones are called the keyes of the throate For they close and shutte vp these partes as it were keyes so that without them shoulder blades would fall backeward beeing no more able to keepe close together then the poldron of an harnesse not beeing fastened to the gorget The armes likewise are fastened to the shoulders as also the thighes and legges to the hippes then the handes are ioyned to the armes with their ioyntes and bandes as hath beene touched before Now we are to note further according to that I spake euen nowe that the backebone is in a mans body as the keele in a ship so that as the rest of the matter and forme of the shippe must bee well proportioned and framed according to the keele so is it in the composition of mans body and in that correspondencie which all the members ought to haue with the ridgebone of which they all depende otherwise there would be no good agreement but great deformitie And as for the ribbes and brest bones they haue such workemanship as is requisite for the members contained within the
ribbes For seeing the members of mans breathing are closed within needefull it is that they should not onely bee defended and armed with bones for their garde and preseruation but also that these bones should bee so placed that they might inlarge and restraine themselues open and close againe in such wise that the breathing and members thereof be not hindered in their motions Therefore they are all by nature lesse harde then the other besides they are many to the end there might be spaces betwixt them not only for the inlarging restraining of the breast but also that the muscles might bee placed betweene the ribbes And this is one cause why it was needfull that the backebone should be framed as it is namely that it might bee moe commodious for respiration And because the stomacke also standeth in neede of inlargement and restraint according to the quantity of the meate which it receaueth and according as it is lift vp and pressed downe thereby therefore it was requisite that it should haue the like helpe But forasmuch as it might soone bee hurt by reason of the hardnesse of the ribbes if they were driuen and forced against it God hath so disposed those ribbes wherewith he hath defended the stomacke that they are neyther so long nor so hard as the rest For they are of a softer kind of bone drawing neerer to the nature of gristles then the other and the more they descend downward the shorter they are Therefore the lower part of the ribs are commonly called the false ribbes or bastard ribbes which on eche side are fiue in number the other seuen ending at the breast-bone to the end they may defend and garde the heart lungs which are vitall parts Hereupon when any hath bene wounded to death it is often said in the holy scriptures that he was stricken vnder the fift ribbe because no blow pierceth those partes but it hurteth some one of the vitall members which cannot be wounded but that death followeth therevpon We see then how the prouidence of God did well forcsee whatsoeuer was requisite in this worke of mans body and hath prouided thereafter as need required as we may easily iudge by that which wee haue heard of the bones onely which parts are most earthie and massy and are voyde of all sence Wherefore we may well conceaue how excellently this wisedome hath wrought in the other partes and members that are more noble But we may iudge a great deale better of all this if we consider that our treatise of the bones onely is but very litle in comparison of that which might be spoken if a man would vtter it as Phisicions doe and distinguish properly of all the kindes of bones and of their vses Nowe to ende the outwarde composition of the body touching the bones we must consider of the share bone and of the bones of the head of the marow that is within the bones and of the vse of the necke Last of all wee will clothe with flesh this dry Anatomy that afterward we may come to those parts of our building that are most noble and excellent Therfore it belongeth to thee AMANA to intreat of this subiect Of the share bone and marrow of the bones of the bones in the head and of the flesh of the muscles and of their office Chap. 6. AMANA Nothing maketh the worke of God in the composition of mans bodie more woonderfull then the beautie of his shape and the exquisite arte vsed in the worke wherin a man cannot change so much as a naile or an eyelidde which is but haire but that some imperfection must be acknowledged therein and some discommoditie following thereupon will cause it to be perceiued For this cause the kingly Prophet considering his creation speaketh as one rauished with admiration I will sayeth hee prayse thee for I am fearefully and wonderfully mad marueilous are thy woorkes and my soule knoweth it well Hee could not in all that Psalme maruaile sufficiently at so excellent a woorke of God Therefore he vsed a word which signifieth as much in the Hebrewe tongue as if in stead of our speech thou hast framed or fashioned me hee should haue saide I haue benewouen or wrought in tissue and interlaced and fashioned artificially as it were in broadery woorke And truely no image or picture howe well soeuer it bee painted and purtrayted is to be compared with the forme and figure of mans bodie neyther is there any woorke of tapistrie so well wrought and imbrodered or that hath such varietie of exquisite arte and such diuersitie of figures as that hath And from what paterns doe Painters and Ingrauers take the fashion and forme of those Images and pictures which they would drawe foorth but from this What is a piece of tapistry or imbrodered woorke in comparison of a mans bodie which is as it were an image of the whole world and wherein a man may finde almost the varietie and draughts of all things contained in the whole frame of the world This will euidently appeare vnto vs in the sequele of our speeches touching the compounded parts of the body Therefore to finish the externall composition of this humane building concerning the bones we will first note that God in creating the bellie hath not compassed it about with bones as he hath done the other parts of the body and that chiefly for two causes First it is most meet it should be so by reason of the meat it receiueth Secondly for the benefite of women that beare children But to the end it might be vpholden together with that burden it beareth God hath giuen vnto it the Share bone for a foundation which also standeth insteed of a bulwarke for the bowels And because a man cannot alwayes stande vpright but must oftentimes sitte downe not onely to rest himselfe but also to dispatch many works which he hath to doe therefore he hath the buttocke bones and the flesh wherewith they are couered which are vnto him in stead of a stoole and a cushion to sitte at his ease And forasmuch as the bones are to be nourished they haue for their familiar foode the marrow which by nature is moist soft fat and sweete Therefore it hath neyther sinew nor sence but is within the bones as the sappe of trees is in the middest of their stockes and braunches For this cause Iob speaking of the prosperitie of the wicked saieth His breasts are full of milke and his bones runne full of marrowe But this is strange that seeing it is made of the thickest of the blood as it were a superfluitie of the meate how it can be ingendred within the bones and draw nourishment from the veines as other parts of the body do But God knew well howe to prouide for that and to make way for nourishment through the hardnes of the bones which are not all alike full of marrowe For as some of them are more drie or
moyster more hard or softer then others so they haue more or lesse marrowe and some haue none at all because they neede it not Now this marrow whereof we speake nowe differeth from that in the chine-bone which the Arabians call Nucha and is of the nature of the substance of the braine from whence it proceedeth as a riuer from his fountaine for the generation of sinewes to which ende the other marrow is not appoynted of God but onely for the nourishment and preseruation of the bones Seeing then we are come to the braine we must consider with what bones God hath inclosed it on euery side for the defence therof how many in all there are in the head both before and behind on the right side and on the left aboue and beneath of what forme breadth length and hardnes and how they are ioyned one with another by seames and bands and that not without great reason and consideration of the Workmaster which made such an excellent peece of worke For first there are commonly sixe bones which compasse the braine on eche side besides that which is called the Wedge-like bone which is vnder the pallat of the mouth and vnto which all the rest are fastened And because there are many vessels and members in the braine and head God hath made the head of a round figure reaching somewhat in length and bulking out somewhat more both before behinde Now forasmuch as vapours fumes and smokie excrements mount vpward therefore he hath created the head and those bones of the head that are highest not so solide and thicke as the rest to the end the vapours and fumes should not continue inclosed within the braine but might euaporate and so disburthen the brayne otherwise it would be very ill at ease and subiect to many diseases Therefore all of them together are so made one bone that yet they are not all of one and the same piece but ioyned together not by ligaments as many sundrie and seuerall bones are but by such a proper and apt coniunction that there appeareth betweene them as it were a seame made after the manner of a Sawe or Combe as if they were verie finely sewed together And because the bones behinde coulde not haue that helpe of the handes for their defence which the bones before may haue God hath created them more harde and stronger Besides they all are to the brayne and to euery part thereof in stead of an helmet and murrion to defende it on euery side Thus you see the composition of the head touching the bones thereof which is so ioyned to the body by the backebone that nothing but the neck which is the vpper ende of the chine is betweene them For it was necessarily to haue motion both aboue and beneath before and behinde and on both sides which could not haue beene if it had beene fastened to the shoulders without any space betweene which is necessarie also both for breathing for voyce and for manie other purposes that may bee noted heereafter And albeit the necke serued for nothing else but for voyce yet is it so necessarie that without it a man coulde haue no voyce nor any other creature to which it is giuen as appeareth in those that haue no necke For all beastes that want the necke want also the voyce as wee may see both in fishes and in those beastes which the Latins call Insecta animalia the reason is because they haue no necke whereby to ioyne their head with the rest of their bodie but onely as it were a litle threede which holdeth both the one and the other close together Nowe that wee are come to the toppe of the building of mans bodie and haue set him vpright as it were a dryed Anatomie we must come next to the couering of the bones sinewes and other partes mentioned by vs to the ende that after wee haue finished the description of the outwarde partes wee may speake also of those that are within The flesh then is the first garment wherewith the bones are couered and it is properly called by that name which is giuen to that part whereof the Muscles are compounded For some vnder the name of Flesh comprehend the Kernels and the fatte because of the agreement which these partes haue one with another and by reason of their vse For as for the flesh it hath this in common with the Kernels and fatte that it is soft and tender but heerein it differeth from that matter whereof Kernels are made in that the matter of Kernels is more Sponge-like Wee learned before that Flesh is a substance of blood and howe it is made thereof Concerning the Muscles wee vse to call by that name the proper instrument that mooueth voluntarily all the members of the bodie Therefore it is compounded and made of threedes proceeding from the sinewes and of ligaments compassed about with a great deale of flesh insomuch that when the Muscles are taken away from the bodie there remayneth almost nothing but bare bones Their proper place is in all places of the bodie where there are ioyntes and where motion is required For without them the bodie cannot haue that voluntarie motion whereof I spake euen nowe and which is so called because thereby a man may mooue and remooue his members from one place to another as he thinketh good and as hee shall iudge it needefull for himselfe Wherefore we must knowe that the brayne which is the seate of the animall partes and the originall of the all the sinewes and of all motions and sences giuen to the bodie by them is in respect of the whole bodie like to a Waggonner that guydeth his Waggon and the Muscles are like to the bittes and brydles of horses to cause them to retyre or set forwarde as the Waggonner pleaseth eyther to draw them backewarde or to driue them forwarde to pull in or to let loose the bridle The sinewes are as it were the reynes and leathers fastened to the bridles to holde them in or to let them loose and to turne them both on the right hande and on the lefte then those members of the bodie which moue it from one place to another are as it were the horses that are ledde and guided by this meanes and the rest of the bodie is like to the Charet and the burden which it caryeth And for this cause the Muscles are compounded of ligaments sinewes and flesh For as the ligaments serue to knit them together and the sinewes minister sence and motion so the fleshe serueth to the benefite of those litle strings that proceede from the ligaments and sinewes first to nourish them then to holde them vp fostly as if they leaned vpon little cushions and pillowes and lastly to keepe them aswell against the vehemencie of internall heate as against the heate colde and hardnesse that comes from without Likewise the flesh perfourmeth all these thinges vnto the rest of the
hath giuen it vnto them to admonish them of the subiection they owe to their husbands and of that power which they haue ouer them in token whereof they ought to haue the head couered especially in the assemblies of the Church Therefore he saieth Euery woman that prayeth or prophecieth bareheaded dishonoure thither head for it is euen one very thing as though shee were shâ—â—en Therefore if the woman be not couered let her also be shorneâ— and if 〈◊〉 be shame for a woman to be powled or shauen let her be couered And a little after Iudge in your selues is it comely that a woman pray vnto God vncouered doeth not nature it selfe teach you that if a man haue long haire it is a shame vnto him But if a woman haue long haire it is a praise vnto her for her haire is giuen her for a couering Wherein the Apostle laboureth chiefly to admonish women that nature hath giuen to them longer haire then to men and that it becommeth them best to haue it so to the end they should keepe their heads couered with some vaile and honest couering for the reasons declared by him sending them to the schoole of nature to learne of her what modestie and honestie they ought to followe and to shewe in their haire For indeed this schoole of nature is the schoole of God the creatour of nature in which he teacheth vs by our owne body and by the nature thereof what is conuenient and honest for vs. Therefore God hath not couered some partes of the body with haire for an ornament only as the beard in men and haire of the head both in men and women and for other causes whereof I haue spoken but also to admonish them to couer that which they can not discouer without shame and villany whether it be by deede or worde Heereupon it is that not onely those parts of the body that are more honorable and noble as the head and face are adorned with haire to giue them greater maiestie but also places more secret are couered therewith to teach vs that the honour wee owe to them is to keepe them couered and hid and that they dishonour them greatly and themselues also who discouer them not only byvile and shamelesse handling but also by infamous and dishonest wordes as many doe that alwayes haue filthie speaches of whoredome in their mouths For that which is dishonest to be seene and to be discouered to the eyes is also dishonest to bee heard and to be disclosed to the eares which wee must keepe chaste as likewise the eies the tongue the mouth and the heart Therefore they that behaue themselues otherwise do as if they meant to despite God and Nature whome they will not followe as mistresse Wherefore when Saint Paul sendeth women to the schoole of Nature to learne that lesson which is there taught them hee openeth vnto vs a great gappe whereby wee may knowe what Mistresse God bath giuen vs in nature and what instructions wee may receiue from her if wee can vnderstand her and haue the wit to knowe and to comprehend all that shee sheweth vs euen in our owne bodies and goe no further into her schoole considering that there is not so little as one haire therein from which wee cannot take instruction Howe great then woulde the profite be if wee coulde consider as wee ought other thinges that are more excellent and of greater importance Nowe that we haue raised vp the frame of mans body from the foundation vnto the very top we must to morrow by the helpe of God in continuing our speach of the compound parts of the body enter into the consideration of those goodly outward members wherewith the head is adorned and of the senses of the body vnto which those serue as instruments Therefore it belongeth to thee ASER to beginne the handling of such an excellent matter The end of the first dayes worke THE SECOND dayes worke Of the bodily and externall senses especially of touching of their members instruments and offices Chap. 9. ASER They that haue the greatest knowledge in humane Artes although it be in naturall Philosophie are not therefore more happy then others vnles they haue learned to ioyne therewith the knowledge of diuinitie For albeit they haue greater vnderstanding of the nature of things created by God then other men that haue not beene conuersant in such studies yet all their skill being blinde in respect of true and eternall wisedome wil profite them nothing but onely to make them more guiltie before God and worthy of greater condemnation then if hee had giuen them no more vnderstanding then beasts haue And who knoweth not that the felicitie and soueraigne Good of man consisteth not in the knowledge of the creatures and of their nature but in the knowledge of the Creatour that made them Therefore wee shoulde labour in vaine to knowe our selues if it did not leade vs to the knowledge of God yea it woulde helpe vs nothing at all but to manifest more euidently our ingratitude towardes his Maiestie and to aggrauate so much the more his iust and fearefull iudgement vpon our heades Likewise wee shoulde reape little benefite by our carefull inquiry into the matter and forme of the frame of man whereof wee discoursed yesterday if it serued not vnto vs for an entrance into a deeper contemplation of the goodly woorkes that appeare outwardly therein and of those corporall senses that haue their seates and instruments in them And all this knowledge woulde doe vs little or no good at all if wee were not ledde thereby to the vnderstanding of the internall senses of the soule vnto which the former serue as messengers and ministers as these latter doe vnto the minde and vnderstanding Therefore in following this order let vs ascend step by step to those things that are most excellent and although the eye of our minde should dasell wheÌ„ we draw neare vnto theÌ„ yet we shal gaine greatly because those things are very great which draw neerest to perfection Hauing before compared the composition of mans body to a building and hauing raised vp all the outward partes of it vnto the verie toppe it remaineth nowe that wee set on the gates and windowes When a man woulde signifie that a house is very lightsome and hath ayre enough wee commonly say that it is well boared or pierced Which may truely be spoken of mans bodie in respect of those outward members which God hath fashioned in the head especially in the face which hee hath appointed for seruantes to the chiefe bodily senses whose seruice also is afterward required for the spirituall and internall senses It is in this part of our building and tabernacle wherein God causeth the greatest beautie thereof to shine I meane in the face which is as it were an image of goodly orient and liuely colours enriched with many excellent workes not onely in regarde of the skinne and painting but also of the
in such wise that they are as it were a litle tabour stretched out in that place These small skinnes haue their originall from those sinewes by which the vertue of hearing proceedeth from the brayne to the eares For after the sounds are made in the ayre they are caried to these skinnes and then heard and discerned by them Heereupon they are made hollowe to receiue the soundes that come from without hauing a nature that agreeth very much with the ayre as the eyes do with the fire I meane in respect of their vertue which is burning and glistering albeit their substance bee moyst Therefore as the eyes iudge of light and colours and by that meanes bring great pleasure and profite to men so the eares iudge of sounds and of the voyce of notes harmony and of melodies whereby man receiueth commoditie and delight And if there were but the sundry notes of birdes what solace doeth hee receiue by it But besides how many instruments are there of most excellent and melodious musicke what voyces and pleasant songs framed very cunningly and with great grace and harmonie by the arte of musicke For we see by experience that this science is giuen of God to men that it might be chiefly dedicated to their eares to the end that by the sounds songs which they heare they might be stirred vp to praise God the giuer of them Therefore Salomon not without good reason called them the daughters of singing or of musicke because of the delight which they take therein and also because this whole arte and all songs and melody would bee vaine and vnprofitable to the life of man without hearing But aboue all the chiefest profite that the eares bring to men is by the meanes of speeche whereby they communicate one with another all their conceiptes imaginations thoughtes and counsailes so that without them the whole life of man would bee not onely deafe but dumbe also and very vnperfect as if man had neyther tongue mouth nor speech And on the other side seeing man hath alwayes neede of doctrine and instruction albeit all the other bodily senses helpe him therein neuerthelesse none is so fitte or more seruiceable to this purpose next to the eyes then the eares Wherefore if Salomon for the cause aboue rehearsed called them the daughters of singing a man may also call them the daughters of discipline and of knowledge For as man hath nothing more proper then speech whereby hee letteth others knowe what hee hath in his minde and heart so hee hath nothing more fitte then that to teach all thinges by whose doctrine is alreadie begunne by meanes of the other senses but principally of the eyes For the other senses together with the sense of seeing are as masons that lay the first foundation of the frame of doctrine and afterwarde speech buildeth vpon this grounde-woorke which it cannot doe if it bee not holpen by the eares and by hearing which agree with the voyce pronounced by the mouth whereby speech is sent and conueyed to the eares that it may bee hearde and vnderstoode of them Thus after the knowledge of things is found out and artes begunne by meanes of the sight after the same manner that was declared before by vs when wee intreated of the eyes then the sense of hearing teacheth a great deale more both greater matters and sooner For wee receiue and vnderstande in a short space that which our master who teacheth vs hath obtayned and prepared in a very long time For howe many thinges must wee see and what bookes must we reade before we shall attaine to the knowledge of that which we may learne by hearing one lecture at which we shal be auditors onely one houre or lesse Let vs consider then how conueniently and bountifully God dealeth with men in this behalfe when that thing which is very profitable and most necessary is made so easie for them For nothing is more profitable or more necessarie then to learne much nor any thing more easie then to heare much Therefore Salomon saieth That a wise man shall heare and increase in learning and a man of vnderstanding shall attaine vnto wise Counsels to vnderstand a parable and the interpretation the wordes of the wise and their darke sayings This also is the meanes whereby GOD hath appoynted that men shall learne and vnderstand his will And therefore as we heard that eyes were giuen vnto vs to this ende especially that they should contemplate the workes of God their and our Creator so we ought to know that eares were giuen vs that before all things we should heare and vnderstand his voyce and worde and consecrate them wholly to that purpose to the end that after the eares of the body haue heard it they should be the messengers to declare it to the eares of the soule and minde to cause them also to heare and vnderstand the same For this cause as the aire that entreth into the eares and bringeth vnto them the sound made in it selfe when it is stricken and moued moueth the litle hammer of the eares and causeth seth it to strike vpon the anuile and so maketh a sound by meanes of the litle taber through whose sounde the spirites of hearing are awakened so God by inspiration worketh in his Prophets and Ministers who receiue his voyce after a diuine manner and then are they as it were the hammers that strike vpon the anuiles of mens mindes and heartes by which sounde the spirites of the hearers are awakened and stirred vp But my desire is that wee should throughly consider heere this great secrete of GOD that lyeth hidde in nature namely the meanes whereby the hearing is made and framed in the eares which wee cannot see or comprehende as it is in it selfe Neuerthelesse God giueth vs great light thereunto by the matter and forme of the instruments which he hath made for the hearing Wherefore seeing the eares are framed so artificially as wee haue hearde as appeareth to the eye by their Anatomie wee cannot doubt but that God would haue their vse and artificiall composition knowen to them that may beholde with their eies the instruments of hearing when they are laid open vnto them as they are to Anatomists to the end that by the view and contemplation of theÌ„ they might iudge of that secret worke of nature which God hath wrought in hearing which cannot bee seene with eyes when it is in doing For we knowe by experieâ—ce whereto serueth a hammer an anuile and a taber and what sound they make when the one striketh and the other is stricken and howe that hollow things are more fitte to receiue sounds and to cause them to be heard better then things that are solide and more thicke So that when we see instruments like to these in the composition of the eares we may easily iudge that God hath not placed them there but to doe that seruice which may be perfourmed by such instruments to
aworking when neede requireth For this cause Salomon meaning to shewe the defect of teeth in olde age and what small strength olde men haue to chew their meate saieth that the grinders shall cease because they are fewe and the doores shall be shutte without by the base sound of the grinding These doores are the lippes because they serue the mouth and the mill which is within them For we vnderstand by the mouth all that is from the lippes vnto the throat and winde-pipe wherein not onely the mill of mans body is contained but also as it were a part of the bake-house in which the meale that is grinded is to be kneaded and so made ready for the ouen that afterward it may be baked in the stomacke which is as it were the ouen and kitchin of the whole body to dresse meate for it wherewith all the members thereof are to bee fedde and nourished For foode can not nourish the body if it still continue such as it is put into the mouth vnlesse it bee better prepared and dressed in such sorte that it may easily bee turned into the substaunce of the body that receiueth it As then iawes and teeth are the mill and milstones which bruze and turne to meale the wheate that is put betweene them that is to say all kindes of meates both hard and tender for the nourishing of the bodie so we may say that the tongue in this respect playeth the miller and serueth in stead of a hopper into which those graines that otherwise would skatter from betweene the milstones are put that they may be ground For when the meate falleth on any side from betweene the teeth the tongue serueth to send it backe againe that it may be well chewed and not auoyde the grinding of the iawes and teeth Thus wee dayly come to greater knowledge of strange instruments in the body of man For we heard before what Organs and what kinde of musicall instrument God hath made in him for the voyce and for speech now wee may see how there are within him a mill and a miller a bakehouse and a kitchin Hereupon we ought to thinke that the Master and Maker of these hath not created them that they should be idle as though he had giuen them nothing to grinde or to bake For he is no such workmaster as to make any woorke and not to set it a woorking or to leaue it vnfurnished of things necessary neither any such master or Lord but that he can casily doe it Wherfore although there are as many of these milles and ouens as there are not onely reasonable creatures but also beastes and although he hath vndertaken to maintaine them alwayes euen from the creation of the world vntil the consummation thereof yet hee neuer wanted matter to set them on worke when it pleased him Hereby we may know whether we haue a rich father or no and what cause we haue to feare that he will leaue our milles and ouens emptie although we had many houses full of them as in deed we haue in our selues our wiues and children so long as we acknowledge him to be such a one and that we yeeld obedience vnto him as becommeth his children But we haue further to note that as our mill is not without a Miller and such tooles as are necessary for him so the Ouen and Kitchen haue their Baker and Cooke For first the teeth doe not onely serue for a mill but they discharge some part of a Cookes office because the more they chop the meate and chew it well it is the better prepared for the stomack to bake it so much the sooner Therefore we say commonly that the first preparation and digestion of meate is made in the teeth For this cause God hath giuen a great number of them to man and hath made them of bone and distinguished them into sundry sorts according to that office whereunto he hath assigned euery one of them For right afore there are foure aboue and as many beneath that are broade sharpe and cutting which are called Incisorie teeth because they are apt to diuide and to cut the meate as a knife doeth and these haue but one roote Then there are other twaine on each side commonly called Dogge-teeth because they resemble the teeth of dogges which are broade towardes their roote but sharpe and poynted aboue and these also haue but one roote of a reasonable length Their office is to breake the meates and other things which by reasoÌ„ of their ouer great hardnes could not be cut by the first Next the other teeth are appoynted to bruze very small those meats which haue alreadie passed through the former euen as milstones bruze wheate Therefore they are sharpe broade hard and great and haue more rootes then the other And because of the similitude which they haue with milstones they are called by the same name both of the Grecians and Latines as also iaw-teeth and grinders All teeth are planted in the iawe-bones by meanes of the gummes beeing fastened within them as it were nailes so that they cannot easily bee moued shaken or plucked out And although bones naturally haue no feeling yet teeth are very sensible by reason of certaine braunches of small soft sinewes which enter into their substance For this feeling is necessary for them both because they are bare and not couered with flesh as other boones are as also for the meates sake and for iâ—steâ— as they that in some part are seruiceable to the taste aswell as all the other partes of the mouth Thus you see how the teeth serue at one time both for a mill and a cooke together with the tongue and the rest of the mouth Againe the tongue serueth for a baker hauing this office layde vpon it to gather the meate together after it is well grounde and chewed and to fashion it round like to pilles or small loaues that are yet but dough to this ende that it may with more â—ase be swallowed downe Wherein it dealeth like a baker who first fashioneth his bread into loaues Next it playeth the part of a baker and of a peele both together as that which setteth in the meate and causeth it to descend into the stomacke which is the ouen wherein it must bee baked that afterwarde it may nourish the whole bodie For this cause it was necessarie that the tongue both in breadth and length should bee answerable to the whole mouth in such sort that it might touch all partes of it to discharge so many offices Wee see then that mans bodie is not onely like to such a frame of a house as wee considered of before but also like to a great Citie wherein there are milles and Ouens and Artificers of all occupations Now vpon this that hath beene discoursed touching this last vse of the tongue in preparing and swallowing downe meate wee must further note that as there is a pipe that reacheth from the lungs vnto
the mouth for respiration and for the breath of the voyce as hath beene declared vnto vs so there is another from the stomacke vnto the same place properly calle the Gullet which the Physicions commonly call by the Greeke name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whose office is to cary the meates and drinkes into the stomacke And as the other pipe is in the former part of the necke that it may goe right to the mouth to drawe in the aire so this second is behinde in the necke that it may keepe more heate in it and it is longer then the first Neuerthelesse many thinke that there is but one pipe for bruath and for meate and drinke as there are some also who albeit they know well there are twayne yet they suppose that the one is for meate and the other for drinkes that the lightes also might bee moystened thereby Yea there haue bneene skilfull and great Philosophers who seeme to haue beene in this errour or at leastwise haue disputed thereof But because GOD hath so distinguished these passages and that the first is the breathing pipe for the reason vttered before this excellent Woorkemaster hath made another litle instrument called Epiglot by the Physicions made of a grictly matter reasonable harde and fashioned like to a little tongue that is of a triangle forme or like an 〈◊〉 leafe This instrument serueth to couer the pipe for breath at the very toppe of Larinx as it were a couer of a potte It serueth the pipe to this vse not to keepe euery thing out of it but to suffer no meate or drinke or any other thing to enter in in any such quantitie as might hinder breathing and respitation For a litle thing will stoppe a mans breath and strangle him as appeareth in those whome Histories affirme to haue beene strangled some by a litle haire others by a stone of a grape some in supping vp milke and others by such like tirfles Yea many times wee haue experience of this pevill when wee eate and drinke if neuer so litle ineate or drinke enter into this passage Therefore God teacheth vs two things thereby the first is vpon what assenderthreed our life dependeth seeing so litle a matter is sufficient to depriue vs of it The other is to admonish vs how quier and sober we ought to be in eating and drinking not glutton like and alsoin speaking when we take our refection For then is the danger greatest if wee speake whilest wee eate because wee cannot speake without voyce not haue voyce without breathing nor breath without opening this litle couer And because the breathing pipe is formost the meate drinke must needs passe ouer this litle tongue as it were ouer a litle drawe bridge So that if this small couer were lift vp and opened in stead of going beyong the pipe of breathing it would enter into it But it most not bee so fast shut vp but that breath may alwayes issue out and that some thinne humour and liquor may enter in to moysten and supple both the arterie and the lungs otherwise potions appointed for that purpose by the Physicions were vaine and vnprofitable Hauing nowe spoken sufficiently of those instruments which are seruiceable to voyce and speech and of all the proper offices of the tongue it wil be thy part ASER to morrow to take in hande againe and to pursue our matter of the senses and of their instruments and first to instruct vs what the sense of taste is and what the palat is that serueth it The ende of the second dayes worke THE THIRD DAYES worke Of the sense of taste giuen to the palat what tastes are good to nourish the bodie of the diuersitie of them of hunger and thirst and of their causes Chap. 17. ASER It is wonderfull that God causeth all things whatsoeuer they be to serue his worke in such sort that nothin is in vain idel or vnprofitable wherof we haue alreadie seene many testimonies in our former discourses of the least partes of the bodie But which is yet more woonderfull in his prouidence hee hath created made and disposed nothing throughout all nature without great order excellent measure and modration in all things which gaue occasion to the first Philosophers to call the whole frame of the world Mundus which is as much to say as an Ornament or a well disposed order of all things Whereby God would haue vs especially learne to knowe how greatly order pleaseth him and how he abhorreth all disorder and confusion and how greatly he desireth that men after his example should obserue measure and moderation in all their workes Hereof wee may haue a goodly instruction in this place if we consider how all the senses and namely the taste with those sauoury relishes that agree with it receiue their strength vertue and nature from all the elements according to that agreement which their nature and offices have with them as also what pleasure wee take in the relish of all things when it agreeth with our taste and contrariwise how it troubleth vs when it is vnpleasant and not agreeable to our taste Yesterday we discoursed of the corporall senses and of their members and instruments whereupon we spake of the tongue both because of the agreement it hath with the eares by reason of speech as also because it is the instrument of taste together with the palat which is the vpper part of the mouth made like to a pretie vaute and to a little heauen Therefore Iob said Doeth not the eares discerne the wordes and the palat tastemeate for it selfe And again The eare trieth the words as the mouth tasteth meate The sense of taste then is that sense whereby the mouth iudgeth of all kindes of tastes which are many in number And this is a notable gift of God in that he hath giuen such relishes to meates and drinkes whereby not onely men but also all liuing creatures can presently know by their taste what things are good to eate and drinke and what are otherwise For if God had not giuen the sense of taste to all liuing creatures that they might iudge thereby of all meates and drinkes what would their life bee But wee are to know this thing further that men iudge by their taste not onely of such things as may serue to nourish them but also of medicines For Physicions knowe the qualities of herbes and simples more by their taste then by any other sense afterward by this knowledge they iudge easily of their natures and proprieties and for what remedies and vses of physicke they wil serue Therefore this iudgement of the taste is very necessary for the life of man especially for the nourishment of all litting creatures because all things which the earth bringeth foorth are not good to feede them For some things are diuers from nourishment as earth clay wood and stones other things are altogether vnsauery and haue no taste and some haue
but a very litle But God hath prouided a remedy for this by the meanes of salt and of sundry fortes of sawces and spices whereby they may be made to haue a pleasaunt taste There are some things also which are cleane contrary either by reason of their euill taste as gall and wormewood or els because of the hurt which they may bring with them as those things that are venimous and very poyson But God hath very well met with this inconuenience both by this gift of the sense of tasting and also by putting into such things as might hurt either mā or any other liuing creature a certaine qualitie which we call relish or taste that is contrary and very vnpleasant to the sense of tasting as likewise hee hath giuen to those things that are healthful and good to nourish a relish that is agreeable and pleasant vnto our taste This is to be vnderstoode if our taste bee not corrupted either by sickenesse or by some vnbrideled appetite the like is to be said of the spittle which beside the vse before named hath this also that it helpeth the taste Wherefore if it bee already infected with some euill taste it will not well receiue others but will cause euerything to be of the same taste wherewith it is infected and corrupted Now those things are most sauoury and haue the best relish that haue in them the best mixture of heate and moisture which two qualities make the relish of things and without which we see that all extreme colde and dry things haue no smacke or taste as flaxe or towe and drye wood or water that is very pure In other thinges those that haue more moisture then heate haue their taste lesse sharp so that according as heat and humidity are tempered together the diuersitie of tastes is framed For if humidity doth not exceede and surmount earthy drynesse or both of them be consumed by heate there is no taste So that as all bodily thinges are compounded of all the elements and differ one from another according as they haue more or lesse of the elements so is it in tastes For this cause this sense of taste answereth to the element of water and holdeth most of the nature thereof as the sense of touching hath more affinitie with the earth to the ende it might agree better with those thinges that are to bee felt thereby For the vigor and sense thereof ought to be close together and throughout and such as taketh faster holde then any of the rest So likewise the sense of sight agreeth with the fire and that of hearing with the aire as wee haue alreadie touched it And as for the sense of smelling it agreeth both with the fire and with the thicke ayre because smelles are stirred vp by heate as smoke is by fire which afterwardes are by the meanes of the ayre caried to the sense of smelling whereof wee will speake heereafter But let vs goe on with our discourse of tasting and of such things as are apt to nourish the body For wee cannot liue without the helpe of many things amongst which meates and drinks are chiefest because that as hunger requireth meate so thirst desireth drinke Wee must therefore vnderstand that this soule and life which is called Vegetatiue or nourishing and which is common to man with all other liuing creatures hath two principall instruments in the body namely heate and humiditie of which heate is first and chiefe belonging properly to the vertue of nourishing next humiditie is ioyned to heate that it may feede and preserue it For life is preserued in the body by heate which is the chiefe instrument thereof so that as soone as heate is gone it becommeth starke dead And because this heate would easily and quickly consume it selfe if it were not nourished and mainteined moysture is ioyned vnto it in liuing bodies as it were a bridle to keepe it back to the end that life might be prolonged which otherwise woulde faile presently after it were forsaken of heate as heate also would decay if it were not nourished and preserued by humiditie which it necessarily requireth For heate draweth humour vnto it selfe and sucketh and drinketh it vp likewise humour refresheth heate and slaketh the vehemencie thereof all which wee may plainely see in a lampe For let vs compare the light of a lampe with life and then let vs consider whether this light can bee preserued without fire and whether this fire can continue any long time and not bee extinguished vnlesse it haue two thinges The first is matter as namely the wieke of the lampe which matter cannot bee firme if it haue no drynesse in it whereof fire may take holde For fire beeing hote and drie cannot haue any fellowship with coldenesse and humiditie without some middle qualitie agreeable to his nature On the other side it will soone consume the drie matter on which it lighteth if the vehement heate thereof bee not abated and tempered by some humiditie which both resisteth the drynesse and also by the coldenesse it hath moderateth the heate of the fire Therefore wee see that the matter of the wicke of a lampe cannot continue long beeing once lighted if it be not greased with some tallowe or some humide matter to preserue both that and the fire of which it receiueth light For when it is burnt out the fire also dieth with it through want of nourishment that might mainteine it But it is not ynough although the fire haue meet matter to nourish it For they must be so well wrought and mingled one with another that there bee neyther too much nor too litle of eyther but as much as neede requireth For if there bee a great deale of wieke and but a litle oyle and tallowe it will endure so much the lesse while and if there bee too much oyle or tallowe in respect of the wieke it will slake the fire ouermuch yea it may be in such great quantitie that it will put it quite out But if due proportion bee kept betweene the cotton and the oyle or tallowe the fire will preserue it selfe verie well and giue a goodly cleare light The like is done in our bodies For if they were without naturall heate there woulde bee no life in them and if this heate had not meete matter to preserue it selfe within them it woulde quickely bee extinguished Nowe seeing it must bee nourished and mainteined this cannot bee done vnlesse it haue some solide and firme matter which cannot be consumed so quickly but that it may preserue it selfe sometime Againe forasmuch as there is no matter so solide and firme which is able any long time to resist the fire that consumeth all if the violence thereof be not moderated this matter must of necessitie be moistened Here then the meate which is most solide standeth in stead of match or weeke to this naturall fire from whence proceedeth life to the body and drinks are as it were oyle in
