as to that which is in the Hand or in the Fire Now this Judgment is Natural or rather it is a Compounded Sensation But this Sensation or this Natural Judgment is almost always follow'd by another free Judgment which the Soul is so accustom'd to that it can scarce refrain from it These four things are very different as may be shewed however Men do not carefully distinguish them but are inclin'd to confound them by reason of the strict union betwixt the Soul and Body which hinders us from separating the Properties of Matter from those of the Mind Yet it is easie for any Man to know that of these four things which pass in us when we perceive some Object the two first are proper to the Body and the two last to the Soul provided he consider a little the Nature of the Soul and Body as he ought to do which I have suppos'd But these things must be explain'd in Particulars CHAP. XI I. Of the Error we are subject to in respect of the Action of Objects upon the External Fibres of our Senses II. The Cause of that Error III. An Objection and Answer IN this and the three following Chapters we shall Treat of these Four Things which are confounded and taken for pure Sensation and shall only in general explain the Errors we are subject to because if we should enter into particulars it would be endless Yet I do not doubt but I may so assist the Mind of such as will seriously Meditate upon what shall be said as to make them capable of discovering with great facility all the Errors that are caused from our Senses but it will be requisite then that they shou'd think with fome application both upon the preceding and following Chapters The first of these things which we confound in all our Sensations I. Of the Erro we are juâ—ject to in respect to the Objects acting upon the Fibres of our Serses is the Action of Objects upon the External Fibres of our Body It is most certain that there is hardly any distinction made between the Sensation of the Soul and this Action of the Objects of which there needs no proof for Example almost all Men imagine that the heat they feel is in the Fire which causes it that Light is in the Air and Colours upon Coloured Objects they have no thoughts upon the Motions of fome imperceptible Bodies which cause these Sensations It is true II. The Cause of the Error that they do not imagine that pain is in the Needle that pricks them as they judge heat to be in the Fire the reason is because the Needle and its Action are visible but the Particles of the Wood which go out from the Fire and their Motion against our Hands are not seen so that seeing nothing that strikes our Hands when we warm our selves and feeling heat we naturally judge this heat to be in the Fire because we see nothing else there So that 't is commonly true that we attribute our Sensations to Objects when the Causes of these Sensations are unknown to us and because Pain and Tititation are produced by sensible Bodies as with a Needle a Feather which we see and touch and therefre we do not judge that there is any thing like to these Sentiments in those Objects that cause them in us It is certain indeed III. Objection that we do not imagine that the burning is in the Fire but only in the Hand although it is caused by Particles of the Wood as well as the Heat which we always attribute to the Fire But the reason of it is the burning is a kind of Pain and having many times judged that Pain is not in the External Body which Causes it we are induced also to make the same Judgment of Burning What further persuades us to judge after this manner is that Pain or Burning does strongly apply our Soul to the affected parts of our Bodies and that diverts us from thinking on other things Thus the Mind unites the Sensation of burning to that Object that is nearest to it And because we soon after perceive that the burning hath left fome visible Marks in that part where we felt the Pain this confirms us in the Judgment we have made that the burning is in the Hand But this must not hinder us from receiving this general Rule that we use to attribute our Sensations to Objects every time they act upon us by the Motion of fome invisible Particle This is the reason that we generally believe that Colours Light Odours Taste Sound and fome other Sensations are in the Air or in the External Objects which cause them because all Sensations are produced in us by the Motion of fome Imperceptible Bodies CHAP. XII I. Of the Errors concerning the Motions of the Fibres of our Senses II. That either we perceive not these Motions or else confound them with our Sensations III. Experience which proves it IV. Three sorts of Sensations V. The Errors which accompany them THE second thing that may be observed in each of our Sensations I. Errors concerning the motions or shaking of the Fibres of our Senses II. That we confound them with the Sensaâ—on of our Soul and sometime again do not perceive them is the shaking of the Fibres of our Nerves which is communicated unto the Brain and we deceive our selves in this that we confound this shaking with the Sensation of the Soul and judge there is none when we perceive it not by the Senses We confound for instance the Motion that the Fire excites in the Fibres of our Hands with the Sensation of Heat and we say that the Heat is in our Hand But because we feel not the shaking that visible Objects produce in the Optick Nerve which is in the bottom of the Eye we think that this Nerve is not shaken and that it is not cover'd with the Colours that appear to us on the contrary we judge that 't is only external Objects upon which these Colours are dispersed yet we may see by the following Experiment that Colours are almost as strong and lively in the bottom of the Optick Nerve as upon visible Objects Take the Eye of an Ox that is newly killed III. Experience which proves it and strip the Skins from it that are opposite to the Apple of of the Eye in the place where the Optick Nerve is and put in their room a little bit of Paper that is very thin and place this Eye in the hole of a Window so that the Apple be in the Air and the back part of the Eye be in the Chamber which must be shut close so that it may be very dark and then all the Colours of the Objects which are without the Chamber will appear upon the bottom of the Eye but represented upside down And if these Colours shou'd happen not to be very lively if the Objects which are painted at the bottom of the Eye are too near the
Reason though our Sight fails us in it shake these Fibres and communicate a part of their Motion If this Motion I say is moderate that of the extremity of the Fibres of the Brain which answer to the Hand will be moderate but if this Motion is violent enough in the Hand to separate some parts as it happens when a Man burns the Motion of the Internal Fibres of the Brain will be proportionably more violent This is what happens to our Body when Objects Act upon it We must now consider what happens to the Soul It resides principally V. The effect thâ—â— Objects have upon the Soulâ— and Reasans why the Soul dâ—â— nâ—t perceive the Motions of the Fibre of the Bod. if I may be permitted to say so in this part of the Brain where all the Strings of our Nerves meet together 't is placed there to cherish and conserve all the parts of our Body and consequently it 's necessary that it be advertis'd of all the Changes which happen thereto and that it can distinguish those which are Conformable to the Constitution of its Body from the others because it would be very useless to know 'em absolutely and without any relation to its Body Since therefore all these Changes of our Fibres which have no other real Existence but in the Motions which commonly differ only as to the more or less it 's necessary that the Soul look upon 'em as Changes essentially different for although in themselves they differ but little This â—â—â—fu◠〈…〉 〈◊〉 is only a Compos'd Sensation yet we must always consider 'em as essentially different in respect of the preservation of the Body Motion for Example which causes Pain very often differs but a little from that which causes Titillation it is not necessary that there be an Essential difference between these two Motions but it 's necessary that there be an Essential difference between Titillation and Pain which these two Motions cause in the Soul for the shaking of the Fibres which accompanies Titillation 〈…〉 I 〈…〉 of Natural Judgments in â— 1. Lib. 1. informs the Soul of the good Constitution of it's Body that there is power enough to resist the impression of the Object and that it must not apprehend it self hurt but the Motion which accompanies Pain being a little more violent is capable of breaking fome Fibre of the Body and the Soul must be advertis'd by fome disagreeable Sensation to take care thereof Thus although the Motions which pass in the Body differ only as to more or less between themselves yet if they are consider'd in respect to the preservation of our Life it may be said that they differ essentially Hence our Soul is sensible only of the Action of Objects upon the Fibres of our Flesh it would be of no use at all to it to know them nor could it receive from them sufficient light to judge whether the things about us were capable of destroying or cherishing the Oeconony of our Body but it perceives it self touch'd by these Sensations which differ essentially and precisely observing the Qualities of Objects as they stand related to the Body they make it to perceive very distinctly whether or no these Objects are capable of hurting it Besides this we must consider that if the Soul only perceives that which passes in its Hand when burnt if it only sees the Motion and Separation of fome Fibres it would not be at all concern'd and it might even sometimes out of Fancy and Caprice take a satisfaction in it like those Madmen that divert themselves by breaking every thing to pieces in their Fury Or else even as a Prisoner would not be uneasie to see one demolish the Walls that confin'd him but would even rejoyce in hopes of being deliver'd very soon so if we only perceive the separation of the parts of our Body when we are burnt or receive any hurt we should soon be persuaded that our Happiness is not confin'd in the Body which rather obstructs it and therefore we should be very glad to see it destroy'd Hence it is observable that the Author of the Union of our Soul and Body hath with great Wisdom ordain'd that we should be sensible of pain when there happens a change to the Body which is capable of hurting it as when a Needle pierces the Flesh or Fire separates fome parts thereof and that we should be sensible of Titillation or an agreeable Heat when these Motions are moderated without perceiving either the truth of what passes in our