to their Passions which proceed from the Commotion of the Animal Spirits I shall not explain these things more at large because it is easie to judge of this Age by the others before treated of and to conclude that Old Men have more difficulty than others at conceiving what is said to them that they are more zealously devoted to their Prejudices and Ancient Opinions and consequently are more confirmed and strengthened in their Errors in their corrupt Habits and other things of like Nature 'T is only to be advertis'd That the state of Old Age is not precisely determined to Sixty or Seventy Years that all Old Men are not Dotards and that those who have pass'd the Sixtieth Year are not always delivered from the Passions of Youth and that we ought not to draw too general Consequences from the Principles establish'd CHAP. II. That the Animal Spirits generally run in the Tracks of Idea's that are most familiar to us which is the Reason of our preposterous Judgments I Have I think explain'd in the fore-going Chapters the various Changes happening in the Animal Spirits and in the Constitution of the Fibres of the Brain according to different Ages Wherefore supposing a Man to have meditated a little upon what has been said upon that Subject he must necessarily have a distinct Knowledge enough of the Imagination and of the most common Natural Causes of the differences observable between the Minds of Men since all the Changes happening in the Imagination and the Mind are only the Consequences of those which are to be found in the Animal Spirits and the Fibres that compose the Brain But there are many particular and such as we may call Moral Causes of the Changes which happen in the Imagination of Men namely Their different Conditions their various Employments and in a word their several ways of Living which deserve to be attentively consider'd because these sorts of Changes are the Causes of a numberless multitude of Errors every Man judging of things with reference to his own Condition We think it not so much our Business to stand to explain the Effects of some less customary Causes such as great Diseases surprizing Misfortunes and other unexpected Accidents which make very violent Impressions in the Brain and which sometimes totally subvert it because these things are of very rare occurrence and besides the Error such sort of Persons fall into are too gross to be contagious since they are palpable and discernible to all Mankind But that we may perfectly comprehend all the Changes the different conditions and states of Life produce in the Imagination 't is absolutely necessary to be call'd to mind that our Imagining Objects is only the framing Images thereof to our Selves and that these Images are nothing but the Traces delineated by the Animal Spirits in the Brain that we Imagine things so much stronglier as these Traces are more deep and better cut and as the Animal Spirits more frequently and violently pass through them that these Spirits by their frequent course so plain and open the Passage as to enter the same Tracks with greater readiness than any other neighbouring parts through which they either have not pass'd or not so frequently This is the most ordinary Cause of the Confusion and Falsity of our Idea's For the Animal Spirits which were directed by the Action of External Objects or even by the orders of the Soul to the production of certain Traces frequently produce others which indeed have some resemblance with them but are not altogether the Traces of these same Objects nor those the Soul desir'd to represent because the Animal Spirits finding some Resistance in the parts of the Brain through which they ought to pass are easily diverted to throng into the deep Traces of Idea's which are most familiar to us Here are some very gross and sensible Instances of these things When those who are not extraordinary short-sighted behold the Moon they see in her two Eyes a Nose and a Mouth in a word it looks to them as if they saw a Face tho there be nothing in her of what they fancy they perceive Many Persons see in her quite another thing And those who believe the Moon to be such as she appears would quickly be undeceived did they but behold her with Telescopes though of a moderate size or did they only consult the Descriptions Hevelius Riccioli and others have made Publick Now the Reason why a Man usually sees a Face in the Moon and not those irregular Blotches that are in her is because the Traces of a Face which are imprinted in the Brain are very deep for that we frequently look on Faces and with great Attention So that the Animal Spirits meeting with opposition in the other parts of the Brain easily swerve from the Direction the Light of the Moon impresses on them when a Man beholds her to accomodate themselves to the Traces whereunto Nature has affix'd the Idea's of a Face Besides that the apparent Magnitude of the Moon differing not much from a common head at a certain Distance She by her Impression forms such Traces as have Connection with those which represent a Nose a Mouth and Eyes and so she determines the Spirits to take their course in the Traces of a Face There are some who discern in the Moon a Man on Horse-back or something else than a Face because their Imagination having been briskly smitten with some particular Objects the Traces of these Objects open at any thing that bears the least Analogy to them 'T is upon the same grounds we Imagine we see Chariots Men Lions and other Animals in the Clouds when there is any little resemblance between their Figures and these Animals and all Men especially those who are used to Designing see sometimes Heads of Men on Walls whereon there are many irregular stains 'T is for the same Reason still that the Spirits of Wine entering without any Direction of the Will into the most familiar Traces make Men betray their Secrets of the greatest concernment and that when a Man sleeps he usually dreams of Objects he has seen in the Day-time which have form'd very great Traces in the Brain because the Soul is ever representing those things whereof she has the greatest and deepest Traces But see other Examples of a more complex kind A Distemper is new and it makes such havock and destruction as amazes all Men. This imprints Traces so deep in the Brain that this Disease is never absent from the Mind If this Disease be call'd for instance the Scurvy all Diseases must presently be call'd Scurvy the Scurvy is new therefore all new Distempers is the Scurvy The Scurvy is accompany'd with a dozen Symptoms whereof many are common to other Distempers that matters not If a sick Person fortunes to have any one of the Symptoms he must needs be sick of the Scurvy and other Distempers are never suspected or thought of that have the same Symptoms 'T is
expected that all the Accidents which befal those that have been sick of the Scurvy must befal him too The same Medicines therefore are prescrib'd him and 't is matter of amazement to find they have not the same Effect as they have been known to have had in others An Author applies himself to one kind of Study The Traces of the Subject he 's imploy'd about are so deeply imprinted and make such lively Radiations through the Brain as to confound and efface sometimes the Traces of things of a quite different kind There has been a Man for instance that has wrote many bulky Volumes on the Cross this made him discover a Cross in every thing he look'd upon and 't is with Reason that Father Morinus handsomly rallies him for thinking a Medal represented a Cross though it represented quite another thing 'T was by such another unlucky turn of Imagination Gilbertus and many others after having studied the Load-stone and admir'd its properties must needs reduce to these Magnetick Qualities abundance of Natural Effects that had no Relation to them in the World The Instances I have here alledg'd suffice to prove that the great facility of the Imagination's representing Objects that are familiar to it and the difficulty it finds in Imagining those that are Novel is the Reason of Mens forming almost ever such Idea's as may be styl'd mix'd and impure and of the Mind 's judging of things only with Relation to it self and its former Thoughts And thus the different Passions of Men their Inclinations Conditions Imployments Qualities Studies finally all their different Ways and Scopes of Life putting very considerable Differences in their Idea's occasion them to fall into innumerable Errors which we shall explain in the following Discourse Which was the reason of My Lord Bacon's speaking this most judicious Sentence Omnes perceptiones tam sensûs quam mentis sunt ex analogiâ hominis non ex analogiâ universi Estque Intellectus humanus instar speculi inaequalis ad radios rerum qui suam Naturam naturae rerum immiscet eamque distorquet inficit CHAP. III. Of the Mutual Connection between the Idea's and the Traces of the Brain and of the Mutual Connection there is between Traces and Traces Idea's and Idea's AMONG the whole Mass of Material Beings there is nothing more worthy of the Contemplation of Men than the Contexture of their own Body and the Correspondence found between the Parts that compose it And among all things Spiritual there is nothing the Knowledge whereof is more necessary than that of their Soul and of all the Relations she is indispensably under to GOD and Naturally to the Body 'T is not enough to have a confus'd Knowledge or Sensation that the Traces of the Brain are mutually connected to each other and that they are pursued by the Motion of the Animal Spirits that the Traces when excited in the Brain excite the Idea's in the Understanding and that the Motions that arise in the Animal Spirits raise the Passions in the Will We ought as far as is possible to have a distinct Knowledge of the Cause of all these different Connections but especially of the Effects they are capable of producing We ought to know the Cause thereof in as much as it is necessary to know our Guide and Conductor who alone is capable of acting in us and of rendring us happy or miserable and we ought to know the Effect of them it being necessary to know our selves as much as possible and other Men with whom we are oblig'd to live So should we know the means both of conducting our selves to and preserving our selves in the most happy and perfect state we are capable of attaining by the order of Nature and the Precepts of the Gospel and so should we be able to frame our Lives sociably with Men by exactly knowing the means of making use of them in our Exigencies and assisting them in their Miseries I pretend not to Explain in this Chapter a Subject so vast and Comprehensive nor have I that Opinion of my self as to think I should throughly do it in this whole Work There are many things I am still ignorant of and despair of ever knowing well and there are others which I presume I know but am unable to explicate For there is no mind so little and so narrow but may by Meditation discover more Truths than can be deduc'd at length by the most Eloquent Man in the World We are not to imagine with a great part of the Philosophers that the Mind becomes Body when united to the Body and that the Body becomes Mind when united to the Mind The Soul is not expanded through all the parts of the Body in order to give Life and Motion to it as the Imagination represents nor does the Body become capable of Sensation by its Union with the Mind as our treacherous and abusive Senses would seem to perswade us Either Substance preserves its own particular Being and as the Soul is incapable of Extension and Motions so the Body is incapable of Thought and Inclinations All the Affinity that we know between the Body and Mind consists in the Natural and Mutual correspondence of the Thoughts of the Soul with the Traces of the Brain and of the Emotions of the Soul with the Motions of the Animal Spirits When the Soul receives some new Idea's some new Traces are imprinted on the Brain and when Objects produce new Traces the Soul receives new Idea's Which is not said as if the Soul consider'd these Traces since she has no knowledge of them or as if these Traces included these Idea's since there is no Analogy betwixt them or lastly as if she receiv'd her Idea's from these Traces for 't is inconceivable as shall be explain'd hereafter how the Mind should receive any thing from the Body and become more enlightned than she is by turning towards it as the Philosophers pretend who would have the Souls Perception of all things to be caus'd Per conversionem ad phantasmata by the Conversion to the Phantasms or Traces of the Brain Thus when the Soul wills the moving of her Arm the Arm is mov'd though she not so much as knows what ought to be done to the moving it and when the Animal Spirits are agitated the Soul finds a Commotion in her self though she is ignorant whether there be any such thing as Animal Spirits in her Body When I come to treat of the Passions I shall speak of the Connection there is between the Traces of the Brain and the Motions of the Spirits and of that which is between the Idea's and the Emotions of the Soul for all the Passions have their Dependance thereon I am to Discourse at present only of the Connection between Traces and Idea's and the Connection Traces have with one another There are three very considerable Causes of the Connection of Idea's with the Traces of the Brain The first and most general
great Precipice which a Man sees under him and from which there is danger of falling or the Traces of some bulky Body imminent over his Head and ready to fall and crush him is naturally Connected with that which represents Death and with a Commotion of the Spirits which disposes him to flight or the desire of flying it This Connection admits no alteration because 't is necessary it should always be the same and it consists in a disposition of the Fibres of the Brain which we bring with us into the World All the Connections which are not Natural may and ought to break because the different Circumstances of times and places ought to change to the end they may be useful to the Preservation of Life 'T is convenient the Partridge for instance should fly the Sports-man with his Gun at the season and the places of his pursuing the Game But there 's no necessity it should fly him in other places or at other times Thus 't is necessary all Animals for their Preservation should have certain Connections of Traces easily made and easily broken and that they should have others very difficult to be sever'd and lastly others incapable of Dissolution 'T is of very great use to make diligent enquiry into the different Effects these different Connections are able to produce For there are Effects which as they are very numerous so they are no less important to the Knowledge of Man and all things relating to him We shall see hereafter that these things are the principal Causes of our Errors But 't is time to return to the Subject we have promis'd to Discourse on and to explain the different Changes which happen to the Imagination of Men by reason of their different ways and purposes of Life CHAP. IV. I. That Men of Learning are the most subject to Error II. The Causes why Men had rather be guided by Authority than make use of their own Reason THE Differences observable in Men as to their Ways and Purposes of Life are almost infinite Their different Conditions different Employments different Posts and Offices and different Communities are innumerable These Differences are the Reason of Men's acting upon quite different Designs and Reasoning upon different Principles Even in the same Community wherein there should be but one Character of Mind and all the same Designs you shall rarely meet with several Persons whose Aims and Views are not different Their various Employments and their many Adhesions necessarily diversifie the Method and Manner they would take to accomplish those various things wherein they agree Whereby 't is manifest that it would be an impossible Undertaking to go about to explain in particular the Moral Causes of Error nor would it turn to any great Account should we do it in this place I design therefore only to speak of those Ways of Living that lead us into great multitudes of Errors and Errors of most dangerous Importance When these shall be explain'd we shall have open'd the way for the Mind to proceed farther and every one may discover at a single View and with the greatest ease imaginable the most hidden Causes of many particular Errors the Explication whereof would cost a world of Pains and Trouble When once the Mind sees clearly it delights to run to Truth and it runs to it with an inexpressible swiftness The Imployment that seems most necessary to be treated of at present by Reason of its producing most considerable Changes in the Imagination of Men and its conducting them into Errors most is that of Men of Books and Learning who make greater use of their Memory than Thought For Experience has ever manifested that those who have applied themselves the most fervently to the Reading of Books and to the Search of Truth are the Men that have led us into a very great part of our Errors 'T is much the same with those that Study as with those that Travel When a Traveller has unfortunately mistaken his way the farther he goes at the greater distance he is from his Journey 's end and he stâ—ll deviates so much more as he is industrious and in haste to arrive at the place design'd So the vehement pursuits Men make after Truth cause them to betake themselves to the Reading of Books wherein they think to find it or put them upon framing some Phantastical System of the things they desire to know wherewith when their Heads are full and heated they try by some fruitless Sallies and Attempts of Thought to recommend them to the taste of others with hopes to receive the Honours that are usually pay'd to the first Founders of Systems These two Imperfections are now to be consider'd 'T is not easie to be understood how it comes to pass that Men of Wit and Parts choose rather to trust to the Conduct of other Men's Understanding in the Search of Truth than to their own which GOD has given them There is doubtless infinitely more Pleasure as well as Honour to be conducted by a Man 's own Eyes than those of others And a Man who has good Eyes in his Head will never think of shutting them or plucking them out under the hopes of having a Guide And yet the use of the Understanding is to the use of the Eyes as the Understanding is to the Eyes and as the Understanding is infinitely superiour to the Eyes so the use of the Understanding is accompany'd with more solid Satisfactions and gives another sort of Content than Light and Colours give the Sight Notwithstanding Men employ their Eyes in Guiding and Conducting themselves but rarely make use of their Reason in Discovery of Truth But there are many Causes which contribute to this overthrow of Reason First Men's Natural Carelessness and Oscitation that will not let them be at the Pains of Thinking Secondly Their Incapacity to Meditate which they have contracted for want of applying themselves to it from their Youth as has been explain'd in the Ninth Chapter Thirdly The inconcernedness and little Love they have for Abstract Truths which are the Foundation of all that can be known in this World The Fourth Reason is the Satisfaction which accrues from the knowledge of Probabilities which are very agreeable and extreamly moving as being founded upon sensible Notions The Fifth Cause is that ridiculous Vanity which makes us affect the seeming Learned For those go by the Name of Learned who have read most Books The Knowledge of Opinions is of greater use in Conversation and serves better to catch the Admiration of the Vulgar than the Knowledge of True Philosophy which is learned by Meditation In the sixth place we may reckon that unreasonable Fancy which supposes the Ancients were more enlightned than we can be and that there is nothing left for us but what they have succeeded in The Seventh is a Disingenuous Respect mix'd with an absurd Curiosity which makes Men admire things that are most Remote and Ancient such as are far fetch'd or
indeed whenever we will it and we may be call'd in that sense the natural cause of the Motion of our Arm yet natural Causes are not true but only occasional as acting by the mere force and efficacy of the Will of God as we have already explain'd For how is it possible for us to move our Arm To perform this 't is requir'd we should have Animal Spirits and send them through certain Nerves towards certain Muscles to swell up and contract them for so that Motion is perform'd as some pretend though others deny it and assert that the Mystery is not yet discover'd However it be most Men know not so much as that they have Spirits Nerves and Muscles and yet move their Arms with as much and more dexterity than the most skilful Anatomists Men therefore will the moving their Arm but 't is God that is able and knows how to doe it If a Man cannot overthrow a Tower yet he knows what must be done to effect it but not one amongst them knows what the Animal Spirits must doe to move one of his Fingers How should they then move the whole Arm of themselves These things appear very evident to me and I suppose to all thinking Persons though they may be incomprehensible to others such as are only used to the confused voice of the Senses But Men are so far from being the true Causes of the Motions produc'd in their Body that it seems to imply a Contradiction they should be so For a true Cause is that betwixt which and its Effect the Mind percieves a necessary connexion for so I understand it But there is none besides the infinitely perfect Being betwixt whose Will and the Effects the Mind can perceive a necessary Connexion and therefore none but God is the true Cause or has a real Power of moving Bodies Nay it seems unconceivable that God should communicate this Power either to Angels or Men And those that pretend that the Power we have of moving our Arm is a true Power must by Consequence grant that God can give Spirits the Power of creating annihilating and doing all possible things in short that he can make them Almighty as I am going to pove God needs not Instruments to act 't is enough he should Will the Existence of a thing in order to its Existing because it is contradictory that he should will a thing and his Will should not be fulfilled And therefore his Power is his Will and to communicate his Power is to communicate his Will so that to communicate his Will to a Man or an Angel can signifie nothing else but to will that whenever that Man or Angel shall desire that such or such a Body be moved it may actually be moved In which Case I see two Wills concurring together that of God and that of the Angel and to know which of them is the true Cause of the Motion of that Body I enquire which is the Efficacious I see a necessary Connexion betwixt the Will of God and the thing willed in this Case God wills that whenever the Angel shall desire that such a Body be moved it be really so There is then a necessary Connexion betwixt the Will of God and the Motion of that Body and consequently God is the true Cause of that Motion and the Will of the Angel is only occasional Again to make it more evidently manifest let us suppose God wills it should happen quite contrary to the Desire of some Spirits as may be thought of the Devils or some other wicked Spirits in Punishment of their Sins In that Case it cannot be said God communicates his Power to them since nothing happens of what they wish However the Will of those Spirits shall be the natural Cause of the produced Effects as such a Body shall be removed to the Right because they wish it were moved to the Left and the Desires of those Spirits shall determine the Will of God to act as the Will of moving the Parts of our Body determine the first Cause to move them and therefore the Desires of all finite Spirits are but occasional Causes If after all these Reasons it be still asserted that the Will of an Angel moving a Body is a true and not a bare occasional Cause 't is evident that the self-same Angel might be the true Cause of the Creation and Annihilation of all things since God might as well communicate to him his Power of Creating and annihilating Bodies as that of moving them if He should will that they should be created and annihilated in a word if he will'd that all things should be performed according to the Angel's Desires as he wills that Bodies be moved as the Angel pleases if therefore it may be said that an Angel or Man are true Movers because God moves Bodies as they desire that Man or Angel might likewise be call'd true Creatours since God might create Beings on occasion of their Will Nay perhaps it might be said that the vilest of Animals or even mere Matter is the real Cause of the Creation of some Substance if it be supposed with some Philosophers that God produces substantial Forms whenever the Disposition of Matter requires it And lastly since God has resolved from all Eternity to create some certain things at some certain times those Times might also be called the Causes of the Creation of such Beings with as much right as 't is pretended that a Ball meeting with another is the true Cause of the Motion that is communicated to it because God by his general Will that constitutes the Order of Nature has decreed that such or such Communication of Motions should follow upon the Concourse of two Bodies There is then but one true Cause as there is one true God Neither must we imagine that what precedes an Effect does really produce it God himself cannot communicate his Power to Creatures according to the Light of Reason He cannot make them true Causes and change them into Gods But though he might doe it we conceive not why he should will it Bodies Spirits pure Intelligences all can doe nothing 'T is he who has made Spirits that enlightens and moves them 't is he who has created Heaven and Earth that regulates all their Motions In fine 't is the Authour of our Being that performs our Desires Semel jussit semper paret He moves even our Arms when we use them against his Orders for he complains by his Prophets That we make him subservient to our unjust and criminal Desires All those little Divinities of the Heathens all those particular Causes of Philosophers are Chimeras which the wicked Spirit endeavours to set up that he may destroy the Worship of the true God The Philosophy we have received from Adam teaches us no such things but that which has been propagated by the Serpent for ever since the Fall the Mind of Man is turned Heathen That Philosophy join'd to the Errours of the Senses has made
deduce them from their natural Principles that they may know evidently by Reason what Faith has already taught them with an absolute Certainty Thus they will convince themselves that the Gospel is the most solid Book in the World that Christ perfectly knew the Disorders and Distempers of Nature that he has rectified and cured them in a manner the most useful to us and most worthy of himself that can be conceived But that the Light of Philosophers is nothing but a dark Night and their most splendid Vertues an intolerable Pride In short that Aristotle Seneca and all the rest are but Men to say nothing worse CHAP. VII Of the Vse of the First Rule concerning particular Questions WE have sufficiently insisted upon the general Rule of Method more especially regarding the Subject of our Studies and shewn that Des Cartes has exactly followed it in his System of the World whereas Aristotle and his Disciples have not observed it We proceed now to the particular Rules that are necessary to resolve all sorts of Questions The Questions that may be formed upon all sorts of Subjects are of so many Kinds as that it is not easie to enumerate them However I shall set down the principal Sometimes we search after the unknown Causes of some Effects that are known and sometimes after unknown Effects by known Causes Fire burns and dissipates Wood we enquire after the Cause of it Fire consists in a violent Motion of the fiery Particles we desire to know what Effects that Motion is able to produce whether it may harden Clay melt Iron c. Sometimes we seek the Nature of a thing by its Properties and sometimes its Properties by its Nature that is known to us We know or suppose that Light is transmitted in a moment and however that it is reflected and collected by a concave Mirrour so as to consume and melt the most solid Bodies and we design to make use of those Properties to discover its Nature On the contrary we know that all the space that reaches from the Earth to the Heavens is full of little Spherical and most movable Bodies which continually endeavour their removal from the Sun We desire to discover whether the endeavour of those small Bodies may be transmitted in an instant whether being reflected by a concave Glass they must unite themselves and dissipate or melt the solidest Bodies Sometimes we enquire after all the Parts of the Whole and sometimes after the Whole by its Parts We search after all the unknown Parts of a Whole that is known when we seek all the Aliquot Parts of a Number all the Roots of an Equation all the Right Angles of a Figure c. And we enquire after an unknown Whole all the Parts of which are known when we seek the Summ of several Numbers the Area of many Figures the Dimensions of different Vessels Or we seek a Whole one Part of which is known and whose other Parts though unknown include some known Relation with that which is unknown as when we seek what is that Number one Part of which as 15 being known makes with the other part the half or the third of an unknown Number or when we seek an unknown Number equal to 15 and to the double of the Root of that unknown Number Lastly We often enquire whether some things are equal or like to others and how much they are unequal or different As when we desire to know whether Saturn is greater than Jupiter and how much the former surpasses the latter Whether the Air of Rome is hotter than that of London and how many degrees What is general in all Questions is that they are formed for the Knowledge of some Truths and because all Truths are Relations it may generally be said that in all Questions we search but after the Knowledge of some Relations either betwixt things or betwixt Ideas or betwixt things and their Ideas There are Relations of several sorts as betwixt the Nature of things betwixt their Magnitudes their Parts their Attributes their Qualities Effects Causes c. but they may all be reduced to two viz. to Relations of Magnitude and of Quality comprehending under the former all those in which things are consider'd as suceptible of more and less and all the others under the latter So that it may be said that all Questions tend to discover some Relation either of Magnitude or of Quality The first and chief Rule is That we must very distinctly know the state of the Question to be resolv'd and have such distinct Ideas of its Terms that we may compare them together and discover their unknown Relations We must then first very clearly perceive the unknown Relation enquired after for 't is plain that if we have no certain Mark to distinguish it when 't is sought for or when 't is found our labour will be fruitless Secondly We must as far as possible make the Ideas which answer to the Terms of the Question distinct by taking off their Equivocation and make them clear by considering them with all the possible Attention for if those Ideas are so confused and obscure as that we cannot make the necessary Comparisons to discover the Relations we look for we are not yet in a state of resolving the Question Thirdly We must consider with all possible Attention the Conditions expressed in the Question if any there be since without that we can but confusedly understand the state of that Question besides that the Conditions commonly trace out the way to resolve it So that when the state of a Question and its Conditions are rightly understood we not only know what we enquire after but also sometimes by what means it may be discovered I grant that Conditions are not express'd in all Questions but then those Questions are undeterminate and may resolved several ways as when 't is required to find out a Square Number a Triangle c. without specifying any other particulars Or it may be that the Querist knows not how to resolve or that he conceals them in order to puzzle the Resolver as when 't is required to find out Two mean Proportionals betwixt Two Lines without adding by the Intersection of the Circle and Parabola or of the Circle and Ellipsis c. And therefore 't is altogether necessary that the distinguishing Character of what is searched after be very distinct and not equivocal or that it be only proper to the thing enquired otherwise we could not be certain whether the Question proposed is resolved We must likewise carefully separate from the Question all the Conditons that make it intricate and without which it subsists entire because they fruitlessly divide the capacity of the Mind Besides that we have not a distinct perception of the state of the Question as long as the Conditions that attend it are useless Suppose for instance a Question were proposed in these Words to cause that a Man besprinkled with some Liquors and crowned with a
were true that God acted by particular Wills since Miracles are such only from their not happening by General Laws Therefore Miracles suppose these Laws and prove the Opinion I have establish'd But as to ordinary Effects they clearly and directly demonstrate General Laws or Wills If for Instance a Stone be dropp'd upon the Head of Passengers it will continually fall with equal speed not distinguishing the Piety or Quality or Good or Ill Disposition of those that pass If we examine any other Effect we shall see the same Constancy in the Action of the Cause of it But no Effect proves that God acts by particular Wills though Men commonly fancy God is constantly working Miracles in their Favour That way they would have God to act in being consonant to their own and indulgent to Self-love which centers all things on themselves and very proportionate to their Ignorance of the Complication of Occasional Causes which produce extraordinary Effects naturally falls into Mens Thoughts when but greenly studied in Nature and consult not with sufficient Attention the abstract Idea of an Infinite Wisdom of an Universal Cause of a Being Infinitely Perfect CONCERNING Nature and Grace DISCOURSE II. Of the Laws of GRACE in particular and of the Occasional Causes which regulate and determine their Efficacy PART I. Of the Grace of JESVS CHRIST I. SINCE none but GOD can act immediately and by himself on Minds and produce in them all the various Motions they are capable of 'T is he alone who sheds his Light within us and inspires us with certain Sensations which determine our diverse Volitions And therefore none but he can as a True Cause produce Grace in our Souls For Grace or that which is the Principle or Motive of all the Regular Motions of our Love is necessarily either a Light which instructs us or a confus'd Sensation that convinces us that God is our Good since we never begin to love an Object unless we see clearly by the Light of Reason or feel confusedly by the tast of Pleasure that this Object is good I mean capable of making us happier than we are II. But since all Men are involv'd in Original Sin and even by their Nature infinitely beneath the Majesty of God 'T is Jesus Christ alone that can by the Dignity of his Person and the Holiness of his Sacrifice have access to his Father reconcile him to us and merit his Favours for us and consequently be the meritorious Cause of Grace These Truths are certain But we are not seeking the Cause which produces Grace by its own Efficacy nor that which merits it by its Sacrifice and Good Works We enquire for that which regulates and determines the Efficacy of the General Cause and which we may term the Second Particular and Occasional III. For to the end the General Cause may act by General Laws or Wills and that his Action may be regular constant and uniform 't is absolutely necessary there should be some Occasional Cause to determine the Efficacy of these Laws and to help to fix them If the Collision of Bodies or something of like Nature did not determine the Efficacy of the General Laws of the Communication of Motions it would be necessary for God to move Bodies by particular Wills The Laws of Union of the Soul and Body become efficacious only from the Changes befalling one or other of these two Substances For if God made the Soul feel the Pain of pricking tho' the Body were not prick'd or though the same thing did not happen in the Brain as if it were he would not act by the General Laws of Union of the Soul and Body but by a particular Will If Rain fell on the Earth otherwise than by a necessary Consequence of the General Laws of Communication of Motions the Rain and the Fall of every Drop that composes it would be the Effect of a particular Will So that unless Order requir'd it should rain that Will would be absolutely unworthy of God 'T is necessary therefore that in the Order of Grace there should be some Occasional Cause which serves to fix these Laws and to determine their Efficacy And this is the Cause we must endeavour to discover IV. Provided we consult the Idea of intelligible Order or consider the sensible Order which appears in the Works of God we shall easily discover that Occasional Causes which determine the Efficacy of General Laws and are of use in fixing them must necessarily be related to the Design for which God has establish'd them For Example Experience evidences that God has not made and Reason certifies that he ought not to make the Courses of the Planets the Occasional Causes of the Union of our Soul and Body He ought not to will that our Arm should be mov'd in such or such a manner or that our Soul should feel the Tooth-ake when the Moon shall be in conjunction with the Sun if so be this Conjunction acts not on the Body God's Design being to unite our Soul to our Body he cannot in prosecuting that Design give the Soul Sensations of Pain save when there happen some Changes in the Body repugnant to it Wherefore we are not to seek out of our Soul or Body the Occasional Causes of their Union V. Hence it follows that God designing to form his Church by Jesus Christ could not according to that Design seek the Occasional Causes which serve to settle the General Laws of Grace by which the Spirit of Jesus diffus'd through his Members communicates Life and Holiness to them except in Jesus Christ and in the Creatures united to him by Reason Thus the Rain of Grace is not deriv'd to our Hearts by the diverse situations of the Stars nor by the Collision of certain Bodies nor even according to the different Courses of the animal Spirits which give us Motion and Life All that Bodies can do is to excite in us Motions and Sensations purely Natural For whatever arrives to the Soul through the Body is only for the Body VI. Yet as Grace is not given to all that desire it nor as soon as they desire it and is granted to those who do not ask it it thence follows that even our Desires are not the Occasional Causes of Grace For this sort of Causes have constantly and most readily their Effect and without them the Effect is not produc'd For Instance the Collision of Bodies being the Occasional Cause of the Change which happens in their Motion if two Bodies did not meet their Motions would not alter and if they alter'd we may be assur'd they met The general Laws which shed Grace upon our Hearts find nothing therefore in our Wills to determine their Efficacy as the general Laws which regulate the Rains are not founded on the Dispositions of the Places rain'd upon For it indifferently rains upon all Places on hollow and manur'd Grounds even on the Sands and the Sea it self VII We are therefore reduc'd to confess that
produce in us contrary Pleasures and Aversions to those of Concupiscence Pleasures for the True and Aversions or Dislikes for sensible Goods Thus the Grace whereof Jesus Christ is the Occasional Cause and which he incessantly sheds on us as Head of the Church is not a Grace of Light though he has merited that Grace likewise for us and sometimes may communicate it as I shall say by and by But 't is a Grace of Sensation 't is the preventing Delectation which begets and nurses Charity in our Hearts For Pleasure naturally produces and cherishes the Love of those Objects which cause or seem to cause it 'T is likewise the Disgust which sometimes sensible Objects give us which create an Aversion to them and capacitate us to guide the Motions of our Love by Light or Knowledge XXXII We must oppose the Grace of Sensation to Concupiscence Pleasure to Pleasure Dislike to Dislike that the Influence of Jesus Christ may be directly opposite to the Influence of the First Man The Remedy must be contrary to the Disease that it may cure it For illuminating Grace cannot heat an Heart that is wounded by Pleasure this Pleasure must cease or another succeed it Pleasure is the Weight of the Soul and naturally bears it along with it and sensible Pleasures weigh it down to Earth In order to her determining her self these Pleasures must vanish or delectable Grace must raise her up towards Heaven and instate her well-nigh in Equilibrio Thus it is the New Man may war against the Old the Influence of our Head may resist that of our Progenitor and Jesus Christ may conquer in us all our Domestick Enemies The First Man being free from Concupiscence before his Sin needed not to be invited to the Love of the True Good by preventing Delectation He knew clearly that God was his Good and there was no Necessity he should have the Sense of it 'T was not fit he should be allur'd by Pleasure to the Love of him since nothing withstood this Love and he knew him perfectly deserving it But after the Sin the Grace of Delectation was necessary to counterpoize the continual Struggle of Concupiscence Therefore Light is the Grace of the Creator Delectation is that of the Restorer Light is communicated by Jesus Christ as Eternal Wisdom Delectation is given by him as Wisdom Incarnate Light in its Original was mere Nature Delectation has ever been Pure Grace Light after the Sin was granted us only for the Merits of Jesus Christ. Delectation is granted both for the Merits and by the Efficacy of the same Jesus Lastly Light is shed into our Souls according to our own several Volitions and various Applications as I shall explain by and by But the Delectation of Grace is infus'd into our Hearts according to the diverse Desires of the Soul of Jesus Christ. XXXIII 'T is true Pleasure produces Light because the Soul is more attentive to Objects that give her Pleasure Since most Men despise or neglect the Truths of Religion because abstract or unaffecting it may be said that the Delectation of Grace instructs them For that rendring these Truths more sensible they more easily learn them by the Attention they afford And for this Reason St. John says That the Unction we receive from Jesus Christ teaches all things and that those who have receiv'd it have need of no Instructor XXXIV Yet it must be observ'd That this Unction does not produce Light immediately and by its self it only excites our Attention which is the Natural or Occasional Cause of our Knowledge So we see that Men of the greatest Charity are not always the most Understanding All Men being not equally capable of Attention all the Receivers of the same Unction are not equally instructed by it Therefore though Light may be shed on the Soul by a supernatural Infusion and Charity often produces it yet we are always to look upon this kind of Grace but as a Natural Effect For ordinarily Charity produces not Light in the Mind save in proportion to the Inducement it gives the Soul to desire the Knowledge of what she loves For in fine the diverse Desires of the Soul are the Natural or Occasional Causes of the Discoveries we make on any Subject whatsoever But these things we must explain more at large in the Second Part of this Discourse PART II. Of the Grace of the CREATOR XXXV I Know but two Principles that directly and of themselves determine the Motion of our Love Light and Pleasure Light to discover our several Goods and Pleasure to make us tast them But there is a great difference betwixt Light and Pleasure the former leaves us absolutely to our selves and makes no Intrenchment on our Liberty It does not efficaciously carry us to Love nor produce in us Natural or Necessary Love but only induces us to carry our selves to the loving with a Love of choice the Objects it discovers or which is the same thing only causes us to determine to particular Goods the general Impression of Love God constantly gives us for the General But Pleasure effectually determines our Will and as it were conveys us to the Object which causes or seems to cause it It produces in us a Natural and Necessary Love weakens our Liberty divides our Reason and leaves us not perfectly to our own Conduct An indifferent Attention to the Sense we have of our internal Motions will convince us of these Differences Thus Man before the Sin being perfectly free and having no Concupiscence to hinder him from prosecuting his Light in the Motions of his Love and knowing clearly that God was infinitely amiable ought not to be determin'd by preventing Delight as I have already said or by any other Graces of Sensation which might have lessen'd his Merit and induc'd him to love by Instinct the Good which should only be lov'd by Reason But after he had sinned he besides the Grace of Light had need of that of Sensation to resist the Motions of Concupiscence For Man having an invincible Desire for Happiness cannot possibly sacrifice his Pleasure to his Light his Pleasure which makes him actually Happy and subsists in him in spight of his Resistance to his Light which subsists but by a painful Application of Thought and dies at the presence of the least actual Pleasure and lastly which promises no solid Happiness till after Death which to the Imagination seems a perfect Annihilation Light therefore is due to Man to conduct him in the quest of Happiness and belongs to Natural Order and supposes neither Corruption nor Reparation in Nature But Pleasure which relates to the true Good is pure Grace For naturally the true Good ought not to be belov'd otherwise than by Reason Therefore the Occasional Causes of the Graces of Sensation ought to be found in Jesus Christ because he is the Author of this Grace But the Occasional Causes of Light ought to be ordinarily found in the Order of Nature because Light is
full of Obscurity and Darkness are founded on the Ignorance we are in of the Properties of our Soul 'T is from our having as I have elsewhere proved no clear Idea of our Being and that what is in us which gives way to be conquer'd by a Determination not invincible is absolutely unknown to us Furthermore if I cannot clearly answer these Objections I can answer by others which to me seem more incapable of Solution I can from Principles oppos'd to mine deduce more harsh and unlucky Consequences than those which are presum'd to follow from Liberty such as I have suppos'd in us But I engage not on the Particulars of all this as taking no delight to walk in the dark and to lead others upon Precipices THE ILLUSTRATION OR CONTINUATION OF THE TREATISE CONCERNING Nature and Grace What is meant by acting by General and Particular Wills I. I Say that God acts by General Wills when he acts in consequence of the General Laws which he has establish'd For Example I say that God acts in me by General Wills when he gives me the Sense of Pain when I am prick'd since in pursuance of the General and Efficacious Laws of Union of my Soul and Body which he has constituted he makes me suffer Pain when my Body's ill dispos'd So when a Bowl strikes another I say God moves the stricken by a General Will because he moves it in pursuance of the General and Efficacious Laws of the Communications of Motions God having generally Ordain'd that at the Instant of Collision of two Bodies the Motion should be distributed between them according to certain Proportions and 't is by the Efficacy of that General Will that Bodies have the force of moving one another II. I say on the contrary that God acts by Particular Wills when the Efficacy of his Will is not determin'd by some General Law to the producing any Effect Thus supposing God should make me feel the Pain of pricking whilst there happen'd no Change in my Body or in any Creature whatsover which determines him to act in me by some General Law I say that then God acts by Particular Wills So again supposing a Body begins to move without being stricken by another or without any Alteration happening in the Will of Spirits or in any other Creature which determines the Efficacy of some General Laws I say that God would move that Body by a Particular Will III. According to these Definitions it plainly appears that so far from denying Providence I suppose on the contrary that God works all in all things that the Nature of the Heathen Philosophers is a Chimera and that to speak properly Nature is nothing but the General Laws which God has establish'd for the Construction or Preservation of his Work by the simplest ways by an Action always uniform constant perfectly worthy of an infinite Wisdom and an universal Cause But that which I here suppose though certain for the Reasons I have given in The Search after Truth is not absolutely necessary to what I design to prove For if it be suppos'd that God had communicated his Power to the Creatures in such a manner as that surrounding Bodies had a real and true Force by which they might act on our Soul and make her happy and miserable by Pleasure and Pain and that Bodies in Motion had in themselves a certain Entity which they call Impress'd Quality that they can communicate it to those about them and with that Celerity and Uniformity we observe it would be still equally easie to prove what I intend For then the Efficacy of the concurrent Action of the General Cause would be necessarily determin'd by the Action of the Particular Cause God for Instance would be oblig'd by these Principles to afford his Concourse to a Body at the Instant of Collision that it might communicate its Motion to others which is still to act by virtue of a General Law Yet I do not argue upon that Supposition as believing it utterly false as I have shewn in the Third Chapter and Second Part of the Sixth Book of The Search after Truth in the Illustration of the same Chapter and elsewhere Which Truths suppos'd here follow the Notes by which we may discover whether an Effect be produc'd by a General or Particular Will MARKS by which we may judge whether an Effect be produc'd by a General or Particular Will IV. When we see an Effect immediately produc'd after the Action of an Occasionl Cause we ought to judge it produc'd by the Efficacy of a General Will. A Body moves immediately after the Collision the Collision of Bodies is the Action of an Occasional Cause Therefore this Body moves by a General Will. A Stone falls on the Head of a Man and kills him and this Stone falls like all others that is continues its Motion almost in Arithmetical Proportion 1 3 5 7 9 c. Which suppos'd I say it moves by the Efficacy of a General Will or by the Laws of the Communications of Motions as is easie to demonstrate V. When we see an Effect produc'd without the Mediation of the known Occasional Cause we have reason to think it produc'd by a Particular Will supposing this Effect be not manifestly unworthy of its Cause as I shall say hereafter For Example When a Body 's mov'd without being smitten by another there 's great Probability it was mov'd by a Particular Will but yet we cannot be confident of it For on Supposition of a General Law that Bodies should move according to the several Volitions of Angels or the like 't is visible this Body might be put in Motion without Impulsion the particular Will of some Angel being in this case able to determine the Will of the general Cause to move it Thus we may be often positive that God acts by general Wills but we cannot have the like Assurance that he acts by particular Wills even in the most averr'd Miracles VI. Since we have not a competent Knowledge of the various Combinations of Occasional Causes to discover whether such and such Effects arrive in consequence of their Action and are not sufficiently Intelligent to discover for Instance whether such a Rain be Natural or Miraculous produc'd by a necessary Consequence of the Communication of Motions or by a particular Will we must judge an Effect is produc'd by a General Will when 't is visible the Cause did not propose it self a particular End For the Wills of Intelligences have necessarily an End general Wills a general End and particular Wills a particular Design Nothing can be more plain and evident For Example Though I cannot discover whether a Shower of Rain which falls on a Meadow falls in consequence of general Laws or by a particular Will of God I have reason to think it falls by a general Will if I see it fall as well on the neighbouring Grounds or on the River which bounds the Meadow no less than on the Meadow it self For
if God caus'd it to rain on this Meadow by a particular Benevolence to the Owner this Rain would not fall on the River where 't is insignificant since it could not fall there without a Cause or Will in God which has necessarily some End VII But we have still more Reason to think an Effect is produc'd by a general Will when this Effect is contrary or even useless to the Design which we are taught by Faith or Reason the Cause propos'd For Instance The End which God proposes in the various Sensations he affords the Soul in our tasting different Fruits is that we may eat those which are fit for Nourishment and reject the rest I suppose thus Therefore when God gives a grateful Sensation at the Instant of our eating Poisons or empoison'd Fruits he acts not in us by particular Wills So we ought to conclude since that agreeable Sensation is the Cause of our Death whilst the End of God's giving us diverse Sensations is to preserve our Life by a convenient Nourishment for I once more suppose thus For I speak only with reference to the Grace which God gives us doubtless to convert us so that 't is visible God showers it not on Men by particular Wills since it frequently renders them more Culpable and Criminal For God cannot have so Fatal a Design God gives us not therefore agreeable Sensations by particular Wills when we eat poisonous Fruits But because a poisonous Fruit excites in our Brain Motions like those produc'd by wholsome Fruits God gives us the same Sensations by reason of the general Laws which unite the Soul to the Body that she might be wakeful for its Preservation So likewise God gives not those who have lost an Arm Sensations of Pain relating to it but by a general Will For 't is useless to the Body of this Man that his Soul should suffer Pain relating to an Arm that 's lost 'T is the same case with Motions produc'd in the Body of a Man in the Commission of a Crime Finally supposing we are obliged to think that God scatters his Rain upon the Earth witâ— Intent to make it fruitful we cannot believe he distributes it by particular Wills since it falls upon the Sands and in the Sea as well as on plow'd Lands and is often so excessive on seeded Ground as to extirpate the Corn and frustrate the Labours of the Husbandman Thus it is certain that Rains which are useless or noxious to the Fruits of the Earth are necessary Consequences of the general Laws of the Communications of Motions which God has establish'd for the producing better Effects in the World supposing which I again repeat that God cannot will by a particular Volition that Rain should cause the Barrenness of the Earth VIII Lastly When an Effect happens which has something extraordinary 't is reasonable to believe it is not produc'd by a general Will. Nevertheless 't is impossible to be sure of it If for Example in the Procession of the Holy Sacrament it rains on the Assistants save on the Priests and those which carry it we have reason to think this proceeds from a particular Will of the universal Cause yet we cannot be certain because an occasional intelligent Cause may have this particular Design and so determine the Efficacy of the general Law to execute it IX When the preceding Marks are not sufficient for us to judge whether a certain Effect is or is not produc'd by a general Will we are to believe it is if it be certain there is an Occasional Cause establish'd for the like Effects For Example We see it rain to some Purpose in a Field we do not examine whether this Rain falls or not in the great Roads we know not whether it be noxious to the bordering Grounds nay we suppose it only does good and that all the attending Circumstances are perfectly accommodated to the Design for which we are oblig'd to believe that God would have it rain Nevertheless I say that we ought to judge this Rain is produc'd by a general Will if we know that God has setled an Occasional Cause for the like Effects For we must not have recourse to Miracles without Necessity We ought to suppose that God acts herein by the simplest ways and though the Lord of the Field ought to return Thanks to God for the Bounty yet he ought not to imagine it was caus'd in a miraculous manner by a particular Will The Owner of the Field ought to thank God for the Good he receives since God saw and will'd the good Effect of the Rain when he establish'd the general Laws whereof it is a necessary Consequence and that it was for the like Effects they were establish'd On the contrary if the Rains are sometimes hurtful to the Earth as it was not to render them unfruitful that God establish'd the Laws which make it rain since Drought suffices to make them barren 't is plain we ought to thank God and to adore the Wisdom of his Providence even when we do not â—eel the Effects of the Laws establish'd in our Favour X. But to conclude when we cannot be certified by the Circumstances which accompany certain Effects that there is an Occasional Cause establish'd to produce them 't is sufficient to know they are very common and relate to the principal Design of the general Cause in order to judge they are produc'd by a general Will. For Example The Springs which water the Surface of the Earth are subservient to the principal Design of God which is that Mâ—n should not want things necessary to Life I suppose so Besides these Fountains are very common therefore we ought to conclude they are foâ—m'd by some General Laws For as there is much more Wisdom in executing his Designs by Simple and General Means than by Complicated and Particular as I think I have sufficiently prov'd elsewhere We owe that Honour to God as to believe his way of acting is general uniform constant and proportion'd to the Idea we have of an infinite Wisdom These are the Marks by which we are to judge whether an Effect be produc'd by a general Will. I now come to prove that God bestows his Grace on Men by general Laws and that Jesus Christ has been establishâ—d the Occasional Cause to determine their Efficacy I begin by the Proofs of Holy Scripture XI St. Paul teaches us That Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church That he constantly influences it with Spirit and Life That he forms the Members and animates them as the Soul animates the Body or to speak still more clearly the Holy Scripture teaches us two things The first that Jesus Christ prays continually for his Members The second that his Prayers or Desires are always heard Whence I conclude that he was constituted by God the Occasional Cause of Grace and likewise that Grace is never given to Sinners but through his Means The Occasional Causes have constantly and readily
unequally supplied there 's all Reason to believe the Diversity of their Graces must proceed from him who is the Chief of Angels as well as Men and who under that Character has merited by his Sacrifice all the Graces which God has given his Creatures but has variously applied them by his different Desires It being undeniable that Jesus Christ long before his Birth or Meriting might be the Meritorious Cause of the Graces given to the Angels and Saints of the Old Testament it ought methinks be granted that by his Prayers he might be the Occasional Cause of the same Graces long before they were demanded For indeed there is no necessary Relation between Occasional Causes and the Time of Production of their Effects and though commonly these sort of Causes are follow'd by their Effects at the Time of their Action yet their Action being not of it self efficacious since its Efficacy depends on the Will of the universal Cause there 's no necessity of their actual Existence for the producing their Effect For Instance Suppose Jesus Christ at this present time should desire of his Father that such a Person might receive such a Supply of Grace at certain Moments of his Life that Prayer of Jesus Christ would infallibly determine the Efficacy of the General Will God has of saving all Men in his Son This Person will receive these Assistances though the Prayer of Jesus Christ be pass'd and his Soul actually think on another thing and never think again on that which he requir'd for him But the past Prayer of Jesus Christ is no more present to his Father than a future For all that must happen in all Times is equally present to God Thus God loving his Son and knowing he shall have such Desires with respect to his Ancestors and those of his own Nation and likewise to the Angels which must enter into the Spiritual Edifice of his Church and constitute the Body whereof he is the Head ought to accomplish the Desires of his Son before they were made that the Elect which preceded his Nativity and which he purchas'd by the Merit of his Sacrifice might as peculiarly belong to him as others and that he might be their Head as really as he is ours I acknowledge it is fit that Meritorious and Occasional Causes should rather precede their Effects than follow them and that Order would have Causes and their Effects exist together For 't is plain that all Merit ought to be instantly recompenc'd and every Occasional Cause actually to produce its Effect provided nothing hinders bâ—t it may or ought be done But Grace being absolutely necessary to Angels and Patriarchs could not be deferr'd But as for the Glory and Reward of the Saints of the Old Testament since that might be deferr'd 't was fit that God should suspend its Accomplishment till Jesus Christ should ascend into Heaven be constituted High Priest over the House of God and begin to exercise the Sovereign Power of Occasional Cause of all Graces merited by his Labours upon Earth Therefore we are to believe that the Patriarchs entred not Heaven till after Jesus Christ their Head Mediator and Fore-runner But though it should be granted that God had not appointed an Occasional Cause for all the Graces afforded the Angels and Patriarchs I see not how it can be thence concluded that Jesus Christ does not at present endue the Church with the Spirit which gives it Increase and Life that he does not pray for it or that his Prayers or Desires are not effectually heard in a word that he is not the Occasional Cause which applies to Men the Graces he has merited I grant if you 'll have it so that God before Jesus Christ gave Grace by particular Wills the Necessity of Order requiring it Whilst by Order the Occasional Cause could not be so soon establish'd and the Elect were very few in Number But now when the Rain of Grace falls not as heretofore on a small Number of Men but is shower'd on all the Earth and Jesus Christ may or ought be constituted the Occasional Cause of the Goods which he has merited for his Church what reason is there to believe God works so many Miracles as he gives us good Thoughts For in short all that is done by particular Wills is certainly a Miracle as not being a Result of the General Laws he has ordain'd whose Efficacy are determin'd by Occasional Causes But how can we imagine that in order to save Men he works so many Miracles useless to their Salvation I would say affords them all these Graces which they resist because not proportion'd to the actual Force of their Concupiscence St. John teaches us That Christians receive from the Fulness of Jesus Christ Graces in abundance For says he the Law was given by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ. For indeed the Graces which preceded him were not comparable to those he distributed after his Triumph If they were Miraculous we are to suppose they were extremely rare Even the Grace of the Apostles before the Holy Spirit was given them could not come in comparison with those they receiv'd when the High Priest of future Goods having entred by his Blood into the Holy of Holies had obtain'd by the Force of his Prayers and sent through the Dignity of his Person the Holy Spirit to animate and sanctifie his Church The unaccountable Blindness of the Jews their gross and carnal Notions their frequent Relapses into Idolatry after so many Miracles sufficiently manifest their disregard for true Goods and the dispiritedness of the Apostles before they had received the Holy Ghost is a sensible Proof of their Weakness So that Grace in those Days was extremely rare because our Nature in Jesus Christ was not yet establish'd the Occasional Cause of Graces Jesus Christ was not yet fully consecrated Priest after the Order of Melchisedech nor had his Father given him that Immortal and Glorious Life which is the particular Character of his Priesthood For 't was necessary that Jesus Christ should enter the Heavens and receive the Glory and Power of Occasional Cause of true Goods before he sent the Holy Spirit according to the Words of St. John The Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified And according to others of Jesus Christ himself It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you but if I go I will send him unto you Now it cannot be imagin'd that Jesus Christ consider'd as God is the Head of the Church as Man he has obtain'd that Quality The Head and Members of a Body must be of the same nature Jesus Christ as Man intercedes for Men as Man he receiv'd from God a Sovereign Power over his Church For as he is God he intercedes not as God he has not receiv'd a Name which is above every Name but he is equal to the Father