the ground when wee meete with some great infection shal wee not thinke that God turneth his face from vs when he findeth vs so stinking and infected Contrariwise when wee smell some good sauour it ought to bring into our remembrance the odour of Iesus Christ his sacrifice and of those vertues that are well pleasing and agreeable in the sight of God and stirre vs vp with al indeuour to present him with such smels to the end wee may be of good odour before God and men Which the holy worde will teach vs after hee hath giuen vs a spirituall nose whereby wee may attaine to the right sense and smel of that good odour of Iesus Christ and of the Gospel working in vs the spirit of discretion to discerne truth from lying that our soules may be refreshed as the braine is by those good smels that are brought vnto it by the bodily nose and by the sense of smelling that is therein Nowe therefore being come to the end of this goodly matter of the fiue corporall and externall sense me thinks we should profit much by a briefe collection of their vse and of the commoditie which they bring to men considering also the diuersitie that is in their faces and visages in which these goodly organicall instruments of the senses are planted and how their faces are images and pictures of their heart and mind The discourse of this matter appertainth to thee ACHITOB. Of the vse briefly of all the outward senses for the seruice of man namely in purging the superfluities and ordures of his body of the diuersitie that is in mens faces and of the image of the mind and heart in them Chap. 20. ACHITOB. When wee taste some pleasure by considering the workes of God namely those which wee beare about vs in our nature as indeede such contemplation affoordeth great delight to their soules that are not buried in ignorance we ought to thinke that we haue great occasions and certaine meanes to consider what pleasure and ioy it would be to see and behold the Creator and Workmaster who hath made giuen to man such excellent senses such wonderful vertues faculties what delight ariseth of hearing smelling only some smal odour of tasting a litle of his prouidence wisdome goodnes benignity grace mercy much more wheÌ„ they are throghly tasted relished of vs. Which may be performed by them that imploy all care and diligence in meditating in his eternall worde and in considering the workes of his Almighty power vntill such time as by the dissolution of this mortall tabernacle of the body they shall haue put on immortalitie to enioy true contemplation that is to beholde him face to face who onely is able to satisfie soule with goodnes and felicitie as the Prophet teacheth vs where he saieth In thy presence is the fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand there are pleasures for euermore Now then we may know by that which we haue hitherto heard in these our discourses what testimonies God hath plaÌ„ted of his great prouidence in all the partes of our bodies what care hee hath had and still hath of man and how he hath giuen him as many corporall senses as he needeth for the vse and fruition of all those visible and bodily creatures which he hath created For he hath eies whereby he vseth and enioyeth the light and the pleasure of such diuersitie of colours as may be seene in the world as well naturall as artificiall and compounded with the sundry mixtures of naturall things Then by the eares he hath the vse of al kindes of sounds and principally of speech together with the pleasure of harmonies and melodies consisting in the variety of tunes and songs as well of mâ—ns voice as of birdes and other creatures and also of instruments of musicke which are so many and of such diuersitie amongst men And by means of the nose and nosethrils he hath the fruition and pleasure of odours and smels so diuers in nature both naturall and artificiall and by means of the mouth tongue and palat he enioyeth and iudgeth of all sorts of tastes which also are very diuers and chiefly of meates and drinkes wherewithal he is nourished For this good God hath appointed a meane for the preseruation of mans life whereunto he hath ioyned pleasure with profite if men know how to vse the same with moderation and measure rather to make supply no necessity then to satisfie pleasures The like may be saide of all the rest of the feelings and touchings of al the bodily members of which there is great variety But hauing spoken sufficiently of the composition of the externall parts of mans body and of the outward members of the natural senses of man and of their vses we ought to consider also what instructions God giueth by them vnto men concerning their infirmitie For although the body of man be so beautifull and excellent outwardly as wee haue declared yet it hath infection within which of necessitie must appeare and breake foorth outwardly that it may be purged and vnburdned For the body cannot reape that profit of the nourishment it receiueth by al the elements and chiefely of that which it eateth and drinketh as that it can coÌ„uert turne al of it into nourishment substance auoyd all those accidents inconueniences whereunto it is subiect by reason of the infirmity of it owne nature Therefore it commeth to passe necessarily that the body is ful of excrements of much superfluitie ordure which would kill it if it were not discharged and deliuered thereof For these excrements woulde be poison vnto it in steade of nourishment Therefore the prouidence of God hath so prouided a remedy for the same that admonishing man of his infirmitie to the end he should alwayes remember that he is created of clay and earth that he shal returne vnto it againe it hath withal ordained the meanes whereby man should be comforted discharged of those excremeÌ„ts superfluities which might hurt him And for this cause there is no member but hath his proper passages appropriated for purgation seruing in his place yea euen the noblest members For I speake not only of those members which we account most vile abiect shamefull which nature teacheth vs to couer hide being appointed for the voiding of the grosest vilest most filthy excrements but also of those that are the excellentest chiefest in the head face so that there is no part of our body out of which there proceedeth not some infection filthines Insomuch that a man may wel say that our whole body is within as it were a stinking draught or puddle that emptieth it selfe on euery side as it were by sinks gutters For if we coÌ„sider it generally there is no part that is not subiect to sweat which oftentimes sauoureth very strongly and that purgeth not it selfby sweating from that superfluitie which it
alwaies intire and in their first forme not being subiect to any change in respect of their bodies neither do they weare or consume away as other creatures do that are vnderneath them Insomuch that none of the celestiall spheres are either wearied worne or spent more with all the labour they haue vndergone by the space of so many yeeres then they were the first day of their creation For we must not take it for a change of their natures and qualities that according to their diuerse course the sunne moone and other planets starres are sometimes further off sometimes neerer each to other that they haue their oppositions coniunctions diuerse and different aspects according to the diuersity and difference of their course and motion We may say as much of the Eclipses both of the sunne and moone For the change that is amongst them is not in their owne bodies substance qualities but onely in regarde of vs and of our sight Concerning the creatures that haue life they are for the most part diuided into three kindes but they that distinguish more subtilly make foure kindes And because life is giuen by the soule the Philosophers make as many sortes of soules as they doe of liues and call them by the same names They call the first the nourishing or vegetatiue soule or life the second the sensitine the third the cogitatiue the fourth the reasonable soule or the soule partaker of reason Touching the first there is a kinde of life that hath no other vertue in the creature to which it is giuen of God then to nourish and cause it to encrease and to keepe it in being vntil this life faile it The soule that giueth life with these effects is called nourishing or vegetatiue this is proper to al herbs trees plants that are maintained kept in their kinds by the seeds or by planting setting such like propagations The second kind of life named sensitiue is so called because it giueth not only nourishment and growth as the first but sense also and feeling They that will haue but three kinds make but one of this and of that which is called cogitatiue by them that make foure who attribute the sensitiue soule to the sea spunges to oysters cockles and to those creatures which the Graecians and Latins call by a name which in our language signifieth as much as plant-liuing creatures because they are of a middle nature betweene plants and liuing creatures hauing life and sense as if they were compounded of both these natures together so that they are more then simple plants and yet are not perfect liuing creatures as those are to whom is attributed the cogitatiue or knowing soule And this is a soule and life which not only giueth whatsoCuer the two former imparteth to the creatures in whome they are but also a certaine vertue and vigour as of cogitation of knowledge and of memorie that they may haue skil to preserue their life and know how to guide and gouerne themselues according to their naturall inclination This soule is proper to brute beastes whome some thinke to be partakers after a sorte of reason so farre foorth as it concerneth things belonging to their nature But wee will proceede no further at this time in this disputation onely let vs note that they which make but three kindes of soule or life doe giue to brute beastes that which wee called Sensitiue comprehending them vnder that kinde of life vnto which they attribute the same vertue and vigour whereof wee nowe spake and which is distinguished by others from that kinde of soule that giueth onely simple sense vnto the creature The fourth kinde of soule and life is that of men which hath all whatsoeuer is in the former kindes and ouer and besides that which is most excellent it is partaker of reason and vnderstanding wherein it agreeth with the life of Angelles as wee will declare more at large in place conuenient and shew also the difference that is betweene them For this cause the soule of man giuen vnto him is commonly called a reasonable soule as all the former are called by mans agreeing to their nature as wee haue declared Therefore seeing this kinde of soule and life comprehendeth all the vertues and properties of the rest it may bee called Uegetatiue Sensitiue Cogitatiue and reasonable altogether But wee must note here that there is great difference betweene the soules of men and those other of which wee spake before For beside that the soule of man is partaker of reason and vnderstanding with all properties that are in the rest it hath that common with the Angelles who are spirites created of GOD to liue a spirituall life without bodies that it is immortall also as well as they But of this immortalitie wee hope GOD willing to intreate at large heereafter as also of the creation and proper nature of the soule In these two pointes then of vnderstanding and of immortalitie the soule of man doeth much differre from that of beastes For although they haue a soule that gyueth vnto them life motion and sense with all other things touched by mee yet it is not partaker of vnderstanding nor of an immortall nature as the Angelles and soules of men are but it is of a mortall nature which endeth and dieth with the body Therefore albeit the soule of man hath in it whatsoeuer is in the rest beside that which is proper vnto it aboue the rest and that which it hath common with the Angelles neuerthelesse it is called onely by the name of that thing which is the principall chiefest and most excellent in it as also the like is done with all the other kindes of soule and life But mee thinkes we ought to consider more fully of that which man hath either common or diuers in his nature from the soule of beasts and what are the proper actions of the soule ioyned with the body and how it is hindered by the body without any change of nature For the consideration hereof will greatly further our knowledge of the internall and spirituall senses of which we are to discourse that wee may step by step ascend vp to the highest vnderstanding and knowledge which the minde of man can attaine vnto concerning the soule Let vs therefore heare AMANA of this matter Of the two natures of which man is compounded how the body is the lodge and instrument of the soule how the soule may be letted from doing her proper actions by the body and be separated from it and yet remaine in her perfection Chap. 22. AMANA Albeit the greatest excellencie of man which farre passeth that of all other liuing creatures ought to be valued according to the soule that God hath giuen him differing from the soule of all other liuing creatures his body being mortall corruptible as that of beasts is yet there are other points of excellencie in the matter forme and vse of all
and how others comprehend them all in one But be it that we ioyne or separate them let vs nowe consider of the nature and places of each of them The Common sense is so called because it is the first of all the internall fenses of which we are to speake as also the Prince Lord of all the externall sense who are his messengers and seruants to minister and make relation vnto him of things in common For it receiueth all the images and shapes that are offered and brought vnto it by them yea all the kindes and resemblances of materiall things which they haue receiued only from without as a glasse doth and al this for no other cause but that they should discerne and seuer euery thing according to it owne nature propertie and afterward communicate them to the internall senses For although all the knowledge that is in the minde of man proceedeth not from the outward senses as we shewed in the beginning of our speach neuertheles they are created of God to the end they should send to the vnderstanding the similitudes of things without and be the messengers of the minde and witnesses of experience and also to the ende they should awaken and stirre vp the mind to behold and marke the things that are without it that by considering of them it may iudge of and correct the faultes Wee must then obserue that the externall senses haue no iudgement of that which they outwardly receiue but by meanes of the common sense vnto which they make relation and then that iudgeth so that they ende where that beginneth In this manner therefore as the Common sense of all the internall senses is next vnto the external so is it the meanes whereby they communicate one with an other For afterward it caryeth to the other internall senses whatsoeuer hath beene communicated vnto it by the externall Now after this sense hath done his duety Imagination and Fantasie execute their offices both which are taken by many for one and the same facultie and vertue of the soule but yet distinguished from the Common sense others ioyne them both with the Common sense because these three senses whether they be distinguished or taken all for one haue their seates vessels and instruments in the former part of the braine Therefore there will be no danger if we vse these two names Fantasie and Imagination indifferently For Fantasie is deriued from a Greeke worde that signifieth as much as Imagination and it is translated by Cicero into a Latin word which is as much as Vision This faculty therfore and vertue of the soule is called Fantasie because the visions kindes and images of such things as it receiueth are diuersly framed therein according to the formes and shapes that are brought to the Common sense Therefore Daniel called the dreame of Nebuchadnezzar the visions of his head which hee had vpon his bed according to the thoughts whereupon he mused and fell on sleepe For although this was a heauenly dreame yet God vsed therein the internall senses which hee had giuen to Nebuchadnezzar vnto which hee represented the image of those things hee woulde haue him to vnderstand and knowe as afterward they were expounded vnto him by Daniel Moreouer this facultie of the fantasie is sudden so farre from stayednes that euen in the time of sleep it hardly taketh any rest but is alwaies occupied in dreaming doting yea euen about those things which neuer haue bin shal be or can be For it staieth not in that which is shewed vnto it by the senses that serue it but taketh what pleaseth it and addeth thereunto or diminisheth changeth and rechangeth mingleth and vnmingleth so that it cutteth asunder and seweth vp againe as it listeth So that there is nothing but the fantasie will imagine and counterfaite if it haue any matter and foundation to worke vpon without which it can build nothing as wee may iudge by that which hath bene already shewed namely that man can neither think imagine or doe any thing else of which hee hath not some beginning and ground in nature and in the woorkes of God from which after hee hath his inuentions But although fantasie can doe nothing without this gappe and entrance yet it is a wonder to see the inuentions it hath after some occasion is giuen it and what newe and monstrous things it forgeth and coyneth by sundry imaginations arising of those images and similitudes from whence it hath the first paterne So that in trueth fantasie is a very dangerous thing For if it bee not guided and brideled by reason it troubleth and mooueth all the sense and vnderstanding as a tempest doeth the sea For it is easily stirred vp not onely by the externall senses but also by the complexion and disposition of the body Heereof it proceedeth that euen the spirites both good and bad haue great accesse vnto it to stirre it either to good or euill and that by meanes vnknowen to vs. For as wee haue many meanes to prouoke one anothers imagination and fantasie which are not in beastes neither can be comprehended by them so these spiritual natures by reason of the agreement of their nature haue one towardes an other which wee neyther knowe nor can comprehend whereby they haue accesse to mooue our fantasie diuers wayes Wherefore as the Angelles haue meanes to represent to our mindes the images of good heauenly and diuine things both waking and sleeping so can euill spirites greatly trouble them by diuers illusions the proofe whereof wee haue in many whome badde spirites find apt and disposed thereunto and namely in sorcerers whose minde they trouble in such sort by sundry strange illusions that they verily thinke they haue seene heard spoken and done that which the deuill representeth to their fantasie yea such things as neither men nor deuilles themselues can possibly perfourme and yet all that while they stirre not out of their bedde or out of some one place But the diuell hauing once power ouer them doeth in such sort print in their fantasie the images of those things hee representeth vnto them and which he woulde haue them beleeue to be true that they can not thinke otherwise but that it is so that they haue done such things and that they were awake when indeed they slept For as God appeareth to his seruants by heauenly visions both when they sleep when they wake and printeth in their mindes the images of those things which it pleaseth him to reueale vnto them so the diuell who endeuoureth to counterfait all the woorkes of God to deceiue men hath his deuilish illusions for his visions whereby he mooueth and troubleth the fantasie and mindes of those ouer whome hee raigneth through their infidelity and wickednesse Therefore it is very needefull that men should recommend themselues to God to the ende these euil spirites may haue no such power ouer them and that their iudgements may be
the perfectest of them For they haue some kinde of discourse in that they can passe from one thing to another But all their iudgements are but of particular things neyther doe they ascend higher In like maner they know not things absent nor passe from thē to others whether it be from things absent to them that are present or from present things to those that are absent For they take or leaue incontinently those present and particular things which they know and make a stop there without any further discourse So that this intellectuall and reasonable power is proper to man onely and is the highest and most soueraigne vertue of the soule of man And although the internall senses are seruiceable vnto it as they are serued of the externall senses neuerthelesse it hath proper actions vertues and motions which it can and doeth exercise without the helpe of bodily instruments when it is separated from the bodie And euen while it is in the bodie it is sometime rauished as if it were altogether out of it as it hath often fallen out to holy men who haue beene rauished in spirite in the contemplation of celestiall and diuine things and that by the reuelation of the spirite of God insomuch that Saint Paul testifieth of himselfe that Hee was taken vp into the thirde heauen and into Paradise not knowing whether hee were in the bodie or out of the bodie but GOD hee knewe Wee will consider therefore in this chiefe and most soueraigne part of the soule two faculties and vertues namely the Vnderstanding and the Will For it beeing so that man is created to attayne to that soueraigne and eternall Good which God hath propounded vnto him therefore hath GOD giuen him the power and vertue to wishe for that Good to the ende hee might desire to applie and ioyne himselfe vnto it This power and vertue is called Will. But the soule cannot haue this appetite and desire if first it vnderstand or know not that Good which it ought to desire and followe after For this cause hath God giuen vnto it another power and vertue which wee call Vnderstanding And forasmuch as our spirite stayeth not alwayes in one thought but discourseth and goeth from one matter to another it had neede of a receptacle and storehouse wherein it may lay vp the first thoughtes when others come as if it placed them in a treasurie that they shoulde not bee lost but might bee founde out and called foorth when neede shoulde require But wee learned by our former speech that this office apperteyneth to memorie which is as it were the Rolles of a Chauncerie court in which the seales of images framed by the thought are imprinted and vpon which the vnderstanding doeth looke as often as it pleaseth And euen as it serueth to the other internall senses vnto which it succeedeth in order so also it serueth the Vnderstanding and Will Concerning the Vnderstanding if we consider it generally it comprehendeth the whole minde but beeing taken more specially we meane a certaine particular office thereof For it vnderstandeth the the thinges that come from without as we conceiue them then it laieth vp that which it hath vnderstoode in some little cofer by it selfe for a time out of which it may take them againe when neede requireth This repetition and taking againe which is as it were an inquiry and searching out is called Consideration from thence it commeth to recordation and remembraunce and so conferreth together the thinges it hath vnderstood and compareth them one with another which being done a discourse thereof is had with others after which discourse it determineth and iudgeth what is true and what false what good and what euill Then doeth the Will choose that which is good and refuseth the euill And as we come from the vnderstanding to the will by these degrees so we must ascend vp by the same steppes euen from the last to the first namely from Will to Vnderstanding For Will doeth not follow after or refuse any thing which the iudgement hath not first determined to be good or euill and the iudgement decreeth nothing before it hath taken aduise of reason and reason aduiseth not before she haue conferred the things one with another and throughly examined them Neither can this conferring bee without consideration nor consideration without requiring that of Memorie which was committed vnto it to keepe and the memorie will keepe nothing safe but that which it hath first knowne and vnderstood So that the reasonable soule hath all these things namely Vnderstanding Will and Memorie And vnder this facultie of vnderstanding there is simple and particuler intelligence after which Consideration followeth next Recordation then Conferring and discoursing after that next Iudgement and last of all Contemplation which is as it were the rest of the soule and spirite Nowe these things being so excellent and wonderfull and somewhat obscure withall deserue to bee discoursed of more at large and to be vttered more clearely And therefore before wee goe to any other matter wee shall doe well to consider of the diuersity that is found in the operations and discourses of the Vnderstanding according to that gift of light which is in it and what is the end of all discourses Prepare therefore thy selfe ASER to intreate of this matter Of the varietie and contrarietie that is founde in the opinions deliberations counsailes discourses and iudgements of men with the cause thereof and of the good order and end of all discourses Chap. 29. ASER. All things whatsoeuer can be rehearsed are either of this mutable and temporary nature or of the other which is immutable perpetuall and aboue that nature If the question be of the first either the varietie and change is such that no certaine rule or determination can be giuen or els there is a perpetuall tenour and constancie in them according to their inbred inclination through a stedfast and continuall order of nature which is alike in all according to their natures and kinds If the variety and change be very vncertaine there can no certain science and knowledge be had of them nor any determination set down so general but that there wil be alwaies some exception For touching the first sort we can haue no sure knowledge of things that are infinite and that haue infinite alterations And because particularities and particular things are infinite in regarde of our capacity there can no entire and certaine knowledge be had of them all in speciall As for generals howbeit they also are variable yet some rules may well bee giuen of them of which the arte followeth afterward and yet no such certaine rules but often it falleth out otherwise as we may see in many artes and in sundry experiences For although it bee ordinarie for women to loue their children yet there are some that murder them cruelly So that howsoeuer it bee very common to loue them yet it falleth not out so
his iudgement Of this wee our selues may iudge in that wee see that there is no nation or people that liue with no religion at all but they haue one eyther true or false whereby they labour to appease the wrath of God and to be vnder his fauour and protection according to that measure of knowledge which they haue of him Whereby they plainely declare that there is a certaine lawe within them taken from the Booke of this naturall diuinitie which condemneth them in their hearts vrgeth constraineth them to do that which they do euen as we feele our selues pressed and cnndemned by the written law which God hath giuen vnto vs. Wherefore if wee knew how to profit by them both they would both serue vs in steade of a Schoolemaster to direct leade vs vnto Iesus Christ For both of them if we vnderstand them wel testifie sufficiently vnto vs that we stand in need of a Mediator by whom we may haue accesse to God and be reconciled vnto him seeing wee feele our condemnation within our selues and in our owne consciences As for the third meane to make a man certaine of that which hee is to accompt for true which wee saide was naturall Iudgement it is the vnderstanding of that order that ought to be in things and of the consequence of them whereby to iudge in some sort of the agreement or disagreement they haue one with an other insomuch that euery one hath within himselfe as it were a naturall logicke whereby hee is able to iudge at leastwise of common things It remaineth nowe that we learne the fourth meane which passeth all the former and that is diuine reuelation whereof wee haue made mention and those certaine and infallible testimonies which wee learne of the holy Scriptures I meane the Bookes of the Prophets and Apostles with the confirmation and vnderstanding of them by the holy Spirite For it were not enough for vs to haue the worde of God deliuered vnto vs by them except the holy Ghost had his working both in them in vs. Wherfore although naturally we more easily and firmely beleeue that which our minde is able to see knowe and comprehend by the naturall light thereof then that which goeth beyond it yet forasmuch as God hath made vs capable of vnderstanding and reason wee ought to giue no lesse credite to all that he hath reuealed vnto vs by his worde yea much more to this howsoeuer by that light of nature which remaineth in vs wee neither see nor knowe howe true and firme it is and that for the causes before vttered Hereof it is that in the Epistle to the Hebrewes faith is called the substance and ground of things hoped for and such an euident demonstration of things not seene that it conuinceth men and causeth them to perceiue and knowe the trueth of them very cleerely Whereupon wee haue to note that this naturall light and that which wee call supernaturall are not to speake properly two diuers and different lights but one and the same as wee shoulde well haue knowen if our nature had continued in perfection and in that image of God in which it was created and framed farre differing from all other creatures For although there is in them some image of God yet they haue not vnderstanding to knowe it as it is neither to knowe God their creator who hath imprinted it in them But it is farre otherwise in man For God will be knowen of him and therefore hee hath so imprinted his image in his nature that hee will haue him to see and knowe it For this cause hee hath giuen him a minde and vnderstanding able to to receiue this knowledge For the greatest likenesse and resemblance that man can haue with God consisteth in the agreement with him in wisdome and iustice which cannot be but in a nature that is capable and partaker of reason and vnderstanding Nowe because God is good yea a common and generall Good hee will not withholde this good in himselfe without communicating it but maketh all his creatures partakers thereof especially man with whome it hath pleased him to communicate this Good of wisedome and iustice which is the greatest and most excellent good that is in him Therefore did God together with his image imprint his knowledge in the nature of man For man could not otherwise know this image and similitude neither what it is to be like or vnlike to God if hee had no more knowledge of God who and what manner a one hee is then other creatures that want this knowledge because they are not capable of vnderstanding and reason nor of this image of wisedome and iustice which is in God and by which man is made like vnto him Wherefore the first degree of this image and similitude that is in man appeareth in that power and facultie of vnderstanding which God hath giuen him and in that wisedome whereof hee hath made him partaker and which hath some agreement with the wisedome of God So that before man sinned the image of God was such in him that there was a perfect agreement of all the powers and vertues of the soule betweene God and him For the diuine light did so shine in his minde that hee had certaine and firme knowledge of GOD neither was there any resistance against either in his heart or in his will but a sounde and perpetuall concord and consent So that there was alwayes betweene the minde and the will an vprightnesse and iustice agreeable with God neither was the freedome of the will hindered or driuen forward to euill because man had not yet made himselfe the subiect and salue of sinne As long therefore as man kept this image of God within him the Lord dwelt therein as in his own lodging and by that meanes would haue giuen to men such perpetual life ioy as shold neuer haue bin broken off or extinguished either by sorow or by death if he had suffred himselfe to be alwayes guided by God neuer turned aside nor seuered himselfe from him Therefore S. Paul speaking of this first image and the renewing thereof in man saith Put on the new man which after God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse Seeing then it is thus there is no doubt but that if man had continued in his integritie the light which is nowe supernaturall in him woulde haue beene naturall in all that knowledge of God which is necessary for him to that ende whereunto he was created For hee had neuer beene ouerwhelmed with darkenesse which dimmed and hindered this heauenly light that shined in him and made him the habitation and temple of God but had seene cleerely the image of the father of the sonne and of the holy ghost shining in his soule in which it was imprinted the draughts and beames whereof are yet euident enough in him I meane to them that consider of them as it appertaineth following the light of the
the body which in the infancie of man hinder it from doing that which it doeth by them in other ages Besides wee may truely say that God hath created it of that nature that as hee hath ioyned it vnto the body which hath his degrees of growth so the soule hath some agreement therewith in this respect touching the manifestation of her naturall powers and vertues Neither is it any strange thing if God deale so with it in this matter In the meane time wee see that although the soule of man seemeth in nothing or very little to differ from that of plants as long as it is in the mothers womb nor from the soule of beasts during the time of his infancie neuerthelesse afterward it sheweth very well wherein it differeth from them and that it hath certaine vertues which are not in any other soule For if this were not so both in respect of the age and growth of the body as also in regarde of that property which is in the nature thereof it woulde be alwayes like to that which it is in the beginning as wee see it is with plantes and beastes in whose soule wee can perceiue no more change in the ende and when they growe vp then in their beginning and first birth According then to that I haue now saide we see by experience that in the gifts and graces wherewith GOD daily adorneth and enricheth his children he doeth not communicate all at once vnto them but by little and little and by degrees as hee iudgeth it expedient and as they are capable of reason and vnderstanding Therefore it is written of Iohn Baptist that the childe grewe and waxed strong in spirite which is as much to say as that according as hee grewe in age God increased the graces of his holie spirite vpon him wherewith hee had indued him euen from his mothers wombe And when wee haue profited well in his schoole so that wee are assured of and instructed in those things which wee ought to followe according to the worde of GOD wee easily attaine to that Good which is the ende of all inquirie of the trueth namely to contemplation which followeth iudgement as iudgement followeth reason and the discourse thereof For reason discoursing is as it were the inquisition of the trueth that is sought for and iudgement is as the election that maketh choice of the trueth and of that which it taketh to be most certaine and Contemplation is as it were a quiet and setled beholding of all those things which were gathered together by reason and receiued with approbation by iudgement For there is no more place for disputation seeing all things are certaine and cleere Nowe all pleasure and delight proceedeth from the conuenience and agreement that is betwixt the thing that pleaseth and him whome it doeth please And because there is nothing more agreeable to the nature of the spirite and minde of man then trueth hereof it commeth that notwithstanding al corruption that is in him there is no man but naturally desireth knowledge and skill accounting science to bee excellent and woorthie of great praise and ignorance to bee full of shame yea hee iudgeth it a verie ill thing to bee deceiued Wherefore wee may not doubt but that as knowledge is more true and certaine so doeth the spirite receiue greater pleasure and when it hath found the trueth it delighteth greatly therein And if for the causes before touched by vs it can not find the trueth so certainely as it desireth yet it taketh singular pleasure in approching so neere vnto it as it can For this cause the more certaine the trueth is which it knoweth it is the more agreeable and pleasant vnto it especially when it knoweth the true spring and first causes thereof Therefore as the mindes of men delight more in those things that resemble them most of so much the more noble and excellent nature they are yea more heauenly and diuine and so will take pleasure in such things as are most excellent and celestiall Contrariwise the more earthly vile and abiect they shall be the more will they delight in mortall base and contemptible things and despise such as are of greatest value For this cause many Philosophers haue esteemed more of the studie of Philosophie and the knowledge thereof then of kingdomes and great riches being prouoked and pricked thereunto by an vnspeakeable pleasure which their spirite tooke in the knowledge of those things that were reueled vnto them therein On the other side wee see that ambitious men delight more in honours and worldely greatnesse then they woulde doe at leastwise in their owne opinion in all the skill of the Philosophers A couerous man pleaseth himselfe a great deale more in telling and beholding his crownes then in any other thing whatsoeuer It is no maruell therefore if ambitious couetous and voluptuous men and such like doe commonly deride those that take delight in learning and chiefly in the doctrine and contemplation of those celestiall and eternall things which they set before their eyes or if they preferre greatly their owne estate and condition before others that take pleasure in such things For they are pearles cast before swine which are not valued as they are woorth but onely of such as knowe them and their value Nowe if heathen Philosophers haue oftentimes willingly abandoned all their goodes that they might wholly addict themselues to the study of their humane Philosophie to the contemplation of such things as they could know thereby notwithstanding that it was alwayes accompanied with some doubting and that they could neuer attaine to a certaine knowledge either of the beginning or ende of things what ought Christians to do when the question is of Diuine Philosophie and Wisedome the treasures of which are opened and offered vnto them in the word of God For it is without all comparision farre more certayne then any science and containeth in it other trueths and matters that are great deale more profound excellent and more worthy of contemplation And they to whome God hath beene so gratious as to giue some taste and experience of these things are able to iudge well of them yea farre better then any others For it is certaine that euen for a little true knowledge of God and of the trueth of those things which hee hath reuealed vnto vs in his doctrine wee receiue singular delight with great ioy and sweete consolation So that euery man may perceiue howe much greater the pleasure will bee when the knowledge shall be greater If then this small taste which wee may haue in this worlde of these delicacies and spirituall delights bringeth vnto vs such singular ioy we may easily iudge howe great it will be in that most happy contemplation which wee shall haue in heauen with God when wee shall beholde him face to face and knowe him as wee are knowen whereas heere wee see him but as it were in a glasse and
through a cloude For that is the contemplation of all contemplations seeing it is the beholding of God with whome nothing may bee compared Then there shall be no cloude of ignorance when wee shall haue not a likely or probable but a most certaine and true knowledge For the trueth shall bee shewed vnto vs most certaine in GOD who is the Authour and Father thereof in whome wee shall throughly and perfectly see and knowe the causes of all things For our spirites shall be helde no longer in such an obscure and darke prison as heere they are constrained to suffer in our mortall bodies Therefore there shall bee no more diuersities disagreements or contrarieties of opinions and iudgements that some shoulde condemne that which others approoue but all shall be of the same iudgement But seeing we are fallen into the matter of contemplation it shall not be vnprofitable if vpon occasion of that diuision which is commonly made of the actiue and contemplatiue life wee note that although the spirite desireth aboue all things the pleasure that is in contemplation as the proper foode and delight thereof yet wee must alwayes consider that wee are not only borne for ourselues but also for others and to this ende that wee shoulde all in common serue one an other both generally and specially For God doeth not onely commaund the performance of that seruice which hee requireth of vs towardes his owne person according to that which is contained in the first Table of the Lawe but he commaundeth vs also in the second Table to doe that which hee requireth of vs towardes other men Therefore hee will not haue vs dwell alwayes in contemplation but wee must put to our hand and discharge vs of our dutie towards euery one according as he teacheth vs by his word Wee are then to learne that so long as wee liue in this world we must not separate the actiue life from the cōtemplatiue but alwayes ioyne them both together vntil we come to that blessed life which shal be altogither contemplatiue when we shal be deliuered frō al the miseries and necessities and from al the troubles lets in which wee are wrapped and detained in this mortall life God graunt vs his grace to vse all our senses so well both externall and internall and all the powers faculties and vertues of our soule and spirite of which wee haue hitherto spoken that wee may cause them all to serue to his glory and that wee may attaine to that blessed contemplation which is prepared for all his elect in his celestiall pallace and that to this ende hee woulde dispose in vs our will and all the affections of our soule of the nature of which we will beginne to morrowe to discourse And first ASER I thinke thou art to intreate of those appetites that are naturally in man seeing Desire is the proper subiect of the Will as thou shalt instruct vs more at large The end of the fourth dayes worke THE FIFT DAYES worke Of the Appetites that are in al liuing creatures and namely in man and of their kindes and particularly of the Naturall and Sensitiue Appetite Chap. 33. ASER. As God and all that is in the worlde is propounded to the minde of man that hee might knowe him so farre foorth as is needefull for him so is hee also propounded to the will that hee might will desire and folowe him as farre as his nature is capable thereof Wherefore if man had not sinned but had continued in his first estate wherein God created him this great and eternall Goodnes had shed in our soules that diuine worde together with his holy spirite which worde being the eternall sonne of God woulde haue alwayes taught and shewed vs the Father of whome bee was begotten before all time and woulde haue lightened our mindes with the light of all wisedome that we might haue beheld and seene him and the holy spirite would haue ioyned our hearts and willes vnto the Father and to the Sonne through a mutuall loue replenished with all ioy and gladnesse and through certaine motions agreeable with the diuine nature By which meanes there should haue bin in our hearts a great fire of loue towardes God and next to him wee should haue loued all other good things according to that order which is shewed vnto vs in his heauenly wisedome and doctrine and should haue desired them for the loue of him But nowe in the estate of naturall corruption in which wee are all this goodly agreement harmony and concord which ought to be betweene God and man is wholly peruerted and ouerthrowen For in place of the true knowledge of God there is nothing but ignorance and doubting in our mindes and as for the will it searcheth after and desireth other things whereunto it applieth it selfe and seeketh not after God Neither doeth it keepe any order in those things which it hath for obiects and which it setteth downe in steade of the things commanded in his word So that while it thinketh to attaine to that good whereunto naturally it aspireth it obtaineth nothing to it selfe but a very great euill Nowe when wee spake before of the braine and of the internall senses of the soule and of the principall part and vertue thereof we made some mention of the wil which ought to be directed and ledde by vnderstanding and reason It remaineth nowe that we looke more narrowly into the nature thereof and of the affections of the soule of the vitall vertue of the heart and of other members which are the seates and instruments thereof euen as when wee intreated of the animall vertues of the soule wee considered of their seates and instruments First then we must marke what hath beene hitherto spoken namely that God hath giuen to all his creatures a naturall inclination that leadeth euery one of them to that which is naturall and agreeable to itselfe Beasts haue an appetite to follow that good that is fitte for them and therefore also hath God giuen them the knowledge of that good and senses meete for that purpose to the end they might shewe vnto them what is good for their preseruation to followe it and to shunne the contrary Wee haue learned also howe God hath giuen both the one and the other to man and vnto what degree concerning both of them hee hath lifted him vp aboue all liuing creatures For as hee hath created him to enioy a farre greater and more excellent Good then hee hath beastes and hath giuen vnto him a will to wish and desire it so hee hath endued him with a deeper knowledge whereby to knowe that Good because hee coulde not wish for it and desire it except hee did knowe it and he could not knowe it if he had not a minde capable thereof and endewed with greater knowledge then that is which hee hath giuen to beasts For this cause as they haue a kind of knowledge agreeable to their nature and to the