Body or the Motions of these Fibres of which we have already spoke First Because in perceiving Pain and Pleasure which differ otherwise than in the more and less we more easily distinguish Objects which are the occasion of them Secondly because this way of informing us whether we ought to unite or separate from Bodies which are about us is more short and does less imploy the Capacity of the Mind which was made for God Lastly Because Pain and Pleasure being Modifications of the Soul which it perceives by means of its Body and which affect more than the knowledge of Motion or fome Fibres which belong thereto this obliges the Mind to be much concern'd and strengthens the Union betwixt the Soul and Body of Man From all this it is evident that our Senses were not given us to teach us truth but for the preservation of our Body What we have said of Titillation and of Pain must be generally understood of all other Sensations as will be better seen hereafter We began with these two Sensations rather than with others because they are more lively and help us to conceive more sensibly what was to be said It is now very easily shewn how we fall into an Infinity of Errors about Light and Colours and generally about all sensible Qualities Cold. Heat Odours Sapors Sound Pain Titillation c. And if I would stay to particularize every one belonging to every Object of the Senses whole years would not suffice to enumerate them because they are almost infinite I shall therefore content my self to speak of 'em in General In almost all Sensations there are four different things which are confounded VI. Four things which are confounded in every Sensation because they are done all together and as it were in an Instant and this is the Principle of all the other Errors of our Senses The first is the Action of the Object that is in Heat for Example the Impulsion or Agitation of the Particles of Wood against the Fibres of the Hand The second is the Passion of the Organ of Sense that is the Agitation of the Fibres of the Hand caus'd by that of the Particles of Fire which Agitation is communicated to the Brain because otherwise the Soul would perceive nothing The third is the Passion Sensation or Perception of the Soul that is what every one feels who is near the Fire The fourth is the Judgment that the Soul makes
9 Chap. 3. I. That Philosophers dissipate their Mind by applying it to Subjects which include too many Relations and which depend upon too many things without keeping any Order in their Studies II. An Example drawn from Aristotle III. That Geometricians on the contrary proceed well in an Enquiry after Truth especially those who make use of Algebra IV. That their method increases the power of the Mind and that Aristotle's Logick weakens it V. Another defect of studious Persons p. 15 Chap. 4. I. The Mind cannot long apply it self to any Object which neither relates to it self nor to Infinity II. The Inconstancy and consequently the Error of the Will proceeds from this Defect of Application III. Our Sensations affect us more than the Pure Idea's of the Mind IV. What is the Original Cause of the Corruption of Manners V. And the Ignorance of the Generality of Mankind p. 20 The Second Part of the Pure Understanding Of the Nature of IDEA'S Chap. 1. I. WHat is meant by Idea's That they truly Exist and that they are necessary to perceive all material Objects II. A division of all the Modes by which External Objects may be seen p. 29 Chap. 2. That material Objects do not emit Species which resemble them p. 33 Chap. 3. That the Soul has no power of producing Idea's The Cause of Mens Error in reference to this Subject p. 35 Chap. 4. That we do not sie Objects by the means of Idea's which were created with us And that God does not produce them in us so often as we have occasion for them p. 41 Chap. 5 That the Mind neither sees the Essence nor Existence of Objects in considering its own Perfections That none but God sees them in that manner p. 44 Chap. 6. That we see all things in God p. 46 Chap. 7. I. Four different ways of seeing things II. How we know God III. How we know Bodies IV. How we know our Soul V. How we know the Souls of other Men and pure Spirits p. 55 Chap. 8. I. The Intimate Presence of the Wandering Idea of Being in General is the Cause of all the Irregular Abstractions of the Mind and of the greatest part of the Chimera's of common Philosophy which hinder many Philosophers from discovering the Solidity of the True Principles of Moral Philosophy II. Example concerning the Essence of Matter p. 6â— Chap. 9. I. The last General Cause of our Errors II. That the Idea's of things are not always present to the Mind as soon as 't is desir'd III. That all Finite Minds are liable to Error and why IV. We ought not to judge that there are only Bodies or Spirits nor that God is a Spirit as we conceive Spirits p. 71 Chap. 10. Examples of some Physical Errors into which Men fall because they suppose that things which differ in their Nature Qualities Extension Duration and Proportion are alike in all things p. 77 Chap. 11. Examples of some Errors of Morality which depend on the same Principle p. 87 The Conclusion of the Foree first Books p. 91 BOOK IV. Of the Inclinations and Natural Motions of the Mind Chap. 1. I. IT 's necessary the Mind have Inclinations as well as the Body Motions II. God acts the Humane Mind only for himself III. Mens Minds are only inclin'd to Particular Good through the Motion they have to Good in General IV. The Origine of the Chief Natural Inclinations which will make up the Division of this Fourth Book p. 1 Chap. 2. I. The Inclination for Good in General is the Principle of the Disquiet of our Will II. And consequently of our Negligence and Ignorance III. First Example Morality little known to many Men. IV. Second Example The Immortality of the Soul disputed by some Men. V. That our Ignorance is exceeding great in respect of abstracted things or such as have but little Relation to us p. 7 Chap. 3. I. Curiosity is natural and necessary II. Three Rules to moderate it III. Explanation of the first of these Rules p. 20 Chap. 4. A Continuation of the same Subject I. Explanation of the Second Rule of Curiosity II. Explanation of the Third p. 27 Chap. 5. I. Of the Second Natural Inclination or of Self-Love II. It is divided into the Love of Being and Well-Being or of Greatness and Pleasure p. 31 Chap. 6. I. Of the Inclination we have for every thing that raises us above other Persons II. Of the false Judgments of some Pious Persons III. Of the false Judgments of the Superstitious and Hypocrites IV. Of Voetius an Enemy to Monsieur Descartes p. 35 Chap. 7. Of the desire of Science and of the Judgments of pretenders to Learning p. 42 Chap. 8. I. Of the Desire of being thought Learned II. Of the Conversation of pretenders to Learning III. Of their Works p. 48 Chap. 9. How the Inclination we have for Honours and Riches lead us to Error p. 56 Chap. 10. Of the Love of Pleasure in relation to Morality I. We must shun Pleasure though it make us Happy II. It must not incline us to the Love of Sensible Delights p. 58 Chap. 11. Of the Love of Pleasure in relation to Speculative Sciences I. How it hinders us from discovering Truth II. Some Examples p. 65 Chap. 12. Of the Effects which the thought of Future Bliss and Sufferings is capable of producing in the Mind p. 79 Chap. 13. I. Of the Third Natural Inclination which is the Friendship we have for other Men. II. It induces us to approve our Friends Thoughts and to deceive them by False Praises p. 85 A SEARCH AFTER TRUTH BOOK I. Of the Errors of the Senses CHAP. I. I. Of the Nature and Properties of the UNDERSTANDING II. Of the Nature and Properties of the WILL and wherein its Liberty consists ERROR is the Cause of Man's Misery the corrupt Principle that has produc'd Evil in the World 't is this which begets and cherishes in our Souls all the Evils that afflict us and we can never expect a true and solid Happiness but by a serious Endeavour to avoid it Holy Scripture teaches us that Men are miserable only because they are Sinners and Criminals and they would be neither if they did not make themselves the Slaves of Sin by assenting to Error If it be true then that Error is the Origin of Men's Misery how very just is it that they should endeavour their Deliverance from it and certainly an Effort towards it would not be vain and unrewarded though perhaps it might not have all the effect that could be desired admit we could not arrive at Infallibility and accomplish an absolute Victory yet we should be less deceiv'd and subject to fewer Evils We are not to expect an entire Felicity in this Life because we cannot pretend to Infallibility but our Endeavours to avoid Error must be as continual as are our Aversions for Misery In a word as we earnestly desire Happiness without Hopes of attaining it here so we must vigorously pursue
that they do not help us to the Knowledge of Things but in respect to the preservation of our Body and not according to what they are in themselves is exactly true in this case since we have a more exact Knowledge of the Motion or Rest of Bodies in proportion to their nearness and which we cou'd examine by the Senses than when they are so distant That the Relation they have to our Bodies ceases as when they are five or six hundred Paces from us if they are of an ordinary bigness and even nearer than that if they are less or in fine farther off if they are greater CHAP. X. Of Errors about Sensible Qualities I. A distinction of Soul and Body II. An Explication of the Organs of the Senses III. To what part of the Body the Soul is immediately Vnited IV. How Objects act upon Bodies V. How upon the Soul with Reasons why the Soul does not perceive the Motions of the Fibres of the Body VI. Four things which are Confounded in every Sensation WE have seen in the preceding Chapters that the Judgments we form by these means of our Eyes about Extension Figure and Motion are never exactly true yet we must confess they are not absolutely false they include at least this Truth That Extension Figure and Motion whatever they are are without us It 's true we often see things which are not and which never were and we ought not to conclude that a thing is without us from hence only that we see it without us there is no necessary connexion between an Idea that is presented to the Mind of Man and the Existence of a thing which this Idea represents That which happens to those who sleep or are delirious sufficiently proves this however we can ordinarily be assur'd that Extension Figures and Motions which we see are without us These are not meer imaginary things they are real and we are not deceiv'd if we believe they have a real Existence and which is independant