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A47893 The art how to know men originally written by the sieur de La Chambre ... ; rendred into English by John Davies ...; Art de connoistre les hommes. English La Chambre, Marin Cureau de, 1594-1669.; Davies, John, 1625-1693. 1665 (1665) Wing L128; ESTC R5716 184,277 440

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the motion of the body and so all those things which are said to be attracted by these qualities are mov'd by another kind of motion then that of Attraction And indeed who can easily conceive that a simple quality should be able so of a sudden and so powerfully to offer violence to things solid and weighty What motion can have an incorporeal vertue to go and find out and bring away massy bodies How is it to be apprehended that contrary to all other qualities which advance forward this only should return back Would there not be a necessity that while it brings back the bodies which it draws after it it should quit the space where it found them which yet continues still full of the same quality True it is and must be acknowledg'd that the Loadstone hath a magnetick vertue which it diffuses out of it self But this vertue is not attractive it only causes in the iron a certain feeling of its presence and thereupon the iron makes towards it of it self as it is in like manner inclin'd towards the iron For if they be both set on the water so as that they may freely swim on it they will approach one another if they be of equal force and if the iron be the more weighty or that it be stopp'd the Loadstone only will move towards it So that it is clear they draw one another no otherwise then as it is said the Sun draws the vapours which by reason of their lightness ascend of themselves after they have felt the heat Art 12. That there is not any attractive vertue in Purgative Medicines NOr is it by Attraction that purgative Medicaments do operate For of these these are some which cause vomiting being apply'd to the soals of the feet and other inferiour parts then which there cannot be a more certain argument of their not attracting the humours since that instead of obliging them to come to themselves they cause them to make a contrary motion Besides the purgative vertue being a natural Faculty should attract the humours which are conformable and consonant to it self in what subject soever they are found whereas far from that it attracts them not at all in bodies which are weak or depriv'd of life And indeed those who have more exactly examin'd the manner how purgation is wrought have shewn that purgatives have no other vertue then that of dissolving and separating the humours as the Rennet does the parts of the Milk And that the separation being made Nature being incens'd thereat expels and drives them out So that the evacuation thereof is wrought not by Attraction but Impulsion Art 13. That Grief and Heat are not attractive THere are yet others who affirm that grief and heat are attractive but they are only the Spirits which Nature sends with the blood into the parts for their support and assistance And this is no true attraction no more then that which is made by a vacuum For a privation which in effect is nothing cannot have any vertue But in this case the bodies put themselves forward to prevent a disorder which Nature cannot bear withall There are not therefore any Attractive vertues and consequently we are not to look for any in Animals in order to the causing of any conveyance of the blood into the veins But there remains this yet to be urg'd to the particular in dispute that it is true the Blood is not attracted but that it moves of it self as does the iron which is sensible of the magnetick vertue of the Loadstone and that having in like manner a certain feeling of the sympathetical vertue inspir'd by the parts it is of it self inclin'd towards them It must be acknowledg'd this expedient would do pretty well if this sympathetical vertue could be well establish'd But how shall we imagine it can subsist in such different subjects as Plants and Animals are or members of a different constitution and temperament such as are those of sound and unsound or diseas'd parts Nay though it should be granted in them What allyance can there be imagin'd between that vertue and the blood which is often alter'd or corrupted between it and the mineral waters which are drunk in fine between it and the poisons which are dispers'd all over the body Nay when all is done neither this means nor any of the others that have been propos'd doth satisfie the regularity which Nature observes in the motions of the blood nor most of the agitations it suffers in the Passions of the Soul nor yet the transportation of the chylus and other humours which is wrought in the body So that there is a necessity of having recourse to the Spirits as the general cause of all these effects And certainly whereas the Blood moves not of it self and that whatsoever is mov'd by another must be either forc'd or attracted or inclin'd neither impulsion nor attraction having any place here it is accordingly necessary that some Body which hath the vertue of moving it self should combine with it and convey it whereever it goes Now since we know that the Spirits are the chief instrmments of the Soul sent by Nature to all the parts to dispose them to action mixt by her with the blood to render it fluid and which she insinuates even into the humours against Nature as well to concoct as force them away there is no question to be made of their being the transporters of the moisture which is in the Vessels since they are beforehand in them to keep them fluid and that there are not any other substances which may be mixt with them to convey them to the places whereto they ought to go And consequently that they are bodies most susceptible of motion which being animated or immediately mov'd by the Soul are the only instruments that can move the blood in all the differences of situation which we observe therein Art 14. That the Blood is convey'd to the parts only by the Spirits FRom what hath been deliver'd it is apparent that in the ordinary course of the Blood the Spirits are the only instruments which cause it to ascend without trouble descend without precipitation and direct and convey it into all the parts nay even to the depth of the Bones for their nourishment By the same Spirits it is diversly stirr'd in the Passions according to the different designs which the Soul proposes to her self they convey it to the wounded parts to relieve them and confine it to an exact observance of that rectitude and regularity which is remarkable in all its motions In a word Nature is the principle and source of all these operations and that Nature is no other then the Soul and her Faculties all which stand in need of Organs in order to their action and can have no other then the Spirits whereto all these effects may be referred They are therefore intermixt with the Blood and as the Air being stirr'd carries along with it the vapours that are got
and the affectation of novelty have since brought into vogue Art 18. Whence proceeds the regularity which Nature observes in her evacuations ANd certainly if a recourse be not had to this direction of the Spirits it would be impossible to give an account of the regularity which Nature observes in her motions when they are absolutely at her disposal and which Medicine imitates in the evacuations prescrib'd by it For when in inflammations of the Liver the right Ear becomes red when ulcers rise in the right Hand and right Foot when blood issues out at the nostrill of the same side or when there happen imposthumes and swellings in the right Ear And on the contrary when all the same accidents are observable on the left side in inflammations of the Spleen When I say Medicine prescribes Phlebotomy on the same side that the disease is and teaches us withall that all the evacuations made on the opposite side are dangerous in case they are made of themselves or naturally or to no purpose if done by Art What other reason can be assign'd for this regularity at least such as may be satisfactory to the mind then that alledged by us For what is said of the streight Fibres which enter into the composition of the vessels whereby some are of opinion that the humours are attracted is to give it no worse tearm impertinent since they are incapable of making any such attraction as we have shewn elsewhere since they are found equally on all sides of the vessel and consequently cannot determine or direct the motion of the humours to one rather then another since there are not alwayes Fibres to promote that regularity in as much as from the Spleen to the left Nostril there cannot be any at all the veins of the Nose proceeding from the hollow Vein between which and the Spleen there is no connexion And in fine since the humours which are without the vessels nay the very vapours and the most simple qualities are communicated from one part to another after the same manner so as that the Fibres act not at all upon those occurrences they in case there were any not contributing any thing to the transportation of the vapours and qualities Moreover if any shall affirm that this may be done by those secret conduits that are in some parts of the flesh and ascend from the lower parts to the upper yet so as that those which are of one side have no communication with those of the other we answer that it is a pure imagination without any likelihood of truth in as much as most commonly these evacuations are wrought by the veins and that it is requisite the humours which flow through those secret conduit-pipes should enter into the veins where it must be asserted there are not any passages nay further that there should be some conduits cross the body since the humours sometimes pass from the Right side to the Left sometimes from Before to Behind and most commonly from the Centre to the Circumference But all consider'd reflecting on either of these opinions we cannot find why there should be so much danger when the regularity is not observ'd in the evacuations of the humours But it being supposed that the said evacuations are wrought by the direction of the Spirits it is easily concluded to be necessary that Nature must needs be extremely oppress'd when she follows not the order which had been prescrib'd her and when she gets out of her ordinary road to shun the enemy that presses upon her For it is to be attributed to this very reason that the motions she makes in sharp Fevers upon even days are always dangerous in as much as it is an argument of the violence she suffers and the disorder into which the violence of the Disease forces her when it makes her forget the odd days on which she ought to engage against the choler which is the cause of those Diseases But however the case stands we may confidently affirm that the regularity we speak of without all doubt proceeds from the Spirits which conduct the humours all over one half of the body and dispose them not at all into the other unless there be some great obstruction For Nature hath so great a tenderness for the conservation of things living and animate that she hath in a manner divided them all into two parts out of this design that if it happened one suffered any alteration the other might secure it self from it and so in it self preserve the nature of the whole Now this division is real and manifest in some subjects as in the seeds and kernels of some Plants all which consist of two portions which may be separated one from the other as also in all those members of the Animal that are double In others it is obscure and not observable in an actual separation of the parts but onely in those