our Will to be seruiceable to him that hath bestowed it freely vpon vs as wee ought also to perfourme the like seruice vnto him with our minde and reason wherewith he hath endued vs for the ruling and direction of the Will But when our Will taketh any other obiect beside obedience to God it proceedeth from the same cause that blindeth our minde and reason namely sinne which reigneth in vs through the corruption of our nature as wee haue already touched it Neuertheles that which I haue said is alwaies true that the wil hath Good in such sort for her obiect that she cannot truly without dissembling Will that which is euil if it hath no shew or reason of some good But notwithstanding she hath free libertie yet is shee so ordeyned of God that shee cannot will that which is euill but onely that which is good whether it bee good in trueth or in opinion onely For if shee were not created and ordayned of GOD to desire and followe after good there woulde bee no cause why she shoulde loue or desire vertue more then vice or loue God rather then hate him But wee must consider diuers degrees in the actions of Will and in the freedome theereof For some there are whose heart and Will agree so together that there is no dissimulation neither any commaundement of the Will eyther towardes it selfe or towardes any other but it heartily desireth or refuseth that which it seeketh after or escheweth As we may say of an ambitious man that hee doeth truely and with all his heart desire honour and glorie as also a couetous man doeth riches But there are other actions of the Will wherein she commaundeth her selfe or els the inferiour powers that are subiect vnto her as wee see in a man infected with the dropsie who beeing verie drye and thirstie desireth greatly to drinke But this appetite that commeth from the senses of the bodie is restrayned by the Will that hath power ouer it which knowing what hurt would issue thereof to the sicke partie commandeth this appetite and appoynteth that hee shall not drinke The reason why she will haue it so is to the ende that the patient might auoyde greater euill then that which hee endureth knowing well that to drinke woulde hurt him more then helpe him because the thirstinesse woulde not bee taken from him but encreased Wherefore although the sensuall appetite putteth the patient in minde to desire drinke yet Will following the iudgement of Reason opposeth it selfe against this appetite and commaundeth it selfe to abstain also the outward members as namely the mouth not to drink and the handes not to giue it any drinke Now if it so fall out that the Will giue place to the appetite it is alwayes with her consent and that because shee agreeth rather vnto the sensuall appetite then vnto Reason Which agreement proceedeth of her impatiencie and incontinencie because she hath not patience to stay for the better but rusheth vpon that pleasure which at that present seemeth best vnto her and neerest at hand Therfore it is alwayes requisite that the grace of God should gouerne our minde and will to perswade them euermore to counsaile and to imbrace the best otherwise wee shall make choyce of the worst and of euill rather then of good Which we shall easily vnderstand if we consider what good things the wisest and most vertuous men guided only by the light of nature are able to propound to themselues and to follow and what difference in that poynt there is betwixt them and those whome God doeth guide and gouerne by his spirite The discourse then of this matter belongeth to thee ARAM. Of those good things which both men guided onely by the light of nature are able to propound to themselues and to follow and they also that are guided by the spirite of God of the power and libertie of the Will in her actions both externall and internall Chap. 35. ARAM. Among the heathen Philosophers there haue alwayes beene some great personages endued with excellent doctrine who seemed to haue bene led with a burning affection towards good and vertuous things this no man can deny But if we compare them that haue had none but naturall light with them who beleeuing the worde of life haue receiued that light which the spirite of GOD hath kindeled in their heartes and mindes wee shall finde very great difference betwixt them For they that followe the light of nature take not an infinite spirituall and eternall good which is God for the obiect of that good which they desire but a finite carnall and temporarie good and that also no farther then their reason and sense iudge it good for mankinde or for the societie of men or for themselues and those whome they loue The like respect they haue in eschewing euill which they iudge contrary to such a good And yet there are very fewe that goe so farre who giue not themselues to vertue rather for their owne profite or glorie then for the loue they beare to vertue or to the benefite of the common societie of men And surely I thinke that if glorie had not more mooued so many excellent men as haue beene heeretofore among the Grecians Latines and other heathen people and nations then their loue to vertue and to thinges profitable for the common wealth they woulde not willingly haue incurred so great dangers to effect so many valiant deedes as Histories specifie of them neyther woulde they haue set vertue at so high a price if no glorie or profite shoulde haue redounded to them in following her or at leastwise in seeming to seeke after her If any haue beene founde to haue done otherwise as wee reade of some it is to bee attributed to a speciall grace that God hath bestowed vpon them in their ignorance more then to others But yet all this would bee nothing or very litle seeing the good which the Will propoundeth to it selfe and pursueth in this sort is not the true and soueraigne good which of it selfe is able to make men blessed Wee are then to knowe that the wisest and most vertuous men guided onely by the light of naturall reason doe not propounde to themselues nor seeke after any other good then that which consisteth in ciuill honestie in worldly honour and glorie in this bodily life and in the commodities thereof and in those delightes and pleasures which their humane sense and reason desire according as some delight eyther in the knowledge of thinges or in ciuill and morall vertues or in honours or in riches and in such like thinges Yea the best that euer were among the Heathen and the wisest of this worlde that are like vnto them neuer went farther neyther in deede coulde For seeing they knowe not GOD truely they can neither loue him nor seeke after him either because they are not throughly perswaded that there is a God or if they bee sure of that yet
that the foggy blood may not euaporate and sweate through For this cause it is called the veiny artery because it holdeth of the nature both of an artery and of a veine and hath this office belonging properly vnto it to carry the ayre and the spirit There are also in the heart other small peeces which Anatomists distinguish from it as the two little eares the right and the left which are as it were little doores as there is also in all the pipes thereof which are so small that vnneth may they be discerned by the eyes These doores and pipes that are in them â—erue partly to this ende that when the heart sucketh such blood as is necessary for it selfe the veine wherewith it draweth shoulde not breake through any ouer-great vehement and sodaine attraction and partly that the ayre might enter in more gently and better wrought according as neede requireth For this cause also it is why the heart doeth not drawe the ayre immediately from the mouth both because if this space were not betweene it coulde not drawe so much as it wanteth and so woulde bee choaked as also because it shoulde receiue it in too colde whereupon it woulde be greatly hurt Therefore it hath pipes passages and instruments not onely to bring this ayre vnto it as it is brought to the lungs but also to dispence and prepare it as is most conuenient for it as wee haue learned already by our speach of the rough artery and of other instruments of the voyce and of respiration Out of which wee are to note two goodly points of the prouidence and wisedome whereby hee doeth admonish vs of that moderation which wee ought to keepe in all things and how we ought to behaue our selues not only in one worke but also in all things that wee take in hand For concerning the first GOD hath prouided alwaies throughout the whole worke of mans body in such sort that there should be no violeÌ„t thing but hath so wel framed disposed and linked all together that no one part or member shoulde receiue hurt of another but al might help support ech other Therfore if there be any burthen to cary from one to an other God hath so distributed it by little and little and by such conuenient means that no part is pressed teaching vs thereby that he loueth moderation and hateth violence in all things for which cause hee dispenseth all and distributeth drop by drop as it were by destillation And to the end he may conioyne in one things of a contrary nature hee alwayes placeth between two contraries things of a middle disposition which are most apt to tie them together and to keep them Besides we see howe hee hath ordred al the parts of the body so wel that one only member and instrument serueth oftentimes for many offices vses as we haue already touched it Wherin God doth admonish vs further of two things wel worthy the noting The first is that we ought to looke so wel vnto al things that we neither forget nor omit any thing that shal be requisit necessary The other that we should imploy our selues about euery thing that we can and may do according to those gifts and graces which wee haue receiued of God and that we should vse al things to euery such purpose as they will serue and so auoid al vaine and superfluous charges For as it is commonly said nothing is to be done by many things that can be performed by fewer otherwise there will be more hindrance then helpe and greater losse then profit For this cause as God hath not giuen to the body one member lesse then there ought to be so he hath not giuen it one more For if there were either more or lesse it would not only be monstrous but there would be eyther some want or some let hinderance And when as one member is able to satisfy two offices he hath not created many to do it if either profit or necessitie required not the help of many Whereupon gouernours of Common-wealths ought to learne that their people are not to bee burthened with vnprofitable and vnnecessary offices and persons If therefore men woulde learne those lessons that God giueth them in their owne bodies and in the members thereof they woulde alwayes keepe a meane in all things following this heauenly example and neuer offend either with too little or too much But notwithstanding wee haue all Nature to be our Mistres so that shee keepe a schoole within vs and teach vs these things her selfe yet wee profite little thereby Nowe leauing this speach seeing wee haue taken a viewe of the nature of the body and of the naturall motion thereof which is commonly called the Pulse and what vse it hath in this corporall life as also of other things concerning this matter it shall be good for vs nowe to speake of another motion that is in the nature of the soule which serueth not onely for this life but also for the spirituall in respect of which especially it is giuen vnto it an image and representation whereof wee haue had in this motion of which wee haue already spoken It belongeth to thee ARAM to discourse vpon this matter Of the second motion of the heart which belongeth to the affections of the soule and of those that goe before or follow after iudgement of the agreement that is betweene the temperature of the body and the affections of the soule Chap. 39. ARAM. As God is not onely an eternall and infinite essence but also infinitely good and happy so hath hee not rested in giuing vnto his creatures life and beeing as it were imparting to them some part of his being but it hath pleased him also to make them partakers of that Good which is essentiall in him and of his blessednesse and felicitie according as euery one was capable thereof in his kinde For he will not onely haue them to be but also to be well For this cause we see that although men desire much to be and therefore are greatly afraid of death as of an enemy that seeketh to vndoe them yet many times it falleth out so that they desire death to the end they might be no more because they thinke it a greater good or at leastwise a lesse euil to be no more theÌ„ to be miserable vnhappy And by this we may knowe that man was not created of God only to be neither was that his principal end but also to be blessed For this cause as God hath giuen to the creatures an inclination to preserue themselues in their life to the end they might be so he hath put into them a natural appetite desire of that which is good to the ende they might be well and that good might be fall them but man specially is thus affected which desire of good is also ioyned with an eschewing of euill For in the pursuite of good his contrary which is
may more easily take holde then in another that is more contrarie to it It is otherwise with flegmatike or melancholike men according as the humours which rule in them dispose and incline them more to be caried with one affection rather then with another Therefore wee see that they which are of a cholericke complexion as they are of a more hote and dry nature so their affections are more sodain burning and violent like to fire Flegmatike and melancholy persons as they are colder so they are not so easily mooued but are more slowe and heauy and haue also other inclinations and other affections And as they that are cōmonly said to be sanguine are of the best temperature so their affections are for the most part more cheerful more temperate And as there are diuers mixtions of bodily qualities so there are sundry sorts of temperatures and complexions of the body and consequently of soules in regard of their saculties and affections Therfore also there is great agreement betweene corporall and spirituall Physicke For this cause the Physicions both of the bodies and soules of men are to follow almost one the same methode and obserue a like order in their arte practise euery one according to the subiects propounded vnto them insomuch that looke what the one doeth vnto the body the other is to deale so with the soule such things being applied as best agree with their seuerall natures Wherein they may further eche others worke greatly obseruing that ende at which both of them aime which to the one is the health of the body and to the other the cure of the soule considering that the one may helpe the other as hath bin already touched For if the body be not temperant hardly wil the soule be if the soule be intemperate the body desireth not to be temperant Therefore also we see that not only Physicions for the body appoint men diets both for the preseruation of their bodily health and also for the recouery restoring thereof again but also spiritual Physicions doe the like in regard of the soules health so farre foorth as bodily sobriety wil serue greatly to that purpose For this cause not only ordinary sobriety moderation which ought to be kept throughout the whole life of man is so greatly recommended vnto vs in the holy scriptures but fasts also which being more strict abstinēces are very profitable yea necessary oftentimes according to times places and persons For they serue to tame and humble the flesh that it may be the better kept in lesse hinder the spirit which thereby is the better inabled to attend to euery good worke to the contemplation of diuine celestial things Therfore the people of God holy men fasted oftē wherof wee haue many testimonies in the scriptures And as it is necessary that bodily Physicions should know wel the tēperatures complexions of mens bodies and their natures their health and diseases also with their conuenient and apt remedies so is it needfull that spirituall Physicions shoulde knowe the nature of soules of their faculties powers affections the natures of vertues which are their health and of vices which are their diseases together with those medicines remedies that are necessarie for the preseruation increase of vertues and for the diminution abolishing of vices For without this knowledge neither of them can be good Physicions but it may bee feared least they make the diseases worse or in steed of curing the sick persons kill them outright But we must yet draw more instruction out of this matter here offered vnto vs. For whatsoeuer hath beene hitherto spoken concerning the agreement between the temperature of the body and the affections of the soule or concerning the health diseases of them both or the knowledge that is requisit in Physicions to follow a good method in their art practise for the healing of their patiēts I say the vnderstāding of al these things is not only necessary for the Physiciōs both of soules bodies but euen for euery one of vs particularly For if we were all skilfull in the art of corporall Phisicke I meane not such skil as is needful for them that make publike profession thereof to all but onely so much as is necessary for the preseruation of our owne health I doubt not but we might easily auoyde many infirmities and diseases whereinto we fall daily for want of good diet good gouernment and the vse of those meanes which might either retaine vs in health or restore it quickly vnto vs when it is somewhat altered or impeached Moreouer we should haue this aduantage besides if we fell into any disease that we should know the better howe to keepe and gouerne our selues more moderately and wisely and obey the Physicions counsell the better because we should haue greater knowledge of that which we ought to doe of the danger whereinto we might fall or which we might easily auoyde Wee may say as much of the soules phisicke the knowledge whereof is a great deale more necessary for vs not onely because the soule is more noble and precious then the body but also because it is a harder matter to knowe the nature and diseases of the soule then of the bodie And if wee prooue so happie as to be able to comprehend any thing wee shall know daily better and better what things are in vs of God and what is his order as also what there is of Satans and what is that disorder and confusion which by meanes of sinne he hath brought into all things For as sinne is cause of that excesse which is in the qualities of which our bodies are made and consequently of the diseases that proceed from thence which afterward bring death to the bodie so is it in respect of the soule and of the excesse that is in the affections thereof and in all the other partes of it contrary to that nature in which God created the same And as sinne is the cause of the disorder and confusion that is in both of them so it is the cause that one helpeth to spoile another whereas there should be a pleasant harmonie and concord not onely of the bodily qualities among themselues and so likewise of the qualities of the soule among themselues but also of the qualities both of soule and bodie one with another For God hath put nor onely into our soules but into our bodies also the seedes of all the vertues and the pricks and meanes to incite and to leade vs vnto them in such manner and forme as shal be declared hereafter Although wee may learne somewhat by that which we haue heard alreadie of the conueniencie that is betweene the body and the soule betweene the temperature of the one and the affections of the other For if the one bee answerable and correspondent to the other no doubt but God so disposeth of
so some of them are brideled and restrained by others For the first enuy hatâ—ed and anger spring of loue For they are motions of the heart that loueth against him that hateth or hurteth her who is deâ—re or beloued And desire riseth of reuenge and the ioy that commeth thereby proceede from anger and malice If a man loue any thing he wisheth it would come and hopeth also that he shall enioy it and contrariwise hee feareth that it will not come to passe If it come to passe hee reioyceth If it come not to passe when hee thinketh it will or when hee expecteth it he is grieued In like manner great ioy is lessened through greefe and enuy through mercy or through feare And one greefe altereth another when it is greater and feare maketh griefe to be forgotten and causeth the lame to runne To be short these sundry motions of affections are like to stormy waues and billowes which being driuen one of another doe either augment or diminish or wholy oppresse one another Wherefore the like happeneth in the motion of our affections that commeth to passe in a sedition and ciuill dissention in which no man considereth who is the worthier person to obey and folow him but who is the stronger and most mighty So in the fight of the affections there is no respect had to that which is most iust but only to that which is strongest and most violent and which hath gotten such power ouer the soule that it hath wholly subdued her to it selfe which thing wee ought to stand in great feare of But whatsoeuer affections are in vs there is alwayes some griefe or some ioy ioyned with them Therefore following our matter it shal be good for vs to consider particularly of the nature of these two contrary motions of which ioy serueth greatly for the preseruation of life but griefe drieth vp and consumeth the heart euen vnto the death of it as wee shall now learne of ACHITOB. That Ioy or Griefe are alwayes ioyned to the affections and what Ioy and Griefe are properly Chap. 44. ACHITOB. The knowledge of the Affections of the heart and soule is very necessary for euery one because they are very euill and dangerous diseases in the soule but yet being knowen they may be cured more easily This cause hath mooued vs after wee haue spoken of the heart and of the naturall motion thereof and of the vse it hath in this life of the body to enter into the consideration of a second motion it hath which serueth not onely for this corporall life but also for that spirituall life in regard of which it was chiefely giuen and of which we saide that there was as it were an image and representation thereof in the first motion Now we shall better vnderstand this by the subiect of this discourse propounded vnto vs being handled particularly as wee intend to doe For as by the first naturall motion of the heart it receiueth such refreshing as is necessary for the sending of life vnto the whole body and for the maintenance and preseruation of the same as also for the expelling and driuing out of all such things as might hurt and stifle it euen so is it in this second motion as farre as wee can conceiue of the nature of it For seeing God hath appointed ioy as a meanes to preserue life hee hath likewise put this affection in the heart whereby it is as it were enlarged to receiue within it selfe and to embrace all Good that is offered vnto it as also it restraineth and shutteth it selfe vp through griefe which is contrary thereunto Moreouer wee shall finde that there is no affection in vs which is not intermingled with some griefe or else with some ioy For seeing the heart is the proper seate and instrument of all the affections when it is as it were stricken and beaten with some vnpleasant thing that is offered vnto it then doeth it retire close vp it selfe and feele griefe as if it had receiued a wound then doeth it flie from the thing it liketh not Yea the heart doeth alwayes either enlarge or shut vp it selfe according to those affections that are within it the causes of which are in it owne nature God hauing so disposed and willed the same for the reasons which we haue already touched For if the heart be ioyfull the ioy that it hath doeth bring so great pleasure vnto it that thereby it is opened and enlarged as if it would receiue imbrace and lay holde vpon that thing which reioyceth it and bringeth vnto it that pleasure which it hath in this ioy Nowe because there is ioy in loue and hope the blood and spirites are gently and mildely dispersed by their moouings by reason of the reioycing at the Good that is present or that is expected as if it were already present And forasmuch as such motions are made by the enlarging of the heart whereby we embrace the thing offered vnto vs the face also appeareth smiling cheerefull and ruddy For a man may easily iudge that the obiect presented to the heart mooueth that power whereby it is stirred vp because that before the heart doth mooue it selfe it must know the thing that offereth occasion vnto it to be moued either with ioy or griefe or some such like affection For as wee haue learned already the outward senses do first perceiue the things that are offered vnto them and then they present them vnto the common sense which presently by a singular prouidence of God sendeth them to al the other senses and to al those powers that are in the sundry parts of the soule and body This done if there be matter of ioy the heart being striken with that which is acceptable vnto it enlargeth it selfe and being thus gently enlarged as it were to embrace the same it disperseth much naturall heate with the blood besides great quantitie of spirites of which it sendeth a good portion to the face if the ioy be so great that it mooueth a man to hearty laughter For the face it selfe is in some sort blowen vp and enlarged the forehead is made cleere and smoothe the eyes glister and shine the cheekes become ruddy and the lippes gather in themselues In a worde the heart doeth so enlarge it selfe that it is represented in the face as it were in a glasse or in an image framed to expresse the ioy and gladnes which it hath Moreouer experience teacheth vs sufficiently what difference there is between a cheerfull and a sad countenance Therfore when we loue one wee embrace him as if wee woulde ioyne him to our selues and put him into our bosome and heart as some deere and very pretious thing Which wee see chiefly in mothers when they holde their little infants betweene their armes and embrace them with great affection of heart For this cause Saint Paul being desirous to let the Corinthians vnderstand what good will hee bare them howe louing ready and
the world shall reioyce ye shall sorrow but your sorrow shal be turned into ioy And then he compareth their sorrowe and their ioy to that which a woman with childe hath which is pained so long as shee is in trauaile but when shee seeth it borne shee receiueth ioy and soone forgetteth her anguish Whereby the worde of God teacheth vs that the griefe of good men shall be turned into double ioy that their sorrow shal be short and their felicitie of long continuance For there is one ioy euen in being deliuered from euill although it be not so great as when any Good happeneth vnto vs. But the ioy is doubled when besides this deliuerance there commeth vnto vs some ioy which we had not which is procured vnto vs by meanes of that paine and euill which we suffered Therefore our Sauiour saieth further to this effect Yee are nowe in sorrow but I will see you againe and your hearts shall reioyce and your ioy shall no man take from you If this ioy can not be taken away it is eternall so that death it selfe can not abolish it Whereupon it followeth that it remaineth yet after death and that there is an other life after this in which wee shall haue fulnesse of ioy Therefore wee may well call it our owne seeing it alwayes continueth with vs. For if it were not so Iesus Christ who is the trueth it selfe shoulde not bee true But as hee cannot lie so wee may assure our selues of his promise For seeing it is grounded on him and vpon his grace resurrection and immortall life we may bee as certainely perswaded of it as wee are assured of his resurrection and of his eternall ioy and life wherein hee liueth and raigneth for euermore Wherefore all those to whome it is promised and that are assured of the fruition thereof by faith in him haue iust occasion to liue in great ioy So that Saint Paul not without good cause saieth Reioyce alwayes in the Lorde and againe I say reioyce But of the ioy of carnall men wee must say as Salomon writeth That it is better to go to the house of mourning then to the house of feasting And that there is away that seemeth right to a man but the issue thereof is the way of death yea in laughter the heart shall be greeued and the ende of ioy is sorrowe The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning but the heart of fooles is in the house of mirth For they thinke of nothing but of iollitie whereas wise men meditate on the miseries of this worlde Therefore wee may know howe greatly Epicures and such as giue themselues to pleasures and dissolutenesse beguile themselues For they thinke there is no ioy nor pleasure but in their life and that there is no life more sadde or melancholy then that of the children and seruants of God But it is cleane contrary For they that feare and honour GOD haue more ioy in their heart in the middest of their greatest sorrowes by reason of that sense and feeling ingrauen in them of heauenly and eternall ioy which thy certainely expect and beginne already to taste here then all worldlings and carnall men can haue in the greatest triumphs of al their pleasures Now as there are two kinds of ioy in the hear of men so are there also of sorrows For we do not only feele ioy for some Good or sorrow for some euill which we now taste of but also for that which we attend and looke for Concerning this latter kind of ioy it is properly called Hope which is an affection and motion of the heart whereby it wisheth some Good to come and prepareth to open it selfe and to receiue it Therefore wee saide before that Hope was comprehended vnder desire vnto which it giueth forme and being For Hope is a desire ioyned with confidence that the Good which wee wish for will come to passe Therefore the motions of Ioy and Hope are very like seeing Hope is alwayes mingled with Ioy neither is there any difference but in the time because the one is of a present Good and the other of that which is looked for In the meane time Hope hath no euidence or science but is grounded onely vpon coniecture of opinion or likelihoode and probabilitie or possibilitie And yet there is nothing so light or so small or strange vnto which the heart will not easily ioyne it selfe and take holde of it when it seeketh for helpes and proppes to ground and stay it selfe vpon Neuertheles there is great difference betweene hauing already and hoping for a thing namely in respect of men and of hope which hath no other grounds then those of which I nowe made mention But when the expectation is grounded vpon God his promises it is as sure of that which it expecteth as if it did already possesse it which is very comfortable to a man in respect of that which hapneth to them who can haue no certaine hope or expectation of Good For although there bee hope yet if it be not grounded vpon God it can bring no certaine ioy or of any long continuance Besides when such a one shall faile of his hope his griefe wil be doubled Wherefore they that build not their hope vpon the word of God can haue no true and certaine hope but they feed thēselues only with their fantasies as they that dreame they find great riches which vanish away whē they awake Such is the hope of the wicked of al worldly and carnall men Neuerthelesse the perswasion of hope which holdeth vs vp with the expectation of better things is very pleasant and necessary for the life of man in the midst of so many miseries of so many sharpe almost intolerable paines and trauailes which accompany them So that it bringeth great comfort to men and is in steade of sawce vnto them without which they woulde find al things to be not only without taste but also of a very bitter and vnpleasant taste Therefore hath the prouidence of God prouided a remedy for this namely that hope shuld breed of very light causes should leane stay it self easily vpon them as if it self were very light or very hooked and gluish being ready to take hold of and to retaine whatsoeuer it meeteth withall or can lay hands vpon to ground and leane thereon Nowe if men finde so great comfort in hope such as it is and being laide vpon so weake a foundation it is easy to iudge what ioy the faithful receiue by that most certaine hope of eternall life and of al the good things that God hath promised them in regard whereof S. Paul saith There is one body one spirit euen as ye are called in one hope of your vocation It is not then without cause that he saith in another place We reioyce in tribulations knowing that tribulation bringeth forth patience and patience experience and experience hope and
afraide what man can do vnto me In the feare of the Lorde saith the wise man there is assured strength and his children shall haue hope Therefore Iesus Christ saieth to his Disciples Let not your heart bee troubled And then hee sheweth them the meanes saying Ye beleeue in God beleeue also in me For nothing but faith in God through Iesus Christ is able to giue vs this assurance On the other side if wee be not armed with the feare of GOD and with true faith that wee may be certaine of his helpe and prouidence and of his loue towards vs there is nothing that can assure vs but rather that which is written in the Lawe will befall vs I will saieth the Lorde send a faintnesse into their heartes in the land of their enemies and the sound of a leafe shaken shall chase them and They shall flee as fleeing from a sworde and they shall fall no man pursuing them And in an other place where mention is made of them that despise the Lawe of GOD and rebell against the Lorde it is saide The Lord shall giue thee a trembling heart and looking to returne till thine eies fall out and a sorrowfull mind Thy life shall hang before thee thou shalt feare both night and day and shalt haue none assurance of thy life In the morning thou shalt say would God it were euening and at euening thou shalt say woulde God it were morning for the feare of thine heart which thou shalt feare and for the sight of thine eies which thou shalt see Therefore when wee see that in many great and dangerous affaires the boldest and most couragious are oftentimes the greatest cowardes and most astonished and carried away with feare and terrour and euen many times without any great cause are amased and voyde of counsaile whereas contrariwise cowardes by nature growe to bee most hardy in the middest of dangers thereby GOD sheweth very well whether strength and courage come from him or from men and who is to haue the praise thereof But nowe that wee haue seene the first motions of the heart in the affections of ioy of sorrowe of hope and of feare and knowe that they haue respect to good or euill either present or to come let vs learne in the next place that as contemplation consisteth in the rest of the Spirite after the discourse of reason and iudgement so after the heart hath the fruition of that Good which belongeth vnto it it is still and quiet resting it selfe therein which rest is called Delight or pleasure of which the order of our speech requireth that thou shouldest dilate ARAM at this present Of the delight and pleasure that followeth euery ioy and of the moderation that is required therein of diuers degrees of pleasures and howe men abuse them especially those pleasures which are receiued by the corporall senses Chap. 47. ARAM. It is certaine that all the affections which God hath placed in the nature of man were giuen vnto him in regarde of so many good things which were meete and conuenient for his will to long after and to desire For ioy and hope which affoord pleasure and consolation to the heart were bestowed vpon him to bee spurres and sollicitours to induce him to seeke after God his soueraigne Good in whom alone he may finde all delight rest and pleasure As for sorow and feare they are sure testimonies vnto men of the iudgement of God and executioners of his vengeance to this end that the feare of euill which may come vnto them should keepe them in awe and that sorow and griefe for euill which they haue already committed should be vnto them both hangman and punishment It is true that these affections being naturall in euery one bring forth contrary effects both in the good and in the bad For the children of God neuer separate his power from his goodnesse and the feare which they haue of him is not ioyned with hatred but with trust in his mercie which mooueth them to be grieued for offending him and to loue him to seeke him and to reioyce in him and to haue him in singuler honour and veneration But the wicked who feare and tremble like to malefactors fearing their iudge hate and despite God desiring nothing more then to escape his hands and to flee from him as farre as they can If they be grieued it is because they may not enioy false ioyes and vnlawfull pleasures Therefore that which is giuen them for Good is turned by them into sinne and euill and pleasure into paine and griefe But here we must call to minde what we haue spoken already concerning the signification of this worde Good as it is commonly taken not considering whether it be true or false but onely according to that opinion which men haue of it For there are many whose fancie is sufficient to affoord them as much pleasure as if indeed they enioyed that Good which they thinke to haue We see many such fooles in the world For some are Popes or Cardinals by fantasie others Emperors or Kings and great Princes or otherwise very riche or possessours of some such great Good And yet such fantasticall fellowes are better contented and pleased with that which they thinke they haue in their foolishe imagination then they that haue them in trueth vnto whome commonly they serue for nothing but to torment them more Therefore I knowe not which of them I shoulde esteeme more foolish and fantasticall For none ought to bee taken for truely wise men and of ripe iudgement but they who knowe that all thinges in the worlde and vnder the sunne are onely vanitie as Salomon sheweth in his booke of the Preacher Therefore hee saieth thus I saide in mine heart Goe to nowe I will prooue thee with ioy therefore take thou pleasure in pleasaunt thinges and behold this also is vanitie I said of laughter thou art mad and of ioy what is this that thou doest But to goe forwarde with our matter let vs consider what delight and pleasure is so farre as men may enioy it in this life It is then a rest which the heart taketh in the enioying of some Good that it liketh euen as contemplation is the rest of the spirite after the discourse of Reason and Iudgement Now wee are to note that there is no delight and pleasure in any thing except there be some agreement betweene that part or power that receiueth pleasure and that which bringeth the same vnto it This agreement cannot bee without good proportion of the one with the other whereby there is some similitude and resemblance betweene them For this cause also the thing that bringeth delight must not exceede too much either in greatnesse or in smalnesse aboue the power which receiueth it in regarde of that part or instrument whereby the pleasure is receiued Heereupon when wee spake of the eyes and eares wee shewed that light was to bee
dispensed to the eyes and sounde to the eares in good measure and moderation For if the light bee too great the eyes cannot receiue it insomuch that they will bee hurt and offended in steade of receiuing delight On the other side if it bee too little it will not suffice them and therefore it must bee betweene both And as euery mans sight is sharper and stronger or more dull and weaker so must the light bee dispensed according to that measure The like may bee sayde of soundes in regarde of the eares and of all other thinges in respect of those sences vnto which they agree And if this moderation bee requisite for the outwarde sences it is no lesse necessary in respect of the inward senses and of all the powers of the soule Therefore as God is incomprehensible and infinite so is hee receiued with delight of that part of the soule which commeth neerest vnto his nature and which is most incomprehensible most ample and most infinite in regarde of other partes and that is the Spirite and Vnderstanding On the other side because there is no proportion or agreement in greatnesse and infinitenesse betweene GOD and the Soule shee receiueth and comprehendeth him by such meanes whereby hee may bee applied vnto her and shee made after a sort capable of him For if hee shoulde present himselfe vnto her such as hee is in his high and diuine maiestie especially man beeing in this estate wherein hee is in this mortall life shee coulde not beare so high maiestie as beeing too exceeding great for her So that insteede of receiuing pleasure ioy and delight shee shoulde not onely bee very much frighted but euen wholly ouerwhelmed and swallowed vp as a droppe of water woulde bee consumed beeyng throwen into a great fire as wee may iudge by so many examples as are in the holie Scriptures to this purpose For when God manifested himselfe to the Patriarkes hee neuer appeared vnto them in the greatnesse of his maiestie but tooke vnto him alwayes some shape and vsed such meanes as were agreeable to their nature Therefore also it is verie requisite that GOD shoulde descende and applie himselfe vnto our small capacitie to the ende wee may enioy him and his Goodes and take pleasure and delight in them For this cause hee hath not onely appointed the ministerie of his worde and Sacraments to shewe and communicate himselfe vnto vs by them applying himselfe vnto our nature and capacitie but hath also manifested himself in flesh in the person of his sonne Iesus Christ to become more like vnto vs and to drawe neerer vnto vs in our owne nature to this ende that wee might enioye him and all his benefites the better and receiue more true and entire delight in them And thus much for this poynt of the agreement that ought to bee betweene the thing that delighteth and that which receiueth pleasure Next wee are to note that a man may take pleasure by all those partes whereby hee may knowe as well by the internall as the externall senses and by all the powers of the minde and soule Whereupon it followeth that as euerie one is more or lesse addicted to any of these partes so hee delighteth most in those pleasures which hee may receiue by that part vnto which hee is most giuen Therefore wee see that the baser and more vile sort of people and such as are most rude and ignoraunt are more mooued by corporall and externall thinges which moue the bodily senses then by spirituall and high things that are more meete for the spirite and wherein it taketh greater pleasures But with prudent and wise men and such as are more spirituall it is otherwise So that as euery ones nature is more noble and excellent or more vile and abiect and according to the nature of those things wherein euery one delighteth so is the delight either more noble and excellent or more base and contemptible more pure quiet or more impure and troublesome of longer or of shorter continuance and hath moe or fewer pleasures and those either more or lesse tedious Now among those delights which a man may take by the bodily senses the basest and most abiect of all is that which is receiued by the sense of touching For as it is most earthy of all the external senses so are the pleasures that are taken by it That delight which is taken by the sense of tasting is a litle more honest and lesse contemptible and yet is it brutish enough As for the delight that may bee receiued by the sense of smelling it is very light and nothing so pleasant as the yrkesomnesse that commeth of the contrary is vnpleasant For a good smel bringeth not so great pleasure as an euill smell causeth displeasure besides that this sense of smelling is not so sharpe in man as in beasts And concerning those pleasures which a man may receiue by the eares they haue some more beautie and excellency in them For the more they holde of the nature of the ayre they are so much the lesse earthy and brutish And those which we receiue by the eyes are yet more excellent then all the rest because the eyes are of the nature of the fire which commeth neerest to the celestial nature And thus much for those pleasures which a man may receiue by the corporall senses of which the noblest and best are baser and of lesse excellency then the least of those which we may receiue by the basest parts powers of the soule For as much as the soule is more noble and more worthie then the body so much is the least thing in it greater and more magnificall then that which is most noble and most excellent in the bodie And as there are diuers degrees of pleasures according to the varietie of the externall senses and according to the difference that is betwixt them and the powers of the soule so is it betweene the powers of the soule as some of them are more noble and more diuine then others For those which appertaine to the nourishing and generatiue powers are more corporall earthy and brutish then those that belong to the vitall partes and to the heart And those that are proper to the spirite and minde are purest and best of all among which that delight that is in contemplation is the chiefest as we may iudge by that which we haue alreadie spoken Wherefore if we would consider well of all these degrees of delight and pleasure and could iudge well of them we should not be so deceiued in them as commonly we are preferring the least before the greatest the basest before the noblest those that are most earthy before them that are most heauenly and those that fade soonest before them that continue longest Besides the very enioying of euery one of them ought to suffice to make vs know their nature and the difference betweene the one and the other and how farre one is to be
preferred before another For how do we see men giuen ouer to those pleasures wherein they delight not onely in eating and drinking in dainty morsels and delicate drinkes but also in other carnall pleasures that are more earthy and vile especially when they are excessiue and vnmeasurable as they are in whoredome For those which wee receiue in eating and drinking belong to the sense of taste which is brutish enough but these others to the sense of touching which is a great deale more brutish We know by experience also that these senses are sooner wearied and tyred with their pleasures then any other and that such delights commonly bring with them more yrkesomnes and loathing then ioy and pleasure leauing many times behind them a long and shamefull repentance for pollutions receiued by them The pleasures that belong to the other senses as they are of longer continuance so they weary not a man so quickly especially those that delight the sight Yea the baser and more vile the pleasures are the sooner doe they loathe a man as they know by experience that are giuen to whoredome For how insatiable soeuer they be yet can they not but be glutted therewith neither are they able to continue their vnrulinesse so long in that pleasure howsoeuer they want no good-will as in the pleasures that come by eating and drinking Neither can the greatest gluttons drunkards and daintie mouthed persons follow so long together after the delights of their gluttony drunkennes and daintie diet as they may after those which they receiue either in smelling or in hearing or in seeing As for the pains that are to be taken in the obtaining and vsing of these pleasures the more earthy brutish the delight is the greater labour is to bee had about it and the more excessiuely the pleasure is vsed the greater hurt commeth thereby as wee daily see in gluttons drunkards and whoremongers by the testimonie of those diseases which take holde of them through their excesse Thus then we may learne by the vse of those pleasures which are receiued by the bodily and outward senses which of them are to be preferred before others with the agreement necessary therein and the moderation that alwayes ought to bee obserued in them But to goe forward with our matter we are now to compare together the delights and pleasures that are receiued by the spirituall and internall senses and to vnderstand what difference there is betweene the vse of the pleasures of the spirite and of the body and howe the one driue away the other Nowe let vs heare what ACHITOB will tell vs of this point Of the comparison of pleasures receiued by the internall senses and howe men descend by degrees from the best to the basest pleasures of the difference betweene the vse of spirituall delights and corporall and howe the one chase the other Chap. 48. ACHITOB. Experience daily teacheth vs that we need but a little griefe to diminish a great pleasure or otherwise to take it cleane away and to change it into great displeasure yea to turne a great ioy into extreame sorow and sadnes But few there are that meditate and knowe the cause thereof The trueth is we can thinke of no other cause then of the corruption of our nature of the estate and disposition of our bodie of the course of our age and life which decline continually and waxe worse and worse Therefore a small griefe findeth greater strength within vs to cause our heart to giue back and to close vp it selfe and wholly to cast vs downe then a great ioy and delight is able to open and inlarge it and to sustaine and holde vs vp For a little force will throwe downe this shaking and reeling bodie but there had neede to bee a great deale of strength to vnderproppe and stay it vp firme and stedfast On the other side wee can more easily want pleasures then not feele their contrary griefes For wee doe not perceiue so much the want of a good which we haue not as the presence of an euill which wee suffer For in the first it seemeth that wee want nothing but in the other the sense is afflicted and the sounde estate and disposition thereof is cleane taken away and ouerthrowne Nowe if wee desire to feele such griefes as little as we may and to approach as neere as our nature will permit to true delight and pleasures wee must withdrawe our selues from vile and abiect things and contemplate most high and excellent things Nowe as we haue learned by the former discourse that those delights and pleasures which are receiued by the chiefest senses that sauour least of the earth are of longer continuance then the other so we are to knowe that the pleasures of the fancie are more stable and firme then those which come by the corporall senses Hereof it is that men are cloyed a great deale sooner not onely with the pleasures of eating and drinking and of other more abiect thinges but also of sweete smelles of musicke of harmonicall soundes and of the beholding of goodly sights then with those good that are in the fancy and in opinion whereby the minde is deceiued as namely the getting and possessing of siluer of riches of power of honours and of glorie For these Goods are goods rather in opinion then in truth But because fancie propoundeth them vnto her selfe for Goods therefore shee taketh pleasure and delight in them Therefore the couetous man delighteth in his golde siluer and riches and the ambitious man in his power gloy and honours which are the pleasures of fancie and with which she is not so soone wearied as the bodie is with corporal pleasures but contrariwise the more shee hath the more her delight encreaseth and becommeth insatiable But the pleasures of reason of the minde and of the spirite continue a great deale longer then they because the spirite is not wearie or tyred but is recreated and refreshed But none can iudge well of this but those that haue had experience thereof No maruaile therefore if such men as are addicted to these other more base and earthly pleasures mocke and deride them that contemne their delightes and make so great account of these spirituall and heauenly pleasures that they are content to renounce all the rest and to forgoe all the goods in the worlde that they may enioy these as wee see it was with those holie personages that haue tasted of them As for those carnall and beastlike men wee may say of them as wee doe of hogges that delight more in a puddle or sinke then in pretious stones or sweete odours namely that they followe that which is most agreeable to their naturall disposition because they want iudgement to discerne the value of those thinges which they contemne and make no account of Nowe among the pleasures of the spirite those that consist in contemplation are of their nature by which wee shall become blessed in the the