of our Mind though it 's very * See the Explanations difficult to prove it It is then evident that the Judgments we make about the Extension Figures and Motions of Bodies contain some Truth but the same cannot be said of those things that belong to Light Colours Sapors Odours and all other sensible Qualities for Truth is never to be found there as we have shown before We do not here distinguish Light from Colours because we believe they are not very different nor can be separately explain'd We shall be oblig'd to speak of other sensible Qualities in General at the same time that we treat of these two because they might be explain'd from the same Principles We ought to be very attentive to the things that follow for they are of the most important Consequence and much more useful than those things we have yet spoken of I suppose first Distinction of the Soul and Body that the Reader has made some Reflexion upon the two * I here cast Idea every thing that is the immediate Object of the Mind Idea's which are found in our Soul one which represents the Body to us and the other the Mind that he is able to distinguish them by the positive Attributes which they include in a word that he be well persuaded that Extention is different from Thought Or else I suppose him to have Read and Consider'd some Places of St. Augustin as the 10th Chapt. of the 10th Book of the Trinity the 4th and 14th Chap. of the Book of the Quantity of the Soul or the Meditations of Descartes especially that which respects the Distinction of the Soul and Body Or lastly the Sixth Discourse of M. de Cordemoy du discernement de l'ame du Corps I suppose also II. Explication of the Organs of the Senses that he knows the Anatomy of the Organs of the Senses and that they are compos'd of small Branches which have their Original in the middle of the Brain whence they disperse themselves through all the Members of Sensation and that at last without any interruption terminate at the Extreme parts of the Body That whilst we are Awake or in Health one of their Extremities cannot be mov'd but the other is also mov'd because of their perpetual Intension just as an extended Cord cannot be mov'd in one part without communicating motion to another The Reader must also know that these little Strings or Branches may be affected after two ways either at the end which is at the extremity of the Body or at that which is in the Brain If these little Strings are shaken by the Action of External Bodies upon them and this Motion is not communicated to the Brain as it often happens in sleep then the Mind receives no new Sensation by that Action but if these Strings are mov'd in the Brain by the Course of the Animal Spirits or by some other Cause the Soul perceives something although the parts of these Strings which are out of the Brain and which are dispers'd through all the parts of our Bodies be in perfect rest as it often happens in sleep It is not amiss to observe here by the by III. The Soul is immediately united to that part of the Brain where the Strings of the Organs of the Senses meet how Experience teaches us that we do sometimes feel pain in such parts of our Bodies as have been cut off because the Strings of the Brain which belong to those respective parts being shaken after the same manner as if they were effectually hurt the Soul feels a very real Pain in these Imaginary Parts Now all these things shew visibly that the Soul immediately resides in that part of the Brain where all the Organs of Sense meet I mean it perceives all the Changes which pass there by means of Objects which Cause or have been accustom'd to Cause them and perceives nothing that passes out of this part but by the interposition of the Fibres which terminate there This Position being well conceiv'd it will not be very difficult to shew how Sensation is made which must be explain'd by some Example When I thrust the Point of a Needle into my Hand IV. An Example how Objects affect Bodies this Point removes and separates the Fibres of the Flesh the Fibres are continued from this place to the Brain and when one sleeps they are extended enough not to be shaken unless those of the Brain be also shaken it follows then that the Extremities of these Fibres which are in the Brain are also moved If the Motion of the Fibres in my Hand is moderate that of the Fibres of the Brain will be so also and if the Motion is violent to break something upon my Hand it will be much stronger and more violent in the Brain Thus also if I come near the Fire the small parts of Wood which it continually in great number and with much violence disperses as may be prov'd by
any other Liquors do It gives us the Foil to speak with Plautus and produces many effects in the Mind which are not so advantageous as those that Horace describes in these Verses Quid non ebrietas designat Operta recludit Spes jubet esse ratas in praelia tendit inermes Sollicitis animis onus eximit addocet artes Faecundi Calices quem non fecere disertum Contracta quem non in paupertate solutum It would be easie enough to give a reason of the principal effects that the mingling of the Chyle with the Blood produces in the Animal Spirits and afterwards in the Brain and even in the Soul it self As why Wine rejoyces us and gives a certain Vivacity to the Wit when it is taken with Moderation and for sometime besots Men when 't is drank to Excess From whence proceeds the heaviness after Meals and many other such things for which generally very ridiculous reasons has been given But though we shall not here make a Book of Natural Philosophy yet it will be necessary to give some Idea of the Anatomy of the Brain or make some Suppositions as Mr. D'Cartes has done in his Treatise of Man without which 't will be impossible to explain our selves But if one reads this Treatise of Monsieur D'Cartes with attention we may satisfie our selves upon these questions because he explains all these things or at least gives a sufficient light to discover them as he has done by Meditation provided one has some Knowledge of his PRINCIPLES CHAP. III. That the Air one breaths causes likewise some change in the Spirits THE second general Cause of the changes which happens in the Animal Spirits is the Air we breath for altho' it does immediately make as sensible impressions as the Chyle nevertheless in some time it produces the same effect as the Juice of our Food does presently This Air enters from Branches of the Wind-pipe into that of the Venous Artery and from thence it mingles it self and ferments with the rest of the Blood in the Heart and according to its particular disposition and that of the Blood it produces great changes in the Animal Spirits and by consequence in the faculty of Imagining I know that there are some Persons who do not believe that the Air mingles it self with the Blood in the Lungs and Heart because by their Eyes they cannot discover in the branches of the Wind-pipe and those of the Venous Artery the passages whereby the Air is communicated But we must not confine the Action of the Mind to that of the Senses it can penetrate what is impenetrable by them and apply it self to such things which they cannot 'T is certain that some parts of the Blood continually pass from the branches of the Venous Artery into those of the Wind-pipe as the smell and moistness of the breath sufficiently proves and yet the passages of this communication are imperceptible why therefore cannot the subtile parts of the Air pass from the branches of the Wind-pipe into the Venous Artery altho' the passages of this communication are not so visible In short more humours are evacuated by transpiration from the imperceptible Pores of the Arteries and Skin than by any other passages of the Body and even the Pores of the most solid Metals are not so small but that there are Bodies in Nature small enough to find a free passage for otherwise these Pores would be clos'd up It is true that the Gross and branchy parts of the Air cannot pass through the ordinary Pores of Bodies and that even Water altho' very gross can glide through those passages where this Air is sometime forced to stop But we are not speaking here of those gross and branchy parts of the Air they are it seems unuseful enough for fermentation 't is only of the smallest parts such as are swift and sharp that we speak of and which have none or very small branches to stop them because they are the most proper for the fermentation of the Blood I might nevertheless affirm upon the Relation of Silvius that even the grossest part of the Air pass from the Wind-pipe into the Heart since he assures us that he hath seen it pass thither by the help of M. de Swamerdam for it is more reasonable to believe a Man who says he has seen it than a thousand others who only speak of it by chance It is then certain that the most subtile parts of the Air which we breath enters into our Heart and with the Blood and Chyle maintains there that fire which gives Life and Motion to our Bodies and that according to their different Qualities they produce great changes in the fermentation of the Blood and in the Animal Spirits The truth of this is every day made evident by the divers Humours and different Characters of Persons dispositions that are of different Countries For Example the Gascons have a more lively Imagination than the Normans those of Roan Diep and Picardy differ very much among themselves and that much more from the Lower Normans Nunquid non ultra est sapientia in Teman Jer. c. 49. v. 7. altho' they be very near together But if we consider Men whose Countries are at a greater distance we shall meet with differences still more strange as an Italian and German or a Dutchman In fine there has in all times been some places that have been renowned for the Wisdom of their Inhabitants as Teman and Athens and others for their Stupidity as Thebes Abdera and some others Athenis tenue coelum ex quo acutiores etiam putantur Attici crassum Thebis Cic. de fato Abderitanae pectora plebis habes Mart. Boeotum in crasso jurares aere natum Hor. CHAP. IV. I. Of the Change wrought in the Animal Spirits by the Nerves that go to the Lungs and Heart II. Of that which is caused by the Nerves that pass from the Liver to the Spleen and so into the Bowels III. That all this is done without the assistance of our Will but cannot be effected without a Providence THE third Cause of those changes that happen to the Animal Spirits is the most general and most active of all because it is that which produces maintains and fortifies all the Passions To apprehend which well it 's necessary that we know that the fifth sixth and eighth pair of the Nerves have most of their branches extended through the Breast and Belly where they are very useful for the preservation of the Body but extreamly dangerous to the Soul because the action of these Nerves do not depend upon the Will as those do which serve to move the Arms Legs and other external parts of the Body I. of the change of the Spirits caus'd by the Nerves which go to the Lungs and Heart for they act much more upon the Soul than that does upon them It must therefore be consider'd that many branches of the eight pair of the Nerves cast themselves amongst