the same Inclinations I know likewise that GOD will never make Spirits undesirous of Happiness or that can be desirous of being Miserable But I know it with evidence and certainty since 't is GOD that teaches me for who could inform me of the Designs and Wills of GOD but GOD Himself But when the Body is a partner in that which occurrs within me I am almost ever deceiv'd if I measure others by my self I feel Heat I see a thing of such a Size or such a Colour I have such or such a Tast upon the application of certain Bodies to my Palate and I am deceiv'd if I judge of others by my self I am subject to particular Passions I have a kindness or aversion to this or that thing and I judge that others have the like but my Conjecture is often false Thus the Knowledge we have of other Men is very obnoxious to Error if we judge of them only from the Sensations we have of our selves Whether there are any Beings different from GOD our selves Bodies and Pure Spirits is unknown to us We can hardly perswade our selves there are and after we have examin'd the Reasons of some Philosophers who pretend the contrary we have found them false Which has confirm'd us in the Notion we had taken up that all Men being of the same Nature we have all the same Idea's as having all need of the Knowledge of the same things CHAP. VIII I. The intimate Presence of the indefinite Idea of Being in general is the cause of all the disorderly Abstractions of the Mind and the most part of the Chimera's of the Vulgar Philosophy which hinder many Philosophers from acknowledging the solidity of true Principles of Physicks II. An Instance concerning the Essence of Matter THAT clear intimate and necessary Presence of GOD I mean that presence of Being without any particular Limitation of Being infinite and in general to the Mind acts stronglier upon it than the preâ—ence of all finite Objects It is impossible to divest it self absolutely of this general Idea of Being since 't is impossible to subsist out of GOD. Perhaps it may be said that the Mind can separate it self from him because it can think on particular Beings But this is a mistake For the Mind in considering any Being in particular does not so much separate and recede from GOD as approach nearer some of His Perfections if I may be permitted so to speak by removing farther off from others However it doth not distance it self in that manner as quite to lose sight of them but is ever in a Capacity of seeking them out and approaching near them They are ever present to the Mind yet the Mind perceives them not but in an unexplicable confusion by reason of its Littleness and the Greatness of the Idea of Being A Man may indeed be some time without thinking on himself but he cannot as I think subsist a moment without thinking on Being and even at the time a Man believes he thinks of nothing he is necessarily full of the indeterminate and general Idea of Being But because the things which are customary to us and which don 't affect us alarum not the Mind with any vehemence nor oblige it to make reflection on them this Idea of being so great so vast so real and positive as it is is so familiar to us and makes so little impression that we fancy that we hardly see it that we make no reflection on it and consequently judge there is little reality in it and that 't is only form'd from a confus'd collection of all particular Idea's though on the contrary it is in this and by this only we perceive all Beings in particular Though that Idea which we receive through our immediate union with the WORD of GOD never deceives us of it self as do those we derive from the union we have with our Body which represents things to us otherwise than they are yet I scruple not to say That we make so bad use of the best things that the indelible presence of this Idea is one of the principal Causes of all the disorderly Abstractions of the Mind and consequently of all that Abstract and Chimerical Philosophy which explains all Natural Effects by the general terms of Act Power Cause Effect Substantial Forms Faculties Occult Qualities Sympathy Antipathy c. For 't is certain these Terms and a great many others excite no other Idea's in the Mind than indeterminate and general Idea's that is Idea's which readily offer themselves to the Mind without any trouble and application on our own part Let a Man read with all Attention possible all the Definitions and Explications given of Substantial â—orms let him do his best to search wherein consists the Essence of all these Entities which the fruitful Imagination of Philosophers produces in such multitudes at pleasure that they are forc'd to divide them and subdivide them over and over again and I dare engage that he shall never excite in his Mind any other Idea of all these things than that of Being and of Cause in general For let us take a view of the customary proceedings of Philosophers They observe some new Effect and presently imagine some new Entity must produce it The Fire heats there is then in the Fire some Entity to produce this Effect which differs from the Matter the Fire is compos'd of And because Fire is capable of many different Effects as of separating Bodies Pulverizing Vitrifying Drying Hardning Softning Dilating Purifying and Enlightning them c. therefore they liberally bestow on Fire so many Faculties or real Qualities as it is capable of producing different Effects But if we reflect on all the Definitions they give of these Faculties we shall find they are nothing else but Logical Definitions which raise no other Idea's than that of Being and Cause in general which the Mind refers to the Effect that is produc'd So that a Man is nothing the wiser when he has studied them never so long For all that is got by this sort of Study is the imagining we know better than others what indeed we know much worse not only because we admit many Entities that never were but also in being prepossess'd we make our selves incapable of conceiving how 't is possible for Matter all alone as that of Fire in being mov'd against Bodies differently dispos'd to produce all the different Effects we see Fire produce It is manifest to all those who have read any thing That almost all the Books of Science and especially those which treat of Physicks Medicine and Chymistry and of all particular things of Nature are full of nothing but Argumentations founded on the Elementary and Secondary Qualities as Attractive Retentive Concoctive Expulsive and such like upon others which they term Occult upon specifick Vertues and many other Entities which Men frame and make up out of the general Idea of Being and out of the Cause of the Effect which they see
beneath the Grandeur and prostrate it self before the Lustre of Riches But if I consider that the Body is infinitely inferiour to the Mind that it is not its Master nor can instruct it in Truth nor any ways illuminate it and if upon this Scene and Prospect I re-enter into or enquire of my self or rather since I am neither my own Master nor my own Light if I approach unto GOD and in the calm and silence of my Senses and Passions make this Demand Whether Riches or Vertue is preferable I shall hear a clear and distinct Answer concerning what is to be done an Eternal Answer that has been always given and which is and always will be an Answer that 's not necessary to be explain'd since every body know it such as read this and such as do not read it which is neither Greek nor Latin nor French nor German but which all Nations under Heaven understand An Answer lastly that consolates the Just in their Poverty and desolates Sinners in the abundance of their Riches I shall hear this Answer and remain convinc'd and then shall laugh at the Visions of my Imagination and the Delusions of my Senses The Internal Man that is in me shall ridicule the Animal and Terrestrial Man that I carry about me In fine the New Man shall thrive and the Old Man shall be destroy'd provided in the mean time I continually obey the Voice of Him who delivers Himself so clearly in the most secret recess of my Reason and who becoming sensible to accommodate Himself to my Weakness and Disease and to give me Life by that which gave me Death speaks to me anew in a most strong and lively and familiar way by my Senses I mean by the preaching of His Gospel But if I interrogate Him in all Metaphysical Natural and purely Philosophical Questions as well as those which respect the Rule of Manners I shall always have a faithful Master who will never deceive me I shall not only be a Christian but a Philosopher I shall be a sound Thinker and a Lover of what is Good In a word I shall follow the Road that leads me to all Perfection I am capable of either by Nature or by Grace We ought then to conclude from all that has been said that to make the best use possible of the Faculties of our Soul of our Senses Imagination and Vnderstanding we must apply them only to those things for which they were given us We ought carefully to distinguish our Sensations and Imaginations from our Pure Idea's and judge by the former of the Relations our Body has with those about us but never make use of them in discovering Truths which they always confound Whereas Pure Idea's must be us'd in the finding out of Truths but omitted when we judge of the Correspondencies between Exteriour Bodies and our own because their Idea's have never reach and extent enough to give a thorough Representation of them 'T is impossible for Men to have sufficient Knowledge of all the Figures and Motions of the little parts of their Body and Blood and of those of a particular Fruit at a certain Season of their Sickness to know whether there is a Relation of Agreement between that Fruit and their Body and that if they eat of it they shall recover Thus our Senses alone are more useful for the Conversation of our Body than the Rules of Experimental Medicine and Experimental Medicine than Theoretical But Theoretical Medicine that deferrs much to Experience and more to the Senses is the best of all Because all these should be caball'd together Reason then is of universal use and this is the Privilege it obtains over the Senses and Imagination which are limited and conâ—in'd to Sensible things yet this is to be regularly employ'd for though it be the principal part of Our selves it often happens to deceive us by our letting it act too much because it cannot act enough without tiring I mean it cannot know enough to make a right Judgment and yet it will still be judging F. MALEBRANCHE's TREATISE Concerning the SEARCH after TRUTH BOOK IV. Concerning the Inclinations or Natural Motions of the Mind CHAP. I. I. Inclinations are as necessary to Spirits as Motions to Bodies II. GOD gives no Motion to Spirits but what tends towards Himself III. The Tendency Spirits have to particular Goods proceeds but from their Motion towards Good in general IV. The Original of our chiefest Natural Inclinations Which will make up the Division of this Fourth Book THERE had been no occasion of Treating on the Natural Inclinations which are to be the Subject of this Fourth Book nor on the Passions which I am to speak to in the Fifth to discover the Causes of our Errours did not the Understanding depend on the Will in the Perception of Objects But because the Understanding receives its Direction from the Will and is determin'd and fix'd by it rather to some Objects than others in order to penetrate into the Causes of the Errours whereunto we are subject it will be absolutely necessary to be well acquainted with the Nature of our Inclinations Had God in the Creation of the World produc'd a Matter infinitely Extended without imprinting on it any Motion there had been no diversity in Bodies The whole Visible World at this day would have been nothing but an unweildy Mass of Matter or Extension which might perhaps have serv'd to shew the Greatness and Power of its Author but wanting that Succession of Forms and Variety of Bodies wherein the Beauty of the Universe consists would have little to invite Spiritual Beings to admire and adore the Infinite Wisdom of its Governour Now the Inclinations of Spirits seem to be in the Spiritual World what the Motions of Bodies are in the Material and that if Spirits had no Inclinations or Volitions that Variety would be wanting to the Order of Spiritual things which not only excites to the Admiration of the profound Wisdom of God as does the diversity observ'd in Material things but also of his Mercy Justice and Goodness and all his other Attributes in general The difference then of Inclinations has an Effect in Spirits much like that which the diversity of Motions produces in Bodies and the Inclinations of Spirits together with the Motions of Bodies make up all the Beauty of Created Beings So that 't is requisite for the former to have several Inclinations as for the latter to have different Motions But let us try to discover what Inclinations these ought to be Were not our Nature corrupted we should not need to seek by Reason as we are now to do what should be the Natural Inclinations of Created Spirits We need but have descended into our own Breast to have discover'd by an inward Feeling or Self-consciousness of what passes within us all the Inclinations we ought Naturally to have But since we are taught by Faith that Sin has inverted the Order of Nature and even by
as long as we see and feel it 'T is certain that if the Mind could easily keep up to clear and distinct Ideas without being as it were supported by some Sensation and without having its Attention perpetually disturb'd by the Restlesness of the Will we should find no great difficulties in infinite Natural Questions but in a short time should get rid of our Ignorance and Errours about them which we now look upon as inexplicable For instance 't is an indisputable Truth to every Man that makes use of his Reason that Creation and Annihilation exceed the ordinary force of Nature Should we now stick to the consideration of that pure Notion of the Mind and Reason we should not so readily admit the Creation and Annihilation of such innumerable multitudes of New Beings as of Substantial Forms Real Qualities and Faculties and the like We should look for the reason of Natural Effects in the distinct Ideas of Extension Figure and Motion and this is not so difficult as is imagin'd For all Nature hangs in a continued chain and the parts of it mutually prove each other The Effects of Fire as those of Cannons and Mines are very wonderful and their Cause as secret and conceal'd Nevertheless if Men instead of adhering to the Impressions of their Senses and false and delusive Experiments should insist on that sole Notion of Pure Intellect That 't is impossible for a Body gently mov'd to produce a Violent Motion in another since it cannot communicate more moving Force than it has it self it would be easie from that single Notion to conclude there is some subtile and invisible Matter that it is violently agitated and universally diffus'd among all Bodies and several things of like kind which might serve to explain the Nature of Fire and to discover other yet more intricate and hidden Truths For seeing so great Motions produc'd in a Cannon or a Mine and all the visible surrounding Bodies in too little Commotion to effect them we are infallibly assur'd there are other invisible and insensible Bodies which have at least so much Motion as the Cannon Bullet but being extremely fine and subtile may when alone pass freely and without bursting any thing through the Pores of the Cannon before it is fir'd that is as may be seen explain'd at large in Mr. des Cartes before they have surrounded the hard and gross parts of the Saltpeter which the Powder is compos'd of But when the Fire is kindled that is when these most subtile and agitated particles have encompassed the gross and solid parts of the Saltpeter and so have communicated their most forcible and violent Motion to them all must necessarily burst because the the Pores of the Cannon which gave a free passage on all sides to the subtile parts we speak of when alone are not large enough to receive the gross parts of the Saltpeter and others that make the Powder when agitated by the subtile particles that environ them For as the Water of a River shakes not the Bridge it runs under because of the minuteness of its parts So this most fine and subtile Matter continually passes through the pores of all Bodies without causing any sensible alteration But as again that River is able to overturn a Bridge when bearing down its Stream huge massy pieces of Ice or other more solid Bodies it dashes them against it with the same Force that it self is mov'd by so the subtile Matter is capable of those astonishing Effects observable in Cannons and Mines when having communicated to the parts of the Powder swimming in the midst of it an infinitely more violent and rapid Motion than that of Rivers and Torrents these same parts of the Gunpowder cannot freely pass through the Pores of the including Bodies because of their too great bulk and therefore open themselves a way by violently breaking what withstands them But 't is not very easie to imagine these so subtile and refin'd Bodies and they are look'd upon as Chimeras because they cannot be seen Contemplatio fere desinit cum aspectu says My Lord Bacon And indeed the greatest part of Philosophers had rather invent some New Entity than be silent about things they do not understand If it be objected to their false and inconceivable Suppositions that Fire must necessarily be compos'd of parts rapidly mov'd because of those violent Motions it produces whilst nothing can communicate what it has not which surely is a most clear and solid Objection they will be sure to confound all by some childish and imaginary Distinction such as Causes univocal and equivocal that they may seem to say something when indeed they say nothing at all For in fine 't is a receiv'd Maxim with all considering Men That there can be no equivocal Cause in Nature and Ignorance has only invented them Those then who are desirous of knowing Nature should take care to fix more to clear and distinct Notions They should a little check and resist that Levity and Inconstancy of their Will if they would penetrate to the bottom of things for their Minds will ever be feeble superficial and desultory whilst their Wills remain roving fickle and inconstant It must be confess'd that 't is a painful and tiresome thing and full of constraint to become attentive and go to the bottom of the things we have a mind to know But nothing can be had without pains Mean time 't is a reproach to Men of Sense and Philosophers who are oblig'd by all manner of reasons to the Search and Defence of Truth to talk they know not what and to be satisfied with what they do not understand CHAP. III. I. Curiosity is natural and necessary II. Three Rules to moderate it III. An Explication of the first of these Rules AS long as Men shall have an Inclination for a Good that exceeds their Strength and they shall not enjoy it they will ever have a secret Inclination for whatever carries the Character of New and Extraordinary They will constantly be persuing after things which they have not yet consider'd with hopes of finding what they seek for and whereas their Minds can never be fully satisfied without the Intuition of him for whom they are created so they will always be restless and tossing about till He appears to them in His Glory This Disposition of Minds is doubtless very consonant to their Condition it being infinitely better restlesly to search after Truth and Happiness which they do not possess than to fix on a false and ill-grounded security by taking up with Falshood and Seeming Goods the ordinary Desserts they feed on Men ought not to be insensible to Truth and Hapiness and what is New and Extraordinary ought to quicken them For there is a Curiosity which we may permit them or rather which we ought to recommend to them So then common and ordinary things containing not the true Good and the Ancient Opinions of Philosophers being most uncertain it is reasonable we should
to the Rules of Society For an indiscreet Out-cry made upon no occasion or out of an idle Fear produces in the Assistants Indignation or Laughter instead of Pity because to cry without cause is to abuse things establish'd by Nature for our Preservation That indiscreet Cry naturally produces Aversion and the desire of Revenging the Affront that was offer'd Nature that is The settled Order of things if he that made it without cause did it wilfully But it ought only to produce the Passion of Derision mingled with some Compassion without Aversion and desire of Revenge if it were a Fright that is a false Appearance of a pressing Exigency which caus'd the Clamour For Scoff or Ridicule is necessary to re-assure and correct the Man as Fearful and Compassion to succour him as Weak 'T is impossible to conceive any thing better order'd I pretend not to explain by an Example what are the Springs and Movements or secret Combinations in Men's Brain as in that of all other Animals whereby the Author of Nature maintains the Concordance and Union necessary to their Conservation I only make some Reflexion upon these Contrivances to put Men upon considering them and diligently searching and discovering not how these Engines play or how their Movement is communicated through the Air the Light and all the little Bodies that surround us for that 's near incomprehensible and not necessary but what Effects they have By several different Observations we find there are Ties which unite us together but we cannot accurately discern how it is perform'd We easily see that a Watch points out the Hour but it requires time to find out the Reasons of it And there are so many different Movements in the Brain of the least of Animals as far surpass the most compound Clock-work in the World As the perfect Knowledge of our Machinal Constructure is not possible so it is not absolutely necessary but the Effects its Springs and Movements are capable of producing are indispensibly necessary to be known for the well-managing our selves There is no necessity of knowing how a Watch is made to make use of it but to use it in measuring out our Time 't is at least necessary to know that it shews the Hours Yet there are Men so little capable of Reflexion that we might almost compare them with Machines purely inanimate They feel not in themselves the Elaterium which slackens upon the sense of Objects They are frequently toss'd and agitated without perceiving their own Motion are Slaves and yet insensible of their Bonds Finally they are conducted a thousand different ways without perceiving the hand of their Conductor They fancy themselves the sole Authors of the Motions which they perform and not distinguishing what passes within them pursuant to a free Act of their Will from what the Impression of surrounding Bodies produces they think they are their own Guides even when they are guided by another But this is not a place proper for the Explication of these things Those Alliances which Nature's Author has founded between our Natural Inclinations in order to unite us to one another seem yet more worthy our Application and Enquiries than those between Bodies or between Minds with reference to Bodies For all things are so admirably dispos'd that those very Inclinations which seem most repugnant to Society are the most useful to it when they are somewhat moderated The Desire for Instance which all Men have of Greatness directly tends to the Subversion of all Societies Nevertheless this Desire is so temper'd by the Order of Nature that it conduces more to Publick Welfare than many other weak and languid Inclinations For it breeds Emulations it provokes Men to Vertue it bears up their Courage in the Services pay'd to their Country and so many Conquests would not be obtain'd did not the Soldiers and especially the Officers aspire to Glory and great Commands So that all the Particulars that constitute Armies labouring only for their private Interests fail not to procure Happiness to their Countries Which evidences how highly advantageous it is to the Publick Good that all Men should have a secret Ambition for Greatness and Promotion provided it be moderated But if all the Particulars should seem what they really are should they frankly confess to others they design'd to be the principal Parts of the Body they compose and never to be the meanest this would not be the means to unite them together All the Members of a Body cannot be the Head and Heart there must be Feet and Hands Little as well as Great Members to Obey as well as to Command And if every Member of a Society should openly say he would Command and never Obey as in effect every one naturally wishes 't is visible that all Politick Bodies would fall to Ruine and Confusion and Injustice would reign on Earth It was necessary therefore that those who have the most Sense and are the fittest to command as the topmost and noblest Parts of a Community should be naturally Civil that is should be dispos'd by a secret Inclination to express to others by their Behaviour and by the Civility and Courtesie of Expression how unworthy they think themselves of any Consideration and that they are the meanest of all but that those they address to are worthy of all sorts of Honours and that they pay them the greatest Esteem and Veneration Lastly to supply the Defect of Charity and Love of Order it was needful for those that command others to have the Art of deceiving them by an imaginary Abasement consisting in external Civilities and good Words that they might enjoy an unenvy'd Preheminence which is necessary in all Bodies For by that means each Particular possesses after a sort the Grandeur he desires The great possess it really and the Little and Weak only in Imagination being in a measure persuaded by the Compliments of others that they are not consider'd as they are that is the Lowest and Meanest of the People By the way it is easie to conclude from what we have said that 't is a great Offence to Civility to speak often of one's self especially to one 's own Advantage though we had all possible Accomplishments it being not allow'd to speak to Persons we converse with as if we look'd down upon them unless in some Circumstances and when certain external Characters give us a sensible Preheminence For Contempt is the greatest of Injuries 't is that which is most capable of dissolving Society and we can never hope that a Man whom we have given to understand we think beneath us will associate with us because no Man can endure to be thought the meanest Member of the Body he is of The Inclination therefore Men have to Complimenting is the fittest to counterbalance that other for Esteem and Elevation and to soften that internal Pain those feel who are the lowest Parts of the Body-Politick Nor can we doubt but the Mixture of these two Inclinations
and those which have been fixed and determined by the Will of God which is not subject to change To say that these Truths are immutable by their Nature what is it more than to say they are immutable because immutable unless this signifies they are essentially so without any external assistance But if these Truths were necessary in this manner how were they determin'd by the Will of God since God being free as the Author will not deny he might if he had pleas'd have not determin'd them to be immutable e And if so they are immutable only by Grace because God will'd it so and determin'd them to that state of immutability This being so how come they to be immutable by their Nature since it was possible for them to be liable to change But if it were not possible for them to be subject to change how could they be determin'd by God to be immutable and how could he have fix'd them by the operation of his Will The Author may explain himself upon this Point if he think convenient mean time it is no little concern to know whether God can change the Essences of things and make two Contradictories true at the same time for as a celebrated Divine of our Age has said upon the same words that are now under examination Is God the Author of the Truth of his own Existence Or ought we to affirm that we can form a right-lined Triangle whose three Angles shall be greater than two Rights or that shall have one Side longer than the other two In a word if it be possible for Contradictories to be true and false at the same time what will become of humane Reasoning And what shall we say to those Theological Conclusions which assure us that God is not Corporeal that he is not subject to Change that he has always been f c. g Might we not say in following this Hypothesis that its possible for him to have been eternally and not to have been eternally that he is liable and not liable to change I mean not to pronounce upon so difficult a Question but I may affirm the Author had no right to do it especially in the Circumstances he has done it and without alleadging sufficient Proofs Yet methinks I perceive a shew of Reasoning in these words and by the Will of God which is not subject to change He seems to consider the Will of God as the Cause of the Necessity of these Truths But if so he proves too much in the place where we complain he proves nothing at all for if what God wills be immutable because his Will is not subject to change it follows that whatever he wills must have an equal immutability since it is the same Will which is the Cause of it Mean while it is certain he wills things which are subject to change when he determines the Existence or Non-existence of Creatures in the Vicissitude of times h Thus though God should have fix'd these Truths but for some Ages his Will thereby would be no less immutable than for his producing daily all those admirable changes which make the Beauty of the Universe But the Author will say God wills that these Truths should be immutable for ever But how could he know this had he any particular Revelation yet he speaks as possitively as if he was very certain It may be he bottoms upon this that if these Truths seem immutable to us whilst they are subject to change we should err in pretending to Science l But if it were so all that could thence be concluded is that the first Philosophers the Academicks and Pyrronists have better Philosophiz'd than the Peripateticks Cartesians and other Dogmatists and I do not believe the Author would establish his Philosophy upon such a Sophism unless there were necessary Truths we could have no true Science therefore there are necessary Truths m But though we might suppose there were necessary Truths in Physick Medicine c. and might determine about this Question without being utterly excluded from the knowledge of Truth Though these Truths were necessary by their Nature and their immutability by some new Mystery was still an effect of the free determination of the Will of God Though the necessity of these Truths proceeded from the immutability of this Will whilst yet it is the Cause of all the Changes happening in the Universe Though we should be moreover assur'd that God had resolv'd to preserve these Truths in an entire immutability We must still suppose in order to enter into his Opinion the knowledge of the Existence of God and of his Will of his Liberty and of his Power n Which obliges me to make some Reflexions upon what he has borrowed from Faith to add to Reasons Philosophical which is what we may look upon as his third Supposition After having prov'd that we must yield only to Evidence except in matters of Faith which are not submitted to the disquisition of Reason I conclude with these words Mysteries then of Faith must be distinguished from things of Nature we ought equally to submit to Faith and to Evidence but in the concernments of Faith we must not look for Evidence as in those of Nature we ought not to take up with Faith that is with the Authority of Philosophers In a word to be a Believer 't is required to assent blindly but to be a Philosopher it is necessary to see plainly Mysteries of Faith must be distinguished from things of Nature Thus judiciously speaks the Author and concludes with these words which might even pass for o a Proverb To be a Believer 't is requir'd to assent blindly but to be a Philosopher 't is necessary to see plainly Mean while I wonder he observes not in his Book the Resolution he made of not p mingling the concerns of Religion with the decisions of Philosophy for it 's too visible that one half of his Book is nothing but Reflexions upon original Sin deprav'd Manners and corrupt Inclinations which Christian Morality is to correct q I blame not his Piety in this nor believe it a thing unbecoming a Christian to labour upon these Subjects But that ought to be reserv'd for Sermons r Or if he had design'd to take the occasion of insinuating these Morals as knowing that the true way of moving the Heart pathetically is to do it by discovering to the Mind the Truths that are of nearest concernment to it he might have satisfied that laudable desire but should have contriv'd for that purpose particular Chapters which he has done too in some places But once more a very little thing will serve to confound the Light we begin to receive in the Search after Truth s We cannot at the same time satisfie both Reason and Faith since Reason obliges us to open our Eyes and Faith commands us to shut them t And yet I find he has so interwoven his principal Propositions with the Credenda of Religion that he seems to talk
on a sudden design'd the destroying of the whole Nation that his Revenge might be the more splendid Two Men sue each other about a Piece of Land they ought only to produce in Court their Titles to it and to say nothing but what relates to the Case or to set it off fair However they seldom fail to slander one another to contradict each other in every thing to raise trifling Contestations and Accusations and to intricate the Suit with an infinity of Accessary Circumstances which confound the Principal In short the Passions reach as far as the sight of the Mind does in those that are affected by them I would say there is nothing to which we may suppose their Object to be related but their Motion will extend to it which is done after the following manner The Tracks of the Objects are so connected to each other in the Brain that it is impossible the Course of the Spirits should violently move any one of them without raising several others at the same time The principal Idea of the Thing perceiv'd is therefore necessarily accompanied with a vast number of accessary Ideas which increase more and more as the Impression of the Animal Spirits is more violent Now that Impression cannot but be very violent in the Passions because they continually hurry into the Brain abundance of such Spirits as are fit to preserve the Traces of the Ideas which represent their Object So that the Motion of Love or Hatred extends not only to the Chief Object of either Passion but also to all the Things that are found any ways relating to it because the Motion of the Soul in the Passion follows the Perception of the Mind as the Motion of the Animal Spirits in the Brain follows the Traces of the Brain as well those that excite the principal Idea of the Passion 's Object as those that are related to it And therefore we must not be surprized if Men carry their Hatred or Love to such a heighth and commit such strange and capricious Actions Every one of those Effects has its proper Cause though unknown to us because their accessary Ideas being not always like to ours we cannot rightly judge of them So that Men act always by some particular Reason even in those Actions that appear most extravagant to us CHAP. VII Of the Passions in particular And first Of Admiration and its ill Effects WHatever I have said hitherto of the Passions is general yet 't is no hard matter to draw particular Inferences from it If one do but reflect upon what occurs in his own Breast and upon the Actions of others he will discover at one View a greater number of those Truths than can be explain'd in a considerable time However there are so few who think of retiring into themselves and make any Attempt to that purpose that to quicken them and raise their Attention it will not be amiss somewhat to descend into Particulars It seems when we handle or strike our selves that we are almost insensible whereas if we be but never so little touched by others we receive such lively Sensations as awaken our Attention In a word as it never comes into our Mind to tickle our selves and if it did perhaps the Attempt would be unsuccessful So almost for the same Reason the Soul cares not to feel and sound her self is presently disgusted at that sort of Exercise and commonly is incapable of feeling or knowing all the Parts that belong to her till touch'd and made sensible to her by others So that it will be necessary for the facilitating some People in acquiring the Knowledge of themselves to mention some of the particular Effects of the Passions to â—each them by touching them of what Make and Constitution their Soul is of In the mean while those that shall read the following Thoughts must be forewarn'd that they will not always be touched to the Quick nor be aware that they are subject to the Passions and Errours of which I shall speak because particular Passions are not always the same in all Men. All Men indeed have the same natural Inclinations which referr not to the Body and likewise all those that relate to it when 't is in a very good Constitution But its various Tempers and frequent Alterations produce an infinite Variety in particular Passions To which diversity of Constitutions if that variety of Objects be added which cause very different Impressions upon those who follow not the same Employments and manner of Life it will plainly appear that such a Person who is lively touched by some Things in one Place of his Soul may be absolutely insensible as to many others so that we should commonly mistake should we always judge of the Commotions of others by what we feel in our selves I am not afraid of being deceiv'd when I assert That all Men would be happy for I fully and certainly know that Chinese and Tartars Angels and Devils in a word all Spirits whatsoever have an Inclination for Felicity Nay I know that God shall never produce any Spirit without that Desire I never saw either Chinese or Tartar so that I never learn'd it from Experience nor yet from my inward Consciousness which only teaches me that I would my self be happy God alone can inwardly convince me that all other Men Angels and Devils desire Happiness and he only can assure me that he will never create a Spirit that shall not care for Felicity For who else can positively assure me of what he does and even thinks And as he cannot deceive me so I may safely relie on what I learn from him And therefore I am certain that all Men would be happy because that Inclination is natural and independent on the Body It goes quite otherwise with particular Passions For because I love Musick Dancing Hunting Sweet-meats high-season'd Dishes c. I cannot certainly conclude that other Men have the same Passions Pleasure is doubtless sweet and grateful to Men but all find it not in the same Things The Love of Pleasure is a Natural Inclination not depending upon the Body and therefore general to all Men But the Love of Musick Hunting or Dancing is not general because the Disposition of the Body from which it proceeds being different in several Persons the Passions they produce are not always the same General Passions as Desire Joy and Sorrow are the Mean betwixt natural Inclinations and particular Passions They are general as well as Inclinations but they are not always of the same strength because the Cause which produces and feeds them is not always equally active There is an infinite Variety in the Degrees of Agitation of the Animal Spirits in their Plenty and Scarcity in their Solidity and Fineness and in the Relation betwixt the Fibres of the Brain and those Spirits And therefore it often happens that we touch not Men in any part of their Soul when we treat of particular Passions but if they chance to
loose and indefinite Notions engage not into Errour at least they are wholly unserviceable to the Discovery of Truth For though we know that there is in Fire a substantial Form attended with a Million of Faculties like to that of heating dilating melting Gold Silver and other Metals lightening burning roasting the Idea of that substantial Form with all its Faculties of producing Heat Fluidity Rarefaction will not help me to resolve this Question Why Fire hardens Clay and softens Wax There being no Connection betwixt the Ideas of Hardness in Clay and Softness in Wax and those of a substantial Form in Fire and its Faculties of Rarefaction Fluidity c. The same may be said of all general Ideas which are utterly insufficient for resolving any Question But when I know that Fire is nothing else but divided Wood whose Parts are in a continual Agitation by which alone it raises in me the Sensation of Heat and that the Softness of Clay consists in a Mixture of Water and Earth those Ideas being not general and confused but particular and distinct it will not be difficult to perceive that the Heat of Fire must harden Clay nothing being easier to conceive than that one Body may move another if it meet with it being it self in Motion We likewise easily perceive that since the Heat we feel near the Fire is caused by the Motion of the invisible Particles of Wood striking against our Hands Face c. if we expose Clay to the Heat of Fire the Particles of Water that are mixed with those of Earth being more thin and disunited and consequently more agitated by the Action and Impulse of the fiety Corpuscles than the gross Particles of Earth must be separated and expelled and the other remain dry and hard We shall perceive with the same Evidence that Fire must produce a quite contrary Effect upon Wax if we know that it is composed of Particles that are branched and almost of the same Bulk Thus may particular Ideas be subservient to the Enquiry after Truth whilst loose and undeterminate Notions are not only altogether unserviceable but also insensibly engage us into Errour For these Philosophers are not content to make use of those general Terms and uncertain Ideas which answer to them they moreover pretend that those Words signifie some particular Beings they give out that there is a Substance distinguished from Matter which is the Form of it and withal an infinite Number of little Beings really distinguished from that Matter and Form of which they suppose as many as they have different Sensations of Bodies or as those Bodies are supposed to produce different Effects However 't is visible to any attentive Person that those little Beings for instance that are said to be distinguished from Fire and suppos'd to be contained in it for the producing Heat Light Hardness Fluidity c. are but the Contrivances of the Imagination that rebells against Reason since Reason has no particular Idea that represents those little Beings When the Philosophers are asked What is the illuminating Faculty in Fire They only answer That 't is a Being which is the Cause that Fire is capable of producing Light So that their Idea of that illuminating Faculty differs not from the general Idea of Cause and the confused Idea of the Effect they see and therefore they have no clear Idea of what they say when they admit those particular Beings and so say what they not only understand not but what 's impossible to be understood CHAP. III. Of the most dangerous Errour in the Philosophy of the Ancients PHilosophers not only speak without understanding themselves when they explain the Effects of Nature by some Beings of which they have no particular Idea but also establish a Principle whence very false and pernicious Consequences may directly be drawn For supposing with them that there are in Bodies certain Entities distinguished from Matter and having no distinct Idea of those Entities 't is easie to imagine that they are the real or principal Causes of the Effects we see And this is the very Opinion of the vulgar Philosophers The prime Reason of their supposing those substantial Forms real Qualities and other such like Entities is to explain the Effects of Nature But when we come attentively to consider the Idea we have of Cause or Power of acting we cannot doubt but that it represents something Divine For the Idea of a Sovereign Power is the Idea of a Sovereign Divinity and the Idea of a subordinate Power the Idea of an inferiour Divinity yet a true Divinity at least according to the Opinion of the Heathens supposing it to be the Idea of a true Power or Cause And therefore we admit something Divine in all the Bodies that surround us when we acknowledge Forms Faculties Qualities Virtues and real Beings that are capable of producing some Effects by the force of their Nature and thus insensibly approve of the Sentiments of the Heathens by too great a Deference for their Philosophy Faith indeed corrects us but it may perhaps be said that the Mind is a Pagan whilst the Heart is a Christian. Moreover it is a hard Matter to persuade our selves that we ought neither to fear nor love true Powers and Beings that can act upon us punish us with some Pain or reward us with some Pleasure And as Love and Fear are a true Adoration it is hard again to imagine why they must not be ador'd For whatever can act upon us as a true and real Cause is necessarily above us according to Reason and St. Austin and by the same Reason and Authority 't is likewise an immutable Law That inferiour Beings should be subservient to superiour Whence that great Father concludes That the Body cannot operate upon the Soul and that nothing can be above her but God only The chief Reasons that God Almighty uses in the Holy Scriptures to prove to the Israelites that they ought to adore that is to love and fear him are drawn from his Power to reward or punish them representing to them the Benefits they have received from him the Punishments he has inflicted upon them and his Power that is always the same He forbids them to adore the Gods of the Heathens as such as have no Power over them and can doe them neither harm nor good He commands them to honour him alone as the only true Cause of Good and Evil Reward and Punishment none of which can befal a City according to the Prophet but what comes from him by reason that natural Causes are not the true Causes of the Hurt they seem to doe us and as it is God alone that acts in them so 't is He alone that must be fear'd and lov'd in them Soli Deo Honor Gloria Lastly The Sense of fearing and Loving what may be the true Cause of Good and Evil appears so natural and just that it is not possible to cast it off So that in that
false Supposition of the Philosophers which we are here endeavouring to destroy that the surrounding Bodies are the true Causes of our Pain and Pleasure Reason seems to justifie a Religion like the Pagan Idolatry and approve the universal Depravation of Morals Reason I grant teaches not to adore Onions and Leeks for instance as the Sovereign Divinity because they can never make us altogether happy when we have them or unhappy when we want them neither did the Heathens worship them with an equal Homage as their great Jupiter whom they fansied to be the God of Gods or as the Sun whom our Senses represent as the universal Cause that gives Life and Motion to all things and which we can hardly forbear to look on as the Sovereign Divinity if we suppose as the Pagan Philosophers that he Comprehends in his Being the true Causes of what he seems to produce as well upon our Soul and Body as upon all the Beings that surround us But if we must not pay a Sovereign Worship to Leeks and Onions they deserve at least some particular Adoration I mean they may be thought upon and loved in some manner if it be true that they can in some sort make us happy and may be honour'd proportionably to the good they doe us Surely Men that listen to the Reports of Sense think Pulse capable of doing them good otherwise the Israelites would not have bewailed the loss of them in the Wilderness or look'd on themselves as unhappy for being deprived thereof had they not fansied to themselves some great Happiness in the Enjoyment of them See what an Abyss of Corruption Reason plunges us into when it goes hand in hand with the Principles of Pagan Philosophy and follows the footsteps of the Senses But that the Falshood of that wretched Phylosophy and the Certainty of our Principles and Distinctness of our Ideas may not be longer doubted it will be necessary plainly to establish the Truths that contradict the Errours of the Ancient Philosophers or to prove in few words that there is but one true Cause since there is but one true God that the Nature and Force of every thing is nothing but the Will of God that all Natural things are not real but only occasional Causes and some other Truths depending on them It is evident that all Bodies great and little have no force to move themselves a Mountain a House a Stone a Grain of Sand the minutest and bulkiest Bodies imaginable are alike as to that We have but two sorts of Ideas viz. of Spirits and Bodies and as we ought not to speak what we conceive not so we must only argue from those two Ideas Since therefore our Idea of Bodies convinces us that they cannot move themselves we must conclude that they are moved by Spirits But considering our Idea of finite Spirits we see no necessary Connexion betwixt their Will and the Motion of any Body whatsoever on the contrary we perceive that there is not nor can be any Whence we must infer if we will follow Light and Reason That as no Body can move it self so no Created Spirit can be the true and principal Cause of its Motion But when we think on the Idea of God or of a Being infinitely perfect and consequently Almighty we are aware that there is such a Connexion betwixt his Will and the Motion of all Bodies that it is impossible to conceive he should will that a Body be moved and it should not be moved And therefore if we would speak according to our Conceptions and not according to our Sensations we must say that nothing but his Will can move Bodies The moving force of Bodies is not then in themselves this force being nothing but the Will of God Bodies then have no proper Action and when a moving Ball meets with another and moves it the former communicates nothing of its own to the latter as not having in it self the Impression it communicates though the former be the Natural Cause of the latter's Motion and therefore a natural Cause is not a true and real Cause but only an occasional which in such or such a Case determines the Author of Nature to act in such or such a manner 'T is certain that all things are produced by the Motion of visible or invisible Bodies for Experience teaches us that those Bodies whose parts are in greater Motion are always the most active and those that Cause the greatest Alterations in the World so that all the Forces of Nature are but the Will of God who Created the World because he will'd it who spake and it was done who moves all things and produces all the Effects we see because he has established some Laws by which Bodies Communicate their Motion to each other when they meet together and because those Laws are efficacious they and not the Bodies act There is then no Force Power nor true Cause in all the Material and sensible World Nor need we admit any Forms Faculties or real Qualities to produce Effects which the Bodies bring not forth or to divide with God his own Essential Force and Power As Bodies cannot be the true Causes of any thing so likewise the most Noble Spirits are subject to the same impotency on that respect They cannot know any thing unless God enlightens them nor have the Sensation of any thing unless he modifies them nor will unless he moves them towards himself They may indeed determine the Impression God has given them to himself towards other Objects but I doubt whether it can be call'd a Power For if to be able to sin is a Power it is such a one as the Almighty wants saith St. Austin somewhere If Men had of themselves the Power of loving Good it might be said that they have some Power but they cannot so much as love but because God Wills it and that his Will is Efficacious They love because God continually drives them towards Good in general that is towards himself for whom alone they are Created and preserved God moves them and not themselves towards Good in general and they only follow that Impression by a free Choice according to the Law of God or determine it towards false and seeming Goods according to the Law of the Flesh But they cannot determine it but by the sight of Good For being able to doe nothing without an Impression from above they are incapable of loving any thing but Good But though it should be supposed which is true in one sense that Spirits have in themselves the Power of knowing Truths and loving Good should their Thoughts and Will produce nothing outwardly it might still be said that they were impotent and unoperative Now it seems undeniable that the Will of Spirits is not able to move the smallest Body in the World it being evident there is no necessary Connexion betwixt the Will we may have of moving our Arm for instance and the Motion of the same Arm. It moves
to another more exact by which we might accurately know how much London is larger than that open place contained in it There are therefore several sorts of Questions First There are some in which we seek a perfect Knowledge of all the exact Relations of two or several things betwixt each other Secondly There are some in which we search after the perfect Knowledge of some exact Relation betwixt two or several things Thirdly There are some in which we enquire after the perfect Knowledge of some Relation nearly approaching to the exact Relation that is betwixt two or more several things Fourthly There are some in which we are content to find a general and indefinite Relation 'T is evident First That to resolve the Questions of the First sort and perfectly to know all the exact Relations of Magnitude and Quality betwixt two or more things we must have distinct Ideas perfectly representing them and compare them together in all the possible manners We may for Instance resolve all the Questions that tend to discover the exact Relations betwixt 2 and 8 because both Numbers being accurately known may be compared together as much as is necessary to know the exact Relations of their Magnitude and Quality We may know that 8 is 4 times 2 and that 8 and 2 are even but not square Numbers 'T is plain Secondly That to resolve Questions of the second sort and accurately to know some Relation of Magnitude or Quality which is betwixt two or more things 't is necessary and sufficient distinctly to know those Faces by which they must be compared to discover the enquired Relation For Instance to resolve such Questions as tend to discover some exact Relations betwixt 4 and 16 as that 4 and 16 are even and square Numbers it 's sufficient exactly to know that 4 and 16 can be divided into equal parts without Fractions and that both are the product of a Number multiplied by it self and 't is to no purpose to examine what is their true Magnitude It being plain that to know the exact Relations of Quality betwixt things a distinct Idea of their Quality is sufficient without thinking on their Magnitude and that to know the exact Relations of Magnitude we need not search after the true Quality an accurate Knowledge of their Magnitude being all that is required Thirdly It clearly appears that to resolve the Questions of the third sort or to know some Relation very near approaching the exact Relation that is betwixt two or several things it is enough nearly to know the Faces by which they must be compared to discover the Relation required whether it be of Magnitude or Quality For Instance I may evidently know that the √ 8 is greater than 2 because I may very near know the true Magnitude of the √ 8 but I cannot discover how much the √ 8 is greater than 2 because I cannot exactly find out the true Magnitude of the √ 8. Lastly 'T is evident that to resolve the Questions of the fourth sort or to discover general and undefinite Relations it is enough to know things in a manner propotion'd to the need we stand in of comparing them together to find out the required Relation So that 't is not necessary to the Solution of all sorts of Questions to have very distinct Ideas of their Terms or perfectly to know the things expressed by those words But our knowledge must be the more exact as the Relations we search after are more accurate and numerous For as we have said in imperfect Questions imperfect Ideas of the things consider'd are sufficient to resolve them perfectly that is as far as they reach And many Questions may be resolved even without any distinct Idea of their Terms as when we are ask'd whether Fire is capable of melting Salt hardning Clay resolving Lead into Vapours and the like we understand perfectly those Questions and may very well solve them though we have no distinct Idea of Fire Salt Clay c. Because the Querists only desire to know whether we are ascertained by sensible Experiments that Fire produces those Effects And therefore may receive a satisfactory Answer by a knowledge drawn from the Senses CHAP. VIII An Application of the other Rules to particular Questions QUestion 's are of two sorts some are simple and others compound The former may be solved by the bare Attention of the Mind to the Ideas of the words in which they are expressed but the Solution of the latter must be perform'd by comparing them to a third or to many other Ideas We cannot find out the unknown Relations that are express'd in the Terms of a Question by immediately comparing the Ideas of those Terms since they can neither be joined nor compared We must then have one or several mean Ideas that we may make such Comparisons as are necessary to discover those Relations taking a special Care that those mean Ideas be the more clear and distinct as the Relations enquired after are more exact and numerous That Rule is but a Consequence of the first but of an equal importance with it For if exactly to know the Relation of the things compared it is necessary to have clear and distinct Ideas of them It plainly follows from the same Reason that we must have an accurate knowledge of the mean Ideas by which we intend to make our Comparisons since we must distinctly know the Relation of measure with each of the things measured to find out their Relations I shall give some Instances of it When we put a piece of Cork or other small and light Vessel in the Water with a Loadstone in it and offer to the North Pole of that Stone the same Pole of another Magnet which we keep in our Hands we presently perceive that the former Load-stone flies back as though it were driven by a violent Wind. 'T is requir'd to discover the Cause of that Effect 'T is plain that to render a Reason of the Motion of that Load-stone it is not sufficient to know the Relations it has to the other for we might perfectly know them all and yet not understand how two Bodies could repel each other without meeting We must therefore examine what are the Things which we distinctly conceive capable according to the Course of Nature of moving Bodies for 't is requir'd to find out the natural Cause of the Motion of a Load-stone which is certainly a Body And therefore we must not have recourse to any Quality Form or Being which by a clear Knowledge we cannot conceive capable of moving Bodies neither must we ascribe their Effect to an understanding Agent since we are not assur'd that Intelligences are the ordinary Causes of the natural Motions of Bodies and know not so much as whether they can produce Motion We plainly know that it is a natural Law that Bodies should move each other when they meet We must then endeavour to explain the Motion of the Load-stone by the Means of
some concurrent Body 'T is true that something besides a Body may move it but as long as we have no distinct Idea of that Thing we must not admit it as a proper Means to discover what is searched after nor to explain it to others for to contrive a Cause which none clearly conceives is not to give account of an Effect We must not then trouble our selves to enquire whether there is or is not any other natural Cause of the Motion of Bodies besides the mutual Impulse but rather suppose that there is none and attentively consider what Bodies may meet with and move that Load-stone We presently see that it is not mov'd by the Magnet we keep in our Hands since it touches it not but because 't is mov'd only when that Magnet is brought near it and that it moves not of it self we must infer that it is mov'd by some small Effluviums or little Bodies that proceed from that Magnet and are driven to the other Load-stone To discover those Corpuscles we must not open our Eyes nor nearly consider that Magnet for our Senses might impose upon our Reason and make us judge that nothing proceeds out of it because we perceive it not Perhaps we should not reflect that we see not the most impetuous Winds nor several other Bodies that produce very surprizing Effects We must then keep close to that clear and intelligible Means and carefully examine all the Effects of a Load-stone to discover how that Magnet may continually vent so many little Bodies without diminishing for the Experiments we shall make will discover that the small Particles that evaporate at one side immediately re-enter through another and will serve to explain all the Difficulties that may be objected against the Method of solving this Question But it must be observ'd that this Medium must not be forsaken though we should not be able to answer some Objections proceeding from our Ignorance in several things If we desire not to examine why Load-stones remove from each other when their Poles of the same Name are in Opposition to each other but rather why they approach and endeavour to unite together when the North Pole of one is opposite to the South Pole of the other the Question will be more difficult and one Medium alone will not be sufficient to resolve it for it is not enough exactly to know the Relations betwixt the Poles of those two Load-stones nor to have recourse to the Medium propos'd in the fore-going Question for that Means seems only fit to hinder the Effect whereof the Cause is sought for Neither must we propose any of those Things that are not clearly known to be the natural and ordinary Causes of Corporeal Motion nor evade the Difficulty of the Question by the rambling and uncertain Notion of an Occult Quality in Load-stones by which they attract each other for the Mind cannot conceive any such Attraction in Bodies The Impenetrability of Bodies plainly convinces us that Motion may be communicated by Impulsion and Experience evidently proves that it is communicated that way But there is no Reason nor Experiment that clearly demonstrates the Motion of Attraction for when the true and certain Cause of the Experiments which are alledg'd to prove that sort of Motion is found out it is visible that what appear'd to be done by Attraction is produc'd by Impulsion We must not therefore insist upon any other Communication of Motion but that effected by Impulsion since this Way is sure and undeniable whereas all the others imaginable have at least some Obscurity in them But though it might be demonstrated that mere Corporeal Things have some other Principles of Motion besides the Concourse of Bodies this might not however be reasonably rejected but must rather be insisted upon preferably to all others it being the most clear and most evident and appearing so undeniable that we may confidently assert that it has always been receiv'd by all Nations and Ages in the World Experience shews that a Load-stone freely swimming upon the Water draws towards that which we keep in our Hands when their different Poles are opposite to each other we must then conclude that the Load-stone upon the Water is driven to it But as the Magnet we hold cannot drive the other seeing this other approaches it and that the free Load-stone only moves at the Presence of the other Magnet 't is plain that to resolve this Question by the receiv'd Principle of the Communication of Motions we must have recourse to two Means at least If we know that the Parts of the Air are in perpetual Agitation as those of all fluid Bodies use to be we shall not doubt but they continually strike against the Load-stone c which they surround but because they strike it equally on all sides they impel it one way no more than another as long as there is an equal Quantity of Air on all sides It being so 't is easie to judge that the Magnet C hinders lest there should be as much Air towards a as towards b which cannot be done but by its diffusing some other Corpuscles betwixt C and c and therefore there exâ—ale such Particles ouâ— of both Load-stones which filling up that Space and carrying away the Air about a make the Load-stone c less press'd on that side than on the other and it must by consequence approach the Magnet C since all Bodies move towards the side on which there is the least Pressure or Resistance But if in the Load-stone c about the Pole a there were not many Pores fit to receive the small Particles streaming out of the Pole B of the Magnet C and too small to admit those of the Air 't is plain that those small Particles being more agitated than the Air since they are to chase it from betwixt the Load-stones they would drive the Load-stone c and remove it from the Magnet C Therefore since the Load-stone c approaches to or removes from the Magnet C according as they are oppos'd by different or the same Poles we must needs infer that the Poles a and b of the Load-stone c are full of different Pores otherwise the small Particles issuing out of the Magnet C could not have a free Passage without impelling the Load-stone c at the side a nor would they repel it at the side b. What I say of one of these Load-stones must be understood of the other 'T is plain that we always learn something by that Method of Arguing from clear Ideas and undeniable Principles For we have discover'd that the Air which environs the Load-stone c was driven from thence by Corpuscles perpetually flowing out of the Pores of both Load-stones which Corpuscles find a free Passage at one side but are shut out at the other If we desir'd nearly to discover the Bigness and Figure of the Pores of the Load-stone through which those Particles pass we ought to make other Experiments but that would lead us to Subjects which we