operations which shew that they have each of them their distinct jurisdiction and different concernments such as is that whereof we speak which distinguishes the whole body into two halfs whereof one is on the right the other on the left Of the same kind is also that which may be observed in the members that are single as the Brain Tongue Nose c. where we many times see one half which is assaulted by some Disease the other free from it though there be not any separation between them If then it be true that Nature to preserve one half of the body charges the other with all the disorder that happens thereto and permits not the humours wherewith it is troubled to exceed her limits and by that means to fasten on the other it is not to be doubted but that the Spirits which are her first and principal organs do serve her in that enterprize and that the transportation of the humours from one place to another is their charge but onely so farr as she hath given them order to do And if to compass this transportation there be any necessity of making use of the Veins that are on the o●her s●de yet does not that make them forget Nature's d●s●gn and the commands they had received from her and so they onely pass along if I may so express it the borders of their neighbours to get to the place whereto they are directed Thus for example when to disburthen the Spleen of the humours whereby it is incommodated there happens a bleeding of the Nose by the left Nostril it is absolutely necessary that they should go out of the Spleen-veins into the Hollow-vein which is on the right side But the Spirits can conduct them in such manner as at last to make them return all along the same line and within that half of the body wherein the Spleen is But this is to enter too farr into the secrets of Medicine it shall therefore suffice at the present to affirm that the communication there is between the Veins according to the distribution made thereof
the temperaments Spirits Humours Inclinations Passions and Habits It should not discover what is most secret in Body and Soul Nay I have this further to affirm that by all these discoveries of Knowledg it elevates the spirit of Man to the Soveraign Creator of the Vniverse For acquainting it with the infinite miracles remarkable in Man it insensibly inclines him to glorify the Author of so many wonders and by that means directs him to the end whereto he is design'd For should he consider only the structure of Man's body how can he forbear being ravished with astonishment to see the order and symmetry of all the springs and Ressorts from which this admirable Machine derives its motion And the unimitable Art which is concealed therein would it not discover to him the hand that was employed about it and the understanding and design of the great Master whose work it is But if he would raise his thoughts yet a little higher and make a privy-search into the secrets of the Soul to find out there the manner whereby she comes to the knowledge of things how she moves and how many several motions she assigns her-self What excess of ravishment would not the knowledge of so many miraculous operations cause in him What sentiments would he not have of the Goodness and Wisdom of God who hath lodg'd so many vertues in so small a space and not only epitomiz'd all the creatures in Man but would also make in him an abbreviation of himself For not to enter into any discourse of our ineffable Mysteries keep within the bounds of Nature the Inclination he hath infus'd into him towards all sorts of good things the Light wherewith he hath illuminated him in order to the knowledge of all things are they not the effusions of his infinite Goodness and Wisdom But what is yet more astonishing hath he not enclos'd within the spirit of Man which hath its limits and boundaries the whole extent and infinity of his Power And by a miracle which is hardly conceivable hath he not invested him with a power of creating all things as himself For if the understanding produces and in a manner creates the images and representations of those things which it knows it must needs follow since it hath the power to know them all that it also according to its manner creates them all and consequently that it is the Creator of a new world or at least the Copist or after-drawer of all the works of God It must be so inasmuch as when it thinks on the Sun it cannot do so without making at the same time another Sun in it self By the same rule it makes also Starrs Heaven Elements in a word whatsoever is in the Vniverse But if God hath wrought one miracle by bestowing an infinite power on a limited thing he hath also done another in joyning greatness and power with misery and weakness For it is certain that of all the Creatures there is not any subject to such a multitude of miseries and infirmities as Man Nay these are rais●d even out of his advantages and if he had not that pregnancy of wit and the delicate composure of body which he hath he would not be so unfortunate and miserable as he is So that it may be said by instancing him alone we may decide that famous Probleme which hath been so often propos'd to wit What thing is that in the world which is at the same time both the greatest and least He therefore is only to contemplate himself who would enter into the knowledg he ought to have of the Divinity and there he will find eternal subjects of the praises and respects and thanksgivings which he is oblig●d to render upon all occasions and at all times These are the high Lessons which may be learn'd by the ART HOW TO KNOW MEN. But when it shall be advanc'd to those whereby it would discover the inclinations manners and designs of others there will be a necessity of making this general acknowledgment that it is the surest guide can be taken for a man's conduct in civil life and that he who shall make use of it will avoid thousands of dangers and inconveniences into which from time to time he runs the hazard of falling There need no reasons to prove a thing so clear since it is certain that if the ART is able to perform what it promises there are few actions wherein it is not necessary as for instance the Education of children the choice of Servants Friends Company and most others which cannot be well done without it It shews the opportunities and favourable conjunctures of time wherein a man ought to act or speak a thing and teaches him the manner how he ought to do it And if it be requisite to suggest an advice to inspire a passion or design it knows all the passages through which they are to be derived into the Soul In fine if we may rely on the advice of the Wise-man who forbids our conversing with an angry or envious person and going into the company of the wicked What can rescue us from those unhappy accidents but the ART we treat of For the account commonly given of Man is deceitful if a man go only according to the reputation they have and dangerous if their acquaintance be gotten by conversation but that which our ART promises is only without fraud or hazard Yet is it not to be imagin'd as some at first sight are apt to do that this ART is no other then PHYSIOGNOMY and that its power reaches no further then to make a discovery of the present inclinations and thence draw some light conjectures in relation to Vertues and Vices For besides that it does all this as well as the other but with greater exactness as shall be seen hereafter it goes much further since it promises to shew what were or will be the inclinations and passions past and to come the strength and weakness of mens minds the dispositions they have to certain Arts and Sciences the Habits they have acquir'd and what is most important it teaches the way to discover secret designs private actions and the unknown Authors of known actions In a word there is no dissimulation so deep into which it does not penetrate and which in all likelihood it will not deprive of the best part of those veils under which it lurks Now forasmuch as all these things may be reduc'd to four principal heads to wit the INCLINATIONS the MOTIONS OF THE SOVL VERTVES VICES it is oblig'd ere we pass any further to tell us in the first place What Inclination is what are the causes of it and how it is framed in the Soul 2. How the Soul is Mov'd nay how and why it causes the heart and spirits to move in the passions In fine 3. Wherein Vertue and Vice consist and what is the number of the Species of both whereof it may make its judgment Besides since it ought to denote
and soft parts are the productions of the moisture for they denote abundance of flegmatick bloud But of the round some have their dependance on the cold others on the moisture for they either proceed from the fat which fills the vacant places of the muscles as in the arms cheeks thighs or from the cold which contracts the figure of the parts and presses them of all sides whereas the heat always spreading it self forward causes unevenness angles which prevent the roundness of them Hence it comes that the forehead and face of the Man are of a square figure and those who are inclin'd to Melancholy have corners of the forehead ending in a sharp point and long faces contrary to the ●legmatick who have them almost of a round figure The mildness modesty and the bashfulness which appear in the countenance and actions of the Woman are also effects of the cold which abates the courage and checks or remits the motion of the parts To the same principle is also to be attributed the smalness and weakness of the voice by contracting the throat in which it is framed and weakning the vital faculty But all these things fall more particularly under consideration in the Treatise of Beauty it shall suffice here to observe in the main that the natural conformation of the Woman follows the Temperament of cold and moist in that degree which Nature hath prescrib'd for the perfection of her Sex Art 6. That all these parts denote the Inclinations which are proper to the Woman OUr next work must be to shew that all these parts have a dertain ce●ation to the qualities of the mind whereof we have given an account that they are the signs which discover them how secret soever they may be and lastly that of all the figures and lineaments which contribute to the Beauty of the Woman there is not any one but denotes a vicious inclination We need produce no other proof of this truth than the natural weakness which is remarkable in the ●ody of the Woman and the conformation of all her parts whereof there is not any one but is the effect either of the coldness of her Temperament or the moisture predominant in her as we have shewn already For since the weakness of the body and of natural heat is ever attended by an inclination to fearfulness distrust avarice c. and that the superabundance of moisture accompanying it causes softness of nature effeminacy inconstancy and fickleness c. it follows that she hath not any part which does not discover some one of the Inclinations before-mentioned But for the further clearing up of a Proposition that seems so strange we must fall into a more particular consideration of things and make it appear by those rules of Physiognomy which Aristotle and other great Persons among the Antients have left us that there is no truth so well establish'd as this Aristotle hath given us this observation That a little face is a sign of pusillanimity and lowness of spirit By that character he designs those who are not abe to bear good or bad fortune who upon the least smile of prosperity become insolent upon the least frown of adversity are utterly cast down and discourag'd who entertain the least delay or denial as a great misfortune a small negligence for a great injury continually complaining distrustfull of