hours are dissipated by transpiration through the Pores of those Vessels that contain them and it very often happens that others succeed which do not perfectly resemble them but the Fibres of the Brain are not so easily dissipated there does not often happen any considerable Change in them and their whole substance cannot be changed but after many years The most considerable differences that are found in a Man's Brain during the whole Course of his Life are in Infancy at his full Strength and in Old Age. The Fibres of the Brain in Children are soft flexible and delicate in perfect Age they become more dry hard and strong but in Old Age they become wholly inflexible gross and sometimes mingled with superfluous humours that the feeble heat of this Age cannot be any longer dissipated For as we see the Fibres which compose the Flesh harden in time and that the Flesh of a young Partridge is without dispute more tender than that of an old one so the Fibres of the Brain of a Child or Youth will be much more soft and delicate than those of Persons that are more advanced in years We shall soon see the reason of these Changes if we but consider how these Fibres are continually agitated by the Animal Spirits which run round about them in many different ways For as the Wind drys the Earth by blowing upon it so the Animal Spirits through their continual agitation by little and little render the greatest part of the Fibres of Man's Brain more dry compressed and solid so that Persons a little advanced in Years will almost always have them more inflexible then those that are Younger And for those that are of the same Age as Drunkards who for many years have used Wine to Excess or such Liquors as have been able to stupifie them will also have them more solid and more inflexible then such as are deprived of those Drinks during their whole Lives Now the different Constitutions of the Brain in Children Men at full growth and old Men are very considerable Causes of the difference that is observed in their faculty of Imagining of which we shall afterwards speak CHAP. VII I. Of the Communication which is between the Brain of a Mother and that of her Child II. Of the Communication that is between our Brain and the other parts of our Body which carries us to Imitation and Compassion III. An Explanation of the generation of Monstrous Children and of the Propagation of the Species IV. Some Irregularities of the Mind and some Inclinations of the Will explained V. Of Concupiscence and Original Sin VI. Objections and Answers IT is sufficiently evident to me that we incline to all things and that we have a Natural relation to every thing about us that is most useful for the Preservation and conveniency of Life But these relations are not equal we are more inclined to France than to China to the Sun than to any Star and to our own House more than to our Neighbours There are invsible ties which unite us more strictly to Men than to Beasts to our Relations and Friends than to Strangers to those we depend upon for the preservation of our Lives than such from whom we neither fear nor hope any thing What is chiefly to be observed in this Natural Union which is between us and other Men is that 't is so much the greater as we have more need of them Relations and Friends are strictly United one to another we may say their Griefs and Miseries are Common as well as their Joys and Happiness for all the Passions and Sensations of our Friends are communicated to us by the impression of their aspect and air of their Face Yet because we cannot absolutely live without them there is also another stricter Union then that Natural and Mutual one which is betwixt us and them Children in their Mothers Bellies I. Of the Communication which is between the Brain of a Mother and that of a Child whose Bodies are not yet entirely formed who are of themselves in as weak and helpless a condition as can be conceived must also be united with their Mothers in the stricktest manner that can be imagined And althâ— their Souls are separated from their Mothers yet their Bodies being linked together we must think they have the same Sensations and Passions and indeed the same thoughts which are excited in the Soul by the motions that are produced in the Body Thus Infants see what their Mothers see they hear the same Crys receive the same impressions of Objects and are agitated with the same Passions For since the air of a passionate Mans face penetrates those who look upon him and naturally imprints in them a passion like that which agitates him although the Union of the Man with those that consider him is not so great it seems reasonable to me to think that Mothers are capable of impressing upon their Children all the same Sensations they are affected with and all the same passions by which they are agitated For the body of an Infant makes but one with that of the Mothers the Blood and Spirits are common to both and Sensations and Passions are the Natural Consequence of the Motion of the Spirits and Blood which Motions necessarily Communicate themselves from the Mother to the Child Therefore the passions sensations and generally all the thoughts which proceed from the body are common both to the Mother and Child These things appear unquestionable for many reasons and I advance them only here as a supposition agreeable to my thoughts but shall sufficiently demonstrate them hereafter For whatsoever hypothesis can resolve all difficulties that can be brought against it ought to pass for an unquestionable principle The invisible bonds by which the Author of Nature unites all these Works are worthy the Wisdom of God and admiration of Men there is nothing that 's both more surprizing and instructive together but we think not of it we suffer our selves to be conducted without considering who it is that conducts us Nature is hidden from us as well as its Author and we feel the Motions which she produces in us without considering the Causes of 'em yet are there few things more necessary to be known for 't is upon their knowledge that the Explanation of whatsoever belongs to Man depends There are certainly springs in our Brain which Naturally incline us to Imitation II. Of the Communication there is between our Brain and the other parts of our bodies which inclines us to Imitation and Compassion for it is very necessary to Civil Society It is not only requisite that Children should believe their Fathers Disciples their Masters and Inferiors those which are above them for all Men must have some disposition to take the same manners and to do the same actions with those they live with To unite Men together there must be a resemblance both of Body and Mind this is the principle of an infinite Number
of things that we shall afterwards treat of but for what we shall speak of in this Chapter it is necessary that we know there is Natural dispositions in the Brain which incline us to Compassion as well as Imitation We must then consider that not only the Animal Spirits carry themselves Naturally into the parts of our Bodies to cause the same Actions and Motions we see in others but also in some manner to receive their Injuries and to take part in their Miseries for Experience teaches us that when we very attentively consider any one that is rudely hurt or that hath any great wound the Spirits are carried with great force into such parts of our Bodies as answer to those that we see hurt in another Provided that we do not turn the course of the Animal Spirits otherways by an industrious and voluntary titillation of some other part of the body Or except their Natural course to the Heart and Bowels which is wont to happen in sudden Motions draw them along with it self or change that course which we speak of Or lastly except some extraordinary connection with the traâ—â—s of the Brain and Motions of the Spirits produce the same effect The Spirits being thus carried into the parts of the Body which answer to those that we see hurt in oothers make a very sensible Impression in delicate Persons who have a lively Imagination and very tender and soft flesh for they very often feel a kind of trembling in their Legs if they attentively look upon any one that hath an Ulcer or that has actually received some blow there This that one of my Friends writ me an account of confirms my Opinion An Old Man that lived at one of my Sisteâ—s being sick a young Maid Servant of the House held the Candle whilst he was let blood in the Foâ—t and when she saw the Surgeon give the prick with the Lancet she was seized with such an apprehension that she felt so lively a pain in the same place of the Foot for three or four days afterwards that she was forced to keep her Bed all that time The reason of these accidents is that the Spirits forcibly diffusing themselves into those parts of our body which answer to what we see hurt in others being kept more bent they make the Soul more sensible and put it upon its guard to avoid those evils that it sees happen to others This Compassion in the Body produces one in the Mind it excites us to help and assist others because in that we relieve our selves and it also stops our Malice and Cruelty for the horrour of Blood the fear of Death and in a word the sensible impression of Compassion often hinders those from killing of Beasts who even are much perswaded that they are only Machines because the generality of Mankind cannot kill them without hurting themselves by the counterstroke of Compassion What is chiefly to be observed here is that the sensible sight of a wound that any Person receives produces in those that see it another hurt so much the more sensible as the beholder is more weak and delicate because this sensible sight pushes the Animal Spirits with more violence into those parts of the body which answer to what they see hurt and so make a greater Impression in the Fibres of a delicate body than in one that is more strong and robust So Men who are strong and vigorous are not hurt by the sight of a Murder they are not so much inclined to Compassion because this sight offends their Bodies but because it offends their Reason These Persons have no pity for Criminals they are immoveabie and inexorable But Women and Children suffer much Pain by the Wounds they see others receive they have a Mecanical