receiue and to embrace it Wherupon ariseth a desire of coniunction to knit the same thing to it selfe and this loue is called Cupiditie Lusting or Coueting But because this affection is so out of square in this our corrupt nature these names are commonly taken more in the euill then in the good part Nowe this affection of desire or coueting hath respect either to that good which we enioy alreadie or which we haue yet in hope onely and in expectation If it be already present this cupiditie breedeth a desire to retaine and keepe it still if it be yet in expectation it bringeth forth a desire and longing to enioy it And in this sort we loue all those things which we esteeme and take to bee profitable for vs either for the soule or for the body or for the external goods For this cause many loue God because they know that it is he who giueth good things vnto men But this is not that true loue wherwith we must loue him For although they are very wicked and too vnthankfull which loue him not at leastwise with such a loue and for that cause yet if we goe no further we loue our selues more then wee doe him in this kind of loue seeing the chiefe cause for which we loue him is not in respect of himselfe but of vs. For we loue him by reason of that good which we receiue from him But true loue is that which causeth vs to loue a thing because it is good in it selfe and not in respect of any profite that may come vnto vs thereby With this loue we ought to loue God and our neighbours and friendes and of this loue wee haue a very cleare and manifest image in the loue of Fathers and mothers towards their children For they loue them not because they haue respect to some good which they may receiue of them but because they are their children For although they receiue nothing but trouble by them from the time of their childehood and expences rather then profit yet that letteth them not from louing them tenderly and with great affection Nowe if by this loue grounded vpon such a cause we iudge the like of the loue of God towards vs seeing it is hee that hath imprinted the same in the heartes of parents towards their children as an image of his loue towards vs we conclude well For seeing he is the fountaine of all true and perfect loue all other loues are but as it were little riuers which flowe from this liuely spring But there is none so expresse an image thereof in all the creatures as in the loue of fathers and mothers towards their children For doeth God loue vs in respect of any profite which hee looketh for at our hands Hereof it is that he setteth forth himselfe vnto vs as a Father to the end we may the better know that he loueth vs with a right fatherly loue Therefore also hee will haue vs to call him Father and so to accoūnt of him yea hee will not haue vs to take any other for our Father of whome to depende wholly but him alone And no doubt but we shoulde receiue wonderfull ioy and consolation if we coulde as well feele within vs that loue which this good Father beareth vs as we feele the loue which we beare towardes our children Now when loue is reciprocall and mutuall so that he which is loued doeth also loue for his part the partie that loueth him then is friendship bred of loue wherein there is mutuall beneuolence and goodwil Wherefore as God loueth vs so muust we for our partes loue him seeing this is the chiefe cause why he hath created man according to his image and similitude and hath giuen him a soule that is immortall and endued with vnderstanding and reason to knowe him first and then to loue him Therefore if wee consider by what steppes wee ascend vp to God we shall finde that as by the loue which he first bare vs we descended from the highest to the lowest so likewise we mount vp againe from the lowest vnto the highest by that loue which wee beare him For our soule descendeth from the highest which is God vnto the lowest which is the bodie by the loue of the Creator towards her who by meanes of this descending and coniunction communicateth his blessednesse both with the soule and with the bodie And as she came downe from him so through the knowledge which she hath of God and loue which she beareth him she ascendeth vp again returneth to her first birth Cōcerning those degrees by which we come thither we begin first at materiall and corporal things as the beginning of mans generation and birth teacheth vs then we come to the senses of the bodie by that vse which we haue of them Afterwarde we vse imagination and fantasie and from that we come to reason and iudgement next to contemplation and last of all to loue Heereby we may learne also to know the steppes of descending seeing they are the same but begunne at the contrarie ende Wherefore if iudgement bee gouerned and ouercome by the affections and reason by fantasie the estate of the soule is wholly ouerturned and peruerted as if the bodie beeing minded to walke shoulde set the head vpon the ground and lift the heeles vpwarde So likewise is it if in steede o mounting vp to God by loue we descend in such sort to the creatures that we ascend vp no more to him that wee may bee one with him For loue maketh all things one Therefore if we be vnited with God there must needes be perfect friendshippe betweene him and vs. For as he loueth vs so we loue him and then our selues for loue of him And from the loue of our selues springeth our loue towards our wiues and children as though they were a part of vs as also towardes our like and towards our woorkes For similitude and likenesse is a great cause of loue seeing that when one resembleth vs it is as if wee our selues were another because similitude maketh many things to be as one and the same thing Wherefore seeing God hath created vs to his image and likenesse it cannot bee but that he loueth his image and similitude in vs and vs also in respect of that as if it were himselfe For this cause the more this image is reformed and renewed in vs the more no doubt hee loueth vs and the like also may be said of our loue towards him In like manner beautie hath great vertue to procure loue and that for many causes For first the beautie which appeareth without in any body is as it were a witnesse and testimonie of the beautie in the soule according to that which we haue already spoken of the agreement of the powers affections thereof with the temperature of the bodie For God hath created all things in such manner that he hath commonly ioyned beautie and goodnes together
other as also we shall be altogither a great deale more conioyned with and in God For this cause Saint Paul had good reason to say that Loue doeth neuer fallaway though prophecyings be abolished or tongues cease or knowledge vanish away Wherefore in this respect hee concludeth that loue is the greatest of these three Faith Hope and Loue. But wee haue spoken enough of the nature of Loue for the subiect of our discourse of the naturall historie of man Nowe I thinke it will not bee vnprofitable if wee say somewhat of other affections that are neere neighbours vnto Loue and ioyned with it as of fauour reuerence honour and pitie which haue such good or ill qualities in man as the nature of that loue hath which bringeth them foorth as ASER will giue vs to vnderstand Of fauour reuerence and of honour of their nature and effectes of those outward signes whereby they shew themselues of pitie and compassion and how agreeable it is to the nature of man Chap. 53. ASER. I cannot marueile enough at the drowsines of many great spirits who are so delighted with the vaine dreames of their own fancies that they employ all the giftes and graces of their minde to lift vp euen vnto the heauens the pleasures that are receiued in the loue of humane and mortall things especially in the fruites of concupiscence and yet the least of them cannot be gotten without a thousand troublesome discommodities besides that they leaue alwayes in man an insatiable desire of them I would aske of them gladly when the most voluptuous man of them all hath not euen in the middest of his pleasures sighed and bene subiect to passions desiring some other thing besides or when there was euer founde betweene twaine that loued ech other corruptly that conformitie of wils that communication of thoughts those continual agreements that concord of life which is necessary in all true loue especially seeing it is a hard matter yea impossible to see a wicked man that is not daily at variance with himselfe insomuch that if he could leaue himselfe as two men forsake eche other there are many who vpon euery occasion woulde leaue themselues to take another body or another soule And as when one being very desirous to eate and thereupon falling asleepe dreameth that he is feeding and yet is not satisfied because it is not a dreame of meate that will content the sense and appetite which seeketh to bee appeased but substantiall meate it selfe euen so it falleth out when men dreaming in spirite which is as pernicious a thing as the sleepe of death giue themselues by a certaine natural inclination which they haue to the loue of Good to seeke for the beautie contentation delight thereof vpon earth when they are not to be found in the whole worlde As for their shadowes which in some sort appeare in corporall and earthly things and in those delights which proceede of them they doe not feede their mindes with sound and good thinges but rather abuse and deceiue them Therefore we ought to take great heed that wee set not our heart and affection rather vpon those miserable corruptible and deceiueable pleasures wherein worldlings and carnal men doe glory then vpon that great and infinite brightnesse of which the sunne is but a very small beame and vpon those singular blessed and heauenly trueths which the worde of life doeth teach vs and which are the onely true and solide meates that can content and satisfie our spirits eternally It is certaine that nature mooueth vs to set our affection chiefly vpon some one thing rather then vpon another forasmuch as loue is a gift bestowed by the Creatour vpon all natures at the time of their birth Nowe vnto Loue many other affections are ioyned among which Fauour commonly hath the first place This affection is a kinde of good will and liking which springeth from a iudgement conceiued of some Good so that wee may call it a loue begunne For in this iudgement of Good wee esteeme well of him towardes whome our fauour is extended and iudge him woorthie of some good thing and by this meanes wee beginne to loue him Wherefore although fauour may bee without true loue yet loue cannot bee without fauour Notwithstanding when wee fauour one before wee loue him euen then wee enter into the way that leadeth to loue him And for the least shadowe of loue in our heart towardes another wee fauour him as wee see it in those that are linked vnto vs by some degree eyther of consanguinitie or of affinitie or by meanes of some acquaintance and knowledge Now forasmuch as GOD loueth vs he beareth vs fauour also although not in the regarde or for the iudgement of any good which hee seeth in vs or in our corrupted nature but because of the loue hee beareth vs in Iesus Christ his welbeloued in whome by his grace hee hath made vs acceptable to himselfe Therefore this fauour bringeth with it the perfection of all Good vnto vs. For what can hee want that is fauoured of God who can doe all things This fauour which God beareth vnto vs is called grace and blessing in the holy Scriptures which comprehendeth all those benefites which wee receiue of his goodnesse For they proceede all of this fauour and this fauour of the loue hee beareth vs in Iesus Christ Reuerence also commonly accompanieth loue whereby we vnderstand an affection proceeding from the iudgement of some great good that hurteth vs not For if wee thought it woulde hurt vs there woulde bee feare ioyned with hatred and not true reuerence For although there is euermore in all reuerence some feare mingled with shamefastnesse neuerthelesse this feare bringeth no hatred with it This reuerence is bredde in vs by comparing the greatnesse of another with our smalnesse as if wee admired those excellent thinges that are in him For as the heart doeth enlarge it selfe through the consideration and opinion it hath of it owne greatnesse so doeth it restraine and close vp it selfe vpon the reputation and conceipt of another mans greatnesse so it bee good or at leastwise without hurt Therefore if wee compare our greatnesse with some other mans that is farre greater we know our owne smalnesse thereby Whereupon it commeth to passe that we doe not onely esteeme woorse but euen dislike and contemne our selues by which meanes wee become more humble whereas before wee were puffed vp with pride through the opinion of our greatnesse of which wee haue experience as often as wee compare our selues with GOD and lift vp our spirite euen to the consideration of his diuine maiestie comparing that with our basenesse For then beeing rauished with admiration of his highnesse and infinite greatnesse wee honour and reuerence him by reason of his power vnto which wee ioyne also his wisedome and goodnesse And according to that reuerence wee beare towardes him wee reuerence those also in whome wee see the same
haue giuen to any other besides himselfe and indeede all the creatures ioyned together are not able to diminish or to adde any thing thereunto whatsoeuer they doe but also because hee loueth vs hee is iealous of our saluation and desireth to reserue vs wholly to himselfe and to make vs partakers of his immortall blessednesse Therefore hee will not haue vs spoyle him of his glorie and forsake his seruice in regarde of that hurt and dammage which shoulde befall vs thereby For hee beareth that affection towardes vs which a good Father doeth towardes his children who loueth them not for any profite comming to him thereby but only for their owne good and because hee both will and ought to loue them This loue then which God beareth vnto vs causeth him to be iealous ouer vs when through impietie and wickednesse of life wee leaue him and ioyne our selues vnto his aduersary the deuill Whereupon hee doeth not onely become angry but is full of indignation also both against him and vs. For indignation is a griefe wrought in vs when wee see some good thing befall to an vnworthy person and him that is worthy depriued thereof This affection therefore proceedeth from the same roote from whence compassion springeth namely from the iudgement of that which is good and from the loue thereof But the diuersitie of both their obiects causeth them in some sort to be contrary affections forasmuch as indignation is bred in regarde of some good that hapneth to one that is vnworthy of it and compassion or pity ariseth of some euill that befalleth or is procured to him that hath not deserued it And of these two contrary affections mingled together a third affection is bred which in holy Scripture is called Zeale and Iealousie being taken in the good part Hereof it is that the loue and compassion which God hath of his children when he seeth them go about to bereaue themselues of that good which he wisheth them and the indignation that hee hath in regarde of the good which hapneth to the wicked in the accomplishment of their euill desires for to them euill is in steade of good causeth him to be mooued with iealousie and to bee auenged thereof For this cause the Prophet Ioel saieth Then will the Lorde be iealous ouer his land and spare his people And the Prophet Esay hauing declared to Ezechias the deliuerance of Ierusalem and the succour which GOD would send him against Senacherib saith That the zeale of the Lorde of Hostes will perfourme this In like manner when the true children and seruants of God beholde a confusion in steade of that order which the Lorde woulde haue obserued and which hee hath prescribed vnto his creatures they are greatly mooued in regarde of that zeale which they beare as well towardes GOD as towardes their neighbours For Zeale is nothing else but an indignation conceiued in respect of those things that are vnwoorthily done against him that is deare vnto vs and whome wee loue Therefore if wee loue GOD and his Statutes if wee loue the Common-wealth our Princes our Parents and all others whome wee ought to loue wee will bee iealous for them and can not beholde without indignation aniething done against them that ought not to bee This Indignation and Iealousie will induce vs to set our selues earnestly against all iniustice and to ouerthrowe it with all our might With this Iealousie Saint Paul was affected towardes the Corinthians when hee wrote thus vnto them I am iealous ouer you with godly iealousie for I haue prepared you for one husband to present you as a pure virgine vnto Christ. This kind of Zeale is very requisite in all the true seruants of God but chiefely in them that haue any publike charge whether it be in the Church or in the Common-wealth For except they bee endued with great Zeale towardes the glory of the Maiestie of GOD towardes iustice and all vertues they will neuer haue that care which they ought eyther of the honour and seruice of GOD or of publike benefite or to reprooue correct and punish vices or lastly to maintaine good Discipline vpright iustice and good conuersation in such sorte as becommeth them For this cause hath GOD giuen to the nature of man this affection of Zeale and Indignation for the communion that ought to bee in the societie of men to the ende there shoulde bee a right and indifferent distribution of all good things so that none of them shoulde light vpon the vnwoorthy that vse them ill but to such as deserue them and knowe howe to vse them aright Nowe when these affections are thus ruled they are very good and profitable but commonly they are abused vnto vice For Indignation is quickely bredde of Enuy which being vniust is also of a corrupt and badde iudgement so that an enuious bodie thinketh that whatsoeuer good thing an other hath befallen vnto him hee is vnwoorthy of it And so in like manner the Zeale that is without true knowledge bringeth foorth most pernicious effectes For it proceedeth from a loue which iudgeth not aright of the thing that mooueth it but esteemeth it to bee euill and woorthy of hatred whereas it is good and woorthy of loue Of this Zeale Saint Paul speaketh when hee sayeth of the Iewes I beare them recorde that they haue the zeale of God but not according to knowledge For being deceiued in their iudgement and calling themselues defenders and louers of the lawe of GOD they persecuted the Gospel which was the accomplishment of the Lawe and also them that beleeued in Iesus Christ insomuch that their very Zeale was through their ignoraunce turned into Crueltie and Tyranny which is a very dangerous zeale and ought most carefully to bee shunned of vs as that whereinto the best minded men of all doe commonly fall when they are blinded with ignoraunce as the Apostle Saint Paul propoundeth himselfe in this case for an example before hee was conuerted For hee freely confesseth that hee was a blasphemour a persecutour and an oppressour but hee did it ignorantly and through vnbeleefe There haue beene many such not onely amongest the Iewes but euen among the Heathen For albeit their Religion was altogether superstitious and idolatrous yet they alwayes maintained and defended it with very great zeale persecuting such as professed Christianitie among them and condemning them as the vilest and most detestable men vpon the earth But if the Lord be greatly offended when as wee beare hatred and enuy against any body wee cannot doubt but that this doeth likewise displease him when we commit these things being blinded with ignoraunce and that hee is carried with greater indignation against vs when wee maliciously cloake these vices with a false title of zeale of religion and of his glory thereby to reuenge our selues and to exercise our cruelties much more easily But let vs nowe proceede to consider of other affections of the
be afraide of that shame which the wicked think to bring vpon vs but rather account it honourable and glorious Yea themselues shall bee ashamed and confounded when their vices and vile actions shal be discouered by our honestie and vertue whereas if we ioyne with them we shall cause them to bee voyde of shame when they doe ill yea they will boast and vaunt of it before vs. But enough of this matter Now forasmuch as arrogant and proude persons are farthest off from vsing aright any of those affections of the heart of which wee haue hitherto discoursed especially of shame I am of opinion that we are to looke into the nature and effects of the passion of pride Therefore ARAM this shal be the subiect of thy discourse Of Pride with the consideration thereof as well in nature entire as corrupted of the originall thereof and of such as are most inclined therevnto what vices accompanie it how great a poison it is and what remedie there is for it Chap. 59. ARAM. There is nothing more easie then for a man to deceiue himselfe For looke what a man earnestly desireth hee supposeth it is alreadie as it were come to passe or at least hee promiseth to himselfe that he shal easily obtaine it But oftentimes things fall out otherwise then men looke or hope for Now the chiefe cause of their errour heerein is that presumption which commonly they haue of their owne wisedome and vertue whereby they are lift vp with vaine confidence and puffed vp with pride For when men are caried away with an inordinate and blinde loue of themselues they are soone perswaded that there is nothing in them worthy to be despised yea they thinke that their ignorance is wisedome insomuch that knowing nothing they suppose they know all things and hauing no dexteritie to performe one commendable work they presume very inconsideratly to set their hand to euery great matter But the more care diligence they bestow being led with a desire to shew great skil and thinking to winne honour and renowne so much the more they discouer their ignorance and blockishnes purchasing to themselues shame and infamie Now the trueth of God teacheth vs to consider otherwise of our selues namely that we want both sound vnderstanding and strength also to accomplish any good thing Which knowledge ought to keep vs backe from all presumption and ouerweening of our owne wisedome and strength and take from vs all matter of pride and glorie to leade vs vnto modestie and humilitie This rule wee ought to follow if we will attaine to the white of good iudgement and well doing Now as shame and confusion is bredde of some vile and dishonest fact as we haue heard so vice fetcheth his beginning from pride I call pride a puffing vp of the soule and heart proceeding from the opinion of some excellent good thing in vs more then is in others whereby a man is in estimation honour whether this good thing be present past or to come But we are to consider of two fountains and first causes of this inflation and affection of the heart namely of one that proceedeth from nature pure and intire and of another that commeth from nature as it is corrupted So that we may boldly say that there is a kind of pride which is no vice but a vertue or at leastwise the seede of vertue For there was no vicious or euill thing in the first nature as it was created of God but euery thing in it was vertuous and the seed of vertue as we haue alreadie shewed in the former discourses alreadie made by vs. Wherefore that naturall pride of man beeing such as hee should haue beene if hee had continued in his first nature woulde bee an excellent vertue and as it were the mother of all the rest whereas nowe it is the most vgly and monstrous vice that can bee founde in the whole nature of man corrupted by meanes of which it is become the father of all vices and sinnes For seeing GOD hath done this honour to man aboue all other bodily creatures as to create him in regarde of his soule of a celestiall and diuine nature for which cause the verie Heathen affirme that mankinde is of the linage and parentage of God hee woulde not haue him ignoraunt of the excellencie of his beeing and of those great and woonderfull benefites which hee hath receiued of him in his creation and of which hee hath made him partaker chiefely for three causes The first to this ende that knowing what grace and honour God his Creatour hath bestowed vpon him hee might be moued continually to acknowledge and honour him as it becommeth him The second to the ende that knowing the excellencie of his nature and of the stocke from whence hee came hee shoulde loue himselfe in God his Creator and in him thinke himselfe woorthie of true goodes euen of the greatest and most excellent that may bee namely of heauenly and eternall goodes and that hee shoulde knowe that hee was created for them and that through the knowledge and consideration thereof he might be prouoked to wish for and to desire them with great courage The thirde that by this meanes hee might feare to degenerate from so high and noble a linage as that is from whence hee is descended and to fall from so high a degree of honour and dignitie into dishonour and shame and to loose those excellent goodes whereunto hee was allotted if hee committed any thing vnbeseeming so noble and so excellent a nature as was the nature of God according to the image of which hee was creted This then is that holie pride which ought naturally to remaine in man and whereby hee might well haue desired to bee like vnto GOD especially in goodnesse and that by those onelie meanes by which the Lorde woulde haue him bee brought vnto this similitude and which himselfe had taught him namely obedience and that so farre as was agreeable and meete for his nature But our first parentes giuing eare to him who first degenerated from this holie pride vnder colour of beeyng equall not to the goodnes but to the power and greatnes of God were soon perswaded to beleeue the promise which this lyar had made vnto them of a farre greater and more excellent estate then was that wherin God had created them insomuch as their humilitie and obedience whereby they were vnited and conioyned in great glory with God was turned into arrogancie and disobedience Whereupon doubting of the trueth of Gods worde they hearkened to the Diuels counsel propounded vnto themselues the selfe same meanes and degrees to make themselues equall with God their Creator which this wretch and his angels had taken before and whereby he fell from the highest estate of glorie to the most bottomlesse gulfe of miserie And this is that bastardly and earthly pride that is entred into mans nature of which it is saide That pride is
the originall of sinne and hee that hath it shall powre out abomination till at last he be ouerthrowen And a litle after Pride was not created in men neither wrath in the generation of women And indeede God hath made man of a milde and communicable nature apt to societie and to liue with companie not solitarily as sauage beastes vse to doe Therefore there is nothing more contrarie to his nature and to that ende for which he was created then this vicious pride whereby he is so puffed vp and swelleth in such sort as if he were of some other nature and condition then humane and as though he meant to liue in some other estate and degree then of a man By which doing hee degenerateth from that first nature in which hee was created whereupon Ecclesiasticus concludeth That pride is hatefull before God and man Now the more arrogant and proude a man is the more ignoraunt may he bee saide to be of true goods and such as are eternall and whereas he should wish for and long after these his whole affection is turned to the desire of worldly glory and of earthly things Which desire proceedeth from that inconsiderate loue that euery one beareth towards himselfe which keepeth a man from the knowledge of himselfe For if be knew himselfe well he might see in himselfe nothing but such matter as shoulde cause him to abase and to humble himselfe not to be puffed vp and to presume of himselfe in any respect Hereupon it followeth that they are naturally most enclined to pride which are most ignorant most rude most abiect most inconsiderate most hastie and headstrong For they that are skilfull and wise sharpe witted moderate and well stayed who looke into and take a viewe of themselues and know well what is within them such men vnderstand and are able to iudge very well that there is nothing in man that should cause him either to swell or to be blowne vp with pride Therefore we commonly see that they which haue most excellent vertues in them that haue greatest gifts of God and could finde in themselues most matter of pride are notwithstanding most modest and most humble And contrariwise the greatest blockheads and such as are most vnapt to euery good thing most destitute of all good and excellent giftes of nature are for the most part the loftiest most proude so that a man may well say of them that they are proude pesants especially when they are blowne vp like bladders with some winde of prosperity when their noses are perfumed or their eies dimmed with some smoake of honours or of worldly wealth Many other causes of pride might be noted in the nature of man For those that are of a hote and burning nature as cholericke persons are more subiect to this vice then many others and that chiefly for two reasons For holding of the nature of fire which alwayes ascendeth vpwarde if they followe their naturall inclination they will take also of the nature thereof aspiring continually vnto high matters And as the fire is light quicke and violent so will their iudgement and all their affections be which will carie them away headlong and greatly trouble them It is very requisite therefore that water should be cast vpon this fire Now as pride breedeth arrogancie so enuie ill will anger rancour and desire of reuenge doe followe and accompanie it together with impatience indignation selfe-will obstinacie and other such like vices For a proude person waxeth enuious at the good of another as if he thought himselfe only worthie or as if hee accounted all greatnesse in others a hinderance to his owne And because hee supposeth that he is neuer so well esteemed of as he deserueth he waxeth very angry being desirous to reuenge himselfe if there be any meanes Besides to the end he might alwayes seeme to be better then others he neuer ceasseth boasting and bragging For pride being nothing els but winde that puffeth vp the heart euen as fire causeth water to swell and to send forth great waumes if the proude man should not finde some issue for this winde hee woulde burst asunder Therefore he speaketh bigge he chideth and threatneth thundreth and lighteneth and waxeth so insolent that both for his wordes and deedes hee becommeth vntolerable vnto all And because he cannot giue place to any if he stand in cōtention for any thing he holdeth his opinion with inuincible obstinacy insomuch that no authority whatsoeuer no truth how apparantly soeuer it be laid before him no benefit or profit shal be able to turne him from that which he hath once imagined For his desire to be preferred before all and in all matters is so hote and feruent that he feareth nothing more then to be accounted inferiour in any one matter to any other body whosoeuer he be And this causeth him also to bee vnteachable and vnapt to learne For by reason of his pride he is ashamed to learne Besides the ambition and insatiable desire of glorie that is in him causeth him that hee cannot suffer any admonition but continueth resolute in that which he had once taken hold of And he is so farre from suffring patiently that any man should condemne him or any word or deede of his that hee will haue his vices taken for vertues and looketh to bee commended for them Yea some are so passionate and caried away with so great impatience and furious indignation that they storme and rage not onely against men but also against God euen so farre foorth as to despite and blaspheme him openly For the ignorance inconsideratenes that engendreth pride is so blockish and rash that it giueth vs no leisure to consider of and to iudge what good things are in vs neither from whence they come or who it is that giueth them or in what manner or for what reason To be short God commeth not at all into our thought neither doe wee attribute anything vnto any other besides our selues And although many proude persons dissemble these damnable affections and dare not oftentimes lay their heartes so open but rather thinke there is no such matter in them neuerthelesse it is so in trueth and in effect so that all men woulde iudge them to bee such if they were able to see and knowe as God seeth and knoweth Moreouer we are to note that pride is such a vice that it is a harder matter for a man to bee at peace and concord therewith then with any other whatsoeuer Whereupon Salomon saieth That onely by pride doeth man make contention Yea there is alwayes strife and dissention amongest the proude themselues when euerie one desireth to bee preferred one before another and cannot As for humbling and abasing themselues there is no talke of that vnlesse they drawe a little backewarde that they may the better leape forwarde and debase themselues that they may ascende vp higher And as for friendship a proude man hath neuer
expulsiue vertue to bee cast out and the rest which is pure to the vertue of distributing after which the vertue of incorporating executeth his office and duetie Thus you see howe all these particular vertues seruing to the generall vertue of nourishing doe their dueties one after another according to that order which nature hath assigned them For except this agreement and order were kept there woulde bee great confusion and the bodie coulde not receiue his due nourishment Therefore doeth one of them attende vpon and helpe another yea all of them tende to one and the same ende by diuers meanes For after the meate is receiued attracted and retained it must bee digested before it bee separated so that the expulsiue vertue is to attende vpon this separation and distinction Neither can the attractiue or drawing vertue doe his office well vnlesse the bodie bee first emptie neither the vertue of concocting or preparing if the bodie bee not purged of the meate receiued before And if any of these vertues doeth not his duetie the residue are made more dull slowe and languishing For there is such agreement betwixt them and they are by such equal proportion tempered throughout the whole bodie that nothing can befall any one of them but the residue will feele it Neither can that which is wanting in one bee supplied by an other For GOD hauing assigned to euerie one his proper office they deale not one in anothers affaires but euery one abideth in his owne office and goeth not beyonde his appoynted boundes and limites as the like is to bee seene in the printing house and amongest them that stampe money For if the Compositor faile in the 〈◊〉 of his letters the Printer that putteth ynke vpon the fourmes doeth not correct the faultes of the Compositor And if the Printer doeth not distribute his ynke well hee that draweth the sheetes from the presse correcteth not his fault For euery one hath his office apart with which onely hee medleth So likewise in Coyne if hee that cutteth prepareth and fineth the mettall faile in his duetie hee that cutteth it in pieces will correct nothing but diuideth it as it is deliuered to him Then hee that maketh it flatte that it may bee fitte for him that stampeth it doeth nothing but that which is committed to his charge and if hee that stampeth it findeth it not so flat or so round as it ought to be yet doeth hee nothing but marke it and so leaueth it as he found it Moreouer wee are to note well howe God giueth vs euen in our nature a goodlie instruction concerning that order and concord that ought to bee amongest vs all by doing euery one his duetie and helping eche other so farre as wee may For wee may learne three principall poyntes in that order which God hath set betweene the vertues of the Vegetatiue soule for the nourishing of the bodie which serue greatly for the preseruation of humane societie First howe euerie one ought to behaue himselfe in his office and not leaue others to performe that woorke which is enioyned him Secondly howe euerie one of vs ought to keepe his ranke and order not making ouer much haste nor beeing too slacke and without anie confusion of offices or vsurping any thing of that which belongeth to others Thirdly the consideration of those inconueniences which may befall euery common-wealth and societie of men if this order bee not well kept and obserued For the like will happen vnto it that doeth to a bodie which is not nourished as it ought to bee and in which the naturall vertues doe not their duetie as I haue declared For from thence proceedeth all the confusion that is in the life of man and all those miseries which wee dayly see therein Concerning the seates of these vertues of the nourishing soule mentioned by vs wee are to knowe that although they bee greater and more apparant in some partes then in others yet they are spredde throughout the whole bodie but after a diuerse manner For in perfect liuing creatures the concoction of the meate is first made in the stomacke that so it may bee prepared for the liuer the seconde is made in the liuer that it may bee turned into blood the thirde is in all the members that it may bee changed into their substance So that there is no ende or stay in the bodie of concocting and consequently of purging the meate and of casting out that which is superfluous For the heate doeth continually warme and as it were seethe the moisture neither is there any meate so pure which hath not alwayes some excrements and superfluities that are to be seperate and eiected Heereof it is that the whole body of liuing creatures is as it were bored through and hath diuers pipes to the ende there might be more open passages for the auoyding of these excrements according to that purging which is done day and night by the partes appointed therevnto as wee haue alreadie touched it speaking of those members whereby such purging is performed after a diuers manner especially when wee spake of the braine Nowe besides that purging which is vnder the armepittes and in the groyne we see howe the thinnest excrements voyde at euery part of the bodie as wee may iudge by that filth which daily is seene in the head handes feete and in all the rest of the body For wee cannot busie our selues so much in washing and cleansing all the partes and members of the bodie but still wee may finde somewhat to wash and to make cleane Therefore wee stande in neede of daily nourishment that whatsoeuer diminisheth continually from vs may from time to time bee restored and made good againe But this vertue of nourishing is the first and simplest of all the naturall vertues of the Vegetatiue soule For there are two others necessary for the life and preseruation of liuing creatures of which we haue already spoken namely the power of augmenting and that other of engendring So that liuing creatures are not onely nourished by that foode which they receiue but they growe bigger and begette their like For there is no liuing creature that hath a bodie but it groweth vp vntill it come to a certaine greatnesse and measure For this cause the vertue of augmenting and growing was added to the nourishing vertue and the vertue of engendering to them both but so as they differ in manie poyntes For first although the vertues of nourishing and of augmenting agree in this that they are both giuen to euerie liuing creature yet they differ heerein that the vertue of nourishing continueth alwayes so long as the creature liueth euen from the beginning of it vnto the end But the vertue of growing greater although it beginne with the other yet hath it a set time limited wherein it staieth and as before the creature waxed bigger and increased in greatnesse and vigour so after it commeth to the appoynted time it beginneth to fall
in those things wherein it coulde doe nothing of it selfe For the soule cannot create her bodie But after that God hath created the bodie for it and that by his appoyntment nature hath disposed and fitted the same for the soule so farre foorth as is requisite before it can shewe what vertue it hath and settle it selfe to worke in the bodie then is shee left to doe that which shee is able to performe by the powers of her presence and to exercise her selfe therein beginning alwayes at the least and basest of her offices before shee apply her selfe to the chiefest by displaying her principall powers For whilest the childe is in his mothers bellie the soule practiseth vpon it her Vegetatiue and nourishing vertue by which it is nourished and groweth in greatnesse as wee see the like in plantes And when it is borne it receiueth besides from the soule the power of moouing and of sence as we see beastes haue and last of all by litle and litle the soule displayeth her other principall vertues But to speake of our matter subiect and to handle particularly those instrumentes of the soule which shee vseth in the nourishing and augmenting of the bodie wee will beginne at the Ventricle commonly called the stomacke Nowe because this name is vsed diuersly wee are to note that the Physicions who distinguish the partes of the bodie more exactly and properly apply this name of stomacke more specially to the vpper mouth of it and call the whole by the name of Ventricle whereof wee will speake anon Oftentimes also they take the stomacke for the whole passage and pype called Oesophage or the throate but commonly the whole Ventricle is called by that name Therefore I will vse it indifferently thereby to apply my selfe the better to the vsuall manner of speaking Wee are to knowe then first of all that amongest all the members seruing to nourishment GOD hath appoynted this to bee the first as that which receiueth the meate and drinke sent vnto it by the throate And to the ende wee may the better knowe the prouidence of God in the offices and commodities of this member I will first speake somewhat of the figure and forme thereof then of the situation of it and last of all of the substaunce of it The figure of it is rounde and long much like to a bagge-pipe as that which is beeing somewhat larger at the bottome and arising vpwarde towardes the left side groweth narrower by litle and litle For seeing it was to occupie the whole pace that is betwixt the liuer and the spleene it was requisite that it shoulde bee long to the ende it might not trouble that place which is assigned vnto them but giue them place Likewise it was requisite that it shoulde bee rounde both because the rounde forme is most capable and also because it will not so easily be broken and marred as other formes will be Vnto the stomacke is ioyned this narrow pipe called Oesophage to the end it might receiue into it thereby all kinds of meate and drink as wee declared when we spake of the pipes in the throate and of meates and drinkes For this cause there are two mouthes or doores in the stomacke called Orifices of which the one is called the higher Orifice or mouth because it is vppermost and the other for the same reason is called the lower Orifice The first is to receiue the meate that is sent to the stomacke by the Oesophage And this is that which the Physicions call by the proper name of stomacke as wee hearde before although commonly it is called the heart For when wee feele any weakenesse there or anie desire to vomite wee commonly say that wee are ill at the heart or that something lyeth vpon our heart But this sense of griefe is not at the heart but in that part of the Ventricle which is called the vppermost Orifice or stomacke whose seate and place is on the left side neere to the backe-bone And this Orifice or mouth of the stomacke is a great deale more large then the nethermost because the meate is oftentimes not well chewed besides many great and hard morsels that are swallowed nowe and then Againe this part is verie sensible because there is the originall and place of appetite by reason of those nerues of which it is chiefely made that growe together like vnto nettes Heereof wee may note this that the prouidence of God hath so well prouided for all the members and instruments of nourishment that there is not one of them but it hath some small sinewe to giue it sense whereby it may feele and perceiue what humours are hurtfull vnto it that by the griefe which it receiueth men may be moued to haue recourse to such remedies as are able to releeue it But to returne to our matter wee are to knowe that the vpper Orifice hath the Midriffe ioyned vnto it which is in steede of a doore to close and shutte it vp that when it is full of meates and drinkes they shoulde not ascende vp againe by the throate Concerning the nethermost Orifice it is both by the Greeke and Latine Writers called by a name that signifieth a Doore-keeper being made to let out the meate concocted in the Ventricle together with the superfluities and excrementes Therefore also it is narrower then the vpper Orifice and compassed about with a certaine kernelley fleshe to the ende that nothing shoulde passe by which were not well digested before and that by meanes of the mouth of it made in the manner of a ring It is situated on the right side vnder the hollownesse of the liuer a little lower then the other Orifice But it is not at the very bottome of the Ventricle but a little higher to the ende the foode beeing retayned and kept at the bottome might bee heated and digested there So that after the stomacke hath receiued into it the meate and drinke both these doores as well aboue as beneath are shut that the heate within might be retained and kept close For this cause there are certaine filaments or small stringes of which some are direct and straight hauing in them a marueilous secret vertue of nature to drawe vnto them others are ouerth wart and passe cleane crosse the former through certaine little corners that lie long-wise Their office is to close vp the vpper part from the body of the stomach Besides there are other crooked filaments which through oblique corners passe alongst the sides of both the other and these because they close the whole body of the stomacke haue power of retaining and serue to shut vp the mouth of the stomacke So that these filaments or threedes in regarde of their office may be compared to the strings of a purse whereby it is shut And because the stomacke being closed and shut vp digesteth the meate a great deale better then if it were gaping and wide open therefore nature