all they have to do with full of suspence in the taking of any resolution c. as we shall shew more at large when we come to the particular characters of this vice The round face denotes maliciousness and an easie inclination to anger The narrow forehead is an argument of a fickle and incorrigible disposition The round forehead is a sign of testiness and weakness of mind The high forehead and very smooth signifies flattery and dis●imulation Black eyes denote fearfulness the large eye argues inconstancy Thick and soft lips are marks of Loquacity an over-busie enquiry into the affairs of other people and a negligence of their own Some affirm that they are the significators of avarice and lying which two vices are commonly observable in the Moors whose lips are of that making The little mouth is a sign of weakness and lying The round chin denotes envie The long and small neck denotes a timorous disposition and a person inclin'd to loquacity When the upper part of the breast is smooth and fleshy it is an argument of credulity and weakness of judgment The shoulders little and close together are signs of avarice When the thighs feet and hands are fleshy the back streight and weak the hands little all these are signs of a soft and effeminate constitution that is they denote a delicate and voluptuous person one who is not able to endure any hardship or pains-taking to whom the slightest inconveniences are insupportable and one that impatiently bears the want of the least pleasures and enjoyments of life Art 7. Wherein perfect Beauty consists THis is all the account we have to give of the Beauty as well of the Man as the Woman There remains yet onely one difficulty which no doubt will occurr to all those who shall read this Discourse and may if not resolv'd bring the truth we have established into some dispute It is this that the Beauty whereof we have given a description is proper and correspondent onely to our climats and not to be accommodated to others for there is no Countrey but admits a diversity of judgments and opinions concerning this point nay there are some Nations that are so much at a distance from the sentiments we have of Beauty that they account beautifull such persons as in our apprehensions are little remov'd from deformity it self If the case stand thus how can any one frame to himself a certain and determinate Idaea of Beauty which is so indeterminate and full of diversity and restrain to the designs of Nature a thing which seems wholly to depend on the opinions of men Nay it being suppos'd that it is a natural perfection what Judge shall be able to decide which is the most perfect and accomplish'd since every People and Nation will imagine it hath good grounds to bestow the prize on that which is proper to it self We answer then that Reason onely is that soveraign Judg of all Nations who is able to pronounce a final sentence in a business so nice and prosecuted with so much partiality Yet is it not paricular Reason that shall have this prerogative but the general Reason which is grounded on common notions and principles not admitting of any dispute This Reason it is which teaches us that the Body is the Instrument of the Soul and the greater number of faculties and different powers this latter hath so much the greater diversity of parts must the former have to be employ'd as the organs thereof for the Instrument ought to be proportionate both to the cause by which it is used and to the action which it is by its
move So that when it is said of some body that he hath an inclination for such a person it is meant of the friendship he hath towards him or the disposition he hath to love him This is the true inclination the other onely the effect of this Art 2. The distinction of Inclinations HAving nothing to say here of that kind of inclination which is improperly so called we shall speak onely of that which truly deserves that name Of this also there are two kinds one Natural and proceeding from Nature the osher acquir'd and proceeding from habit and custom There are some men naturally inclin'd to Love Anger Justice c. others acquire an inclination to Vertues Vices and Passions whereto they were not naturally inclin'd Art 3. The Seat of the Inclinations BUt the kinds before mentioned reside in the Soul as their true and proper seat For besides that of the Inclinations some are wholly Spiritual as those which Arts and Sciences leave in the mind others are Corporeal as for example the ease and facility wherewith a Trades-man works when he hath good tools for this facility is not in the tools though it proceeds from them In like manner the inclination which a man hath to be angry is not in the organs though it proceeds from the constitution of the organs in as much as the disposition which a thing hath to move as well as the motion whereby it is afterwards agitated ought to be in the thing it self and not in the causes from which it receives that disposition and motion It follows therefore since it is the Soul which ought to move that the disposition to move should be in the Soul From hence it may be easily inferr'd that the Appetite is the seat of the Inclinations in regard that is the onely part of the Soul which may be moved And whereas there are three sorts of Appetite the Will the Sensitive appetite and the Natural appetite each of them hath such inclinations as are suitable and conformable thereto that is to say the spiritual are in the Will as those which Arts and Sciences leave in the mind the Sensible are in the Sensitive appetite as those which a man hath to the passions of the sensitive Soul and those which are purely corporeal make their aboad in the Natural appetite such as are those which Nature hath for certain motions of the humours in diseases and for all the actions for which the organs are design'd For even before the parts are in a capacity and condition to act the Soul hath an inclination to the functions which they ought to perform Whence it comes that a young Ramm runs his head against things before his horns are in sight a young wild Boar will offer to bite before his tusks are grown out and Birds endeavour to flie though though they are not fully fledg'd Yet are we to make this observation by the way that the inclinations of one Appetite are many times communicated to another For the Inclination a man hath to passions is at last entertain'd into the Will and those of the Natural appetite commonly spread themselves into the Sensitive as the examples we have alledged sufficiently evince Art 4. How Inclination is to be defin'd FRom all these considerations me thinks it were no hard matter to frame an exact definition of Inclination which may be this Inclination is a certain disposition deeply rooted in the Appetite which receives from it a bent towards certain objects acceptable thereto But to speak more significantly we are to acknowledge that these Metaphorical kinds of expression are not proper to define things and the words of bending or bowing or weighing whereby Inclination is commonly defin'd cannot be properly said of any thing but bodies and are not to be attributed to the Soul Let us endeavour then to find out some other expedient to clear up this matter and to look after some other notions and terms which may be more proper to the thing now under our examination Art 5. Whence proceeds the Disposition wherein the Inclination consists OUt of all controversie then it is that the Appetite hath certain motions whereto it is commonly more inclin'd then to others and it may be said that it hath a disposition to perform them and that the said disposition consists in the facility which it meets with in the performance of them The question then is to know whence it receives this disposition and facility for it cannot proceed from the weight scituation figure or any other circumstances of that kind which cause in Bodies a disposition and facility to move themselves To discover this secret it is to be laid down as granted that the Inclination is a disposition and a fixt and permanent facility that happens to the Appetite and consequently it is necessary that the cause which produces it should also be durable and permanent Now all the causes of that order which may be imagin'd as to the present enquiry are reducible either to the disposition of the organ of the appetite or to the habit which it may have acquired or to the images which are preserv'd in the memory and frame the knowledge precedent to its motion for these things onely are permanent and may cause that disposition and constant facility wherein the inclination consists It might then be affirmed that if the Spirits are the organs and immediate seat of the Appetite as we shall have occasion to shew hereafter it must follow that according as they are more subtile or more gross they are the more or the less ●asily mov'd and that the Appetite which moves along with them receives its motion with greater slowness or activity And that hence it proceeds there are some constitutions which are so changeable love with so much facility and desire things with so much earnestness and on the contrary there are others whose Souls are so heavie that it is almost impossible to stirr them and prosecute the attainment of their desires with a lethargick supinity and negligence But this reason is not general for all the Inclinations for besides that there are some which proceed from the instinct and have no dependance on the qualities of the spirits there are some also in the Will which is not engag'd to any organ nay we acknowledge that there are such even in Angels in whom it is out of all dispute that neither that cause nor any other corporeal disposition can have any place The same thing is to be said concerning the habit which the Appetite may have contracted since the habit is a quality acquired by many act●ons and that there are some natural inclinations which are derived from the very birth If these things be as they are laid down there remain only the Images preserv'd in the memory which may be the general and immediate cause of this disposition and facility wherein the Inclination consists Art 6. How the motions of the Appetite are wrought TO understand how this is done