Compassion for the Miserable Nay they cannot see a Dog beat or hear him cry without being disturbed at it As for Infants who are yet in their Mothers Belly the delicacy of the Fibres of their Flesh being infinitely greater than that of Women or Children the Course of the Spirits will produce more considerable changes in them as we shall afterwards observe Let what I have said be look'd upon as a simple Supposition if it is desired yet we must endeavour to comprehend it well if we will distinctly conceive what I would explain in this Chapter For the two Suppositions that I have made are the principles of an infinite Number of things which have been generally believed very hidden and mysterious and which appear impossible to me to be explained without receiving these Suppositions Of which here are some Examples About Seven or Eight years ago I saw in the * An Hospital in France for such as we past Cure III. An Explanation of the generation of Mâ—nstrous Children and of the prâ—pagâ—tion of the Species Incurables a young Man who was born a Fool and his body broken after the same manner as Criminals are broke on the Wheel He had lived near twenty Years in this condition many Persons have seen him and the late Queen-Mother going to visit this Hospital had the Curiosity to see him and to touch the Arms and Legs of this young Man in the same places where they were broke According to the principles that I have established the Cause of this sad Accident was that his Mother who heard a Criminal was to be broken went to see him executed all the blows that this miserable Man received so strongly smote the Imagination of this Mother and by a kind of Counter-blow the render delicate Brain of her * According to the first Supposition Child The Fibres of this Womans Brain were strangely shaken and it may be broke in some places by the impetuous Course of the Animal Spirits caused by the sight of so terrible an Action but she was strong enough to hinder their absolute ruine though on the contrary the Fibres of this Child's Brain being not able to resist the torrent of these Spirits were entirely dissipated and the shock was great enough to make him wholly lose his Wits and this was the reason he came into the World deprived of his Understanding this was likewise the cause that the same parts of his body was broken as those of the Criminal whom his Mother saw executed At the sight of this Execution which was so capable of frighting a Woman the violent course of the Mothers Animal Spirits went impetuously from her Brain to all the parts of her Body which answer'd to those of the Criminal * According to the second Supposition and the same thing passed in the Infant But because the Bones of the Mother were able to resist the Violence of these Spirits they received no hurt Nay it may be she did feel no pain nor the least trembling in her Legs when the Criminal was broken but the rapid stream of the Spirits was capable to separate the soft and tender Bones of the Infant for the Bones are the last parts of the
Body that are formed and they have very little consistence in Infants while they are in the Womb And it must be observed that if this Mother had determined the Motion of these Spirits to any other part of her Body by some violent titilation her Child would not have had his Bones broken but that part which had answer'd to that to which the Mother determined these Spirits had been much hurt as I have already said The Reasons of this accident may serve to explain in general how Women who during their being with Child upon seeing Persons with certain Marks in their Faces imprint the same on their Children and in the same part of the Body And from thence we may judge that advice very reasonable which bids 'em touch some hidden part of the Body when they perceive any thing which surprizes 'em and when they are agitated with any violent Passion for that may cause the Marks to be traced rather upon these hidden parts than upon the Face of their Infants We should often have instances like to what I have now related if Infants could live after having received such great Wounds but generally it causes Abortions For we may conclude that almost all Infants who dye before they are born except they be sick have no other cause of their Death than a fright some ardent desire or some other violent passion of their Mothers Here is also another very particular instance 'T is not above a Year since that a Woman having with too much application consider'd the Picture of Saint Pius when the Feast of his Canonization was celebrated was brought to bed of a Child which was perfectly like the Representation of this Saint He had the Face of an Old Man as much as it was possible in an Infant that has no Beard his Arms were crossed upon his Breast his Eyes turned towards Heaven and he had a very low Forehead because the Image of this Saint being raised towards the Vault of the Church and looking towards Heaven had almost no Forehead likewise He had a kind of a confused Miter upon his Shoulders with many round marks in the places where Miters are covered with Stones And indeed this Child very much resembled the Picture by which his Mother had formed him through the power of her Imagination 'T is a thing that all Paris might have seen as well as I because 't was a long time preserved in Spirits of Wine This instance is the more particular because there was not the sight of a Man living and agitated with some passion who moved the Spirits and Blood of the Mother to produce so strange an effect but only the sight of a Picture which yet was very sensible and accompanied with a great emotion of Spirits caused either through the Zeal and application of the Mother or through the agitation that the noise of the Feast had produc'd in her This Mother therefore looking upon this Picture with some application and emotion of Spirits the Child according to the first supposition saw it as she did with the same application and emotion of Spirits The Mother being lively affected imitated him at leaft in the Posture according to the second Supposition for her body being entirely formed and the Fibres of her Flesh hard enough to resist the course of the Spirits she could not imitate or make her self like to him in all things but the Fibres of the Infant 's Flesh being extreamly soft and consequently susceptible of all sorts of impressions the violent course of the Spirits produced in his Flesh whatsoever was necessary to make him entirely like the Image that he saw and the imitation to which Children are much more disposed perfected it as much as possible but this imitation having given to the body of this Child a figure so very extraordinary it was also the cause of its Death There are many other Examples in Authors of the power of the Imagination of Mothers and there is nothing so fantastical but has caused Abortions sometimes For they not only make Children deformed but also marked with such Fruits as they have longed for as Plumbs Pears Grapes and such like things For instance some Mothers having a strong Inclination to eat Pears the Children imagine and desire them with the same ardour and the course of the Spirits excited by the image of this desired fruit disposing it self through the little body is able to change its sigure because of its sostness So that these poor Children become like those things they wish'd for with so much ardour But the Mothers suffer no Injury because their bodies are not soft enough to take the figure of such things as they imagine Thus they cannot imitate them or render themselves entirely like ' em Now it must not be imagined that this Correspondence that I have explained and which is sometimes the cause of such great disorder is useless or ill ordered by Nature for on the contrary it seems very useful in the Propagation of Humane Bodies or in the formation of the Foetus and it is absolutely necessary to the transmitting certain dispositions of the Brain which ought to be different at different times and in different Countrys For instance it is requisite in some Countrys that Lambs should have their Brains to disposed as to fly at the sight of a Wolf because there are many of 'em there and they have a great deal to fear from them 'T is true that this Communication of the Mothers Brain with her Infants has sometimes ill consequences when the Mothers suffer themselves to be surprized by any violent passion Yet it seems to me that without this Communication Women and Animals could not easily beget young ones of the same kind for although some reason might be given of the formation of the Foetus in general as D'Cartes has happily enough attempted However 't is very difficult without this Communication of the Mothers Brain with the Childs to explain how a Mare should not beget an Ox or an Hen lay an Egg which contains a little Partridge or some Foul of a new kind I believe those that have considered the sormation of the Foetus will be of this opinion The most reasonable thought and that which is most conformable to experience about this difficule question of the formation of the Foetus is that Children are perfectly formed even before the action by which they are conceived and that their Mothers only contribute to their growth whilst they continue in the Womb. However this Communication of Animal Spirits and of the Mothers Brain with the Spirits and Brain of the Child seems still serviceable to regulate this growth and determine the parts which serve for its Nourishment and by little and little to dispose the Child like the Mother or else like some of the same Species This appears plain enough by the accidents which happen when the Imagination of the Mother is disordered and the Natural Disposition of her Brain is changed