the Relation of the stronger Force to the larger Mouth But to solve this Problem by an Engine which sets better before the Eyes the Effect of the Muscles than the Former We must blow a little in a Foot-ball and hinder the Air from going out with a Sucker then put upon that Foot-ball half full of Wind a Stone of 5 or 600 weight or having set it on a Table lay on it a Board and on that Board a huge Stone or cause a heavy Man to sit upon the Board allowing him to hold by something that he may sit the faster upon the rising Foot-ball for if you blow again into it only with the Mouth it will raise the Stone that compresses it or the Man that sits upon it The Reason of this is that the Mouth of the Foot-ball is so small or at least must be suppos'd so in comparison to the Capaciousness of the Foot-ball that withstands the Weight of the Stone that by such means a very small is able to overcome a very great Force If we also consider that Breath alone is capable of violently driving a Leaden Ball through a long and strait Trunk because the Strength of the Breath is not dissipated but continually renew'd it will visibly appear that the necessary Proportion betwixt the Mouth and the largeness of the Foot-ball being suppos'd Breath alone may overcome a very considerable Force If we therefore conceive that the whole Muscles or each of the Fibres of which they are made have as this Foot-ball a competent Capacity to admit Animal Spirits that the Pores through which those Spirits flow are yet proportionably straiter than the Neck of a Bladder or the Aperture of the Foot-ball that the Spirits are detain'd in or driven through the Nerves almost as the Breath through a Trunk that the Spirits are more agitated than the Air of the Lungs and driven with a greater Violence to the Muscles than it is in a Bladder we shall perceive that the Motion of the Spirits which are dispers'd through the Muscles can conquer the Force of the heaviest Weight we carry and that if we cannot move other more ponderous this Want of Strength proceeds not so much from the Spirits as from the Fibres and Membranes of which the Muscles are compos'd which would burst should we make too great an Effort Besides If we observe that by the Laws of the Union betwixt Soul and Body the Motion of those Spirits as to their Determination depends on the Will of Man we shall see that the Motion of the Arm must needs be voluntary 'T is true that we move our Arm so readily that it seems at first sight incredible that the Course of the Spirits into the Muscles should be so swift as to effect that Motion But we ought to consider that those Spirits are extremely agitated always ready to pass from one Muscle into another and that a small quantity of that Spirituous Liquor may sufficiently swell them up so as to move them or to lift up from the Ground something very light For we cannot raise great Weights very readily because that Effort requires a great stretching and swelling of the Muscles which cannot be perform'd by the Spirits that are in the neighbouring or Antagonist Muscles and therefore some Time is requir'd to call in more Spirits to their help and in such a Quantity as that they may be able to withstand the Heaviness of the Weight Thus we see that those that are loaden cannot run and that a ponderous thing is not lifted up from the Ground so readily as a Straw If we consider that those that are of a fiery Temper or heated with Wine are quicker than others that amongst living Creatures those whose Spirits are more agitated as Birds move swifter than those in which Blood is colder as it is in Frogs and that in some of them as the Chamelion the Tortoise and some Insects the Spirits are so little agitated that their Muscles are not sooner fill'd than a Foot-ball would be by the Breath of a Man All these things being well observ'd may probably make our Explication acceptable But though that part of the Question propos'd which concerns Voluntary Motions be sufficiently resolv'd yet we must not assert that it is fully and perfectly or that nothing else in our Body contributes to those Motions besides what has been mention'd for most probably there are a Thousand Springs that facilitate them which will for ever be unknown even to those who give a better Guess upon the Works of God The second Part of the Question to be examin'd concerns the Natural Motions or those that have nothing extraordinary in them as Convulsions have but are absolutely necessary to the Preservation of our Machine and consequently altogether independent on our Will I first consider with all the possible Attention what Motions have those Conditions and whether they are perfectly alike And as I quickly perceive that they are for the most part different from each other lest I should perplex my self with too many things I shall only insist upon the Motion of the Heart which of all the inward Parts is the best known and its Motions the most sensible Whilst I examine its Construction I observe two Things amongst many others First That it is compos'd of Fibres as the other Muscles And Secondly That there are two remarkable Cavities in it And therefore I judge that its Motion may be perform'd by means of the Animal Spirits since it is a Muscle and that the Blood ferments and dilates in it since it has Cavities The first of these Judgments is founded upon what I have said before The second upon the Heart 's being much hotter than any other Parts of the Body and that it diffuses Heat together with Blood into all our Members and that those two Ventricles could neither be form'd nor preserv'd but by the Dilatation of the Blood So that they are subservient to the Cause that has produc'd them I can then give a sufficient Reason of the Motion of the Heart by the Spirits that agitate and the Blood that dilates it during the Fermentation For though the Cause I alledge of its Motion should not be true yet I plainly see that it is sufficient to produce it It may be that the Principle of Fermentation or Dilatation of Liquors is not so well known to all Readers as that I may pretend to have explain'd an Effect by generally shewing that it proceeds from Fermentation But all particular Questions are not to be resolv'd by ascending to the first Cause though that may be done too and a true System on which all particular Effects depend discover'd provided we only insist upon clear Ideas But that Way of Philosophizing is neither the exactest nor yet the shortest To comprehend this it must be observ'd that there are Questions of two sorts in the first it is requir'd to discover the Nature and Properties of some Thing in the others we only
to furnisâ— an Animal with parts quite useless and to congeal the Fruits after they are perfectly formed Is not this rather because God does what he pleases and that his power supersedes all Order and Rule For to mention things of greater Importance than the Fruits of the Earth wherewith he may do as he sees good the Clay whereof God makes Vessels of wrath is the same with that which he fashions Vessels of Mercy ANSWER These are the difficulties which serve only to obscure the Truth as proceeding from the darkness of the Mind We know that God is just we see that the wicked are Happy ought we to deny what wee see ought we to doubt of what we know because we may possibly be so stupid as not to know and so Libertine as not to believe what Religion teaches us of future Torments So we know that God is Wise and all that he does is Good mean while we see Monsters or defective Works What are we to believe that God is out of his aim or that these Monsters are not his handiwork Certainly if we have sence and constancy of Mind we shall believe neither the one nor the other For 't is manifest that God does all and that whatever he does is as perfect as possible with relation to the simplicity and fewness of the means he imploys in the Formation of his Work We must hold fast to what we see and not quit our ground for any difficulties impossible to be resolv'd when our Ignorance is the cause of that Impossibility If Ignorance must raise Difficulties and such like Difficulties overthrow the best establisht Opinions what will remain certain among Men who know not all things What Shall not the brightest Lights be able to disperse the least Darkness and shall any little shadow Eclipse the clearest and the liveliest Light But though the answering such sort of Difficulties might be dispenc'd with without Prejudice to the fore-establisâ—t Principle yet it is not amiss to show they are not unanswerable For the Mind of Man is so unjust in its Judgments that it may possibly prefer the Opinions which seem to result from these imaginary Difficulties before certain Truths which no Man can doubt of but because he will and with that design ceases to examine them I say then that God wills order though there are Monsters and 't is moreover because God wills order that there are Monsters and this is my reason Order requires that the Laws of nature whereby God produces that infinite Variety so conspicuous in the World should be very simple and very few in number Now 't is the simplicity of these general Laws which in some particular Junctures and because of the Disposition of the subject produces irregular Motions or rather Monstrous Combinations and consequently God's willing order is the cause of these Monsters Thus God does not positively or directly will the Existence of Monsters but he positively wills certain Laws of the Communication of Motions whereof Monsters are the necessary consequences because these Laws though of a most simple kind are nevertheless capable of producing that variety of forms which can't be sufficiently admired For Example In consequence of the general Laws of the Communication of Motions there are some Bodies which are driven near the Centre of the Earth The Body of a Man or an Animal is one of these that which upholds him in the Air breaks under his Feet is it just or according to Order that God should change his general Will for that particular Case Surely it seems not probable That Animal therefore must necessarily break or maim its Body And thus we ought to argue about the generation of Monsters ORDER requires that all Beings should have what 's necessary to their Preservation and the Propagation of the Species provided this may be done by most simple Means and worthy the Wisdom of God And so we see that Animals as also Plants have general Means to preserve themselves and to continue their Species and if some Animals fail thereof in some particular Occasions 't is because these general Laws whereby they were form'd reach not these private Emergencies because they respect not Animals separately but generally extend to all Beings and that the Good of the Publick must be preferr'd before Particular Advantages 'T is evident That if God made but one Animal it would not be Monstrous But Order would require That he should not make that Animal by the same Laws that he at present forms all others for the Action of God must be proportion'd to his Design By the Laws of Nature he designs not the making one Animal but a whole World and he must make it by the simpliest Means as Order requires 'T is enough then that the World be not monstrous or that the general Effects be suitable to the general Laws to vindicate the Work of God from Censure and Reproach If for all particular Changes God had instituted so many particular Laws or if He had constituted in every Being a particular Nature or Principle of all the Motions that arrive in it I confess it would be hard to juâ—tifie his Wisdom against so visible Disorders We should perhaps be forc'd to confess either that God wills not Order or that he knows not how or is not able to rectifie Disorder For in short it seems to me impossible to ascribe an almost infinite Number of second Causes of natural Forces Vertues Qualities and Faculties to what we call the Sports and Disorders of Nature with a Salvo to the infinite Power and Wisdom of the Author of all things OBJECTION against the Second Article GOD can never act for Himself A wise Being will do nothing useless but whatever God should do for himself would be useless because he wants nothing God wills nothing for himself if by the Necessity of his Essence he has all the Perfection he can desire And if God desires nothing for himself he works nothing for himself since he works only by the Efficacy of his Will The Nature of Good is to be communicative and diffusive 't is to be useful to others and not to it self 't is to seek out 't is if it be possible to create Persons whom it may make happy Therefore it is a Contradiction for God who is essentially and supremely good to act for himself ANSWER GOD may be said to act for himself two ways either with intent to derive some Advantage from what he does or to the end his Creature may find its Happiness and Perfection in him I enquire not at present whether God acts for himself in the first sense and whether to receive an Honour worthy of himself he has made and restor'd all things by his SON in whom according to the Scripture all things subsist I only assert that God cannot create and preserve Spirits in order to know and love created Beings 'T is an Immutable Eternal and necessary Law That they should know and love God as I
incident to the Corporeal World which is an Opinion sufficiently now receiv'd among Men of Letters But let their Opinion about it be what it will that matters not much since it seems much easier to conceive that a Body drives another when it strikes it than to comprehend how Fire can produce Heat and Light and educe from the power of matter a substance that was not in it before And if it be necessary to acknowledge that God is the True Cause of the different Communications of Motion by a much stronger reason we should conclude that none but He can Create and Annihilate real Qualities and substantial Forms I say Create and Annihilate For it seems to me at least as difficult to educe from matter a substance that was not in it or to reduce it into it again whilst yet there nothing remains of it as to create it or Annihilate it But I stick not to the Terms And I make use of those because there are no other that I know of which express without Obscurity and Ambiguity the changes suppos'd by the Philosophers to arrive every moment by the force of second Causes I had some scruple to set down here the other Arguments which are commonly urg'd for the Force and Efficacy of natural Causes For they appear so weak and trifling to those who withstand Prejudices and prefer their Reason before their Senses that I can scarce believe methinks that Reasonable Men could be perswaded by them However I produce and answer them since there are many Philosophers who urge them ARGUMENT I. If second Causes did not Operate say Suarez Fonseca and some others Animate things could not be distinguish'd from Inanimate since neither one nor the other would have an inward principle of their Actions ANSWER I answer that Men would have the same sensible proofs that have convinc'd them of the distinction they make between things Animate and Inanimate They would still see Animals do the same Actions as eat grow cry run bound c. and would discern nothing like this in Stones And this one thing makes the vulgar Philosophers believe that Beasts live and that Stones do not For we are not to fancy that they know by a clear and distinct view of Mind what is the Life of a Dog 'T is their Senses which regulate their Decisions upon this Question If it were necessary I could prove here that the principle of the Life of a Dog differs not from the principle of the Motion of a Watch. For the Life of Bodies whatever they be can consist but in the Motion of their Parts And we may easily judge that the same subtil matter which causes the Fermentation of the Blood and Animal Spirits in a Dog and which is the principle of his Life is no perfecter than that which gives Motion to the Spring of a Watch or which causes the Gravitation in the Weights of a Clock which is the principle of their Life or to speak as others do of their Motion It behoves the Peripateticks to give those whom they stile Cartesians a clear Idea of what they call the Life of Beasts Corporeal Soul Body which Perceives and Desires Sees Feels Wills and then we shall clearly resolve their Difficulties if after that they shall persist in raising them ARGUMENT II. It were impossible to discover the Differences or Powers of the Elements So that Fire might refrigerate as Water and nothing would be of a settled and fix'd Nature ANSWER I answer That whilst Nature remains as it is that is to say whilst the Laws of the Communication of Motions remain constantly the same it is a Contradiction that Fire should not burn or separate the Parts of certain Bodies Fire cannot refrigerate like Water unless it becomes Water for Fire being only Fewel whose Parts have been violently agitated by an invisible surrounding Matter as is easie to demonstrate it is impossible its Parts should not Communicate some of their Motion to approaching Bodies Now as these Laws are constant the Nature of Fire its Virtues and Qualities are unchangeable But this Nature and these Vertues are only Consequences of the General and Efficacious Will of GOD who does all in all things Therefore the Study of Nature is in all respects false and vain when we look for other true Causes than the Wills of the ALMIGHTY I confess that we are not to have recourse to God or the Universal Cause when we require the Reason of particular Effects For we should be ridiculous to assert for Instance That GOD dries the Ways or Freezes the Water in the River We must say The Air dries the Earth because it moves and bears off the Water with it that dilutes it Or that the Air or the subtil Matter Freezes the River in Winter because at that time it communicates not sufficient Motion to the Parts that constitute the Water In a Word we must if we can assign the Natural and particular Cause of the Effects propos'd to Examination But because the Action of these Causes consists in the moving Force which actuates them which moving Force is the Will of GOD which create them we ought not to say they have in themselves a Force or Power to produce any Effects And when in Reasoning we are at last arriv'd to a general Effect of which we seek the Cause 't is no good Philosophy to imagine any other than the general And to feign a certain Nature a first Moveable and universal Soul or some such Chimera whereof we have no clear and distinct Idea would be to argue like an Heathen Philosopher For Example when we are ask'd whence it comes that some Bodies are in motion or that the agitated Air communicates its Motion to the Water or rather whence proceeds the mutual Protrusion of Bodies Motion and its Communication being a general Effect on which all others depend we cannot answer I do'nt say like Christians but Philosophers without ascending to God who is the Universal Cause Since 't is His Will that is the moving Force of Bodies and that regulates the Communication of their Motions Had he will'd there should be no new Production in the World he would not have put its Parts in motion And if hereafter He shall will the Incorruptibility of some of the Beings he had made he shall cease to will the Communication of Motions in point of those Beings ARGUMENT III. 'T is needless to Plow to Water and give several preparatory Dispositions to Bodies to fit them for what we desire from them For GOD has no need of preparing the Subjects on which he Works ANSWER I answer That GOD may do absolutely all he pleases without finding any Dispositions in the Subjects he works upon But he cannot do it without a Miracle or by Natural ways that is by the General Laws of the Communication of Motions which he has constituted and which he almost always follows in his Actings GOD never multiplies his Wills without Reason
their Operation So likewise in point of free Causes I believe that God incessantly gives the Mind an Impression towards Good in General and that he moreover determines this Impression towards particular Goods by the Idea's or Sensations that he gives us as I have explain'd in the first Illustration which is the same with what the Divines intend by affirming That God moves and prevents our Wills Thus the Force which puts our Minds in Motion is the Will of God which Animates us and inclines us towards Good For God Creates not Beings to constitute the moving force of Minds for the same Reason that he Creates none to be the moving force of Bodies The Wills of God being of themselves Efficacious He need but Will to do And we ought not to multiply Beings without necessity Besides whatever is real in the determinations of our Motions proceeds likewise from the Action of God in us as appears from the first Illustration But all we Act or produce is by our Wills that is by the Impression of the Will of God which is our moving force For our Wills are Efficacious no farther than they are of God as mov'd Bodies impel not others but in as much as they have a moving force that translates them which is no other than the Will of God which Creates or preserves them successively in different places Therefore we Act no otherwise than by the Concourse of God and our Action consider'd as Efficacious and capable of producing any Effect differs not from his but is as say most Divines the self same Action eadem numero actio Now all the Changes which arrive in the World have no other Natural Cause than the Motions of Bodies and Volitions of Minds For First by the General Laws of the Communications of Motions the invisible Bodies which surround the visible produce by their various Motions all these divers Changes whose Cause is not apparent And Secondly by the Laws of Union of our Soul and Body when circumambient Bodies Act upon our own they produce in our Soul a multiplicity of Sensations Idea's and Passions Thirdly Our Mind by its Volitions produces in it self infinite different Idea's for they are our Volitions which as Natural Causes intend and Modifie our Mind Their Efficacy nevertheless proceeds from the Laws which God has establish'd And Lastly when our Soul acts upon our Body she produces several Changes in it by vertue of the Laws of her Union with it and by means of our Body she effects in those about it abundance of Changes by vertue of the Laws of Communication of Motions So that the Motions of Bodies and the Volitions of Minds are the only Natural or Occasional Causes of Natural Effects which no Man will deny who uses any Attention supposing only he be not prepossest by those who understand not what they say who fancy perpetually to themselves such Beings as they have no clear Idea's of and who offer to explain things which they do not understand by others absolutely incomprehensible Thus having shown that God by his Concourse or rather by his Efficacious Will performs whatever is done by the Motions of Bodies and the Wills of Minds as Natural or Occasional Causes it appears that God does every thing by the same Action of the Creature Not that the Creatures have of themselves any Efficacious Action but that the Power of God is in a manner Communicated to them by the Natural Laws which God has establish'd on their account This then is all that I can do to reconcile my Thoughts to the Opinion of those Divines who defend the necessity of immediate Concourse and hold that God does All in all things by an Action no ways differing from the Creatures For as to the rest of the Divines I think their Opinions utterly indefensible and especially that of Durandus together with the Sentiments of some of the Ancients refuted by St. Austin who absolutely deniâ—d the necessity of God's Concurrence pretending that Second Causes did all things by the Power which God in their Creation gave them For though this Opinion be less intricate and perplex'd than that of other Divines yet to me it seems so repugnant to Scripture and so suitable to Prejudices to say no worse of it that I think it altogether unwarrantable I confess that the School-Men who make God's immediate concourse to be the same Action with that of the Creatures do not perfectly agree with my Explication and all those that I have read except Biel and Cardinal d' Ailly are of Opinion That the Efficacy which produces Effects proceeds from the Second Cause as well as the First But as I make it indispensable for me to speak nothing but what I clearly conceive and always to take the side that best comports with Religion I think I am not liable to blame for deserting an Opinion which to many Men seems still more inconceiveable as they strive more to comprehend it and for establishing another which agrees perfectly not only with Reason but also with the Sacredness of our Religion and Christian Morality which is a Truth already prov'd in the Chapter that 's the Subject of these Reflexions However 't is not inconvenient to say something to it that I may fully verifie what I have said upon the present Question Both Reason and Religion evince That God will be Lov'd and rever'd by his Creatures Lov'd as Good and Rever'd as Power Which is such a Truth as it would be Impiety and Madness to doubt of To love God as he requires and deserves we must according to the First Commandment both of the Law and Gospel and by Reason it self as I have somewhere shown Love Him with all our Strength or with the whole extent of our Loving Capacity 'T is not sufficient to prefer Him before all things unless we moreover Love Him in all things For otherwise our Love is not so perfect as it ought to be and we return not to God all the Love that he gives us and gives us only for Himself in whom every one of His Actions Center So to render to God all the Reverence that is due to Him 't is not enough to adore Him as the Supreme Power and fear Him more than His Creatures we must likewise fear and adore Him in all His Creatures all our respects must perpetually tend towards Him to whom alone Honour and Glory are to be ascrib'd Which is what God Commands us in these Words Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Strength And in these Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve Thus the Philosophy that convinces us that the Efficacy of Second Causes is a Fiction of the Mind that the Nature of Aristotle and some other Philosophers is a Chimera that none but God is Strong and Powerful enough not only to Act on our Soul but even to give the
Principle In a word Jesus Christ needing Minds of particular Dispositions for the causing particular Effects may in general apply to them and by that Application infuse into them sanctifying Grace As the Mind of a Projector thinks in general of square Stones when these Stones are actually necessary to his Building XVIII But the Soul of Jesus being not a general Cause we have reason to think it has often particular Desires in regard to particular Persons When we intend to speak of God we must not consult our selves and make him act like us but consider the Idea of a Being infinitely perfect and make God act according to that Idea But in speaking of the Action of the Soul of Jesus we may look into our selves and make him act like particular Causes For Example We have reason to believe that the Conversion of St. Paul was owing to the Efficacy of a particular Desire of Jesus Christ. And we are to look upon the Desires of the Soul of Jesus which have a general respect to Minds of a certain Character as particular Desires though they comprehend many Persons because these Desires change daily like those of particular Causes But the general Laws by which God acts are always the same because the Wills of God ought to be firm and constant by reason that his Wisdom is infinite XIX The diverse Desires of the Soul of Jesus distributing Grace we clearly conceive why it is not equally dispers'd to all Men and why bestow'd on some more abundantly at one time than another For his Soul not thinking on all Men at once cannot at the same time have all the Desires whereof it is capable So that he acts not on his Members in a particular manner except by successive Influences as the Soul moves not at once all the Muscles of our Body For the Animal Spirits are unequally and successively distributed into our Members according to the various Impressions of Objects the diverse Motions of our Passions and the several Desires we freely excite within us XX. True it is that all the Righteous constantly receive the Influence of their Head which gives them Life and that when they act by the Spirit of Jesus Christ they merit and receive new Graces though it be not necessary that the Soul of Jesus should have any particular Desires as the occasional Causes of them For Order which requires that every Desert should be rewarded is not an arbitrary but a necessary Law and independent from any occasional Cause But though he who performs a meritorious Action may be rewarded for it whilst the Soul of Jesus has no actual Desires relating to him yet 't is certain that he merited not this Grace but by the Dignity and Sanctity of the Spirit which Christ has communicated to him For Men are not well-pleasing to God nor able to do good but in as much as they are united to his Son by Charity XXI It must be farther acknowledg'd that those who observe the Counsels of Jesus Christ out of an Esteem they have for them and through the Fear of future Punishment sollicite as I may say by their Obedience the Charity of Christ to think on them though they act from a Principle of Self-love But their Actions are not the Occasional Causes either of Grace since it does not infallibly follow them or even of the Motions of the Soul of Jesus in their Favour since these Motions never fail to communicate it Thus only the Desires of Jesus Christ as Occasional Causes have infallibly their Effect because God having constituted him Head of the Church ought by him only to communicate his sanctifying Grace to his Elect. XXII Now we may consider in the Soul of Jesus Christ Desires of two sorts viz. Actual Transitory and Particular that have but a short-liv'd Efficacy and Stable and Permanent which consist in a setled and constant Disposition of the Soul of Jesus Christ with relation to certain Effects which tend to the Execution of his Design in general If our Soul by its various Motions communicated to our Body all that was necessary to its Formation and Growth we might distinguish in her two kinds of Desire For it would be by the actual and transitory Desires that she would drive into the Muscles of the Body the Spirits which gave it a certain Disposition with reference to present Objects or to the actual Thoughts of the Mind But it would be by stable and permanent Desires that she would give to the Heart and Lungs the natural Motions by which Respiration and the Circulation of the Blood were perform'd By these Desires she would digest the Aliments and distribute them to all the Parts that needed them in as much as that sort of Action is at all times necessary to the Preservation of the Body XXIII By the actual transitory and particular Desires of the Soul of Jesus Grace is deriv'd to unprepar'd Persons in a manner somewhat singular and extraordinary But 't is by his permanent Desires that it is given regularly to those who receive the Sacraments with the necessary Dispositions For the Grace we receive by the Sacraments is not given us precisely because of the Merit of our Action though we receive them in Grace but because of the Merits of Jesus Christ which are freely applied to us in consequence of his permanent Desires We receive in the Sacraments much more Grace than our Preparation deserves and it suffices to our receiving some Influence from them that we do not oppose and resist it But 't is abusing what is most Sacred in Religion to receive them unworthily XXIV Amongst the actual and transitory Desires of the Soul of Jesus there are certainly some more durable and frequent than others and the Knowledge of these Desires is of greatest Consequence in Point of Morality Doubtless he thinks oftner on those who observe his Counsels than on other Men. His Motions of Charity for Believers are more frequent and lasting than those for Libertines and Atheists And as all Believers are not equally prepar'd to enter into the Church of the Predestinate the Desires of the Soul of Jesus are not equally lively frequent and durable on the account of them all Man more earnestly desires the Fruits that are fittest for the Nourishment of his Body he 〈◊〉 oftner on Bread and Wine than on Meats of difficult Digestion So Jesus Christ designing the Formation of his Church ought to be more taken up with those who can most easily enter than on others which are extremely remote The Scripture likewise teaches us that the Humble the Poor the Penitent receive greater Graces than other Men because the Despisers of Honours Riches and Pleasures are the fittest for the Kingdom of Heaven Those for Example who have learn'd of Jesus Christ to be meek and humble in Heart shall find Rest to their Souls The Yoke of Christ which is insupportable to the Proud will become easie and light by the Assistances of Grace For God
they had committed in murthering our Saviour it was fit that Jesus Christ should come into the World about the Reign of Herod supposing that People by the necessary Consequence of the Order of Nature was to be divided about that time that Civil Wars and perpetual Seditions were to weaken them and that lastly the Romans were to ruine and disperse them with the total Destruction of their City and Temple 'T is true there seems to be something extraordinary in the Desolation of the Jews But as it shews greater Wisdom in God to produce so surprizing Effects by the most simple and general Laws of Nature than by particular Wills which are always Miracles I question whether on that Occasion we are to fly unto a Miracle But for my part I dispute it not here since 't is a Fact that we cannot easily nor need we explain our selves upon And I produce this Instance only to make some Application of my Principles and to make them more easily intelligible to others I have I think said enough of Nature and Grace to satisfie all equitable and moderate Persons about an infinite Number of Difficulties which disturb only their Minds who must needs judge of God by themselves For if Men would consult the Idea of an Infinitely Perfect Being of a General Cause of an Infinite Wisdom and if they would consent to the Principles I have establish'd conformable to that Idea I believe they would neither be surpriz'd nor offended at the Conduct of GOD and that they would change their Murmurs and Censures into Wonder and Adoration CONCERNING Nature and Grace DISCOURSE III. Of the Manner of GRACE's acting in us PART I. Concerning Liberty I. THERE is nothing more rude and unform'd than the Substance of Spirits if we separate it from God For what 's a Mind void of Understanding and Reason destitute of Motion and Love Yet it is the Word and Wisdom of God which is the universal Reason of Minds and 't is the Love whereby God loves himself that gives the Soul the Motion she has towards Good If the Mind knows Truth 't is by its Natural and Necessary Union with Truth it self If it is reasonable 't is so through supreme Reason Lastly If it be a Spirit or Intelligence 't is in one sense because its Substance is enlightned penetrated and perfected by the Light of God himself These Truths I have explain'd in another Place So likewise the Substance of the Soul is not capable of loving Good save by its Natural and Necessary Union with the Eternal and Substantial Love of the Supreme Good it advances not towards Good any farther than convey'd by God it is volent only from the Motion it continually receives from him it lives only through Charity and wills merely through the Love of Good which God makes it participate though it abuses it For in fine God making and preserving Minds only for himself inclines them towards him as long as he preserves their Being and communicates the Love of Good to them whilst they are capable of receiving it Now that natural and continual Motion of the Soul towards Good in general towards Good indefinite towards God is what I here call Will Since 't is that Motion which capacitates the Substance of the Soul to love different Goods II. This Natural Motion of the Soul towards Good in general is invincible for 't is not in our Power not to will to be happy We necessarily love what we clearly know and lively feel to be our Good All Minds love God by the Necessity of their Nature and if they love any thing else by a Free Choice of their Will 't is not because they seek not God or the Cause of their Felicity but because they are deceiv'd 'T is because perceiving by a confus'd Sensation that surrounding Bodies make them happy they consider them as good and by an Ordinary and Natural Consequence love them and unite to them III. But the Love of all these particular Goods is not naturally invincible Man consider'd in his Original State might supersede loving those Goods that fill'd not the whole Capacity of his Affection There being but one Good which includes all others he might sacrifice every other Love to the Love of this For God having made Minds only for himself cannot invincibly carry them to the loving any thing besides him or without relation to him Lastly our own inward Consciousness informs us that we can reject a Fruit though we are inclin'd to take it Now that Power of loving or not loving particular Goods the Non-invincibility which is found in the Motion which carries Minds to the loving what does not seem every way inclusive of all Goods That Power or Non-invincibility is what I call Liberty Thus placing the Definition instead of the thing defin'd that Expression our Will is free signifies that the Natural Motion of the Soul towards Good in general is not invincible in point of Good in particular To the Word Free the Idea of Voluâ—tary is commonly annex'd but in the Sequel of this Discourse I shall take the Word in the Sense I have observ'd as being the most Natural and Ordinary IV. The Word Good is equivocal and may signifie either Pleasure which makes formally happy or the true or seeming Cause of Pleasure In this Discourse I shall constantly take the Word Good in the second Sense because indeed Pleasure is imprinted on the Soul that she may love the Cause that makes her happy that she may advance towards it by the Motion of her Love and may strictly unite to it to be perpetually happy When the Soul loves nothing but her own Pleasure she in effect loves nothing distinct from her self For Pleasure is only a Condition or Modification of the Soul which renders her actually happy and content But whilst the Soul cannot be the Cause of her own Pleasure she 's unjust ungrateful and blind if she loves her Pleasure and forgets to pay the Love and Devotion which is due to the true Cause that produces it in her As none but God can act immediately and by himself on the Soul and make her sensible of Pleasure by the actual Efficacy of his all-potent Will so he alone is truly Good However I term the Creatures Good which are the seeming Causes of the Pleasures we feel occasionally from them For I am unwilling to deviate from the customary way of Speaking any farther than is necessary to explain my self clearly All Creatures though Good in themselves or Perfect with reference to the Designs of God are not Good with reference to us They are not our Good nor the true Cause of our Pleasure or Felicity V. The natural Motion which God constantly imprints on the Soul to carry it to love him or to make use of a Term which is the Abridgement of several Ideas and can be no longer equivocal or confus'd after the Definition I have given of it the Will is determin'd towards particular Goods either
the Helps reach'd to them by Jesus Christ but also by natural Forces or ordinary Graces For in brief Nature may be made subservient to Grace in a thousand Instances PART II. Of GRACE XVIII THE Inequality which is found in the Liberty of different Persons being clearly known it will be no hard Matter methinks to discover how Grace works in us if we but affix to the Word Grace distinct and particular Ideas and remember the Difference between the Grace of the Creator and Renovator I said in the preceding Discourse that there is this difference between Light and Pleasure That the former leaves us entirely to our selves whilst the latter incroaches upon our Liberty For Light is something extraneous to us it does not affect and modifie our Soul it does not drive us to the Objects it discovers but only disposes us to move our selves and to consent freely and by Reason to the Impression God gives us towards Good The Knowledge of our Duty the clear Idea of Order separate from all Sensation the Contemplation of naked abstract wholly pure and intelligible Good that is Good without Tast or Fore-tast leaves the Soul to her entire Liberty But Pleasure is an Inmate to the Soul it touches and modifies her And so it diminishes our Liberty makes us love Good rather by a Love of Instinct and Passion than of Choice and Reason And it transports us as I may say to sensible Objects Not that Pleasure is the same thing as Love or the Motion of the Soul towards Good but that it causes this Love or determines this Motion towards the Object that makes us happy But because no Truths are demonstrable save those whereof we have clear Ideas which we have not of our own inward Motions 't is not possible for me to demonstrate what I advance as we demonstrate the Conclusions depending on common Notions Every one therefore must consult his own inward feeling of what passes in his Soul if he would be convinc'd of the difference between Light and Pleasure and must carefully observe that commonly Light is attended with Pleasure which yet he must separate to judge soundly of it But of this I have said enough XIX If then it be true that Pleasure naturally produces Love and is like a Weight which gives the Soul a Propensity to the Good that causes or seems to cause it 't is visible that the Grace of Jesus Christ or the Grace of Sensation is of it self efficacious For though preventing Delectation when but weak works not an entire Conversion in the Heart of those whose Passions are too lively yet it never fails of its Effect in as much as it always inclines them towards God It is in some measure always efficacious but it has not always all possible Effect because of the Resistance of Concupiscence XX. Put for Example in one Scale of a Balance ten pound weight and in the other only six this latter weight shall truly gravitate for adding but so much more weight to this or taking it from the opposite Scale or lastly hanging the Balance nearer the over-weighted and the six pounds shall carry it But though this weight gravitates 't is visible its effect depends still on the resisting weight and the manner of its resisting Thus the Grace of Sensation is always of it self efficacious it constantly weakens the Effort of Concupiscence since Pleasure naturally creates Love for the Cause which produces or seems to produce it But though this Grace be always Self-efficacious yet it depends or rather its Effect depends on the actual Dispositions of the Receiver The weight of Concupiscence resists it and sensible Pleasures which draw us to the Creatures that seem to produce it in us hinder the Pleasures of Grace from uniting us strictly to him who alone can act in us and make us happy XXI But the case is otherwise with the Grace of Light or the Grace of the Creator It is not of it self efficacious It does not move or convey the Soul but leaves her perfectly to her self But though it be not efficacious of it self it nevertheless is persued by many Effects when 't is great and animated by some delectable Grace which gives it Force and Vigour or when it meets with no contrary Pleasure that greatly resists it Such is the difference between the Grace of the Creator and that of the Restorer between Light and Pleasure between the Grace which supposes not Concupiscence and the Grace which is given us to counterpoize the Pleasures of it The one is sufficient to a Man perfectly Free and Fortified with Charity the other is efficacious to a Man Infirm to whom Pleasure is necessary to draw him to the Love of the True Good XXII But the Force and Efficacy of Grace ought always to be compar'd with the Action of Concupiscence with the Light of Reason and especially with the degree of Liberty the Person is endued with And we must not imagine that God bestows it by particular Wills with design to produce certain Effects by it and nothing more For when 't is said that Grace always works in the Heart the Effect for which 't is given we err if we suppose God acts like Men with particular Considerations God diffuses his Grace with a General Design of sanctifying all that receive it or according as the Occasional Cause determines him to refuse it Mean while he knows very well that it will not have so much Effect in some as in others not only because of the Inequality of Force on the part of Grace but also of the Inequality of Resistance on the part of Concupiscence XXIII Since Concupiscence has not utterly destroy'd the Liberty of Man the Grace of Jesus Christ as efficacious as it is is not absolutely irresistible A sensible Pleasure is superable when weak and a Man may suspend the Judgment of his Love when he is not hurried by a too violent Passion And when he stoops to the Lure of an adulterate Pleasure he is culpable through the Abuse of his Liberty So likewise the Delectation of Grace is not ordinarily invincible A Man may decline following the good Motions it inspires which remove us from the false Objects of our Love This Grace fills not the Soul in such a manner as to hurry her to the True Good without Choâ—ce Judgment and Free Consent Thus when we resign up our selves to its Motion and advance farther as I may say than it irresistibly carries us when we sacrifice the Pleasures of Concupiscence which weaken its Efficacy or lastly when we act by Reason or love the true Good as we ought we merit through the good use we make of our Liberty XXIV 'T is true that Delectable Grace consider'd in it self and separate from the Pleasures of Concupiscence which are contrary to it is always invincible Because this holy Pleasure being conformable to the Light of Reason nothing can withstand its Effect in a Man perfectly free When the Mind sees clearly by
their Effect The Prayers and diverse Desires of Jesus Christ with reference to the Formation of his Body have likewise most constantly and speedily their Accomplishment God denies his Son nothing as we learn from Jesus Christ himself Occasional Causes produce not their Effect by their own Efficacy but by the Efficacy of the General Cause 'T is likewise by the Efficacy of the Power of God that the Soul of Jesus Christ operates in us and not by the Efficacy of Man's Will 'T is for this Reason that St. Paul represents Jesus Christ as praying to his Father without Intermission For he is oblâ—gâ—d to Pray in order to Obtain Occasional Causes have been establish'd by God for the determining the Efficacy of his General Wills and Jesus Christ according to the Scripture has been appointed by God after his Resurrection to govern the Church which he had purchas'd by his Blood For Jesus Christ became the Meritorious Cause of all Graces by his Sacrifice But after his Resurrection he entred 〈◊〉 the Holy of Holies as High Priest of future Goods to appear in the Presence of God and to endue us with the Graces which he has merited for us Therefore he himself applies and distributes his Gifts as Occasional Cause he disposes of all things in the House of God as a well-beloved Son in the House of his Father I think I have demonstrated in the Search after Truth that there is none but God who is the true Cause and who acts by his own Efficacy and that he communicates his Power to Creatures only in establishing them Occasional Causes for the producing some Effects I have proved for Example That Men have no Power to produce any Motion in their Bodies but because God has establish'd their Wills the Occasional Causes of these Motions That Fire has no power to make me feel Pain but because God has establish'd the Collision of Bodies the Occasional Cause of the Communication of Motions and the violent Vibration of the Fibres of my Flesh the Occasional Cause of my Pain I may here suppose a Truth which I have proved at large in the Third Chapter of the Second Part of the Sixth Book and in the Illustration upon the same Chapter and which those for whom it was principally written don't contest Now Faith assures us that all Power is given to Jesus Christ to form his Church All Power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth Which cannot be understood of Jesus Christ as to his Divinity for as God he has never received any thing And therefore it is certain that Jesus Christ as to his Humanity is the Occasional Cause of Grace supposing I have well proved that God only can act on Minds and that Second Causes have no Efficacy of their own Which those ought first to examine who would understand my Sentiments and give a Judgment of them XII I say farther that no one is sanctified but through the Efficacy of the Power which God has communicated to Jesus Christ in constituting him the Occasional Cause of Grace For if any Sinner were converted by a Grace whereof Jesus Christ was not the Occasional but only the Meritorious Cause that Sinner not receiving his New Life through the Efficacy of Jesus Christ would not be a Member of the Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head in that manner explain'd by St. Paul by these Words of the Epistle to the Ephesians That we may grow up into him in all things who is the Head even Christ from whom the whole Body fitly join'd together and compacted by that which every Joint supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every Part maketh increase of the Body unto the edifying it self in Love Which Words not only say Jesus Christ is the Meritorious Cause of all Graces but likewise distinctly signifie that Christians are the Members of the Body whereof Jesus Christ is the Head that 't is in him we increase and live with an entire new Life that 't is by his inward Operation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that his Church is form'd and that thus he has been constituted by God the sole Occasional Cause who by his several Desires and Applications distributes the Graces which God as the True Cause showers down on Men. 'T is on this Account St. Paul says Christians are united to Jesus Christ as their Root Rooted and built up in him 'T is for the same Reason that Jesus Christ compares himself to a Vine and his Disciples to the Branches that derive their Life from him I am the Vine ye are the Branches On the same Grounds St. Paul affirms that Jesus Christ lives in us and that we live in him that we are rais'd up in our Head that our Life is hidden with Jesus Christ in God in a word that we have already Life Eternal in Jesus Christ. All these and many other Expressions of like nature clearly manifest that Jesus Christ is not only the Meritorious but also the Occasional Physical or Natural Cause of Grace and that as the Soul informs animates and consummates the Body so Jesus Christ diffuses through his Members as Occasional Cause the Graces he has merited to his Church by his Sacrifice For my part I cannot see how these Reasons can be call'd in question or upon what Grounds a most edifying Truth and as ancient as the Religion of Jesus Christ can be treated as a dangerous Novelty I grant my Expressions are novel but that 's because they seem to me the fittest of all others distinctly to explain a Truth which can be but confusedly demonstrated by Terms very loose and general These words Occasional Causes and Natural Laws seem necessary to give the Philosophers for whom I wrote this Treatise of Nature and Grace a distinct Understanding of what most Men are content to know confusedly New Expressions being no farther dangerous than involving Ambiguity or breeding in the Mind some Notion contrary to Religion I do not believe that Equitable Persons and conversant in the Theology of St. Paul will blame me for explaining my self in a particular manner when it only tends to make us Adore the Wisdom of God and strictly to unite us with Jesus Christ. First OBJECTION XIII 'T is Objected against what I have establish'd That neither Angels nor Saints of the Old Testament receiv'd Grace pursuant to the Desires of the Soul of Jesus since that Holy Soul was not then in Being and therefore though Jesus Christ be the meritorious Cause of all Graces he is not the Occasional Cause which distributes them to Men. As to Angels I Answer That 't is very probable Grace was given them but once So that if we consider things on that side I grant there is nothing can oblige the Wisdom of God to constitute an Occasional Cause for the Sanctification of Angels But if we consider these blessed Spirits as Members of the Body whereof Jesus Christ is the Head or suppose them
and absolute Lord of all things by right of Generation These Truths are evident as we are assur'd by Jesus Christ himself who says that his Father has given him power to judge Men because he is the Son of Man So we ought not to think that Scripture Expressions which make Jesus Christ the Author of Grace must be understood of him consider'd in his Divine Person For if so I confess I should not have prov'd him the Occasional Cause since he would be the True Cause of it But whereas it is certain that the Three Persons of the Trinity are equally the True Cause of Grace because all the External Operations of God are common to them all my Proofs are undeniable since Holy Scripture says of the Son and not of the Father or the Holy Spirit that he is the Head of the Church and that in this Capacity he communicates Life to the constituent Members of it Second OBJECTION XIV 'T is God who gives the Soul of Jesus Christ all the Thoughts and Motions relating to the Formation of his Mystical Body So that if on one hand the Wills of Jesus Christ as Occasional or Natural Causes determine the Efficacy of the General Wills of God on the other 't is God himself who determines the several Wills of Jesus Christ. And thus it comes to the same thing For in brief the Volitions of Jesus Christ are always conformable to those of his Father I grant that the particular Volitions of the Soul of Jesus Christ are always conformable to the Wills of his Father not as if there were any particular Wills in the Father which answer to those in the Son and determine them but only that the Volitions of the Son are always conform'd to Order in general which is the necessary Rule of the Will of God and of all those who love him For to love Order is to love God 't is to will what he wills 't is to be Just Wise Regular in our Love The Soul of Jesus desires to form to the Glory of his Father the largest most sumptuous and accomplish'd Temple possible Order demands this since nothing can be made too great for God All the several Thoughts of this Soul perpetually intent on the Execution of its Design proceed likewise from God or the Word to which it is united But its various Desires are certainly the Occasional Cause of these various Thoughts for it thinks on what it wills Now these diverse Desires are sometimes entirely free and probably the Thoughts which excite them do not invincibly determine the Soul of Jesus Christ to apply her self to the Means of executing them For in brief 't is equally advantageous to the Design of Jesus Christ whether it be Peter or John that causes the Effect which the Regularity of his Work requires 'T is true the Soul of Jesus is not indifferent in any thing that relates to his Father's Glory or that Order necessarily demands but is entirely free in all the rest there is nothing extraneous to God which invincibly determines his Love Thus we ought not to wonder if Jesus have particular Wills though there be not the like Wills in God to determine them But let it be granted that the Volitions of Jesus Christ are not free and that his Light invincibly carries him to will and to will always in a determinate manner in the Construction of his Church But it is Eternal Wisdom to which his Soul is united that must determine his Volitions We must not for that Effect suppose Particular Wills in God But all the Wills of Jesus Christ are Particular or have no Occasional Cause to determine their Efficacy as have those of God For the Soul of Jesus Christ having not an infinite Capacity of Thinking his Notices and consequently his Volitions are limited Therefore his Wills must needs be Particular since they change according to his diverse Thoughts and Applications For probably the Soul of Jesus Christ otherwise imploy'd in Contemplating and tasting the infinite Satisfactions of the True Good methinks ought not according to Order desire at once to think on all the Ornaments and Beauties he would bestow upon his Church nor on the different Ways of executing each of his Designs For Jesus Christ desiring to render the Church worthy of the infinite Majesty of his Father would gladly perfect it with infinite Beauties by Ways most conformable to Order He must then constantly change his Desires there being but one infinite Wisdom who can fore-see all and prescribe himself General Laws for the executing his Designs But the future World being to subsist eternally and to be infinitely more perfect than the present it was requisite that God should establish an Occasional Cause Intelligent and Enlightned by Eternal Wisdom to remedy the Defects which should unavoidably happen in the Works that were form'd by General Laws The Collision of Bodies which determines the Efficacy of the General Laws of Nature is an Occasional Cause without Understanding and Liberty and therefore 't is impossible but there must be Imperfections in the World and Monsters produc'd which are not of such account as that the Wisdom of God should descend to remedy them by Particular Wills But Jesus Christ being an Intelligent Occasional Cause illuminate with the Wisdom of the Word and susceptible of Particular Wills according to the particular Exigencies of the Work he forms 't is plain that the future World will be infinitely more perfect than the present that the Church will be without Spot or Wrinkle as we are taught by Scripture and that it will be a Work most worthy of the Complacency of God himself 'T is in this manner that Eternal Wisdom renders as I may say to his Father what he had taken from him For not permitting him to act by Particular Wills he seem'd to disable his Almighty Arm But becoming incarnate he so brings it to pass that God acting in a manner worthy of him by most Simple and General Laws produces a Work wherein the most Illuminate Intelligences cannot observe the least Imperfection PROOFS founded on REASON XV. Having demonstrated by the Authority of Scripture that the diverse Motions of the Soul of Jesus Christ are the Occasional Causes which determine the Efficacy of the General Law of Grace by which God would have all Men sav'd in his Son 't is necessary to shew in general by Reason that we are not to believe God acts in the Order of Grace by Particular Wills For though by Reason separate from Faith it cannot be demonstrated that God has constituted the Wills of Man-God the Occasional Causes of his Gifts yet it may without Faith be shewn that he distributes them not to Men by Particular Wills and that in two manners a priori and a posteriori that is by the Idea we have of God and by the Effects of Grace For there is nothing but serves to prove this Truth First then for the Proof of a priori A wise Being
includes two Faculties an Active and a Passive 3. A general Cause of the Changes which happen in the Imagination of Men and the Foundation of the Second Book 45 CHAP. II. 1 Of the Animal Spirits and the Changes they are sâ—â—ject to in general 2. That the Chyle entring the Heart occasions a Change in the Spirits 3. That Wine does the same thing 47 CHAP. III. That the Air imploy'd in Respiration causes some change in the Animal Spirits 48 CHAP. IV. 1. Of the Change of the Spirits caus'd by the Nerves which go to the Heart and Lungs 2. Of that which is caus'd by the Nerves which go to the Liver to the Spleen and Viscera 3. That all that is perform'd without the Concurrence of our Will but yet it cannot be done without a Providence 49 CHAP. V. 1. Of Memory 2. Of Habits 51 CHAP. VI. 1. That the Fibres of the Brain are not subject to so sudden Changes as the Spirits 2. Three different Changes incident to the three different Ages 53 CHAP. VII 1. Of the Communication there is between the Brain of a Mother and that of her Infant 2. Of the Communication that is between our Brain and the other Parts of our Body which inclines us to Imitation and to Compassion 3. An Explication of the Generation of Monstrous Children and the Propagation of the Species 4. An Explication of some Irregularities of the Understanding and of some Inclinations of the Will 5. Concerning Concupiscence and Original Sin 6. Objections and Answers 54 CHAP. VIII 1. The Changes which happen in the Imagination of an Infant after his Birth by his accompanying with his Mother his Nurse and other Persons 2. Some Instructions for their good Education 61 The Second Part. CHAP. I. 1. Of the Imagination of Women 2. Of the Imagination of Men. 3. Of the Imagination of old Men 64 CHAP. II. That the Animal Spirits generally run in the Tracks of Ideas that are most familiar to us which is the Reason of our preposterous Judgments 66 CHAP. III. Of the mutual Connexion between the Ideas and the Traces of the Brain and of the mutual Connexion there is between Traces and Traces Ideas and Ideas 68 CHAP. IV. 1. That Men of Learning are the most subject to Error 2. The Causes why Men had rather be guided by Authority than make use of their own Reason 71 CHAP. V. Two pernicious Effects Reading has upon the Imagination 72 CHAP. VI. That Men of Learning generally are so opinionated with an Author that their principal Drift is the knowing what he held without caring to know what ought to be held 74 CHAP. VII Of the Prepossession of Commentators 76 CHAP. VIII 1. Of the Inventors of new Systems 2. The last Error of Men of Learning 79 CHAP. IX 1. Of Effeminate Minds 2. Of Superficial Minds 3. Of Men of Authority 4. Of the Experimental Philosophers 81 The Third Part. CHAP I. Of the Disposition we have to imitate others in all things which is the Original of the Communication of those Errors that depend on the Power of Imagination 2. Two things that more especially increase this Disposition 3. What that strong Imagination is 4. That there are several kinds of it Of Fools and of those that have a strong Imagination in the Sense 't is here taken 5. Two considerable Imperfections of Men of a strong Imagination 6. Of the Power they have to persuade and impose on others 84 CHAP. II. General Instances of the Strength of Imagination 87 CHAP. III. 1. Of the Force of some Authors Imagination 2. Of Tertullian 90 CHAP. IV. Of the Imagination of Seneca 91 CHAP. V. Of Montagne's Book 95 CHAP. VI. 1. Of Witches in Imagination and of Wolf-men 2. The Conclusion of the two First Books 99 Book the Third CHAP. I. 1. Thought is only essential to the Mind Sensation and Imagination are only the Modifications of it 2. We know not all the Modifications our Soul is capable of 3. They are different from our Knowledge and our Love nor are they always Consequences of them 101 CHAP. II. 1. The Mind being limited cannot comprehend any thing of an Infinite Nature 2. It s Limitation is the Origine of a great many Errors 3. And especially of Heresies 4. The Mind must be submitted unto Faith 105 CHAP. III. 1. The Philosophers dissipate or dissolve the Force of the Mind by applying it to the Subjects including too many Relations and depending on too many things and by observing no Method in their Studies 2. An Instance taken from Aristotle 3. That Geometricians on the contrary take a good Method in the Search of Truth Especially those who make use of Algebra and Analyticks 4. That their Method increases the Strength of the Mind and that Aristotle's Logick lessens it 5. Another Fault of Learned Men 107 CHAP. IV. 1. The Mind cannot dwell long upon Objects that have no relation to it or that include not something of Infinity in them 2. The Inconstancy of the Will is the Cause of that want of Application and consequently of Error 3. Our Sensations take us up more than the pure Ideas of the Mind 4. Which is the Source of the Corruption of our Morals 5. And of the Ignorance of the Vulgar sort of Men 109 Second Part concerning pure Understanding CHAP. I. 1. What is meant by Ideas That they really exist and are necessary to our perceiving all material Objects 2. A Particularization of all the ways possible for us to perceive external Objects 112 CHAP. II. That material Objects emit not Species which resemble them 114 CHAP. III. That the Soul has no power to produce Ideas The cause of the Error Men are guilty of upon this Subject 115 CHAP. IV. That we perceive not Objects by means of Ideas created with us That God does not produce them in us every moment we have need of them 117 CHAP. V. That the Mind perceives neither the Essence nor the Existence of Objects by considering its own Perfections That none but God sees them in that manner 118 CHAP. VI. That we see all things in God 119 CHAP. VII 1. Four different manners of Perception 2. How it is that we know God 3. How we know Bodies 4. How we know our own Souls 5. How we know the Souls of other Men and pure Spirits 122 CHAP. VIII 1. The intimate Presence of the indefinite Idea of Being in general is the cause of all the disorderly abstractions of the Mind and the most part of the Chimeras of the vulgar Philosophy which hinder many Philosophers from acknowledging the solidity of true Principles of Physicks 2. An Instance concerning the Essence of Matter 124 CHAP. IX 1. The last general Cause of our Errors 2. That the Ideas of things are not always present to the Mind when we would have them 3. That every finite Mind is subject to Error and why 4. That we ought not to judge that there is nothing but Body and Spirit nor that God is a