the effort of that part We shall not make it our business to oppose this circulation and though it be accompany'd with great difficulties yet may it nevertheless be affirmed that it is true and that it is effectually wrought though haply not after the same manner as is held by the maintainers thereof It is sufficient for the prosecution of our design to shew that the beating of the Heart is not the cause of the blood's motion especially that which comes into the veins For that done it will be easie to make it appear that they are only the Spirits which can transport it to the places whither it goes and consequenlty that they are bodies distinct from the humours which follow the motions of the Soul and not that of the Heart and may be mov'd by an agitation different from that of the latter Art 8. The heating of the Heart forces not the Blood into all the Parts IT being suppos'd then as the Patrons of this opinion would have it that the Heart by a certain compression or contraction of it self drives out into the arteries the blood which it hath receiv'd into its ventricles and that by the violence of that motion it forces it even to their extremities so to make its passage into the small veins which are near them and thence into the hollow vein and at last to the Heart whence it afterwards passes back again into the arteries and then into the veins perpetually running out of one into another by a continuall circulation This I say being s●ppos'd it might be said that there is some probability that this impulsion which it receives from the Heart may cause it to flow along into the arteries but it can never be conceiv'd how this impulsion should be continu'd even into the veins after that its force hath been check'd and broken by so many windings and so many obstructions which the blood must needs meet with in its way What! it shall open the mo●ths of the vessels it shall force its passage through the fleshy parts as they pretend it shall surmount the impressions which the air and other external causes every moment make in the parts and after all this by vertue of that first impulsion it shall reascend to the Heart with the same agility that it descended thence But this is a thing cannot enter into a man's imagination I am content that as it passes through the small vessels the compression it suffers therein may continue the impetuosity of its motion but that it should be so when it flows into the greater veins and the spaciousness of their channels gives it more liberty is a thing which cannot be affirm'd without a defiance of experience and reason and there is a necessity it should have the same fate as rivers and torrents which flowing out of a narrow into a broad channel abate much of the impetuosity of their course And certainly if the beating of the Heart and arteries causes the blood to be thus moved Nature hath forgot her self extreamly that she gave not the same agitation to the veins especially those in the lower parts where the blood is more gross and heavy and hath so great a way to get up to the Heart For there it is that the cause and instruments of this miraculous transportation ought to be the more powerful having a greater and heavier weight to conduct nay indeed to force upward then is the arterial blood which is more subtile more susceptible of motion and at that time only descends downwards It may then be conceiv'd that those who first advanc'd this opinion never consider'd that fluid bodies cannot long conserve the vertue and impulsion if it be not extreamly strong and that that which is made in the Heart is too weak to maintain the motion of the blood in so long a course and through so many obstacles That if it were forc'd out as they pretend it would so much swell the veins that they would alwayes seem full and stretch'd out especially when it should be forc'd to ascend And in fine that opening the veins it should issue out by certain sallies and reiterations as that which comes out of the arteries since it is the same impulsion that makes both move and that we find in Water-Engines that the water alwayes flows proportionably to the violent shocks it received at the entrance of its channell But why should there be imagin'd in the veins a motion of the blood different not only from that which is made in the bones into the depth whereof it penetrates in order to their nourishment but also from that which conveys the sap of plants to all their parts For this sap and the blood we speak of is the last Aliment whereby they are sustein'd and therefore it is but one and the same Faculty that hath the direction and conveyance thereof and Nature who loves uniformity in all her operations will not easily change this since it may and ought to be performed after the same manner Moreover if the impulsion be the only cause of the motion of the blood it must be also the same of all the natural motions whereby it is agitated And yet that transportation of the humours which Nature makes in Crises and the regularity punctually observ'd by her when she conveys them from one place to another depends on another principle For the violence done in the Heart ought to be equally communicated to all the vessels and cannot determine the blood to flow towards one part rather then another How shall it then cause it to ascend to the left nostril in Inflammations of the Spleen rather then to the right Shall it be also the impulsion that shall force choler to the Intestines in Fluxes without inflammation And convey the serosities to the skin in critical sweats For all these sorts of motions proceed from nature and are made or at least begun in the veins though the beating and impulsion of the Heart and Arteries contribute nothing thereto To conclude since Nature multiplies not the ways of acting in those operations which are of the same kind it is necessary that she cause the blood to ascend by the same vertue whereby she causes the chylus to do so making it to pass out of the Intestines into the Vessels and afterwards conducting it to those places where it is necessary Now I do not think there is any body will affirm that the beating of the Heart contributes ought to this motion as having no communication with the Intestines at least so great as to force the chylus upwards and consequently it may be said that the blood is no more mov'd then it by that impulsion We must therefore find out some other cause then that whereto we may referr not only the ordinary transportation of the blood and all its other motions which though they seem extraordinary are nevertheless natural thereto as those which happen in the Passions but also those of the chylus and the other
into it or as the exhalations of the Earth raise up the matters that are join'd with them so the Spirits having receiv'd the motion and direction of the Soul carry away the blood and humours to all those places which they have orders to convey them For it is not to be doubted but that an oeconomy so just and so regular in the variety of its operations is guided and govern'd by some power which hath a preheminence above the elementary vertues and participates of that secret intelligence which God hath been pleas'd to entrust the Soul withall for the conservation of the Animal It is therefore she alone that causes the Spirits to move and gives them orders for the conduct of the humours SECT 1. Of the animation of the Spirits THe difficulty now remaining is to know how the Soul causes the Spirits to move whether it be as instruments separated from the Body or as Organs animated by her In a word the question is to know whether they are animated or not The common opinion is for the Negative and maintains that they are only distinct instruments which communicate the vertue of the Soul to the parts and are themselves guided by the direction they receive from her as the Arrow which is shot by the Archer and flies towards the mark at which he took his aim But if we consider this Direction a little more narrowly as also the manner whereby it may be made we shall find all this to amount to no more then fair words which do not explain the thing but leave in the mind a thousand difficulties inducing it to affirm the contrary Now if this Motion and Direction ought to be given to the Spirits as to distinct instruments it is necessary it should be done in the Heart which is the place where they have their birth and from which they derive all their force and vertue Nay it is further requisite that the whole mass of Spirits which issue thence should receive the same impression in asmuch as they are not divided one from the other If it be so this question will arise How it comes to pass that some of them go to one place rather then another As also these others How comes it that in one Passion they are directed to the forehead as in Love How in another to the eyes as in Anger How in others to the lower part of the cheeks and the ears as in Shame How happens there a greater confluence of them on the ind●spos'd parts then on those which are sound and well For as in the springs the impetuosity of the water is equally communicated to all the channels or rivulets and that the art of the Designer cannot make the water flow into one rather then another if they be all equally open so can it not be conceiv'd that the Spirits should rather go to one part then another since the several branches of the Arteries through which they are to flow are all equally open Moreover he who shall consider how that in Anger they choose out the venome which is in the veins that it may be convey'd to the teeth of Animals how that in diseases they discern the humours from which they have proceeded to the end they might be forc'd out will easily find that there is not any direction of the Soul which can satisfie all these effects and there is requisite a vital knowledge and discernment such as cannot proceed from any other then an animated instrument For if any should affirm that the soul makes this discernment and choice there will follow a necessity that she should be mixt with those humours that so she may be able to separate them and they will be forc'd to acknowledge that the Soul is in those humours which will be a far greater inconvenience then to maintain the animation of the Spirits Now we have already shewn that it is by their means these motions are wrought We may adde further that the Direction of things forc'd or thrust forward does only regulate their motion towards the mark whereto they are to tend it does not diminish ought of the impetuosity which hath been imprinted on them and it is necessary their motion should persist to the end with all the force the mover hath given them And yet the Spirits go many times to other places then those whereto the Soul had ordered them to repair when they receiv'd her first impulsion And sometimes in their course they move more vigorously or more faintly then the impetuosity they had receiv'd might require For example in Shame they have order to spread the blood over the whole face as it were to cover and conceal the Soul from the infamy ready to fall on her and yet they cast themselves on the extremities of the eares and the lower part of the cheeks contrary to her first design Many times they begin a Crisis of sweats which they end by Urins and some times they grow faint and retreat in the conflict wherein Nature had engag'd them It may be more closely urg'd that the Soul does not only cause the Spirits to advance but she also makes them retreat she dilates them and contracts them And if so what shall this pretended Direction do upon all these occasions How shall it cause them to rally about the heart when they have straggled from it There must then be suppos'd some Attractive vertue whose work it shall be to seize on them at the extremities of the Body and bring them back to their first rendezvous But we have made it clear that this vertue is but an imaginary one and that however the case stands there must be some subject to convey it to the place where it ought to do its operation which is not to be imagin'd There is yet a greater difficulty in assigning the manner how the soul is able to dilate and contract them when they are at some distance from the heart For there is not in nature any impulsion or direction whereby these motions may be communicated There is is only Heat and Cold that can do it and whereas these qualities require a considerable time for the performance of their action it follows that they cannot be causes of that dilatation and contraction of the Spirits which are wrought of a sudden Adde to this that there is a necessity the Soul should send these qualities into the vessels to produce that effect and that in Fear for example she should cause Cold to rise to make a contraction of the Spirits which can neither be said nor imagin'd without absurdity For if the Cold be discover'd in some Passions it is not a cause of the contraction of the Spirits but the effect of it In fine it is generally acknowledg'd by all the great masters of Medicine that the vital sensitive and motive faculties are convey'd to the parts by the Spirits And Experience confirms this truth in asmuch as life motion and sentiment cease in them when they have not