surprize it they are all Subjects of fear to it because it does not yet know them nor has it any power of it self to defend it self or to fly from them the Tears and Cries by which it condoles it self are infallible marks of its pains and fears for they are indeed the Prayers that Nature makes to procure it assistance to defend it from the evils it suffers and those it apprehends To be able to conceive well the perplexity of its Mind in this condition we must remember that the Fibres of its Brain are very soft and delicate and by consequence all external Objects make very deep impressions upon them For since the least things are sometimes capable of hurting a weak Imagination so great a number of surprizing Objects must certainly injure and perplex that of a Child But to have a more lively apprehension of the agitations and pains of Infants at the time of their first coming into the World and the prejudices which their Imaginations must receive let us represent to our selves what would be the astonishment of Men if they saw Giants five or six times higher than themselves approach near them without knowing any thing of their design or if they saw any new kind of Animal which had no resemblance to those they have already seen or only if a Flying-Horse or some other Chimera of our Poets shou'd suddenly descend from the Clouds These Prodigies wou'd make deep Traces in the Spirits and the Brain wou'd be confuted only to have seen them once Unexpected and frightful events fall out every day which makes even Men lose their Wits whose Brains are not very susceptible of new impressions altho' they have some Experience and can defend themselves or at least are able to make use of some resolution Children when first come into the World suffer something from every Object that strikes their Senses to which they are not accustomed All the Animals they see are of a new kind to them since they have seen nothing before like to them they have neither strength nor experience the Fibres of their Brain are very delicate and flexible How then is it possible but that their Imagination shou'd be injured by so many different Objects It is true that Mothers have already a little accustomed their Children to the impressions of Objects since they have already traced them in the Fibres of their Brain before they were born and so they are much less hurt when they see with their own Eyes what they had before in some manner perceived by those of their Mothers It is also true that false Traces and the injuries that their Imagination receives at the sight of so many frightful Objects are effaced and cured by time because not being Natural all Bodies are contrary to them and extirpate them as we have seen in the precedent Chapter And this is the reason that generally all Men are not Fools from their Infancy yet it does not hinder but that there is always some Traces so strong and deep that cannot be effaced all our Lives If Men wou'd but seriously reflect upon what passes within themselves and upon their own thoughts they wou'd not want Experience to prove what I have said They wou'd commonly discover in themselves inclinations and secret aversions which others have not for which there can be no other cause ascribed than these Traces of our Infancy For since the causes of these inclinations and aversions are particular to us they are not founded in the Nature of Man and since they are unknown to us it must be that they have acted in a time wherein our Memory was not capable to retain the circumstances of things so as to make us able to remember them and this time can only be that of our most tender Infancy Mr. D'Cartes hath told us in one of his Letters that he had a particular kindness for all squinting Persons and that in having carefully examined the cause of it he at last found 't was a defect he had met with in a young Maid whom he had loved whilest he was yet a Child and the affection he had for her made him love all persons that resembled her in any thing But it is not these little Irregularities of our Inclinations which mostly deceive us it proceeds from this That all our Minds are weak in some respect or other and we are all subject to some kind of Folly altho' we are not sensible of it When we carefully examine the Genius of those with whom we converse we easily perswade our selves of this altho' we are our selves an Original of some particular Folly and may be so accounted by others yet we shall also find others that have Follies peculiar to themselves and who differ only as to the more and less Now one of the causes of the different Characters of Dispositions and without doubt the difference of the impressions that we receive at our Birth as we have shown of the particular and extraordinary Inclinations is because these kinds of folly being commonly constant and durable they can only depend upon the Constitution of the Animal Spirits which very easily change and by consequence it is necessary that they proceed from false Impressions which are made in the Fibres of the Brain when our Memory was not capable of preserving the Idea's thereof that is from the beginning of our Life A general source of the Errors of Man is the great disorder of their Brain caused by the impression of external Objects when first they come into the World but this cause ceases not so soon as may be imagined The common Conversation that Children are obliged to have with their Nurses or even with their Mothers who often have no Education does prejudice and entirely corrupts their Disposition these Women entertain them only with silly things as ridiculous Stories or such as are only fit to fright them They never speak to them but of sensible things and after such a manner as is too sure to confirm them in the false Judgments of their Senses And in a word they cast into their Minds the Seeds of all the weaknesses they themselves have as of their extravagant apprehensions ridiculous superstitions and other the like prejudices by which means they neither being accustomed to search after Truth nor to have any gust of it they become at last incapable of discerning it or of making any use of their reason upon which account a certain fearfulness and weakness of Spirit seizes them which continues with them a long time for there are many persons who at the Age of fifteen or twenty that perfectly retain the Spirit of their Nurse It is true that Children don't appear very proper for the Meditation of Truth and for abstracted and elevated Sciences because the Fibres of their Brain being very delicate they are easily agitated even by the weakest and least sensible Objects and their Soul necessarily having Sensations proportionated to the agitation of these Fibres
to the Wise Men of this World to Dispute the holy Truths of the Christian Religion The greatest part of Mankind are so negligent and void of Reason that they make no distinction between the Word of God and that of Men when they are joined together so that they fall into Error while they approve both and into Impiety while they despise both indifferently Nor is it a difficult thing to see the Cause of these last Errors They proceed from the Connexion of Idea's explain'd in the Eleventh Chapter nor is it necessary to insist any farther upon the Explanation of 'em here However it seems worth our while to say something of Chymists Of those that make Experiments and generally of all those that spend their time in making Experiments They are People that Search after Truth and their Opinions are usually follow'd without any Examination Therefore their Errors are so much the more dangerous because they are imparted to others with so much the more ease 'T is better without question to Study Nature than Books Visible and sensible Experiments are certainly much more evident Proofs than the Arguments of Men. Nor are they to be blam'd who being engag'd by their Profession in the Study of Natural Philosophy endeavour to improve their Skill by continual Experiments provided they apply their Labours to the Improvement of the most necessary Sciences Therefore Experimental Philosophy is not to be found fault with nor they who make it their practise but only their Defects The first is that they are seldom guided in making their Experiments by the Light of Reason but by Chance From whence it comes to pass that they become but little more Learned or Knowing after they have spent much time and Money The second is because they are more Sedulous in Curious and Extraordinary Experiments than such as are most common and familiar Nevertheless the most Common Experiments are the most Simple and therefore they ought first of all to apply themselves to those before they settle to such as are more compounded and which depend upon a greater number of Causes The third is because they prosecute those Experiments that bring in Profit and neglect those that serve to illuminate the Mind The fourth is because they do not accurately enough observe all the particular Circumstances of Time Place and Quality of the Drugs which they make use of though the least of these Circumstances is sufficient to frustrate the Effect which they desire For it is to be observ'd that all the Terms of which the Physicians make use of are Equivocal For Example Wine has as many various significations as there are varieties of Soil different Seasons different Manners of making Wine and different Manners of preserving it so that in general we may say that there are not two Tuns of Wine altogether alike Therefore when a Physician in order to the making such an Experiment says take Wine no body knows but very confusedly what he means Therefore there is very great Caution to be us'd in Experiments nor ought they to attempt Compounded ones till they know the Reason of the more Simple and Common The fifth arises from hence that too many Consequences are drawn from one Experiment Whereas on the contrary we want several Experiments to infer one true Conclusion Lastly the greatest part of Physicians and Chymists consider only the Particular Effects of Nature they never return to the first Notions of Things that compose Bodies Nevertheless 't is most certain that no Man can clearly and distinctly understand the particular Phenomena of Natural Philosophy unless he be Master of the more General Principles and unless he also know something in Metaphysics In a word they often want Courage and Constancy they are terrified and tired with the Labour and Expence There are many other Defects in the Persons before mentioned but it is not our business here to enlarge The Causes of these Defects are little Application and the Properties of the Imagination explain'd in the Tenth and Eleventh Chapter and because we never judge otherwise of the difference and alterations of Bodies than by the Apprehensions we have of 'em as has been said in the First Book The Third Part. Of the contagious Communication of Strong Imaginations CHAP. I. I. Of our Inclination to imitate others in all things which is the Original of the Communication of Errors that depend upon the Power of Imagination II. Two Principal Causes that increase this Inclination III. What a Strong Imagination is IV. That there are several sorts of it Of Mad Men and of such who have a Strong Imagination according to the Sense which is here meant V. Two considerable Defects of those that have a Strong Imagination VI. Of the Power they have to Perswade and Impose HAving Explain'd the Nature of Imagination the Defects to which it is subject and how our own Imagination leads us into Error there nothing more remains for us to Discourse of in this Second Book but of the Contagious Communication of Strong Imaginations and that is of the Prevailing Power which some Men have to engage others in their Errors