them that are taken to bee the vilest and basest persons are a great deale more profitable and necessary and so likewise their callings and offices then many others that are in greater reputation and more honourable according to mans iudgement who notwithstanding might more easily be spared then those of whom there is lesse accompt and reckoning made The like may be said of the vse of the members of our bodies and of the necessitie and need which we haue of them that are accompted most vile and abiect which albeit they be lesse honourable then the rest yet are they more necessary for this life of ours then many others that are a great deale more noble and more excellent For wee may liue without eies without eares without handes without feete and without many other goodly members but not without the intralles and bowelles which are but the sinkes and wide-draughts of our bodies although there be but one of them onely wanting For there is not one of them but it is profitable yea necessary for vs insomuch that no other can doe that office which lieth vpon it the Lord hauing so disposed it that euery one of them must discharge his owne office by himselfe Of these intralles and guttes there are sixe in number neere vnto the stomacke namely three small and three great ones being all of a round and hollowe figure according to the greatnesse and thickenesse of euery one of them They are called the instruments of distribution and purgation because they distribute the foode and send foorth the superfluities and excrements Nowe to conteine all these in their place they are couered and wrapped about together with the other entralles of the naturall partes with two coats or couerings namely with that which is called the Kell whereof mention was made in the former discourse and which couereth the bowells stretching it selfe euen to the priuie partes so that it executeth the same office vnto them that it doeth vnto the stomacke as wee were giuen to vnderstand Besides there is an other coate or skinne called Peritone because it is spread round about the lower belly and enuironeth the stomach the bowelles the kall the liuer the splene and the kidneys in a worde it couereth all the members from the midriffe downe to the sharebone The vse of this is great For first it serueth for a couering to couer all the members then it serueth also for the muscles that are laide vpon them Moreouer it causeth the superfluities of drie meates to descend more speedily Fourthly it keepeth the stomacke and bowels that they swell not easily and fiftly it knitteth together and conioyneth all the members within it as we haue seene howe the other partes of the body are separated and clothed with skinnes and membranes For this cause it is framed and fashioned like to an egge and hath his beginning from the ligaments which binde together the turning ioynts of the reines and is knit vnto them So that the vse of it is to tie and knit vnto the backe the members of the inferiour belly Nowe concerning the intralles and bowels although they â—e vnited to the stomacke and so ioyntly followe each other yet they â—iffer in figure in situation and in offices True it is that their substance differeth little from that of the stomach For they are of a certaine whitish flesh hauing no blood in any of them neither is there any other difference but onely in this that the bigger guts are more full and fatte and the smaller are otherwise Againe they haue all this in common together that they are made of two coates which God hath giuen them for the greater preseruation of them and of the life of liuing creatures For oftentimes vlcers and sores breede chiefely when some great inflammation hath gone before so that they putrifie and fret and one of the coats be spoiled Neuerthelesse a man may liue by the other that continueth sound and dischargeth well enough all his dueties Nowe forasmuch as they are instruments appointed for the purging of the body the fibres or little strings both of the inner and vtter coats are all in a manner crosse-wise except some fewe intermingled long-wise to the ende that the purging might be moderated in such sort as that it neither be too much nor too little The three smaller are placed vppermost which because they were made that the meate being turned into liquor might be conueyed through them therefore it was requisite they shoulde be so slender and that chiefely for two causes The first to the ende the passage might bee more easie the other because that in the very passage some concoction is made of the liquor and foode so that they are the sooner warmed by reason of their slender and thinne making Nowe concerning the name and peculiar office of euery one the first is called Duodene because of the length of it which is without any folding or turning It is as it were a part of the stomach hanging downe or as a changing of the stomach into a gut being twelue fingers long whereupon it was so called by the ancient Physicions although nowe there is none found of that length It beginneth at the porter of the stomach and is so seated beside the liuer that looke where that leaueth and the other following called the hungry gut beginneth there is a passage from the bladder of gall to bring the yellow humour thither called choller to the end it might help forward the meate and make cleane the gut The second called the hungry gut is so termed because it holdeth but a litle foode in regard of the other following so that it may be said after a sort to fast whereof there are three causes The first is the great number of Meseraicall veines and arteries which are in greater number about that gut then about the rest Whereupon they sucke out more speedily the liquor and foode which passeth through that then if they were fewer in number The second cause is because the liuer which is neerest to that gut doeth likewise drawe nourishment from it which is sooner done then from the rest that are farther off The third is the falling downe of the chollericke humour into it which intermedleth not it selfe with the liquor and foode but glideth downe by the side of this gut vnto that which is called Colon to the ende it may thrust forward the excrements and purge the humours which it perfourmeth because it is sharpe and biting Now by reason it continually prouoketh this gut to expulsion it falleth out to be more empty then the residue Then followeth the third small intralle called Ileos by the Graecians both because it hath many fouldings as also for the manifolde knitting of it to the Mesenterium from whence sundrie veines come into this The hungry gut and this haue both one office onely heerein they differ that the hungry Gut is sooner sucked then this which
retaineth a longer time that liquor and foode that it receiueth For this cause it is of a greater length and hath more foldings and turnings to the ende it may the better concoct the liquor and bee tempering with the foode the longer time whereby it shall not neede to bee filled and stuffed presently with other meates And heerein wee haue to note the good forecast of nature For if wee were presently to returne againe to the Table after we had taken our meate wee shoulde doe nothing all our life time but eate and drinke Therefore some of the ancient Philosophers haue in this respect acknowledged the prouidence of GOD saying that these foldings plites and windings were made to this ende that men might not liue ignorantly as beastes that are destitute of all knowledge which would follow vndoubtedly if they were of necessitie to attend alwayes vpon the belly Nowe let vs speake of the other three great Guts which followe the small ones These then are lower more fleshie and thicke because their chiefe office is to receiue the excrements of the aboue named Guts and to retaine the same vntill the iust time come to send them foorth euen as it is the office of the three former to distribute the liquor and foode by the Meseraicall veines The first of these great ones is called the Blinde Gut because that being large and great it hath but one way both to receiue in and to let out the matter receiued whereupon it is commonly called by some the Sacke or Budget Gut His office is to receiue the excrementes from the last lesser Gut and hauing drawne out some nourishment from them to cast foorth the rest to the other Gut called Colon. For this cause the doores and holes of these three last Guts concurre well together in a hollowe place Nowe because this blinde Gut is wide and round and hath many foldings among other things it standeth in steade of an other stomach to keepe and to preserue meate in it against some want and necessitie to come and to distribute it to the neighbour-members after a long hunger Whereunto the Gut called Colon doeth also helpe both by reason of the capacitie of it as for the oblique situation thereof as also because it keepeth within it foode and nourishment Concerning the name of it the Greeke worde from whence it is taken signifieth Gaine because it is greater and more capable then any of the rest or else it may signifie as a man woulde say Cut because it is as it weree cut into sundry holes and hath diuers turnings For it receiueth the excrementes and to the ende they shoulde not passe away by and by it sendeth them by little and little through straight passages The chollericke humour descendeth out of the hungrie Gut into this whereby the dirt is both coloured and driuen foorth Of this Gut called Colon the Colike passion taketh the name as the Ileaca passion doeth of the Gut Ileon Nowe because this Gut is puffed vp more then any of the rest and is very painefull to them that haue it stopped it hath certaine straight threedes wouen amongest the ouerthwart Fibres which strengthen the coates and skinnes thereof to the ende they shoulde not breake or cracke when they are blowen vp and strained Whereby wee see againe howe the counsaile of Gods prouidence hath notably prouided for all things whose excellent maiestie hath not despised these most base earthly and brute parts Nowe it remaineth that wee shoulde consider of the third Gut called the Straight Gut For although it proceede from the Gut Colon yet it differeth from it both in place and figure and is called the Straight Gut because of the straightnesse of it Some call it the Fatte Gut because it is passing fatte in beastes It reacheth vnto the very fundament at the ende whereof is placed a muscle being fashioned rounde like to a Ring to keepe in and to retaine ventositie and excrementes vntill Nature please to this ende that expulsion of them might not bee made vpon euery occasion and in euery place indifferently against our wils and contrary to naturall and ciuill honestie For the vse of the straight Gut is to carrie and throwe foorth cleane out of the bodie the filth dregs and grossest excrements thereof being such as are altogether vnprofitable and hurtfull to the body Nowe forasmuch as it is the lowest gut and most burthened by reason that it must holde all the grosse excrements of whatsoeuer entreth into the body by the mouth and is oftentimes very much blowen and stretched vp therefore the diuine prouidence hath giuen vnto it more threedes and fibres of all sortes then to any of the rest and hath made it strong and able to beare the charge So likewise his heauenly counsaile hath prouided that amongst all the members of the body those should be strongest that haue the greatest burthen and stresse to beare And for this cause also this straight gutte hath this muscle which the Physicions call Sphincter being taken from a Greeke worde that signifieth to restraine and close vp because it is an instrument of voluntarie motion that openeth and shutteth as wee will when neede requireth Nowe for the ende of this speech if wee consider well of those partes whereof wee haue spoken wee shall finde that wee carrie about with vs sundrie sortes of sinkes which are oftentimes ilfauouredly looked vnto And this ought to put vs in minde of our infirmities and of those goodly shoppes wee haue in our bodies full of stinking drugges which ought to take from vs all matter of pride Moreouer wee may learne here that which was spoken of in the beginning of this discourse namely the vse of these members and the necessitie of the basest and lesse comely partes Therefore if there were no other respect to be had but this of necessitie wee ought to be so farre from despising them especially the workemaster that hath made and disposed them as that wee ought rather thereby to acknowledge his great prouidence and the care hee hath had of vs seeing it hath pleased him euen from the high degree of his maiestie to prouide for the least and last necessities and infirmities of our bodies So likewise by admiring his so great bounty and goodnesse towardes vs wee haue good occasion by his example to doe the like one towardes an other in the performance of all dueties appertaining to a holy and true friendship Nowe that wee may prosecute our matter subiect let vs looke into the other naturall powers of the soule First let vs consider of the Mesentery of the Meseraicall veines of the sweete bread of the liuer and of their natures and offices The handling of these things belong to thee ARAM. Of the Mesentery and Mesareon of the Meseraicall veines of the Pancreas or sweet bread and of their nature and office of the liuer and of his nature and office of the rootes bodies and
branches of the veines of their names and vses and of the similitude betweene them and the arteries Chap. 63. ARAM. When we consider how the prouidence of God reacheth so far vnto those things that are profitable necessary in our bodies that it forgetteth not neither omitteth the least thing that is in them we should be very blinde of vnderstanding if we doubted that our God prouided not aswell for all things that are profitable and necessary for our soules for the spirituall foode and growth of them and for their perfect purging and saluation For albeit there is no superfluity or excrement in that spiritual food wherewith the soule is nourished yet is it requisit and needful that the soule be purged from those excrements and filthines of sin wherwith the deuil hath infected filled it And so indeed is it purged in Iesus Christ who hath washed clensed vs from our sins by his blood doth daily purge vs by his holy spirit and by those means which he hath ordained in his church Therefore I am out of doubt that God meant to put men in minde of these things by the order necessitie which he hath appointed in the nature of their bodies both in regard of their food and of their nourishment and that we shal alwaies find good and holy instructions for the soule by considering the nature and office of euery part of the body Let vs then consider of other instruments of the naturall powers of the soule then hitherto we haue spoken of After the entrals guts the Mesentery foloweth which is placed in the midst of them whereupon it is so called of the Graecians as if you would say dwelling in the midst of the guts And because it is carried and lift vp into the middle of all these vessels it is also called by some Mesareon which name signifieth the selfe same thing in Greeke Others take Mesareon to be the highest part of the Mesentery which is also called Calicreas by the Graecians because the flesh of it is very pleasant to eate according as the name giueth vs to vnderstand So that it is no entrall or gut but a coat and folded couering in the midst of them or rather a thicke white flesh of a sinowy and kernelly substance that beareth fat distinguishing the entralles and knitting them vnto the backe But it was chiefely created to beare vp and sustaine the Meseraicall veines and arteries with the sinewes that are in that member which because they are in danger of breaking through the vehement motions of the body such other accidents therefore the prouidence of God would not haue them without a foundation prop and defence to countergard them For this cause he hath fortified and fastened the branches and diuisions of the veins by such a member and instrument which serueth in steade of a band and stay both to the great and little ones Besides his action and vse also is to fasten and keepe the entralles euery one in his place and to conuey vnto the liuer by the meseraicall veines that are called the handes thereof that liquor which the Graecians call Chylus of which wee haue already spoken For as the bodies of trees haue their rootes which spread abroad in the earth to drawe nourishment from thence euen so there are branches dispersed throughout the Mesentery and deriued from the liuer veine which are ioyned to the bowelles as it were small rootes to drawe foode being much like to haires or cob-webs These braunches or small rootes are the Meseraicall veines so called because they are placed in the vpper part of that member and instrument that is called Mesareon whereof I spake euen nowe Their office and nature is to draw and sucke out nourishment from the guts and to carry it to the liuer from whence they haue all their beginning as appeareth by Anatomie howsoeuer there are that thinke that some of them come not from thence The flesh of the Mesentery is kernelly and fatty not only seruing in steade of a munition and defence as hath beene said but also to moisten the entralles and guts and to preserue the heate both of the bowelles and veines So likewise the arteries are ioyned to the veines to giue them heate and to the guts also to concoct the liquor and nourishment Besides the nerues and sinewes there serue to giue sense to the guts There is moreouer a kernelly flesh which the Physicions call Pancreas because it doeth wholly resemble flesh as the Greeke name importeth It is placed in the hollow part of the liuer that it might be as it were a cushion vnto it and a preseruer of the diuided partes thereof by filling the void places that are betwene the stomach the liuer and the spleene to the ende it may vphold and protect the meseraicall veines and keepe euery thing from breaking either by falles or by violent motions Nowe touching the liuer it is a very noble member For it is the principallest member of all the naturall partes and the chiefest instrument belonging to the vegetatiue and nourishing power of the soule It is the first of the nobler partes that is made perfect when the childe is framed in the mothers womb it is the author shop and forge of the blood the originall and fountaine of the veines Therefore the substance of it is a soft and red flesh like to blood newly pressed out clodded Neuertheles in it own nature it is perfect flesh hauing sundry different veins dispersed throughout as it were threeds arteries also ioyned vnto thē for their refreshing Now after the stomach hath finished the first concoction of meat and turned it into liquor as it hath bin declared vnto vs the second is made in the liuer after it hath receiued this liquor so prepared by the stomach and guts as we said and turned it into blood This concoction is perfected in the small veines that are dispersed throughout the body of the liuer And because God hath inioyned this office to this member he hath compounded it of such a flesh matter as hath giuen vnto it this proper and peculiar vertue to conuert into blood that foode and nourishment that is brought vnto it to the end it may bee the instrument of the generation of that thing wherewith the body is nourished Hauing thus transformed the liquor receiued it maketh it redde like vnto it selfe as contrariwise blood is made white in the breasts of a woman both by reason of their nature and substance as also for other causes touched by vs. The temperature of the liuer is hot and moist such as becommeth the blood and concoction it hath to performe which is like to boiled meat Now forasmuch as this instrument and member is the chiefest in the kitchin of mans body GOD hath giuen vnto it such a nature and property as if there were in it a harth a table a knife and a wagoner
comparison of ordinarie diseases and of violent death then of olde age and naturall death and all this by meanes of sinne Therefore we may well conclude that health is the effect and fruite of peace and concord betweene all the partes and humors of mans bodie and so consequently is life as contrariwise sicknesse death proceed of discord dissention and warre betweene them For as concord bringeth peace and peace all good things with it so contrariwise discord breedeth warre and warre a heaped measure of all miseries and euils Wherefore a sounde body of a good constitution is like the bodie of a whole people and societie that hath the members agreeing well together so that euery one keepeth his ranke not hurting one another But a sicke and diseased body is like to the body of a mutinous and seditious people that breaketh the order it ought to keepe and goeth beyond the appoynted bounds Therefore we haue a goodly image of peace and of that peaceable life whereunto men are created and borne in the disposition and temperature of the humors and members of our bodie whereby wee ought to learne what great account we are to make of peace amitie and concord and howe we ought to hate and abhorre all warre discord and dissention seeing the one is as it were health and life and the other as diseases and death Now let vs see the vse and profite the particular and speciall properties of the humors ioyned with the blood and what vessels are assigned vnto them together with their nature and offices It belongeth to thee AMANA to handle this matter Of the vses and commodities of the humors ioyned with the blood and what vessels are assigned vnto them in the bodie and of their nature and offices and first of the cholericke humour of the gall and vessell thereof next of the melancholike humour and of the spleene then of the flegmatike humour and of the kidneyes and other vessels which it hath to purge by Chap. 66. AMANA As we ought to labour to cut off all discord and to nourish all concord that wee may enioy peace and those benefites that proceede thereof so wee must be very carefull to preserue all the partes of our bodie in such a temperature as may keepe them in a harmonie and concord that we may liue in health For this cause as God hath tempered all the humors one with another so he hath assigned to euery one his proper place seate both to withdraw it self therin and to performe the office enioyned vnto it and also to purge and clense it selfe and to discharge the body of superfluities and corruptions that otherwise might hurt it Nowe we haue alreadie heard how he hath assigned the liuer to be the seat of the blood because he hath appointed the blood to water all the body and to giue life and nourishment vnto it out of which also the vital spirits arise as smal mild windes proceed out of riuers and fountaines As for the cholericke humour it is ioyned with the blood for the concoction of humors that abound and to awake and stirre vp the bodie least it become heauie sleepie and dull as also to penetrate and open the passages when it goeth with the blood and therewithall to nourish those members that agree with the nature of it as the lungs with whose nourishment cholericke blood doeth better agree then any other Whereby it appeareth euidently that this humour holdeth of the nature of fire which giueth vnto it this quicknesse and vertue And because it is hote and drye it serueth also to temper the moysture of the blood and to meete with all colde that might come vnto it and helpeth to preserue it in his naturall heate Nowe forasmuch as it is not all caried and distributed with the blood but the greatest part of it remaineth for other vses God hath assigned a vessell vnto it into which it retireth and is contained therein so farre foorth as is requisite The ende hereof is that the blood should not bee infected with too much choler mingled therewith as also that it might descend into the guttes by those passages that are giuen vnto it to that purpose to be voyded by them and to prouoke them to discharge those excrements which they receiue and so to purge the whole body For this cause there is a bladder in fashion like to a long peare placed vnder the middest of the liuer about the hollowe part of the right side of it within which it is halfe hidden This bladder is the vessell into which that yellowe humour withdraweth it selfe and is conteined therein which wee call Gall. And as this bladder hath his filaments and threedes both to draw vnto it and to reteine as also to expell forth so it hath two branches comming out of the necke of it the one vpwarde to draw away the cholericke humour in the purifying of the blood the other downeward towardes the guttes to carie this humour vnto them both for the thrusting forwarde of nourishment and for the casting foorth of the excrements For it was necessary that the great abundance of this humour should retire into some place in the purging of the blood and therfore it was as requisite that it shoulde haue a fitte vessell to retire into wherein it was not to remaine vnprofitable For besides the vses alreadie spoken of it serueth not onely to cleanse all the guttes of ordure but also to heate the liuer and to hinder the putrefaction of the blood Besides experience sufficiently sheweth how needefull it is that the blood should haue such a vessell wherewith to purge it selfe For when the passages thereof are stopped great diseases followe thereupon as inflammation of the liuer and the dropsie but especially the yellowe iaundies For when this humour is not duely separated from the blood so that it is not purged thereof as nature requireth then doeth it beginne to corrupt whereupon it cannot send such foode to the members as is necessarie for them but that which is corrupted by this gall whereby they are driuen out of their naturall disposition And this wee may see chiefely in the yellowe iaundies by reason of this yellowe and bitter humour that maketh the bodie yellowe into which it is dispersed by meanes of the veynes in steede of beeing nourished with good blood The like may bee saide of the melancholicke humour which is as it were the lees of the blood For if the blood bee corrupted and infected great inconueniences ensue thereof vnto the whole bodie through which this humour is dispersed after the same manner that the cholerick humour is insomuch as it becommeth blacke thereby as the cholericke humour maketh it yellowe and for the like cause breeding the like disease the difference of humours onely excepted Nowe because we haue not in our vsuall speech a speciall name to declare this difference this disease is commonly called the blacke iaundies Therefore God hath
holes vnable to hold in and keepe anie secret matter they are fierce in assailing but inconstant in sustaining the assault in some sort resembling the nature of dogges which barke and bite if they can and afterward flie away And if there bee excesse of the melancholike humour the natures of such are sadde still hard to please suspicious conceited obstinate some more and some lesse And if the cholericke and melancholike humours be corrupt and mingled together their natures become monstrous prowd full of enuy fraud subtilties venemous and poisonfull hatefull and diabolicall And when the malignant spirits know mens natures thus disposed no doubt but they take occasion thereby to intermingle themselues if God permit them and purpose to vse them for the punishing of men I say they will ioyne themselues vnto them and make them their instruments as God on the other side vseth those natures that are most moderate and best tempered making them instruments of his glorie Now we may call to mind what we learned before almost to the same ende touching the meanes whereby euill spirites might trouble the imagination fantasie and mindes of men We may say as much of the humours of the body whose motions and nature they knowe very well Whereby they can so much the more easily abuse them in their damnable worke and will as wee may iudge by the example of him that was possessed and lunatike of whom the Euangelists make mention and whome they call by those two names And by that which they wrote of him it seemeth that he was subiect to the falling sickenesse that returneth oftentimes according to the course of the moone which naturally hath great affinitie with the humors and great power ouer them And therefore it is very likely that the euill spirit which tormented this poore lunatike watched the occasions of his disease to afflict him the more and to cause him to fall either in the fire or in the water as he did indeede thereby to worke his death if he had could Which example sheweth vnto vs what is the malice of the deuil what pleasure hee taketh in hurting of men what meanes and what occasions he seeketh for and maketh choice of and what accesse vnto vs we may offer him through our corrupt nature through our vices and sinnes and through our inclinations and manners that are naturally euill and peruerse if God letteth him loose the bridle by his iust iudgement seeing he spareth not the little children as it appeareth in that which is written of him of whom we spake euen now For this cause we ought to take good heede that we giue not our common enemie those occasions that he seeketh to haue from vs to the ende that hee abuse vs not nor any thing that is ours and which God hath bestowed vpon vs. This is the reason why the consideration of our temperature complexion and naturall inclination is very necessary for vs because the knowledge hereof affoordeth vnto vs many good instructions that may stand vs in great steade throughout our whole life as well for the preseruation of the health of our bodies as for the rule and gouernement of our affections and manners as also in regarde of the familiaritie and acquaintance which wee haue one with an other For through the contemplation hereof wee may knowe not onely the causes of health and sickenesse of the life and death of the body but also of that of the soule For as the good humours corrupt in our bodies according as wee haue heard and breede in them sundry diseases which finally leade them vnto death euen so by means of sinne all those good and naturall affections which ought to bee the seedes of vertues in vs are corrupted and turne into vices that are the diseases of the soule and bring vnto it the second and eternall death as contrariwise vertues are the health and life thereof But as GOD hath prouided corporall medicines for the bodie so hee hath prepared spirituall Physicke for the soule against all the diseases thereof Therefore when wee consider with our selues vnto what vices wee are inclined by nature wee must labour to correct and bridle them and to quench such inclinations as much as wee can through sobrietie vigilancie and continuall practise to the contrary least wee nourish and encrease them when as wee ought to diminish and wholy to abolish them For the common prouerbe is not without reason that Education passeth Nature or that it is another nature Wee see by experience what Education and Instruction are able to doe both to goodnesse and vice according as they are either good or euill For as there is no nature so good which can not bee corrupted and peruerted through euill education and teaching so there is none so vicious and euill which can not at the least in some measure through the helpe and grace of GOD bee corrected and amended by good education instruction and discipline And because conuersation and familiaritie are of great efficacie in this point wee are diligently to consider with what persons and natures wee acquaint our selues and bee carefull to eschew such natures as are vicious prowd fierce enuious hatefull malicious suspicious disloyall and traiterous as well in regarde of the corruption of manners wherewith wee may bee infected by them as also in respect of other harmes that may befall vs by reason they are vnsociable natures or at the least very difficult to conuerse withall being indeede such as towardes whome no man can beare any true loue or firme friendship But when wee haue vsed all the diligence wee can possible about these things the chiefest point wherein the whole consisteth is this that wee haue recourse to Iesus Christ the eternall sonne of GOD to the end that by his holy Spirit hee woulde correct represse and quench in vs all the vicious affections and disordered motions that wee haue contrary to his holy will according to that promise which is made vnto vs wherein it is saide that if fathers knowe howe to giue good gifts to their children and such things as are necessarie for them much more will our heauenly Father giue his holie Spirite to them that aske it of him And this is the true meanes wee ought to keepe for the correcting of these vices and defectes that are in our naturall inclinations Now wee haue spoken sufficiently of those things which concerne the naturall powers of the soule in respect of the nourishment and growth of the body and of those instruments which it hath in the same for the performaunce of her actions It remaineth nowe that wee consider what effectes it hath in Generation First then ASER thou shalt handle the restauration and reparation of all natures by that vertue and power of Generation that is in them and namely in man to the end wee may after proceede with those other points that concerne this matter Of the restauration and reparation of all
first creatures which he created of nothing in the beginning For he created vs all in Adam and Eue and shut vs vp as it were in a store-house or in a spring or fountaine or as in one stocke of mankinde out of which hee produceth men continually Wherefore wee ought diligently to consider of this woorke of GOD and of this vertue which hee hath giuen to Nature by his worde and blessing to ingender like and to encrease the whole race and kinde thereof For this cause as it is the office of Nature in the beginning to nourish bodies and then to cause them to encrease and augment so in the ende it is her duetie to preserue the seuerall kindes of things as long as shee may by Generation of the like Whereby it appeareth that Generation is a worke of liuing creatures after they are come to their growth and vigour as wee see the like also in plants themselues For in the beginning of the Spring al their vertue is in the root from thence it commeth after into the boughes leaues next into the floure fruit and lastly into the seed which being sowen another plant is brought forth like vnto the first Wherfore wee may say that the Generatiue vertue is a power in liuing creatures that engendreth his like being ordained for the preseruatiō of the same kind So that wee must diligently meditate and often set before our eyes this goodly order of nature according whereunto the nourishing facultie is first giuen to the soule for the preseruation of euery particular Next the power to cause it to grow and to augment to a iust sufficient greatnesse and lastly the generatiue vertue whereby the kind is preserued For albeit the order that is throughout the whole course of nature bee an euident testimony that neither the worlde nor any thing therein standeth vpon chance or fortune yet among others this is most singular and excellent in that the same kinds of al things abide continually that euerie one begetteth multiplieth his like without any maner of confusion amongst them which could not be eschewed if so be that creatures were bredde and borne at aduenture without the counsel and prouidence of their Creator of him that wrought such a worke Nowe wee are to vnderstand that the seede is a body that hath in it selfe a vegetatiue soule which body in Generation is turned into an other like to that from which it is taken and because nourishing growing and engendering are the effectes of foode and sustenance they are contained vnder the name of a vegetatiue soule which is a facultie and power that not onely conuerteth foode into the substaunce of the liuing bodie for the good thereof and by that conuersion augmenteth that it may attaine to a conuenient bignesse but also engendereth an other body of the same forme and kinde And therefore after that this vegetatiue power hath doone that duetie which it ought to perfourme about the growth of the liuing body then hath it time and meanes enough to gather together into a small roome many of those qualities that keepe the soule in the administration of the bodie out of which it can soone drawe and engender a like kinde so farre foorth as the qualities of the matter will be able to beare For when they are repugnant to the qualities meete for that kinde whatsoeuer commeth thereof degenerateth as we see it in the earth when in steade of wheate whereof it receiued the seede it bringeth foorth darnell or some other hearbs of an other nature and as wee see it also in monsters that are borne both of women and of other liuing creatures For there are in many countries namely in Sicilia and in the kingdome of Naples and in Flaunders as many Authours worthy of credite haue testified women in whom haue beene bredde oftentimes sundry kindes of beastes in steade of children and sometimes together with the childe either liuing or dead Which thing commeth to passe in such women as abound with euill humours that are putrified and corrupted either by reason of the ayre or of badde meate or of excesse in eating as in such bodies wherein wormes and such other filthinesse breedeth The Astrologians referre this vnto constellations as they doe all other things I leaue the secret iudgements and punishments of GOD whereby such things may come to passe neuerthelesse these things ought to admonish women to pray vnto God to recommend themselues to him and to be sober The moone calfes in the womb which fall out often proceed also of the like causes In like maner it falleth out oftentimes that the kinde degenerateth through corruption of the seede But to go on forward with our matter of the Generation of liuing creatures and namely of man wee must knowe that forasmuch as the male hath naturally more heate in him then the female hee is also by nature the chiefest in Generation For this cause when the holie Scriptures speake of mankinde it is ordinarilie comprehended vnder the name of man And when mention is made of his generation they speake as though all proceeded onely from man as when Malachie speaking of his creation sayeth Did not hee make one and wherefore one because hee sought a godly seede And Saint Paul He hath made saith hee of one blood all mankind Neuerthelesse GOD hath put in nature such a temperature betweene the male and the female that if both their natures were altogether alike there could be no Generation For it consisteth in force and in infirmity But the wisdome of God hath so wel prouided as that it knoweth how to draw strength out of weaknes so that the one can do nothing without the other in generation because he hath so willed and ordained it Nowe I leaue to thee AMANA to discourse vnto vs more particularly of such things as are most worthy to be noted in this maruailous worke of God and of the principall cause why he hath giuen to man the Generatiue power Of the powers of the Generatiue vertue and of their offices of the principall cause why God gaue to man the power of Generation in what sense the reines are taken for the seate of Generation how we ought rightly to consider of the generation of man Chap. 70. AMANA As noueltie causeth a man through the errour of iudgement to thinke that rare things are greater and more woorthie of admiration so most men imagine those matters to bee small and not worthy to be wondered at which fall out daily before their eyes But ignorance is the cause of both these effectes For as a man admireth that which hee neuer knewe coulde be perfourmed so hee maketh no reckoning of that thing which he vsually beholdeth because hee hath alwayes beene ignorant of the secrets of nature or rather of his Author and Creator who appeareth woonderfull in the least of his woorkes euen in the very Ant or Pismire This selfe same ignorance is
the cause that so fewe contemplate as they ought the forme and fashion of their beeing or that giue due glorie to him who daily bringeth them into the worlde by such woonderfull workemanship Neither is it possible that men shoulde giue such glorie to GOD as they ought except they esteeme all those workes which hee effecteth daily amongest them to be so many miracles woorthie admiration which way soeuer they turne their eies Moreouer let them knowe that what measure of knowledge soeuer they are able to get of his woorkes yet that which they doe knowe is very little yea almost nothing in regarde of that whereof they are ignorant euen in that which concerneth their creation and generation Nowe following that which wee haue already heard touching this matter we are to consider a maruailous prouidence of God in the similitude that is betweene the creature engendering and that which proceedeth from it Where by the way we may obserue this that there is greater resemblance in the Generation of plants then in that of liuing creatures and more in that of beasts then in that of men forasmuch as plants are void of imagination and that imagination which is in beasts is more firme and staied then that which is in men because our mindes are more floting and vnstable But it is woonderfull to consider what great similitude there is insomuch as we commonly see that the infirmities of some members in the parents are founde also in their children and that oftentimes they expresse their very lookes countenances and gesturs Which also may serue for a further confirmation of that which wee haue already touched concerning the agreement of euilles with the complexion and temperature of the humours of mens bodies Againe it appeareth by the strength or weakenesse that is founde to bee as well in children as in their fathers and mothers that the seede of which they are begotten descendeth not onelie from the braine as some haue thought but that it is also taken from all the other members and from all partes of the body And because it is a profitable superfluitie taken from the nourishment of the blood scattered throughout the whole body after the fourth digestion it hath peculiar vesselles in the body some to drawe it others to perfect and preserue it for generation and some to expell it out And as this expulsiue vertue is necessary in Generation on the behalfe of the male so in regarde of the female it is requisite that there shoulde be a vertue to containe and preserue and secondly to change mingle and temper it with the womans seede so farre foorth as shall bee expedient for the temperature of the whole bodie and of euery member thereof Besides there must bee another vertue to fashion into members all this matter mingled and tempered and to giue vnto them that figure and shape which agreeeth to euery one of them Lastly there is an other vertue requisite which shoulde driue out the childe after it is fashioned at the time which GOD hath appointed in nature for that purpose And these are all the partes with their offices which are to bee founde in the Generatiue power of the vegetatiue soule Nowe because there are so many sortes of them it is very meete that they shoulde haue sundrie places and diuerse instrumentes in the bodie for the exercise of them For this cause there are to serue all these offices sundrie partes and many members composed with woonderfull Arte and distinguished in most admirable fashion both with figures and qualities But our meaning is not to make any long particular narration both by reason of the matter which woulde bee very long as also because sinne hath made the Generation of man so full of shame that men can hardly speake of it or of those members that serue thereunto especially of one part of them without shame Neuerthelesse as before wee haue considered the counsaile and prouidence of God in that hee hath ioyned to man created to immortalitie that part wherein the light of his diuine wisedome shall shine the loue of God shall be feruent and righteousnesse shall dwell for euermore with the kitchin of mans body whose vse shall passe away after this life so wee must consider the cause why hee hath ioyned vnto this kitchin the Generatiue power and wherefore hee hath giuen it to man Let vs knowe then that as man was created for an other ende then plants and beastes so God hath giuen to him the power of Generation to an other ende then hee hath to them vpon whome it is bestowed onely for the preseruation of their kindes For it was especially giuen him because the Creatour of the whole worlde purposed to collect and gather together a perpetuall Church out of mankinde that is a companie of men begotten after this manner to bee dedicated and consecrated vnto him Therefore wee ought diligently to meditate and to thinke often vpon this woonderfull counsaile of GOD and to yeelde him praise in that hee hath manifested himselfe vnto vs and of this weake and corrupt masse of flesh hath assembled and culled out an euerlasting Church and in that hee aydeth nourisheth and preserueth vs yea is carefull ouer vs and heareth vs calling vpon him Neyther doeth hee onely preserue the whole course of nature for our sakes but also giueth himselfe vnto vs which are such benefites as exceede all the imagination and eloquence of man Wherefore wee ought so much the rather to awaken our mindes to consider them well and bee very much displeased with our selues because wee doâ— not so well as wee ought beholde this presence of GOD in that obscuritie and darkenesse wherein wee liue as also because wee are no more stirred vp to loue serue and honour him in regarde of that true and great loue wherewith hee loueth vs. But to goe forward with our matter of Generation wee must call to minde what wee heard before of the vse of the kidneis for the purging of blood in respect whereof wee call all that part of the body wherein they are seated by the name of Reines And by reason of the neerenesse that is betweene them and the seede vessels seruing for Generation which are many in number all that part is taken chiefely in the holy Scriptures for the seate and spring thereof and as it were for the seminary of mankinde Therefore it is written in the Hebrewes that Leui was yet in the loines of his father Abraham when Melchisedec met him And Moses speaking in the person of the Lorde of the promise made to Iacob sayeth Kings shall come out of thy loines Dauid also minding to shewe what knowledge God hath of men whome hee hath created saieth Thou hast possessed my reines thou hast couered mee in my mothers wombe And Iob declaring the selfe same thing more fully and speaking of the seed whereof he was begotten after hee had saide Hast thou not powred mee out as milke