Dissemblers in regard that both Timorousness and Dissimulation proceed from the weakness which attends the melancholick Temperament and then it is that the effect is sign of an effect Now since causes and effects serve for Signs to the Art we treat of the next thing to be known is what these causes and effects are Art 1. What Causes they are which serve for Signs IT is not to be doubted but that the Causes which contribute to the discovery of men must be such as have an influence over Man and are in him that is such as cause some alteration in the Body and Soul and promote and change the actions of both Of these there are two Orders some are Internal some External The Internal causes are the Faculties of the Soul the Temperament the Conformation of the parts Age Nobleness or meanness of Birth the Habits as well Intellectual as Moral and the Passions The External are Parents the Celestial Bodies the Climate the Seasons Aliment prosperous or adverse Fortune Example Advice Punishments and Rewards For all these Causes make different impressions upon Man and according to the strength they have they produce in him different effects and dispose him to such and such actions So that every Faculty of the Soul every Temperament every Age every several kind of Birth hath its proper actions its particular dispositions its inclinations and aversions Parents do many times derive to their children those qualities of body and mind which are natural to themselves the Climate Health and Sickness course of Life Prosperity and Adversity Good and Bad Example in fine the different aspects of the Celestial Bodies cause an alteration in the Body and Soul imprinting in them divers qualities and making them inclinable to certain Actions Art 2. What the Effects are which serve for Signs THe Effects which proceed from these Causes are also of two kinds for some are Corporeal others Spiritual The Spiritual are the qualities of the mind the Inclinations the Habits all the actions and motions of the Soul for that they have been numbred among the Causes was in consideration of the Effects which they produce as here they are ranked among the Effects by reason of the Causes from which they proceed For instance the Inclination which a man hath to Anger is the cause of the Anger but it is also the effect of the cholerick Temperament which gives birth to that Inclination The Corporeal Effects consist in the Bulk of the Figure of the parts in the first and second Qualities in the Air of the Countenance in the Carriage and motion of the Body as we shall shew more particularly hereafter So that upon cognizance taken of these Causes and a knowledge of the power they have some judgment may be made of their present or future effects And on the other side upon an observation of the Effects and a knowledge of that whereto they ought to be referred the present or past causes may be ghess'd at Thus are they Signs one of the other and THE ART HOW TO KNOW MEN hath a priviledge to make its advantage of them in order to the performance of what it promises But in regard all these Signs create not an equal knowledge of the things whereto they are referr'd that some of them denote the same with more certainty then others it is requisite there should be a careful examination taken of their Strength and Weakness since that is the chiefest and most solid ground of this Art CHAP. 2. Of the Strength and Weakness of Signs Art 1. What Judgment is made by the Causes GEnerally speaking the judgment which is made by the Causes is more uncertain then that which is made by the Effects in regard that from the knowledge of the cause of some thing it does not follow that it should produce the effect it is imagin'd to do by reason of divers obstructions which may happen in the production thereof But when an effect is seen it must of necessity be that the cause did precede Thence it comes that the knowledge which is had of the Temperaments by the marks they leave upon the Body is more certain then that which is had of the inclinations by the Temperament in asmuch as these marks are the effects of the Temperament and that the Temperament is the cause of the Inclinations Art 2. Of the next Causes MOreover the causes are of two kinds some are termed the Next Causes others are Remote From the former a more certaine judgment may be deduced in regard they have a stricter connexion with their effects Accordingly the knowledge which is had of the Temperament better discovers the inclinations then any thing that can be inferr'd from Birth Age or the Climate c. But there is not any Cause from which there may be a more certaine judgment deduc'd of a mans actions then the Habit For he who shall know one to be a just person will be the more apt to affirm that upon such or such an occasion he will do an act of justice Into this rank may also be reduced the Passions themselves in reference to those others which are wont to accompany them for the Passions never march alone and there is not any of them but produces some others which either appear with it or follow it very closely Thus Arrogance Impatience Indiscretion accompany Anger and therefore he who knows a man to be sometimes transported with the latter may affirm that he is apt to fall into the others And this observation is so considerable that it makes way for the Noblest rule of all Physiognomy whereof Aristotle is the author and which he calls Syllogistick and of which we shall have occasion to speak hereafter The Qualities or Endowments of the mind do also give a certain judgment of the good bad productions which shall proceed from them And it may be affirmed that when some man shall conceive himself oblig'd out of the bent of his own inclination to embrace some opinion or to speak to some business he will judge and discourse of it answerable to the opinion the world hath of his capacity and endowments Art 3. Of the Remote Causes AS to the remote Causes if there were so great certainty in Astrology as some imagine to themselves no question but the judgments which might be made upon consideration of the Celestial Bodies would be the most certain of any But we do not acknowledge so great a power in those Bodies as is attributed to them and we can grant them at most but some small advantage over the Climate which gives some ground to judge of the Inclinations upon the accompt of the Temperament whereof it is a Remote cause as well as they Age and Sickness may be put in the some rank But good and bad Fortune Nobleness or meanness of Birth Examples under which I comprehend Counsels Advice Rewards and Punishments afford but very doubtful conjectures Lastly the Seasons and Aliment make the most uncertain
judgments of any Art 4. What Judgment that is which is made by the Effects AS to what concerns the discovery which may be of the Causes by the Effects we are to presuppose the distinction we have already made thereof that is that of these latter there are some Spiritual some Corporeal For generally speaking the judgment which is made by the Corporeal is more certain then that deduc'd from the Spiritual in as much as the former immediately proceed from the Temperament and the Conformation of the parts which are the Next Causes of the Inclinations or they viz the effects proceed from the Passion it self which produces them on the Body when the Soul is stirr'd thereby And as to the Spiritual which are the Qualities or Endowments of the mind the Inclinations the Actions and Motions of the Soul and the Habits as there are many several Causes whereby each of them may be produc'd so the judgment made thereof is the more indeterminate and uncertain For the Passion may be caus'd by divers objects by the Weakness of the Mind by the Inclination c. In like manner the Inclination may be the product of the Instinct to the Temperament and of Custome The Habits also have diverse Principles as well as the Qualities of the mind so that it is no easie matter precisely to assigne the Cause from which each of these Effects proceeds Now since there may be a more exact knowledge deduced from the Corporeal Effects and that it is of them only that Physiognomy makes use in order to the discovery of the Inclinations it concerns us to engage upon a more careful examination of them and to see what their number may be what the causes thereof are and what Strength and Weakness they have that so we may judge not only of the Inclinations as Physiognomy does but also of the Qualities of the mind the Passions and Habits which THE ART HOW TO KNOW MEN pretends it self able to discover by them CHAP. III. Of the Natural Signs IN the first place we are here to presuppose that there are two kinds of Effects or Signs which are imprinted on the Body Of these one is the Natural which proceeds from the constitution of the Body and the other Elementary Causes the other the Astrological which proceeds from the Stars or Celestial Bodies whereof Metoposcopy and Chiromancy make use We shall hereafter examine whether there be any certainty in those Sciences and whether the Signs upon which they have fram'd their Rules may contribute any knowledge of the Inclinations the Passions and the Habits as they pretend to do As to the Natural Signs Aristotle hath reduc'd them to nine Heads or Articles which are these 1. The Motion of the Body as the Cate the Gesture and Carriage of it 2. Beauty and Deformity 3. Colour 4. The Air of the Countenance 5. The quality of the Skin 6. The Voice 7. The Fleshiness of the Body 8. The Figure Of the Parts 9. The Largness Of the Parts All these Signs proceed from Internal or External Causes And this distinction is so necessary that it makes in a manner the whole difference there is between those which are advantageous and those that are otherwise as we shall make appear The Internal Causes are the Conformation of the Parts the Temperament and the Motive Vertue the External are all those things which come from without and work some alteration in the Body Thus a man may go slowly either out of his natural Inclination or out of Design or through Weakness Beauty and Deformity proceed from Nature Artifice or Accident The Colour ought to be consonant to the Temperament but the Air and such other things may alter it The Air of the Countenance and the Voice the Skin and the Fleshiness of the parts may receive alteration upon the same account In fine the Figure of the Parts ●s either Natural or Accidental for a man may become crooked and crump-shoulder'd either by a Fluxion or by a Fall or by Nature True it is that of these Signs some are not so easily changed by the External Causes as the Figure the Air of the Countenance and Motion but the Colour the Skin and the Voice do easily receive the impressions thereof But it being suppos'd as it is certain that the Internal causes are those which produce the most certain Signs we make this further observation That the Figure and Largness of the Parts proceed from the Conformation the Temperament gives the Colour the quality of the Skin and the Fleshiness of the Parts The particular kind of Gate and the other Motions proceed from the Motive Vertue But Beauty the Voice the Air of the Countenance proceed from all these three Causes joyned together For Beauty consisting in a symmetry and just proportion of the Members as to colour and grace the proportion proceeds from the Conformation Colour from the Temperament and the grace from Motion The Voice is answerable to the Conformation of the Organs their Temperament and the motion of the Muscles In fine the Air of the Countenance and the Carriage of the Body have their principal dependence on the Motion for in the disturbance of the Passions the Air which accompanies them is nothing else then a certain proportion of the parts resulting from the diverse motions they make in pursuit of Good and Evil which moves the Appetite But that disturbance of the Passion being calm'd and taken away the Air which remains fix'd on the Countenance relates to the Conformation and the Temperament as may be observ'd in those who naturally have the same constitution and disposition of the Parts with those which the Passion is wont to cause Art 1. Of the Difference of Signs OF the Signs before-mentioned some are Common others Proper The Common Signs are not determinated to any one quality but may signifie many on the contrary the Proper are determinated only to one Moreover there are some Signs which in a manner never change as the Conformation all the rest may be chang'd And among these last some are Stable and Permanent others are Transient and continue but a short time Thus those which proceed from Age and the Climate are Stable but such as proceed from Sickness and the Passions are of small continuance From these Distinctions something may be deduc'd which may contribute to the discovery of the Strength and Weakness of the Signs for those which proceed from external causes do not denote any thing certain And of those which the Internal causes have produc'd the Stable are significators of Permanent Inclinations the others may possibly denote the present Passions but not the natural Inclinations unless it be by accident as Aristotle speaks Besides the signs which are the least easily chang'd by the External causes are the most certain such as are the Figure the Air of the Countenance and Motion but the Colour the Skin the Fleshiness of the parts and the Voice are consequently the