Strong Imaginations are extreamly Contagious they prevail over those that are weak they make 'em stoop to their own Laws and imprint upon 'em their own Characters Therefore because Men that have particular Idea's and a Strong and Vigorous Imagination most commonly exceed the Bounds of Reason there are few more General Causes of Error than this pernicious Communication of the Imagination For the better understanding what this Contagion is and how it is transmitted from one to another we must consider that all Men have need of one another and that they are made to compose among themselves several Bodies of which the Parts should have a mutual Correspondence one with another for the upholding of which Union it is that God has commanded 'em to be Charitable one toward another but because Self-Love might by little and little extinguish Charity and by that means dissolve the Bond of Civil Society the Almighty judg'd it convenient that Men should be united together by Natural Ties which might subsist when Charity fail'd and which might defend it against the Efforts of Self-Love These Natural Ties which are common to us with Beasts consist in a certain Disposition of the Brain with which all Men are endued to imitate those with whom they Converse to make the same Judgments which they do and to be subject to the same Passions of the Mind to which they are subject And this same Disposition usually unites Men together much more close and firmly than Charity grounded upon Reason which sort of Charity is very rare Unless a Man be endu'd with this same Disposition of the Brain to partake of our Sentiments and our Passions he is incapable of his own Nature to unite himself with us and compose one Body He is like those Stones of an irregular form for which there is no room in a Building because
times in a day almost all conclude that the Will which accompanies the production or rather the presence of Idea's is truly the Cause of them Because they see nothing in the same time that they can attribute it to and they imagin the Idea's no longer Exist when the Mind sees them no longer and that they revive again anew when they are again represented to the Mind 'T is for these Reasons some Judge that External Objects emit Images which resemble them as we have mention'd in the precedent Chapter For it being impossible to see Objects by themselves but only by their Idea's they judge the Object produces the Idea because as soon as it is present they see it and as soon as absent they see it no longer and because the presence of the Object almost always accompanies the Idea which represents it to us Yet if Men were not prejudiced in their Judgments from this that the Idea's of things are present to their Mind as soon as they Will them they should only conclude that according to the Order of Nature their Will is commonly necessary for them to have those Idea's Not that the Will is the true and principal Cause which presents them to the Mind and much less that the Will produces them from nothing or after the manner they explain it Nor ought they to conclude that Objects emit Species resembling them because the Soul commonly perceives them only when they are present but only that the Object is for the most part necessary in order to the Idea's being present to the Mind And lastly that a Bowl put into Motion is the principal and true Cause of the shaking of another Bowl that it meets in the way since the first had not the power of Motion in its self They can only determin that the meeting of two Bowls is an occasion to the Author of the Motion of Matter to execute the Decree of his Will which is the Universal Cause of all things See Ch. 3. Of the Second Part of Method in communicating to the other Bowl a part of the Motion of the first that is to speak more clearly in willing that the last should acquire so much more Motion as the first lost for the moving force of Bodies can proceed only from the Will of him who preserves them as we shall shew elsewhere CHAP. IV. That we do not see Objects by the Means of Idea's which were created with us And that God does not produce them in us so often as we have occasion for them THE Third Opinion is That of those who say all Idea's are created with us To discover the Improbability of this Opinion it will be necessary to consider that there is many different things in the World of which we have Idea's But to speak only of simple Figures it is certain that the Number of them is Infinite Nay even if we consider but one only as the Ellipsis we cannot doubt but the Mind conceives an infinite Number of different Kinds of them when it considers that one of the Diameters may be lengthened out to Infinity and the other always continue the same So the heighth of a Triangle may be augmented or diminished infinitely the base being always the same we may conceive there is an infinite Number of different Kinds of them And also which I desire may be consider'd here The Mind in some manner perceives this infinite Number although we can imagine but very few of them and that we can at the same time have particular and distinct Idea's of many Triangles of different Kinds But what must chiefly be observed is That this general Idea that the Mind has of this Number of Triangles of different Kinds is sufficient to prove That if we do not conceive each of these different Triangles by particular Idea's And in short If we comprehend not their Infinity 't is not the Defect of the Idea's or that Infinity is not represented to us but only the Defect of the Capacity and Extension of the Mind If a Man should apply himself to consider the Properties of all the diverse Kinds of Triangles although he should eternally continue this sort of Study he would never want new and particular Idea's but his Mind would be unprofitably fatigued What I have said of Triangles may be applied to five six a hundred a thousand or ten thousand sided Figures and so on ad infinitum Now if the sides of a Triangle which have infinite relations one with the other make Triangles of infinite Kinds it is plain that four five or a thousand sided Figures are capable of admitting much greater Differences since they are capable of a greater Number of Relations and Combinations of their sides than simple Triangles are The Mind then sees all these things it hath Idea's of them and these Idea's would never fail it although it should employ infinite Ages in the Consideration of one Figure only And if it perceived not these infinite Figures all of a sudden or comprehended not their Infinity 't is only because its Extension is very much limited It hath then an infinite Number of Idea's Do I say an infinite Number It hath as many infinite Numbers of Idea's as there are different Figures to be consider'd So that since there is an infinite Number of different Figures it 's necessary that to know the Figures the Mind have an infinitely infinite Number of Idea's Now I ask If it 's probable that God should Create so many things with the Mind of Man For my part it does not appear so to me chiefly since that might be made in a more simple and easie manner as we shall soon see For as God always acts by the most simple ways it does not seem reasonable to explain how we know Objects by admitting the Creation of an infinite Number of Beings since we can resolve this Difficulty in a more Easie and Natural way But although the Mind should have a Magazine of all the Idea's which are necessary for it to see things it would be yet more difficult to explain how the Soul should make choice of them to represent them For instance how it can represent the Sun to it self whilst it is present to the Eyes of its Body For whereas the Image which the Sun imprints in the Brain resembles not the Idea we have thereof as has been elsewhere proved and since the Soul perceives not the Motion that the Sun produces in the bottom of the Eyes and in the Brain it 's inconceivable how it should exactly guess amongst these infinite Number of Idea's that it has which it must represent to it self to imagine or to see the Sun We cannot therefore say That the Idea's of things were created with us it is sufficient that we see the Objects that are about us Nor can we say that God produces as many of them every Moment as we perceive different things this has been sufficiently refuted from what has been said in this
I hate Evil and Pain I would be Happy and I am not mistaken in believing that Men Angels and even Devils have these Inclinations I know moreover that God will never Create any Spirits but what will desire to be Happy or that can ever desire to be Unhappy But I know it with Evidence and Certainty because God tells me so For who but God could give a Knowledge of the Designs and Will of God But when the Body has any Share in what passes within me I am for the most part mistaken in judging of others by my self I feel Heat I see such a Magnitude such a Colour I relish such a Taste at the approach of certain Bodies I am deceiv'd when I judge of others by my self I am subject to certain Passions I have a Kindness or Aversion for such or such things and I fancy that others are like me my Conjecture is often False Thus the Knowledge we have of other Men is very liable to Error when we judge of them by the Sensations we have of our selves If there be any Beings different from God from our selves from Bodies and from Pure Spirits it is unknown to us We have much ado to perswade our selves that there are any such And after having examin'd the Reasons of certain Philosophers who pretend the contrary we have found them False which has confirm'd us in our former Opinion that being all Men of the same Nature we had all the same Idea's because it behoves us all to know the same things CHAP. VIII I. The Intimate Presence of the Wandering Idea of Being in General is the Cause of all the Irregular Abstractions of the Mind and of the greatest part of the Chimera's of common Philosophy which hinder many Philosophers from discovering the Solidity of the True Principles of Moral Philosophy II. Example concerning the Essence of Matter THE clear intimate necessary Presence of God I mean the Unlimited Infinite and General Being with the Mind of Man acts with more Force upon it than the Presence of all Finite Objects It is impossible that it should absolutely lay aside that general Idea of Being because it cannot subsist out of God Perhaps some might urge that it may wander from it because it may think on those particular Beings but they would be mistaken For when the Mind considers any Being in particular it is not so far from removing from God that it rather draws near if I may so speak to some of his Perfections in removing from all others However it removes from them in such a manner that it never