and turned mee to cruddes like cheese he addeth presently Thou hast clothed mee with skinne and flesh and ioyned mee together with bones and sinewes This is that couering whereof the Psalmist spake which was giuen him of God in his mothers wombe after her conception Whereupon wee haue to note that these holy men speaking in this manner teach vs sufficiently what is the chiefe part of man which they accompt to be the true man For they declare vnto vs euidently that the soule which dwelleth in the body is truely man and that the body in comparison thereof is but his couering and the lodging wherein hee dwelleth Therefore the Heathens themselues compared mans soule to one placed in a garrison in which hee is to abide vntill hee be called from thence by the Prince and Captaine that placed him therein meaning thereby to teach vs that wee must abide in this life and discharge our duetie therein so long as it shall please God who hath brought vs into it to haue vs to continue therein Truely if wee consider well of those maruailous woorkes which GOD effecteth daily in the Generation of men wee may well say that it is a great miracle of God in Nature and ought to be diligently considered of as Dauid testifieth that hee did so in his owne person Therefore he saieth Thou holdest mee straight behinde and before and layest thine hand vpon me shewing throughout the whole psalme that there is nothing in man so hidden and couered which is not discouered before GOD and which hee knoweth not and searcheth not vnto the bottome to the ende that men deceiue not themselues through their hipocrisie thinking to hide themselues before him For this cause hee sayeth in the beginning that he is so knowen to GOD on all sides both within and without that there is not so much as one motion in him nor one thought or affection which is not wholly manifested vnto him And to prooue and confirme his saying hee taketh his argument from the creation of man giuing vs to vnderstand thereby that forasmuch as GOD is his Creatour and Maker it can not bee but that he shoulde throughly know his worke Whereby wee haue a certaine testimonie of that which wee spake in our former discourse of the creation of all those men that are dailie created by Generation according to the order of Nature appointed by GOD. For the Prophet doeth no lesse acknowledge that GOD hath made him then Adam the first man did So that looke what the Prophet speaketh of his owne person it is also to bee vnderstoode of euerie one both in regarde of his creation as also of that knowledge which GOD hath of all things in man be they neuer so hidde and couered Afterward hee addeth that this knowledge is too woonderfull for him and so high that hee cannot attaine vnto it Nowe wee may iudge well both of the composition of mans body and also of the nature of the soule by those discourses which wee haue already made And if wee did consider but of the body by it selfe yet had wee iust cause to say as much as Dauid sayeth heere What then might be spoken if wee ioyned the soule with the body and considered onely of that which might generally be knowen by such meanes as are already set downe For by that which we doe knowe wee shall iudge well enough howe farre this knowledge exceedeth our capacitie and what remaineth yet behinde which we cannot comprehend Forasmuch then as the Prophet woondereth so much at this great and high skill whereof God giueth vs so excellent testimonie in the creation and generation of men wee ought not to thinke it superfluous and vnprofitable but well beseeming a Christian man to enquire after that which God would haue vs know and which we may know and to consider well of his woorkes wherein he manifesteth his prouidence and wisedome especially in man who is as wee haue heard the chiefest of all his workes amongst the visible creatures and as it were an other worlde created within this Nowe as Dauid from the creation of man inferreth the knowledge which God hath of him so Iob in the same place that I alleadged euen now concludeth that forasmuch as God is the Creator and Artificer that made man he delighteth not in destroying his woorke Thy hands saieth hee haue made mee and fashioned me wholly round about and wilt thou destroy mee Which is as much as if he had saide is it possible that I who am the woorke of thy hands shoulde be brought to nothing by thee For besides that this were against nature the Scripture testifieth vnto vs in many places that he is not onely a preseruer of that which he hath made but also that hee leaueth not his woorkes vnperfect and that hee is so farre from defacing them that contrariwise it is his manner to leade them to perfection Whereby wee ought to learne that the onely consideration of the worke of our creation ought greatly to solace comfort and confirme vs in all afflictions and aduersities how rigorous soeuer the hand of God should be vpon vs. For first we ought to be throughly resolued of this that no affliction can come vnto vs but by his good will and from his hand whatsoeuer the means and instruments are of which hee maketh his roddes and scourges and by which he striketh and beateth vs. Nowe then seeing the hand that toucheth vs is the same that hath made and fashioned vs wee knowe well that he setteth not himselfe against a strange woorke vnknowen vnto him but against his owne wherewith he is very wel acquainted Whereupon we may certainly conclude that it proceedeth not of crueltie and furie that he striketh vs nor yet without good cause as hee that is neither cruell nor furious nor voyde of reason So that it followeth necessarily eyther that we haue giuen him great occasion or that it is very requisite for vs. But howsoeuer it be he euer knoweth well howe to turne all the afflictions of his children to his glorie and to their great honour and profite as we haue many notable examples hereof in all the seruaunts of God and namely in those two personages Dauid and Iob of whome wee haue spoken in this our discourse Which we continuing so farre forth as it respecteth the work of mans generation are to consider more narrowely of the admirable secrete of nature therein so much as daily experience and diligent searche hath learned men to knowe Tell vs then ARAM of the fashion of a childe in the wombe Of the fashion of a childe in the wombe and how the members are framed one after another in the mothers bellie of the time and dayes within which a childe is perfectly fashioned ARAM. I cannot marueile enough at the pride and presumption of many who thinke themselues to bee such great Philosophers and so skilfull in the knowledge of natural things that they perswade themselues
that obscure place it receiueth the goodliest and most perfect forme that can be imagined And who will not bee abashed to consider that out of that slymie seede of man there shoulde come bones sinewes flesh skinne and such like things so diuers one from another But yet it is a farre greater marueile to see all this great diuersitie of matter to bee framed in so many sundrie members and of so many sundry formes and that with such excellent beautie so profitable and so fitte for those offices that are assigned vnto them as wee haue learned in our former discourses Nowe as God did not create all creatures in one day although he coulde well haue done it if it had so pleased him so doeth he in the generation of men For albeeit that the members are fashioned all at once so that not one of them is framed before another neuerthelesse because there is great varietie betwixt them both in respect of their dignitie and of their strength nature their mother doeth not set them forwarde all alike For in displaying her power generally towards all the partes of the bodie it commeth to passe that her worke and the figure giuen vnto it appeareth sooner or later in some members more then in others Hereof it is that the greatest and chiefest members appeare naturally before the rest albeit they are not the first that are fashioned So likewise all the members are not beautified and made perfect at the same time but some after others according as they haue heate and nourishment Nature therefore obserueth this order that the worthiest partes and such as haue in them the beginning of motion shew themselues first and then those members that are profitable and seruiceable to the former and are created for their cause And according to this order the highest partes are seene sooner then the lowest and those within before them without and they that receiue their substance from the seed before those that haue it from blood These also amongest them that are most excellent are first notwithstanding many times they haue their accomplishment and perfection after the other as it appeareth in the Nauill For although the heart liuer and braine beeing the chiefest partes of the bodie haue their beginning before that yet is it the first amongest them all that appeareth perfect Nowe then after the Nauil with his pipe or passage is formed and fashioned within the first sixe dayes the blood and spirite are next drawen by those veines and arteries whereof we spake euen now to be sent to the seede and mingled therewith that the principall members might be figured as the liuer the heart and the braine which begin first like to little bladders and so consequently the rest which are fashioned by litle and litle according as they receiue nourishment For the veines whereby the burthen is nourished may well be likened to small rootes whereby plants are cherished as also the burden it selfe may bee compared vnto plants in this point as we haue alreadie learned So that the seed receiuing this forme alreadie spoken of in the first sixe dayes during which time it is called by no other name then seede nine dayes after that the blood is drawne thither of which the liuer and the heart receiue their forme so that after twelue dayes added to the former a man may discerne the lineaments and proportion of these two members and also of the braine albeit they are not then altogether fashioned At this time the burthen is called Faetus of the Latines and Embryon of the Greekes which is as much in our language as Sprouting or Budding Next after this within the space of other eighteene daies all the other members are fashioned and distinguished So that about fiue and fourty dayes after the conception the members receiue their perfect fashion and then doeth the burthen beginne to liue not onely as plants liue but also as other liuing creatures For it hath sense feeling about the sixe and thirtieth day and from that time forward it is called an infant But as yet it is voyde of motion For by and by after it is formed it is very tender vntill that by vertue of the heate it waxeth more dry and firme which is by reason that the moysture wherby it is made so soft and tender consumeth away by litle and litle so that the nayles beginne to take roote at the fingers endes and the haires in the head Now after the childe is come to the thirde moneth if it bee a male or to the fourth if it bee a female it beginneth to stirre it selfe according to the testimonie of Hippocrates because then his bones are more firme and somewhat harder But this is not alwaies alike in all women with childe For there are some that alwayes feele it stirre about the two and fourtieth day others neuer feele the same vntill the middest of the time from the conception to the birth Yea in the same woman the same time and order is not alwayes obserued For according to the strength and good complexion of the child and the nature and disposition of the mother these things change and not onely because of the sexe Neuerthelesse it is most ordinary and vsuall for male children to moue within three moneths or thereabouts as likewise to bee borne at the ninth moneth whereas females are commonly somewhat slower both in stirring and also at their birth the reason whereof is this because male children are naturally a great deale more hote then females Galen attributeth the cause of the generation of sonnes to the strength and heate of the seede and saieth that they are caried on the right side of the wombe as the daughters on the left which is the colder side as being farthest remooued from the liuer He yeldeth also this reason why some children are more like the father and some the mother because of the greater strength of seede which they haue either from the one or from the other And when it commeth to passe that the wombe receiueth seede at two sundry passages which it hath then are twinnes engendred either at one conception or at twaine so that the later bee not long after the former according to the opinion of the Philosophers and namely of Aristotle who rehearseth many examples thereof in his seuenth booke of the historie of liuing creatures saying that a whore was deliuered of two children whereof the one was like the father and the other like the adulterer But nowe wee are to consider of the childe-birth which is as wonderfull a woorke of God in nature as any other It belongeth then to thee ACHITOB to ende this dayes worke by a discourse tending to this purpose Of Child-birth and the naturall causes thereof of the great prouidence of God appearing therein of the image of our eternall natiuitie represented vnto vs in our mortall birth Chap. 72. ACHITOB. Men are of that nature that they cannot acknowledge what they
mans flesh haue testified that no flesh or meate whatsoeuer approcheth neerer in taste or is more like it then the flesh of a Hog And if we consider the inward members and parts there is no beast if we will giue credite to them that haue had the experience thereof that hath them liker to those in man then the Hog hath both for substance disposition forme and figure Contrariwise wherein doeth the Elephant resemble man either for forme or composition of body or of the members both internal and external in comparison of a Hog And yet there is no beast more teachable then the Elephant or that approcheth neerer to the sense and vnderstanding of man as on the other side there is no beast further off in this respect nor more hard to be taught and more brutish then is the Hog And if any man thinke that the industry and docilitie of an Elephant proceedeth either from the greatnesse of the matter whereof it is made or from the abundance of the qualities ioyned vnto the matter or from the harmony coniunction and concorde that is betweene them or lastly from the composition forme figure of his body and of the members thereof wee will oppose vnto him the Ant which is one of the least among the creatures of the earth as the Elephant is the greatest of all as farre as we know The like may be said of the Bee For are there many creatures although greater in substance that yet haue such industrious ingenious natures as these litle beasts haue that are to be reckoned among the smallest of them And by this it appeareth plainly that the soule of beasts is of some other substance nature then their bodies notwithstanding there is great difference betwixt the soule of beasts the soule of mē But we haue further to note touching the soule of man that the spirit doth not only not folow the nature of the body but which is more gouerneth carieth recarieth it whither it pleaseth yea it withstandeth the affections which approch neerest to the corporal terrestrial nature And as for the facultie of sense of the senses it is a vertue that surpasseth all bodily power and vertue all things depending of the body so that there is no facultie of the body that is able to expresse the actions thereof What shall we say then of the vertue of vnderstanding which is the highest and most soueraigne facultie that is in man Which wee cannot say is a body compounded of matter and forme For that thing is the fountaine and original of life which first mooueth a liuing creature to the works belonging vnto life So that when wee inquire what this fountaine and spring is then doe we seeke to know what the soule is Nowe we may soone know by that which hath bene spoken what the soule is not but as yet we cannot perceiue what the proper substance and nature thereof is And in deede it is not that which wee haue to speake of at this time hereafter we may say somewhat of that matter Let it suffice for this present that we know that the true cause of the life of the body in regard of second causes is in the soule next vnto God who is the first and principall cause of all things Therefore it is hee that hath ordained and limitted to euery liuing creature his appointed time wherein to liue and to grow and next to decrease and to dye and as it pleaseth him either to prolong or to abridge their life so doeth he dispose of the second causes and meanes whereby hee will haue it brought to passe Wherefore although euery one hath his certaine bounds and terme of life set him yet none but God onely can attaine to the knowledge thereof For all come not to the last age which hee hath appointed to be the ordinarie end of euery ones life following those degrees into which it is diuided according to that diuision which we make of dayes and yeeres For the infancie of man may be resembled to the morning and to the spring time of the yeere mans age to midday and to the sommer olde-age to the Euening and to Autumne and death to night and to winter Therefore Iob sayth very well speaking of man the number of his moneths are with thee thou hast appointed his bounds which he cannot passe Nowe if it be demaunded what is the ordinarie terme of life appointed by God we are to know that nature by the ordinance of God appropriateth the matter being in the forme of members vnto the soule that is to giue life vnto the whole body Nowe when the soule is entred into it and hath taken possession thereof by little and little it prepareth and maketh fit the internall instruments vntil at length it hath brought them to that perfection which the qualitie constitution and composition of the matter is able to receiue and to beare And after these instruments are come to their greatest perfection by vsage they waste and consume away returning by little and little vnto their first nature so in the end wholy corrupt and dye Thus you see how the members are appropriated in the belly of the mother howe the spirits and humors are fitted in the time of infancie after which the flower of age in youth is as it were the vigor and vse of the perfection of the instruments and olde-age is the decreasing age wherein they decay continually become worse and worse euen vntill they come to their corruption which is death And this death we call naturall when following this course it attaineth without violence to these bounds Nowe although this bee no long course yet there are but very fewe that hold out to the vttermost end thereof in regard of them that stay by the way of whome some are cut off euen before they haue begunne their course others presently after they haue begun it and some in the midway and that through so many sortes of sicknesses with other inconueniences and accidents that a man cannot possibly comprehend or conceiue them all Therefore Moses sayd long since that the time of our life is threescore yeeres and ten and if they be of strength foure score yeeres yet their strength is but labour and sorowe for it is cut off quickly and we flee away And after hee hath compared man to a streame of water caried violently away to a Morning dreame to the grasse that florisheth and groweth in the Morning and in the Euening is cut downe withereth he giueth the reason of all this saying for we are consumed by thine anger and by thy wrath are we troubled Thou hast set our iniquities before thee and our secret sinnes in the light of thy countenance for all our dayes are past in thine anger we haue spent our yeeres as a thought Iob also agreeth well with Moses in this point when hee sayeth Man that is borne of a
propertie like a busie woorkeman to bee in the bodie hauing all her instrumentes therein Nowe when a woorkeman woorketh with his tooles hee must haue within himselfe the vertue and skill to doe that which hee doeth because it is not in the instrumentes whereby he worketh For albeit they be appropriated and fitted to the woorke that is wrought yet of themselues they can doe nothing at all except they bee set on woorke by the woorkeman because they haue not in them any vertue to woorke But this power and facultie is onelie in the woorkeman to whome it belongeth to perfect his woorke So if the vertue of woorking were not in the soule it coulde woorke no more with instrumentes then without Therefore albeit it seemeth that the natural heate the humors and the spirits woorke in the body and effect something therein yet wee must knowe that they doe nothing there of themselues but that they receiue of the soule whatsoeuer they haue As when a Paynter draweth a picture his pensill and colours haue it not of themselues to doe that which is done by them but of the Painter The soule then is the Woorkeman that worketh receiuing her vertue and facultie of working not from without but euen in the selfe-same bodie in which it is Therefore to speake properly we may say that shee dwelleth in the bodie because shee abideth therein as in her house with all her implements and houshold instruments so that shee must needes haue the bodie appropriated and made fitte vnto her nature For euery soule cannot be indifferently ioyned to euery forme and figure of a bodie to exercise and execute therein the woorkes of life but it must woorke by that order of nature and according to those lawes which the Creator of all things hath ordained from the beginning of the world Whereupon wee may note that if wee had no other reason but the consideration heereof against the Pythagoricall transmigration of soules from one bodie to another it were sufficient to make knowne the greatnesse of this foppery and what error there is in that opinion For if it were so there would be no difference betwixt the soules of men of beastes and of plants neither shoulde there bee any proprietie and aptnesse of bodie and instruments more to one soule then to another Whereupon all nature touching this poynt and order appoynted by God heerein shoulde bee confounded and ouerthrowen But to returne to our matter forasmuch as the temperature of liquors humors and qualities vnder which I also comprehend the spirites is most inward and profound aswell in the body as in the workmanshippe of nature it is vndoubtedly the fittest instrument the soule hath and such a one as is neerest linked by agreement and coniunction with the workman that vseth the same Insomuch that if the soule want this instrument it departeth away and if the soule bee gone and so bee wanting to it then must it also necessarily fayle presently although the members abide yet after the departure of the soule For the confirmation and strengthening of the members both internall and externall is separated farther from the Soule but the mixture of the humours and spirite that is in the members is more neere and more inwarde True it is that the humours and qualities are instrumentes of the soule as well as the members but the humours are such instrumentes as set the rest on woorking I meane the members yea by meanes of them the soule vseth the members Wherefore if the humours fayle the members are verie vnprofitable as it appeareth in them that are drie or puffed vp or taken with the palsie or oppressed with any other maladie For the members are fitte instruments for outwarde vses and excercise but the temperature and mixture of the humours and spirites is ordained to preserue such instruments to the end they might alwayes bee apt and readie to doe their dueties Therefore the humours and qualities are in perpetuall motion but the members are not For the humours must alwayes keepe the members in a readinesse to woorke if neede require Nowe in the consideration of all these things wee see wonderful degrees in the vnion and coniunction that is betweene the bodie and the soule and the instruments which it vseth in the bodie For as all the elements haue their combinations and are linked together according to that agreement of nature which they haue one with another euery one in his degree from heauen downe to the earth and so likewise all the humors and qualities of all things euen so is it with the soule and bodie and with those instruments and meanes whereby they are ioyned and knitte together euery one in his degree according as their natures are more or lesse corporall or spirituall terrestriall or celestiall For as the vitall and animall spirites approch neerest to the nature of the soule secondly the humours come neerest to the nature of the spirites thirdly the members next to the humours so all of them keepe their ranke and order in their degrees and in that coniunction which the bodie and soule haue together as also the instruments whereby the soule woorketh in the bodie whether wee consider them either in ascending vpwarde from the lowest to the highest or els in descending from the highest to the lowest as wee consider the vnion and coniunction that is betwixt all the elements from the earth to the heauens and from the heauens to the earth Whereby wee dayly see more and more the great marueiles of God and by what meanes and arte hee ioyneth the heauens with the earth and bodily natures with spirituall This beeing thus wee are to learne that all the instruments of the soule are prepared for it in the bodie as it were for a Woorkeman that is to doe some woorke and that there is none but the soule that doeth vse them So that it is verie euident that the soule is the perfection of this aptnesse of the bodie and that there is great agreement betweene the soule and the bodie and betweene all the partes and faculties of both Forasmuch then as there is such a coniunction and that GOD hath created them both to bee glorified in them Saint Paul hath good cause to pray for sanctification in them both to the ende that God might be serued and honoured and that both of them might be glorified in the day of the Lorde But that our speech may yet bee better vnderstoode wee must consider in what signification the names of soule spirite and heart are commonly taken namely in the holy Scriptures and howe wee may and ought to vse them This will helpe vs greatly to attaine to the knowledge of the nature and immortalitie of the soule wherein wee are to bee instructed before wee dissolue our present assemblie Teach vs therefore ARAM what diuisions the scripture maketh of the whole man aswell in regarde of the soule as of the bodie and in what significations the names
of soule spirite and heart are taken with the causes wherefore Of the diuisions of man made in the holy Scriptures as well in respect of the soule as of the bodie in what significations the names of soule spirit and heart are vsed therein and the causes why of the intire sanctification of man howe the soule is taken for the life and for the members and instruments of nourishment and for nourishment it selfe Chap. 79. ARAM. Forasmuch as God so honoureth our bodies as to call them Temples of his holie spirite I thinke they cannot bee such in deede except they bee wholly dedicated and consecrated vnto him so that wee separate them from all filthinesse and pollution by giuing our selues to all kinde of sanctimonie and honestie of life For then is the body wholly sanctified when all the senses and members applie themselues onely to good and holy woorkes commaunded by God and when they abstaine from the contrarie Whereupon it commeth to passe that the eyes turne aside from beholding all vaine things and take pleasure onely in seeing that which may rauish man with admiration at the excellencie of the woorkes of God and induce him to well-doing The like may bee sayde of soundes of voyces of wordes in regarde of the eares And as for the tongue it is not polluted with vile speeches with lying slandering and blasphemie but prayseth God and rehearseth his works and woonders speaking alwayes with a grace to the edifying of all In like manner the mouth serueth man for the selfe-same vse as the stomacke also and the bellie with all the rest of the members that serue for the nourishing of the bodie are not defiled through gluttonie and drunkennesse So that the bodie liueth not to eate but eateth to liue and to make supplie to those necessities vnto which GOD hath made it subiect Therefore it obserueth sobrietie and is contented to minister to the naturall affections that God may bee serued in this life Neither doeth it abuse the members of generation to whoredome and villanie but conteineth them within their office and lawfull vse And as for the feete and hands with all the rest of the externall members it keepeth them also within the compasse of their duety But seeing the whole body all the members therof take from the soule all their actions and vses they cannot bee sanctified for the seruice of God and of holy things vnlesse the soule be first sanctified which giueth vnto them life motion and sense For this cause Saint Paul speaking of the sanctification which he wisheth to the Thessalonians before hee maketh any mention of that of the bodie hee beginneth with the Spirite and Soule as wee haue alreadie heard Now because the soule hath diuers powers he vseth two wordes the better to note them out especially the chiefest of them For as it hath beene alreadie declared vnto vs albeit the soule hath manie powers and offices in the bodie of man yet there are not so manie soules in the bodie as there are faculties and effectes thereof but one onely soule which doeth all that For this cause the name of soule is diuersly taken in the holy scriptures Sometime it is taken for that spirituall substaunce that is ioyned with the bodie to giue life vnto it and for all the powers thereof and sometime againe for one part of those faculties and powers The like may be sayd of the name of spirite and of heart and that for the same reason Thus doeth the Scripture sometimes diuide the whole man into two partes onelie namelie into bodie and soule as when Iesus Christ sayeth Feare yee not them which kill the bodie but are not able to kill the soule but rather feare him which is able to destroy both soule and bodie in Hell And often also the same holie worde taketh the one of these two partes for the whole euen in that signification wherein wee take the name Person in our tongue For this cause wee reade so often in the worde All flesh and euerie soule for euery person Also Giue mee the Soules for giue mee the persons And all the Soules of the house for all the persons thereof Nowe because the vnderstanding and the will are the principall faculties and powers of the soule when the Scripture meaneth to set them downe distinctly and to expresse them together with the nature and vertue of the soule it taketh the spirite for the one and the soule for the other namely the spirite for the reason and vnderstanding the soule for the wil affections For otherwise how should euery man be entire souÌ„d vnles his thoughts were pure holy all his affections rightly ruled finally his whole bodie made obedient and seruiceable to euerie good woorke For wee haue hearde alreadie what Lordship is attributed to the reason and to the vnderstanding then howe the will and affections are in the middest to commaund and lastly the bodie to serue and obey So that a man is then altogether pure and sounde when he thinketh nothing in his minde desireth nothing in his heart neither executeth any thing with his members but that which pleaseth God Wee haue a place in Esay which teacheth vs verie clearely that the spirite and soule are so taken and distinguished as wee say The desire of our soule saith he is to thy name and to the remembraunce of thee With my soule haue I desired thee in the night and with my spirite within me will I seeke thee in the morning We see how first he attributeth desire to the soule thereby to declare the affection of the people towardes the Lorde Then hee maketh mention of the remembrance and memorie that hee hath of God which is in the minde So that it seemeth hee comprehendeth the vnderstanding and will in the first verse vnder the name of Soule Afteward in the verse following he distinguisheth them more specialy attributing desire to the soule then watchfulnesse and diligent inquisition to the spirit which is not without thinking and discoursing that appertayne to the minde Wherefore the Prophet minding to signifie how he was wholly addicted to the Lordè with all his senses and vnderstanding and with all his heart and will and that all his affection was towardes him hee vseth this distinction betweene the soule and the spirite Likewise wee finde these two names Soule and Spirite ioyned together in this signification in the Psalmes and I am perswaded that for the same reason the blessed Virgine ioyned them together in her song when she sayd My soule magnifieth the Lord and my spirit reioyâ—eth in God my Sauiour Nowe as the Scripture vseth this distinction the better to expresse the faculties and powers of the soule so Saint Paul sometimes distinguisheth them into three that they may the better bee knowen as when hee writeth to the Ephesians in these woordes This I say therefore and testifie in the Lorde
and motion that are therein are inflamed by this vital spirite and not by any other means whatsoeuer whether it be the blood or the flesh And yet this spirite is as well of a corporall and bodily matter as all the rest of which the body is compounded so that it hath his originall of the selfe-same elements from whence that matter is deriued out of which it springeth But of such inquisitours I woulde likewise demaund from whence the heauens the Sunne and Moone with the other planets and starres haue their motion their light and properties It is very certaine they can yeeld mee no other true cause but that God hath created them of that nature that hee hath so framed them and that hee alwayes preserueth them such by the diuine vertue and power of his prouidence So I say to them that wee ought not to searche for any other cause or reason of that we mentioned before or goe any further or mount higher in the inquisition thereof But forasmuch as that which wee haue nowe deliuered of the nature and matter of the Soule is proper to that Sensitiue and Sensuall soule which wee attribute to beastes we must come more particularly to that that is proper to men which wee call the reasonable soule This is that matter and poynt about which the greatest and most ingenious wittes haue most laboured and disputed from time to time For they that affirmed the soule of man to bee no other thing then the Vitall and Animall spirites by means of which the body receiueth life or the temperature and temperament of the humours and matter of which the bodie is compounded these men put no difference betweene the soule of beastes and the soule of men And as for them that take it to bee the breath or a fire of which the naturall heate proceedeth they iumpe in opinion with the former who place it in the Vitall spirites And they that say it is in the harmonie of the whole bodie are of the same minde with them that place it in the temperament So that according to the opinion of all these the soule of man is nothing els but naturall heate or els the Vitall spirite that is in the blood as the Physicions commonly take it whose consideration reacheth not farther then to that they can comprehend by their naturall reason following therein Hippocrates who agreeable to this opinion saieth that the soule is daily engendered after that manner which wee haue alreadie declared But they that more diligently looke into the properties and excellent giftes wherewith the reasonable soule is endued know assuredly by their naturall reason that these opinions are very vnworthy the noble excellencie thereof and that they are of no force in regarde thereof For they iudge very well that the vnderstanding and reason with the discourses thereof that the iudgement and such memory as it hath that the discerning of good and euill of thinges honest and dishonest of vertues and vices with the knowledge of humane and diuine thinges whereof it is partaker are woorkes and actions which cannot proceede from such matter as the elements are as we haue touched else-where Whereupon it followeth that it is some other thing then the Vitall spirite or the temperament of the bodie and that it is of a farre differing nature from that of beasts which consisteth in these thinges And by the same reason also they conclude that if the soule of man were of any such matter as to be the Vitall spirite or the temperament of the bodie it would follow that it were mortall like to the bodie and that nothing shoulde remaine of it after the death thereof Which thing they finde to be too much contrarie vnto that which a man may iudge of the nature and substance of the soule by those effectes of it that were euen nowe mentioned which effectes are such as cannot agree to a corruptible and mortall nature nor to any other then to a celestiall and immortall nature like to that of the Angels aud blessed spirits which are endued with such vertues But I desire to heare thee ARAM vpon the things now spoken of that thou maiest goe on with the matter of our discourses Of the opinion of Galen of Platâ— and of Aristotle touching the substance and nature of mans soule of the opinion of Occam touching the Vegetatine and Sensitiue power thereof and of the distinction of soules he maketh in man of the sentence of the Platonists and of Origen touching the creation birth and nature of the soule of the coniunction of the Soule with the bodie and the estate thereof in the same Chap. 83. ARAM. The Ancients speaking of man often call him a great miracle and indeede the more wee bend our mindes to consider of it the more marueilous weshal find it to be Insomuch as in the particular contemplation of the soule which is truely man I woulde gladly aske whether it were better either to discourse Philosophically of this matter hauing store of argument or by way of admiration to crie out with S. Paul O the deepenes of the riches both of the wisedom and knowledge of God! Neuerthelesse being drawen on with the same desire that hath hitherto pricked vs forward to search out and to be instructed in the trueth according to my knowledge I will goe forward ARAM with thy speech For the causes then alleged by thee out of them that consider more diligently the properties excellent gifts of the soule although Galen who otherwise was a prophane man in respect of the knowledge of God and an idolatrous worshipper of nature durst not boldly determine what the reasonable soule was yet as for that which is commonly called the vegetatiue or nourishing and the sensitiue or sensuall soule he feareth not boldly to affirme that it is no other thing then either the naturall and vitall spirits or the temperament But as for the reasonable soule he leaueth it in doubt whether it be of a bodilie nature or of some other that is not corporall and which subsisteth by it selfe being seperated from the bodie Neither doth he conclude any other thing but that it is either a shining substance and an ethereall body that is to say of a more pure and celestiall nature then any of the elements or els that it is of a nature that is not corporall but yet hath this body by which he meaneth the animal spirit to be as a chariot to carie it Plato before him sayd that soules were litle portions taken from the substance of the celestiall fires and hee maketh three parts of a mans soule diuiding them according to the principall parts of the body and those instruments which they haue in the same Which diuision is vnderstood of some as if he made so many sorts of soules as we haue shewed that there are principall powers and offices which haue their seuerall seats and places assigned vnto them in the body Therefore Galen
mainteineth that the vegetatiue and sensitiue soule is no other thing then the temperament of the liuer and of the heart which are assigned to be the seats and chiefe instruments of the nourishing and vitall power and vertue And as for the animall or reasonable power whose seat is commonly placed in the braine we haue alreadie shewed his opinion Now of this part there are many euen of them who greatly magnifie it that are not yet well resolued whether they ought to take it for the animal spirit or for the temperament or for an incorporeall nature that commeth elswhere then from the body Aristotle he calleth the soule by a new Greeke name that signifieth asmuch as a perpetuall motion and sayth that it proceedeth from a fift nature and beginning which he calleth Heauen But he speaketh not so plainly that a man may iudge by his words what he thinketh of the reasonable soule in man whether it be mortall or immortall Neuerthelesse he confesseth that there is great difference betweene that power of the soule which we call more specially by the name of spirite and betweene the other twaine which he calleth the Nutritiue and Sensitiue powers For he vseth this worde Powers and affirmeth that these two first proceede onely from the bodie and are bredde there and that the Vegetatiue soule and power is more in the seede and burden then the Sensitiue But as for the third hee saieth plainely that it onely commeth from without els-where and that this onely is diuine not communicating her action with any corporall action Thus we see sufficient agreement betweene the Philosophers and the Phisitions concerning the Vegetatiue and Sensitiue soule or power but there is not so good accord about the reasonable soule and power Yea many great Diuines Doctors agree with them in the two first points For this cause Occam saith plainly that there are two distinct soules in man the one reasonable the other sensuall the reason is because it is manifest that the Sensitiue soule hath no actions but instrumentall that is to say by meanes of those instruments whereby shee exerciseth her actions and from which she hath them Whereupon he concludeth that this sensuall soule seemeth to haue her originall and generation from the seede and that it is either the temperament or some facultie and power in the bodie He confirmeth this opinion by another argument taken from the contrarie appetites and desires of the reasonable and sensuall soule out of which he draweth this conclusion That it is very likely that these are two distinct substances because it seemeth inconuenient in one and the same nature not diuided or distinguished to place appetites so wholly contrary each to other Hee addeth farther that it is a thing very agreeable to nature that euery liuing creature shoulde beget his like therefore man begetteth man like himselfe at leastwise in respect of the Sensitiue soule if not of the reasonable soule Whereupon it followeth that the Vegetatiue and Sensitiue soule proceede from the nature of the seede The Platonicall Philosophers were of opinion that soules were bred in heauen and were taken out of the diuine nature as a portion thereof and that there they were instructed and adorned with sundry sciences with knowledge and vertue and that afterwarde beeing giuen of God they descended from thence into the bodies of men as into stinking filthy and contagious prisons Whereof it followed that through the infection of these prisons they were corrupted by euill affections as it were with the filthinesse of them So that they forgate all those gifts and celestial vertues where with they had been endued and adorned in their first birth and which they had brought with them And being thus detained as prisoners in this darke and filthy prison they could no more vse all those goodly gifts but onely so farre foorth as they were taught and instructed againe by doctrine which in respect of them may be compared to a light brought to prisoners kept in a darke dungeon to light refresh them For this cause those that were of this opinion affirmed that the knowledge of men is but a remembrance and calling againe to minde of that which their soules had learned and did know in heauen at their first birth before they entred into their bodies according as we heard euen now For being descended into this base and obscure prison and hauing forgotten that which they knew their memories are rubbed vp by doctrine and instruction bestowed vpon them which kindleth againe these celestiall sparkles of their mind and portions of the diuine fire by inflaming them and causing them to burne that were almost vtterly quenched Wherupon like Philosophers they conclude that soules so infected by descending and entring into their bodies cannot returne againe nor be receiued into heauen and into the place assigned for the blessed spirits vnlesse they returne pure and cleane decked with the selfe-same ornaments wherwith they were adorned at their first birth And this they say may bee wrought by good instruction by vertue by good workes or otherwise they say they haue sundry purgings being separated from their bodies Some diuines among the Grecians haue followed at least wise in some part the opinion of these philosophers by name Origen of whom S. August thus writeth But we may marueile much more that some beleeuing with vs that there is but one only beginning of all things that no nature which is not God can haue any being but from the Creator neuertheles would not beleue rightly and simply this point of the creation of the world that is so good and simple namely that God creating all those good thinges that were after him although they were not the same that God is notwithstanding they were al good But they say that the soules not being parts of God but made of God sinned in departing from the Lorde and so by sundrie degrees according to to the diuersitie of sinnes from the heauens vnto the earth haue merited sundry sortes of bodies to be as it were their chaines and fetters This say they is the world and this was the cause of making the worlde not to the ende that the good things might be created but that euill things might be stayed and repressed Of this opinion is Origen who is worthily to be blamed These are the very wordes of this great Doctor of the Church And by that which followeth in the same place hee plainely confuteth Origens errour who in his first booke of Beginnings writeth that things without bodies were first made of God and that amongst spirituall things our spirites or mindes were also created which declining from their estate and dignitie were made or named soules of which the Greeke worde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth as it were to grow colde and to decline from a better and more diuine estate beeing so called because it seemeth that the spirite or mind is waxen cold fallen