it the first place as to what concerns Physiognomical Signs and to dispose the eyes in the most excellent place therein then to bring in the forehead and so consequently the others for the reasons we have alledged Art 4. That the Inclinations are most apparent in the Head IT might be said that all this Discourse does indeed demonstrate the appearance of the Passions more remarkably in the Face then any where else but that the same thing is not to be concluded as to the inclinations and that all this alteration and all these motions which are consequent to the agitation of the Soul are only transient Signs incapable of denoting permanent disposition such as are those of the Inclinations and Habits But we conceive it no inconsiderable advancement to have shewn that the Characters of the Passions are principally apparent in that part of the Body since that according to the rule of conformity whereof we shall speak hereafter those who naturally have the same air which the Passion causes are inclinable to the same Passion However it may happen if the Temperament the Conformation of the parts and the Motive vertue be the causes of permanent Signs it is consequently certain that there are not any parts wherein the Formative vertue acts more efficaciously then it does in the Head by reason of the excellency of its Operations and its Organs no parts wherein the Temperament can be more easily discover'd by reason of the particular constitution which the skin is of in fine no parts wherein the motive vertue is stronger and more free in its motions since there it is in its proper seat and vigour To these reasons this may be added that the great variety of the organs which are in the Head supplies us with a greater number of Signs then any other part whatsoever and that Audacity and Fear taken away as also some others which have dependance on them there is not any Passion that leaves its marks on the parts whereby the Heart is encompass'd So that without any further difficulty we may allow the Head the preheminence as to what concerns the Signs observable in Physiognomy Art 5. That the Inclinations are discoverable by the Arms and Leggs IT may seem deducible from these last reasons that we are willing to allow the second rank to the Arms and Leggs and admit them to be the places from which next to the Head there may be drawn such Signs as may pretend to most certainty and whereof there are a greater number and consequently that the Breast is not so considerable as they are And indeed if the Air of the Face the Behaviour and motion be more certain Signs then the Figure as Aristotle in these words seems to affirm 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 placing the Figure after the Motions it is certain that they are much more apparent in the Gesture and Gate then in the Breast where it may be thought there is only the Figure to be consider'd But we are here to call to mind what we have said elsewhere to wit that the Passions may be consider'd in their first stirring and in their execution and that the execution is not alwaies consequent to the stirring and emotion Now the Arms and Legs are the principal organs in order to the execution of what the Appetite commands and the Heart is the principle and source of the emotion So that the marks which this latter gives are more universal and more certain then those of the others it being affirmed that the Heart is alwaies mov'd in the Passions and that every Passion comes not to execution I add further that the Breast and Shoulders have also their particular carriage and motion as well as the Arms besides that the motion of the Arms and the manner of Going may be chang'd by custom whereas the same thing cannot be said of the Figure of the Breast which alwaies denotes the Temperament of the Heart and consequently the Inclinations And as for Aristotle we are to affirm that he does not make any comparison between the Air of the Countenance and Motion and Figure but he compares these three together with the other Signs as for example the Colour the Voice the quality of the Skin and the Fleshy parts which no doubt are much less certain then the former as we said elsewhere So that it is to be maintain'd as manifest that the most excellent place from which the most remarkable Signs of Physiognomy are to be drawn is the Head the next to that the parts which enclose the Heart the third the Arms and Leggs and the last the Belly For though this last hath some right to dispute the precedence with the Arms by reason of the many Signs found therein especially as to what concerns the Temperament yet it is most certain that modesty does not easily permit that part to be consider'd whence it must needs follow that the Signs are so much the less manifest whereto may be added this also that they do not principally denote the operations of the sensitive Soul but only of the Vegetative and that it is only by accident that it makes any signification of the other Art 6. From what places the Signs are taken THe most considerable places from which the Signs are to be taken are as Aristotle affirms those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In quibus sapientiae multae apparentia fit which assertion may be explicated two ways The former that the parts where Wisdom and Modesty ought to be most apparent are those which discover the most certain marks of the Inclinations So that the air of the countenance and the carriage or deportment of the Body making the principal discovery of Wisdom in a man it is accordingly from those places that we are to derive the most assured Signs of Physiognomy For as Prudence brings along with it a general disposition to all the other Vertues So on the other side Imprudence invests a man with a susceptibility of all sorts of Vices and Imperfections So that the places where those two qualities are most remarkable must of necessity furnish us with the Signs of all the other Inclinations The second Explication of that Assertion and in my judgment the better is that the external parts whereof the Soul seems to stand most in need and wherein she imploys the more art and conduct whether as to the framing of them or keeping them after they are fram'd are those from which we are to extract the most certain Signs of the Inclinations The reason this that the Soul making a fuller discovery of her self and in some sort more manifestly producing her self in those parts than in the others may in them also make a greater discovery of her Inclinations Now it is generally acknowledg'd that there are not any wherein her cares her conduct and her industry are more apparent than in the eyes and in the other parts of the Head in regard that all the Senses nay Reason it self are lodg'd therein
of some other Creatures have the same Inclinations with those Creatures it is to be examin'd what Creatures those are which may give a ground for this rule For all are not fit to be admitted into that predicament either in regard that sufficient observations have not been made of them or that they are at too great a distance from the nature of man as Insects Serpents Fishes c. Aristotle therefore in his Physiognomy hath pitch'd upon twenty seven to wit fifteen four-footed Beasts and seaven Volatiles The former are the Lion the Panther the Horse the Hart the Ox the Ass the Dog the Wolf the Swine the Goat the Sheep the Ape the Fox the Cat and the Frog The other are the Eagle the Hawk the Cock the Raven the Quail Sea-Fowl and small Birds Others have added to these the Owl and the Ostrich It is therefore requisite there should be so many Chapters design'd wherein must be treated of the natures of these Animals and especially of those parts of them whereto those of men may have any resemblance and of the Inclinations they denote Art 3. How the said Art makes use of the third Rule AS to the third Rule which shews that he who hath any semblance to Men of some other Climate hath the same Inclinations as they have this is grounded on the Figure of the Body and such Inclinations of the Soul as that Climate causes But in asmuch as the Climate is to be consider'd not only by the position of the Heavens but also by the nature of the Soil by the Scituation by the Winds reigning there it is requisite in the first place to treat of that Constitution of the Body and the Inclinations which a hot dry cold or moist Climate may cause and afterwards of those which may proceed from a moist or dry fruitful or barren soil In the third place of that which is consequent to the scituation as it is oriental or occidental high or low maritime or mediterranean In fine what contribution may be made thereto by the several Winds East West North and South Thence it must descend to the Figure and Manners of those Nations which depend partly on these causes partly on the original of the people themselves whereof they still retain some tincture as also on the good or ill fortune which hath attended them and causes them to change their former discipline and their antient course of life This Treatise must needs be long and will require great pains to bring it to a period For besides that there must be some reason given of the particular Figure of every People and its Inclinations which is a thing very hard to do it must also give an account of the Laws which are proper thereto in regard that the Law as Plato sayes is the finding out of Truth all sorts of Laws being not convenient for all manner of Nations but only such as are conformable to their natural dispositions and he who hath lighted on that Conformity and Correspondence hath met with Truth But howere it may be this Discourse is to be divided into so many Chapters as there are Climates and those subdivided again into so many Sections as there be Nations inhabiting each of them Art 4. How the said Art makes use of the fourth Rule THe fourth Rule teaches us That those men who have any thing in their countenances approaching the Beauty of Women have the same Inclinations as they have and on the contrary This is grounded on the Beauty which is peculiarly answerable to either Sex as also upon the