Spirit according to our conception of Spirits 128 CHAP. X. Some Instances of Errors in Physicks wherein Men are engaged by supposing that the things which differ in their Nature their Qualities Extension Duration and Proportion are alike in all these things 130 CHAP. XI Instances of some Errors of Morality which depend on the same Principle 133 The Conclusion of the Three first Books 134 Book the Fourth CHAP. I. 1. Inclinations are as necessary to Spirits as Motions to Bodies 2. God gives no Motion to Spirits but what tends towards himself 3. The tendency Spirits have to particular Goods proceeds but from their Motion towards Good in general 4. The Original of our chiefest natural Inclinations which will make up the division of this Fourth Book 137 CHAP II. 1. The Inclination for Good in general is the Principle of the Restlesness of the Will 2. And consequently of our Inadvertency and Ignorance 3. The First Instance shewing that Morals are but little known by the generality of Men. 4. The Second Instance shewing that the Immortality of the Soul is controverted by some People 5. That we are in extreme Ignorance in point of abstract things and which have but little reference to us 139 CHAP. III. 1. Curiosity is natural and necessary 2. Three Rules to moderate it 3. An Explication of the first of these Rules 143 CHAP. IV. A Continuation of the same Subject 1. An Explication of the second Rule concerning Curiosity 2. An Explication of the Third 146 CHAP. V. 1. Of the second natural Inclination or of Self-love 2. The Division of it into love of Being and of Well-being or of Greatness and Pleasure 147 CHAP. VI. 1. Of the Inclination we have for whatever elevates us above others 2. Of the false Judgments of some Religious Persons 3. Of the false Judgments of the Superstitious and Hypocrites 4. Of Voetius Mr. Des Cartes's Enemy 148 CHAP. VII Of the Desire of Science and of the Judgments of the falsly Learned 151 CHAP. VIII 1. Of the Desire of seeming Learned 2. Of the conversation of the falsly Learn'd 3. Of their Works 153 CHAP. IX How the Inclination for Honours and Riches conduces to Error 155 CHAP. X. Of the Love of Pleasure with regard to Morality 1. That Pleasure is to be shunn'd though it make us happy 2. It ought not to carry us to the loving sensible Goods 156 CHAP. XI Of the love of Pleasure with reference to Speculative Sciences 1. How it disables us from discovering Truth 2. Some Instances 159 CHAP. XII Of the Effects which the Thoughts of Future Happiness and Misery are capable of producing in the Mind 163 CHAP. XIII 1. Of the third Natural Inclination viz. The Friendship we have for other Men. 2. It makes us approve the Thoughts of our Friends and deceive them by undue Praises 165 Tome II. Book V. CHAP. I. OF the Nature and Original of Passions in general Page 1 CHAP II. Of the Union of the Mind with sensible Things or of the Force and Extent of the Passions in general 3 CHAP. III. A particular Explanation of all the Changes happening either to the Body or Soul in every Passion 6 CHAP. IV. That the Pleasure and Motion of the Passions engage us in Errors and false Judgments about Good that we ought continually to resist them How to impugn Libertinism 10 CHAP. V. That the Perfection of the Mind consists in its Union with God by the knowledge of Truth and the love of Vertue and contrariwise That its Imperfection proceeds only from its dependency on the Body caused by the Disorder of the Senses and Passions 13 CHAP. VI. Of the more general Errors of the Passions with some particular Instances 16 CHAP. VII Of Passions in particular and first of Admiration and its ill Effects 18 CHAP. VIII A Continuation of the same Subject What good use can be made of Admiration and other Passions 24 CHAP. IX Of Love and Aversion and their principal Species 26 CHAP. X. Of Passions in particular and in general of the way to explain them and to know the Errors they cause 29 CHAP. XI That all the Passions justifie themselves What Judgments they cause us to make in their Vindication 31 CHAP. XII That such Passions as have Evil for their Object are the most dangerous and unjust and that those that have the least mixture of Knowledge are the most lively and sensible 34 Book the Sixth CHAP. I. The Design of this Book Two general ways to keep to Evidence in the Search of Truth which shall be the Subject of this Tract 36 CHAP. II. That attention is necessary to preserve Evidence in our Knowledge that the modifications of the Soul make her attentive but share and take up too much her Capacity of perceiving 37 CHAP. III. Of the use that can be made of the Passions and Senses to preserve the attention of the Mind 39 CHAP. IV. Of the use of Imagination to make the Mind attentive and especially of the usefulness of Geometry 41 CHAP. V. Of the means to improve the extent and capacity of the Mind That Arithmetick and Algebra are of absolute necessity to it 46 Book the Sixth Part II. CHAP. I. Of the Rules that are to be observed in the Search after Truth 50 CHAP. II. Of the general Rule that concerns the subject of our Studies That School Philosophers observe it not which is the cause of several Errors in their Physicks 51 CHAP. III. Of the most dangerous Error in the Philosophy of the Ancients 54 CHAP. IV. An Explication of the second part of the general Rule That the Philosophers observe it not but that Des Cartes has exactly followed it 57 CHAP. V. An Explication of the Principles of the Peripatetick Philosophy in which is shewn that Aristotle never observed the second part of the general Rule and his four Elements with the Elementary Qualities are examined 64 CHAP. VI. General and necessary Advices to proceed orderly in the Search after Truth and in the choice of the Sciences 70 CHAP. VII Of the use of the first Rule concerning particular Questions 74 CHAP. VIII An Application of the other Rules to particular Questions 79 CHAP. IX The last instance to shew the usefulness of this Treatise wherein the cause of the Union of parts in Bodies and withal the Rules of the Communication of Motion are examined 85 The Conclusion of the Three last Books 96 Illustrations upon the foregoing Books 98 F. Malbranche's Defence against the Accusation of Monsieur De la Ville 183 Of Light and Colours 193 The End of the Contents F. MALEBRANCHE'S TREATISE CONCERNING The Search after Truth BOOK the FIRST Concerning 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 the Liberty of the SOUL consists ERROR is the Vniversal Cause of the Misery of Mankind 't is the corrupt Principle that has Produc'd Evil in the World 'T is
in the Mind is altogether passive and includes no Action at all I call that Faculty or Capacity the Soul has of receiving all these things the UNDERSTANDING Whence we ought to conclude That 't is the Vnderstanding which perceives since 't is only its business to receive the Idea's of Objects For for the Soul to perceive an Object and to receive the Idea which represents it is one and the same thing 'T is also the Vnderstanding which perceives the Modifications of the Soul since I mean by this word Vnderstanding that passive Faculty of the Soul by means of which it receives all the different Modifications it is capable of For it is the same thing for the Soul to receive a mode of existence which we call pain as to perceive Pain since it has no other way of receiving Pain than by the Perception of it whence it may be inferr'd that 't is the Vnderstanding that imagines the Objects that are absent and is sensible of those that are present and that the Senses and Imagination are nothing but the Vnderstanding perceiving Objâ—cts by the Organs of the Body as shall be explain'd hereafter But because in the Sensation of Pain or any thing else Men generally perceive it by the mediation of the Organs of Sense they customarily say they are the Senses which perceive it without knowing distinctly what it is they mean by the word Sense They fancy there is some Faculty distinct from the Soul which renders It or the Body capable of Sensation as believing the Organs of Sense do really participate of our Perceptions They imagine the Body is so assistant to the Mind in its Sensations that if the Mind was separate from the Body it could have no Sensation at all But these thoughts are the effects of Prejudice and because in the State we are in we are sensible of nothing but through the use of the Instruments of Sense as shall be shewn elsewhere more at large 'T is by way of accommodating my self to the ordinary way of Speaking that I say in the Process of my Discourse the Senses perceive but by the word Sense I mean nothing but that passive Faculty of the Soul before-mention'd that is the Understanding perceiving any thing on occasion of what happens in the Organs of her Body according to the Institutions of Nature as shall be explain'd in another place The other Resemblance between the passive Faculty of the Soul and that of Matter is this That as Matter receives no real alteration by the change which happens in its Figure I mean for instance that as Wax receives no considerable change by becoming Round or Square so the Mind receives no change by the diversity of Idea's it contains I would say the Mind receives no considerable change though it receives the Idea of a Square or a Circle in perceiving a Square or a Circle Again As it may be said that Matter receives considerable Changes when it loses the Configuration peculiar to the parts of Wax to take that which is proper to those of Fire and Smoak when the Wax is chang'd into Fire and Smoak so it may be said that the Soul undergoes very considerable Changes when it alters its Modifications and suffers Pain after it has felt Pleasure Whence we ought to conclude That Idea's are to the Soul in a manner what Figures are to Matter and that Configurations are to Matter almost what Sensations are to the Soul There are still other Corrsepondencies betwixt the Figures and Configurations of Matter and the Idea's and Modifications of the Mind for Matter seems to be an Image or Representative of the Mind I mean only that there are Properties in Matter which have some mutual Respects between them not unlike those which we find between the Properties belonging to the Mind though the Nature of the Mind is very different from that of Matter as we shall clearly see in that which follows From what I have said I would have it well remember'd That by Vnderstanding I mean that passive Faculty the Soul has of Perceiving that is of receiving not only different Idea's bat also an abundance of different Sensations as Matter has a capacity of receiving all sorts of external Figures and internal Configurations The other Faculty of Matter is that of its being capable of receiving many Motions and the other Faculty of the Soul is that Power it has of receiving many Inclinations Let us make the Comparison between them As the Author of Nature is the Universal Cause of all those Motions which we find in Matter so also he is the general Cause of all those natural Inclinations which are found in the Mind And as all Motions proceed in a right line unless otherwise determin'd by the Rencounter of some foreign and particular Causes which by their Opposition put them into a Circular course so all the Inclinations we receive from God have a direct tendency and could only aim at the possession of Good and Truth were there not some extraneous cause which biass'd that natural Impression towards corrupt and mischievous Ends Now 't is that foreign Cause which is the cause of all our Evils and depraves all our Inclinations To understand this rightly we must know there 's a very considerable difference between the Impression or Motion the Author of Nature produces in Matter and the Impression or Motion towards Good in general wherewith the same Author of Nature continually influences our Soul For Matter is wholly inactive it has no power of retarding or stopping its Motion or determining and turning it one way rather than another It s Motion as I have said proceeds always in a right line and if at any time it is hindred from continuing it in that manner it describes the greatest circular Line it can and consequently that which comes nearest to a right because 't is God that impresses its Motion and rules its Determination But 't is not so with the Will which may in one sense be said to be Active and to have a Power in it self of giving a different Determination to the Inclination or Impression it receives from God for though it cannot stop this Impression it may in one sense cause a Deviation to what side it pleases and thereby produce all those Disorders which happen in its Inclinations and all the Miseries which are the certain and necessary Consequents of Sin So that by the Word WILL I would be conceiv'd to design That natural Motion or Impression which carries us towards Good universal and undetermin'd And by that of LIBERTY I mean nothing more than The Power the Mind has of turning that Impression towards agreeable Objects and terminating our natural Inclinations upon some particular Object which before were loose and undetermin'd except towards general or universal Good that is to say towards God who is alone universal Good since 't is he alone who comprehends in himself all Goods Whence it is easie to discover That
judging of things with an unwarrantable rashness For we often judge that the Objects whereof we have Idea's exist and likewise that they altogether resemble their Idea's when yet it often falls out that the Objects are neither like their Idea's nor do they exist at all The Existence of a thing does no ways follow from our having an Idea of it much less does it follow that the thing is perfectly like the Idea which we have thereof It cannot be concluded from GOD's giving us such a sensible Idea of Magnitude upon the presentation of a six Foot-rule to our Eyes that this Rule has the same Extension as it is represented to us by that Idea For first All Men have not the same sensible Idea of this same measure since all Men have not their Eyes disposed in the same manner Again The same Person has not the same sensible Idea of a six Foot-rule when he beholds it with his left Eye as when he views it with his right as has been already said Finally It often happens that the self-same Person entertains quite different Idea's of the same Objects at different times according as they are suppos'd nearer or farther off as shall be explain'd in its proper place It is then nothing but prejudice grounded upon no good reason to think we see Bodies according to their real Magnitude for our Eyes being not given us for any other purpose than the security of our Body they discharge their Duty admirable well in giving us such Idea's of Objects as are proportion'd to its magnitude But the better to conceive what ought to be our judgments concerning the Extension of Bodies from the Report of our Eyes let us imagine GOD to have created in Epitomie out of a portion of matter of the bigness of a small Globe an Heaven and Earth and Men upon this Earth with all other things the same proportion being observ'd as in this Grand World These little Men would see each other and the parts of their Bodies as likewise the little Animals which were capable of incommoding them Otherwise their Eyes would be useless to their preservation It is manifest then from this Supposition these little Men would have Idea's of the magnitude of Bodies quite different from ours since they would look upon their little World which would be but a Ball in our account as stretch'd out into infinite spaces just as we do in respect of the World in which we are Or if this is not so easie to be conceiv'd let us suppose GOD had created an Earth infinitely vaster than this which we inhabit so that this new Earth should be to ours what ours would be to that we have spoken of in the fore-going Supposition Let us moreover conceive GOD Almighty to have observ'd in all the parts which went to the Composition of this New World the very same proportion he has done in those which make up Ours It is plain that the Inhabitants of this latter World would be Taller than the space betwixt our Earth and the most distant Stars we can discover And this being so it is manifest that if they had the same Idea's of Extension of Bodies as our selves they would be able to discern some of the parts of their own Bodies and and would see others of a prodigious unweildiness so that 't is ridiculous to think they would see things in the same Bigness as they are seen by us It is apparent in these two Suppositions we have made that the Men whether of the Great or Little World would have Idea's of the Magnitude of Bodies very different from ours supposing their Eyes to furnish them with Idea's of the Objects round about them proportion'd to the Magnitude of their own Bodies Now if these Men should confidently affirm upon the Testimony of their Eyes that Bodies were of the very same bigness whereof they saw them it is not to be doubted but they would be deceiv'd and I suppose no Man will make a question of it And yet it is certain that these Men would have as Good Reason to justifie their Opinion as we have to defend our Own Let us acknowledge then from their Example That we are very uncertain of the Magnitude of Bodies which we see and that all which can be known by us concerning them from the Testimony of Sight is only the mutual Relation there is between Them and Us. In a word that our Eyes were never given us whereby to judge of the Truth of things but only to give us notice of such as might either molest or profit us in something or other But 't is not thought sufficient for Men to credit their Eyes only in order to judge of Visible Objects They think they are to be trusted farther even to judge of those which are Invisible Because there are some things which they cannot see they conclude they do not exist attributing to their Sight a Penetration in a manner Infinite This is an Impediment which prevents their discovering the real Causes of abundance of Natural Effects For that they ascribe them to Imaginary Faculties and Qualities is often meerly for want of discerning the True which consist in the different Configurations of these Bodies They see not for Instance the little parts of Air or Flame much less those of Light or of a matter still more fine and subtil And upon this score they are ready to believe they are not in being at least conclude them void of force and action They betake themselves to Occult Qualities or Imaginary Faculties to explain all the Effects whereof those Imperceptible parts are The True and Natural Cause They had rather have recourse to the horror of a Vacuum to Explain the Elevation of water in the Pump than impute it to the Gravitation of the Air. They chuse to ascribe the Flux and Reflux of the Sea to the Qualities of the Moon rather than to the pressure of the Atmosphere that is to the Air which surrounds the Earth and the Elevation of Vapours to the Attractive Faculties of the Sun than to the simple Motion of Impulse caused by the parts of the Subtil Matter which it continually diffuses abroad They look upon those as Men of trifling and impertinent Thought who have recourse only to the Flesh and Blood in accounting for all the Motions of Animals Likewise for the habits and the Corporeal Memory of Men And this partly proceeds from the Conception they have of the littleness of the Brain and its incapacity thereupon to preserve the Traces of an almost infinite number of things lodg'd in it They had rather admit though they can't conceive how a Soul in Beasts which is neither Body nor Spirit Qualities and Intentional Species for the Habits and Memory of Men or such like things notwithstanding they have no particular Notion of them in their Mind I should be too tedious should I stand to reckon up all the Errors we fall into through this Prejudice There are
the Fire which causes it that Light is in the Air and Colours are upon colour'd Objects They have no Thought of any Motions of Imperceptible Bodies which are the Cause of these Sensations It is true they do not judge that Pain is in the Needle which pricks them in like manner as they judge that Heat is in the Fire But the reason of it is That the Needle and its Action are visible but the little parts of the Wood that proceed from the Fire and their Motion against our Hands are altogether invisible Thus seeing nothing that strikes upon our Hands when we warm our selves and yet feeling Heat in them we Naturally judge this Heat to be in the Fire for want of discovering any thing in it besides So that it is generally true that we attribute our Sensations to the Objects themselves when we are Ignorant of the Causes of these Sensations And because Pain and Titillation are produc'd by Sensible Bodies as by a Needle or a Feather which we both see and touch we for this Reason do not conclude that there is any thing in these Objects like the Sensations which they cause in us And yet I confess that we do not fail to judge Combustion is not in the Fire but only in the Hand though it proceed from the same cause i. e. the Action of the little parts of the Wood as well as Heat which yet we attribute to the Fire But the Reason of this is That Combustion is a Species of Pain For having often judg'd that Pain is not in the external Body which produces it we are induc'd to form the same Judgement of Combustion That which is another Reason of our Judging in this manner is that Pain or Combustion most strenuously applys our Soul to the consideration of the parts of her Body and this Intension of the Soul turns off her thoughts from any other thing Thus the Mind attributes the Sensation of Combustion to the Object that is most present and nigh her self And because we find presently after that the Combustion has left some visible marks in the part in which we felt the Pain this is a Confirmation of the Judgement we have made that Combustion is in the Hand But this is no Impediment why we should not embrace this general Rule That we are accustom'd to attribute our Sensations to Objects when-ever they act upon us by the Motion of some Invisible Parts And upon this ground it is that we usually believe Colours Light Smells Tasts Sounds and some other Sensations to be in the Air or in the External Objects which produce them for as much as all these Sensations are produc'd in us by the Motions of some Imperceptible Bodies CHAP. XII I. Of our Errors concerning the Motions of the Fibres of our Senses II. That we have no Perception of these Motions or that we confound them with our Sensations III. An Experiment that proves it IV. Three kinds of Sensations V. The Errors that accompanie them THE second thing that occurs in every Sensation is the Vibration of the Fibres of our Nerves which is communicated to the Brain And we err in confounding always this Vibration with the Sensation of the Soul and in judging there is no such Vibration at all when we have no Perception of it through the Senses We confound for instance the Vibration excited by the Fire in the Fibres of our Hand with the Sensation of Heat And we say the Heat is in the Hand But because we are insensible of any Vibration caus'd by Visible Objects in the Optick Nerve which is in the Fund of the Eye we think this Nerve is not vibrated at all nor cover'd with the Colours that we see On the contrary we judge these Colours are spread only on the surface of the External Objects Yet it is manifest by the following Experiment that the Colours are as strongly and lively express'd on the Fund of the Optick Nerve as in visible Objects For take but the Eye of an Ox just kill'd and strip off the Coats that are opposite to the Pupill and situate near the Optick Nerve putting a piece of very transparent Paper in their room This done place the Eye in the hole of a Window so as the Pupill may be towards the Air and the hind-part of the Eye in the Chamber which should be close shut up and darken'd all over And upon this the Colours of Objects that are out of the Chamber will appear to be spread upon the Fund of the Eye but painted topsy-turvy If it fortunes that the Colours are not lively enough on the account of the too little distance of the Objects represented in the Fund of the Eye the Eye must be lengthened by constringing the sides of it or shortned if the Objects are too remote We see by this Experiment that we ought to judge or perceive that Colours are in the Fund of the Eye in like manner as we judge that Heat is in our Hands if our Senses were given us for the Discovery of Truth and if Reason conducted us in the Judgments we make upon the Objects of our Senses But in accounting for this inconsistent Variety of our Judgements about Sensible Qualities it it must be consider'd That the Soul is so intimately united to her Body and moreover has contracted so much Carnality since the Fall that she attributes a great many things to the Body which are only peculiar to her Self and can hardly any longer distinguish her self from it Insomuch that she does not only attribute to it all the Sensations we are at present speaking of but also the Force of Imagination and even sometimes the Power of Reasoning For there have been a multitude of Philosophers stupid and senseless enough to believe the Soul was nothing else but the more refin'd and subtle part of the Body A Man that shall read Tertullian considerately will be but too sensibly convinc'd of what I say since he subscribes to this Opinion after a great number of Authors whose Authority he alledges This is so true that he endeavours to prove in his Book Concerning the Soul that we are oblig'd by Faith Scripture and particular Revelations to believe the Soul a Corporeal Being I design not a Refutation of his Notions because I have suppos'd a Man to have read some of St. Austin's or Mr. Des-Cartes's Works which will sufficiently discover the Extravagance of these Thoughts and confirm and corroborate the Mind in the Distinction of Extension and Thought of the Soul and Body The Soul then is so blind as not to know her self nor discern that her own Sensations do belong to her But to explain this it is necessary to distinguish in the Soul three kinds of Sensations some Vigorous and Lively others Faint and Languishing and lastly a Middle sort between these two The Vigorous and Lively Sensations are such as surprize and quicken the Mind with a sort of Violence as being
will about them They have no Relish of Tasts unless some change happens in the disposition of the Fibres of their Tongue and Brain In short the Sensations have no manner of Dependence upon the Will of Men And 't is only he that created Men that still preserves them in that mutual correspondence of the Modifications of their Soul to those of their Body So that if a Man would have me represent to him Heat or Colour I cannot make use of words to do it But I must impress in the Organs of his Senses such Motions as Nature has affixt these Sensations to I must bring him to the Fire and shew him a piece of Painting And this is the reason why 't is impossible to give Men that are born Blind the least Knowledge of that which we understand by Red Green Yellow or the like For since 't is impossible for a Man to make another understand him when he that hears has not the same Idea's as he that speaks it is manifest that since Colours are neither conjoyn'd to the sound of words nor to the Motion of the Auditory but to that of the Optick Nerve we can never represent them to Men that are Blind since their Optick Nerve cannot be Vibrated by colour'd Objects We have therefore some sort of Knowledge of our Sensations Let us now see how it comes to pass that we are still casting about to know them and that we believe our selves destitute of any Knowledge of them The reason of it undoubtedly is this The Soul since the Original Sin is now as it were Corporeal in her Inclination the Love she has for sensible Objects is perpetually lessening the Union or the Relation she has with those that are intellectual She is disgusted and uneasy in conceiving things that will not enter by the Senses and is presently for leaving the Consideration of them She imploys her utmost endeavour to produce the Images that represent them in her Brain and she is so throughly inur'd to this kind of Conception from our Infancy that she thinks that she can have no Knowledge of what she can have no Imagination Notwithstanding there are a great many things which being not Corporeal cannot be represented to the Mind by Corporeal Images as to instance our Soul with all her Modifications At what time therefore our Soul would represent to her self her own Nature and her own Sensations she endeavours to form a Corporeal Image thereof She is in search of her self amongst all Corporeal Beings One while she takes her self for one Thing and another while for Another sometimes for Air sometimes for Fire or for the Harmony of the parts of her own Body And being thus desirous of finding her self among the mass of Bodies and of imagining her own Modifications which are her Sensations as the Modifications of Bodies we need not wonder if she 's bewildred in her wandrings and is misguided out of the Knowledge of her self That which induces the Soul to be still more fond of Imagining her Sensations is her judging them to be in the Objects And moreover that they are the Modifications of them and consequently that they are something Corporeal and fit to be Imagin'd She judges then that the Nature of her Sensations consists only in the motion which produces them or in some other Modification of a Body which is manifestly different from what she feels this being nothing Corporeal nor possible to be represented by Corporeal Images This is what confounds her and makes her believe she is altogether ignorant of her own Sensations As for those who make none of these fruitless Attempts to represent the Soul and its Modifications by Corporeal Images and yet are desirous of having their Sensations explain'd to them they must understand that neither the Soul nor its Modifications can be known by Idea's taking the word Idea in its most proper signification as I have determin'd and explain'd it in the third Book but only by Conscience or Internal Sensation So that when they ask us to explain the Soul and her Modifications by any Idea's they demand what is impossible for all the Men in the World put together to give them Because Men cannot instruct us by giving us Idea's of things but only by making us attentive to those we have already The second Error whereinto we fall about our Sensations is the attributing them to Objects which has been explain'd in the XI and XII Chapters The third is our judging that all Mankind have the same Sensations of the same Objects We believe for example that all the World sees the Sky Azure the Meadows Green and all visible Objects in the same manner as we see them and so likewise all the other sensible Qualities of the other Senses There are many who will wonder even that we call in question those things which they believe indubitable However I can certify them they have not any Reason to judge of these things as they do And though I cannot Mathematically demonstrate they are in an Error I can nevertheless demonstrate 't is the greatest chance in the World if they are not And I have Arguments strong enough to convince them they are certainly deceiv'd That the Truth of what I here advance may be here acknowledg'd we must call to mind what has been already prov'd namely That there is a vast difference betwixt our Sensations and the causes of our Sensations We may conclude from thence that absolutely speaking it is possible for similar Motions of the Internal Fibres of the Optick Nerves to produce in different Persons different Sensations that is to cause them to see different Colours And it may so fall out that a Motion which shall produce in one Person the Sensation of Blew shall cause the Sensation of Green or Gray in another or perhaps a new Sensation which never any man had besides It is certain I say that this is possible and there is no reason in the World that can prove the contrary However we will grant that it is not probable it should be so It is much more reasonable to believe that GOD acts always uniformly in the Union he has establish'd betwixt our Souls and our Bodies and that he has affixt the same Idea's and the same Sensation to similar Motions of the Internal Fibres of the Brain of different Persons Let it be granted then that the same Motions of the Fibres which terminate in the middle of the Brain are accompany'd with the same Sensations in all Men if it fortunes that the same Objects produce not the same Motions in their Brain they will not by consequence excite the same Sensations in their Soul Now to me it seems indisputable that the Organs of the Senses of all Men being not dispos'd in the same manner cannot receive the same Impressions from the same Objects The blows for instance that Porters give one another by way of Complement would cripple some sort of People The
the Minds of Men of different Countries The Gascons for instance have a more brisk and lively Imagination than the Normans Those of Rhoan and Dieppe and Picardie differ all from one another And yet farther from the Low-Normans though at no great distance from each other But if we consider Men that live in Countries more remote we shall find much stranger Differences between them For instance an Italian a Flemming and a Dutch-Man To conclude there are places celebrated in all Ages for the Wisdom of their Inhabitants as Theman and Athens and others as notorious for their Stupidity as Thebes and 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 aëre natum Hor. CHAP. IV. I. Of the Change of the Spirits caus'd by the Nerves which go to the Heart and Lungs II. Of that which is caus'd by the Nerves which go to the Liver to the Spleen and Viscera III. That all that is perform'd without the concurrence of our Will but yet it cannot be done without a Providence THE third cause of the Changes which happen to the Animal Spirits is the most ordinary and most active of them all because it is this which produces maintains and corroborates all the Passions For our better understanding this we must know that the Nerves of the fifth sixth and eighth Conjugation shoot out the greatest part of their Branches into the Breast and Belly where they are most advantagiously imploy'd for the Preservation of the Body but most dangerously in regard to the Soul Because these Nerves in their Action depend not on the Will of Men as do these us'd in moving the Legs and Arms and other External Parts of the Body And they have a greater influence upon the Soul than the Soul has upon them We must know then that many of the Branches of the Nerves of the eighth Conjugation fall in among the Fibres of the Principal of all the Muscles the Heart that they encircle its Orifices its Auricles and its Arteries That they expatiate also into the Substance of the Lungs and thus by their different Motions produce very considerable Changes in the Blood For the Nerves which are dispers'd among the Fibres of the Heart causing it to Dilate and Contract it self in too hasty and violent a manner throw with an unusual force abundance of Blood towards the Head and all other External Parts of the Body Though sometimes these same Nerves have a quite contrary Effect As for the Nerves which surround the Orifices of the Heart it s Auricles and Arteries their use is much the same with that of the Registers wherewith the Chymists moderate the Heat of their Furnaces or of Cocks which are instrumental in Fountains to regulate the Course of their Waters For the use of these Nerves is to contract and dilate diversly the Orifices of the Heart and by that manner to hasten and retard the Entrance and the Exit of the Blood and so to augment and diminish the Heat of it Lastly The Nerves which are dispers'd over the Lungs have the same employment For the Lungs being made up only of the Branches of the Trachea of the Vena Arteriosa and the Arteria Venosa interwoven one among another it is plain that the Nerves which are dispers'd through their Substance by their Contraction must obstruct the Air from passing so freely out of the Branches of the Trachea and the Blood out of those of the Vena Arteriosa into the Arteria Venosa to discharge it self into the Heart Thus these Nerves according to their different agitation augment and diminish still the Heat and Motion of the Blood All the Passions furnish us with very sensible Experiments of these different Degrees of Heat of our Heart we manifestly feel its Diminution and Augmentation sometimes on a sudden And as we falsly judge our Sensations to be in the Parts of our Body and by occasion of them to be Excited in our Soul as has been explain'd in the foregoing Book So the generality of Philosophers imagine the Heart to be the Principal Seat of the Passions of the Soul and 't is even at this day the most common and receiv'd Opinion Now because the Imaginative Faculty receives considerable Changes by the Changes which happen in the Animal Spirits and because the Animal Spirits are very different according to the different Fermentation of the Blood perform'd in the Heart it is easie to discover the Reason of Passionate People's imagining things quite otherwise than those who consider'd the same sedately and in cold Blood The other Cause which exceedingly contributes to the Diminution and Augmentation of these Extraordinary Fermentations of the Blood in the Heart consists in the Action of many other Branches of the Nerves whereof we have been speaking These Branches are dispers'd throughout the Liver which contains the more subtil part of the Blood or that which is commonly call'd the Bile through the Spleen which contains the grosser part or the Melancholy through the Pancreas which contains an acid Juice most proper for Fermentation through the Stomach the Guts and the other parts which contain the Chyle Finally They are dispers'd and spread about all the parts that can any ways contribute to the varying the Fermentation of the Blood in the Heart There is moreover nothing even to the Arteries and Veins which has not a Connection with these Nerves as Dr. Willis has discover'd of the Inferiour Trunck of the Great Artery which is connected to them near the Heart of the Axillary Artery on the right side of the Emulgent Vein and several others Thus the use of the Nerves being to agitate the parts to which they are fastened diverse ways it is easie to conceive how for instance the Nerve which surrounds the Liver may by constringing it drive a great quantity of Bile into the Veins and the Canalis Cysticus which mingling with the Blood in the Veins and with the Chyle through the Canalis Cysticus enters the Heart and produces a Heat therein much more fervent than ordinary Thus when a Man is mov'd with some kind of Passions the Blood boyls in the Arteries and in the Veins and the Heat is diffus'd throughout the Body the Fire flies up into the Head which is presently fill'd with such a prodigious quantity of over-brisk and rapid Animal Spirits as by their impetuous Current hinder the Imagination from representing other things than those whose Images they form in the Brain that is from thinking on other Objects than those of the Predominant Passion 'T is so again with the little Nerves which run into the Spleen or into other parts which contain a Matter more gross and course and less capable of Heat and Motion they render the Imagination wholly Languid Drousy and Unactive by pouring into the Chanels of the Blood a Matter that is
gross and difficult to be put in Motion As for those Nerves which environ the Arteries and Veins their Use is to put a stop to the current of the Blood and by their Pressure and Constriction of the Veins and Arteries oblige it to flow into those places where it meets with a passage more free and open Thus that part of the great Artery which furnishes all the parts of the Body below the Heart with Blood being bound and straitned by these Nerves the Blood must necessarily enter the Head in greater quantities and so produce a Change in the Animal Spirits and consequently in the Imagination But it ought to be well observ'd that all this is perform'd by mere Mechanism I mean that all the different Movements of these Nerves in all the different Passions are not affected by the Command of the Will but on the contrary are perform'd without its orders and even in contradiction to them Insomuch that a Body without a Soul dispos'd like that of a â—ound Man would be capable of all the Movements which accompany our Passions And thus Beasts themselves might have such as nearly resembled them though they were only pure Machines This is the thing for which we ought to admire the Incomprehensible Wisdom of Him who has so regularly rang'd and contriv'd all these Natural Wheels and Movements as to make it sufficient for an Object to move the Optick Nerve in such and such a manner to produce so many diverse Motions in the Heart in the other inward parts of the Body and on the Face it self For it has lately been discover'd that the same Nerve which shoots some of its Branches into the Heart and into other Internal parts communicates also some of its Branches into the Eye the Mouth and other parts of the Face so that no Passion can rise or mutiny within but it must betray presently it self without because there can be no Motion in the Branches extended to the Heart but there must another happen in those which are spread o'er the Face The Correspondence and Sympathy which is found between the Nerves of the Face and some others answering to other places of the Body not to be nam'd is still much more Remarkable and that which occasions this great Sympathy is as in the other Passions because these little Nerves which climb into the Face are only Branches of that which descends lower When a Man is overtaken with some violent Passion if he is careful to make a Reflection upon what he feels in his Entrails and in other parts of his Body where the Nerves insinuate themselves as also upon the Changes of Countenance which accompany it and if he considers that all these divers Agitations of the Nerves are altogether involuntary and that they happen in spite of all the Resistance that our Will can make to them he will find it no hard matter to suffer himself to embrace this simple Exposition that hath been given of all these Relations and Correspondencies betwixt the Nerves But if a Man examines the Reasons and the End of all these things so much Order and Wisdom will be found in them that a little Soberness of Thought and Attention will be able to convince the most devoted Admirers of Epicurus and Lucretius that there is a Providence that governs the World When I see a Watch I have reason to conclude that there is some Intelligent Being since it is Impossible for Chance and Hap-hazard to produce to range and posture all its Wheels How then could it be possible that Chance and a confus'd Jumble of Atoms should be capable of ranging in all Men and Animals such abundance of different secret Springs and Engines with that Exactness and Proportion I have just Explain'd and that Men and Animals should thereby procreate others exactly like themselves So ridiculous it is to think or to say with Lucretius That all the parts which go to the Composition of Man were pack't together by Chance that his Eyes were not made with any design of Seeing but that he afterwards thought of Seeing because he found he had Eyes And thus with the other parts of the Body These are his Words Lumina ne facias oculorum clara creata Prospicere ut possimus ut proferre vidi Proceros passus ideo fastigia posse Surarum ac foeminum pedibus fundata plicari Brachia tum poro validis ex apta lacertis Esse manúsque datas utraque à parte ministras Vt facere ad vitam possimus quae foret usus Caetera de genere hoc inter quaecunque pretantur Omnia perversa praepostera sunt ratione Nil adeo quoniam natum ' st in corpore ut uti Possemus sed quod natum ' st id procreat usum Must not he needs have a strange Aversion to a Providence who would thus voluntarily put out his Eyes for fear of seeing it and endeavour to render himself insensible to Arguments so strong and convincing as those Nature furnishes us withal I confess when once Men affect to be thought bold or rather Atheistical Wits as did the Epicureans they presently find themselves benighted in darkness and see only false glimmerings for the future they peremptorily deny the most clear and Self-evident Truths and as haughtily and Magisterially affirm the falsest and obscurest Things in the World The Poet I have just cited may serve as a Proof of that Blindness of these venturous Wits he confidently pronounces and against all appearance of Truth about the most difficult and obscurest Questions when at the same time it may well be thought he has no Preception of Idea's that are most clear and evident If I should stand to transcribe passages of that Author to justifie what I say I should make too long and tedious a Digression for though it may be permitted me to make some Reflections which stay and fasten the Mind for a Moment upon essential Truths yet I should never attone for making Digressions which throw off the Mind a considerable time from its Attention to its principal Subject to apply it to things of little or no Importance CHAP. V. I. Of the Memory II. Of the Habits WE have been explaining the general Causes as well External as Internal which effect a Change in the Animal Spirits and consequently in the Imaginative Faculty We have shewn that the External are the Meats we feed upon and the Air we take in for Respiration And that the Internal consist in the Involuntary Agitation of certain Nerves We know no other general Causes and we are confident there are none In so much that the Faculty of Imagining as to the Body depends only on two things namely the Animal Spirits and the Disposition of the Brain whereon they act There nothing more remains at present to to give us a perfect Knowledge of the Imagination than the manifestation of the different Changes that may happen in the Substance of the Brain They shall be examined by us as
Concupiscence is what we call Original Sin in Infants and Actual Sin in Men that have liberty of Acting It only seems as if one might conclude from the Principles I have establish'd a thing repugnant to Experience to wit that the Mother must always communicate to her Infant Habits and Inclinations like those she has her self and the facility of Imagining and learning the same things she understands For all these things depend only as have been said on the Traces and Impresses of the Brain And it is certain that the Traces and Impresses of the Mother's Brain are communicated to her Children This has been Experimentally prov'd by the Instances that have been related concerning Men and has been farther confirm'd from the Example of Animals whose young ones have their Brain fill'd with the same Impresses as those they proceeded from Which is the Reason that all those of the same Species have the same Voice the same way of moving their Limbs in short the same Stratagems for seizing their Prey and of defending themselves against their Enemies From hence it must follow that since all the Traces of the Mother are engraven and imprinted on the Brain of the Child the Child must be born with the same Habits and the other Qualities of the Mother And also must preserve them generally through the course of his Life since the Habits which have been contracted in our more tender Age are more lasting than the other which notwithstanding contradicts Experience In Answer to this Objection we must understand that there are two kinds of Traces in the Brain The one Natural or peculiar to the Nature of Man the other Acquired The Natural are Extraordinary deep and 't is impossible they should be quite effaced The Acquired on the contrary may be easily lost because ordinarily they are not so deep Now though the Natural and Acquired differ only in Degree of more or less and often the former are less forcible than the latter since we daily accustom Animals to the doing those things which are quite contrary to those their Natural Traces lead them to A Dog for instance has been train'd up not to touch the Bread before him and not to pursue a Partridge which he is in scent and sight of Yet there is this Difference between these Traces that the Natural are as one may say connected with imperceptible Ties to the other parts of our Body For all the Wheels and Contrivances of our Machine are assistant to each other to their continuing in their Natural state All the parts of our Body mutually contribute to all things necessary to the Preservation or Restauration of these Natural Traces thus they can never be wholly abolish'd and they begin to revive again when we thought them quite destroy'd On the contrary the Acquired Traces though greater and deeper and stronger than the Natural are lost and vanish by degrees unless care be taken to preserve them by a perpetual application of the Causes which produce them because the other parts of the Body lend no assistance to their Preservation but contrariwise continually labour to expunge and blot them out We may compare these Traces to the ordinary wounds of a Body they are hurts which our Brain has receiv'd which close up of themselves as other wounds do by the Admirable Construction of the Machine As then there is nothing in the whole Body but what is friendly and conformable to these Natural Traces they are delivered down to the Children in all their force and strength Thus Parrots breed their young with the same cries and the same Natural Notes with themselves But because the Acquired Traces are only in the Brain and make no Radiations into the rest of the Body or very little as suppose when they are imprest on it by the Motions which accompany violent Passions they ought not to be transmitted to their Infants Thus a Parrot who bids his Master Good Morrow and Good Night produces not a Young one so expert as himself nor do Men of Sense and Learning beget Children answerable to their Fathers So that though it be true that all that happens in the Mother's Brain happens likewise at the same time in the Brain of her Infant and that the Mother can neither see nor feel nor imagine but the Infant must see and feel and imagine the same thing And lastly that all the illegitimate Traces of the Mother Corrupt the Imagination of the Child yet these Traces being not Natural in the Sense we have just explain'd it 't is no wonder if they usually close up as soon as the Child proceeds from the Mother 's Womb. For then the Cause which delineated these Traces and fed and nourish'd them subsists no longer the Natural Constitution of the whole Body lends an hand to their Destruction and Sensible Objects produce a new Set extraordinary deep and numerous which efface the greatest part of those the Child had in its Mother 's Womb. For it daily happening that a great Pain makes us forgetful of those that have preceded it 't is not imaginable but such lively Sensations as are those of Infants when first the delicate Organs of their Senses receive the Impressions of External objects must destroy the greatest part of those Traces which they only receiv'd before from the same Objects by a kind of rebound from their Mother when they lay as it were sheltred from them by the inclosing of the Womb. Notwithstanding when these Traces are form'd upon a strong Passion and are accompany'd with a most violent Agitation of the Blood and Spirits in the Mother they act so forcibly on the Brain of the Child and the rest of its Body as to imprint therein Characters as deep and durable as the Natural Traces As in the instance of Sir Kenelm Digby in that of the Child who was born an Ideot and a Cripple in whose Brain and all his Members such ravage was made by the Imagination of the Mother and lastly in the instance of the general Corruption of the Nature of Mankind And we need not wonder that the King of England's Children were not subject to the same Infirmity as their Father First Because this sort of Traces diffuse not their Impression so far into the Body as the Natural Secondly Because the Mother having not the same Infirmity as the Father by her good Constitution prevented its descending to her Children And lastly Because the Mother acts infinitely more on the Brain of the Child than the Father as is evident from what has been already said But it must be observ'd That all these Reasons which shew that King James's Children might escape the Infirmity of their Father make nothing against the Explication of Original Sin or of that predominant Inclination towards things sensible nor of that great Alienation from GOD which we derive from our Parents because the Traces which sensible Objects have imprinted on the Brain of the first Founders of Mankind were stamp'd extreamly deep were
is the Identity of time for our having had certain thoughts at the instant of our having certain new Traces in the Brain is oftentimes sufficient for our having a-fresh the same thoughts as often as these Traces are re-produc'd in our Brain If the Idea of GOD has been offer'd to my Mind at the same time my Brain receiv'd an Impression from the sight of these three Letters Jah or from the sound of the same word 't is enough that the Traces produc'd by the sound or sight of these Characters be re-printed to cause me to think on GOD nor can I think of GOD but some confus'd Traces of the Characters or sounds that the thoughts I had of GOD were attended with will be re-produc'd in my Brain For the Brain being never empty of Traces there are constantly such as are somewhat related to what we think of though these Traces are frequently very imperfect and confus'd The second Cause of the Connection between Idea's and Traces and which ever supposes the former is the Will of Men. This Will is necessary to the intent this Connection of Idea's with the Traces may be regulated and accommodated to use For were not Men naturally inclin'd to a mutual Agreement about affixing their Idea's to Sensible Signs this Connection of Idea's would not be only absolutely useless to society but would moreover be very irregular and extreamly imperfect And that first because Idea's have never any strong Connection with the Traces except when the Spirits being agitated and fermented make the Traces deep and permanent So that since the Spirits are only agitated by the Passions had Men no Passion for communicating their own thoughts and participating those of others it is plain that the exact Connection of their Idea's to particular Traces wou'd be very weak since they would never use themselves to those exact and regular Connections were it not to become intelligible one to another Secondly the repeated concurrence of the same Idea's with the same Traces being necessary to make so strong a Connection as may be durable and lasting since a first meeting unless attended with a violent Motion of the Animal Spirits cannot confederate them so strongly as is requisite it is manifest that should not Men contrive to agree it would be the greatest chance in the World for the same Traces and the same Idea's to meet a second time Thus the Will of Men is necessary to regulate the Connection and Alliance of the same Traces with the same Idea's though this Will of Agreeing is not so much the result of their Choice and Reason as an Impression of the Author of Nature who has dispos'd and made us all for the Benefit of each other and given us a strong Inclination to unite in Mind as much as we are united in our Bodies The third Cause of the Connection of Idea's with the Traces is the Nature or the constant and immutable Will of the Creator There is for instance a Natural Connection and independent on our Will between the Traces produc'd by a Tree or a Mountain which we see and the Idea's of a Tree or a Mountain between the Traces produc'd in our Brain by the cry of a Man or an Animal suffering Pains and whose Plaints we hear by the mein of a Man's Countenance that threatens or fears us and the Idea's of Pains Strength Weakness and also the Sensations of Pity Fear and Courage which are occasion'd in our selves These Natural Connections are of all others the strongest they are generally alike in all Mankind and they are absolutely necessary to the Preservation of Life And this is the Reason they have no dependence on our Will For if the Connection of Idea's with Sounds and certain Characters is weak and very different in different Countries 't is because it depends on the weak and changeable Will of Men. And the Reason why it depends thereon is because this Connection is not absolutely necessary to their Living but only to their Living as Men who ought to form themselves into Civil and Rational Societies It is here very observable that the Connection of Idea's which represent things Spiritual distinct from us with the Traces of our Brain is not Natural nor possible to be so And consequently that it is or may be different in all Men since it has no other cause than their own Will and the Identity of time whereof I have spoken before On the Contrary the Connection of Idea's of all things material with certain particular Traces is Natural and consequently there are particular Traces which excite the same Idea in all Mankind It cannot be doubted for instance but all Men have the Idea of a Square upon sight of a Square because that Connection is Natural but it may be very well doubted whether all Men have the Idea of a Square when they hear the word Square pronounc'd because that Connection is altogether arbitrary We ought to think the same thing of all those Traces that are connected with the Idea's of things of a Spiritual kind But because the Traces which have a Natural Connection with Idea's give the Mind concern and application and consequently render it attentive the generality of Men are very ready at comprehending and retaining sensible and palpable Truths that is to say the Relations which Bodies have to one another And on the other hand because the Traces which have no other Connection with Idea's than that which the will has effected between them strike not vigorously on the Mind all Men in general find it very difficult to comprehend and harder yet to retain abstracted Truths that is to say the Relations which are between things which come not within the Verge of Imagination But when these Relations are any whit compounded they seem absolutely incomprehensible especially to those who are not us'd to them because they have not strengthened the Connection between these abstract Idea's and their Traces by a perpetual Meditation And though others have perfectly comprehended them they forget them again in a little time because the Connection is hardly ever so strong as the Natural 'T is so true that all the difficulty Men have to comprehend and retain things Spiritual and Abstract proceeds from the difficulty they find to corroborate the Connection of their Idea's with the Traces of the Brain that when they find the means of Explaining by material Relations those that are between things Spiritual they make them easily understood imprinting them in such manner on the mind as not only to be strongly convinc'd of them but also to retain them without any trouble The general Idea we have given of the Mind in the first Chapter of this Work is perhaps a sufficient Proof of what I say On the contrary when the Relations that are between material things are so exprest that there is no necessary Connection between the Idea's of these things and the Traces of their Expressions they are difficultly comprehended and easily forgotten Those for
instance who enter upon the Study of Algebra or Analyticks are incapable of taking Algebraick Demonstrations without a great deal of pains and when they have once master'd them they retain them but a short time because Squares for example Parallelograms Cubes Solids and the like being exprest by aa ab a 3 abc c. the Traces whereof have no Natural Connection with their Idea's the Mind finds no hold to fasten the Idea's to and to examine the Relations of them by But those who begin to Study Common Geography most clearly and readily conceive the little Demonstrations that are explain'd to them provided they distinctly understand the Terms made use of Because the Idea's of a Square a Circle or the like are Naturally Connected with the Traces of the figures they see describ'd before their Eyes And it often happens that the meer shewing of the figure used in the Demonstration makes them sooner comprehend it than the Discourses made to explain it Because words being Connected to Idea's by an arbitrary institution only excite not these Idea's readily and distinctly enough to make us easily understand their Relations For 't is chiefly upon that account there is so much difficulty found in learning the Sciences By the way it may be discover'd from what I have been saying that those Writers who coin abundance of new Words and Figures to explain their Notions by spend much pains to very little purpose They think to make themselves intelligible when indeed they take the way of becoming incomprehensible We define say they all our Terms and all our Characters and others ought to agree to them It is true others agree to them with their Will but their Nature is repugnant They cannot fasten their Idea's to these Novel Terms because to that is required custom and long practice The Authors perhaps have attain'd that custom but the Readers have not And when a Man endeavours to instruct the Mind 't is necessary he first know it since he ought to conform to Nature and offer her nothing provoking or offensive Yet we ought not to condemn the Industry and Care Mathematicians take in defining their Terms for Definition is evidently necessary to take away Equivocation But the ordinary and receiv'd Terms ought to be imploy'd as far as possibly they can or such whose common signification is not very remote from that which they pretend to introduce which is a thing not constantly observ'd among the Mathematicians Nor do we pretend by what has been said to condemn Algebra especially such as Mr. Des-Cartes has restor'd and left it to us For though the Novelty of some Expressions in that Science give the Mind some trouble at first yet there is so little variety and confusion in these Expressions and the Assistances the Mind receives from them so much out-weigh the Difficulty found in them that I am of Opinion 't is impossible for a Man to invent a way of Reasoning and Expressing his Reasonings more suited or better accomodated to the Nature of the Mind or that can carry it farther in the Discovery of unknown Truths The Expressions of that Science do not distract the Capacity of the Mind they burden not the Memory they contract and abridge in a wonderful manner all our Idea's and our Reasonings and even render them in some measure sensible by Practice In fine their usefulness is much greater than the Natural Expressions of the delineated Figures of Triangles Squares and others of like Nature which are inserviceable to the Disquisition and Unfolding of Truths any whit intricate and obscure But so much for the Connection of Idea's with the Traces of the Brain 'T is seasonable to say something of the Connection of Traces with one another and consequently of the Connection between the Idea's corresponding to these Traces This Connection consists in this that the Traces of the Brain are so firmly connected to one another as 't is impossible to excite them again without the whole retinue which were imprinted at the same time If a Man for instance happens to be in some publick Solemnity in case he observes all the Circumstances and all the Principle Persons that assisted at the time the place the day and all other Particularities the remembrance only of the Place or some other less observable Circumstance of the Ceremony will be sufficient to bring the Representation of all the other to his Mind 'T is upon this account that when we can't recollect the Principal Name of a thing we sufficiently specifie it by making use of a Name which signifies some Circumstance of that thing as not being able to call to Mind the proper Name of a Church we can make use of another Name signifying a thing that has some Relation to it We can say 'T is that Church where there was such a Throng where Mr. such a one Preach'd where we went on Sunday And thus not having the proper Name of a Person ready at hand or when it is more convenient to denote him in another manner we can do it by saying He whose Face was disfigured by the Small-pox the Portly and well-made Gentleman the little crooked Man according as we stand affected towards him though to express a Man in terms of contempt is neither a sign of good Nature nor good Manners Now the mutual Connection of these Traces and consequently of their Idea's one with another is not only the foundation of all the Figures of Rhetorick but also of infinite other things of greatest concernment in Morality and Politicks and in all Sciences in general which are any ways related to Man and consequently of many things we shall treat of in the sequel of our Discourse The cause of the Connection of many Traces together is the Identity of time wherein they were imprinted on the Brain For 't is enough for many Traces to have been produc'd at the same time to cause that they should never afterwards be excited but in company of one another because the Animal Spirits finding the Channel of these Co-temporary Traces gaping and half open continue their courses in them by reason of their meeting with a more free passage through them than through the other parts of the Brain This is the cause of Memory and the Corporeal Habits which are common to us with Beasts The Connections of the Traces are not always conjoyn'd with the Emotions of the Spirits because all the things we see do not always appear either Good or Evil These Connections too may change or break because being not of perpetual necessity for the preservation of Life there is no need they should always be the same But there are certain Traces in our Brain which have a Natural Connection with one another as also with certain Commotions of the Spirits that being necessary to the Preservation of Life And this Connection can't be broken at least not easily because 't is convenient it should always be the same For instance the trace of a