from this natural and diuine heate Therfore the soule lieth now in this estate and condition but when it is repaired amended it shal returne againe to the condition of a spirite or mind Which being so it seemeth that the departing and declining of the soule is not alike in all but is turned either more or lesse in the soule and that some spirites or mindes doe yet retaine somewhat of their first vigour other some either nothing at all or very litle These soules by reason of many defects of the spirit stood in need of more grosse and solide bodies so that for their sakes this visible world was made created so great that it might containe all those soules which were appointed to bee exercised therein And forasmuch as all of them did not depart alike from goodnes the Creator of all things tooke vnto himselfe certaine seedes and causes of varietie to the ende that according to the diuersity of sinnes he might make the worlde variable and diuers This is Origens sentence concerning soules which self-same opinion we may reade also in Saint Hierome writing to Anitus whereby wee may see howe this opinion agreeth in part with that of the Platonists For the greatest disagreement betweene them consisteth heerein that these Philosophers attributed the cause of the infection of soules to the bodies into which they were sent frrom heauen And Origen with many that followed him supposed that the soules were sent into bodies as prisoners to bee punished for their offences committed in heauen From such fancies haue issued so many dreames about soules as are to be read in infinite writings But doe thou ACHITOB take occasion hereupon to continue our discourses Of the opinion of the Platonists and some others touching the substance of mens soules in what sence not onely the Poets and Heathen Philosophers but also S. Paul haue saide that men were the generation and Image of God of their errour that say that soules are of the very substance of God of the transmigration of soules according to the opinion of the same Philosophers Chap. 84. ACHITOB. It is woonderfull to consider howe harde a matter it is to finde out the trueth of such thinges as are commonly disputed of because notwithstanding any solution or answere that is made yet still some doubt may arise in our mindes insomuch as there is no poynt howe doubtfull soeuer it bee but that a man may alleage likelihood both with it and against it But this commeth to passe especially in matters of greatest reache the difficultie of which is so much the harder to be defined as the true knowledge thereof is more necessary for vs. Those men therefore are happie who are assured of that which they beleeue by certaine testimonies cut of the worde of trueth especially when the question is concerning the soule which is the instrument of God whereby he worketh in vs and lifteth vs vp to the contemplation of his diuinitie Nowe my companions by your three former discourses wee may gather both what agreement and what difference there is amongest those whome you haue mentioned touching their opinions as well in regarde of the birth of soules as of their distinction diuision and corruption For they agree herein that they are not engendred with the body neither of the same seede and matter at leastwise the reasonable soule but say that it is of a celestiall diuine and immortall nature But herein they disagree in respect of the nature of the matter and about the time creation and birth of the soule and also in regard of the meanes by which it is defiled and infected with sinne The Platonists affirme that the soule is so extracted out of the diuine nature that it is a part and portion thereof Which thing cannot agree with the nature of God because it would folow therupon that it were not one but might be diuided into diuers parts and that those partes of which the soules should be created might be subiect to the pollution of sinne a thing too contrary to the nature of God Or else they must say that there is but one soule in all and through all and that God is this soule And this were to fâ—l into their opinion who said that God was the soule of the world and that the worlde was his bodie which is farre from the trueth For if it were so then must God bee mortall and corruptible in respect of his body and that still one part or other should be corrupted as we see corporall things daily to corrupt On the other side God should not then be infinit and incomprehensible as he is neither is it the worlde that comprehendeth and containeth him but it is he who comprehendeth containeth the world Wherfore neither is the world God neither is God the world but the Creator thereof and he by whome it is and doeth consist So that forasmuch as all these opinions are very strange and vnwoorthie the diuine nature they deserue not that we should stay any longer in them as they that ouerthrowe themselues But I knowe well that some would haue that place alleged out of the Poet by Saint Paul to serue their fantasticall opinion where it is said that We are the linage and generation of God For Saint Paul doeth not alleage it onely as an opinion of an Heathen Poet but doeth also approoue and confirme the same taking his argument from thence that our soule beeing of a spirituall and diuine nature wee ought to make the same account of God whose linage and generation wee are Nowe albeeit the Apostle speaketh thus yet his meaning is not that the soules of men are of the verie substaunce and essence of God as wee say that the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost are one and the same essence and substance in the the vnitie of God beeing distinguished and not diuided into three persons Neither doeth he meane that the soules are engendred of the proper essence and substance of God or that they proceede from it as wee say that the sonne is begotten of the Father and that the holy spirite proceedeth from the Father and the Sonne according as it is testified vnto vs in the holy Scriptures But hee woulde haue vs learne that the soule of man is of another nature and substance not onely then the bodie of man is but also then the soule of beastes and that the nature and substance thereof is celestiall and diuine not because it is drawen from the very substance and essence of God but by reason of that difference which is betweene the soule of man and the bodies and soules of beastes and also in regard of that agreement which is betweene it and the diuine nature both because of the immortalitie of the soule as because it approcheth more neere to the nature of God then of any other creature except the Angels whome wee say also are of a diuine nature and celestiall for the like
creatures forged by them but men through ignoraunce haue taken them in a wrong sence and so reaped small profite by them No marueile then if this hath happened both to Philosophers and Poets in their doctrine and manner of teaching seeing there are so manie that profite so little by the doctrine of the holie Scriptures themselues and by the studie thereof For were there euer any Heretikes that did not wrest the sence of manie places of Scripture to make them serue for their heresies And doe wee not dayly see the like in all seducers and false prophetes It is verie certayne that there were neuer anie so absurde and straunge heresies which the fauourers of them haue not laboured to mainteyne by the holy Scriptures themselues But to returne to our purpose what meaning soeuer the Authors and inuenters of such things had their doctrine was so vnderstood that manie helde this opinion that mens soules passed from bodie to bodie as we haue heard Insomuch that this errour howe grosse soeuer it were came not onelie to the Iewes but to the Christians also who boast of true religion and of the authoritie and knowledge of the holy Scriptures I speake not of the Manichees auncient Heretikes who were open mainteiners of this opinion But what shall wee say of them who not onely haue their braines infected with this follie but which is woorse imagine they can confirme and prooue it by testimonies out of the worde of God As where it is reported that when Herode hearde the fame of Christ Iesus spread throughout all Iudea hee sayde This is Iohn Baptist hee is risen againe from the dead and therefore great woorkes are wrought by him And Saint Luke sayeth expressely That Herode doubted because that it was sayde of some that Iohn was risen againe from the dead and of some that Elias had appeared and of some that one of the olde Prophets was risen againe We reade likewise that when Iesus Christ demaunded of his disciples saying Whome doe men say that I the Sonne of man am they answered Some say Iohn Baptist and some Elias others Ieremias or one of the Prophets and some that one of the olde Prophetsis risen againe A man my iudge by these speeches that not onelie Herode was tainted with this Pythagoricall and Platonicall opinion but also that it was very common among the Iewes with whome hee conuersed and whose religion hee followed at least in part and in outwarde shewe For Iesus Christ was knowen well enough in Iudea and in Galilee and amongst all the Iewes as it appeareth by the testimonie of the Euangelists They knewe his kinred according to the flesh and coulde tell that he was brought vp in Nazareth in the countrey of Galilee for which cause they called him him a Galilean a Nazarean a Carpenter the sonne of a Carpenter and the sonne of Ioseph and Marie They saide that they knewe his brethren and sisters whereby according to the Hebrewe manner of speaking they meant his cousins Neeces and his kinred taking occasion thereby to despise and reiect him But on the other side many seeing the woorkes and miracles which hee wrought were constrayned to passe farther euen Herode himselfe hearing onely the fame that went of him throughout the countrey so that some tooke him to bee that Christ others to be some great Prophet And of them that helde him for a Prophet it appeareth by those sundry opinions that were among the people that they did not thinke him to bee a Prophet borne at that time but that some one of the olde Prophets was risen againe in him not in bodie but in spirite For they knewe well whence hee issued in respect of his bodie as that which was commonly knowen throughout the countrey Therefore it is easie to iudge that they spake of resurrection in regarde of the soule as the skilfullest Interpreters expounde these places referring these speeches of Herode and of the people vnto that Pythagoricall opinion of the transmigration of soules from bodie to bodie For according thereunto those soules that had behaued themselues vertuously in their first bodies in which they dwelt were sent into other more honourable bodies endued with greater giftes of God according to their deseruing Nowe because Saint Iohn the Baptist had not the gift of miracles annexed to his Ministerie neyther did woorke anie all his life time it might bee thought that this gaue occasion to Herode to thinke thus of him that beeing risen againe from the dead after a Pythagoricall manner hee had this gift and vertue added vnto his former graces that so he might haue the greater authoritie Neither ought wee to thinke it verie strange if a great part of the Iewes were infected with manie foolish and naughtie opinions seeing they were not onely corruptly instructed by their teachers but also had sectes amongst them there which plainely denied the resurrection of the bodie the immortalitie of soules and that there was any Angel or spirite Therefore wee see their great brutishnesse who woulde ground their transmigration vpon that which is saide in the Scriptures touching the opinion of the Iewes in this point which notwithstanding is openly reprehended and condemned by the selfe-same worde of GOD. True it is that the ignorance of the true sense thereof gaue occasion to many to fall into such dreames For the Lorde speaking thus by Malachie Beholde I will sende you Elijah the Prophet before the comming of the great and fearefull day of the Lorde the Iewes vnderstood this place diuersly Some of them thought that the auncient Prophet Elias who was rapt vp into heauen shoulde be sent againe in proper person others vnderstoode it onely of the transmigration of his soule and spirite into an other body For this cause they asked of Iohn Baptist whether hee were Elias but Iesus Christ himselfe expounded those wordes of Malachy and declared vnto the Iewes that Iohn Baptist was that Elias which should come and that although hee were come yet they did not knowe him For when he spake so of him hee meant not that hee was the very person of Elias in body and soule or that the naturall soule and spirite of Elias was entred into his body but his meaning was according as the Angel spake to Zachary when he tolde him of the Natiuitie of Saint Iohn his sonne saying He shall be filled with the holy Ghost euen from his mothers wombe And many of the children of Israel shall he turne to their Lorde God For he shall go before him in the spirite and power of Elias A man may easily iudge by these words that he meant not to say that the naturall spirite of Elias shoulde enter into the body of Saint Iohn Baptist but that God would giue a spirite adourned with such giftes and spirituall graces and with such zeale and constancie as he gaue long before to Elias Therefore he addeth power vnto spirite thereby
to declare the better what is meant by Spirite And before he shewed the meanes whereby this spirite shoulde be giuen him when he said that hee should be filled with the holy Ghost from his mothers wombe that is with the gifts and graces thereof as the Scripture calleth them ordinarily Afterwardes also the Angell declareth more at large after what manner Saint Iohn came in the power and spirite of Elias signifying that hee ought to behaue himselfe and to doe as Elias had done in his time and as Malachy had foretolde of him Moreouer we haue in the Scripture other kindes of speaking that agree very fitly with this of the Angel so that the one may well serue to open the other For it is written of Moses that the Lorde did separate of the spirite that was vpon him and did put it vpon the seuentie ancient men whom he appointed vnder him to be an helpe and comfort vnto him in the gouernement of the people of Israel and when the spirite rested vpon them they prophecied continually Euery one knoweth that the spirite of Moses whereof the Lord speaketh is not his naturall spirite but that he meaneth by this spirite part of the gifts and graces which Moses had receiued of the Lord such as were necessary for their charge as likewise he gaue to Moses according to the charge committed to him Some also vnderstand this separation of the spirite of Moses to be onely a communication of the graces of the spirite of God like to those which Moses had receiued for his charge that was giuen to those who were ioyned vnto him for his helpe Nowe if wee take it in this sense we may say that God vseth this manner of speech the better to let vs vnderstand thereby the nature of his gifts and graces and the meanes hee obserueth in dispensing of them For hee doeth not onelie distribute so much as is needefull for them whome hee mindeth to employ in his woorke but giueth also vnto them such manner of graces as are requisite for the worke as Saint Paul testifieth Besides all this his purpose is also to teach vs what agreement there is betwixt all his giftes as likewise what vnitie proceedeth heereof betwixt them that are partakers of these gifts whereby wee may perceiue that they come all from one spirite which albeit God thereby powreth out his graces in so great abundance is yet a fountaine and sea that is not onely not dried vp but not so much as any way diminished Thus wee see howe one and the same Spirite of GOD gouerned Moses and the rest that were ioyned with him inspiring them all with his grace and distributing to euery one according to his measure as the winde is dispenced into many Organ-pipes all at once according to their seuerall capacitie and according to that sound which euery one is to yeelde for the making of a good harmony or as many Candles or Lampes are lighted by an other with the same fire wherewith that was first tined Also wee are to vnderstand in this sence the request that Eliseus made to Elias when hee demaunded a double portion of his Spirite because hee succeeded him in regarde whereof hee stoode in neede of such giftes and graces of Gods Spirite as Elias was guided by that hee might faithfully execute his charge as hee had done before Thus wee see howe places of Scripture expound one an other and howe little they help the Pythagoreans of whome I woulde not haue made so long a discourse if this foppery were driuen out of mens braines and namely among Christians For to this day there are too many fantasticall heades I say not amongest true Christians but amongest them that falsely beare that name who are as much or rather more infected heerewith then any Pythagoreans or Platonists in former times And for this cause AMANA I leaue you to goe on with this point that afterwardes wee may returne to our chiefe matter of the nature generation and immortalitie of the soule Of the Pythagoreans of these dayes amongst Christians and of their foolish opinions of the opinions of many doctors and diuines touching the creation and ordinary generation of mens soules of the moderation that ought to be kept in that matter of the cause of the filthinesse and corruption of mans soule Chap. 86. AMANA There was neuer yet any opinion errour or heresie so strange or monstrous in the world which hath not always found men enow to receiue it so that there were authours and masters to broach it abroad For God doeth thus punish the curiositie ingratitude malice and peruersenesse of men and that contempt of his word and trueth which is ordinarily in them together with the pleasure and delight they take in vanitie and lies Wherefore God through his iust iudgement deliuereth them vp into a reprobate sence insomuch as they can not but reiect the trueth continually and embrace that which is false according as he often threatned them and foretolde it by his Prophets and Apostles And this is the cause why the Pythagoreans do at this day find men voide of sense and vnderstanding who cleaue to their fantasticall opinions and why Epicures and Atheists are neuer without a great number of disciples Now albeit these men be in truth most blockish grosse beasts yet we cannot perswade them so nor many others also who imagin they know much For there are euen doctors and some that read lectures in Vniuersities who keepe not their opinion of the transmigration of soules so secret to themselues but they make some profession therof at lestwise amongst their schollers and familiar acquaintance There are some also who boasting of the knowlege of tongues of the turning ouer of many antiquities haue published this fancie of theirs in books written by them yea they themselues are perswaded and they would make others beleeue the same with them that their soules are the very soules of some famous personages that haue liued heretofore in the world that they haue alredy passed through many excellent bodies which haue done great things as likewise they promise to themselues that they shal bring to passe great matters seeing they haue their souls True it is that according to our maner of speaking we say sometimes of such as agree in manners with others who haue liued before them that their soules whom they resemble is entred into them that the others are raised vp in their persons For example sake if there be a cruel tyrant like to Nero we say that Neroes soule is entred into his body and that Nero is raised vp in him But yet euery one knoweth well enough that we vse to speake so by reason of the agreement of natures and of manners not because of any transmigration of soule And this may be spoken in respect of that Deuillish spirite which possesseth the wicked and ruleth in them as wee say of the Spirite of Gods
recouery neither was any knowen that hath returned from the graue For we were borne at all aduenture and wee shall be heereafter as though wee had neuer beene for the breath is a smoke in the nosethrilles and the woordes as a sparke raised out of our hearts Which being extinguished the body is turned into ashes and the spirite vanisheth as the soft ayre Our life shall passe away as the trace of a cloude and come to naught as the mist that is driuen away with the beames of the Sunne and cast downe with the heate thereof Our name also shall be forgotten in time and no man shall haue our woorkes in remembrance For our time is as a shadowe that passeth away and after our ende there is no returning for it is fast sealed so that no man commeth againe Come therefore let vs enioy the pleasures that are present and let vs cheerfully vse the creatures as in youth Let vs fill our selues with costly wine ointments and let not the floure of life passe by vs. I omit other speeches of a voluptuous wicked vniust life which they purpose to lead exercising al iniustice violence cruelty without al regard had to any right or iustice either to poore or rich yong or old but chiefly against the seruants of God who approue not their kind of life but reproue condemne it Therefore it is said after al the discourse that they imagined such things and went astray For their owne wickednes blinded them They do not vnderstand the mysteries of God neither hope for the reward of righteousnes nor can discerne the honor of the soules that are faultlesse For God created man without corruption and made him after the image of his owne likenesse Neuerthelesse through enuy of the deuill came death into the world and they that hold of his side proue it But the soules of the righteous are in the hands of God and no torment shall touch them In the sight of the vnwise they appeared to die and their end was thought grieuous and their departing from vs destruction but they are in peace Wee see then that these men go no farther then they can see with their bodily senses and because they see that man liueth by breathing and cannot liue without and that hee dyeth when his breath faileth they thinke that the soule of man is but a litle winde and breath and so is scattered and vanisheth away as it were winde and breath or as a cloude in the ayre The same iudgement they are of in regard of the blood because life leaueth the body with the blood as if it had no other soule but the blood or breath And forasmuch as the eye discerneth no difference betweene men and beasts in death they iudge also that there is no difference betweene their soules But if they be resolued to giue credit to nothing but to their corporall senses and in death consider only what difference there is betweene men and beasts they wil not beleeue that either beasts or men haue any soule at all that giueth them life because they see nothing but the body onely And then by the like reason we must conclude that not onely the whole man is no other thing but this body which we see but also that there is nothing in all the world but that which may bee seene by the eyes and perceiued by the other senses and so all that which we haue not seene and knowen by them shal be nothing Which being so men shal differ nothing from beasts as indeed we can say no better of these men For beastes thinke of nothing but that which they beholde and perceiue by their senses and goe no further which is so farre from all science and discipline and from all iudgement of man as nothing can be more Therefore they that beleeue nothing but their corporall senses deserue to be compared not onely to little children or to fooles who when they see pictures or their face in a glasse suppose they are liuing men because they goe no farther then they see but euen to the brute beastes who haue lesse sense and vnderstanding then children It is woonderfull to consider howe men take such great pleasure paines to become brutish For if they doe but see a smoke come out of a place they will iudge that there is some fire within although they behold it not and if they smell any ill sauour their nose will tell them that there is some place infected or some carion lying not farre off albeit they see it not What is the cause then that when by their senses they perceiue somewhat more in men then in beastes they are not induced thereby to thinke that of necessitie there must be some what within them which causeth them to differ much from beasts Which is not by reason of the bodie but of the soule that is not seene but onely by her actions workes and effects Whereupon it followeth that if their actions differ from the actions of that soule whereby beastes liue the cause also from which they proceed must needes differ and so consequently that there is great difference betwixt the soule of men and the soule of beastes For let them consider onely the diuersitie of artes which man exerciseth with his hands and the varietie of so many wittie and woonderfull workes as are wrought by him which cannot proceede but from a great spirite and from a passing excellent nature the like whereof is not to bee seene in beastes or in anie thing they can doe Besides doe they not see how the spirite of man discourseth throughout all nature what reason is in him and howe his speech followeth reason which are such things as haue a certaine vertue and the image of a diuine spirite shining in them Wherefore albeeit wee shoulde make man wholly like to a beast by reason of his bodie both in regarde of his birth and death yet wee must needes confesse that hee is of a farre more excellent nature in respect of that great and manifest difference which wee see is in his soule If then the soule of man bee mortall as well as that of beastes to what purpose serue those graces which it hath aboue the other and from what fountaine shall wee say they flowe in it and to what ende were they giuen vnto it But for this time I will leaue these Atheists hoping that to morowe wee will not leaue any one naturall reason able to vrge them in their demnable opinion which shal not bee laide out at large And I demaund of them that haue anie taste of the holy Scriptures and yet seeme to doubt of the immortalitie of the soule or at leastwise are not fully resolued therein howe man is said to be created after the image of God if he shall be altogether dissolued and brought to nothing and where shall we then seeke for this image in him It is certaine that this is not in
are to search chiefly for those testimonies which God hath giuen vs in nature touching th'immortality of the soule euen the actions and effects therof by meanes of which we come to the knowledge of hidden and secret causes from whence they proceed Therefore consider Amana what you mind to speake vnto vs of this subiect Of naturall reasons whereby the immortalitie of soules may be proued against Epicures and Atheists and first of the argument taken frō the facultie of knowledge which the soule hath and from that knowledge of eternitie which is in it how it appeareth that it is not begottē of this corruptible nature because it ascendeth vp vnto God and how by a special benefit of God it is daily created not by the vertue of nature Cha. 90. AMANA Seeing Epicures Atheists giue credit to natural Philosophy in things whose causes it proueth by their effects they haue no reason to refuse it in the consideration of the nature of mens soules Now it is verie certaine that if we will take this course besides the testimonies of God in his word touching the immortalitie of the soule which way soeuer we turne our eyes whether aboue vs or beneath vs on the right hand or on the left we shall finde euery where arguments and reasons concluding the same For we haue nature and the necessitie of causes proportion and similitude life the excellent dignitie of man the goodnes of God and the profit of mankind proceeding from his bountifulnesse which with one common consent and as it were all with one voyce teach vs and crie out that the soule cannot bee mortall First then we obserue that the true naturall essences of all things are not knowne of vs by themselues but continue hidde in the secret closets of euery one of them vnto which our minde being burthened with this masse of the body and ouerwhelmed with the darkenesse of this life is not able to reach Therefore we must enquire by the accidents adhering vnto them and principally by their actions whereby our reason discourseth and concludeth of euery thing what it is and of what qualitie For euery thing hath his actions and workes according to it owne substance and nature and by them declareth and maketh it selfe knowne so that if wee consider the actions of the soule we shall by them know the nature and immortalitie thereof Let vs then consider her first and principall action which is to know and this importeth also to vnderstande to comprehende and to conceiue Whereupon we haue to note that there is no power of Knowing that can attaine to the knowledge of any thing but it hath some agreement and proportion with the nature of the same thing because knowledge is as it were the image of things which is imprinted in the soule as in a glasse Now it is certaine that a looking glasse cannot represent the image and similitude of a spirituall thing because it selfe is a corporall thing which hath no agreement in nature with that which is spirituall Likewise it cannot represent any thing belonging to the other senses but onely that which concerneth the sight and therfore it cannot represent either soundes smelles or tastes because the vse thereof is onely for the eyes neither doeth it agree with any of the other senses but onely with the sight And as for our externall senses they cannot perceiue those things that haue neither quantitie nor bodily substance because they themselues are corporal Neither yet can they perceiue things that are absent And the internall senses as the fantasie the imagination cannot perceiue spiritual things as namely either God or Angels but onely the spirite of a man doeth perceiue know and comprehend them which power and facultie no other creature vnder heauen hath For if it were otherwise it could not in any wise comprehend a thing that surmounteth it with an infinite greatnes and with which it hath no agreement at all For further confirmation of that which I say let vs consider of Eternitie as it is whole and entire in it selfe then let vs diuide it into that which was since the creation of the worlde and finally into that which followed the same and which shall be for euermore When our spirite entereth into the consideration of that which was before the creation our thought is not able to comprehend it so that it is ouerwhelmed with the greatnesse thereof but wee doe well vnderstand and comprehend that part of eternitie which shall followe vs heereafter throughout infinit ages Whereby it appeareth that this first consideration of it is too great for our soule as hauing no proportion therewith nor yet agreeing thereunto but it is otherwise with the soule in the consideration of that other eternitie for the fruition whereof it was created For the soule is not eternall as God is as though it had no more beginning then he had and therefore it hath no agreement with him in this respect The soule then entereth into a bottomlesse gulfe when it discourseth of an eternitie of which it is not partaker but it hath agreement with the eternitie of God as angels haue in that it is created immortall to liue an eternall life with him which appeareth in that it is able to comprehend the same Therfore Saint Iohn in the beginning of his Gospel leadeth vs euen to the gates of this first eternitie but forasmuch as it is a gulfe in which we shall be swallowed vp if we enter farther into it hee proceedeth not forward but stayeth vs there and calleth vs presently vnto the means whereby God manifested himselfe telling vs how he did this by his eternall worde and first by the creation of the worlde then by those other meanes which hee setteth downe afterwarde all which our soule comprehendeth well and so cannot the soule of beasts do Wherfore when we consider God in his essence and nature before the creation of the world the time that was before that wee are then ouerwhelmed therewithall see no whit at all into it But if we enter into the consideration of the times after the creation of the world into those which shal follow stil after vs vnto all eternity wee looke into it more cleerely and are not so much dazeled therwithall because our soule is more capable of this consideration then of the other which was before all creatures From hence wee may conclude that the soules of beasts and plants that haue not in them this cogitation or apprehension of eternitie are produced and taken out of the power and vertue of that matter of which they are engendered but the spirit of man is more specially bredde in the bodie by God aboue all the powers of the matter and nature of the same For nothing ariseth higher or passeth beyond that thing of which it receiueth essence and beeing and those powers and strength that it hath for if it did then should it not receiue being from thence
firme and derideth the ignorance error and terrour of the senses correcting and reproouing them for the same We may then conclude from the euidence of these things that the death of the Spirite is contrary to the nature of it and therefore is afraide of it and abhorreth euen to thinke of it or to make any mention thereof But the senses care not but for this bodily life which the Spirite contemneth in regarde of the other whereby it appeareth that the death of the body doth affect touch it nothing at all but the body onely and those things that are ioyned vnto it as namely both the external and internal senses For this cause those men that are carnall and ledde most by their senses thinke little either vpon the one or the other except it bee when they see themselues in danger of corporall death For perswading themselues that they shall liue long in this worlde or at leastwise gathering to themselues as much hope thereof as they can they thinke nothing at all in a manner of death during the whole life no more almost then if they were borne immortall vntill such time as they see in good earnest that they must dislodge Then are they awaked out of their sleepe and if they be not altogether become brutish they are constrained to thinke both vpon the death of the body and the death of the spirite and the lesse they are prepared against them both the more astonished and amased they are in themselues Contrariwise good and iust men who of a long time yea all their life haue thought vpon both finde themselues lesse troubled a great deale because they are resolutely perswaded and assured of a better life Moreouer wee finde by experience that when the spirit is troubled with affections or cōfounded through fancies and imaginations or ignorant vicious prophane wicked without feare of God and voide of religion it is a great deale more mooued at the cogitation and remembrance of corporall death then if it be sound well disposed and setled quiet skilfull innocent religious and fearing God Whereupon we may consider learne which of these two iudgements is more certaine and true either that of a spirite that is troubled diseased ignorant euill without feare of God and voide of religion or that of a spirite which hath all those perfections rehearsed by vs contrary to these vices It is an easie matter to iudge Therefore if we attribute more as in reason wee ought to that Spirite whose iudgement is most true and certaine the conclusion that I haue made shal be confirmed thereby And as by the difference of desires we may easily iudge of the nature essence of mans soule so we may do the like by those delights wherein it taketh pleasure But I leaue thee ACHITOB to go forward with the discourse of this matter Of the argument that may be taken from the delights and pleasures of the soule to prooue the immortalitie thereof an argument to the same ende taken from the insatiable desires and pleasures of men euen from such as are most carnall of the testimony which they may find euen in their vices to prooue the immortalitie of their soule Chap. 92. ACHITOB. It hath beene a saying heeretofore that it belonged not to a vile person to deny God Which Prouerbe came of this that the nobilitie and gentlemen were so ill taught and so ignorant of true nobilitie that they reserued this occupation to themselues as proper to their estate turning it to their glory and endeuouring to bee feared by this meanes And surely these were faire Armes and goodly scutcheons to set foorth the Nobilitie of their estate by namely horrible and execrable blasphemies which the very Iewes and Turkes would neuer suffer among themselues I woulde to God wee might nowe say rightly that this was once but is no more and so likewise that there were not some among them that think themselues the greatest men who haue this in their thoughts if they dare not speake it openly that it belongeth not to men of courage to beleeue in God and in his word or to thinke that there is a iudgement to come at which men shall appeare but that this appertaineth to the simple and foolish not to these great and noble spirites which flie aboue the clouds and indeede know more then they ought to leade them into hell But as by the difference of appetites and desires wee haue shewed them that the soule cannot be mortall which concludeth a diuine prouidence and a second life as we declared before so it is an easie matter to prooue the same by those pleasures in which the soule taketh delight For by how much the more those things that bring delights do resemble the vertue of the soule that is delighted and the greater affinitie proportion and agreement they haue with it so much the greater sweeter and more pleasant are the delights as also more firme and of longer continuance Indeede it may be obiected vnto me that if we looke to this we shal find that the greatest part of men take more pleasure in those delights which they can receiue by their senses which are more earthy and brutish then in others that are more naturall to the spirit and more spirituall and heauenly and therefore the iudgement that we can gather from hence of the nature and essence of the soule may seeme not to agree to this we speake of It is very certaine that some men are of such a brutish nature that a man may well doubt whether they be men or no and whether they deserue not rather to be reckoned in the number of beasts to which they are more like then to men except it be for their face in which respect also a man may compare them with Apes For if they bee led by the same desires and lustes and satisfie themselues therein as brute beasts and goe no further wherein doe they differ from them and to what purpose serueth that which God hath bestowed vpon their soules more then vpon the soules of beasts if they content themselues with a brutish life pleasure as they do For where is the vse of reason vnderstanding which God hath bestowed vpon them more then vpon beasts And if they vse them no more then beasts doe that are altogether voide of them who can knowe whether they are partakers of them more then they And so consequently how shal that definition cōmonly giuen of man agree to them wherein he is called a liuing creature partaker of reson Therefore when we enquire of the nature and substance of the soule wee must followe that rule which is vsually propounded in searching out the nature and essence of all other things For when a man would haue true knowledge of them hee taketh not in ech kind of them that which may bee in some of the same kinde lesse perfect and monstrous As if there bee occasion to iudge of the nature of
mans body no man will take them that haue some defect of Nature or that are more deformed and monstrous then others but the soundest goodliest and most perfect bodies We must doe the like when wee search into the nature and essence of the soule For to know it wel we must not make choice of men that are borne brutish so that a man can knowe nothing in them whereby they differ from brute beasts except the outward shape of a man Yea there are some borne with lesse sense and gouernement of themselues then beasts haue The like may bee saide of them who being better borne voluntarily become brutish of themselues For this cause we must chiefly consider what effectes the noblest and most excellent soules bring foorth if wee wil iudge of the nature of al other soules that are of the same kind For albeit the soules of some men are more brutish then of others yet it followeth not but they are al of one and the same nature substance seeing they are all of one kind but the difference betwene them proceedeth from hence that some are more degenerated from their true and proper nature then others are Neuertheles this changeth not their naturall essence but that alwayes continueth one and the same in all as the ill disposition of bodies taketh not from them that nature essence which they haue common with others notwithstanding they differ from them as a sicke and deformed body differeth from a sound and perfect body Nowe there is no doubt but that the noblest and most excellent soules take more pleasure in the internall senses then in the externall and more in reason then in fancie and imagination but aboue all in the contemplation of the Spirit And among those things which the Spirit doth contemplate it delighteth most stayeth longest in them that are spirituall and eternal that are highest of greatest soueraigntie And as the spirit longeth most after these pleasures and retaineth them with greatest affection so it is lesse wearie in searching for them and in the contemplation of them Whereupon it followeth that spirituall and eternall things are more conformable to the Spirite then those that are corporall and temporary and that it hath greater participation and agreement with heauenly things then with earthly For it is maruailously delighted and contented with spirituall things as if they were his owne things which is by similitude proportion and agreement of nature as contrariwise both the internall and externall senses please themselues in corporall things and are not able to comprehend or attaine to the other but onely by coniecture Whereas if the Spirite were as mortall as the senses then the excellentest Spirites and such as approch nearest to the heauenly Spirites and to the nature of God woulde giue themselues to transitorie and corruptible things as much as the senses doe and would search after them as earnestly as it doeth after true and perfect pleasures But wee see by experience that they ascend vp a great deale higher Yea the Spirits euen of most carnall and brutish men in that they neuer meete with any pleasures in transitorie things that doe fully content and satisfie them thereby giue euident testimonie that they are borne to enioy greater pleasures then they can find in all this nature and that they are of another nature surpassing them which mounteth aboue corporal and temporary things For who euer sawe an ambitious man satisfied with honours or a couetous wretch with riches And from whence commeth this that they are so insatiable but onely because the spirite that God hath giuen them is of so noble a race and of such an excellent nature that howe much soeuer it be fallen from his first nature and nobilitie yet it can neuer content it selfe with any thing that is of another nature more base and vile then it owne as that which is too much vnworthie and vnbeseeming the Spirite and very much disagreeing from the essence of it For although being buried in this body as in a sinke of all carnall and brutish affections it can not so well perceiue it owne nature dignitie and nobilitie nor acknowledge the same so well as the noblest and most excellent spirites and such as are farthest from this stincking puddle are able to do neuertheles without thinking therevpon as it were it hath euermore a secret sense of it owne nature and dignitie which keepeth it from being contented with any thing whatsoeuer although it be with neuer so great liking and abundance except it enioy that thing which is most proper and agreeable to his natural disposition which is of a more high noble and excellent nature then any thing proceeding from this mortall and transitorie masse But because it is buried in this darknesse which sinne hath brought vpon the mindes of men the same thing happeneth to the spirite of which wee haue already spoken concerning the immortalitie and eternitie of name and renowne For the right and naturall desire of true and immortall honours and of eternall riches agreeable to the nature of mans soule is degenerated into this false and corrupted appetite of worldly honours and temporall riches Notwithstanding this is manifest heereby that as euery Spirit always searcheth after God as a blind man goeth by groaping as wee haue heard already so it seeketh after riches and honours agreeable to it owne nature But because that darkenesse with which it is ouerwhelmed hindereth it from knowing them well and so consequently from taking that way which it ought to enter in that it may attaine vnto them therefore it changeth them into others that are of a differing and cleane contrary nature So that it can neuer finde out or attaine to that which it seeketh because it is ignorant thereof and so seeketh for it vnder a maske which it taketh for the true face and vnder a shadow which it taketh for the very body whereby it commeth to passe that the maske and shadow remaine with it instead of the very face and body that are lost by means of thē In which the same thing hapneth to the spirite that doth in the matter of religion when it forgeth vnto it self new strange gods and idoles instead of the true God whō it searcheth after because it knoweth not who he is although it seeketh him desireth to find him Wherefore being thus deceiued not knowing it neither the means whereby it is deceiued it still desireth because it perceiueth very well whether it wil or no that it hath not attained to that which it wanteth as indeede it might wel know the same if it were not becom very brutish by reason that it neuer findeth any contentation in any thing that it doeth or can attain vnto By which things we may further learne that men shall find euen in their vices testimonies of the nature essence and immortality of their soules wherby they may be conuicted namely in their ambition couetousnes
of the moule and of other such like beasts Therefore if the Good that is proper and peculiar to the nature of man consist not in this eternitie and celestiall immortalitie of which wee speake to what purpose is his head lift vpward and his eies looking towards heauen especially seeing God hath ioyned these things with a soule that is partaker of reason and vnderstanding For among the beasts we find one fish that hath the eyes set in the top of the head and therefore it is called by the Graecians Vranoscopos which signifieth as much as a Beholder of heauen or looking towards heauen But because it is not partaker of vnderstanding and reason more then other beasts are and seeing the soule of it differeth not from theirs we may easily iudge that the eies of it were not set in that place for the same reason that man hath his lifted vp towardes heauen Shall wee say then that God hath created man and endewed him with so many graces and singular properties to make him more wretched then beastes in this life who otherwise is so miserable and compassed about with so many euilles on euery side For whereto serueth the disposition of his nature but to torment him the more by looking vp towardes heauen and by that knowledge which hee hath more then beasts haue thereby encreasing in him a vaine desire of such a happinesse as hee can neuer enioy And which is woorse the more noble spirite that any one hath the more learned and vertuous hee is or the more and longer oppressed he is with the miseries of this life the more woulde this vaine desire pricke and torment him And if there bee some who like beasts passe ouer al these things without any sense and feeling this befalleth them either because they are of a heauy sleepie and blockish spirite or else because they are drunken with that which is commonly called Fortunes fauour namely with the honours riches and pleasures of this world So that wee must conclude vpon this speech that because beasts do here all that they haue to do according to those powers and gifts that are naturally in them therefore they liue and die heere but because the Spirite giuen to man can not doe heere according to his naturall disposition it followeth necessarily that as it is borne in an other place so it must haue another place wherein to effect that which it hath to do And contrariwise if the soule of man be mortall all that hee hath to doe is in this life as it is with beasts and then also it followeth that hee was created in vaine and without cause For God created nothing but hee propounded to himselfe the ende for which hee created it and that such an ende as is agreeable to the nature and dignitie of euery one of his woorkes else all things shoulde haue beene created in vaine by him Nowe if he created man onely to liue in this worlde as hee did other creatures then did he not in his creation propound to himselfe an end beseeming the excellencie of such a nature Which thing the greatest Philosophers amongest the heathen haue after due consideration bin constrained to confesse And if man for whose sake the whole visible worlde was created and who only can will and knoweth how to vse all things contained therein was created and receiued this life in vaine what shal we think of al other things that wee created because of him and for his sake Shall not the whole worke of creation be in vaine and vnworthy the infinite maiestie and wisedome of God the Creator and hee that is the Gouernour of the world shall hee not be spoiled of all prouidence Who ought not to abhorre the very cogitation of such a thing And yet the religion of God his prouidence and the immortalitie of our soule are so fast linked and ioyned together and depend in such sort one vpon an other that they can not be separated neither indeede is it lawfull to separate them For he that abolisheth the one shaketh also that faith which wee ought to holde of the rest because if our soules be not immortall there is neither punishment nor reward either for vertue or vice or for the good or ill deedes of men For wee see euidently howe all things are mingled and confused in the course of this present life that they are turned into a common robbery that the woorst men make themselues Masters and Lordes of the worlde as if it were created onely for them that they might bee in it as gods vpon the earth and contrariwise that good and iust men may seeme to haue beene created onely for a pray to the wicked and to be lesse accompted of them then the brute beasts Which if it were so then shoulde God haue no care of men and if hee haue no care of them howe shall hee be their GOD and Creator and why shoulde they rather then beasts call vpon him and honor him For if it were so what hath hee done or what doeth hee yet more for them vnto whome he hath giuen his lawe and commandement to call vpon him to honour and serue him then he doeth for beasts to whome hee hath giuen no such lawe or commaundement and who do not call vpon him nor honour him according to the same as men doe And what may wee accompt all religion all feare and reuerence of God to be all holinesse honestie and vertue but superstition and a vaine and foolish opinion and fancie of the mind of man Notwithstanding there hath alwayes beene a common testimonie and consent of religion among all nations euen amongest the most barbarous and rudest people that euer werefound Neither euer were any so ill taught but they haue put some difference betweene vertue and vice and betweene honestie and dishonestie It can not be then but that religion and vertue naturally engrauen in the heart of man are good things yea farre better then their contraries Whereas if God had no more respect to the one then to the other were not to iudge thereof to what purpose serueth this difference which men make betweene them and what profit shall they reape to themselues by esteeming better of that which is good then of euil Good men should not only receiue lesse profit by vertue then by vice but further they should be damnified by the same wicked men should euer haue the better yea they should be rewarded insteade of being punished For the best and iustest men are commonly a pray vnto the wicked And who shall deliuer them out of their hands seeing for the most part they are the strongest and haue in a maner the gouernement of the worlde in their power so that the most innocent persons are at their mercie as it were except God should let them haue iustice either heere in this worlde or in some other And if God shoulde faile in doing iustice vpon what right should the