Inclinations which are natural to each of them It is therefore requisite there should be a discourse concerning Beauty and that it should be divided into two Treatises whereof the former shall shew how all the parts ought to be made which frame the Beauty of Man and the Inclinations attending it And the other is to give a particular account of the parts whereof the Beauty of the Woman consists and the Inclinations correspondent to her Sex All this shall be treated in fifty Chapters there being no less then twenty five parts in each Sex whereby they are represented as differing one from the other the Colour and Proportion which ought to be between them being comprehended therein Art 5. Why The Art how to know Men treats of the Temperaments BUt in regard these two last Rules are principally grounded on the Temperament before we come to the examination of them it is requisite there should be a previous Treatise of the Temperaments and a discovery made of the Inclinations which each of them causes in the Soul and the Figure it gives to the parts of the Body And this is to be done in fifty two Chapters wherof the first sixteen shal treat of the Temperaments which are conformable to the whole Body and the other thirtysix of those of the Nobler parts For there are some principal temperaments correspondent to the four Humours when they are only predominant to wit the Sanguine the Cholerick the Melancholick and the Flegmatick then each of these hath some one of the other humours predominant under it as the Cholerick-Sanguine the Melancholick-Sanguine c. and that makes up the number of sixteen In fine every noble part is either temperate or hot cold dry or moist or is hot and moist hot and dry cold and moist cold and dry So that there being four noble parts and each of those having nine differences of Temperaments all put together make up two and fifty kinds of Temperaments which must be known in order to a judgment of the Inclinations Art 6. That there are other Rules besides those of Physiognomy whereby the Inclinations may be discover'd THus is it that The Art how to know Men makes use of the Rules of Physiognomy for the discovery of the Inclinations and how upon small foundations it designs the greatest superstructure whereof Science ever attempted the carrying on But it does not think that sufficient as having added thereto some other means whereof Physiognomy makes no advantage For besides that it makes the very effects of the Inclinations to contribute to the discovery of them to wit the desire of doing the actions and the pleasure there is in doing them often it being a thing out of all dispute that if a person be observ'd to be often desirous to do the same thing or that he does it many times with a certain pleasure it is a certain sign of the Inclination he hath thereto Besides this I say it very advantageously makes use of the remote causes whereof we have made mention before for though the judgments which may be deduced from them be not absolutely certain yet do they either fortifie or weaken those which proceed from the next causes which are as we said the Instinct the Temperament and the Conformation of the parts Accordingly if a man be of such a Temperament and Conformation as may be proper for courageous actions and that he
that part such miracles as are not yet fully known and that if the knowledge thereof could be attain'd there would haply be acquir'd that which Chiromancy does so much pretend to Add to this that he who shall take notice that the Lines which are in the Hands are different in all men that in the self-same person they are chang'd at certain periods of time and that all this diversity cannot proceed from any internal cause to us yet known will in all likelihood be forc'd to acknowledge that all those Characters are the effects of some secret influence by which they are imprinted in that particular part And that nothing being superfluously done in Nature they have their particular use and do denote if not any thing else at least this to wit the alteration which happens in the principles whereby they are produc'd For to make these impressions relate to the Articulations and the motions of the hand as some have done is a thing which cannot be maintain'd since the Articulations are equal in all men who nevertheless have all their Lines unequal that there are many Hands wherein there is not any Articulation at all as in the space which lies between the joints of the fingers That children newly born who have their hands shut all after the same manner without making in a manner any motion have nevertheless many lines which are different in every one of them that those who exercise the same Art and consequently ought as neer as may be to use the same motions have them nevertheless as different as if they were of contrary professions That in the self-same person they are chang'd though there be not any change in his course of life And lastly that in the forehead where there is not any Articulation and which part all men move after the sa●● manner there are also such lines wherein may be observ'd the same diversity as in those of the Hand We may further add to these considerations the great Antiquity of the Science of Chiromancy which must needs have been studied before Aristotle's time in as much as what he sayes of the Lines of the Hand is one of its observations and rules the work it hath found so many learned men who search'd into the secrets of it and have honour'd it by their Writings And lastly the admirable judgments which have been made according to its Maximes For it is a thing comes not much short of astonishment that of forty and five persons whom Cocles had foreseen by his Art to be subject to dye violent deaths Cardan observ's that there were but two of them living in his time to whom that misfortune had not hapned But to come to a free acknowledgement of the truth all these as we have already observ'd are but so many slight suspicions which conclude not for the certainty of this Science For as to the order of the Planets which it hath chang'd it gives a great presumption that it hath not been done without some reason but the question remains still undecided to wit Whether it be true that those celestial Bodies have any kind of power or influence over the Hand and whether any one of them have some particular place assign'd it therein The Authority of Aristotle may also be question'd and all this diversity of Lines may proceed from other causes and have other uses different from those appropriated thereto by Chiromancy Moreover how ancient soever that Science may be it makes not much for its certainty since there are ancient errours whereby all the precedent Ages have been abused And though many great Wits have thought it not unworthy their study yet have there been in all times some who have employ'd their endeavors about curiosities as vain as possibly this may be In fine all the testimonies and examples which are commonly produc'd in defence of it can pretend to no more weight and validity then those brought for Geomancy Onomancy and other Arts of Divination all which are imaginary and superstitious and yet neither want Patrons to protect them nor fail of success in the judgments which are made by them On the other side neither do all these reasons absolutely condemn it and make not any otherwise against it then in that they render it doubtful leaving the inquisitive person in an uncertainty what he ought to believe and continuing him in the desire of being satisfi'd therein Now the only means to attain that satisfaction is to examine the Principles of it and to see whether there be any reasons whereby they may be maintain'd For if any of them be certain and well grounded there is not in my judgment any rational person who joyning the precedent suspitions with the truth of these Principles but will acknowledge that if the Science which hath been built thereupon is not arriv'd to the highest degree of certainty it may come to it in time by the diligent and exact observations which are yet to be added thereto And that if it cannot promise as much as Astrology pretends it should discover by the Stars which it hath plac'd in the Hand it may at least judge of the good or bad disposition of the interiour parts between which and it there is an undeniable sympathy and by that means conduce very much to the conservation and continuance of Health and the curing of diseases For when it shall be confin'd within these limits and quit all other pretences it will still be a very considerable Science and such as for the excellency of its discoveries and the advantage may be made thereof might be worthy the curiosity of the severest Philosophers and all those who make it their business to enquire into the wonderful things of Nature These are the considerations which I had before I fell to examin the Principle before-mentioned which is the main foundation on which the disposal of the Planets into several parts of the Hand is built and in a manner the only source from which all the judgments which Chiromancy can promise are deduced The method I have observ'd therein is according to the subsequent Articles to shew 1. That of situations some are more noble then others 2. That the nobler situations are design'd for the more excellent parts and that the excellency of the parts is deduc'd from the advantage they bring along with them 3. What advantages may be deduced from the Hands 4. That the Right Hand is more noble then the Left 5. That motion begins on the Right side 6. That the Hands have the greatest portion of the natural Heat 7. That the Hands have a greater communication with the nobler parts 8. That some secret Vertues are convey'd from the nobler parts into the Hands 9. That Nature does not confound the Vertues and consequently 10. That the Vertues of the nobler parts are not receiv'd into the same places of the H●nd 11. That there is a Sympathy between the Liver and the Fore-finger 12. That there is a Sympathy between the