I mistake not said enough to discover in general what are the Faults of Imagination and the Errors whereunto Men of Books and Study are most obnoxious Now whereas there are few besides who trouble their heads with Searching after Truth and the rest of the World take up with their Opinion it seems we might put an end here to this Second Part. However 't is not amiss to add something concerning the Errors of other Men as being no unuseful thing to take notice of them Whatever flatters the Senses extreamly affect us and whatever affects us makes us mind it in proportion to its affecting us Thus those who resign themselves up to all sorts of most Sensible and Pleasing Diversions are incapable of Penetrating into Truths ever so little abstruse and difficult because the Capacity of the Mind which is not infinite is fill'd up with their Pleasures or at least is very much divided by them The generality of Great Men of Courtiers of Rich and Young and of those we call the fine Wits giving themselves to perpetual Diversions and studying only the Art of Pleasing by all that gratifie the Concupiscence and the Senses by degrees obtain such a Niceness in these things or such a Softness that it may be often said they are rather the Effeminate than the fine Wits which they would fain be thought There is a great deal of difference betwixt a true Fineness and Softness of Mind Though these two things are ordinarily confounded The Fine or the Curious Wits are those whose Reason descend to the least Differences of things Who fore-see Effects which depend on hidden un-usual and invisible Causes In brief they are those who dive farthest into the Subjects they consider But the soft Minds have only a counterfeit Delicacy and Niceness They are neither Lively nor Piercing They cannot see the Effects of even the most gross and palpable Causes In short they are unable to comprehend or penetrate any thing but are wonderfully nice as to Modes and Fashions An ungentile Word a Rustick Accent or a little Grimace shall provoke them infinitely more than a confus'd mass of lame and inconcluding Reasons They cannot discover the Defect of an Argument but can critically discern a false Step or an incompos'd Gesture In a word they have a perfect Understanding of Sensible things as having made continual use of their Senses but have no true Knowledge of things depending on Reason because they have scarce ever imploy'd their own Yet these are the Men that flourish most in the Esteem of the World and who most easily advance to the Reputation of the Fine Wits For when a Man talks with a free and easie Air when his Expressions are pure and well chosen when he serves himself with Figures that please the Senses and excite the Passions in an imperceptible manner though what he says be nothing but Impertinence and Folly though there be nothing good or true in his Discourse yet he shall be voted by the common Opinion the Fine the Curious the Acute Wit 'T is not perceiv'd that this is only a Soft and Effeminate Mind that glitters with false Lights but never shines out with a genuine Brightness that only perswades because we have Eyes and not because we have Reason For what remains I do not deny but that all Men have a Tincture of this Infirmity we have now remark'd in some part of them There is no Man whose Mind is not touch'd with the Impressions of his Senses and Passions and consequently who has not some Adherences to Sensible Manners All Men differ in this but in degree of more or less But the Reason of charging this Fault upon some particular Men is because there are those who acknowledge it to be a Fault and labour to correct it Whereas the Men we have been speaking of look upon it as a very advantagious Quality They are so far from owning this false Delicacy as the Effect of an Effeminate Softness and the Original of infinite Distempers to the Mind as to imagine it the Product and Sign of the Beauty and Excellency of their Genius To these may be added a vast number of Superficial Minds who never go to the bottom of things and have but a confus'd Perception of the Differences between them but they are not in the Fault as are those before-mention'd for 't is not their Divertisements that straiten their Souls and make them little-minded but they are naturally so This Littleness of Mind proceeds not from the Nature of the Soul as may perhaps be imagin'd 'T is effected sometimes by the paucity or dulness of the Animal Spirits sometimes by an immoderate plenty of the Blood and Spirits by the inflexibility of the Fibres of the Brain or by some other Cause not necessary to be known There are then two sorts of Minds The one easily observes the differences of things and this is the solid Mind The other imagines and supposes a resemblance between them which is the superficial Character The first has a Brain fitly dispos'd for the Reception of the clear and distinct Traces of the Objects it considers and because 't is very attentive to the Idea's of these Traces it sees the Objects at hand and surveys every part of them But the Superficial Mind receives only the faint and confus'd Traces thereof and that by the by very remotely and obscurely insomuch that they appear alike as the Faces of those we behold at too great a distance because the Mind ever supposes Similitude and Equality where 't is not oblig'd to acknowledge Difference and Inequality for the Reasons I shall give in the Third Book In this Class may be reckon'd all your Publick Haranguers and great Talkers and many of those who have a great Facility at delivering themselves though they speak but seldom For 't is extreamly rare for Men of serious Meditation to be able to express themselves clearly upon the things they have thought They generally hesitate when they come to Discourse about them as being scrupulous and fearful of using such Terms as may excite a false Idea in the Hearers Being asham'd to talk purely for Talking sake as is the way with a great many who talk peremptorily on all adventures They are at a loss at finding words expressive of their un-obvious and not common Thoughts Though I have the greatest Deference and Esteem imaginable for Pious Men Divines and Aged Persons and in general for all those who have deservedly a great Sway and Authority over others yet I think my self oblig'd to say thus much of them That it is usual for them to think themselves infallible because the World hears them with Respect that they exercise their Mind but little in discovering Speculative Truths that they are too liberal in condemning whatever their Pleasure and Humour suggests before they have attentively consider'd it Not that they are to be blam'd for not applying themselves to the Study of many Sciences not very
them to conform and adapt themselves to the Manners of those they live with Which Disposition has two more principal means to cherish and augment it one whereof is in the Soul and the other in the Body The former primarily consists in the Inclination all Men have for Eminency and Greatness Which Inclination is a secret Spur and Incitement to our Talking Walking Dressing and Deporting our selves like Men of Rank and Quality This is the Origine of the New Modes of the Inconstancy and Flux of the present Languages and of certain general Corruptions of Manners In short this is the principal Source of all those strange and extravagant Novelties which have no Foundation in the Reason but only in the Humour of Men. The other means that augment this our Imitative Disposition and which is the Matter chiefly to be spoke to in this place consists in a certain Impression which Men of a strong Imagination make upon weak Minds and delicate and tender Brains By the strong and vigorous Imagination I mean that Constitution of Brain which makes it capable of very deep Impressions which so take up the Capacity of the Soul as not to suffer her to attend to other things besides those represented by these Images Now there are two sorts of Persons who have a strong Imagination in this Sense explain'd The one receive these deep Traces by a disorderly and involuntary Impression of the Animal Spirits and the other which I design more particularly to treat of receive them through the Disposition incident to the Substance of their Brain 'T is plain that the former are absolutely Fools since they are oblig'd by the Natural Union between their Traces and Idea's to think of things that others they converse with do not think of which incapacitates them from speaking pertinently to the thing in hand and making a sutable Answer to the Questions that are ask'd them Of these there are infinite forts that differ only in degree amongst which may be reckon'd all such as are acted without any violent Passion since in the time of their Perturbation the Animal Spirits so forcibly imprint the Traces and Images of their Passion that they are unable to think of any thing else But 't is to be observ'd that the Imagination of the weakest Minds and the most soft and tender Brains that be are not in danger of being corrupted by this sort of People for two very good Reasons The first is that being unable to conform their Answers to the Idea's of others they are as unable to perswade them to any thing and the second is that their Discourse is always heard with contempt upon the account of so visible a Disorder in their Brain 'T is true however that Men in a Passion infect the Spectators with the same and strike their Imagination with Impressions like to those they feel themselves But because the outrage is so visible the Impressions it makes are resisted and a little time will quite discard them They wear off of themselves when no longer fed and supply'd by the Cause that produc'd them that is when the transported Person is out of sight and the sensible View of the Features the Passion drew upon the Face produces no more alterations in the Fibres of our Brain nor Agitations in our Animal Spirits My Design is only to examine that sort of strong and vigoâ—ous Imagination which consists in a Disposition of Brain fit and proper to receive very deep Impressions from the weakest and least-active Objects 'T is no Imperfection to have a Brain dispos'd for the Imagining things strongly and receiving most distinct and lively Images of the most inconâ—iderable Objects provided the Soul still superintends the Imagination and these Traces be imprinted by her Orders and expung'd by her Commands 'T is on the contrary the Original of Subtilty and Strength of Wit But when the Imagination lords it over the Soul and these Traces without staying for the Orders of the Will are stamp'd by the Disposition of the Brain by the Action of Objects and the Animal Spirits 't is manifestly a base and mischievous Quality and a kind of Madness Let us try to discover their Character whose Imagination is wrought in this manner And in order to this it ought to be re-minded that the Capacity of the Mind is very narrow and that there is nothing so cumbersom as I may say or so soon takes it up as the Sensations of the Soul and in general all the Perceptions of Objects that vehemently affect us and that the deep Traces of the Brain are ever attended with Sensations or other Perceptions which challenge a great Application of Mind In remembring this 't will be easie to lay open the Minds of Men of strong Imagination and to discover their real Characters The first whereof is their Incapacity to judge prudently of things any whit difficult and intricate because the extent of their Minds being fill'd with Idea's naturally annex'd to these deep Traces they are not at liberty of thinking on many things at the same time When as in Compound Questions the Mind by a quick and desultory Motion must run over the Idea's of a great many things and survey at one View all the Relations and Dependencies that necessarily go to the Resolution of the Questions Every one is conscious from his own Experience how impossible it is to contemplate any abstract Truth when he is under the Sense of Pain that is any thing violent the reason whereof is that the deep Traces then printed on the Brain possess the Capacity of the Mind Thus those we are speaking of having as his suppos'd deeper Traces of the same Objects than others must have a Mind of narrower Bounds and incapable of embracing so many things The first Defect therefore of these Men is their having a little Mind and so much the less as their Brain receives deeper Traces from such Objects as are less considerable The second is their being Visionists but in so subtile and delicate a way as his hard to be discover'd and which makes the common sort of Men not think them so And 't is only the accurate and clear-sighted Minds that are apprehensive of their Visions and the ramblings of their Fancy For the understanding the Original of this Defect we must farther call to Mind what has been said at the beginning of the Second Book that in regard of what happens in the Brain the Senses and Imagination differ only in degree of more or less and that 't is the largeness and depth of the Traces that makes the Soul sensible of Objects makes her judge them as present and in capacity to affect her and lastly near enough to her to make her feel Pleasure and Pain For when the Traces are little the Soul only imagines the Objects of them she judges it not as present nor looks upon it as very great and considerable But in proportion as these Traces grow larger and deeper
Communication of the Disorders and Distempers of the Imagination But these Truths deserve to be farther Illustrated by the Examples and known Experience of the World CHAP. II. General Instances of the Strength of Imagination CHILDREN in respect of their Fathers but especially Daughters in regard of their Mothers afford us very frequent Instances of this Communication of the Imagination The same things do Servants in relation to their Masters Maids in respect of their Mistresses Scholars of their Teachers Courtiers of their Kings and generally all Inferiours in respect of their Superiours supposing only that Fathers Masters and the rest of the Superiours have any Strength of Imagination themselves For otherwise 't is possible for Children and Servants to remain untouch'd or very little infected with the languid Imagination of their Fathers and Masters The Effects of this Communication may be likewise observ'd in Equals but that more rarely for want of that submissive Respect among them which qualifies and disposes the Mind for the Reception of the Impressions of strong Imaginations without examining them Last of all they are to be seen in Superiours also with respect to their Inferiours who sometimes are impower'd with so Lively and Authoritative an Imagination as to turn the Minds of their Masters and Superiours which way they please 'T will be easie to conceive how Fathers and Mothers make so very strong Impressions on the Imagination of their Children if it be consider'd that the Natural Dispositions of our Brain whereby we are inclin'd to imitate those we live with and to participate of their Sentiments and Passions are stronger in Children with respect to their Parents than in any others whereof several Reasons may be given The first is their being of the same Blood For as Parents commonly transmit to their Children the Seeds and Dispositions for certain Hereditary Distempers such as the Gout Stone Madness and generally all those that were not of Accidental Acquirement or whose sole and only Cause was not some extraordinary Fermentation of the Humours as Fevers and some others for of such 't is plain there can be no Communication So they imprint the Dispositions of their own Brain on the Brain of their Children and give a certain Turn to their Imagination that makes them wholly susceptible of the same Sentiments The second Reason is the little Acquaintance and Converse Children generally have with other Men who might sometimes stamp different Impresses on their Brain and in some measure interrupt the bent and force of the Paternal Impression For as a Man that was never abroad commonly Fancies that the Manners and Customs of Strangers are quite contrary to Reason because contrary to the usage of his Native Town or Custom of his Country whilst he yields to be carry'd by the current so a Child who was never from his Father's Home imagines his Parents Sentiments and Ways of Living to be Universal Reason or rather thinks there are no other Principles of Reason or Vertue to be had besides the Imitation of them Which makes him believe whatever he hears them say and do whatever he sees them do But this Parental Impression is so strong as not only to influence the Child's Imagination but to have its Effect on the other parts of the Body So that a young Lad shall Walk and Talk and have the same Gestures as his Father And a Girl shall Mimick the Mother in her Gate Discourse and Dress If the Mother Lisps the Daughter must Lisp too if the Mother has any odd fling with her Head the Daughter takes the same In short Children imitate their Parents in every thing even in their Bodily Defects Grimace and Faces as well as their Errors and Vices There are still many other Causes which add to the Effect of this Impression The chief of which are the Authority of the Parents the Dependence of Children and the mutual Love between them But these Causes are as common to Courtiers Servants and in general to all Inferiours as to Children I therefore choose to explain them by the Instance of the Court-Gentlemen There are those who judge by what 's in sight of that which is unapparent of the Greatness Strength and Reach of Wit and Parts which they see not by the Gallantry Honours and Riches which they know and measure the one by the other And that Dependency Men are in to the Great the Desire of partaking of their Greatness and that sensible Lustre that surrounds them makes them ascribe Honours Divine if I may so speak to Mortal Men. For GOD bestows on Princes Authority but Men attribute to them Infallibility Such an Infallibility as has no Boundaries prescrib'd to it on any subject or any occasion nor is confin'd to certain Ceremonies For the Great know all things naturally they are ever in the Right even in the Decision of Questions which they do not understand None attempt to examine their Positions but those who want Experience and the Art of Living and 't is Presumption and want of Respect to doubt of them But 't is no less than Rebellion at least down-right Folly Sottishness 〈◊〉 Madness to condemn them But when we are Honour'd with a Place in the Favour and Esteem of Great Men 't is no longer plain Obstinacy Conceitedness and Rebellion 't is a Crime of a deeper dye Ingratitude and Perfidiousness not to surrender implicitly to their Opinions 'T is such an unpardonable Offence as utterly incapacitates us for any of their future Favours Which is the Reason that Courtiers and by a necessary consequence the generality of the World indeliberately subscribe to the Sentiments of their Sovereign even so far as to Model their Faith by and make the Truths of Religion subservient to his Fantastic Humour and Folly England and Germany furnish us but with too many Instances of the blind and exorbitant Submission of the People to the Wills of their Irreligious Princes wherewith the Histories of the late Times abound And some Men of a considerable Age have been known to have chang'd their Religion four or five times by reason of the diverse changes of their Princes The Kings and even the Queens of England have the Government of all the States of their Kingdoms whether Ecclesiastical or Civil in all Causes 'T is they that are the Approvers of the Liturgies of the Festival Services of the way wherein the Sacraments ought to be Administred and Received They appoint for instance that our LORD shall not be adored in the Eucharist though they oblige to the Receiving it on the Knees according to the Ancient Custom In a word they arbitrarily change the whole Substance of their Liturgies to suit them to the New Articles of their Faith and together with their Parliamâ—nt have equal Right of judging of these Articles as a Pope with a Councel as may be seen in the Statutes of England and Ireland made at the beginning of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth Lastly we may add that the
to be able to pronounce it incapable of any thing more than Knowledge and Love This indeed might be maintain'd by those who attribute their Sensations to external Objects or to their Body and who would have their Passions to be in their Hearts For indeed if we rob the Soul of all her Passions and Sensations all that we leave discoverable in her is no more than a consequence of Knowledge or of Love But I cannot conceive how those who are retriev'd from those Delusions of the Senses can perswade themselves that all our Sensations and our Passions are nothing but knowledge and Love I would say Species of confus'd Judgments the Soul passes upon Objects with reference to the Body which she Animates I cannot conceive how a Man can affirm Light Colours Odors and the like to be Judgments of the Soul for it seems to me on the contrary that I distinctly perceive Light Colours Smells and the other Sensations to be Modifications quite different from Judgments But let us make choice of more lively Sensations and such as the Mind is most taken up with and see what these Persons say of Pain and Pleasure They will have these Sensations with several most considerable Authors to be only the consequences or dependences of the Faculties we we have of Knowing and Willing and that Pain for instance is only the Regret the Opposition and Aversion the Will has to what she knows hurtful to the Body which she loves Now to me this seems evidently to confound Pain with Sorrow but so far is Pain from being a Consequence of the Knowledge of the Mind and the Action of the Will that on the contrary it precedes them both If you put for example a burning Coal in the Hand of a Man asleep or that was warming his Hands behind him I know not how it can be with any probability affirm'd that this Man first knew there happen'd in his Hand some Motions contrary to the good Constitution of his Body that hereupon his Will oppos'd them and that his Pain was the Consequence of that Knowledge of his Mind and Opposition of his Will On the contrary it is in my Opinion undoubtedly certain that the first thing this Man perceiv'd as soon as the Coal touch'd his Hand was Pain and that the Knowledge of the Mind and Opposition of the Will were only the Consequences of it though they were truly the Cause of the Sorrow which succeeded the Pain But there 's a vast difference between this Pain and the Sorrow it produces Pain is the first thing the Soul is sensible of it is not preceded by any Knowledge nor can ever be agreeable and welcome of it self Whereas Sorrow is the last thing the Soul feels it is ever preceded with Knowledge and is always pleasant of it self This is evidently manifest from the Pleasure that attends the Sorrow a Man 's affected with at the direful Representations of the Theatre for this Pleasure increases with the Sorrow but Pleasure never increases with Pain The Comedians who study the Art of Pleasing know well that they must never lay the Stage in Blood because the sight though of a fictitious Murder would be too Terrible to be Pleasant But they are not afraid of touching the Spectators with a deep Sorrow because Sorrow is ever agreeable when there 's occasion to be mov'd with it There is then an Essential difference between Sorrow and Pain and it can no wise be said that Pain is nothing but the Knowledge of the Mind together with an Opposition of the Will As to all the other Sensations such as are Smells Tasts Sounds Colours the generality of Men do not think they are the Modifications of their Soul But on the contrary judge they are diffus'd upon the Objects or at least that they are only in the Soul as an Idea of a Square or a Circle that is are united to the Soul but are not the Modifications of it and the Reason of their judging thus is that this kind of Sensations do not much affect them as I have shewn in the Explication of the Errors of the Senses It ought then I think to be concluded That we know not all the Modifications incident to our Soul and that besides those which she has by the Organs of Senses it is impossible for her to have infinite others which she has never experimented nor ever shall till deliver'd from the captivity of her Body And yet it must be confess'd that as Matter is not capable of infinite different Configurations but because of its Extension so the Soul is not capable of different Modifications but on the account of Thought it being manifest that the Soul would be incapable of the Modifications of Pleasure Pain and even of those that are indifferent to her were it not for her being capable of Perception or Thought It is sufficient then to know that Thought is the Principle of all these Modifications If any one will have something in the Soul previous to Thought I shall not dispute it with him But as I am assur'd that no One has any Knowledge of his Soul but by Thought or by being inwardly conscious of what passes in his Mind so I am certain that if any One would reason about the Nature of the Soul he ought only to consult that Internal Sensation which constantly represents her to himself such as she is and not to imagine against the conviction of his own Conscience that she is an invisible Fire a subtile Air Harmony or the like CHAP. II. I. The Mind being limited cannot comprehend any thing of an infinite Nature II. Its Limitation is the Origine of a great many Errors III. And especially of Heresies IV. The Mind must be submitted unto Faith SO then that which we immediately discover in the Thought of Man is its being limited to a very narrow compass from which consideration may be drawn two very important Conclusions As first that the Soul cannot perfectly know Infinity Secondly that she can have no distinct Knowledge of many things at once For as a piece of Wax is incapable of admitting at the same time a great number of different Figures so the Soul is incapable of knowing at the same time a multitude of things And as again a piece of Wax cannot be square and round at the same time but only semi-square and semi-circular and the more different Figures it has the less perfect and distinct they will be so the Soul cannot perceive many things at once and her Thoughts will be so much more confus'd as they are more numerous Last of all as a piece of Wax which had a thousand Faces and on each Face a different Figure would be neither square nor round nor oval nor could a Man say what Figure it was of So it sometimes happens that a Man has such a multitude of different Thoughts that he fancies he thinks of nothing at all which is exemplify'd in those that fall into
we not only can see from one end of the same Point abundance of most large and even immense Objects There is moreover not any Point in all these great Spaces of the World from whence we cannot discover an almost inexhaustible number of Objects and even Objects as big as the Sun the Moon and Heavens There is not then any Point in the great Circumference of the World wherein the Species of all these things ought not to center which is contradictory to all appearance of Truth The second Reason is taken from the Change these Species undergo It is certain the nearer an Object is the greater the Species ought to be since we see the Object greater Now we cannot see what 't is that can lessen this Species and what become of the Parts that compos'd it when it was greater But that which is still more difficult to conceive according to their Notion is how in beholding an Object with Magnifying-glasses or a Microscope the Species grows on a suddain five or six hundred times bigger than it was before for 't is still harder to be seen from what adventitious Parts it can increase so mightily in an instant The third Reason is that in looking on a perfect Cube all the Species of its faces are unequal and yet we fail not to see all its faces equally square And so in beholding in a Picture Ovals and Parallelograms which can only send forth Species of a similar Figure we see notwithstanding Circles and Squares For this makes it manifestly clear that there is no necessity the Object we behold should produce Species like it self in order to our seeing it Lastly it is not conceivable how it is possible for a Body that is not sensibly exhausted to send constantly Species from out of it self on every side how it can continually fill with them so very capacious Spaces all round about and that with an incomprehensible swiftness For an Object that lay hid in the very instant of its Discovery may be seen many millions of Leagues on all sides And what seems much stranger yet is that the Bodies which have a great deal of Action as the Air and some others have not force enough to extrude from them their representative Images which the grossest and least active Bodies can do as Earth Stones and almost all hard Bodies But I shall not spend more time in producing all the Reasons that oppugn this Opinion because that would be an endless work the least Essay of Thought furnishing out an inexhaustible number of them These we have already urg'd are enough and even more than were necessary after what has been said relating to this Subject in the first Book whâ—n we explain'd the Errors of the Senses But there being such a multitude of Philosophers devoted to this Opinion I thought it necessary to say something of it to put them upon reflecting on their own Thoughts CHAP. III. That the Soul has no Power to produce Idea's The Cause of the Error Men are guilty of upon this Subject THE second Opinion is theirs who believe that our Souls have the Power of producing the Idea's of the things they would contemplate and that they are mov'd to the producing them by the impressions Objects make upon the Body though these impressions are not Images representative of the Objects they are caused by They pretend it is in this that Man is made after the Image of GOD and participates of his Power That as GOD has created all things out of nothing and can annihilate them again and thence create others wholly new so Man has the Power of Creating and Annihilating the Idea's of all things as he pleases But there 's very good reason to suspect all these Opinions that elevate Man so high as being Notions which commonly derive from his vain and haughty Heart and which the Father of Lights never vouchsafed to give him This Participation of the Power of GOD which Men boast of having whereby to represent Objects and to do many other particular Actions is a Participation which seems to draw in something of Independency as 't is ordinarily explain'd But 't is likewise a Chimerical Participation which Men's Ignorance and Vanity have caus'd them to imagine For they are under a greater Dependance on the Goodness and Mercy of GOD than they suppose But this is not the place to give an Explication of these things Let us only try to make it visible that Men have not the Power of forming the Idea's of the things they perceive No Man can doubt but that Idea's are real Beings seeing they have real Properties that they differ one from another and that they represent quite different things Nor can it reasonably be doubted but they are of a Spiritual Nature and very different from the Bodies represented by them All which seems strong enough to raise a doubt whether the Idea's by means whereof we perceive Bodies are not of a nobler extract than the Bodies themselves And in earnest the Intelligible World ought to be perfecter than the Material and Terrestrial as we shall see in the process of our Discourse and then in affirming that Men are impower'd to frame all Idea's as they please we incur the danger of maintaining that Men have power of making Beings more noble and more perfect than the World which GOD has created But this reflection never enters our Heads by reason of our imagining an Idea to be nothing because not obvious to the Senses or if we look upon it as a Being 't is a Being so slender and contemptible that we fancy it annihilated as soon as absent from the Mind But though it should be true that Idea's were only little pitiful despicable Beings they are however Beings and Beings Spiritual And Men having not the Power of Creating have not consequently the Power of Producing them For the Production of Idea's in the manner they explain it is a true Creation and though they endeavour to palliate and soften the Presumption and Harshness of this Opinion in saying that the Production of Idea's supposes something antecedent and Creation supposes nothing yet they bring no Reason to solve the Knot of the difficulty For it ought well to be heeded That there is no greater difficulty in producing Something out of Nothing than in producing it by presupposing another thing out of which it could not be made and which could contribute nothing to its Production There is no greater difficulty for instance in the Creation of an Angel than in the Production of an Angel from a Stone Because a Stone being a Being of a quite opposite kind cannot be any ways serviceable to the Production of an Angel But it may contribute to the Production of Bread of Gold c. because Stone Gold and Bread are only the same Extension of a diverse Configuration and all these are Material things Nay it is even harder to produce an Angel out of a Stone than to produce it out
of Nothing because to the producing an Angel out of a Stone so far as that is possible to be done the Stone must be first Annihilated and afterwards the Angel Created but simply to Create an Angel there needs no Annihilation at all If then the Mind produces its Idea's from the Material Impressions the Brain receives from Objects it does still the same thing or a thing as difficult or even difficulter than if it Created them Since Idea's being Spiritual cannot be produc'd out of Material Images that are in the Brain to which they have no Proportion or Analogy But some will say That an Idea is not a Substance Be it so but still it is a Being and a Being of a Spiritual kind And as it is impossible to make a Square of a Spirit though a Square be not a Substance so 't is impossible to frame a Spiritual Idea out of a Material Substance tho' an Idea were not a Substance But suppose we should allow the Mind of Man to have an absolute Power of Creating and Annihilating the Idea's of things yet after all he would never imploy it to the producing them For as a Painter though never so excellent at his Art could not represent an Animal he had never seen or had no Idea of so that the Picture he was oblig'd to make of it would not be like that unknown Animal so a Man could not form the Idea of an Object unless he knew it before that is unless he had already the Idea of it which has no dependance on his Will But if he has the Idea of it already he knows the Object and 't is needless to form a new one of it 'T is therefore needless to attribute to the Mind of Man the power of producing its Idea's It may perhaps be said that the Mind has general and confus'd Idea's which it does not produce and that those which it produceth are particular more clever and distinct but it all comes to the same thing For as a Painter could not draw the Picture of a particular Man so as to be certify'd he had hit it right unless he had a distinct Idea of him and even unless the Person himself should sit so the Mind that had only the Idea for instance of Being or of an Animal in general could not represent to it self an Horse nor form any very distinct Idea thereof nor be assur'd this Idea perfectly resembled an Horse unless it had a former Idea thereof wherewith to collate this second Now if it had a former it is in vain to form a second And the Question proceeds upon that former Therefore c It is true that whilst we conceive a Square by pure Intellection we may besides imagine it that is perceive it by drawing the Image of it in the Brain But 't is to be observ'd in the first place that we are not the real and principal Cause of that Image but it would take up too much time to explain it And again that the second Idea which accompanies that Image is so far from being more distinct and accurate than the others that on the contrary it owes all its Exactness to its Resemblance with the first which serves to regulate the second For in brief it is not to be believ'd that the Imagination or even the Senses make us a more distinct Representation of Objects than the Pure Intellect but only that they make the Mind more concern'd and applicative For the Idea's of Sense and Imagination are not distinct any farther than they are conformable with those of Pure Intellection The Image of a Square for instance that the Imagination delineates in the Brain is no otherwise just and regular than as it conforms with the Idea of a Square which we have by Pure Intellection 'T is that Idea which regulates the Image 'T is the Mind that conducts the Imagination and obliges it as I may say to look time after time whether the Image painted by it be a Figure of four right and equal Lines whose Angles are exactly right In a word if that which is imagin'd be like that which is conceiv'd After what has been said I suppose no body can doubt but it is an Error in those that affirm the Mind can form the Idea's of Objects since they attribute to the Mind a Power of Creating and even of Creating with Wisdom and Order though it has no Knowledge of what it does a thing utterly inconceivable But the Cause of this their Error is that customary Judgment Men make of one thing 's being the Cause of another when they are found conjoin'd together supposing that the true Cause of this Effect be unknown to them 'T is for this Reason that every one concludes that a Bowl in motion meeting with another is the true and principal Cause of the motion it communicates to it that the Will of the Soul is the true and principal Cause of the motion of the Arm and such like Prejudices as these because it always happens that a Bowl is mov'd when it lies in the way of another that knocks against it and we move our Arms almost as often as we will it and we do not sensibly perceive what else could be the Cause of these Motions But when an Effect is not so constant an attendant on any thing that 's not the Cause of it there are ever very many who believe this thing to be the Cause of the Effect that happens though all Men fall not into this Error A Comet for instance appears and presently after a Prince goes off c. Stones are expos'd to the Moon and are eaten with Worms The Sun is in Conjunction with Mars at the Nativity of a Child and that Child has some Fortune extraordinary This is Argument sufficient to perswade a great many that the Comet the Moon the Conjunction of the Sun with Mars are the Causes of the Effects I have mention'd and of others that are like them And the Reason why all the World is not of the same Opinion is their Observation that the like Effects do not at all times attend these Causes But all Men having commonly Idea's of Objects present to their Mind when they desire it and this happening many times a day very few of them but conclude that the Will which accompanies the Production or rather Presence of Idea's is the true Cause of them because they see nothing at the same time to which they can attribute them And they imagine that Idea's cease to exist when out of the view of the Mind and that they begin to exist again when re-presented to it 'T is upon the same account too that some judge that External Objects send forth Images that resemble them so as has been said in the preceding Chapter For it being impossible to see Objects by themselves or any otherwise than by their Idea's they judge that the Object produces the Idea because when 't is present they see it
when absent it disappears and the presence of the Object almost always is found in company with the Idea that represents it to us However if Men were not rash and inconsiderate in their judgments they ought only to conclude from the Idea's of things being present to their Mind whenever they will have them that according to the order of Nature their Will is for the most part necessary to their having these Idea's but not that the Will is the True and Principal Cause that exhibits them to the Mind much less that the Will produces them out of nothing or in the manner they explain it Nor is there any more Reason for concluding that Objects emit Species that resemble them because the Soul has seldom any Perception of them but when they are present but only that the Object is for the most part necessary to the Idea's being present to the Mind Lastly They ought not to conclude that the Bowl in motion is the principal and true Cause of the motion of another which it meets in its way since the first has no power of moving it self They can only judge that the Collision of the 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 by communicating to the other Bowl a part of the motion of the first that is to speak more clearly by willing that the latter should acquire as much motion as the former lost for the impellent force of Bodies can be nothing but the Will of him that preserves them as will be made appear in another place CHAP. IV. That we perceive not Objects by means of Idea's Created with us That GOD does not produce them in us every moment we have need of them THE third Opinion is of those who pretend That all Idea's are Created with us For our better discovering how little likelihood there is in this Opinion we must consider that there are in the World many quite different things whereof we have Idea's But to mention only simple Figures it is certain that the number of them is infinite and even if we fix only on an Ellipsis 't is not to be doubted but the Mind can conceive an infinite number of Ellipses of a different Species inasmuch as it can conceive that one of its Diameters may be lengthened to Infinity the other remaining constantly the same So since the Height of a Triangle may be augmented or diminish'd to Infinity the side which serves for the Base being still the same we conceive there may be infinite Triangles upon the same Base of a different Species And moreover which I desire may be well consider'd here the Mind in some manner perceives that infinite number though it can imagine but a very few and a Man cannot at one and the same time have particular and distinct Idea's of many Triangles of a different Species But that which should be most especially attended to is that this general Idea the Mind has of an infinite number of Triangles of a different Species is a sufficient proof that if we cannot conceive by particular Idea's all these different Triangles in a word if we cannot comprehend Infinity 't is not for want of Idea's or because Infinity is not present to our Mind but meerly for want of the Mind's Capacity and Comprehension If a Man should apply himself to the considering the Properties of all the diverse Species of Triangles and even should eternally pursue this sort of Study he would find new and particular Idea's in an endless succession But his Mind would tire under the unprofitable Disquisition What I have now said of Triangles may be apply'd to Figures of five six an hundred a thousand or ten thousand sides and so up to infinity And if the sides of a Triangle being capable of infinite Relations with each other can make Triangles of infinite Species it is easie to be seen that the Figures of Four Five or of a Million of sides are capable of much greater Differences as being subject to a far greater number of Relations and Combinations of their sides than simple Triangles The Mind then discerns all these things and has Idea's of them all And 't is certain these Idea's will never be exhausted though it should imploy infinite Ages in the consideration of one Figure only and if it perceives not these infinite Figures all at once or if it comprehend not infinity 't is only because its Capacity is too short and limited It has then an infinite number of Idea's What said I an infinite number It has so many infinite numbers of Idea's as there are different Figures Insomuch that there being an infinite number of different Figures the Mind must have an infinity of infinite numbers of Idea's for the Knowledge of Figures only Now I demand of them Whether 't is probable that GOD has created so many things with the Mind of Man For my own part it can never enter into my Head especially since it might be done in another most simple and easie manner as we shall see by and by For whereas GOD acts always by the most simple means it seems unreasonable to explain our manner of knowing Objects by admitting the Creation of an infinity of â—eings when the difficulty may be resolv'd in a way more easie and natural But what if the Mind had a Magazine of all the Idea's necessary to its Perception of things It would be still extreamly difficult to explain how the Soul could make choice of them to represent Objects to her self how for instance she could bring it about to perceive the Sun when it were present to the Eyes of the Body For since the Image the Sun imprints in the Brain is nothing like the Idea we have of it as has been formerly prov'd and since likewise the Soul perceives not the Motion the Sun produces in the Fund of the Eye and in the Brain it is not conceivable how among such an infinite number of Idea's which she had she could exactly divine which it was necessary to represent for the imagining or seeing of the Sun It cannot then be said that the Idea's of things were created with us and that this is sufficient for our perceiving the Objects that are round about us Nor can it be said that GOD produces every moment so many new Idea's as we perceive different things This is sufficiently refuted by what has been said in this Chapter Besides it is necessary we should actually have in our selves the Idea's of all things at all times since at all times we can Will the conceiving all things Which we could never do unless we had already a confus'd Perception of them that is unless we had an infinite number of Idea's present to our Mind For to conclude we cannot Will the Thinking on Objects whereof we have no Idea CHAP. V. That the Mind perceives neither the Essence nor the Existence of
it were only that these Beings having no Relation to us the Knowledge of them would be of little use to us as he has not given us Eyes acute enough to reckon the Teeth of an Hand-worm since 't would be useless to the Preservation of our Body to have so penetrating an Eye-sight But though we do not think it fit to judge hastily and rashly that all Being is divided into Spirit and Body yet we think it inconsistent with Reason for Philosophers in explaining Natural Effects to use other Idea's than those that depend on Thought and Extension these in Effect being the only distinct or particular that we have There is nothing more Unphilosophical and Irrational than to imagine vast numbers of Beings from simple Logical Idea's to bestow on them infinite properties and so to go about explaining things which no body understands by things which not only no body conceives but which indeed are impossible to be conceived This is to take the same course that Blind Men would do when intending to discourse of Colours and maintain the Theses that concern them they should make use of the Definitions they receive from the Philosophers and thence make their Inferences and Conclusions For as these blind Men's Arguings and Disputes about Colours must needs be pleasant and ridiculous enough since they could have no distinct Idea's of the Subjects in Question and would only argue from general and Logical Idea's So the Philosophers can never reason justly and solidly upon the Effects of Nature when they only employ general and Logical Idea's as of Act Power Being Cause Principle Form Quality and others of like Nature It is absolutely necessary for them to ground their Disputes and Reasonings only upon the distinct and particular Idea's of Thought and Extension and those which are contain'd in them as Figure Motion c. For we can never expect to arrive to the Knowledge of Nature but by the Consideration of the distinct Idea's we have of it and 't is better not to meditate at all than to throw our Meditation away upon Whimsies and Chimera's We ought not however to assert that there is nothing but Spirit and Body Thinking and Extended Beings in Nature since 't is impossible for us to be mistaken For though these are sufficient for the Explication of Nature and consequently we may conclude without danger of erring That all Natural things as far as our Knowledge goes depend upon Extension and Thought yet absolutely speaking it s not impossible but there may be others whereof we have no Idea nor see any Effect Men are therefore too rash and precipitate in judging as an indisputable Principle that all Substance is distinguish'd into Body and Spirit But they thence infer a rash and unadvis'd conclusion when they determine by the sole light of Reason that GOD is a Spirit 't is true that since we are created after His Image and Similitude and we are taught from several places of the Holy Scripture that GOD is a Spirit we ought to believe and call Him so But Reason all alone can never teach us so much It only tells us that GOD is a Being infinitely perfect and that he ought rather to be a Spirit than a Body since our Soul is more perfect than our Body but it cannot assure us there are not still other Beings more perfect than those Spirits within us and rang'd in an higher order above them than our Minds are above our Bodies But supposing there were such Beings as these as Reason makes it unquestionable that GOD was able to create them 't is evident they would have a nearer resemblance to their Maker than our selves And so the same Reason informs us that GOD would rather have their Perfections than ours which would be reckon'd but imperfections in comparison with them We ought not therefore precipitately to imagine that the word Spirit which we indifferently use to signifie what GOD is and what we are our selves is an univocal Term expressing the same things or very like GOD is farther exalted above Created Spirits than these Spirits are elevated above Bodies and we ought not to term GOD a Spirit so much for a positive Declaration of what He is as to signifie He is not material He is an infinitely perfect Being no Man can doubt of it But as we are not to imagine with the Anthropomorphites that he ought to have an Humane shape because that Figure seems the most perfect though we should suppose Him Corporeal so we ought not to think that the Spirit of GOD has Humane Thoughts and that his mind is like our own because we know nothing perfecter than our own Mind 'T is rather to be believ'd that as he includes in Himself the Perfections of Matter without being material for 't is certain that Matter has a Relation to some Perfection that is in God so He comprehends the Perfections of created Spirits without being a Spirit after our manner of conceiving Spirits that his true Name is HE THAT IS that is being without restriction all Being being Infinite and Universal CHAP. X. Some Instances of Errors in Physicks wherein Men are engag'd by supposing that the things which differ in their Nature their Qualities Extension Duration and Proportion are alike in these things IT has been shewn in the Fore-going Chapter That Men make a rash Judgment in concluding all Beings under two Heads either of Body or Spirit we will make it appear in the succeeding Chapters that they not only make rash Judgments but false too and which are the fruitful Principles of innumerable Errors when they judge that Beings are not different in their Relations and Modes because they have no Idea of these Differences 'T is certain that the Mind of Man searches only after the Relations of things First those which the Objects it considers have to it self and then those which they have with one another For Man's Mind is inquisitive only after its Good and Truth For the finding out its Good it considers carefully by Reason and by Taste or Sensation whether the Objects have any Relation of Agreement with it self For the discovering Truth it considers whether the Objects have any Relation of Equality or Similitude to each other or what precisely is the Quantity that is equal to their Inequality For as Good is not the Good of the Mind any farther than it is agreeable to it so Truth is not Truth but by the Relation of Equality or Resemblance which is found betwixt two things or more whether this Relation be between two or more Objects as between an Ell and a Piece of Cloth For 't is true that this is an Ell of Cloth because of the Equality between the Ell and the Cloth whether it be between two or more Idea's as between the two Idea's of Three and Three and that of Six for 't is true that Three and Three are Six because of the Equality between the two Idea's of Three and Three and the
Idea of Six Or whether lastly it be between Idea's and Things when the Idea's represent what the Things are For when I say There is a Sun my Proposition is true because the Idea's I have of Existence and of the Sun represent that the Sun exists and that it truly exists Every Action of the Mind about and every Attention to Objects is only then to try to discover their Relations since we apply our selves to the consideration of things only for the finding out the Truth or Goodness of them But as we have said before in the preceding Chapter Attention tires and dispirits the Mind so that it speedily desists to oppugn and bear against the Impression of the Senses that throws it off its Object and hurries it towards others which the love it has to its Body render grateful and agreeable It has but a straitned Capacity and so the differences which are between the Subjects it examines being infinite or almost so it is incapable of distinguishing them Wherefore the Mind supposes imaginary Resemblances where it observes no Positive and Real Differences the Idea's of Resemblance being more present to it more familiar and more simple than the other For 't is manifest that Similitude includes only one Relation and there is need only of one Idea to judge that a thousand things are like whereas to judge without fear of being mistaken that a thousand Objects differ with one another there is an absolute Necessity of having a thousand different Idea's present to the Mind Men therefore imagine things of a different Nature to be of the same and that all things of the same Species hardly differ from one another They judge that unequal things are equal that those which are inconstant are constant that such as are without Order or Proportion are best order'd and most proportionate In a word they believe often that things different in Nature in Quality Extension Duration and Proportion are alike in all these particulars But this deserves to be explain'd more at large by some Examples as being the the Cause of an infinite number of Errors Spirit and Body a Substance that Thinks and a Substance that 's Extended are two kinds of Being altogether different and intirely opposite what belongs to one can't appertain to the other Yet Men for the most part but little heeding the Idea they have of Thought and being continually mov'd and affected with Bodies have look'd upon the Soul and Body as only one and the same thing have imagin'd a Similitude between things so unlike in every respect They would have the Soul to be material that is to say extended over all the Body and figur'd as the Body And thus have attributed to the Mind what can belong to nothing but the Body Again Men having the Sensation of Pleasure Pain Smells Tasts c. and their Body being more present to them than their Soul that is they easily imagine their Body but are not able to imagine the Soul they attribute to it the Faculties of Sensation Imagination and sometimes give it that of Conception too which can belong to nothing but the Soul But the following Examples will be more sensible and manifest T is certain that all Natural Bodies even those that are rank'd under the same Species differ from one another that one piece of Gold is not altogether like another piece that one drop of Water is different from another drop 'T is with all Bodies of the same Species as 't is with Faces All Faces have two Eyes a Nose a Mouth c. they are all Faces and Humane Faces yet it may be affirm'd there never were two perfectly similar So one piece of Gold has parts extreamly like another piece and one drop of Water has undoubtedly a near resemblance to another yet we may be certify'd that two drops of Water cannot be given though taken from the same River in an exact resemblance Nevertheless the Philosophers inconsiderately suppose Essential Likenesses between Bodies of the same Species or Likenesses that consist in Indivisibili For the Essences of things center in an indivisible Point according to their false Opinion The Reason of their lapsing into so gross and palpable an Error is because they will not with any care consider those very things on wich thy compose huge and mighty Volumes For as we don't fancy a perfect Similitude in Faces because we scrupulously behold them and survey them closely and the custom we have taken of distinguishing them makes us observe the least differences So if the Philosophers consider'd Nature with attention they would acknowledge sufficient causes of diversities even in those things which produce the same Sensations and which for that Reason we ascribe to the same Species and would not so credulously suppose Essential Resemblances Blind Men would be to blame to suppose Essential Similitudes consisting in Indivisibili between Faces because they did not sensibly perceive the differences And Philosophers have no more reason to suppose such Similitudes in Bodies of the same Species because they discover no differences in them by the Sensations they have of them The Inclination we have for supposing a Likeness in things inclines us farther to believe there is a set and determinate number of Differences and Forms and that these Forms are fix'd to a Point and incapable of Latitude more or less We think that all Bodies differ from each other as in Degrees and that these Degrees also retain certain Proportions together In a word we judge of Material things as of Numbers T is ' clearly manifest that this proceeds from the Mind 's losing it self in the Relations of things incommensurable as are the infinite Differences to be met with in Natural Bodies and its solacing it self with the Imagination of any Resemblance or Proportion it can find between them because then it can represent many things at once with much readiness and ease For as I have already said there needs no more than one Idea to judge that many things are like but there must be many to judge they are unlike each other If a Man knew for instance the number of Angels and that for each Angel there were ten Arch-Angels and for every Arch-Angel ten Thrones and so on observing the same Proportion in the progression up to the highest Order of Intelligences the Mind might know when it pleas'd the number of all these Blessed Spirits and even by a good strong reflection determine of them almost at a single view which is infinitely delightful to it And this is what may have induc'd some Persons to judge thus of Celestial Spirits as some Philosophers have done in another case of the Gravitation and Levitation of the Elements making a Decuple Proportion between them supposing Fire ten times lighter than Air and so of the rest When the Mind finds a necessity of admitting Differences between Bodies by the different Sensations it has of them and for some other particular Reasons it is sure to allow
Oriental Tongues gives them a wonderful Lift and Exaltation above others that know nothing of them and what can bear up their Courage under so ungrateful unpleasant painful and useless a Study but the hope of Eminency and the prospect of some vain Greatness And indeed they are look'd upon as extraordinary Men they are complemented upon their profound Learning they are more awfully listned to than others and though we may for the most part pronounce them the most injudicious of all if it were only for wasting their Life on so insignificant a Business which can neither make them wiser nor happier yet they are suppos'd to have greater Sense and Judgment than others Because they are more knowing in the Derivation of Words we think them more learn'd in the Nature of Things 'T is for the same Reason that Astronomers employ their Time and Fortune to get an accurate Knowledge of what 's not only useless but impossible to be known They would find in the Courses of the Planets such an exact Regularity as does not belong to them and erect Astronomical Schemes to foretel Effects the Causes whereof they do not know They have fram'd a Selenography or Geography of the Moon as if Men design'd to travel thither and have already shar'd that World amongst the most famous Astronomers few of them but are awarded some Province in this Country as a Recompence for their Labours And I question whether they think it not a piece of Honour to have been in the good Graces of him who so magnificently distributed these Kingdoms What makes Rational Men so hot in the Study of this Science whilst at the same time they are grosly ignorant as to most useful Truths but that there seems to be something great in the Knowledge of Heavenly Transactions The Knowledge of the least thing happening in the Upper World seems more Noble Sublime and befitting the Greatness of their Mind than the Knowledge of things vile abject and corruptible as they think Sublunary Bodies The Excellency of a Science derives from the Excellency of its Object This is a notable Principle The Knowledge of the Motion of Inchangeable and Incorruptible Bodies is therefore most noble and elevated of all other and as such seems worthy of the Greatness and Excellency of their Mind Thus it is Men suffer themselves to be dazled with a false Idea of Greatness which flatters and excites them The Imagination struck falls down before the Phantom which it reverences to the blinding Reason that should judge of it and turning it upside down Men seem to be in a Dream when they judge of the Objects of their Passions to have their Eyes seal'd up and to be destitute of common Sense For what is there of so great Importance in the Knowledge of the Motions of the Planets Don't we know enough already to regulate our Months and Years Why so much ado to know whether Saturn is incircled with a Ring or a great multitude of Little Moons and why must we make Parties hereupon What Reason is there for a Man to boast himself upon the Prediction of the Greatness of an Eclipse when possibly the Success was owing only to a luckier Guess There are Men appointed and encourag'd by the Royal Order to observe the Stars let us sit down content with their Observations This Employment they follow with Reason because they engage in it by Duty It is their proper Business and therefore their Labours are successful as grounded upon Art and carried on with all imaginable Accuracy and Application and they want nothing to promote their Endeavours Thus we ought to be fully satisfy'd as to a Maâ—ter that concerns us so little whilst they communicate to us their Discoveries 'T is requisite that many Persons study Anatomy since its Knowledge is exceeding useful that Knowledge being most to be desir'd which has most Use and Advantage Whatever contributes any thing to our Happiness or rather to the easing our Infirmities and mitigating our Miseries may and must be studied But to be prying whole Nights at the end of a Telescope to discover in the Heavens some Spot or new Planet or other to ruin a Man's Health and Happiness to neglect all his Business that he may pay constant Visits to the Stars and measure their Magnitudes and Situations is in my mind entirely to forget both what a Man is at present and what he shall be hereafter But you 'll say perhaps that this manifests the Greatness of him who made these mighty Objects To which I say That the least Fly shews forth the Power and Wisdom of GOD to those who attentively consider it without prejudice to its Littleness more than all that the Astronomers know concerning the Heavens Yet Men are not made to consider Flies and we think their pains but ill employ'd who have studied to inform us how the several Lice of every respective Animal are made and how different Worms are transform'd into Flies and Butter-flies They may if they please for their diversion when they have nothing else to do busie themselves about these things but they ought not to spend their whole time upon them unless they are become insensible to their miseries But it lies upon them to be incessantly endeavouring to know GOD and themselves to labour seriously to get rid of their Errours and Prejudices of their Passions and Inclinations to Sin to be importunate in the search of Truths most needful for them for at last those shall be found to be most judicious who are most careful in the Enquiry after the solidest Truths The principal Cause which engages Men in these false Studies is their having conjoin'd the Idea of Learned to these vain and unfruitful Sciences instead of annexing it to the solid and necessary When once a Man has the Thoughts of growing Learned in his Head and the Spirit of Polimathy begins to work he is little concern'd to know what Sciences are most necessary either to guide him by the Rules of Vertue or to perfect his Reason he only fixes his Eye on such as go for the Learned in the World and observes what they have in them that makes them so considerable All the most solid and necessary Sciences being of common and easie access can neither make their Possessors admir'd nor respected for common things however fine and admirable in themselves are carelesly and supinely regarded which makes the Pretenders to Learning dwell but little on Sciences necessary to the Conduct of Life and the Perfection of the Mind For these raise not in them that Idea of the Sciences which they had form'd as not being those they admir'd in others and which they would have others to admire in them The Gospel and Morality are Sciences too common and ordinary for them they love to be skill'd in the Criticisms of some words to be met with in the Ancient Philosophers or Greek Poets The Tongues as Arabick and Rabbinage and all except their genuine native