wholly loses the sight of them and it is for the most part in a Condition to seek them out and to draw near to them They are always present to the Mind but the Mind only perceives them in an inexplicable Confusion because of its smallness and the greatness of its Idea of Being We may chance sometimes not to think on our selves but I believe we cannot subsist one Moment without thinking on Being and even at that very time when we fancy we think on nothing we are of necessity full of the wandering and general Idea of Being But whereas those things that are very usual in us and which do not concern us do not excite the Mind with any force nor oblige it to make any Reflection upon them this Idea of Being so Great so Vast so Real and so Positive as it is is yet familiar to us and touches us so little that we almost believe we do not see it that we do not reflect upon it that we afterwards judge there is but little Reality in it and that it is only form'd by the confus'd mixture of all particular Idea's Though on the contrary it is in that alone and by that alone that we perceive all Beings in particular Although that Idea which we receive by the immediate Union we have with the Word of God does never deceive us in it self like those which we receive from it by means of the Union we have with our Body which represent things to us different from what they are Yet I am not afraid to say that we make so ill a use of the best things that the indelible Presence of that Idea is one of the principal Causes of all the Irregular Abstractions of the Mind and consequently of that Abstracted and Chimerical Philosophy which explains all Natural Effects by general Terms of Act Power Cause Effect Sustantial Forms Faculties occult Qualities Sympathy Antipathy c. for it is certain that all those Terms and many others never excite any Idea's in the Mind but such as are Wandering and General that is of those Idea's which present themselves to the Mind of their own accord without Pain or any Application on our part Let Men read with all Attention imaginable all the Definitions and Explications which are given of Substantial Forms Let them carefully inquire wherein the Essence of all those Entities does consist which Philosophers fancy as they please and in so great a Number that they are oblig'd to make several Divisions and Sub-divisions of them and I am confident that they will never stir up any other Idea's in their Mind of all those things than that of Being and of Cause in General For this is what commonly happens to Philosophers They see some new Effect they immediately imagine a new Being to produce it Fire warms therefore there is some Being in the Fire which produces that Effect that is different from the matter which composes the Fire And whereas Fire is capable of several different Effects as of separating Bodies of reducing them to Ashes and into Earth of drying them hardning them softning them dilating them purifying them c. they liberally allow Fire as many Faculties or real Qualities as it is capable of producing different Effects But those that reflect on the Definitions they give of those Faculties will easily discover that they are only Logical Definitions and that they excite no other Idea's than that of Being and of Cause in General which the Mind compares with the Effect which is produced So that Men are not the more Learned after having studied them very much for all they get by that kind of Study is that they imagine they know better than others what they notwithstanding do not know near so well not only because they admit many Beings which never were but also because being prejudiced they make themselves incapable of conceiving how it can be possible that matter alone as that of Fire being moved against Bodies differently disposed should produce all the different Effects which we see Fire does produce It is Notorious to all those that have read a little that most of the Books of Sciences particularly those that treat of Natural Philosophy Physick Chymistry and all the particular things of Nature are full of Arguments grounded upon Elementary Qualities Second Causes as Attractive Retentive Digestive Expulsive and such like upon others they call occult
that is Because they shall be Happy Those that suffer Persecution for Justice are thereby Just Virtuous and Perfect because they are in the Order that God has prescrib'd and Perfection consists in following him but they are not Happy because they Suffer A time will come when they will Suffer no more and then they will be Happy as well as Just and Perfect However I do not deny but that the Righteous may be Happy in some measure even in this Life by the strength of their Hope and Faith which render those future Felicities as it were present to their Mind For it is certain that when the Hope of some Happiness is strong and lively it draws it nearer to the Mind and gives it a taste thereof before-hand And thus it makes us Happy in some measure since it is the taste and possession of Good and of Pleasure which makes us Happy Therefore it is unreasonable to tell Men that sensible Pleasures are not Good and that those that enjoy them are never the Happier since it is not true and at the time of Temptation they discover it to their misfortune We must tell them that those Pleasures are good in themselves and capable to make them Happy in some measure Nevertheless they ought to avoid them for the Reasons beforementioned but they cannot avoid them of themselves Because they desire to be Happy through an Inclination which they cannot overcome and those transitory Pleasures which they ought to avoid satisfie it in some measure Thus they are in a miserable Necessity of losing themselves unless they are assisted It is necessary to tell them these things that they may distinctly know their Weakness and the want they have of a Redeemer We must speak to Men like Jesus Christ and not like the Stoicks who neither understand the Nature nor Distemper of Human Minds They must continually be told that they must hate and despise themselves and not look for an Establishment or Happiness on Earth That they must daily carry their Cross or the Instrument of their suffering and that they must lose their Life at present in order to preserve it Eternally They must be taught that they are oblig'd to act contrary to their desire to make 'em sensible of their inability to good For Men wou'd be invincibly Happy and they cannot be actually so unless they do what they please Perhaps being convinced of their present Evils and knowing their future sufferings they may humble themselves on Earth Perhaps they may invoke the Assistance of Heaven and seek a Mediatour be afraid of sensible Objects and timely abhor whatever flatters their Senses and Concupiscence And it may be they may thus obtain that Spirit of Prayer and Repentance which is so necessary to obtain Grace and without which there is no Power no Health nor no Salvation to be expected We are inwardly convinc'd that Pleasure is Good II. It must not incline us to the Love of sensible Delights and that the inward Conviction thereof is not False for Pleasure is really Good We are Naturally Convinc'd that Pleasure is the Character of Good and that Natural Conviction is certainly true for that which Causes Pleasure is certainly very Good and very Lovely But we are not convinc'd that either sensible Objects or our Souls themselves are capable of producing Pleasure in us for there is no reason to believe it and there are a Thousand against it Therefore sensible Objects are neither Good nor Lovely Were they necessary toward the Preservation of Life we ought to use them But as they are not capable of Acting in us we ought not to Love them The Soul must only Love him that is Good who only is capable to make it Happier and more perfect Therefore it should only Love that which is above it since it can receive its Perfection from nothing that is either below or equal to it But whereas we judge that a Thing is the Cause of some Effect when it always attends it we fancy that they are Sensible Objects which act in us because at their approach we have new Sensations and because we do not see him that produces them really in us We taste a Fruit and we find a Sweetness we impute that Sweetness to that Fruit we conclude that it causes it and even that it contains it We do not see God as we see and as we feel that Fruit we do not so much as think on him nor perhaps on our selves Therefore we do not conclude that God is the real Cause of that Sweetness nor that the said Sweetness is a Modification of our Soul we impute both the Cause and the Effect to that Fruit which we eat What I have said of Sensations which have a relation to the Body is also to be understood of those that have no relation to it as those which are found in pure Intelligences The Mind considers it self it sees that nothing is wanting to its Happiness and Perfection or else it sees that it does not possess what it desires At the sight of its Happiness it feels Joy at the sight of its Misfortunes it endures Sorrow It straight fancies that it is the sight of its Happiness which produces in it self that Sentiment of Joy because the said Sentiment always attends that sight It also imagines that it is the sight of its Misfortune which produces in it self that Sentiment of Grief since the said Sentiment is the Consequence of this sight The real Cause of those Sentiments which is God alone does not appear before it It does not so much as think on God for he acts in us without our knowing it God rewards us with a Sentiment of Joy when we know that we are in the Condition in which we ought to be that we may remain in it that our Disquiet may cease and that we may fully enjoy our Happiness without suffering the Capacity of our Mind to be filled with any thing else But he produces a Sentiment of Grief in us when we are Sensible that we are not in the State in which we ought to be so that we may not remain in it and that we might earnestly seek after the Perfection that is wanting in us For God pushes us continually toward Good when we are Sensible that we do not possess it and he fixes us powerfully upon it when we find that we possess it fully So that it seems evident to me that the Intellectual Sentiments of Joy or of Grief as well as the Sensible ones are no voluntary Productions of the Mind Therefore we ought continually to acknowledge by our Reason that Invisible Hand which fills us with Bliss and which disguises it self to our Mind under Sensible Appearances We must Adore it we must Love it but we must also Fear it for since it fills us with Pleasures it may also overwhelm us with Grief We ought to Love it by a Love of Choice by a Sensible Love by a Love worthy of God when