by Hippocrates proceeds from the Spirits which convey the humors from one to another consonantly to the relation and correspondence which there is between the parts or according to the regularity they observe among themselves Art 19. That the Starrs or Planets have a certain predominancy over the several parts of the Hand TO return to the Sympathy there is between the interiour members and the several parts of the Hand I am of opinion that the reasons alledg'd by us for the maintaining thereof if they do not absolutely convince the most obstinate will at least leave in their mind some doubt of the truth thereof And I make no question but that Chiromancy ought to be satisfy'd therewith since that having been hitherto unknown to it they make good the chiefest of its foundations as also that it will be easie for the said Science to establish thereupon the maximes of Astrologie which ought to furnish it with most of its rules and secure its preatest promises For if it be once granted that the interiour parts are govern'd by the Planets and that they receive from those Celestial Bodies some particular influence as Astrologie teaches it must of necessity follow that the vertue which is deriv'd from those parts to the Hand should be accompanied by that which the Planets communicate to them And that for example if the Heart communicates its influence to some finger the Planet under whose government the Heart is should also derive his to the same place it being not probable that the influence of the Planet should make a halt at the Heart while this last communicates to the Hand that which is proper and natural to it in as much as the truth of the Celestial influences being granted it must be affirm'd that those two vertues are combin'd into one which is the onely essential disposition and the specifick property of each part Now it is a conclusion of Astrologie confirm'd by its principles and observations That the Liver is govern'd by Jupiter the Spleen by Saturn the Heart by the Sun and so of the rest whereof the consequence is that the fore-finger should be accordingly govern'd by Jupiter the middle-finger by Saturn the Ring-finger by the Sun c. in regard there is a correspondence and sympathy between those principal parts and the said fingers and that the former communicates to the latter the vertue they have in themselves All which consider'd we are not any longer to think it much that Chiromancy hath chang'd the order of the Planets in the Hand nor yet ask why it should place Jupiter on the fore-finger and the Sun on the Ring-finger rather then on any other part in as much as the nature of the Heart and Liver and the sympathy there is between them and those fingers hath assign'd it those places to be as it were particular houses which the said Planets have in the Hand as they have in the Heavens such as are peculiar to them These things thus laid down the whole difficulty is reduced to this point viz to know whether those Starrs do really govern the principal parts of the body and communicate unto them some secret vertue which might be cause of the good or bad disposition they have But for any man to think to drive on this Question as farr as it might go and to examine al the consequences and circumstances thereof with the severity which Philosophy requires in these matters besides that it would bring into doubt those truths which Astrologie places in the rank of things already judg'd and such as its most irreconcileable enemies are for the most part forc'd to acknowledge it would require a Discourse which should exceed the limits of our design nay indeed contradict the method wherewith all Sciences would be treated For this admits not that all those things which occurr therein should be brought into dispute it particularly declares against the censuring of those principles upon which they are establish'd and would have all those which are deduced from the conclusions of the superiour Sciences how doubtfull soever they may be to be receiv'd with the same priviledge as the maximes and common notions of the Mathematicks may challenge It is therefore sufficient for Chiromancy that Natural Philosophy maintains its first foundations and so whatsoever it afterwards receives from Astrologie ought to be allow'd or at least the disquisition thereof left in suspence till the ground of Astrologie it self shall have been examined Art 20. That the Planets have a predominancy over the interiour parts TO remove therefore in some measure the distrust which some may have that the Conclusions which Chiromancy derives from Astrologie for principles are wholly imaginary and contrary to truth we are now to make it appear by some observations not admittable into dispute That some parts of the body are under the particular direction and government of certain Planets Nor will this be any hard matter to do as to some of them And though we should reject the experiences which Astrologie might furnish us with upon this occasion and that upon such a rejection we should not have others convincing enough to make an absolute proof of this truth yet would the former lay down a great presumption for the ascertainment of the rest and leave a very wel-grounded conjecture for us to imagine that every member is governed by one of those Starrs and that the Principle which Astrologie had made thereof in order to the furtherance of Chiromancy is not ill establish'd Art 21. That the Moon hath such a predominancy over the Brain LEt us then begin with the Brain and affirm that it is a thing out of all controversie that the Moon hath a secret superintendency over that part and that it is more apparently sensible of its power then any of the other parts For it swells and abates it increases and diminishes proportionably to the increase or decrease of that Planet Thence it comes that the Science of Medicine upon a certain knowledge of these changes takes a care that when Trepanning is prescrib'd it should be perform'd with the greater precaution in the full of the Moon in regard the Physicians know that then the Brain is also in its full and that causing the Membranes which encompass it to come neerer the bone it exposes them to the danger of being the more easily touched by the instrument But there cannot be a greater demonstration of the connexion and sympathy which there is between the Moon and the Brain then that the Diseases of that part have their intensions and remissions according to the course of that Planet For of these ●ndispositions there are some do so regularly follow her motions that they may be the Ephemerides or Prognostications thereof Nay though she be under the Horizon and that the person subject to those indispositions endeavour by all ways imaginable to secure themselves against her influences yet does not all this hinder but that the breaking out of a fluxion
Knowledg But for Man to know Man which is the Subject of this Treatise it is an Art as full of incertitude as any The lineaments of the Face and lines of the Hands are not streight enough to lead us unto it though Vultus be Index Animi though the Eyes be as the Casements of the Soul yet many times they prove false Glasses though as the Turk believes every Man's Fate and Fancy be written in his Forehead yet the letters are so obscure that we cannot read them and the Poet tells us Fronti nulla fid es Indeed the probablest way to get this Art is by Conversation and Discourse according to the Italian Proverb A Roma ti viddi a Venetia ti conobbi I saw thee at Rome I knew thee at Venice which made the Philosopher say to a man who had a promising Face of Wisdom I thought thee wise till I heard thee speak This Sagacious and sharp-sighted Author hath gone very farr in this Art as appears in this Discourse and in other acute Notions that I have read of His which shew him to be full of pensees desliees Moreover I had the good hap and occasion to know Him and converse with Him in Paris and truly I believe He may well be ranked among the Philosophers of the Vpper House which this Age affords Therefore Sir besides your great Ingenuity you discover also much Judgment in the Election of your Authors who are much oblig'd to you for your exact fidelity in rendring them And consequently it may well be said that You have attain'd the Art of knowing Men by penetrating the true sence and every Souls of those Authors you deal withall JAM HOWEL THE PREFACE Wherein is treated of the Excellency of the ART HOW TO KNOW MEN and of the Author's Design IT was a groundless complaint of him who wish'd Nature had plac'd a window before mens hearts that their thoughts and secret designs might be seen There was I say no reason for that complaint not only in regard those are not things which fall under the Senses and that though the eyes saw the very bottom and all the windings turnings of the heart yet could they not observe any thing therein from whence they might derive the least knowledge of it but also in as much as Nature hath made other provision for this discovery and found out more certain means to make it then would have been that strange openness which Momus imagin'd to himself For she hath not only bestow'd on Man voice and tongue to be the interpreters of his thoughts But out of a certain distrust she conceiv'd that he might abuse them she hath contriv'd a language in his forehead and eyes to give the others the Lye in case they should not prove faithful In a word she hath expos'd his soul to be observ'd on the out-side so that there is no necessity of any window to see his Motions Inclinations and Habits since they are apparent in his face and are there written in such visible and manifest characters From these characters it is our design to frame the greatest and most advantageous work that haply was ever undertaken a work wherein the Noblest and most necessary discoveries of knowledg which Man can arrive unto are contained in fine a work wherein may be found the secret and perfection of Wisdom and humane Prudence These great promises will be thought the more attainable when it shall be known that what we undertake is THE ART HOW TO KNOW MEN an Art whereby every man is taught to know himself wherein consists the highest point of Wisdom and withall to know others which is the Master-piece of Prudence The secret of Wisdom consists in this that a man knows what he is himself what he may do and what he ought to do and that of Prudence in knowing also what others are what they may do and what they are desirous to do Can any knowledg be more delightful or more profitable then these And may not he who hath acquir'd them justly pretend to the acquisition of the greatest advantages of this life Now the Art of Knowing Man teaches all these things For though it seems to have no other end then to discover the Inclinations the Motions of the Soul the Vertues Vices which are observable in others yet does it with the same labour teach every one to find them out in himself and to deduce more rational and more impartial judgments thereof then if he first considered them in his own person For it is most certain that we cannot by our selves come to a perfect knowledge of our selves and our Souls may in that respect be compar'd to our Faces inasmuch as the former as well as the latter can only view themselvs in Mirrours If she attempts the beholding of herself the trouble she is at in that self-reflection distracts and wearies her and self-love corrupts and poysons all the judgments she makes of her-self For instance a person transported with Anger cannot make any just judgment of his passion which how furious soever it may be still thinks that all the reason and justice is of its side A covetous person thinks his most sordid cares the effects of Prudence and Necessity In a word all our Inclinations and Habits please and humour us all our Passions seem rational to us Who therefore could be sensible of them much less condemn them having the recommendation of pleasure being maintain'd by an appearance of Reason which are the two greatest corrupters of our sentiments To apprehend therefore their imperfections it is requisite we saw them in another that being a glass which flatters not and though those we make use of do represent such Images as are immediately blotted out of the memory the case is not the same with this which makes constant and permanent draughts the remembrance whereof is not easily lost In fine it is a thing out of all dispute that there is no better way for a man to come to the knowledg of himself then by studying that knowledg in others Thus is it then that the Art weteach is able to bring a man to the knowledg of himself But inasmuch as there are two kinds thereof one Physical and Natural which examines the composition of Man the nature of the Soul's faculties and the admirable Oeconomy observable in their functions the other Moral which relates to Morality and makes a discovery of the Inclinations Passions and Vices it must be acknowledg'd that it undertakes not to give an account of the former to the utmost extent it is capable of but leaves the absolute and exact disquisition thereof to Medicine and Philosophy But being oblig'd to make the strictest examination of things relating to Manners it is impossible but that enquiring into their causes and the manner whereby they are framed in the Soul there falls within its design the noblest and most intricate part of Physick or natural Philosophy and treating of the conformation of parts