Iron than to make it go when 't is perfectly made so a Soul should rather be admitted in the Egg for the Formation of the Chicken than for making the Chicken live when entirely form'd But Men don't see with their eyes the admirable Conduct that goes to the forming of a Chicken as they still sensibly observe its method of looking out what 's necessary to its own Preservation And therefore they are not dispos'd to believe there are Souls in Eggs from any sensible Impression of those Motions which are requisite to transform them into Chickens but they ascribe Souls to Animals by reason of the sensible Impression they receive from the external Actions these Animals perform for their vital Preservation though the Reason I have here alledg'd is stronger for the Souls of Eggs than of Chickens This second Reason namely that Matter is incapable of Sensation and Desire is without doubt a Demonstration against those who ascribe Sense to Animals whilst they confess their Souls corporeal But Men will rather eternally-confound and perplex these Reasons than acknowledge a thing repugnant to barely probable but most sensible and pathetick Arguments and there is no way fully to convince them but by opposing other Sensible Proofs to theirs and giving an ocular Demonstration that all the Parts of Animals are mere Mechanism and that they may move without a Soul by the bare Impression of Objects and their own particular Frame and Constitution as Monsieur Des Cartes has begun to do in his Treatise concerning Man For all the most certain and evident Reasons of the pure Intellect will never obviate the obscure Proofs they have from the Senses and it were to expose our selves to the Laughter of superficial and inattentive Persons to pretend to prove by Reasons somewhat higher than ordinary that Animals have no Sense We must therefore well remember that the strong Inclination we have for Divertisements Pleasures and in general for whatever affects us exposes us to a multitude of Errours because our Capacity of Mind being limited this Inclination constantly disturbs our Attention to the clear and distinct Ideas of the Pure Understanding proper for the Discovery of Truth to apply it to the false obscure and deceitful Ideas of the Senses which influence the Will more by the Hope of Good and Pleasure than they inform the Mind by their Light and Evidence CHAP. XII Of the Effects which the Thoughts of future Happiness and Misery are capable of producing in the Mind IF it often happens that little Pleasures and light Pains which we actually feel or even which we expect to feel strangely confound our Imagination and disable us from judging on things by their true Ideas we cannot imagine but the Expectation of Eternity must needs work upon our Mind But 't is requisite to consider what it is capable of producing in 't We must in the first place observe That the Hope of an Eternity of Pleasures does not work so strongly on our Minds as the Fear of an Eternity of Torments The Reason is Men love not Pleasure so much as they hate Pain Again by a Self-conscious Sensation which they have of their Corruptions they know they are worthy of Hell and they see nothing in themselves deserving of so great Rewards as is the participating the Felicity of God himself They are sensible as often as they will and even sometimes against their Will that far from meriting Rewards they deserve the greatest Punishments for their Conscience never quits them But they are not so constantly convinc'd that GOD will manifest his Mercy upon Sinners after having satisfy'd his Justice upon his SON So that even the Righteous have more lively Apprehensions of an Eternity of Torments than Hopes of an Eternity of Pleasures Therefore the prospect of Punishment works more upon them than the prospect of Reward Here follows what it is capable of producing not all alone but as a principal Cause It begets infinite Scruples in the Mind and strengthens them in such a manner that 't is almost impossible to get rid of them It stretches Faith as I may so speak as far as Prejudices and makes Men pay that Worship which is due to GOD alone to imaginary Powers It obstinately fixes their Mind on vain or dangerous Superstitions and causes them fervently and zealously to embrace Humane Traditions and Practices needless to Salvation Jew and Pharisaick-like Devotions which servile Dread has invented Finally it flings some Men into the darkness of Despair so that confusedly beholding Death as Nothing they brutally wish to perish that they may be freed of those dreadful Anxieties and Disquiets that torment and frighten them The Scrupulous and Superstitious have commonly more of Charity than Self-love but only Self-love possesses the Desperate for rightly to conceive it a Man must extremely love himself who rather chuses no Being than an ill one Women Young People and those of a weak and timorous Mind are most obnoxious to Scruples and Superstitions and Men more liable to Despair 'T is easie to conceive the Reasons of all this For the Idea of Eternity being manifestly the greatest most terrible and dreadful of all those that astonish the Mind and strike the Imagination must needs be attended with a large Retinue of additional Ideas all which contribute to a wonderful effect upon the Mind by reason of the Analogy they have to that great and terrible Idea of Eternity Whatever has any relation to Infinite cannot be a little thing or if it be little in it self by that relation it grows so vast and immense as not to be compar'd with any thing Finite Therefore whatever has or is fancied to have any relation to that unavoidable Dilemma concluding for an Eternity either of Torments or Delights necessarily dismays the Mind that 's capable of any Reflexion or Thought Women Young People and feeble Minds having as I have formerly said the Fibres of their Brain soft and pliable receive very deep Traces or Impressions from that two-edg'd Consideration and when through the plenty of their Spirits they are more dispos'd to Sensation than just Reflexion on things they admit through the Vivacity of their Imagination a great number of spurious Impressions and false accessary Ideas which have no natural Relation to the principal Nevertheless that Relation though imaginary nourishes and confirms those spurious Traces and false accessary Ideas which it has produc'd When Men are engag'd in a troublesome Law-suit which they don't understand and it takes up all their Thoughts they commonly fall into needless Fears and Apprehensions that there are certain things prejudicial to their Cause which the Judges never think of and which a Lawyer would not fear The Success of the Affair is of so great Concernment to them that the Concussion it produces in their Brain spreads and propagates it self to distant Traces that have naturally no relation to it 'T is just so with the Scrupulous they causlesly fancy to themselves Subjects of
since it rather respects Morals and Politicks than our Subject And whereas this Inclination is always accompany'd with the Passions it might perhaps be more appositly treated of in the next Book But 't is not of so great concern to be so nicely methodical in this Case That we may rightly comprehend the Cause and Effects of this Natural Inclination it is requisite to know that GOD loves all his Works and that he strictly unites them to one another for their mutual Preservation For Loving incessantly the Works he produces it being his Love that produces them he also continually impresses on our Heart a Love for his Works that is he produces constantly in our Heart a Love like his own And to the intent the Natural Love we have for our selves might not swallow up or too much infringe upon that which we have for exteriour things but on the contrary that these two Loves which GOD puts in us might cherish and strengthen each other he has so artfully united us with all things about us and especially with those Beings of the same Species as our selves that their Evils naturally afflict us their Joy rejoyces us their Rise their Fall or Diminution seem to augment or diminish respectively our own Being The new Honours of our Relations or Friends the fresh Atchievements of those who have the nearest Engagements to us The Conquests and Victories of our Prince and even the late Discoveries of the New World give as it were an additional growth to our Substance Belonging to all these things we rejoyce at their Grandure and Extent We gladly would that even the World was without Bounds and that Notion of some Philosophers that the Works of GOD are infinite not only seems worthy of GOD but most agreeable to Man who can conceive nothing nobler than the being a part of Infinity whilst as inconsiderable as he is in himself he fancies he feels himself infinitely enlarg'd by an expansion of Thought into the infinite Beings that surround him 'T is true the Union we have with all those Bodies that rowl in the vast spaces is not very binding and consequently insensible to the greatest part of Men and there are some who interess themselves so little in the Discoveries made in the Heavens that one would think they had no natural Union to them did we not know that it was for want of Knowledge or for their too applicative Adherencies to other things The Soul though united to the Body which she animates is not always sensible of the Motions that occur in it or if she be yet she does not always actually consider them The Passion whereby she 's acted being often greater than the Sensation wherewith she 's affected makes her seem to have a stricter Adherence to the Object of her Passion than to her own Body For 't is chiefly by the Passions that the Soul expands her self abroad and finds she is actually related to all surrounding Beings as it is especially by Sensation that she expands through her own Body and finds she is united to all the Parts that compose it But as we are not to conclude that the Soul of a Man in a Passion is not united to his Body because he exposes himself to Death and is unconcern'd for his own Preservation so it ought not to be imagin'd we are not naturally engag'd to all things because there are some we are not at all concern'd for Would you know for instance whether Men have any Adhesions to their Prince or their Country Enquire out such as are acquainted with the Interests of them and have no particular Engagements of their own to take them up and you will then see how earnest they are for News how impatient to hear of Battels how joyful for a Victory and how melancholy upon a Defeat And this will convince you how strictly Men are united to their Prince and their Country In like manner would you know whether Men are united to China Japan the Planets or Fix'd Stars Enquire out or only imagine to your self some whose Country or Family enjoy a settl'd Peace who have no particular Passions and that are not actually sensible of the Union that binds them to nearer Objects than the Heavens and you will find if they have any Knowledge of the Magnitude and Nature of these Stars they will rejoyce at the Discovery of any of them will consider them with Pleasure and if they have Art enough will willingly be at the pains of observing and calculating their Motions Such as are in the hurry of Business have little Curiosity for the Appearance of a Comet or the Incidence of an Eclipse but Men that have no such Dependencies to nearer things find themselves considerable Employment about such Events because indeed there is nothing but what we are united to though we have not always the Sense of this Union as a Man does not always feel the Soul united I don't say to his Arm or Hand but to his Heart and Brain The strongest Natural Union which GOD has establish'd between us and his Works is that which cements and binds us to our Fellow-Brethren Men. GOD has commanded us to love them as our Second-selves and to the end that Elective Love with which we prosecute them might be resolute and constant he supports and strengthens it continually with a Natural Love which he impresses on us and for that purpose has given us some invisible Bonds which bind and oblige us necessarily to love them to be watchful for their as our own Preservation to regard them as parts necessary to the whole which we constitute together with them and without which we could not subsist There is nothing more admirably contriv'd than those Natural Correspondencies observable between the Inclinations of Men's Minds between the Motions of their Bodies and again between these Inclinations and these Motions All this secret Chain-work is a Miracle which can never be sufficiently admir'd nor can ever be understood Upon the Sense of some sudden surprizing Evil or which a Man finds as it were too strong for him to overcome by his own Strength he raises suppose a loud Cry This Cry forc'd out frequently without thinking on it by the disposition of the Machine strikes infallibly into the Ears of those who are near enough to afford the Assistance that is wanted It pierces them and makes them understand it let them be of what Nation or Quality soever for 't is a Cry of all Nations and all Conditions as indeed it ought to be It makes a Commotion in the Brain and instantly changes the whole Disposition of Body in those that are struck with it and makes them run to give succour without so much as knowing it But it is not long before it acts upon their Mind and obliges their Will to desire and their Understanding to contrive means of assisting him who made that Natural Petition provided always that urgent Petition or rather Command be just and according
the Will of man as a Will it essentially depends on the Love that God bears to himself on the Eternal Law and in short on the Will of God It is only because God loves himself that we love any thing for if God did not love himself or did not continually influence the Soul of man with a Love like his own that is with the Motion of Love which a Man feels in himself for Good in general we should love nothing we should will nothing and consequently should be destitute of Will since Will is nothing else but that Impression of Nature that carries us towards Good in general as hath been said several times But the Will considered as the Will of Man essentially depends upon the Body since it is by reason of the Motion of the Blood and Animal Spirits that it feels its self affected with all its sensible Commotions And therefore I have called Natural Inclinations all the Motions which the Soul has common with pure Intelligences together with some in which the Body hath a great Share but of which it is only the indirect Cause and End and I have explained them in the foregoing Book Here I understand by Passions All the Motions which naturally affect the Soul on occasion of the extraordinary Motion of the Blood and Animal Spirits And so shall these sensible Commotions be the Subject of this Book Though the Passions be inseparable from the Inclinations and Men be only susceptible of a sensible Love and Hatred because they are capable of a Spiritual Love and Hatred however it was though fit to treat of them separately in order to prevent Confusion For if it be considered That the Passions are far stronger and livelyer than the Natural Inclinations that they have for the most part other Objects and are always produced by different Causes it will be granted That we do not distinguish without Reason things that are inseparable in their own Nature Men are capable of Sensations and Imaginations only because they are capable of pure Intellections the Senses and Imagination being inseparable from the Mind and yet none finds fault with those that distinctly treat of those Faculties of the Soul which are naturally inseparable Last of all the Senses and Imagination differ not more from the pure Understanding than the Passions from the Inclinations And therefore as the three first Faculties use to be distinguished so ought also the two last that we may the better distinguish what the Soul receives from its Author with Relation to its Body from that which it also has from him but without that Relation The only Inconveniency that may grow out of the distinction of two things so naturally united is the necessity of repeating some things that had been said before as is usual in the like occasions Man is one though he be Compounded of several parts and the union of those parts is so intimate that one of them cannot be affected without a Commotion of the whole All his Faculties are linked together and so subordinated that it is impossible to explain some of them without touching upon the others So that when we labour to find out a Method to prevent Confusion we necessarily fall into Repetitions but 't is better to repeat than not to be Methodical because we ought above all to be plain and intelligible and therefore whatever we can doe in this occasion is to repeat if possible without wearying the Reader The Passions of the Soul are Impressions of the Author of Nature which incline us to love our Body and whatever is useful for its preservation As the natural Inclinations are Impressions of the same Author that principally move us to love him as the Sovereign Good The natural or occasional Cause of these Impressions is the Motion of the Animal Spirits which disperse through the Body to produce and maintain in it a disposition suitable to the Object perceiv'd that the Mind and Body may in that conjuncture mutually help each other For 't is the Institution of God that our Willings be attended with such Motions of our Body as are fit to put them in execution and that the Motions of our Body which Machinally rise in us at the perception of some Object be follow'd with a Passion of the Soul that inclines us to will what seems at that time profitable to the Body It is the continual Impression of the Will of God upon us that keeps us so strictly united to a portion of matter for if that Impression of his Will should cease but a moment we should instantly be rid of the Dependency upon our Body and all the Changes it undergoes For I cannot understand what some people imagine that there is a necessary Connection betwixt the Motion of the Blood and Animal Spirits and the Commotions of the Soul Some small Particles of Choler violently move in the Brain must therefore the Soul be agitated with some Passion and must that Passion be Anger rather than Love What Relation can there be conceived betwixt the Idea of an Enemy's Imperfections the Passion of Contempt or Hatred and the Corporeal Motion of some Particles of the Blood that beat against some parts of the Brain How they can imagine that the one depend upon the other and that the Union or Connection of two things so distant and so incompatible as the Mind and Matter can be caused and preserved any otherwise than by the continual and Almighty Will of the Author of Nature is to me unconceivable Those that suppose that Bodies necessarily and by themselves communicate their Motion to each other in the instant of their concourse make but a probable supposition neither is their prejudice altogether groundless since Bodies seem to have an Essential Relation to Bodies But the Mind and Body are two sorts of Beings so opposite that those who think that the Commotions of the Soul necessarily follow upon the Motion of the Blood and Animal Spirits do it without the least probability For nothing but our own Consciousness of the Union of those two Beings and the Ignorance of the continual Operations of God upon his Creatures can make us imagine another Cause of the Union of our Soul and Body than the Will of God It is hard to determine whether that Union or Connection of the thoughts of the Mind of Man with the Motions of his Body is a punishment of Sin or a Gift of Nature And some persons believe it a rash and imprudent Attempt to chuse one of these Opinions rather than the other It is well known that Man before his Sin was not a Slave but absolute Master of his Passions and that he could merely by his Will stop at his pleasure the Agitation of the Blood that caused them But we can hardly persuade our selves that the Body did not importune the Soul of the first Man to find out such things as were fit for the preservation of his Life We can scarce believe but Adam before his
affords us the Enjoyment of him as far as we are capable of it in this Life whereas the Blindness of the Mind and the Depravation of the Heart make our Imperfection and are the Results of the Union of our Soul and Body as I have proved in several Places shewing that we never know the Truth nor love the real Good when we follow the Impressions of our Senses Imaginations and Passions All this is evident and yet Men who all passionately desire the Perfection of their Being care but little to increase the Union which they have with God nay they are continually at work to strengthen and enlarge that which they have with sensible things The Cause of that surprizing Disorder cannot be too much explain'd The Possession of Good must naturally produce two Effects in the Possessour at once must render him more perfect and more happy however it does not always fall out so 'T is impossible indeed that the Mind should actually enjoy a Good without being actually more perfect but it may happen that it actually enjoys it without being actually happier Those that know Truth best and love most the most lovely Goods are always actually more perfect than those that live in blind Ignorance and disorderly Practice but they are not always actually happier It is even so with Evil it ought at once to make both imperfect and unhappy but though it always makes Men more imperfect yet it does not always make them more unhappy or at least makes them not unhappy proportionably to its making them imperfect Vertue is often bitter and distastful whereas Vice is sweet and pleasant so that it is especially by Faith and Hope that pious Men are truly happy whilst the wicked have the actual Enjoyments of Pleasures and Delights It ought not to be so indeed but however it is so Sin has brought forth that Disorder as I said in the foregoing Chapter and that Disorder is the principal Cause not only of the Corruption of our Morals but also of the Ignorance and Darkness of our Mind By that Disorder it is that our Imagination persuades it self that Bodies may be the Good of the Mind For Pleasure as I have often said is the sensible Character or Mark of Good But now of all the Pleasures we enjoy upon Earth the most sensible are those which we imagine to receive by the Body We judge though too inconsiderately without doubt that Bodies can be and are effectually our Good And 't is so hard to oppose the Instinct of Nature and to withstand the Arguments of the Senses that the design of it does not so much as come into our Mind We think not on the Disorders introduc'd by Sin We consider not that Bodies can act upon the Mind but as occasional Causes that the Mind cannot immediately or by it self enjoy any Corporeal thing and that all the ways it has of uniting to an Object are by its Knowledge and Love that God only is superiour to it can reward or punish it by Sensations of Pleasure or Pain that can enlighten and move it in a word act upon it Those Truths though most evident to attentive Minds are not however so powerful to convince us as is the deceiving Experience of a sensible Impression When we consider something as part of our selves or look on our selves as a part of that thing we judge it our Good to be united to it we love it and this love is so much the greater as the thing whereunto we think our selves united seems to be a more considerable part of the whole we make up together with it Now there are two sorts of Proofs which persuade us that a thing is part of our self viz. the Instinct of Sensation and the Evidence of Reason By the Instinct of Sensation I am persuaded that my Soul is united to my Body or that my Body makes part of my Being but I have no full Evidence of it since I know it not by the light of Reason but by the Pain or Pleasure I feel at the presence and impression of Objects My Hand is prick'd I suffer Pain thence I conclude that my Hand makes part of my self my Cloaths are rent and I endure nothing therefore I say my Cloaths are not my self my Hair is cut without Pain but cannot be pluck'd up without smart that puzzles the Philosopher and he knows not what to determine In the mean while this perplexity shows that even the wisest rather judge by the instinct of Sensation than by the light of Reason that such or such things belong or belong not to themselves For should they determine them by Evidence and the light of Reason they would quickly know that the Mind and the Body are two sorts of Beings altogether opposite that the Mind cannot be united to the Body by it self and that the Soul is wounded when the Body is struck only because of her Union with God 'T is then only by the Instinct of the Sensation that we look on our Body and all the sensible things to which we are united as part of our selves that is as belonging to that which thinks and feels in us For what is not cannot be known by evident Reason since Evidence discovers Truth alone But on the contrary 't is by the light of Reason that we know the Relation we have with Intellectual things We discover by a clear View of the Mind that we are united to God in a more strict and essential manner than to our Body that without him we are nothing and neither can doe nor know neither will nor be sensible of any thing that he is our All or if we may so speak that we make up a whole with him of which we are but an infinitely small part The light of Reason discovers us a thousand Motives to love God only and to dispise Bodies as unworthy of our Love But we are not naturally sensible of our Union to God nor persuaded that he is our All by the Instinct of sense 't is only the Grace of our Lord which produces in some Men that spiritual sense to help them to overcome the contrary Sensations by which they are united to their Body For God as the Author of Nature inclines Minds to the love of him by a Knowledge of Illumination and not of Instinct and in all probability 't is but since the Fall that God as the Author of Grace has superadded Instinct to Illumination because our light is at present so mightily impair'd as to be incapable of bringing us to God being besides continually weakn'd by contrary pleasure or instinct and rendred ineffectual We therefore discover by the light of the Mind that we are united to God and to the intellectual World which he contains and are convinced by Sensation that we are united to our Body and by it to the material and sensible World God has Created But as our Sensations are more lively moving frequent and lasting than our Illuminations so 't
true Judgments provided we only judge of what he says and as he says in Imitation only of our Lord as I hear I judge But let 's see how it is that our Passions seduce us that we may the easier resist them The Passions are so nearly related to the Senses that remembring what hath been said in the first Book it will not be difficult to explain how they lead us into Errour because the general Causes of the Errours of the Passions are altogether like to those of the Errours of the Senses The most general Cause of the Errours of the Senses is as we there have shewn our attributing to external Objects or to the Body the proper Sensations of our Soul annexing Colours to the Superficies of Bodies diffusing Light Sounds and Odours in the Air and fixing Pain and Titillation to those Parts of our Body that receive some Changes by the Motion of other contiguous Bodies Almost the same thing may be said of the Passions we too rashly ascribe to the Objects that cause or seem to cause them all the Dispositions of our Heart our Goodness Meekness Malice Sowreness and all the other Qualities of our Mind The Object that begets some Passion in us seemes afrer a sort to contain in it self the Passion produced in us when we consider it as sensible things seem to contain in themselves the Sensations which their Presence excites in us When we love any Person we are naturally inclin'd to believe that he loves us and can hardly imagine that he designs to hurt us or to oppose our Desires But if Hatred succeed in the place of Love we cannot Persuade our selves that he has any Affection for us we interpret all he does in the worst Sense we are always distrustful and upon our Guard though he thinks not upon us or perhaps intended to doe us Service In short we unjustly attribute to the Person that stirs up a passion in us all the Dispositions of our Heart and with as much Imprudence as we ascribe to the Objects of the Senses all the Qualities of our Mind Moreover by the same Reason that we believe other Men receive the same Sensations from the same Objects as we do we think they are agitated with the same Passions for the same Subjects if they are in a State of being susceptible of them We suppose them to love and desire the same things as we our selves do whence proceed secret Jealousies and Hatreds if the desired Good cannot be enjoyed entire by several for the contrary happens in Goods that can be possessed without Division by several Persons as Science Vertue the Sovereign Good and the like We also suppose that they hate fear or fly from the same things that we do whence proceed secret Plots or publick Associations according to the nature and state of the thing hated by which means we hope to rid our selves of our Miseries We therefore ascribe to the Objects of our Passions the Commotions they produce in us thinking that all other Men and even sometimes Beasts are agitated as we are and besides judge yet more rashly the Cause of our Passions which is often but imaginary is really in some Object When we have a passionate Love for any Body his Grimace and Faces are charming his Ugliness is not distastful his ill-composed Motions and Gestures are regular or at least natural If he never speak he is wise if he be a great Talker he is witty if he speak upon all adventures he 's Universal if he continually interrupt others it is because he 's full of Fire of Life and Spirit if he pretend to top and sway every where 't is because he deserves it Thus can Passion cover or dissemble the Imperfections of Friends and advantagiously set off their most inconsiderable Qualities But when that Friendship which only proceeds as other Passions do from the Agitation of the Blood and Animal Spirits comes to cool through want of Heat and Spirits fit to nourish it when Interest or some false Relation alters the Disposition of the Brain then Hatred succeeding Love is sure to represent to us in that Object of our Passion all the Defects that are capable of stirring up our just Aversion We perceive in him Qualities quite contrary to those we admired before We are asham'd of having lov'd him and the ruling Passion never fails to justifie it self and to ridicule that which it has follow'd The Power and Injustice of Passions are not included within such narrow Limits as those we have described but extend infinitely farther not only disguising their principal Object but also whatever has any reference to it They make us love not only the Qualities of our Friends but also most part of those of the Friends to our Friends And in those who are endued with any strength and extent of Imagination the Passions have so vast a reach and out-let that it is not possible to determine their Limits Those Things I have mention'd are such general and fruitful Principles of Errour Prejudice and Injustice that it is impossible to observe all the Consequences of them Most of the Truths or rather Errours entertained in some Places Times Commonalties and Families proceed from thence What is followed in Spain is rejected in France what is true at Paris is false at Rome what is certain amongst the Dominicans is uncertain amongst the Franciscans and what appears undoubted to the Black Fryars seems an Errour to the White The Dominicans believe themselves obliged to stick to St. Thomas Why Because that Doctor was one of their Order Whereas the Franciscans follow the Opinion of Scotus because he was a Black Fryar There are likewise Truths and Errours proper to certain Times The Earth turned two thousand Years ago then it remain'd unmovable till our Days wherein it has began to turn again Aristotle was formerly burnt and a Provincial Council approved by the Pope most wisely forbad his Physicks to be taught He was admired ever since and falls now again into Contempt Opinions that are now publickly received in the Schools were formerly rejected as Heresies and their Assertors excommunicated by the Bishops because Passions stirring up Factions Factions establish those sorts of Truths or Errours that are as inconsistent as the Principle they proceed from Men may indeed be indifferent as to the Unmovableness of the Earth or the Essence of Bodies consider'd in themselves but they are no longer so when they look on those Opinions as defended by their Adversaries Thus Hatred kept up by a confused sense of Piety breeds an indiscreet Zeal that kindles by degrees and at last produces such Events as are not so surprizing to all the World till a great while after their arrival We can hardly imagine that Passions should reach so far because we know not that their Impetuosity extends to whatever may satisfie them Perhaps Hâ—man would have done no harm to the Jewish People but because Mordecai a Jew forbore to salute him he
when it thinks upon nothing Should that Idea vanish my Mind it seems should vanish with it or at least become smaller and narrower if it should fix upon a less considerable Idea so that the preservation of that great Idea being the preservation of my own Greatness and the perfection of my Being I am in the right to admire nay others ought to admire me for it should they give me my due For I am really something great by the Relation I have to great things and I enjoy them in some manner by my Admiration and that Foretast which a sort of Hope affords me Other Men would be Happy as well as I am my self if knowing my Greatness they should fix themselves upon the Cause that produces it but they are blind and insensible to great and fine things and know not how to raise and make themselves considerable It may be said That the Mind naturally and without Reflection argues in some such manner when it it suffers it self to be led away by the abusive Meteors of the Passions Those Reasonings have some Likelihood though their Weakness be sufficiently visible however that Probability or rather the confused Sense of the Probobility that attends natural and inconsiderate Arguments is so prevalent that they never fail of seducing us when we stand not upon our guard For Instance When Poetry History Chymistry or any other Humane Science has struck the Imagination of a young Man with some Motions of Admiration if he do not carefully watch the Attempt these Motions make upon his Mind if he examine not to the bottom the Use of those Sciences if he compare not the Trouble of learning them with the Benefits that may accrue to him in short if he be not as nice in his Judgment as he ought to be he runs the hazard of being seduced by his Admiration shewing him only the fairest Part of those Sciences and 't is even to be feared lest they should so far corrupt his Heart as that he should never awake out of his Dream even when he comes to know it to be but a Dream because it is not possible to blot out of the Brain deep Tracks engraven and widened by a long-continued Admiration And therefore we ought to take diligent care to keep our Imagination untainted that is to say to hinder the formation of dangerous Traces that corrupt the Heart and Mind I shall here set down a very useful Way to prevent not only the Excess of Admiration but also of all other Passions in general When the Motion of the Animal Spirits is so violent as to imprint on the Brain deep Traces that corrupt the Imagination it is always attended with some Commotion of the Soul And as the Soul cannot be moved without being conscious of it she is thereby sufficiently warn'd to stand upon her guard and to examine whether it be for her good to suffer those Traces to be enlarged and finished But at the time of the Commotion the Mind is not so free as rightly to judge of the Usefulness of those Traces because the same Commotion deceives and inclines it to indulge them We must therefore endeavour to stop that Commotion or to turn to some other Place the Current of the Spirits that cause it and in the mean while 't is absolutely necessary to suspend our Judgment But we ought not to imagine that the Soul always can by her bare Will stop the Course of the Spirits that hinder her from making use of her Reason her ordinary Power being not sufficient to quell Motions not raised by her so that she must dexterously endeavour to deceive an Enemy that attacks her unawares As the Motions of the Spirits stir up respective Thoughts in the Soul so our Thoughts excite such and such Motions in the Brain so that to stop a rising Motion of the Spirits a bare Will is not sufficient but Stratagem must be us'd and we must skilfully represent to our selves such Things as are contrary to those that stir up and indulge that Motion whence a Revulsion will arise But if we would only determine another way the Motion of the Spirits already risen we must not think of contrary but only different Things from those that have produced it which will certainly make a Diversion But because the Diversion and Revulsion are great or little as the new Thoughts are accompanied with a greater or less Motion of the Spirits we must carefully observe what sort of Thoughts agitate us most that we may in urging Occasions represent them to our seducing Imagination and use our selves so much to that sort of Resistance that no surprizing Motion may affect our Soul If we take care firmly to unite the Idea of Eternity or some other solid Thought to those violent and extraordinary Motions they will never be stirr'd up for the future without raising that Idea and furnishing us with Weapons to resist them This appears from Experience and from the Reason mention'd in the Chapter Of the Connection of Ideas so that we must not imagine it absolutely impossible by a dexterous Managery to conquer our Passions when we are stedfastly resolv'd upon it However by that Resistance we ought not to pretend to Impeccability nor to the avoiding of all Errours whatsoever First Because 't is very difficult to acquire and preserve such a Habit as that our extraordinary Motions shall raise in us Ideas fit to oppose them Secondly Though we should have gotten that Habit those Motions of the Spirits will directly excite the Ideas to be impugned and but indirectly supply us with the necessary Weapons to assault them So that the Evil Ideas being still the principal will be stronger than the Good that are but accessary and the latter ever stand in need of the Help of the Will Thirdly Those Motions of the Spirits may be so violent as to take up the whole Capacity of the Soul so that there will remain no room if I may so speak for the reception of the accessary Idea that is proper to make a Revulsion in the Spirits or not at least for such a Reception as may incite us to an attentive Contemplation of it Lastly There are so many particular Circumstances that can make that Remedy useless that though it ought not to be neglected yet we must not relie too much upon it We must have a perpetual Recourse to Prayer that we may receive from Heaven necessary Helps in the time of Temptation and in the mean while endeavour to present to the Mind some Truths so solid and prevalent as that they may overcome the most violent Passions For I must needs add by the way That several pious Persons often return into the same Faults because they fill their Mind with a great many Truths that are more glittering than solid and fitter to weaken and dissolve than to fortifie it against Temptations whereas others that are not endued with so much Knowledge faithfully stick to their Duty because of some
great and solid Truth which they have rendred familiar and which bears 'em up and strengthens them in all Occasions CHAP. IX Of Love and Aversion and their principal Species LOve and Hatred are the Passions that immediately succeed Admiration for we dwell not long upon the Consideration of an Object without discovering the Relations it hath to us or to something we love The Object we love and to which consequently we are united by that Passion being for the most part present as well as that which we actually admire our Mind quickly and without any considerable Reflection makes the necessary Comparisons to find out the Relations they have to each other and to us or else is naturally aware of them by a preventing Sense of Pleasure and Pain Then it is that the Motion of Love we have for our selves and for the beloved Object extends to that which is admired if the Relation it has immediately to us or to something united to us appear advantageous either by Knowledge or Sensation Now that new Motion of the Soul or rather that Motion of the Soul newly determin'd join'd to that of the Animal Spirits and followed with the Sensation that attends the new Disposition that the same new Motion of the Spirits produces in the Brain is the Passion we call here Love But when we feel by any Pain or discover by a clear and evident Knowledge that the Union or Relation of the admired Object would prove disserviceable to us or to something united to us then the Motion of the Love we have for our selves or for the Thing united to us terminates in us or cleaves to the united Object without following the View of the Mind or being carried to the admired Thing But as the Motion towards Good in general which the Author of Nature continually imprints on the Soul carries her to whatever is known and felt because what is either intelligible or sensible is Good in it self so it may be said that the Resistance of the Soul against that natural Motion which attracts it is a kind of voluntary Motion which terminates in Nothingness Now that voluntary Motion of the Soul being join'd to that of the Spirits and Blood and followed by the Sensation that attends the new Disposition which that Motion of the Spirits produces in the Brain is the Passion we call here Aversion or Hatred That Passion is altogether contrary to Love and yet 't is never without Love It is altogether contrary to it because Aversion separates and Love unites the former has most commonly Nothingness for its Object and the latter has always a Being The former resists the natural Motion and makes it of no effect whereas the latter yields to it and makes it victorious However Aversion is never separated from Love because Evil the Object of the former is the Privation of Good so that to fly from Evil is to fly from the Privation of Good that is to say to tend to Good And therefore the Aversion of the Privation of Good is the Love of Good But if Evil be taken for Pain the Aversion of Pain is not the Aversion of the Privation of Pleasure because Pain is as real a Sensation as Pleasure and therefore is not the Privation of it But the Aversion of Pain being the Aversion of some internal Misery we should not be affected with that Passion should we not love our selves Lastly If Evil be taken for what causes Pain in us or for whatever deprives us of Good then Aversion depends on Self-love or on the Love of something to which we desire to be united So that Love and Aversion are two Mother-Passions opposite to each other but Love is the First the Chief and the most Universal As at that great Distance and Estrangement we are from God since the Fall we look upon our Being as the Chief Part of the Things to which we are united so it may be said in some sense that our Motion of Love for any thing whatsoever is an Effect of Self-love We love Honours because they raise us our Riches because they maintain and preserve us our Relations Prince and Country because we are concern'd in their Preservation Our Motion of Self-love reaches to all the Things that relate to us and to which we are united because 't is that Motion which unites us to them and spreads our Being if I may so speak on those that surround us proportionably as we discover by Reason or by Sensation that it is our Interest to be united to them And therefore we ought not to think that since the Fall Self-Love is only the Cause and Rule of all other Affections but that most part of other Affections are Species of Self-love For when we say that a Man loves any new Object we must not suppose that a new Motion of Love is produc'd in him but rather that knowing that Object to have some Relation or Union with him he loves himself in that Object and that with a Motion of Love coeval to himself For indeed without Grace there is nothing but Self-love in the Heart of Man The Love of Truth of Justice of God himself and every other Love that is in us by the first Institution of Nature have ever since the Fall been a Sacrifice to Self-love There is no doubt however but the most wicked and barbarous Men Idolaters and Atheists themselves are united to God by a natural Love of which consequently Self-love is not the Cause for they are united to him by their Love to Truth Justice and Vertue they praise and esteem good Men and do not love them because they are Men but because they see in them such Qualities as they cannot forbear to love because they cannot forbear to admire and judge them amiable And therefore we love something besides our selves but Self-love over-rules all the rest and Men forsake Truth and Justice for the smallest Concerns For when by their natural Force they venture their Goods and Lives to defend oppress'd Innocence or on any other Occasion their greatest Spur is mere Vanity and the hopes of getting a Name by the seeming Possession of a Vertue which is reverenc'd by all the World They love Truth and Justice when on their side but never against themselves because without Grace they cannot obtain the least Victory over Self-love There are many other sorts of natural Love We naturally love our Prince Country Relations those that have any Conformity of Humour Designs and Employments with us But all those sorts of Love are very weak as well as the Love of Truth and Justice and Self-love being the most violent of all conquers them so easily as to find no other Resistance but what it creates against it self Bodies that strike against others lose their Motion proportionably as they communicate it to the stricken and after having moved many other Bodies may at last entirely lose their own Motion It is not so with Self-love It determines every
a great Number but also differ by the different Perceptions and Judgments that cause or accompany them Those different Judgments of the Soul concerning Good or Evil produce different Motions in the Animal Spirits to dispose the Body in relation to the Object and consequently cause in the Soul Sensations that are not altogether like Whence it proceeds that some Passions are observ'd to differ from each other though their Commotions be not different In the mean while the Commotion of the Soul being the chief Thing observable in every Passion 't is better to refer them to the Three original Passions in which those Commotions are very different than to treat confusedly and disorderly of them in reference to the different Perceptions we may have of the Good and Evil that raises them For we may have so many different Perceptions of Objects in reference to Time to our selves to what belongs to us to the Persons or Things to which we are united either by Nature or Choice that it is wholly impossible to make an accurate Enumeration of them When the Soul perceives any Good which she cannot enjoy it may perhaps be said that she hopes for it though she desires it not However 't is plain that this her Hope is not a Passion but a simple Judgment And therefore 't is the Commotion that attends the Idea of any Good of which we take the Enjoyment to be possible that adopts Hope into a true Passion It is the same when Hope grows into Security For the latter is a Passion only because of the Commotion of Joy that mixes with that of Desire since the Judgment of the Soul that considers any Good as certain is a Passion but as much as it is a foregoing Taste of the Good that affects us Last of all When Hope diminishes and is succeeded by Despair 't is visible again that the latter is a Passion but because of the Commotion of Sorrow that mixes with that of Desire for the Judgment of the Soul that considers any Good as unattainable would not be a Passion should we not be actuated by that Judgment But because the Soul never looks upon Good or Evil without any Commotion and even without any Alteration in the Body we often give the Name of Passion to the Judgment that produces it confounding together whatever happens both to the Soul and Body at the sight of any Good or Evil For the Words Hope Fear Boldness Shame Impudence Anger Pity Derision Grief and the Names of all other Passions in common use are short Expressions made up of several Terms by which can be explain'd in particular whatever Passions contain We understand by the Word Passion the View of the Relation any thing has to us the Commotion and Sensation of the Soul the Concussion of the Brain and the Motion of the Spirits a new Commotion and Sensation of the Soul and lastly a Sensation of Pleasure that always attends the Passions and makes them grateful All these we commonly understand by the Name of Passions but sometimes it only signifies either the Judgment that raises it or only the Commotion of the Soul or the bare Motion of the Spirits and Blood or lastly something else that accompanies the Commotion of the Soul It is very useful for the Knowledge of Truth to abridge Ideas and Expressions but that often causes some considerable Errour especially when those Ideas are abridg'd by popular Use For we ought never to abridge them but when we have made them very clear and distinct by a great Application of Mind and not as 't is ordinarily done as to Passions and sensible Things when we have made them familiar to us by their Sensations and the mere Action of the Imagination which easily imposes on the Mind There is a great difference betwixt the pure Ideas of the Mind and the Sensations or Commotions of the Soul Pure Ideas are clear and distinct but 't is a hard Task to make them familiar whereas Sensations and Commotions are intimate with us but can never plainly and distinctly be known Numbers Extension and their Properties may be clearly known but unless we make them sensible by some expressive Characters 't is very difficult to represent them to our Mind because whatever is abstracted moves us not On the contrary the Commotions and Sensations of the Soul may easily be represented to the Mind though the Knowledge we have of them be but confused and imperfect for all the Words that raise them lively strike the Soul and make it attentive Thence it proceeds that we often imagine we rightly understand some Discourses that are altogether incomprehensible and that reading some Descriptions of the Sensations and Passions of the Soul we persuade our selves that we perfectly comprehend them because they strongly move us and that all the Words that reverberate upon our Eyes agitate our Soul The hearing of the very Names of Shame Despair Impudence c. straightway excite in our Mind a confused Idea and obscure Sensation that powerfully influences us and because this Sensation is very familiar to us and presents it self without any Trouble or Endeavour of the Mind we fancy it to be clear and distinct These Words however are the Names of compounded Passions and by consequence abridg'd Expressions which popular Use has made up of many confused and obscure Ideas Seeing we are oblig'd to employ such Terms as common Use has approv'd of the Reader should not be surpriz'd to meet with Obscurity and sometimes with a sort of Contradiction in our Words And if it were but consider'd that the Sensations and Commotions of the Soul that answer to the Terms us'd in such Discourses are not wholly the same in all Men because of their different Dispositions of Mind they would not so easily condemn us when they could not enter into our Opinions This I say not so much to prevent Objections against my self as that we may understand the Nature of the Passions and what we are to think of Books treating of such Matters After so many Cautions I shall not stick to say that all the Passions may be referr'd to the three Primitive namely Desire Joy and Sorrow and that it is specially by the different Judgments the Soul makes of Goods and Evils that such as relate to the same Primitive Passion differ from each other For Instance I may say that Hope Fear and Irresolution that is the Mean betwixt them both are Species of Desire That Boldness Courage and Emulation c. have a greater Relation to Hope than to all others and that Timidity Cowardise Jealousie c. are Species of Fear I may say that Alacrity and Glory Kindness and Gratefulness are Species of Joy caused by the Sight of the Good that we know to be in us or in those to whom we are united as Derision or Jeering is a sort of Joy commonly arising at the Sight of the Evil that befalls those from whom we are separated Lastly That Distaste
they may not overcome and so will quickly feed themselves with a borrowed Taste of the Good they hope to enjoy and will pass such Judgments as are fit to justifie their Hope and Joy But those that want agitated Spirits as Old Men and those that are of a Phlegmatick and Melancholy Temper being inclined to Fear and Sorrow because their Soul is conscious of her own Weakness and destitute of Spirits to perform her Orders will make quite contrary Judgments imagine insuperable Difficulties to justifie their Fear and give up themselves to Envy Sorrow Despair and other sorts of Aversion of which weak Persons are most susceptible CHAP. XII That such Passions as have Evil for their Object are the most Dangerous and Vnjust And that those that have the least Mixture of Knowledge are the most lively and sensible OF all the Passions the several sorts of Aversions make their Judgments the most remote from Reason and the most dangerous there being no Passion which corrupts and bribes Reason so much in its behalf as Hatred and Fear Hatred chiefly in the Cholerick or in those whose Spirits are in a perpetual agitation and Fear in the Melancholy or those whose gross and heavy Spirits are neither easily moved nor soon quieted But when â—atred and Fear conspire together to bribe Reason which is very frequently done then there are no Judgments so unjust and capricious but they will pass and defend them with an insuperable Obstinacy The Reason of this is That as in this Life Evil strikes the Soul more to the quick than Good so the Sense of Pain is livelier than that of Pleasure Injuries and Scandals more sensibly affect us than Commendations and Applause and though there are Men indifferent as to the enjoying some Pleasures and receiving certain Honours yet there is scarce one that can bear Pain and Contempt without Uneasiness And therefore Hatred Fear and other sorts of Aversion that have Evil for their Object are most violent Passions which shake the Mind with such unexpected Commotions as discompose and stupifie it and quickly pierce into the bottom of the Heart dethrone Reason and pass upon all sorts of Subjects erroneous and unjust Sentences to favour their tyrannical Madness Of all Passions they are the most cruel and distrustful contrary to Charity and Civil Society and at the same time the most ridiculous and extravagant since they give such impertinent and frantick Judgments as excite the Laughter and Indignation of all other Men. Those Passions inspired the Pharisees with these absurd Discourses What are we doing This Man works many Miracles If we let him alone all Men will believe in him and the Romans will come and destroy both our City and Nation They agreed that our Saviour had wrought many Miracles for the Resurrection of Lazarus was undeniable But what were the Judgments of their Passions To murther both JESUS and Lazarus whom he had raised from the Dead Why JESUS Because say they if we let him alone all Men will believe in him and the Romans shall come and extirpate our Nation And why Lazarus Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus Oh Judgments equally Cruel and Irrational Cruel through Hatred and Irrational through Fear The Romans shall come and destroy our City and Nation The same Passions moved a great Assembly consisting of Annas the High-Priest Caiaphas John Alexander and as many as were of the Kindred of the High-Priest to speak thus What shall we doe with these Men For that indeed a notable Miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem and we cannot deny it But lest it should spread farther let us threaten to punish them severely if they preach the Name of JESUS any more All those great Men agitated by their Passions and blinded by their false Zeal pass Judgment both impertinent and unjust They dare not punish the Apostles because of the People and that the Man who had been miraculously cured was above Forty Years of Age and present in the Assembly but threaten them lest they should â—each in the Name of Jesus supposing they ought to condemn the Doctrine because they put the Author to death You intend say they to bring this Man's Blood upon us When false Zeal unites it self to Hatred it shelters it from the Reproofs of Reason and justifies it so well that we scruple not to be led by its Motions When Ignorance and Weakness accompany Fear they extend it to innumerable Subjects and drive on its Commotions to that heighth that the least Suspicion disturbs and frightens Reason False Zealots imagine they serve God when they obey their Passions They blindly follow the secret Motions of their Hatred as Inspirations from internal Truth and insisting with great satisfaction on the Proofs of Sense that justifie that Excess their Errours become confirmed with an unconquerable Stubbornness As to ignorant and weak Persons they create to themselves Matter of ridiculous and fantastick Fears like Children that walk in the dark without a Guide and Light fansie frightful Bugbears are distur'd and cry out as though they were undone Knowledge retrieves them if they be ignorant but if they be weak their Imagination continues crazed and the least thing that relates to that frightful Object renews the Tracks and opens the Current of the Spirits which cause the Symptoms of their Fear So that it is altogether impossible to cure or pacifie them for ever But when false Zeal meets with Hatred and Fear in a weak Mind it incessantly produces such unjust and violent Judgments as cannot be thought upon without Horrour To change a Mind possest with those Passions requires a greater Miracle than that which converted St. Paul and his Cure would be absolutely impossible could we seâ— Bounds to the Power and Mercy of God Those that walk in the Dark rejoyce at the sight of Light but this Man cannot suffer it because it wounds him by opposing his Passion His Fear is in some sort voluntary as being produced by his Hatred and therefore he loves to feel its Commotions because we love to be agitated even with the Passions that have Evil for their Object when the Evil is only imaginary or rather when we know as in Tragedies that the Evil cannot hurt us The Phantasms which those that walk in the Dark frame in their Imaginations vanish at the Approach of Light but the idle Dreams of this sort of Men will not disappear at the Light of Truth which instead of dissipating the Darkness of their Mind incenses their Imagination so that the frustrated Light recoils because they are wholly taken up with the Objects of their Passion and it seems those Apparitions have a real Body since they reflect some weak Rays of the Light that falls upon them But though we should suppose in those Men a sufficient Teachableness and Attention to listen to and comprehend the Reasons that
may dissipate their Errours yet their Imagination being disorder'd by Fear and their Heart corrupted by Hatred and false Zeal those Reasons how solid soever they might be could not long stop the impetuous Stream of those violent Passions nor hinder them from speedily justifying themselves by sensible and convincing Proofs For we ought to observe that there are transitory Passions which never return whereas there are others that are constant and permanent Those that are not kept up by the sight of the Mind but are only produced and fortified by the sensible View of an Object and the Fermentation of the Blood are not lasting but commonly die soon after their Birth whereas those that are associated with the Contemplation of the Mind are steady because the Principle that produces them is not subject to change as Blood and Humours are So that Hatred Fear and all other Passions that are excited or preserved by the Knowledge of the Mind and not raised by the sensible View of Evil must needs be durable and withal very violent and unjust However those Passions are not the most lively and sensible as we shall now shew The Perception of Good and Evil which raises the Passions is produced Three ways by the Senses by the Imagination and by the Mind By way of the Senses it produces very quick and sensible Passions by way of the Imagination much weaker but those which proceed from the Perception of Good and Evil by the Mind alone are true Passions on no other account than as that View of Good and Evil is always attended by some Motion of the Animal Spirits Passions are only given us for the good of the Body and for uniting us by it to sensible Things For though sensible Things are neither good nor bad in reference to the Mind yet they are so in relation to the Body to which the Mind is united So that the Senses and Imagination discovering much better than the Mind the Relation of sensible Objects to our Body must needs raise Passions far livelier than a clear and evident Knowledge But because our Knowledge is always attended with some Commotion of the Spirits a clear and evident Knowledge of a great Good or a great Evil not to be discover'd by the Senses always raises some secret Passion However all clear and evident Knowledge of any Good or Evil is not always followed with a sensible and perceptible Passion as all our Passions are not accompanied with an intellectual Knowledge For as we sometimes think upon Good or Evil without being conscious of any Commotion so we often feel our selves agitated with Passion without knowing or sometimes without being sensible of the Cause A Man that sucks in a good Air is affected with Joy and knows not why nor what sort of Good he enjoys that produces it And if some invisible Corpuscle mixes with his Blood and hinders its Fermentation he is taken with Sorrow and may even ascribe the Cause of it to something visible that offers it self to him in the time of his Passion Of all Passions none are more sensible nor quick and consequently less mingled with Knowledge than Horrour and Antipathy Agreeableness and Sympathy A Man sleeping under the Shadow of a Tree often starts up when a Fly stings him or a Leaf tickles him as though a Serpent had bitten him The confused Sense of a Thing as terrible as Death it self frightens him and he finds himself surpriz'd with a very strong and violent Passion which is an Aversion of Desire before he bethinks himself On the contrary a Man in want discovers by chance some small Good the Sweetness of which surprizes him and he is inconsiderately taken up with that Trifle as though it were the greatest Good in the World without making any Reflection on it The same happens in the Motions of Sympathy and Antipathy We see in a Company a Person whose Deportment and Manners have some secret Agreeableness to the present Disposition of our Body so his Sight pierces and strikes us and we are inclined without Reflection to love and wish him well Thus we are agitated by I don't know what since Reason has no Share in it The contrary befals those whose Aspect and Looks shed as it were Disgust and Aversion They have I know not what that offends and puts us back for the Mind understands nothing in it the Senses only are competent Judges of sensible Beauty and Ugliness which are the Objects of those kinds of Passions F. MALEBRANCHE's TREATISE Concerning the SEARCH after TRUTH BOOK VI. Concerning METHOD CHAP. I. The Design of this Book Two general Ways for the Preserving Evidence in the Search of Truth which shall be the Subject of this Tract WE have seen in the foregoing Books that the Mind of Man is very obnoxious to Errour that the Deceptions of his Senses the Visions of his Imagination and the Abstractions of his Mind lead him into frequent Mistakes that the Inclinations of his Will and the Passions of his Heart almost ever conceal the Truth from him and never suffer it to appear without being tinged with those false Colours that flatter Concupiscency In short we have partly discover'd the Errours of the Mind with their Causes Now 't is time we should shew the Way that leads to the Knowledge of Truth and give the Mind all the possible Skill and Strength to walk therein without straying or wearying it self in vain But to spare the Readers an unprofitable Labour we think fit to advise them this Last Book is only made for such as earnestly desire to seek the Truth by themselves and to make use of the Force of their own Mind for that purpose I require them to despise for a while all probable Opinions to wave the strongest Conjectures to neglect the Authority of all the Philosophers to free themselves as far as possible from all Prejudice Interest and Passion to enter into an extreme Mistrust of their Senses and Imagination In a word well to remember the greatest part of the Things that have been said in the former Books I attempt in this last Book to give the Mind all the Perfection it can naturally attain to by supplying it with the necessary Helps to become more attentive and enlarg'd and prescribing it those Rules that must be observed in the Inquiry after Truth that it may never mistake but learn in time whatever can be known Could I carry this Design to its utmost Perfection which I pretend not this being but an Essay towards it I might boast to have found out an Universal Science which would make those truly learned that knew how to make use of it since they would have the Foundation of all the particular Sciences which they would acquire proportionably as they should make use of that Universal Science For by this Treatise we endeavour to render the Mind capable of passing a true and certain Judgment upon all the Questions that are not beyond its reach