knowledge of God and obedience to his will bringeth to our heart wee may also iudge whether there be a paradise and another life and other ioy besides this which we receiue by corporall pleasures as beasts doe For this ioy that commeth to vs from such pleasures is common to vs with them vsually it endeth in sorowe and sadnesse But they haue no other that commeth vnto their soule of which they may haue any appehension as we haue And by the same consideration we may also in some sort iudge of that happines in which we shall be in the other life when this ioy shal be perfect in vs wherof we haue here but a very smal taste in respect of that we shal haue when we shal be fully reformed according to Gods image so that both our vnderstanding reason wil shal be made cōformable vnto him because we shal be wholy swallowed vp in his loue Contrariwise if here we feele a Hel which we cary about vs and which greatly tormenteth vs after we haue offended the maiesty of God especially when we haue cōmitted some horrible crimes this also is another argument whereby we may iudge whether there be not a Hel and vengeance from God to be executed vpon his enemies in another life For that sorow which our crimes committed doe breede in our hearts is within vs as a brand of this fire of Gods wrath which is daily kindled in vs more more Wherfore if there be in vs already such a vehemēt heat thereof when as yet the Lord doeth kindle but a litle the fire-brands of his wrath in our heartes how great shal it then be when all his wrath shal be set on fire Certainly they are very dull that doe not well consider and vnderstand it Now we haue heard heretofore how the heathen Philosophers concluded the immortalitie of mans soule by the nature thereof affirming that it is not created or compounded of corruptible matter but is of a celestiall and diuine nature by reason of that knowledge which it hath not onely of particular and corporal things as the soule of beastes hath but also of vniuersall and spirituall things and namely of God of numbers of order of the difference betweene vertue and vice and betweene honest and dishonest things For the knowledge of al these things is so naturall to mens soules that they are within them albeit they haue not receiued thē from without eyther by doctrine or instruction Whereby a man may easily iudge yea it followeth necessarily that they are created of a more excellent nature then is that of the elements of a nature that is incorruptible and perpetuall Wherefore it is verie euident that this knowledge thus naturall to mens soules is a certaine testimonie that they are not borne at all aduenture but are created by great arte and by a woonderfull prouidence of that diuine and eternall nature by which they haue their beeing namely God their Creatour for which cause also the knowledge of him shineth in vs. So also we may well iudge that God hath not in vaine placed in our nature the knowledge of the difference that is betweene vertue and vice betweene things honest and dishonest and that griefe which is to take vengeance in vs of those vices and crimes of which wee feele our selues guiltie And therefore the Heathen themselues concluded that there was not onelie a diuine iustice and nature which discerned good men from euill but also that there was another life after this in which this iudgement should bee made For they considered what great torments the wicked feele in their heartes and conscience after they haue committed horrible crimes and that there is none so audacious and obdurate not the greatest mocker and contemner of God and of his iudgments that can be who can always exempt himselfe from this dolour and paine notwithstanding hee labour with all his might to the contrarie For there is alwayes a certaine secrete vertue of Gods iustice which goeth beyonde them all and euermore punisheth the wicked Nowe it is certaine that these things come not thus to passe at all aduenture In like manner it is not possible that this knowledge which men haue to discerne vertues from vices shoulde bee a casuall thing and come thus to passe at aduenture without the certaine prouidence of God For if it were so that there were no punishment appoynted for vices and no more benefite or ioye prepared of God for the good then for the euill it should follow that all this knowledge shoulde bee giuen to man in vaine For it should doe him no more good then if hee were without it as brute beasts are Moreouer seeing all the wicked are not punished in this life it followeth necessarily that there is another life wherein they shal be punished and in which also God wil acknowledge the iust and cause them to enioy that good which he hath prepared for them For God cannot bee God but he must bee all-good aliust and almightie If hee be good hee cannot hate the good or them that doe it but loue them so as that hee cannot doe otherwise For howe shoulde hee not loue his like And as he cannot hate goodnesse or good men so hee cannot loue euill nor the wicked that follow after it but hateth them necessarily as contrarie to his nature Nowe Loue is of that nature that it cannot but desire and procure the good and honour of him whome it loueth as contrariwise hatred cannot but desire and procure the hurt and dishonour of him whome it hateth It followeth then necessarily that God beeing good and iust loueth good and iust men desiring and procuring their honour and their good and contrariwise that he hateth vniust and wicked men desiring and procuring their confusion and ruine And if hee haue this desire and this will no doubt but hee can easily and doeth also execute the same seeing hee is all-iust and almightie Truely this conclusion cannot seeme to bee ill grounded and those Heathen Philosophers who thereupon haue concluded the immortalitie of soules and the iudgement of God in another life had good reason so to doe For it is taken not only from the nature of man and from that image of God after which he was created but also from the very nature of God So that whosoeuer gainesayeth the same hath no more reason then if he saide that there is no God and that God is not God and that man is not man and that he differed in nothing from a beast neither God from the deuill And so not onely all nature shoulde bee ouer-throwen but God also the author and Creator thereof For we see almost vsually that the wickedst men haue the greatest honors in this world and liue most at their ease as we haue alreadie shewed If then there be a God and any prouidence and iustice in him now who can so much as thinke there is none but hee may also perswade
conscience Wee say then that feare is not without a speciall prouidence of GOD giuen to men after an other manner then vnto beastes who in deede haue some feare put in them to the ende to keepe themselues from hurtfull things before they take and vse them but this apprehension of theirs goeth not beyond the euils which may befall them in this life as that doeth in men which reacheth a great deale further For they that haue committed some horrible crime can not bee without feare although they did it so secretely that no bodie coulde come to the knowledge of it or else were so mightie and powerfull that they stoode not in awe of any humane power whatsoeuer Now if they that haue not this authoritie and assuraunce shoulde replie vpon me that they are afraid least men should come to the knowledge of the fact committed by them so they should be punished I demand of them from whence this feare commeth but from an apprehension which will they nill they is in them and proceedeth from a certaine sense and feeling of nature which causeth them to feare that their offence shal be discouered by some other meanes then humane As if nature testified vnto them that there is some diuine prouidence and vengeance which watcheth ouer offences and discloseth them how secret soeuer they are and causeth them to be punished As experience teacheth in many whose secret crimes haue bin discouered by woonderfull and incredible meanes so that all men are astonished at it and are constrained to confesse that there is a diuine iustice which wil not suffer horrible facts to remaine alwaies hid and vnpunished Therfore how secret and close soeuer they carry the matter this diuine iustice rappeth continually at the doore of their conscience as it were an Apparitor or Sergeant calling them to iudgement so that whether they will or no they must alwaies liue in feare And this also hath bin the cause that hath alwayes induced men I speake not of Atheists who are brute beasts not men to seek after some power out of their own nature aboue all creatures to gard and defend them from the euill which they feare For notwithstanding their diuersity of opinions touching the diuine nature all with one consent from time to time haue euermore yeelded publike constant testimonie that there is some diuine essence and power that can help or hurt them Whereupon it followeth that they can not be without feare of it or els not without som hope that by the help therof they shal be kept from the euil which they feare obtaine that good which they desire Wherefore if Epicures and Atheists say that feare was the first shop in which the gods were forged and made in the world I will take their saying against themselues For hereby they are compelled at least to confesse that feare hath constrained men from time to time to seek after some god and that the same is a publike testimony of nature which hath caused thē to lift vp the eies of their mind beyond the reach of brute beasts forced them to think that there is some diuine power and nature And by the same reason also they may learne that this is no light fancie vaine opinion entred into the braine of man but a naturall firme and constant notion and knowledge which no age of man could euer abolish nor any thing els in the world Yea this hath bin daily confirmed in them more and more and shal be continually notwithstanding these swinish Epicures grunt in their sties these dogged Atheists barke against God and his prouidence against his iudgement the immortalitie of soules which is the principall foundation of religion and the establishment and preseruation of humane societie Nowe then after so great a multitude of strong arguments powerfull testimonies which like a mighty armie fight in battel aray to maintaine the truth of the soules immortalitie who can doubt there of in any wise Let them that vphold the contrary bring forth their arguments testimonies against ours place them in the frōt of the battel as it were army against army that all may know on which side not only the number but the strength also is the greatest For the greatnes of the number would do small good vnles strength also were ioyned therunto For we must not so much reckon as waigh the sentences nor consider so much how many men affirme a thing as what maner of persons they are of what waight their testimony is as also what they affirme with what reasons If we fal into this consideration I doubt not but that euery way the aduantage will be on our side for the trueth namely in regarde of multitude authoritie nature reason and which is more the testimony of God who alone is sufficient Nowe to the ende that this may bee well knowen vnto vs let vs heare AMANA the best arguments that our aduersaries can bring for the ground of their errour Whether Epicures and Atheists be reasonable beasts yea or no and what reasons they bring to ouerthrow the immortalitie of the soule of the false opinion of Pliny touching the same and of his friuolous and brutish reasons to this purpose of the brutish conclusion vnbeseeming the whole race of mankinde which he maketh of this matter and of the iudgement of God vpon him Chap. 98. AMANA Many men by reason of their ignorance in the Latine tongue think that Animal is a beast whereas it signifieth a liuing creature and comprehendeth vnder it aswell men as beasts euen euery creature endued with a liuing soule And therefore when they woulde shew the difference that is betwene men and beasts they take the contrary species or kind for the whole say that a man is a reasonable beast not considering that they speake contraries For there is as great difference betwene a beast and reasonable as betweene a man brutish or brutishnes For-seeing it is the naturall property of euery beast of what kind soeuer it be to be brutish it cannot bee that any should bee reasonable except peraduenture Epicures and Atheists will say that they bee such beasts And indeede they should haue wrong offered them to bee reckoned among mē seeing they do voluntarily make themselues brutish If then they will not confesse that they are beasts altogether vncapable of reason I demand of them whether they be reasonable beasts and whether they will argue this matter whereof we intreat with reasons or no seeing they wil not rest in the iudgement of humane reason and of naturall Philosophie and seeing all the holy Scriptures holy Doctors wise Ancients and most notable personages seeme vnto them to be no better then toyes and fables Let vs come then to the reasons of these vnreasonable beasts without reason Is there any point in all humane Philosophie that is better grounded and laied vpon so strong firme and well concluding reasons
fallen into such execrable beastlinesse and such horrible blasphemies as in a manner to say that God or Nature had brought men into the worlde onely to make them more miserable and more wretched then all other creatures so that they can finde no better happinesse and felicitie for themselues then during their life to become like to beastes or plants or some other insensible creatures or else after their death to bee brought to nothing as they were before their conception and birth Is it possible for a man to thinke of a straunger thing more against GOD more vnwoorthie mankinde or more iniurious to all nature For the Atheists themselues that reiect God doe yet confesse if they be Philosophers that nature doeth nothing without cause or if they confesse it not they haue testimonies enow in nature to conuince them of it And yet if their doctrine were true God and Nature haue done woorse in the creation and production of men then to doe some thing without cause For this were a cause most vnwoorthie of God and of Nature to create and bring foorth men into the worde onely for this cause and to this ende that they shoulde bee more miserable and more wretched then all other creatures and to make mankinde onelie to beholde in him the perfection of all miserie and vnhappinesse as though God and Nature tooke pleasure in beholding such cruell pastime as is the viewe of mans miseries in such a cursed estate Wherefore seeing all the doctrine and Philosophie of these dogges bringeth with it so many so strange so beastlike and so horrible absurdities euen once to thinke of them being so vnbeseeming God all mankinde and whole nature and so contrary to al the testimonies which the whole world affordeth vnto vs in the behalfe of Gods eternal prouidence ouer al his creatures I thinke there is no body except hee be as brutish as the Authours and Teachers of such kinde of Philosophie and doctrine but hee can easily iudge that it is altogether impossible to bee true or to haue any foundation ground in reason seeing it confoundeth and ouerthroweth al reason al nature Which causeth me to be so much the more abashed that there are men found euen among Christians yea a great number who rather followe the false opinion of these masties and giue greater credite to these sottish and vain arguments which they propound both against God and all diuinitie and against all nature and trueth then to the true sentence of so many vertuous learned holy men as haue bin in the world from the beginning and to the common and publike testimony of all mankind and of al people and nations But if God hath not spared the very heathen who so shamefully abused that knowledge which he gaue them of his works in nature and of the testimonies of his diuine nature prouidence manifested vnto them therein but punished them with such a horrible iudgement as to deliuer them vp into are probate sense into a woorse estate then is that of brute beasts we are not to maruell if he deale so and more hardly at this day with them that deserue a great deale more then they did because he hath manifested him self more cleerly without all comparison to these men if they would see and know him yea we ought to thinke it more strange if he dealt otherwise For the moe means he affordeth vnto men to know him the greater iudgement they deserue when they abuse the same and labour to blind themselues by their own ingratitude peruerse malice As for vs we cannot God be thāked doubt in any sort of the immortalitie of the soule seeing wee see on our side the aduantage euery way in defence therof namely multitude authoritie nature reason and which is most of all the testimonie of God who alone is sufficient I doubt not but that some to whome God hath giuen more knowledge and greater graces then to vs are able to alleage other arguments and reasons for the confirmation of this matter which we haue omitted For truth is not vnprouided but hath great abundance of all sorts But wee haue alleaged the chiefest taken out of the writings of learned men that haue written best of this matter especially of them that in our time haue written most Christianly And although there are other reasons then those which wee haue set downe yet I thinke there are enow in our discourses to stoppe the mouthes of all Epicures and Atheists at leastwise to conuince them if we cannot confound them For what can they alleage against them that is of any great shew or strength It may easily bee iudged by their best arguments discoursed vpon by vs. What will they haue more Do they expect or desire of vs that we should point with the finger at soules when they depart out of bodies that dye Then they shoulde bee no soules and inuisible spirits but bodies that may be seene And yet vnles they may behold them comming forth as they do smoke from the fire they will not beleeue that they depart at all from the bodies or that they haue any beeing at all Surely I think that these men who would so faine haue soules to bee mortall and to bee extinguished by death with their bodies would not beleeue that they were departed and that they once liued their bodies being dead no not although they had seen them come foorth visibly but woulde perswade themselues that they were some illusions and that their eyes had some mist before them so strong is a lying perswasion in a man when he wil iudge of a thing not according to reason but according to his affection Now seeing we are come to the end of our purpose namely to lay before our eies as it were a naturall history of man by the consideration of the matter of his body of the diuersitie of that matter and of the forme that God hath giuen it together with the profite and vse both of the one and the other and also by a description of the partes powers vertues and faculties of his soule therby to be instructed at large in the nature and immortality thereof by causing the soule to behold her selfe in the glasse of her marueilous actions and all to this ende that wee should know our selues as it becommeth vs there remaineth nothing now but that wee shoulde draw out a generall instruction from these aduertisements and lessons which God giueth vs in the admirable composition of our nature to the end that hereafter we should become more fitte for the contemplation of this diuinitie by the consideration of the wonderfull works thereof in the heauens and in the earth of which we desire if God giue vs grace hereafter to discourse Therfore doe thou ACHITOB put an ende to the cause of our present assembly meeting by some goodly discourse vpon all these matters of which we haue intreated Of the image of God in the soule
and vnchangeable Incredulitie contrary to beleefe and opinion Of the diuers acceptions of this word Beleefe or Faith The description of Faith It is good for a man to knowe his owne ignorance 1. Cor. 2. 14. Foure meanes to knowe certainely those things that are to be beleeued Of generall experience Of the knowledge of principles Of the naturall knowledge of God in men The vse both of the naturall and of the written law Of natural iudgement Of the fourth meane of knowledge Hebr. 11. Of the image of God in man Ephes 4. 24. The difference betwixt soule and spirite Matth. 10. 39. rom 13. 1. Esay 40. 5 6. Iuc 3. 6. Rom. 8. 6. Genes 1. How God proceedeth in the creation of his workes How the powers of the soule manifest themselues How they haue their degrees in growth Luke 1. 80. The difference betwixt reason and iudgement and contemplation Why some haue preferred Philosophie before riches Of the benefits that commeth by the contemplation of diuine things Of the contemplation that is after this life When all men shall be of one iudgement The actiue life must be ioyned with the contemplaiue The obiect of the will is as large as that of the mind What great confusion is in our corrupt nature Of the desires that are in creatures Three kindes of appetites Of the Naturall appetite Of hunger and thirst Two kindes of Sense Of the seate of the naturall appetite Of the sensitiue appetite kinds thereof The vse of the sinewes Of the affections The ende of knowledge The best thingsin beasts are sensuall Beasts haue no Will. Matth. 5. From whence the desires of all creatures ought to be deriued What Will is and how it worketh How reason is set ouer the Will Diuers acceptions of the words Reason Will Psal 115. Matth. 6. The Will is the chiefest appetiteâ— The Wil aymeth alwaies at good The Will is free and vnconstrayned Of the image of God in the Will Good is alwayes the obiect of the Will Diuers degrees in the actions of Will How the Wâ— coÌ„mandeth the appetite The difference betwixt the natural and regenerated man What is the chief good that meere naturall men seeke after What good men are taught to ayme at by the heauenly light How we must cary our selues both in prosperity and aduersity Of the frailety of mans estate Of the power of the Will in all actions Why men preferre earthly things before heauenly Will sometime reiecteth all counsaile What freedome the Will hath in outward actions The neere coniunction of Reason and Will Euâ—â— spirites haue power ouer the Will The difference of mans obedience to God from that of other creatures Difference betwixt Knowledge and Affections Of the discord betweene the heart and the braine A comparison Rom. 1. 18. verse 21. How the Scripture taketh the word heart Matth. 22. 40. Of the agreement that ought to be betweene the minde and the heart Why the heart is taken sometime for the seate of reason Deut 29 4. Matth. 22. 37. 1. King 3. 12. Rom. 1. 24 25. Pleasure of it owne nature a gift of God The end of mans creation Of the second belly of the body Ezech. 27. 4. ionas 2. 4. matth 12. 40. Of the midriffe and of his vse Of the skinnes of the breast and of their vse Of the cawle of the heart Of the fashion of the heart Of the water in the cawle of the heart Of the office of the heart Of the lungs and of their vse How the lungs couer the heart How the heart agreeth with the heauens Of the arteries and their office How the vitall spirites agree with the aire and windes Of the double motion of the heart and the vses thereof An admonition to mutuall loue 1. Iohn 3. 20. Whereof the striking of the breast arose Of the substance of the heart The situation of the heart Of the counterpoize of the heart A good lesson for euery one Deuter. 5. ezech 20. Of the two voide places in the heart and of their vse What the vitall spirite is Of the great artery Aâ—example of â—utuall succour Of the veiny â—â—â—ery Of the doores and pipes of the heart Goodly instructions for al men Moderation is 〈◊〉 be kept in all things Superfluitie to be auoided in all things Good counsell for Princes Man was created not onely to be but also to be well What the affections are Two kindes of affections What affections goe before iudgement Agreement betweene the temperature of the body and the affections of the soule The affections can doe much with the body â—oy good for the body and Griefe hurtful to it How the agreement betweene the body and the soule may be discerned Naturall qualities breede diseases Men are more carefull for the health of their bodies then of their soules The affections breed the health or sicknes of the soule How the soule receiueth from the body in regard of the diuers temperatures thereof Agreement betweene corporall and spirituall Physicke Luke 21. 34. Rom. 13. 3. Ephes 5. 18. Act. 13. 2. Iudge 20. 26. Psal 69. 10. Esth 4. 16. The knowledge of physicke necessary for all Sinne is the cause of all disorder discases and of death Three things to be considered in the facultie of Knowledge How habâ—tes are bred in the minde Foure things to be considered in the Will and desires Of natural inâ—linations and affections Rom. 1. 30. 2. Tim. 3. 3. Leuit. 19. 18. matth 5. 43. Of the vâ—â—â—lines of our naturall affections 2. Tim. 3. 2. Rom. 1. Of true loue towards a manâ— selfe towardâ— his Gen. 22. Naturall inclinations are seeds of vertues or vices The originall of all diseases What a habite is Of the force of custome Sweat is Gentleman-vsher to vertue The cause and profite of an habite What affection is froÌ„ whence vertue and vice first spring The fountaine of morall philosophie Why the affections are giuen to the soule The affections compared to the windes Of commotions perturbations How 〈◊〉 the iudgement can preuaile ouer the affections The originall of violent motionâ— in the soule A similitude shewing the perilous motions of of the soule The effects of a prudent and wise man Of the variety of affections The cause of all motions in the â—oule Two kindes of punishments Of the generation nature and kindes of the afâ—ections How the affections are bred or brideled one of another Goodly similitudes The first motion of the heart is an image of the second Griefe or Ioy in all the affections Ioy appeareth in the face The effects of laughter in the face 2. Cor. 6. 11 12 What is meant by bowels in the Scripture 1. King 3. 26. Col. 3. 12 13 14. The true workes of a Christian 1. Ioh. 3. 17 18. Isay 58. 10. What ioy is How the heart chuseth euil for good What sorrow is Of melancholy The effect of sorrowe A commendable vse of teares Rom. 12. 15. A comparison Psa 34. 8 9 10. Vers 19. 21.
the prouidence of God herein that amongst them members giue by him to the body he hath created some of that nature that a man can in no wise liue without them and others so that albeit they be not necessary for life yet he can not liue at his ease and not receiue great hurt if he want them The members of the first sort are the braine the heart the lungs the liuer the splene the stomacke and such like that are the seates of the animal vital and natural vertues without which there could bee no stay of life For after these members are hurt or perished farewell life The other sort are the eies the eares the nose the tongue the feete the hands and such like For although a man loose some one or many of these members yet he doeth not therefore loose his life but hee shall surely feele the detriment which such a losse bringeth vpon him And as wee commonly say that the Oxe knoweth not the valow of his â—orne vntill the haue lost it so wee may with greater reason say that no man knoweth of what valew the partes of his body are vntill he want them or vntill they be so hindered that they cannot fulfill their office Wherefore we ought to pray to God to preserue them for vs whilest wee haue them and giue him thankes because he hath not created vs lame or maimed of any member And when we see any that were borne without them or that haue lost them since wee ought to be so much the more stirred vp to glorifie him acknowledging it to come from his grace in that he hath dealt better with ratheâ—r with them although we haue deserued no more then they Now because we do not so neither haue this consideration as we ought to giue him thankes and to vse them to his honour and glory therefore he depriueth vs of them many times to punish this ingratitude and to cause vs to know better the valew of these gifts after they are taken from vs and that wee haue lost them seeing we could not knowe it whilest wee had them nor yet him that gaue them vnto vs. And by the same meanes also he would admonish and put vs in minde of the dammage we receiue by the defects of our soule by those which wee feele by experience in our bodies Whereupon wee haue an other goodly point of the prouidence of God to note in that hee hath giuen vs almost all double members without which we could not liue but with great paine and trouble to the end that if we lost one wee might yet vse the other and in some sort supplie the losse of that which is wanting For this cause hee did not create onely one eye or one nosethrill one eare one arme one hand one legge or one foote but twaine This ought to bee well considered that wee might haue the better knowledge of the care that God hath ouer vs seeing hee hath so well prouided for all things that hee will not onely haue vs liue but also furnish vs with all necessary things whereby wee might liue more commodiously more easily and with lesse paine and trouble And when it falleth out that some one of these members or both are wanting God supplieth this defect by maruailous meanes For sometimes wee see that maymed folkes haue done many thinges with their feete or with their necke and head that others could hardly doe with their hands at least wise they haue done things without handes that would seeme altogether incredible to such as haue not seene them And many times wee see dumbe men whose handes stand them in steade both of tongue and eares For by the signes and gestures of their handes they signifie their meaning to others as if they themselues did speake and vnderstand the minde of others that make the like signes Yea there are some that conceiue what others say vnto them onely by seeing them open and mooue their lippes so that we must needs acknowledge it as a miracle of God Now hauing spoken generally of the senses of the body and specially of touching as also of their members and instruments wee must come to their particulars Therefore AMANA thou shalt discourse vnto vs first of the eyes which are as it were the principall windowes of this building which we haue vndertaken to pourtraite and set foorth Of the eyes and of their excellencie profite and vse of the matter and hâ—nors whereof they are made Chap. 10. AMANA It hath alwayes bin the opinion of the Stoics and Academics that the bodily senses did rather hinder then help to obtaine wisedome that no man could know or vnderstand anything that the senses were feeble and slowe that sensible things were so small that they could not be perceiued or els so subiect to motion that no certainetie coulde be found in them that our life is short and full of opinions and customes that all was compassed about with darkenes and hid and therefore that nothing could be perceiued or vnderstoode so that men were to professe that they woulde affirme or approoue of nothing Plato writeth in many places that wee must beleeue nothing but the vnderstanding which beholdeth that that is simple and vniforme and as it is indeede and that there is no science but only in those reasons discourses which the soule maketh wheÌ„ it is not troubled with bodily lets as with sight and hearing or with griefe plesure Eusebius disputing against this sheweth that the senses help much towards the obtaining of wisedome that when they are rightly affected and in their naturall habite they neuer deceiue the mind that it â—tentiue But wee shall knowe more at large what their profit is by continuing our discourses of the instruments of the senses Let vs knowe therefore that the eies were giuen of God to men to cause them to see and to be as it were their watch towers fentinels the guides leaders of the whole body as also they are as it were the chiefe windowes of the body or rather of the soule which is lodged within it For it is a most excellent worke of God whether we coÌ„sider the matter wherof they are made how diuerse or agreeable it is to the office that is assigned them or the beauty that is in their forme in the diuersity of their colours or the commodity vse of their motions and howe they are set in their places as it were goodly pretious stones laide in some curious piece of worke how they are inuironed and armed both aboue and beneath on the right hand and on the left with the eye-lids and the eye-browes not onely for their protection and defense but also to adorne and to make them shew more beautifully And surely it is not without cause that God hath put such great excellencie in them and hath created and framed them so artificially For first they are the chiefest members of all the
bodily senses whose nature approcheth nearer to the nature of the soule and spirit then any other by reason of the similitude and agreement that is betweene them Therefore by good right they beare rule among all the senses and all the other members of the body as being their guides For they are giuen to man chiefly to guide and leade him to the knowledge of God by the contemplation of his goodly works which appeare pâ—ncipally in the heauens and in al the order thereof and whereof wâ— can haue no true knowledge and instruction by any other sense but by the eies For without the who could euer haue noted the diuers course and motions of the celestiall bodies yea wee see by experience that the Mathematicall sciences among which Astronomy is one of the chiefest cannot be well and rightly shewed and taught as many others may without the helpe of the eyes because a man must make their demonstrations by figures which are their letters and images I passe ouer many other Sciences as that of the Anatomy of mans body and such like which are very hard yea impossible to bee learned and knowen certainly vnlesse they may be seene with the eie Wherefore seeing the bodily senses are the chiefest masters of man in whose house the spirite and vnderstanding is lodged and enclosed the greatest and first honour is by good right to be giuen to the eies and sight Likewise it is the first mistresse that prouoked men forward to the studie and searching out of science and wisedome For of sight is ingendred admiration and wondering at thinges that are seene and this admiration causeth men afterward to coÌ„sider more seriously of things and to marke them better and from thence it is that men fall to enquire of matters more carefully and to sound them deeper In the ende they come to the studie of science and wisedome which is the knowledge of supernaturall light namely of the light of the minde vnto which science and doctrine is as light is to the eye so that it contemplateth and museth by that as the eye seeth by right Therefore we haue to note that it hath pleased God the creator of al things to scatter his light throughout the whole world ouer all creatures as well spirituall and inuisible as corporall and visible His spirituall light hee hath infused into spirituall creatures and bodily light into bodily creatures to the ende that by this benefite the spirites might haue vnderstanding and the eyes sight So that Angelles and the spirites of men which are spirituall and inuisible creatures are illuminated by the meanes of vnderstanding with that spirituall and heauenly light whereof God hath made them partakers as the bodies of liuing creatures and chiefely of man are illuminated with the corporall light of the Sunne by meanes of the eyes For as bodies haue their bodily eyes so spirites haue their spirituall eyes For that vnderstanding wherewith God hath indued them is vnto them as the eyes are to the body Wherefore by that they see God who is their heauenly Sunne and the fountaine of all diuine and spirituall light as bodily eyes beholde the materiall sunne wherein as in a fountaine God hath placed corporall light which he would haue vs see and know by meanes of the eyes which wee ought to acknowledge as a great benefit For the light is a worke of God woorthy of great admiration which discouereth and sheweth to vs a great part of nature and is vnto vs in steade of an image of the best and most excellent natures which without doubt are lights shining natures Neither coulde any man possibly expresse in wordes or teach in any sorte what the light is which sheweth al other things what is the beautie excellencie thereof vnlesse the eyes did beholde and know it distinguish it from darkenes For by meanes of the eyes we may iudge what our life woulde be if it were buried in perpetuall darkenes or if man had no instrument to apprehend and to receiue the light when it shâ—neth Therefore as God hath created the light to discouer and shew all things by it so he hath giuen eyes to man whereby he may apprehend receiue it To this ende he hath made them of a matter that is partaker of light and meet to receiue it that by the agreement of nature that is betweene them the light they might enioy it and by â—he selfe same meanes they might be messengers to the minde to induce and leade it to the consideration of the diuine light whereof corporall light is a very small resemblance and hereby also the mind might knowe that God who dwelleth in a light that none can attaine vnto is a maruailous light as holy men knowe by experience when hee sheweth himselfe vnto them For as the eie is like to a glasse that receiueth the images of thinges offred vnto it so God imprinteth images of him selfe in our mind as in a glasse Wherefore as a glasse cannot receiue any image but of such things as are set before it so the image of God cannot shine not be imprinted in the mind of man vnlesse he alwayes set God before his eies that he may receiue his image And as the eie is illuminated by the beames that proceed from the sunne so the mind is illuminated by the brightnes of the diuine light in which we consider the Father in the vnitie of the godhead as the spring fountaine of al light the Sonne as the beames brightnes ingendred thereof the holy Ghost as a flame proceeding from it which causeth the eie of the mind to receiue it to be made partaker thereof We see then how our eyes together with the light admonish vs of great thinges of most excellent works of God and of great secrets of spirituall heauenly things whose images he hath imprinted in the light and in our cies to the ende that by these corporall and visible images wee may haue some knowledge of those things wherof they are images which cannot be seene perceiued with corporall senses but only with the spirituall senses of the soule Wherefore wee ought greatly to praise God for this goodly gift both of the light of the eies which cannot sufficiently be valewed For although it did vs no more seruice then it doth to brute beasts namely to guide and leade vs in this corporall life yet we ought seriously to acknowledge the excellencie of so great a gift of God how profitable and necessary it is for vs. But there is a great deale more in it by reason of the mind and vnderstanding which God hath giuen to the spirit and soule of man as it were spirituall eies to the end there might be an agreement proportion betweene theÌ„0 the eyes of the body For as the eies declare to the mind what they see that it might take knowledge therof so when the mind hath seene
of the aire and that for two notable causes For first seeing the lungs haue not their motion of themselues neither are fastned to the body to receiue motion from it it was needefull to haue them of such matter that they might bee easily mooued and followe the motion of the breast Next they will receiue the aire more easily without any violence if at any time it enter in vehemently and in great quantitie To conclude this point they are so seated in regarde of the heart that they wrappe it and clothe it both on the right side and on the left and serue to defend it against all the neighbour-bones neere about it But heere wee are to note the agreement and mutuall relation which the heart hath with the heauens in that as the first motion of the whole worlde beginneth by the heauens of which all the other motions that are in nature doe depend so the heart is that member in mans body which first receiueth life and motion and which is the wel-spring and fountaine thereof whereupon also it is the first that liueth and the last that dieth And because God hath created it to put into it the vital facultie and vertue from whence the life of liuing creatures proceedeth hee hath also appointed the arteries who receiuing their originall from the heart are afterward distributed and spread throughout all the members of the body as the sinewes and veines are to giue vnto the aire and vitall spirites necessary for life euen as the blood is likewise distributed by meanes of the veines that come from the liuer to nourish them withall and as sense and motion are carried by the sinewes that are deriued from the braine and marrowe of the backe bone as wee haue already shewed Therefore as the aire hath his motion and the windes their course euen such as GOD hath appointed them in the whole body of this great worlde so wee see that the ayre and vitall spirites are in mans body which is the little worlde as windes that haue their course and passages therein to bee carried vnto all the members and to be distributed and communicated vnto them by meanes of the arteries Hereof it is that they heaue and beate in those places where arteries are appointed to be so that by their peace and quietnesse Physitions iudge of the vertue and strength of the heart and consequently of the whole body of health and sickenesse of life and death and of the whole position thereof Therefore the heart hath a double motion to serue for this vse which I speake because it hath yet a third motion and that of another nature of which wee will speake hereafter But as for this first double motion which is heere mentioned it is so called because the one is made when the heart giueth out and the other when it shrinketh in For when it extendeth it selfe foorth then is it refreshed and cooled thereby and when it gathereth inward and restraineth it selfe then doeth it expell and driue out those fuliginous and smokie excrements which otherwise woulde stifle it This two-fold motion is naturall proceeding from the proper nature of the heart and not voluntarie as that of the muscles is which is gouerned by the motion of the braine and sinewes that come from it For the heart hath his filaments or small threedes apt and conuenient for that purpose Nowe this motion serueth not onely for the vses already spoken of but also for the nourishing of the vitall spirite I meane to drawe the blood wherewith it is nourished and also to prepare foode for the lungs thereby to returne such mutuall helpe vnto them as it receiueth from them For as the lungs serue to send breath vnto it thereby to coole it and to further it in the execution of that office which it hath so the heart serueth to nourish and feede the lungs Whereby wee haue a goodly aduerticement concerning that mutuall agreement that ought to be in vs and of that reciprocall helpe which wee owe one to an other and howe wee ought to acknowledge the good turnes that are done vnto vs and doe the like againe to them according to that abilitie which euery one shall haue so to doe For if wee deale not in that sorte it will be all one with vs in humane societie as if one should separate in our body the heart from the lungs that the one might not doe his duetie towardes the other which questionlesse woulde cause the death and ouerthrowe of the whole body Moreouer wee must note that betweene these two motions of the heart nowe spoken of there is some small space in which there is a little rest and then doeth the heart restraine it selfe and drawe from all sides rounde about the aire which is drawne in by the lungs which it enioyeth and hath vse of And for this cause the heart whose flesh is hard and can hardly suffer hath three kindes of filaments called Fibres which serue for all these motions Thus you see the heart that is lorde of mans life howe hee hangeth as it were in his coffer and withdraweth himselfe into his chamber or closet being in a manner separated from the rest of the body to which he giueth life but onely that hee is ioyned thereunto by veines arteries and sinews which hee vseth as pipes some to receiue the benefites that come vnto him from others some to distribute his good things by Wherein we haue a faire resemblance of that mutuall communicating which ought to be among men For although the heart be as the fountaine of life which it imparteth to all the rest of the members and partes of the body yet can it not liue alone without those necessary helpes of the other members vnto which it is seruiceable Nowe we are to consider the substance situation and countepoize thereof with the nature and vse of the vitall spirite which shall be the matter subiect of thy discourse AMANA Of the substance situation and counterpoize of the heart of the nature and vse of the vital Spirite and of the forge vesselles and instruments thereof of the sundry doores and pipes of the heart and of their vses Chap. 38. AMANA All men howe ignorant and brutish soeuer they be cary about with them in their hearts a great testimony that they haue both a God and a Iudge who approoueth that which is good and punisheth the euill For although they neuer heard one worde of his worde yet they cannot be ignorant of this which they sensibly feele and knowe by experience in themselues that nothing but euill can befall them for euill howsoeuer it be long a comming and that they cannot feele the euill which their sinne hath brought vpon them but they will repent them for committing it and wish it had neuer bin done This is naturall Diuinitie which no body can be ignorant of Whereunto Saint Iohn leading vs saith very wel If our heart condemne vs