engages us to apply our selves to Subjects that are very disgusting First because that Passion is very dangerous to the Conscience Secondly because it insensibly draws us into ill Studies that have more Lustre than Use or Truth in them and Lastly because it is very difficult to moderate it and that we often become its Fool and Property and instead of enlightning the Mind we only strengthen the Concupiscence of Pride which both corrupts our Moral Powers and darkens our Understanding with an undissolvable Obscurity For it must be consider'd how That Passion insensibly increases settles and fortifies it self in the Heart of Man and when it is too violent instead of helping the Mind in the Search of Truth it strangely blinds it and even persuades it that Things are just as it desires they should be Sure it is there would not be so many false Inventions nor imaginary Discoveries were not Men's Heads giddy'd by the ardent Desire of appearing Inventors For the firm and obstinate Persuasion wherein several Persons have been to have found for Instance the Perpetual Motion the Quadrature of the Circle the Duplication of the Cube by ordinary Geometry in all likelihood proceeded from an extraordinary Desire of seeming to have perform'd what others have vainly attempted And therefore 't is fitter to excite in us such Passions as are so much more useful to our searching out of Truth as they are more strong and wherein the Excess is not to be fear'd Such are the Desires of making a good Use of our Mind of freeing our selves from Prejudices and Errours of getting a sufficient Light to behave our selves in our Condition and such others as neither engage us into fruitless Studies nor carry us on to rash and inconsiderate Judgments When we have begun to taste the pleasure of making use of our Mind to be sensible of the Profit that arises from it have freed our selves of violent Passions and have disrelish'd sensible Pleasures which always prove the Masters of or rather the Tyrants over Reason in those that indiscreetly give up themselves to them we need not other Passions but such as we have spoken of to become attentive upon the Subjects on which we desire to meditate But most Men are not in that Condition they have neither Taste nor Understanding nor Curiosity for any thing but what affects the Senses their Imagination is corrupted by an almost infinite Number of deep Traces which raise none but false Ideas and as they depend upon all the Objects that resort to the Senses and Imagination so they always judge by the Impression they receive from them that is with reference to themselves Pride Debauchery the various Engagements the restless Desires of Advancement which are so common amongst the Men of the World darken the Sight of Truth and stifle in them the Sense of Piety because they separate them from God who alone is able to enlighten as he alone is able to govern us For we cannot increase our Union with sensible Things without diminishing that which we have with intellectual Truth since we cannot be at the same time strictly united with Things so different and opposite Those whose Imagination is pure and chaste that is whose Brain is not fill'd up with deep Traces that fasten them to visible Things may easily unite themselves to God listen attentively to the Truth that speaks to them and even forbear the Use of the most just and rational Passions But as to those that live amongst the Great who depend upon too many things and whose Imagination is soil'd by the false and obscure Ideas of sensible Objects they cannot apply themselves to the Truth unless they be born up by some Passion strong enough to countervail the Weight of the Body that carries them down and to imprint Traces on their Brain that may make a Revulsion upon the Animal Spirits However as every Passion can only by it self perplex our Ideas they ought to use that Help but so far as Necessity requires and all Men ought to study themselves that they may proportionate their Passions to their Weakness It is no hard matter to find a Method of raising in us such Passions as we desire since the Knowledge we have given in the foregoing Books of the Union betwixt Soul and Body has sufficiently open'd the way to it In a word no more is requir'd than to think attentively upon those Objects that by the Institution of Nature are able to raise the Passions Thus we may almost at any time excite in our Hearts whatever Passion we have occasion for but because we can easier excite them at any time than suppress them or remedy the Disorders they cause in the Imagination we must be very sober and cautious in employing them Above all we must take care not to judge of Things by Passion but only by the clear Sight of the Truth which is almost impossible when the Passions are somewhat lively they ought only to raise our Attention but they never fail of stirring up their proper Ideas and violently driving the Will to judge of Things by those Ideas that affect it rather than by the pure and abstracted Ideas of Truth that make no Impression upon it So that we often make Judgments which last no longer than the Passion because they are not produced by the clear Sight of the immutable Truth but by the Circulation of the Blood True it is that Men are wonderfully obstinate in some Errours which they maintain as long as they live but then those Errours have other Causes than the Passions or at least depend on such as are permanent and lasting proceeding from the Constitution of the Body from Interest or from some other durable Cause For Instance Interest being a Motive of a continual standing produces a Passion that never dies and the Judgments that arise from it are very long liv'd But all the other Sentiments of Men which depend upon particular Passions are as inconstant as the Fermentation of their Humours They say one while this another while that and yet what they say is commonly conformable to what they think And as they run from one counterfeit Good to another by the Motion of their Passion and are disgusted at it when that Motion ceases so they run from one false System into another and ardently assert a false Opinion when Passion makes it probable which the Passion ebbing they afterwards forsake By their Passions they taste of every Good without finding any really so and by the same Passions see all Truths without discovering any thing absolutely true though in the time of their Passion what they taste seems to them the Sovereign God and what they see an undeniable Truth The Senses are the second Spring whence we can draw Succours to make the Mind attentive Sensations are the very Modifications of the Soul and differ from the pure Ideas of the Mind the former raising a much stronger Attention than the latter So that 't is plain that
Men pay their Worship to the Sun and is still the universal Cause of the Disorders of their Mind and the Corruption of their Heart Why say they by their Actions and sometimes by their Words should we not love Bodies since they are able to afford us Pleasure And why are the Israelites blam'd for lamenting the Loss of the Garlick and Onions of Egypt since the Privation of those things which enjoyed afforded them some Happiness made them in some sort unhappy But the Philosophy that is mis-call'd New and represented as a Bugbear to frighten weak Minds that is despised and condemned without hearing that New Philsosophy I say since it must have that name destroys all the Pretences of the Libertines by the establishing its very first Principle that perfectly agrees with the first Principle of the Christian Religion namely That we must love and fear none but God since none but He alone can make us happy As Religion declares that there is but one true God so this Philosophy shews that there is but one true Cause As Religion teaches that all the Heathen Divinities are but dead Metals and immovable Stone so this Philosophy discovers that all the second Causes or Divinities of the Philosophers are but unactive Matter and ineffective Wills As Religion commands not to bow to those Gods that are not Gods so this Philosophy teaches not to prostrate our Minds and Imagination before the phantastick Grandeur and Power of pretended Causes which are not Causes which we ought neither to love nor to fear nor be taken up with but think upon God alone see and adore love and fear him in all things But that 's not the Inclination of some Philosophers they will neither see God nor think upon him for ever since the Fall there is a secret Opposition betwixt God and Man They delight in Gods of their own Invention in loving and fearing the Contrivances of their Heart as the Heathens did the Works of their Hands They are like those Children who tremble at the sight of their Play-Fellows after they have dawb'd and blacken'd them Or if they desire a more noble Comparison though perhaps not so just they resemble those famous Romans who reverenced the Fictions of their Mind and foolishly adored their Emperours after they themselves had let loose the Eagle at their Canonization CHAP. IV. An Explication of the Second Part of the General Rule That the Philosophers observe it not but that Des Cartes has exactly followed it WE have been shewing to what Errours Men are liable when they reason upon the false and confused Ideas of the Senses and their rambling and undetermin'd Notions of Logick whence it appears that to keep to Evidence in our Perceptions 't is absolutely necessary exactly to observe that Rule we have prescrib'd and to examine which are the clear and distinct Ideas of things that we may only argue by deduction from them In that same general Rule concerning the Subject of our Studies there is yet a remarkable Circumstance namely That we must still begin with the most simple and easie things and insist long upon them before we undertake the Enquiry after the more composed and difficult For if to preserve Evidence in all our Perceptions we must only reason upon distinct Ideas 't is plain that we must never meddle with the Enquiry of compound things before the simple on which they depend have been carefully examin'd and made familiar to us by a nice Scrutiny since the Ideas of compound things neither are nor can be clear as long as the most simple of which they are composed are but confusedly and imperfectly known We know things imperfectly when we are not sure to have considered all their Parts and we know them confusedly when they are not familiar enough to the Mind though we may be certain of having consider'd all their Parts When we know them but imperfectly our Argumentations are only probable when we perceive them confusedly there is neither Order not Light in our Inferences and often we know not where we are or whither we are going But when we know them both imperfectly and confusedly which is the commonest of all we know not so much as what we would look for much less by what Means we are to find it So that it is altogether necessary to keep strictly to that Order in our Studies Of still beginning by the most simple Things examining all their Parts and being well acquainted with them before we meddle with the more composed that depend on the former But that Rule agrees not with the Inclination of Man who naturally despises whatever appears easie his Mind being made for an unlimited Object and almost incomprehensible cannto make a long Stay on the Consideration of those simple Ideas which want the Character of Infinite for which he is created On the contrary and for the same Reason he has much Veneration and an eager Passion for great obscure and mysterious Things and such as participate of Infinity Not that he loves Darkness but that he hopes to find in those deep Recesses a Good and Truth capable of satisfying his Desires Vanity likewise gives a great Commotion to the Spirits stirring them to what is great and extraordinary and encouraging them with a foolish Hope of hitting right Experience teaches that the most accurate Knowledge of ordinary Things gives no great Name in the World whereas to be acquainted with uncommon Things though never so confusedly and imperfectly always procures the Esteem and Reverence of those who willingly conceive a great Idea of whatever is out of their depth of Understanding And that Experience determines all those who are more sensible to Vanity than to Truth which certainly make up the greatest Number to a blind-fold Search of a specious though chimerical Knowledge of what is great rare and unintelligible How many are there that reject the Cartesian Philosophy for that ridiculous Reason That its Principles are too simple and easie There are in this Philosophy no obscure and mysterious Terms Women and Persons unskill'd in Greek and Latin are capable of learning it It must then be say they something very inconsiderable and unworthy the Application of great Genius's They imagine that Principles so clear and simple are not fruitful enough to explain the Effects of Nature which they supposed to be dark intricate and confused They see not presently the Use of those Principles that are too simple and easie to stop their Attention long enough to make them understand their Use and Extent They rather chuse to explain Effects whose Causes are unknown to them by unconceivable Principles than by such as are both simple and intelligible For the Principles these Philosophers are wont to explain obscure Things by are not only obscure themselves but utterly incomprehensible Those that pretend to explain Things extremely intricate by Principles clear and generally receiv'd may easily be refuted if they succeed not since to know whether what they say
Solidity they will float at unequal Distances from the Centre of the Vortex in which they swim But if two Planets have very near the same Force to continue that Direct Motion or if a Planet carries in its small Vortex one or several other smaller Planets which it shall have conquer'd according to our Way of conceiving the Formation of Things Then the smallest Planets will turn about the greatest whilst the greatest shall turn upon its own Centre and all these Planets shall be carried by the Motion of the great Vortex at a Distance very near equal from its Centre We are obliged by the Light of Reason to dispose in that Order the Parts that compose the whole Universe which we imagine to have been formed by the most simple Ways For all that had been said is only grounded on the Idea of Extension the Parts of which are supposed to move in the most simple Motion which is that in a Right Line And when we examine by the Effects whether we are mistaken in the Explication of Things by their Causes we are surprized to see the Phenomaena of Celestial Bodies so perfectly agreeing with our Ratiocinations For we perceive all the Planets that are in the middle of a small Vortex turning upon their own Centre as the Sun does and swimming in the Vortex of the Sun and about the Sun the smallest and least solid nearest to it and the most solid at a greater distance We likewise observe that there are some as the Comets which cannot remain in the Vortex of the Sun And lastly that there are several Planets which have other smaller turning about them as the Moon does about the Faith Jupiter has four of them Mars has three and perhaps Saturn has so many and so small that they resemble a continued Circle of which the thickness cannot be perceived because of their too vast distance Those Planets being the biggest we can observe it may be imagin'd that they have been produced from Vortexes which had a sufficient strength to conqueâ— others before they were involved in the Vortex we live in All these Planets turn upon their own Centre the Earth within 24. hours Mars within 25. or thereabouts Jupiter within about 10 c. They all turn about the Sun Mercury the nearest in about 4. Months Saturn the remotest in about 30. Years and those that are betwixt them in more or less time which however keep not an exact proportion with their distance For the matter in which they swim makes a swifter Circumvolution when 't is nearer to the Sun because the Line of its Motion is then shorter When Mars is opposite to the Sun he is then near enough to the Earth but is at a vast distance from it when he is in Conjunction with him The like may be said of the other superiour Planets as Saturn and Jupiter for the inferiour as Venus and Mercury are to speak properly never opposite to the Sun The Lines which all the Planets seem to describe about the Earth are no Circles but are very like Ellipses which Ellipses seem very much to differ because of the different Situation of the Planets in reference to us In short whatever may be observed with any certainty in the Heavens touching the Motion of the Planets perfectly agrees with what has been said of their Formation by the most simple ways As to the fixed Stars Experience teaches us that some diminish and entirely vanish away whilst others that are wholly new appear the lustre and bulk of which sensibly increase They increase or diminish proportionably as the Vortexes in whose Centre they lye admit more or less of the first Element We cease to see them when they are overspread with Spots and Crusts and begin to discover them when those Spots which obstruct their lustre are entirely dissipated All these Stars keep very near the same distance from each other since they are Centres of Vortexes which are not conquer'd and remain Stars as long as they can resist the Invasion of others They are all bright like as many little Suns because they are all as he is the Centers of unconquer'd Vortexes They are all at an unequal distance from the Earth though they appear as if they were fastned to a Vault for if the Parallaxe of the nearest with the remotest has not yet been observable by the different situation of the Earth from 6 to 6 Months it is because that difference is too inconsiderable in reference to our distance from the Stars to make that Parallaxe sensible Perhaps by means of the Telescopes it will one day or other become somewhat observable In short whatever the Senses and Experience may observe in the Stars differs not from what we have discover'd by the Mind whilst we examin'd the most simple and natural Relations that are betwixt the Parts and the Motions of Extension To search after the Nature of Terrestrial Bodies we must conceive that the first Element being made up of an infinite number of different Figures the Bodies that result from their Mixture must be very different So that there will be some whose Parts shall be branched others long others very near round but all irregular several ways When their Parts are branched and gross they are hard but flexible and not elastick as Gold If their Parts be not so gross they are soft and fluid as Gums Fat 's Oyles but if their branched Parts be extremely fine they are like the Air. If the long Parts of Bodies are gross and inflexible they are pungent incorruptible and dissolvible as Salts if those long Parts be flexible they are insipid like Water if the gross Parts be of very irregular and different Figures they are like Earth and Stones In short thence must needs arise Bodies of several different Natures and two will hardly be found exactly alike by reason of the infinite number of Figures incident to the first Element which can never be complicated after the same manner in two different Bodies What Figure soever those Bodies may have if their Pores be large enough to give way to the second Element's passing all manner of ways they will be transparent like Air Water Glass c. If the first Element entirely surrounds some of their Parts and affords them a sufficient force and commotion to repel the second Element on all sides they will appear Luminous like flame if they drive back all the second Element that falls upon them they will be very white if they receive it without repelling it they will be very black and lastly if they repel it by several Concussions and Vibrations they will appear of different colours As to their Situation the heaviest or those that have least force to continue their direct Motion will be the nearest to the Centre as are Metals Earth Water and Air will be more remote and all Bodies will keep the same Situation in which we observe them because they will recede from the Centre of the Earth as far
Fourth Part of his Philosophical Principles which runs thus That the former Hypothesis is to be retain'd notwithstanding its being false to find out the true Causes of natural Things he expresly asserts the contrary in these words Though I pretend not that the Bodies of this visible World were ever produced in the manner that has been described before of which the Reader has been already sufficiently forewarn'd yet I must still keep to the same Hypothesis to explain what appears upon Earth For if I may as I hope I can plainly shew by those means the most intelligible and certain Causes of all Natural things and they cannot be found out another way I may thence reasonably conclude that though the World was not at the Beginning fram'd in this manner but created immediately by God yet the Nature of all things it contains ceases not to be the very same as though they had been produced in that very method Des Cartes knew that to understand the Nature of things they must be consider'd in their Birth and Original and that beginning with those that are most simple we ought to drive them up to the Fountain head and that the business is not to examine whether God working by the most simple ways formed the World by degrees or struck it out at a single Blow but that in what manner soever God may have produced his Works they ought to be first consider'd in their Principles if we would understand them and afterwards we should observe how consistent our thoughts are with the Operations of God by comparing them together He knew that the Laws of Nature by which God preserves all his Works in their present Order and Situation are the same Laws with those by which he might have formed and disposed them It being evident to all considering Men that if God had not disposed his Works in an instant in the same manner they would have order'd and postur'd themselves in time the whole Oeconomy of Nature would be destroy'd since the Laws of Preservation would be contrary to those of the first Creation If the whole Universe remains in the Order in which we see it 't is because the Laws of Motion which preserve it in that Order were capable of producing it in it and if God had established it in an Order different from that into which those Laws of Motion should have put it all things would be turned upside down and place themselves by the force of those Laws in the Order which they at present keep A Man desires to discover the Nature of a Chicken to that end he opens every day Eggs taken from under a Brood-Hen he examines what part moves and grows first he quickly perceives that the Heart begins to beat and to drive out Blood through small Conduits on all sides that are the Arteries which Blood comes back to the Heart through the Veins that the Brain likewise appears at first and that the Bones are the last formed By that he frees himself from many Errours and even draws from those Observations several Consequences very useful for the Knowledge of living Creatures What fault may be found with the conduct of such a Man and how may it be given out that he pretends to persuade that God formed the first Chicken by creating an Egg and giving it a competent degree of heat to hatch it because he tries to discover the Nature of Chickens in their first Formation Why then should Des Cartes be accused of being opposite to the Holy Scriptures for that designing to discover the Nature of visible things he examines the formation of them by the Laws of Motion which are inviolably observ'd on all occasions He never doubted but that the World was created at first with all its perfection that there were Sun Earth Moon and Stars that in the Earth there were not only the Seeds of Plants but also the Plants themselves and that Adam and Eve were not born Infants but made adult The Christian Faith teaches us that and natural Reason persuades us the same for when we consider the infinite Power of God we cannot think he should ever have made any thing which was not altogether perfect But as we should better understand the nature of Adam and Eve and the Trees of Paradise by examining how Children are insensibly form'd in their Mothers Womb and how Plants are deriv'd from their Seeds than by merely considering how they were when Created by God at the Creation of the World so if we can find out Principles very simple and easie out of which as out of some Seeds we can manifestly shew the Stars the Earth and all visible things might have been produced though we very well know that it was never so yet that will be more conducible to explain their Nature than if we should only describe them so as they now are or as we believe they were Created and because I suppose I have found out such Principles I shall indeavour briefly to Explain them Des Cartes was persuaded that God formed the World all at once but he also believed that God Created it in the same State and Order and with the same Disposition of Parts in which it would have been had it been made gradually and by the most simple ways And that thought is worthy both of the Power and Wisdom of God of his Power because he has made in a Moment all his Works in the highest Perfection and of his Wisdom because he has shewn that he perfectly foresaw whatever could befall Matter if it were moved by the most simple ways and likewise because the Order of Nature could not subsist if the World had been produced by ways that is by Laws of Motion contrary to the Laws by which it is preserv'd as I have already mention'd 'T is ridiculous to say that Des Cartes believed the World might have been formed of it self since he owns with all those that follow the light of Reason that Bodies cannot move themselves by their own strength and that all the immutable Laws of the Communication of Motions are but consequences of the immutable Will of God who always acts in the same manner His proving that God alone gives Motion to Matter and that Motion produces in Bodies all their different Forms was sufficient to hinder the Libertines from making an Advantage of his System On the contrary if Atheists should reflect on the Principles of this Philosopher they would quickly be forced to confess their Errours for if they can assert with the Heathens that Matter is uncreated they cannot also maintain that it can move it self by its own Power So that Atheists would at least be obliged to acknowledge the true Mover if they refused to confess the true Creatour But the Ordinary Philosophy affords 'em sufficient pretences to blind themselves and defend their Errours for it speaks of some impress'd Virtues certain motive Faculties in a word of a certain Nature which is the Principle of
Existence by the continual Sensations which God produces in us and which we cannot correct by Reason without offending Faith though we can correct by Reason the Sensations that represent them as endu'd with some Qualities and Perfections that are not in them So that we ought not to believe that they are such as we see or imagine them but only that they exist and that they are such as we conceive them by Reason But that we may proceed orderly we must not yet examine whether we have a Body whether there are others about us or whether we have only bare Sensations of Things which exist not Those Questions include too great Difficulties and are not perhaps so necessary as may be imagin'd to perfect our Mind and to have an accurate Knowledge of Natural and Moral Philosophy and some other Sciences We have within us the Ideas of Numbers and Extension whose Existence is undeniable and their Nature immutable and which would eternally supply us with Objects to think on if we desire to know all their Relations It is necessary to begin to make use of our Minds upon those Ideas for some Reasons which it will not be amiss to explain whereof the principal are Three The First is That those Ideas are the most clear and evident of all For if to avoid Errour we must still keep to Evidence in our Reasonings 't is plain that we must rather argue from the Ideas of Numbers and Extension than from the confus'd or compos'd Ideas of Physicks Morals Mechanicks Chymistry and other Sciences Secondly Those Ideas are the most distinct and exact of all especially those of Numbers So that the Habit which proceeds from the Exercise of Arithmetick and Geometry of not being content till we precisely know the Relations of Things endues the Mind with such an Exactness of Thought as is not to be found in those that are satisfied with the Probabilities so obvious to be met with in other Sciences The Third and chief Reason is That those Ideas are the immutable Rules and common Measure of all the Objects of our Knowledge For those that perfectly know the Relations of Numbers and Figures or rather the Art of making such Comparisons as are requisite to know them have a kind of Universal Knowledge and a very sure Means evidently and certainly to discover whatever goes not beyond the ordinary Limits of the Mind But those that are not skilful in this Art cannot with Certainty discover such Truths as are somewhat intricate though they have very clear Ideas of Things and endeavour to know their Compound Relations These or the like Reasons mov'd some of the Antients to apply their Youth to the Study of Arithmetick Algebra and Geometry Undoubtedly they well knew that Arithmetick and Algebra endue the Mind with such an Insight and Penetration as was not to be gotten by other Studies and that Geometry manages the Imagination so well as that it is not easily puzzl'd or confounded for that Faculty of the Soul so necessary to Sciences acquires by the Use of Geometry such an universal Nicety as promotes and preserves the clear View of the Mind even in the most intricate Difficulties And therefore he that desires always to preserve Evidence in his Perceptions and discover naked Truâ—hs without Mixture of Darkness and Errour must begin with the Study of Arithmetick Algebra and Geometry after he has obtain'd some Knowledge at least of himself and the Sovereign Being As for Books that make the Way to those Sciences easie I may refer to the Meditations of des Cartes as to the Knowledge of God and our selves to the Elements of Mathematicks newly printed as to Arithmetick and Algebra to the New Elements of Geometry printed in 1667 or to the Elements of Father Taquet Jesuit printed at Antwerp in 1665 as to ordinary Geometry and as to Conick Sections and the Solution of Geometrical Problemes to the Treatises of Monsieur de la Hire intituled Of Conick Sections Of Geometrical Places and Of the Construction of Equations to which may be added the Geometry of des Cartes I would not have advis'd to the Elements of Mathematicks as to Arithmetick and Algebra if I knew any Author who had clearly demonstrated those Sciences but Truth obliges me to a thing for which I may be blam'd by some People for Algebra and Analyticks being altogether requisite for the Discovery of compos'd Truths I must needs shew my Esteem for a Book which carries those Sciences very far and which in the Opinion of many Learned explains them more clearly than they had been hitherto By the careful Study of those general Sciences we shall evidently know a great Number of Truths very serviceable in all accurate and particular Sciences We may afterwards study Natural and Moral Philosophy as being very useful though noâ— very fit to make the Mind nice and quick-sighted And if we desire to preserve Evidence in all our Perceptions we must take a special Care not to be opinionated of any Principle that is not evident and to which the Chinese for instance would not be suppos'd to dissent after having throughly weigh'd and consider'd it And therefore we must only admit in Physicks those Notions which are common to all Men such as Axioms of Geometry and the clear Ideas of Extension Figure Motion Rest and others of that nature if there be any Perhaps it will be said that Extension is not the Essence of Matter But what is that to the purpose 'T is sufficient that the World which we conceive to consist of Extension appears like to that we see though it be not made of such a Matter which is good for nothing and altogether unknown whilst so much Noise is made about it It is not absolutely necessary to examine whether there are actually External Beings corresponding to those Ideas for we argue not from those Beings but from their Ideas We must only take care that our Reasonings which we make upon the Properties of Things agree with our inward Consciousness that is that our Thoughts perfectly agree with Experience because in Physicks we endeavour to discover the Order and Connexion of Effects with their Causes either in Bodies if they exist or in the Sense we have of them if they are not in being I say not however that we can doubt whether Bodies are actually existing when we consider that God is not a Deceiver and that the Order he has constituted in our Sentiments of Things both as to natural Occurrences and such as are wrought to create our Belief of what Reason is at a Loss to comprehend is very regular But I observe this because 't is not necessary to insist at first very long upon a thing which no body doubts of and is not extremely conducible to the Knowledge of Physicks consider'd as a true Science Neither must we puzzle our Heads with enquiring whether there are in the Bodies about us some other Qualities besides those of which we have clear
desire to know whether a Thing has such or such Properties or if we know it has we desire only to discover what is the Cause of them To solve the Questions of the first sort we must consider Things in their Birth and Original and conceive that they are always produc'd by the most simple and natural Ways But the Solution of the others requires a very different Method for they must be resolv'd by Suppositions and then we must examine whether those Suppositions induce into any Absurdity or whether they lead to any Truth plainly and clearly known For instance We desire to discover the Properties of the Roulet or some one of the Conick Sections We must consider those Lines in their Generation and form them by the most simple and least perplexing Ways for that is the best and shortest Means to discover their Nature and Properties We easily see that the Subâ—endent of the Roulet is equal to the Circle whence it is form'd And if we discover not many of its Properties that way 't is because the Circular Line that produces it is not sufficiently known But as to Lines merely Mathematical the Relations of which may be more clearly known such as are Conick Sections 't is sufficient for the discovering a vast Number of their Properties to consider them in their Generation Only we must observe that as they may be produc'd by a Regular Motion several Ways so all sorts of Generation are not equally proper to enlighten the Mind that the most simple are the best and that it often happens notwithstanding that some particular Methods are fitter than others to demonstrate some particular Properties But when it is not requir'd to discover in general the Properties of a Thing but to know whether such a Thing has such a Property then we must suppose that it actually enjoys it and carefully examine the Consequences of that Supposition whether it induces into a manifest Absurdity or leads to an undeniable Truth that may serve as a Means to find out what is sought for That is the Method which Geometricians use to solve their Problems They suppose what they seek and examine what will follow of it they attentively consider the Relations that result from the Supposition they represent all those Relations that contain the Conditions of the Problem by Equations and then reduce those Equations according to the usual Rules so that what is unknown is found equal to one or several Things perfectly known I say therefore that when 't is requir'd to discover in general the Nature of Fire and of the different Fermentations which are the most universal Causes of natural Effects the shortest and surest Way is to examine them in their Principle We must consider the Formation of the most agitated Bodies the Motion of which is diffus'd into those that ferment We must by clear Ideas and by the most simple Ways examine what Motion may produce in Matter And because Fire and the various Fermentations are very general Things and consequently depending upon few Causes there will be no need of considering very long what Matter is able to perform when animated by Motion to find out the Nature of Fermentation in its very Principle and we shall learn withall several other Things altogether requisite to the Knowledge of Physicks Whereas he that would in such a Question argue from Suppositions so as to ascend to the first Causes even to the Laws of Nature by which all things are form'd would make a great many of them that should prove false and unprofitable He might perhaps discover that the Cause of the Fermentation is the Motion of an invisible Matter communicated to the agitated Parts of Matter For 't is sufficiently known that Fire and the various Fermentations of Bodies consist in their Agitation and that by the Laws of Nature Bodies receive their immediate Motion only from their meeting with others that are more agitated So that he might discover that there is an invisible Matter the Motion of which is communicated to visible Bodies by Fermentation But 't is morally impossible that he should ever by his Suppositions find out how all that is perform'd which however is not so hard to do when we examine the Formation of Elements or of Bodies of which there is a greater Number of the same Nature as is to be seen in Monsieur des Cartes's System The Third Part of the Question concerning Convulsive Motions will not be very difficult to solve if we suppose that there are in our Bodies Animal Spirits susceptible of Fermentation and withall Humours so piercing as to insinuate themselves into the Pores of the Nerves through which the Spirits are diâ—â—us'd into the Muscles provided always that we pretend not to determine the true Texture and Disposition of those invisible Parts that contribute to these Convulsions When we have separated a Muscle from the rest of the Body and hold it by the two Ends we sensibly perceive that it endeavours to contract it self when prick'd in the Middle 'T is likely that this depends on the Construction of the imperceptible Parts of which it is made which are as so many Springs determin'd to some certain Motions by that of Compunction But who can be sure he has found out the true Disposition of the Parts employ'd in the Production of that Motion and who can give an uncontroverted Demonstration of it Certainly that appears altogether impossible though perhaps by long thinking we might imagine such a Construction of Muscles as would be fit to perform all the Motions we know them to be capable of we must not therefore pretend to determine the true Construction of the Muscles However because it cannot be reasonably doubted but that there are Spirits susceptible of some Fermentation by the Mixture of a very subtile heterogeneous Matter and that acriminious and pungent Humours may creep into the Nerves that Hypothesis may be suppos'd Now to proceed to the Solution of the Question propos'd We must first examine how many sorts of Convulsive Motions there are and because their Number is indefinite we must insist on the Principal the Causes of which seem to be different We must consider in what Parts they are made what Diseases precede and follow them whether they are attended with Pain or free from it and above all what are the Degrees of their Swiftness and Violence for some are very swift and violent others are very swift but not violent a third sort are violent and not swift and others again are free from both these Symptoms Some finish and begin afresh perpetually others keep the Parts rigid and unmoveable for some time and others deprive us of their Use and altogether deform them All this being well weigh'd it will be no hard matter to explain in general after what has been said concerning Natural and Voluntary Motions how the Convulsive are perform'd For if we conceive that some Matter capable of fermenting the Spirits mixes with those contain'd in
two parts as close as they are yet the Air cannot get in and therefore 't is that which compresses and constringes the two parts together and makes them so difficult to be disunited unless we glide them over one another For all this it is manifest that the Continuity Contiguity and Union of two Marbles would be one and the same thing in a vacuum for neither have we different Ideas of them so that it would be to talk without understanding our selves to make them differ absolutely and without any regard to the surrounding Bodies I now come to make some Reflexions upon M. Des Cartes's Opinion and the Original of his Errour I call his Opinion an Errour because I can find no sincere way of defending what he has said upon the Rules of Motion and the Cause of the Hardness of Bodies towards the end of the second Part of his Principles in several places and that he seems to have evidently prov'd the Truth of the contrary Opinion This great Man most distinctly conceiving that Matter could not naturally move it self but that the moving Force of all Bodies was nothing but the general Will of the Author of Nature and that therefore the Communications of their Motion upon their mutual Collision must come from the same Will yielded to be carry'd away with this Notion That the Rules of the different Communication of Motions must be fetch'd from the Proportion found between the different Magnitudes of Colliding Bodies it being impossible to penetrate into the Designs and Will of God And whereas he concluded that every thing had the Force to persevere in its present State whether it were in Motion or Rest because God whose Will constituted this Force acts always in the same manner he inferr'd that Rest had an equal Force with Motion Thus he measur'd the Effects of the Power of Rest by the Greatness of the Body it resided in as well as those of Motion And hence he gave the Rules of the Communication of Motion which are seen in his Principles and the Cause of the Hardness of Bodies which I have endeavour'd to refute 'T is a hard matter not to submit to the Opinion of Monsieur des Cartes when we contemplate it on the same side For once more since the Communication of Motions proceeds only from the Will of the Author of Nature and that we see all Bodies continue in the State they have once been put in whether it be Motion or Rest it seems that we ought to seek for the Rules of the different Communications of Motion upon the Concourse of Bodies not in the Will of God which is unknown to us but in the Proportion that is found between the Magnitudes of these same Bodies I do not therefore admire that Monsieur des Cartes should light upon this Notion but I only wonder he did not correct it when having push'd on his Discoveries he found out the Existence and some Effects of the subtile Matter which surrounds all Bodies I am surpriz'd to find him in the 132d Article of the Fourth Part attribute the Elastick Force of certain Bodies to the subtile Matter and yet not ascribe to it their Hardness and the Resistance they make to our Endeavours to bend and break them but only to the Rest of their Parts For I think it evident that the Cause of the Elasticity and Stiffness of some Bodies is the same with that which impowers them to resist the Violence that is us'd to break them For indeed the Force which is employ'd in breaking a piece of Steel has but an insensible Difference from that which is us'd to bend it I mean not to multiply Reasons here which one might give for the proving these things nor to answer some Difficulties possible to be urg'd about Bodies which are not sensibly springing and yet are difficultly bent For all these Difficulties vanish if we consider that the subtile Matter cannot easily make new Tracks in Bodies which break in bending as in Glass and temper'd Steel which it can easier do in such Bodies as are compos'd of branchy Parts and that are not brittle as in Gold and Lead And Lastly that there is no hard Body but has some kind of Elaterium 'T is a hard matter to persuade one's self that Monsieur des Cartes did positively believe the Cause of Hardness to be different from that which makes the Elasticity and what looks most likely is that he made not sufficient Reflexion on that matter When a Man has for a long time meditated on any Subject and is well satisfied about that of his present Enquiry he commonly thinks no farther on it he believes that the Conceptions he had of it are undeniable Truths and that it is needless to examine them any more But a Man has so many Things in him which disrelish his Application provoke him to precipitate Judgments and subject him to Errour that though his Mind remains apparently satisfied yet it is not always well instructed in the Truth Monsieur des Cartes was a Man like us No greater Solidity Accuracy Extent and Penetration of Thought is any where to be met with than in his Works I confess but yet he was not infallible Therefore 't is very probable he remain'd so settl'd in his Opinion from his not sufficiently reflecting that he asserted something in the Consequence of his Principles contrary to it He grounded it on very specious and probable Reasons but such notwithstanding as being not capable of themselves to force his Consent he might still have suspended his Judgment and consequently as a Philosopher he ought to have done it It was not enough to examine in a hard Body what was in it that might make it so but he ought likewise to have thought on the invisible Bodies which might give it Hardness as he did at the End of his Philosophical Principles when he ascrib'd to them the Cause of their Elasticity He ought to have made an exact Division and comprehensive of whatever might contribute to the Hardness of Bodies It was not enough to have sought the Causes of it in the Will of God he ought also to have thought on the subtile Matter which surrounds these Bodies For though the Existence of that violently agitated Matter was not yet proved in the place of his Principles where he speaks of Hardness it was not however rejected he ought therefore to have suspended his Judgment and have well remember'd that what he had written concerning the Cause of Hardness and of the Rules of Motion was fit to be revis'd which I believe was neglected by him or at least he has not sufficiently consider'd the true Reason of a thing very easie to be discover'd and which yet is of greatest Consequence in Natural Philosophy I thus explain my self Monsieur des Cartes well knew that to the Support of his System the Truth of which he could not reasonably suspect it was absolutely necessary that great Bodies should always communicate some
of their Motion to the lesser which they met with and that the latter should rebound at the Encounter of the former without the like Loss of their own For otherwise the first Element would not have all the Motion that is necessary above the second nor the second above the third and so all his System would be absolutely false as is manifest to those who have a little consider'd it But in supposing that Rest has Force to resist Motion and that a great Body in Rest cannot be mov'd by another less than it self though most violently striking against it 't is plain that great Bodies must have much less Motion than an equal Mass of little ones since they may always by that Supposition communicate their own Motion but cannot always receive any from the lesser Thus this Supposition being not contrary to all that Monsieur des Cartes had laid down in his Principles from the beginning to the Establishment of his Rules of Motion and according very well with the Consequence of these same Principles he thought the Rules of Motion which he believ'd he had demonstrated in their Cause were sufficiently confirm'd by their Effects I agree with Monsieur des Cartes in the Bottom of the Thing that great Bodies communicate their Motion much easier than the lesser and that therefore his first Element is more agitated than the second and the second than the third but the Cause is manifest without recourse to his Supposition Little and fluid Bodies as Water Air c. can but communicate to any great ones an uniform Motion which is common to all their Parts The Water of a River can only communicate to a Boat a descending Motion which is common to all the little Parts the Water is composed of each of which Particles besides its common Motion has infinite others which are particular Which Reason makes it evident that a Boat for instance cannot have so much Motion as an equal Volume of Water since the Boat can only receive from the Water a direct Motion and common to all the Parts of it If twenty Parts of a fluid Body drive against any other Body on one side whilst there are as many urging it on the other it remains immoveable and all the Particles of the surrounding Fluid it swims in rebound without losing any thing of their Motion Therefore gross Bodies whose Parts are united one to the other can receive only a circular and uniform Motion from the Vortex of the encompassing subtile Matter This Reason seems sufficient to give us to understand why gross Bodies are not so much agitated as little ones and that it is not necessary to the explaining these things to suppose any Force in Rest to resist Motion The Certainty of Monsieur des Cartes's Philosophical Principles cannot therefore be of Use in proving or defending his Rules of Motion And we have Reason to believe that if Monsieur des Cartes himself had without Prepossession examin'd his Principles afresh at the same time weighing such Reasons as I have alledg'd he would not have believ'd the Effects of Nature had corroborated his Rules nor have fallen into a Contradiction in attributing the Hardness of hard Bodies only to the Rest of their Parts and their Elasticity to the Effort of the subtile Matter I now come to give the Rules of the Communication of Motion in a Vacuum which follow upon what I have before establish'd concerning the Nature of Rest. Bodies being not hard in a Vacuum since they are only so by the pressure of the subtile Matter that surrounds them if two Bodies meet together they would flatten without rebounding We must therefore suppose them hard by their own Nature and not by the pressure of the subtile Matter to give these Rules Rest having no Force to resist Motion and many Bodies being to be consider'd but as one at the Instant of their Collision 't is plain they ought not to rebound save when they are equal in their Bulk and Swiftness or that their Swiftness compensates for the Want of Bulk or their Bulk the Want of Swiftness And 't is easie from hence to conclude that they ought in all other Cases so to communicate their Motion as afterwards to proceed along together with an equal Pace Wherefore to know what ought to happen in all the different Suppositions of the Magnitude and Celerity of Colliding Bodies we need only add together all the Degrees of Motion of two or more which ought to be consider'd but as one in the Moment of their Concourse and afterwards divide the Summ of the whole Motion proportionably to the Bulk of each respective Body Hence I conclude that of the seven Rules of Motion Monsieur des Cartes has given the three first are good That the Fourth is false and that B ought to communicate its Motion to C in proportion to the bigness of the same C and after go along in Company so as if C be double to B and B have three Degrees of Motion it must give away two of them For I have sufficiently prov'd that Monsieur des Cartes ought not to have suppos'd in Rest a Force to resist Motion That the Fifth is true That the Sixth is false and that B ought to communicate half of its Motion to C. And that the Seventh is false and that B ought ever to communicate its Motion to C in proportion to the Magnitude and Motion of both B and C. But that if according to the Supposition C be double to B and have three Degrees of Motion whilst C has but two they must proceed together in Company C and B being but one Body at the time of their Collision and therefore we must add together the Degrees of Swiftness which are five and afterwards divide them in proportion to their bigness and so distribute 1 3 2 to B and 3 â…“ to C which is double to B. But these Rules though certain from what I have said are yet contrary to Experience since we are not in a Vacuum The chief of those Experiences which are contrary to what I have said about the Rules of Motion is the constant rebounding of hard Bodies when they meet one one way and another another or at least their not going in Company after their Encounter In Answer to which we must call to mind what we have formerly said of the Cause of Elasticity namely That there is a Matter of a strangely-violent Motion which continually passes into the Parts of hard Bodies and makes them so by its compressing both their outward and inward Parts For it will be easie from hence to see that at the time of Percussion two encountring Bodies drive and turn off the Current of this Matter from the places nearest to the stricken which Matter resisting with great Violence repells the two Bodies which strike against each other and restores its Passage which the Percussion had stopp'd up That which more clearly still proves my Opinion is
this That if two Bowls of Lead or of any other less Elastick Matter meet they rebound not after their Collision but proceed almost according to the Rules before establish'd which they keep to so much more exactly as they are less springing Bodies therefore rebound after their Percussion because they are hard that is as I have explain'd because there is an extremely agitated Matter which compresses them and which passing through their Pores with an extreme Violence repel the Bodies which strike against them But it ought to be suppos'd that the Percutient Bodies break not those which they dash against by a Motion over-powering the Resistance the little Parts of the subtile Matter are capable of making as when we discharge a Musket against a piece of Wood. 'T is true the subtile Matter compresses soft Bodies and passes with a rapid Course through their Pores no less than through those of hard and yet these soft Bodies have no Elasticity The Reason whereof is this that the Matter passing through soft Bodies can with a great deal of Ease open it self new Passages by reason of the Minuteness of the Parts composing them or of some other particular Configuration proper for that Effect which hard Bodies will not admit by reason of the Largeness and Situation of their Parts which are contrary to the same Thus when a hard Body strikes another that is soft it alters all the Roads the subtile Matter us'd to pass through which is commonly visible as in a Musket-Bullet which flattens when it is smitten But when a hard Body strikes against another like it it either makes none or very few new Paths and the subtile Matter in its Pores is oblig'd to return upon the same Ground or else must repel the Body which blocks up its little Avenues Lastly It seems evident that every mov'd Body continually endeavouring to tend in a Right Line and declining from it as little as is possible when it meets Resistance ought never to rebound since by that Motion it extremely deviates from a Right 'T is necessary therefore either that Bodies should grow flat or that the stronger should conquer the weaker and make it bear it company But because Bodies are springing and hard they cannot go in company since if A pushes a a repels A and so they must recede from one another Notwithstanding if two Bodies were in a Vacuum though never so hard they would go in company because having no Body to surround them they could have no Elastick Force the Striker making no Resistance to the Striking but Air Gravitation c. resisting the great Motion which the striking Body gives the stricken the stricken resists the striking and hinders it from following For Experience teaches us that Air and Gravity resist Motion and that this Resistance is so much greater as the Motion is more violent 'T is easie to discover from what I have been saying how it comes to pass that in the Percussion of different Bodies encompass'd with Air or Water c. sometimes the Smiting rebounds sometimes communicates all its Motion and remains as it were unmoveable and sometimes it follows the Smitten but always with less Degrees of Swiftness if one or other of them be not perfectly soft For all this depends on the Proportion that is found between the Magnitude the Hardness and the Weight of one and the other supposing them mov'd with an equal Swiftness If they are very hard the Smiting rebounds more because the Elaterium is stronger If the Smiting is very little the Smitten very large and weighty the Smiting rebounds still much because of the Weight and the great Mass of Air surrounding the Smitten which withstands the Motion Last of all If the Force of the Hardness is as it were abated by the little Volume of Air answering the Littleness of the stricken Body or the contrary it may happen that the Smiting may remain as immoveable after the Percussion We need therefore but compare the Hardness of percutient Bodies and the Air which the Percuss'd ought to agitate anew at the time of Percussion whereby to move to give a pretty exact Conjecture concerning what must happen in the Percussion of different Bodies I still suppose an equal Swiftness in the striking for the Air more resists a great Motion than a little one and there is as much Motion in a Body twice as little as in another when proceeding twice as fast as that other Thus the Smitten being driven as fast again may be consider'd as having a Volume of Air twice as big to repel in order to its moving But it ought still to be observ'd that at the Moment of one Body's striking another the Parts of this same Body have two contrary Motions for those on the Fore-side have a backward Tendency by reason of the Collision when at the same time those behind tend forwards on the Account of the first Motion and 't is that Counter-motion which flattens soft Bodies and is the Cause that some hard Bodies break in pieces but when Bodies are very hard this Counter-stroke which vibrates some of the Parts and makes a sort of Trepidation in them as appears from the Sound they give always produces some Changes in the Communication of Motion which are very difficult to be known for many Reasons and 't is in my Mind to little purpose to examine them in particular Would a Man meditate on all these things I believe he would easily answer some Difficulties which might still be rais'd upon the Subject but if I thought that what I have said were insufficient to shew that Rest has no Force to resist Motion and that the Rules of the Communication of Motions given by Monsieur des Cartes are in part false I would here make out that it is impossible by his Supposition to move our selves in the Air And that which makes the Circulation of Motion in Fluid Bodies possible without recurring to a Vacuum is that the first Element easily divides it self in several different manners the Repose of its Parts having no Force to resist Motion The CONCLUSION of the Three last BOOKS I Have if I mistake not sufficiently shewn in the Fourth and Fifth Books that Men's natural Inclinations and Passions frequently occasion their falling into Errour because they induce them more to a precipitate Judgment than a careful Examination of Things I have shewn in the Fourth Book that our Inclination for Good in general is the Cause of the Restlesness of the Will that this Restlesness of the Will puts the Mind in continual Agitation and that a Mind continually agitated is utterly unfit for the Discovery of any the least intricate and hidden Truths That the Love of new and extraordinary Things frequently prepossesses us in their behalf and that whatever bears the Character of Infinite is capable of confounding our Imagination and mis-leading us I have explain'd how our Inclination for Greatness Elevation and Independency insensibly engage us in a falsly-pretended
it to circumambient Objects and so remove us from the Divine Light which would penetrate and illuminate us Nor does Man give himself new Modifications For the Motion of Love which God constantly imprints on us is neither augmented nor diminish'd whether we do or do not actually love I mean whether this natural Motion of Love be or be not determin'd by some Idea of our Mind Nor does this Motion cease by its Acquiescence in the Possession of Good as Motion of Bodies ceases by their Rest. There is great likelihood that God pushes us at all times alike with an even Force towards him for he pushes us on towards Good in general as fast as we are capable and we are at all times equally capable because our Will or our natural Capacity of Willing is always equal to it self Thus I say the Impression or natural Motion which carries us towards Good never encreases or diminishes I confess we have no clear Idea nor indeed inward Sensation of the Evenness of that Impression or natural Motion towards Good But this comes from our not knowing it by Idea which I have formerly prov'd and from our not being conscious of our Faculties whilst they do not actually operate We feel not what is natural and common and always the same in us as the Heat and Beating of the Heart We are even insensible of our Habits and whether we are deserving of the Love or Wrath of God We have perhaps infinite Faculties which are perfectly unknown to us For we are not inwardly conscious of all that we are but only of all that we feel Had we never felt Pain nor desir'd particular Goods we could not by our Self-Consciousness have told whether we are capable of feeling Pain or of willing those Goods It being our Memory and not our internal Sense which teaches us we are capable of feeling what we do not feel or of being mov'd by such Passions as do not actually agitate us There is nothing therefore that can hinder our believing that God draws us towards him with an equal Force though in a very different manner and that he preserves in our Soul an equal Capacity of willing or one and the same Will as he preserves in Matter collectively taken an equal quantity of Motion But though this should not be certain yet I can't see how it can be said that the Augmentation or Diminution of the Natural Motion of our Soul depends on us since we cannot be the Cause of the Extent of our own Will It is moreover certain from what I said before That God produces and preserves in us all that 's real and positive in the particular Determinations of the Motion of our Soul namely our Ideas and Sensations For this it is which determines our Motion towards Good in general to particular Goods but not in an irresistible manner because we have a tendency to go farther Hence all that is done on our part when we sin is our not doing all we yet have the power to do by means of our impression towards Him who comprehends all Goods for all our Power is deriv'd from our Union with Him who works all in us Now the principal cause of our sinning is that preferring Enjoyment to Examination by reason of the Pleasure accruing to our Enjoying and the Pain attending our Examining we desist to employ the Motion which is given us for the pursuit and disquisition of Good and we dwell upon the enjoyment of things which we should no more than make use of But if we observe the Matter nearly we shall see that in this there is nothing real on our part but only an intermission and cessation of Enquiry which corrupts as I may say the Action of God in us but yet can never destroy it So then when we do not sin What is it we do We do all that God does in us for we do not confine to a particular Good or rather a False one the Love which God impresses on us for the True And when we sin What do we do then Nothing For we love a false Good to which God does not carry us by an irresistible impression we cease to persue the true Good and frustrate the Motion God gives us towards it Now whilst we love a particular good only or against ORDER we receive as great an impression of Love from God as if we did not fix upon it Moreover this particular Determination which is neither necessary nor invincible is given us of God and therefore in sinning we produce no new Modification in our selves However I own that when we sin not but resist Temptation we may be said in one sense to give our selves a new Modification because we chuse to think on other things than the seeming Goods wherewith we are tempted But all that we then do is produc'd by the Action which God puts in us that is either by our Motion towards Good in general or by our Will assisted by Grace I mean enlightned by Knowledge and forwarded by a preventing delectation For in fine If the willing different things be suppos'd to be giving different Modifications I deny not but in this Sense the Mind may diversly modifie it self by the Action it receives from God But 't is always to be observ'd that this Action deriv'd into us from God depends upon our selves and is not irresistible with respect to particular Goods For upon the presentation of a particular Good we are inwardly conscious of our Liberty on its behalf as we are of our Pleasure and Pain when they sensibly affect us And the same Reason convinces us we are Free that convinces us we Exist for 't is the inward consciousness or feeling of our own Thoughts that give us to know we have a Being And if at the same time that we are sensible of our Liberty with respect to a particular Good we ought to doubt of it for want of having a clear Idea thereof we ought no less to doubt of our Pain and our Existence at the time of our Misery since we have no clear Idea either of our Soul or Pain It goes quite otherwise with our inward Sensation or Conscience than with our outward Senses The latter always deceive us in something when we follow their reports but the former never deceives us 'T is by the outward Senses I see Colours on the surface of Bodies that I hear Sound in the Air that I feel Pain in my Hand and their Testimony deceives me if I rely upon it But 't is by my inward Sensation that I see Colour that I hear Sound that I suffer Pain and I err not in believing I see when I see hear when I hear and suffer when I suffer provided I stop and go no farther These things are too self-evident to be longer insisted on Therefore being inwardly conscious of our Liberty at the time of a particular Good 's being present to the Mind we are not to be doubtful of
our Freedom on its respect But whereas this inward Sensation is sometimes absent from our Mind and we consult only what confus'd remains it has left in our Memory we may by the consideration of abstracted reasons which keep us from an inward feeling persuade our selves that 't is impossible for Man to be free Just as a Stoick who in want of nothing and Philosophizing at his Case may imagine that Pain is no Evil because the Internal Sense he has of himself does not actually convince him of the contrary and so he may prove like Seneca by reasons in one sense most true that 't is a contradiction for the wise man to be miserable But though our Self-consciousness were insufficient to convince us of our Freedom yet Reason might evince as much For since the light of Reason assures us that God acts only for himself and that he can give no Motion to us but what must tend towards him the Impression towards Good in general may be irresistible but 't is plain that that which we have for particular Goods must be necessarily free For if it were invincible we should have no Motion to carry us to God though he gives it only for himself and we should be constrain'd to settle on particular Goods though GOD ORDER and REASON forbid us So that Sin could not be laid at our door and God would be the real Cause of our Corruptions forasmuch as we should not be Free but purely Natural and altogether necessary Agents Thus though inward Sensation did not teach us we were free Reason would discover it was necessary for Man to be created so if we suppose him capable of desiring particular Goods and only capable of desiring them through the Impression or Motion which God perpetually gives us for himself Which likewise may be prov'd by Reason But our capacity to suffer Pain cannot be prov'd this way but can only be discover'd by Conscience or inward Sensation and yet no Man can doubt but a Man is liable to suffer Pain As we know not our Soul by any clear Idea we have of it as I have before explain'd so 't is in vain to try to discover what it is in us that terminates the Action which God impresses or that yields to be conquer'd by a resistible Determination and which we may change by our Will or by our Impression towards all Good and our Union with him who includes the Ideas of all Beings For in short we have no clear Idea of any Modification of our Soul Nothing but our Internal Sense can teach us that we are and what we are and this only must be consulted to convince us we are free And its Answers are clear and satisfactory enough upon the Point when we actually propose to our selves any particular Good for no Man whatever can doubt whether he be invinsibly inclin'd to eat of a Fruit or avoid some slight inconsiderable Pain But if instead of hearkning to our Inward Sensation we attend to abstracted Reasons which throw us off the Contemplation of our selves possibly losing sight of them we may forget that we are in Being and trying to reconcile the prescience of God and his absolute power over us with our Liberty we shall plunge into an Errour that will overturn all the Principles of Religion and Morality I produce here an Objection which is usually made against what I have been saying which though but very weak and defective is strong enough to give a great many trouble to evade The Hating of God say they is an Action which does not partake of Good and therefore is all the Sinner's God having no part in it And consequently Man acts and gives himself new Modifications by an action which does not come from God I Answer That Sinners hate not God but because they freely and falsly judge that he is Evil for Good consider'd as such cannot be the Object of Hatred Therefore they hate God with that very Motion of Love he influences them with towards Good Now the Reason why they conclude he is not Good is their making an undue use of their Liberty for being not convinc'd with irresistible Evidence that he is not Good they ought not to believe him Evil nor consequently to hate him In Hatred two things may be distinguish'd viz. the Sensation of the Soul and Motion of the Will This Sensation cannot be Evil for it is a Modification of the Soul and has neither Moral Good nor Ill in it Nor is the Motion more corrupt since it is not distinguishable from that of Love For External Evil being only the privation of Good 't is manifest that to fly Evil is to fly the privation of Good that is to pursue Good Wherefore all that is real and positive even in our Hatred of God himself has nothing Evil in it and the Sinner cannot hate God without an abominable abuse of the action which God incessantly gives to incline him to the Love of Him God works whatever is real in the Sensations of Concupiscence and yet is not the Author of Concupiscence AS the Difficulties that are rais'd about Concupiscence are near akin to those before explain'd I think it convenient to shew that God is not the Author of Concupiscence though it be he that works all in us even in the production of sensible Pleasure It ought I think to be granted for the Reasons produc'd in the Fifth Chapter of the First Book of the preceding Treatise and elsewhere that by the natural Laws of the Union of the Soul and Body Man even before the Fall was inclin'd by preventing Pleasures to the use of sensible Goods and that as often as such and such Traces were delineated in the principal part of his Brain such and such Thoughts arose in his Mind Now those Laws were most Proper and Equitable for the Reasons I there have given Which being suppos'd as before the Trangressions all things were perfectly well order'd so Man had necessarily that Power over his Body as that he could prevent the production of these Traces when he would Order requiring that his Mind should have the Dominion over his Body Which Power of his Mind precisely consisted in this that according to its different Desires and Applications it stopt the Communication of Motions which were produc'd in his own Body by circumambient Objects over which his Will had not an immediate and direct Authority as over his proper Body And it cannot I think be conceiv'd how he could hinder the Formation of the Traces in his Brain any other way Therefore the Will of God or the general Law of Nature which is the true Cause of the Communication of Motions depended on some occasions upon the Will of Adam For God had that consideration for him that he produc'd not without his consent new Motions in his Body or at least in the principal part to which his Soul was immediately uniâ—ed Such was the Institution of Nature before the Sin ORDER would
have it so and consequently HE whose essential and necessary Will is always conformable to ORDER Which Will remaining immutably the same the Establish'd Order was subverted by the first Man's Disobedience because for the demerits of his Sin it was consonant to Order that he should be Lord of nothing It is not reasonable that the Sinner should suspend the Communication of Motions that the Will of God should conform to his or that any exceptions should be made to the Law of Nature on his Behalf In so much that Man is subject to Concupiscence his Mind depends on his Body he feels in himself indeliberate Pleasures and involuntary and rebellious Motions pursuant to that most just and exact Law which unites the two Parts of which he is compos'd Thus the formal Reason of Concupiscence no less than that of Sin is nothing real and positive being no more in Man than the loss of the Power he had to wave and suspend to the Communication of Motions on some occasions Nor are we to admit any positive Will in God to produce it For this loss which Man has sustain'd was not a consequence of Order or of the immutable Will of God which never swerves from it and is constantly the same but only a consequence of Sin which has rendred Man unworthy of an Advantage due only to his Innocence and Uprightness Wherefore we may say that not God but Sin only has been the Cause of Concupiscence Nevertheless God Works all that is Real and Positive in the Sensations and Motions of Concupiscence for God does every thing but all that has nothing of Evil. 'T is by the general Law of Nature that is by the Will of God that sensible Objects produce in Man's Body certain Motions and that these Motions raise in the Soul certain Sensations useful to the preservation of the Body or the Porpagation of the Species Who then dare presume to say these things are not good in themselves I know it is said that Sin is the Cause of certain Pleasures But do they that say it conceive it Can it be thought that Sin which is nothing should actually produce something Can nothing be suppos'd to be a real Cause However 't is so said but possibly for want of taking due pains of seriously considering what they say or because they are unwilling to enter on an Explication that is contrary to the Discourses they have heard from Men who it may be talk with more Gravity and Assurance than Reflexion and Knowledge Sin is the Cause of Concupiscence but not of Pleasure as Free Will is the Cause of Sin though not of the natural Motion of the Soul The Pleasure of the Soul is good as well as its Motion or Love and there is nothing good but what God does The Rebellion of the Body and the guilt of Pleasure proceed from Sin As the Adherency of the Soul to a particular Good or its Rest proceeds from the Sinner But these are only Privations and Nothings whereof the Creature is capable Every Pleasure is Good and likewise in some measure makes happy the Possessour at least for the time of the Enjoyment But it may be said to be evil because instead of elevating the Mind to Him that is the true Cause of it through the Errour of our Intellectual and corruption of our Moral Part it prostrates it before sensible Objects that only seem to produce it Again it is evil in as much as it is Injustice in us who are Sinners and consequently meriting rather to be punish'd than rewarded to oblige God pursuant to his Primitive Will to recompense us with pleasant Sensations In a word not to repeat here what I have said in other places it is evil because God at present forbids it by Reason of its alienating the Mind from himself for whom he hath made and preserves it For that which was ordain'd by God to preserve Righteous Man in his Innocence now fixes sinful Man in his Sin and the Sensations of Pleasure which he wisely establish'd as the easiest and most obvious Expedients to teach Man without calling off his Reason from his true Good whether he ought to unite himself with the invironing Bodies at present fill the Capacity of his Mind and fasten him on Objects incapable of acting in him and infinitely below him because he looks upon these Objects to be the true Causes of the Happiness he enjoys occasionally from them THE SECOND ILLUSTRATION UPON THE First CHAPTER of the First BOOK Where I say That the Will cannot diversly determine its Propensity to Good but by commanding the Vnderstanding to represent to it some particular Object IT must not be imagin'd that the Will commands the Understanding any other Way than by its Desires and Motions there being no other Action of the Will nor must it be believ'd that the Understanding obeys the Will by producing in it self the Ideas of Things which the Soul desires for the Understanding acts not at all but only receives Light or the Ideas of Things through its necessary Union with Him who comprehends all Beings in an intelligible manner as is explain'd in the Third Book Here then is all the Mystery Man participates of the Sovereign Reason and Truth displays it self to him proportionably to his Application and his praying to it Now the Desire of the Soul is a Natural Prayer that is always heard it being a natural Law that Ideas should be so much readier and more present to the Mind as the Will is more earnest in desiring them Thus provided our Thinking Capacity or Understanding be not clogg'd and fill'd up by the confus'd Sensations we receive occasionally from the Motions occurring in our Body we should no sooner desire to think on any Object but its Idea would be always present to our Mind which Idea Experience witnessing is so much more present and clear as our Desire is more importunate and our confus'd Sensations furnish'd to us by the Body less forcible and applicative as I have said in the foregoing Illustration Therefore in saying that the Will commands the Understanding to represent to it some particular Object I meant no more than that the Soul willing to consider that Object with Attention draws near it by her Desire because this Desire consequently to the efficacious Wills of God which are the inviolable Laws of Nature is the Cause of the Presence and Clearness of the Idea that represents the Object I could not at that time speak otherwise than I did nor explain my self as I do at present as having not yet prov'd God the sole Author of our Ideas and our particular Volitions only the occasional Causes of them I spoke according to the common Opinion as I have been frequently oblig'd to do because all cannot be said at once The Reader ought to be equitable and give Credit for some time if he would have Satisfaction for none but Geometricians pay always down in hand THE ILLUSTRATION UPON THE
consequently exceeding great But in answer to this I say First That purely Intellectual Joy leaves the Mind to its entire Liberty and takes up but very little of its Thinking Capacity wherein it differs from Sensible Joy which commonly disturbs the Reason and lessens the Liberty I answer Secondly That the Happiness of Adam at the first Instant of his Creation did not consist in a plenary and entire Possession of the Supreme Good it being possible for him to lose it and become miserable But herein his Happiness especially consisted That he suffer'd no Evil and was in the good Favour of Him who must have perfected his Felicity if he had persever'd in his State of Innocency Thus his Joy was not excessive nay it was or ought to have been temper'd with an Alloy of Fear for he ought to have been diffident of himself I answer Lastly That Joy does not always intend the Mind upon the true Cause that produces it As a Sense of Joy arises upon the Contemplation of one 's own Perfections it is natural to believe that Prospect is the Cause of it for when a Thing constantly follows from another 't is naturally look'd upon as one of its Effects Thus a Man considers himself as the Author of his own present Happiness he finds a secret Complacency in his Natural Perfections he loves himself and thinks not of Him who operates in him in an imperceptible manner 'T is true Adam more distinctly knew than the greatest of Philosophers that God alone was able to act in him and produce that Sense of Joy which he felt upon the Consideration of his Happiness and Perfections This he knew clearly by the Light of Reason when he attended to it but not by any Sensation which on the contrary taught him that his Joy was a Consequence of his Perfection seeing he had the constant Sense of it and that without any Application on his part And so this Sensation might lead him to consider his own Perfections and take pleasure in himself if he either forgot or any ways lost sight of Him whose Operations in us are not of a sensible Nature So far would this Joy have been from rendring him impeccable as is pretended that on the contrary it might probably be the Occasion of his Pride and Fall And 't is for this Reason that I say in this Chapter that Adam ought to have taken care not to have suffer'd the Capacity of his Mind to be fill'd with a presumptuous Joy kindled in his Soul upon Reflexion on his own Natural Perfections THE ILLUSTRATION UPON THE Fifth CHAPTER of the First BOOK Where I say That Preventing Delight is the Grace of JESUS CHRIST THough I say in this Chapter that Preventing Delight is the Grace which JESUS CHRIST has particularly merited for us and that I term it elsewhere absolutely The Grace of our LORD yet this is not said as if there were no other Grace besides this or as if there were any but what He has merited but I name it so to distinguish it from the Grace which GOD gave Adam in his Creation which commonly we call the Grace of the Creator For the Grace by which Adam might have persever'd in Innocence was chiefly a Grace of Light or Knowledge as I have explain'd in the foregoing Reflexion because being free of Concupiscence he had no need of Preventing Pleasures to resist it But the Grace which is at present necessary to support us in our Duty and to beget and keep Charity alive in us is Preventing Delectation For as Pleasure produces and cherishes the Love of the Things that cause or seem to cause it so Preventing Pleasures which Bodies occasionally administer produce and maintain in us our Cupidity So that Cupidity being entirely opposite to Charity if God did not beget and sustain in us the Latter by Preventing Delectations 't is plain that it would be enfeebled by the Preventing Pleasures of Concupiscence proportionably as Concupiscence was corroborated by them What I here say supposes that God leaves our Concupiscence to work in us and does not weaken it by an infus'd Abhorrence to sensible Objects which as a Result from Sin must necessarily tempt us I speak of Things according to ordinary procedure But supposing that God lessens Concupiscence instead of increasing Delectable Grace it comes to the same thing for it is plain that a Balance may be put two Ways in aequilibrio when one of the Scales is too heavy burthen'd either by adding Weight to the opposite Scale or retrenching the Excess of the over-weighted Nor do I suppose it is impossible to do any good Action without a Preventing Delectation Upon which Particular I have explain'd my self sufficiently in the Fourth Chapter of the Third Book And it seems too evident to be doubted that a Man having his Heart possess'd with the Love of God may by the Strength of his Love unassisted with Preventing Delight give for instance a Peny to a poor Man or patiently suffer some little Affront I am persuaded likewise that this Delight is not necessary except when the Temptation is strong or the Love for God weak However it may be said to be absolutely necessary to a Righteous Man whose Faith might one would think be resolute and his Hope strong enough to conquer very violent Temptations the Joy or Fore-taste of Eternal Happiness being capable of resisting the sensible Allurements of transitory Goods 'T is true Delectation or Actual Grace is necessary to every good Action if by these Words be meant Charity in which Sense St. Austin commonly took them For 't is evident that whatever is done without some Respect or other had to God is good for nothing But clearing the Terms of Equivocations and taking Delectation in the Sense I have given I cannot see how what I have said can be call'd in question But see wherein the Difficulty consists Pleasure and Love are suppos'd to be one and the same thing because seldom apart and St. Austin does not always distinguish them And on this Supposition they may reasonably say as they do and we may conclude with St. Austin Quod amplius nos delectat secundum id operemur necesse est For certainly we will what we love and so likewise it may be said that we cannot perform any good or meritorious Action without Delectation or Charity But I hope to make it appear in the Explanation I shall make upon the Tract concerning the Passions that there is as much difference between Pleasure and deliberate or indeliberate Love as there is between our Knowledge and our Love or to give a sensible Representation of this Difference between the Figure of a Body and its Motion THE ILLUSTRATION Upon what I have said at the Beginning of the Tenth CHAPTER of the First BOOK And in the Sixth CHAPTER of the Second BOOK CONCERNING METHOD That 't is very difficult to prove the Existence of Bodies What we ought to Esteem of the Proofs which are
her Infant the Mother is the cause of the Sin and the Father has no part in it Yet St. Paul teaches us that by Man came sin into the World He does not so much as speak of the Woman Therefore c. ANSWER David assures us that his Mother conceiv'd him in iniquity and the Son of Syrach says Of the Woman came the beginning of Sin and by her we all dy Neither of them speak of Man St. Paul on the contrary says that by Man Sin entred into the World and speaks not of the Woman How will these Testimonies accord and which of the two is to be justify'd if it be necessary to vindicate either In discourse we never attribute to the Woman any thing peculiar to the Man wherein she has no part But that is often ascrib'd to the Man which is proper to the VVoman because her Husband is her Master and Head We see that the Evangelists and also the Holy Virgin call Joseph the Father of Jesus when she says to her Son Behold thy Father and I have sought thee sorrowing Therefore seeing we are assur'd by Holy Writ that Woman has subjected us to Sin and Death it is absolutely necessary to believe it nor can it be thrown upon the Man But though it testifies in several places that 't is by Man that Sin enters into the World yet there is not an equal necessity to believe it since what is of the Woman is commonly attributed to the Man And if we were oblig'd by Faith to excuse either the Man or the Woman it would be more reasonable to excuse the former than the latter However I believe these forecited passages are to be litterally explain'd and that we are to say both the Man and Woman are the true causes of Sin each in their own way The Woman in that by her Sin is communicated it being by her that the Man begets the Children and the Man in that his Sin is the cause of Concupiscence as his action is the cause of the fecundity of the Woman or of the communication that is between her and her Infant It is certain that 't is the Man that impregnates the Woman and consequently is the cause of that communication between her Body and the Child's since that communication is the Principle of its Life Now that Communication not only gives the Child's Body the dispositions of its Mother's but also gives its Mind the dispositions of her Mind Therefore we may say with St. Paul that by one Man sin entred into the world and nevertheless by reason of that communication we may say that Sin came from a Woman and by her we all dye and that our Mother has conceiv'd us in Iniquity as is said in other places of Scripture It may be said perhaps that though Man had not sinn'd yet Woman had produc'd sinful Children for having her self sinn'd she had lost the Power God gave her over her Body and thus though Man had remain'd Innocent she had corrupted the Brain and consequently the Mind of her Child by reason of that communication between them But this surely looks not very probable For Man whilst righteous knowing what he does cannot give the Woman that wretched fecundity of conceiving sinful Children If he remains Righteous he wills not any Children but for God to whom Infant Sinners cannot be well pleasing for I suppose not here a Mediator I grant however that in that case the Marriage had not been dissolv'd and that the Man had known his Wife But it is certain that the Body of the Woman belong'd to her Husband since it was taken out of his and was the same Flesh. Duo in carne una It is moreover certain that Children are as much the Fathers as the Mothers Which being so we can't be persuaded that the Woman would have lost the Power over her Body if her Husband had not sinn'd as well as she For if the Woman had been depriv'd of that Power whilst the Man remain'd Innocent there had been this Disorder in the Universe that an upright Man should have a corrupt Body and sinful Children Whereas it is against Order or rather a contradiction that a just God should punish a perfectly Innocent Man And for this reason Eve feels no involuntary and rebellious Motions immediately after her sin as yet she is not asham'd of her Nakedness nor goes to hide her self On the contrary she comes to her Husband though naked as her self her Eyes are not yet open'd but she is still as before the absolute Comptroller of her own Body Order requir'd that immediately after her Sin her Soul should be disturb'd by the rebellion of her Body and by the shame of her own and her Husband's nakedness for there was no reason that God should any longer suspend on her behalf the Laws of the Communication of Motions as I have said in the seventh Article But because her Body is her Husband 's who is as yet Innocent she is not punish'd in this Body but this punishment is deferr'd till the time that he should eat himself of the Fruit which she presented him Then it was they both began to feel the rebellion of their Body that they saw they were naked and that shame oblig'd them to cover themselves with Fig-leaves Thus we must say that Adam was truly the cause of Original Sin and Concupiscence since it was his Sin that depriv'd both himself and his Wife of their power over their Body by which defectiveness of power the Woman produces in the Brain of her Child such tracks as corrupt its Soul at the very instant of its Creation OBJECTION against the Twelfth Article 'T is but random divining to say the communication between the Mother's and the Infant 's Brain is necessary or useful to the conformation of the foetus For there is no such Communication between the Brain of an Hen and that of her Chickens which notwithstanding are perfectly and compleatly form'd ANSWER I answer that in the seventh Chapter of the Second Book I have sufficiently demonstrated that Communication by the use I make of it in explaining the Generation of Monsters as also certain natural Marks and Fears deriv'd from the Mother For 't is evident that a Man who swoons away at the sight of a Snake because his Mother was frighted with one when she bore him in her Womb could not be subject to that Infirmity but because formerly such Traces had been imprinted on his Brain as these which open upon seeing a Snake and that they were accompany'd with a like Accident And herein I am no Diviner for I do not venture to determine wherein that Communication precisely consists I might say it was perform'd by those Fibres which the Foetus shoots into the Matrix of the Mother and by the Nerves wherewith that part is very probably fill'd and in saying so I should no more divine than would a Man who had never seen the Engines call'd La Samaritaine in affirming
is included in the Idea of a necessary Being as the Equality of Diameters is included in the Idea of a Circle And I except the Existence of our Soul because we are inwardly conscious that we Think Will and Feel and have no clear Idea of our Soul as I have sufficiently explained in the seventh Chapter of the second Part of the third Book and elsewhere These are some of the Reasons which we have to add to those already given to prove that all our Light is deriv'd to us from God and that the immediate and direct Object of our clear and evident notices is an immutable and necessary Nature Some Objections are usually made against this Opinion which I shall now endeavour to solve Against what has been said that none but God enlightens us and that we see all things in him OBJECTION I. OUR Soul thinks because it is her Nature God in creating her gave her the faculty of thinking and she needs nothing more But if any thing else is wanting let us stick to what Experience teaches us of our senses which is that they are the manifest causes of our Ideas 'T is an ill way of Philosophizing to argue against Experience ANSWER I cannot but admire that the Cartesian Gentlemen who with so much reason reject and scorn the general Terms of Nature and faculty should so willingly employ them on this occasion They cry out against a Man that shall say the Fire burns by its nature and converts certain Bodies into Glass by a natural Faculty And yet some of them fear not to say that the Humane Mind produces the Ideas of all things in it self by its nature and because it has a thinking faculty But be it spoken without offence these words are no more significative in their Mouths than in the Peripateticks I know very well that the Soul is capable of thinking But I know likewise that extension is capable of Figures The Soul is capable of Will as matter is of Motion But as it is false that matter though capable of figure and motion has in it self a force faculty or nature by which it can move it self and give it self now a round figure and anon a square one so though the Soul be naturally and essentially capable of Knowledge and Will it is false that she has Faculties whereby she can produce in her Ideas or motion towards good There is a great difference between being Moveable and self moving Matter is by its nature moveable and capable of Figures nor can it subsist without a figure But it neither moves it self nor shapes it self nor has it any faculty to do it The Mind is of its nature capable of motion and Ideas I acknowledge But it neither moves nor enlightens its self But 't is God that does all in Minds as well as in Bodies Can we say that God effects the changes that happen in matter and that he causes not those which occur in the Mind Is this to give to God the things that are his to leave these latter sort of Beings to their own management Is he not equally Lord of all things Is he not the Creator Preserver and true mover of Minds as well as Bodies Certainly he makes all both Substances Accidents Beings and Modes of Being For in short he knows all But he knows nothing but what he does We therefore streighten him in his Knowledge if we limit him in his Action But if it must be said that Creatures have such faculties as are commonly conceived and that natural Bodies have a Nature which is the Principle of their Motion and Rest as says Aristotle and his Followers This indeed overthrows all my Ideas but yet I will rather agree to it than say the Mind enlightens it self Men may say that the Soul has the force of moving diversly the Limbs of her Body and of communicating to them Sense and Life They may say if they please that it is she that gives heat to the Blood motion to the Spirits and to the rest of her Body its Bulk Situation and Figure Only let them not say that the Mind gives Light and Motion to it self If God works not all let us allow him at least to do what is Noblest and Perfectest in the World And if Creatures do any thing let them move Bodies and range and posture them as they think fit But let them never act upon Minds We will say if that will serve that Bodies move each other after they have been mov'd themselves or rather will sit down ignorant of the different Dispositions of matter as not concerning us But let not our Minds be ignorant whence proceeds the Light that enlightens them Let them know from what hand they receive all that can make them more happy or more perfect let them acknowledge their dependence in its whole extent and know that whatever they actually have God gives them every moment for as says a great Father upon another Subject 'T is a very criminal Pride to use the gifts of God as our own innate Perfections Above all let us take heed of imagining that the Senses instruct Reason that the Body enlightens the Mind that the Soul receive of the Body what it wants it self We had better believe our selves independent than to believe we truly depend on Bodies 'T is much better to be our own Masters than to seek for Masters among inferior Creatures But we had much better submit our selves to Eternal Truth which assures us in the Gospel that none else is our Instructor than to believe the Testimony of our Senses or of some Men who presume to talk to us as our Teachers Experience whatever may be said does not countenance prejudices For our Senses no less than our Teachers after the Flesh are only occasional causes of the Instruction which Eternal Wisdom infuses into our most inward Reason But because this Wisdom enlightens us by an insensible Operation we imagine it is our Eyes or the words of those that verberate the Air against our Ears who produce this Light or pronounce that intelligible Voice which instructs us And for this Reason as I have said in another place our LORD thought it not enough to instruct us in an intellible manner by his Divinity unless he condescended also to inform us in a sensible way by his Humanity thereby teaching us that he is every way our Master And because we cannot easily retire into our selves to consult him in Quality of eternal Truth immutable Order intelligible Light he has rendred Truth sensible by his Words Order Amiable by his Example Light Visible by a Body which breaks the force of its Lustre and after all we are still so ungrateful unjust stupid and insensible as to respect as our Masters and that against his express prohibition not only other Men but it may be the most insensible and vilest Bodies OBJECTION II. Since the Soul is more perfect than Bodies how comes it that she cannot include
Experience of the ablest Physicians THE ILLUSTRATION UPON THE Third CHAPTER of the Fifth BOOK That Love is different from Pleasure and Joy THE Mind commonly confounds things that are very different when they happen at the same time and are not contrary to each other As I have shown by many Instances in this Work because herein chiefly consist our Errors in Respect of what passes within us Being we have no clear Idea of â—hat constitutes the Nature or Essence of our Mind nor of any of the Modification it can receive it often falls out that to our confounding different things they need but happen in us at the same time For we easily confound what we know not by a clear and distinct Ideâ— It is not only impossible clearly to conceive wherein consists the difference of our Internal Motions it is even difficult to discover any difference between them For to do this we must turn our Eyes inward and retire into our selves not to consider them with reference to Good and Evil which we do willingly enough But to contemplate our selves with an abstract and barren consideration which costs us great trouble and distraction of Thought We easily conceive that the Roundness of a Body differs from its Motion and though we know by Experience that a Bowl on a plane cannot be press'd without being mov'd and so Motion and Roundness are found together Yet we use not to confound them with one another because we conceive Motion and Figure by clear and distinct Ideas But 't is not so with Pleasure and Love which we almost always confound together Our Mind grows as it were Moveable by Pleasure as a Bowl by it's roundness and because it is never void of an impression towards Good it immediately puts it self in Motion towards the Objects which causes or seems to cause the Pleasure So that the Motion of Love happening in the Soul at the very time of it's feeling this Pleasure is sufficient to make her undistinguish or confound them because she has no clear Idea of her Love and Pleasure as she has of Figure and Motion And for this Reason some are perswaded that Pleasure and Love are not different and that I distinguish too many things in each of our Passions But that it may clearly appear that Pleasure and Love are two very different things I divide Pleasures into two sorts the one sort precedes Reason as are agreeable Sensations and go commonly by the Name of the Pleasures of the Body The other sort neither precede Reason nor the senses and are generally call'd the Pleasures of the Soul Such is the Joy that arise in us in pursuance of a clear knowledge of confus'd sensation we have of some Good that either does or shall accrue to us For Example a Man in tasting a Fruit which he does not know finds pleasure in eating it if it be good for Nourishment Which is a preceding or preventing Pleasure for since he feels it before he knows whether the Fruit be good 't is evident it prevents his Reason An Huntsman when hungry expects to find or actually finds something Eatable which gives him an actual sense of Joy Now this Joy is a Pleasure which follows the knowledge of his present or future good It is perhaps evident by this distinction of Pleasure into that which follows and that which prevents Reason that neither of them but differs from Love For preventing pleasure undoubtedly precedes Love since it precedes all Knowledge which some way or other is always suppos'd by Love On the contrary Joy or the Pleasure which supposes foregoing Knowledge presupposes likewise Love since Joy supposes either a confus'd Sensation or a clear Knowledge of the present or future Possession of what we Love For if we possess'd a thing for which we have no Love we should receive no Joy from it Therefore Pleasure is very different from Love since that which prevents Reason prevent and causes Love and that which follows Reason necessarily supposes Love as an Effect supposes the Cause Moreover if Pleasure and Love were the same thing there could be no Pleasure without Love nor Love without Pleasure otherwise a thing could be without it self Nevertheless a Christian Loves his Enemy and a well-educated Child his Father though never so irrational and unkind The Sight of their Duty the Fear of God the Love of Order and Justice causes them to Love not only without Pleasure but even with a sort of Horrour those Persons that are no ways delightful I own they sometimes have the Sense of Pleasure or Joy upon the Reflection that they perform their Duty or upon the Hopes of being rewarded as they do deserve But besides that this Pleasure is very manifestly different from the Love they bear to their Father and Enemy though perhaps it may be the Motive of it it sometimes is not so much as the Motive of their acting but 't is only an abstract View of Order or a Notion of Fear which preserves their Love In one sense it may be truly said they have a Love for these Persons even whilst they do not think of them For Love remains in us during the Avocations of Thought and in Sleep But I conceive that Pleasure has no longer a Substance in the Soul than she is aware of it Thus Love or Charity remaining in us without Pleasure or Delectation cannot be maintain'd to be the very same thing Since Pleasure and Pain are two contraries if Pleasure were the same with Love Pain would not differ from Hatred But 't is evident that Pain is different from Hatred because it often subsists without it A Man for Instance who is wounded unawares suffers a most real and cutting Pain whilst he is free from Hatred For he knows not even the Cause of his Pain or the Object of his Hatred or rather the Cause of his Pain not deserving his Hatred cannot raise it Thus he Hates not that Cause of his Pain though his Pain moves or disposes him to Hatred 'T is true he deservedly Hates Pain but the Hatred of Pain is not Pain but supposes it Hatred of Pain does not Merit our Hatred as does Pain For the former is on the contrary very agreeable in that we are pleased in Hating it as we are displeased in Suffering it Pain therefore not being Hatred the Pleasure which is contrary to Pain is not Love which is contrary to Hatred and consequently the Pleasure which is precedaneous to Reason is not the same thing as Love I prove likewise that Joy or the Pleasure which pursues Reason is distinguish'd from Love Joy and Sorrow being contraries if Joy were the same thing with Love Sorrow and Hatred would be all one But it is evident that Sorrow differs from Hatred because it sometimes has a separate Subsistence A Man for Example by chance finds himself depriv'd of things that he has need of this is enough to make him sorrowful But it cannot provoke him to Hatred Either
because he knows not what it was that depriv'd him of this necessary thing or because being unworthy of his Hatred it could not excite it 'T is true this Man Hates the Privation of the Good which he Loves But it is manifest that this kind of Hatred is really Love For he Hates the Privation of Good meerly because he Loves Good and since to fly the Privation of Good is to tend towards Good Is is evident that the Motion of his Hatred is not different from that of his Love Therefore his Hatred if he have any being not contrary to his Love and Sorrow being always contrary to Joy it is evident that his Sorrow is not his Hatred and consequently Joy is different from Love Lastly It is evident that Sorrow proceeds from the Presence of something which we hate or rather from the Absence of something which we Love Therefore Sorrow supposes Hatred or rather Love but 't is very different from them both I know St. Austin defines Pain to be an Aversion the Soul conceives from the Bodies being disposed otherwise than she would have it and that he often confounds Delectation with Charity Pleasure with Joy Pain with Sorrow Pleasure and Joy with Love Pain and Sorrow with Aversion or Hatred But there 's great Probability this Holy Father in all this follow'd the common way of speaking of the Vulgar who confound most of those things which occur in them at one and the same time Or it may be did not examine these things in so Nice and Philosophical a manner as he might have done Yet I think I both may and ought to say that to me it seems necessary exactly to distinguish these things if we would explain our selves clearly and without Equivocation upon most of the Questions handled by him For even Men of a quite opposite Opinion use to build upon the Authority of this great Man because of the various Senses and Constructions his Speech will afford which is not always Nice and accurate enough to reconcile Persons who are perhaps more eager to dispute than desirous to agree THE ILLUSTRATION UPON THE Third CHAPTER of the Second PART of the Sixth BOOK Concerning the Efficacy ascribed to Second Causes EVER since the Transgression of our first Parent the Mind rambling constantly abroad forgets both it self and Him who pierces and enlightens it and is so absurdly pliant to the Seducements of its Body and those about it as to imagine its own Happiness and Perfection is to be found in them He that alone is able to act in us is at present hidden from our Eyes His Operations are of an insensible kind and though he produces and preserves all Beings yet the Mind whilst the earnest Enquirer of the Cause of all things cannot easily know him though it meets him every moment Some Philosophers chuse rather to imagine a Nature and particular Faculties as the Causes of those which we term Natural Effects than to render to God all the Honour that is due to his Power And though they have no Proof nor even clear Idea of this pretended Nature and Faculties as I hope to make appear they had rather talk without knowing what they say and reverence a purely imaginary Power than by any Essay of Thought to discover that Invisible Hand which works all in all things 'T is unavoidable for me to believe that one of the most deplorable Consequences of Original Sin is our having no Taste nor Sense for God or our Incapacity of Tasting or Meeting him without a sort of Dread and Abhorrence We ought to see God in all things to be sensible of his Power and Force in all Natural Effects to admire his Wisdom in the wonderful Order of his Creatures In a word to Worship to Fear to Love Him only in all his Works But in our present State there is a Secret Opposition between Man and GOD Man conscious of his being a Sinner hides himself flies the Light and is afraid to meet his Maker and therefore had rather imagine in surrounding Bodies a blind Power or Nature with which he can be familiar than find in them the terrible Power of an Holy and Just GOD who knows and Operates all in all I confess there are very many Persons who from another Principle than that of the Heathen Philosophers follow their Opinion about Nature and Second Causes But I hope to convince them in the Process of this Discourse that they fall into this Sentiment out of a Prejudice which 't is impossible to shake off without those Succours which are furnish'd by the Principles of a Philosophy that has not always been sufficiently known For in all likelihood this is what has kept them from declaring for an Opinion which I think my self oblig'd to espouse I have a great many Reasons which will not let me attribute to Second or Natural Causes a Force Power or Efficacy to produce any thing whatever The chief whereof is That this Opinion is to me utterly inconceivable Though I use all possible Endeavours to comprehend it I cannot find in my self the Idea to represent to me what can be that Force or Power ascrib'd to the Creatures And I need not fear passing a rash Judgment in affirming that those who hold that the Creatures are endued with a Force and Power advance what they do not clearly conceive For in short if the Philosophers clearly conceive that Second Causes have a true Force to act and produce their Like I being a Man as well as they and participating of the same Sovereign Reason might in all probability discover the Idea which represent to them that Force But all the efforts that my Mind can make can discover no other Force Efficacy or Power than in the Will of the Infinitely perfect Being Besides when I think upon the different Opinions of Philosophers upon this subject I can no longer doubt of my assertion For if they saw clearly what this Power of Creatures was or what was in them truly powerful they would agree in their Opinion about it When Men cannot accord though they have no private Interest to hinder them 't is a certain Sign they have no clear Idea of what they say and that they understand not one another especially if they dispute on subjects that are not of a Complex Nature and of difficult discussion like this before us For there would be no difficulty to resolve it if Men had a clear Idea of a created Force or Power Here then follow some of their Opinions that we may see how little agreement there is among them There are Philosophers who maintain that second Causes act by their Matter Figure and Motion and these in one sense are right enough Others by their substantial form Many by Accidents or Qualities some by Matter and Form others by Form and Accidents and others still by certain vertues or faculties distinct from all this There are of them who affirm that the substantial Form produces Forms
and the Accidental Form Accidents Others say that the Forms produce both other Forms and Accidents Others still that bare Accidents are not only capable of producing Accidents but even Forms But it must not be imagin'd that those for instance who say that Accidents can produce Forms by vertue of the Form they are join'd to understand it the same way For one part of them will have Accidents to be the very Force or Virtue of the Substantial Form Another that they imbibe into them the Influence of the Form and only act so by vertue of it A Third lastly will have them to be but Instrumental Causes But neither are these latter sort altogether agreed about what is meant by Instrumental Cause and the vertue they receive from the Principal Nor can the Philosophers compromise about the Action whereby second Causes produce their Effects For some of them pretend that Causality ought not to be produc'd since it is this which produces Others will that they truly act by their own Action But they are involv'd in so many Labyrinths in explaining precisely wherein this Action consists and there are so many different Opinions about it that I cannot find in my Heart to recite them Such is the strange variety of Opinions though I have not produc'd those of the Ancient Philosophers or that were born in very remote Countries But we have sufficient Reason to conclude that they are no more agreed upon the subject of second Causes than those before alledg'd Avicenna for instance is of Opinion that Corporeal Substances cannot produce any thing but Accidents This according to Ruvio is his Hypothesis He supposes that God produces immediately a most perfect Spiritual Substance That this produces another less perfect and this a third and so on to the last which produces all Corporeal Substances and Corporeal Substances Accidents But Avicembrom not able to comprehend how Corporeal Substances which cannot penetrate each other should cause alterations in them supposes that there are Spirits which are capable of acting on Bodies because they alone can penetrate them For these Gentlemen not admitting the Vacuum nor the Atoms of Democritus nor having sufficient knowledge of the subtil matter of M. des Cartes could not with the Gassendists and Cartesians think of Bodies which were little enough to insinuate into the pores of those that are hardest and most solid Methinks this diversity of Opinions justifies this thought of ours that Men often talk of things which they understand not and that the Power of Creatures being a Fiction of Mind of which we have naturally no Idea every Man makes it and imagines it what he pleases 'T is true this Power has been acknowledg'd for a Real and True by most Men in all Ages but it has never yet been prov'd I say not demonstratively but in any wise so as to make an impression upon an Attentive thinking Man For the confus'd Proofs which are built only upon the fallacious Testimony of the Senses and Passions are to be rejected by those who know how to exercise their Reason Aristotle speaking of what they call Nature says it is Ridiculous to go about to prove that Natural Bodies have an inward Principle of Motion and Rest because says he it is a thing that 's Self-Evident He likewise does not doubt but a Bowl which strikes another has the force of putting it in Motion This is witnessed by his Eyes and that 's enough for him who seldom follows any other Testimony than of the Senses very rarely that of his Reason and is very indifferent whether it be intelligible or not Those who impugn the Opinion of some Divines who have written against Second Causes say like Aristotle that the Senses convince us of their Efficacy And this is their first and principal Proof 'T is evident say they that the Fire burns that the Sun shines that Water cools and he must be out of his Senses who can doubt of it The Authors of the other Opinion says the great Averroes are out of their Wits We must say almost all the Peripateticks use sensible Proofs for their Conviction who deny this Efficacy and so oblige them to confess we are capable of acting on them and wounding them 'T is a judgment which Aristotle has already pronounc'd against them and it ought to be put in Execution But this pretended Demonstration cannot but create Pity For it gives us to know the Weakness of an Humane Mind And that the Philosophers themselves are infinitely more sensible than Reasonable It evinces that those who glory in being the Inquirers of Truth know not even whom they are to consult to hear any News of it Whether Soveraign Reason which never deceives but always speaks things as they are in themselves or the Body which speaks only out of Interest and with reference to the preservation and convenience of Life For in fine what prejudices will not be justified if we set up our Senses for Judges to which most of them owe their Birth As I have shown in The Search after Truth When I see a Bowl shock another my Eyes tell me or seem to tell me that it is the True Cause of the motion it impresses for the true cause that moves Bodies is not visible to my Eyes But if I interrogate my Reason I evidently see that Bodies having no Power to move themselves and their moving force being nothing but the Will of God which preserves them successively in different places they cannot communicate a Power which they have not nor could communicate if they had it For 't is plain that there must be Wisdom and that Infinite to regulate the communication of motions with that exactness Proportion and Uniformity which we see A Body cannot know that infinite multitude of impuls'd Bodies round about it and though we should suppose it to have knowledge yet it would not have enough so proportionably to regulate and distribute at the instant of protrusion the moving force it self is carried with When I open my Eyes the Sun appears to me splendidly glorious in Light And it seems not only to be visible it self but to make all the World so too Methinks 't is he that arrays the Earth with flowers and enriches it with Fruits That gives Life to Animals and striking by His Heat into the very Womb of the Earth impregnates Her with Stones Marbles and Metalls But in consulting my Reason I see nothing of all this And if I faithfully consult it I plainly discover the seducement of my Senses and find that God Works all in all For knowing that all the changes which accrue to Bodies have no other principle than the different Communications of Motions which occur in visible and invisible Bodies I see that God does all since 't is his Will that causes and his Wisdom that regulates all these Communications I suppose that Local Motion is the principle of Generations Corruptions Alterations and Universally of all the changes
is because his Wisdom which in this respect is an Abyss to our apprehensions Wills it so Lastly 't is because this Conduct is more worthy of God than could be any other more favourable for the Reprobate For even they are condemn'd hy an Order as worthy our Adorations as that whereby the Elect are sanctified and sav'd And nothing but our Ignorance of Order and our Self-love make us blame a Conduct which the Angels and Saints eternally admire But let us return to the proofs of the efficacy of second Causes ARGUMENT V. If Bodies had not a certain Nature or Force to act with and if God did all things there would be nothing but what was Supernatural in the most ordinary effects The distinction of Natural and Supernatural which has been so well receiv'd in the World and establisht by the universal approbation of the Learn'd would be Chimerical and Extravagant ANSWER I answer that distinction is absurd in the Mouth of Aristotle since the Nature he has establisht is a meer Chimera I say that distinction is not clear in the mouth of the Vulgar part of Men who judge of things by the Impression they make upon their Senses For they know not precisely what they mean when they say the Fire burns by it's Nature I say that this distinction may pass in the mouth of a Divine if he means by natural Effects the consequences of the General Laws which God has settled for the production and preservation of all things And by supernatural Effects those which are independent on these Laws In this sense the Distinction is true But the Philosophy of Aristotle together with the Impression of the senses makes it as I think dangerous because it may divert from God the too respectful admirers of the Opinions of that wretched Philosopher or such as consult their senses instead of retiring into themselves to consult the Truth And therefore that distinction is not to be made use of without an Explication St. Austin having us'd the word fortune retracted it though there are few that could be deceiv'd by it St. Paul speaking of meats offer'd to Idols advertises that an Idol is nothing If the Nature of the Heathen Philosophy be a fiction if that nature be nothing it should be precaution'd for that there are many who are abus'd by it And more than we suppose who inconsiderately attribute to it the Works of God who are taken up with this Idol or fiction of the Humane mind and pay it those Honours which are only due to the Divinity They are willing to let God be Author of Miracles and some Extraordinary effects which in one sense are little worthy of his Greatness and Wisdom and they refer to the Power of their Imaginary nature those constant and regular Effects which none but the Wise know how to admire They suppose too that this so wonderful disposition which all living Bodies have to preserve themselves and beget their like is a production of their Nature For according to these Philosophers the Sun and Man beget a Man We may still distinguish between supernatural and natural Order several ways For we may say that the supernatural relates to future Goods that it is establish't upon consideration of the merits of CHRIST that it is the first and principal in the designs of God and other things enough to preserve a distinction which they are vainly apprehensive should fall to the ground ARGUMENT VI. The main proof which is brought by the Philosophers for the Efficacy of second Causes is drawn from the will and liberty of Man Man wills and determines of himself But to Will and Determine is to Act. 'T is certainly Man who commits Sin God not being the Author of it any more than of Concupiscence and Error Therefore Man acts ANSWER I have sufficiently explain'd in several Places of the Treatise about the Search of Truth what is the Will and Liberty of Man and especially in the first Chapter of the first Book and in the first Illustration upon it so that it is needless to repeat it again I acknowledge Man Wills and Determines himself in as much as God causes him to Will incessantly carries him towards good and gives him all the Idea's and Sensations by which he determines his Impression I know likewise that Man alone commits Sin But I deny that therein he does any thing For Sin Errour and even Concupiscence are nothing I have explain'd my self upon this Point in the first Illustration Man wills but his Volitions are impotent in themselves they produce nothing and God works all notwithstanding them For 't is even God that makes our Will by the Impression he gives us towards Good All that Man has from himself are Errour and Sin which are nothing There is a great difference between our Minds and Bodies that are about us I grant Our Mind in one sense Wills Acts and Determines it self Our own inward Consciousness is an evident Conviction If we were destitute of Liberty there could be no future Recompence and Punishment for 't is our Liberty that makes our Actions good or bad and without it Religion would be but a Phantasm and a Dream But that which we cannot see clearly is That Bodies have a force of Acting This it is we cannot comprehend and this we deny when we deny the Efficacy of Second Causes Even the Mind acts not in that measure which is imagin'd I know that I will and that I Will freely I have no Reason to doubt of it which is stronger than that inward feeling I have of my self Nor do I deny it but I deny that my Will is the true Cause of the Motion of my Arm of the Idea's of my Mind and of other things which accompany my Volitions For I see no Relation between so different things Nay I most clearly see there can be no Analogy between my Will to move my Arm and the Agitation of some little Bodies whose Motion and Figure I do not know which make choice of certain Nervous Canals amongst a Million of others unknown to me in Order to cause in me the Motion I desire by a World of Motions which I desire not I deny that my Will produces in me my Idea's I cannot see how 't is possible it should for since it cannot Act or Will without Knowledge it supposes my Idea's but does not make them Nay I do not so much as know precisely what an Idea is I cannot tell whether we produce them out of nothing and send them back to the same nothing when we cease to perceive them I speak after the Notion of some Persons I produce you 'll say my Idea's by the Faculty which God gives me of Thinking I move my Arm because of the Union which God has establish'd between my Mind and Body Faculty Vnion are Logical Terms of loose and indeterminate Signification There is no particular Being nor Mode of Being which is either Faculty or Vnion Therefore
these Terms ought to be explain'd If you 'll say that the Union of my Mind and Body consists in God's willing That upon my Desire to move my Arm the Animal Spirits should betake themselves to the Muscles it is compos'd of to move it in the manner desir'd I clearly understand this Explication and receive it But this is exactly my own Assertion For if my Will determine that of God 't is evident that my Arm is mov'd not by my Will which is impotent of it self but by the Will of God which never fails of its Effect But if it be said The Union of my Mind and Body consists in God's giving me a Force to move my Arm as he has given my Body likewise a Force of making me feel Pleasure and Pain to the end I may be sollicitous for this Body and be concern'd for its Preservation certainly this is to suppose the thing in dispute and to make a Circle No Man has a clear Idea of that Force which the Soul has over the Body or the Body over the Soul nor knows very well what he says when he positively asserts it That Opinion has been embrac'd through Prejudice has been learn'd in Infancy and in the Age of Sense But Understanding Reason and Reflexion have no part in it which is manifest enough from what I have said in the foregoing Treatise But you 'll say I know by my inward Conscience of my Action that I really have this Force and therefore am not mistaken in believing it I answer That when I move my Arm I am conscious to my self of the Actual Volition by which I move it and I err not in believing I have that Volition I have moreover an inward Sense of a certain Effort or Endeavour which accompanies this Volition and it is to believ'd that I make this Endeavour Last of all I grant that I have an inward feeling of the Motion of my Arm at the instant of this Effort which suppos'd I agree to what is said That the Motion of the Arm is perform'd at the instant a Man feels this Effort or has a practical Volition of moving his Arm. But I deny that this Effort which is no more than a Modification or Sensation of the Soul which is given us to make us understand our Weakness and to afford us a confus'd and obscure Sensation of our Strength can be capable of moving and determining the Spirits I deny there is any Analogy or Proportion between our Thoughts and the Motions of Matter I deny that the Soul has the least Knowledge of the Animal Spirits which she imploys to move the Body Animated by her Last of all Though the Soul exactly knew the Animal Spirits and were capable of moving them or determining their Motions yet I deny that with all this she could make choice of these Ductus of the Nerves of which she has no Knowledge so as to drive the Spirits into them and thereby move the Body with that Readiness Exactness and Force as is observable even in those who are the least acquainted with the Structure of their Body For supposing that our Volitions are truly the moving Force of Bodies howbeit that seems inconceivable how can we conceive the Soul moves her Body The Arm for Example is mov'd by means of an inflation or contraction caus'd by the Spirits in some of the Muscles that compose it But to the end the Motion imprinted by the Soul on the Spirits in the Brain may be Communicated to those in the Nerves and from thence to others in the Muscles of the Arm the Volitions of the Soul must needs multiply or change in proportion to those almost infinite shocks or Collisions that are made by the little Bodies that constitute the Spirits But this is inconceivable without admitting in the Soul an infinite number of Volitions upon the least Motion of the Body since the moving it would necessarily demand an innumerable multitude of Communications of Motions For in short the Soul being but a particular Cause and not able to know exactly the degrees of agitation and the dimensions of infinite little Corpuscles which encounter upon the dispersion of the Spirits into the Muscles she could not settle a General Law for the Communication of these Spirits Motion nor follow it exactly if she had establish't it Thus it is evident the Soul could not move her Arm although she had the Power of determining the Motion of the Animal Spirits These things are too clear to be longer insisted on The case is the same with our Thinking Faculty We are inwardly conscious that we Will the Thinking on something that we make an effort to that purpose and that in the Moment of our desire and effort the Idea of the thing presents it self to our Mind but our inward Sensation does not tell us that our Will or Effort produces our Idea Reason does not assure us that it 's possible and only prejudice makes us believe that our desires are the causes of our Ideas whilst we experiment an hundred times a Day that the latter accompany or pursue the former As God and his Operations have nothing sensible in them and as we are not conscious of any thing but our desires that precede the presence of our Ideas so we do not think our Ideas can have any other cause than these desires But view the thing closely and we shall see no force in us to produce them neither Reason nor Conscience giving us any information thereupon I don't think my self oblig'd to transcribe all the other proofs employ'd by the patrons for the Efficacy of Second Causes Because they seem so trifling that I might be thoughts to design to render them Ridiculous And I should make my self so if I gave them a Serious Answer An Author for Example very gravely asserts in behalf of his Opinion Created Beings are true Material Formal Final Causes why must not they likewise be Efficient or Efficacious I fancy I should give the World little satisfaction if to answer this Gentlemans Question I should stand to explain so gross an Ambiguity and show the difference between an Efficacious cause and that which the Philosophers are pleas'd to call material Therefore I leave such arguments as these to come to those which are drawn from Holy-Writ ARGUMENT VII The Defenders of the Efficacay of Second Causes commonly alledge the following Passages to support their Opinion Let the Earth bring forth Grass Let the Waters bring forth the moving Creature that hath Life and Fowl that may fly c. Therefore the Earth and Water by the Word of God receiv'd the Power of producing Plants and Animals Afterwards God Commanded the Fowls and Fishes to multiply Be fruitful and multiply and fill the Waters in the Seas and let Fowl multiply in the Earth Therefore he gave them a Power of begetting their like Our Saviour in the fourth Chapter of St. Mark says the Seed which falls on good Ground brings forth
Fruit an Hundred-fold and that the Earth bringeth forth Fruits of her self first the blade then the Ear after that the full Corn in the Ear. Lastly it is written in the Book of Wisdom that the Fire had as it were forgotten it's strength to Burn in favour of the People of God It is therefore certain from the Old and New Testament that Second Causes have an Active Force ANSWER I answer that in Holy-Writ there are many Passages which ascribe to God the pretended Efficacy of Second Causes some of which are these I am the Lord that maketh ALL THINGS that stretcheth forth the Heavens ALONE that spreadeth abroad the Earth by MY SELF Thine hands have made me and fashion'd me together round about I cannot tell how you came into my Womb. It was not I that form'd the Members of every one of you But doubtless the Creator of the World who formâ—d the Generation of Man c. Seeing he giveth to Life and breath and all things He causeth Grass to grow for the Cattle and Herb for the service of Men that he may bring forth food out of the Earth There are infinite such like Passages but let these suffice When an Author seems to Contradict himself And Natural Equity or a stronger Reason obliges us to reconcile him to himself methinks we have an infallible Rule to discover his true Opinion For we need but observe when he speaks according to his own Light and when after Common Opinion When a Man Accommodates himself to the vulgar way of speaking that is no sure sign he is of their Opinion But when he says positively the contrary to what Custom Authorises though he say it but once we have Reason to conclude it his judgement provided we know he speaks seriously and with Mature deliberattion For instance when an Author speaking of the properties of Animals shall say an hundred times over that Beasts have sense that Dogs know their Master that they Love and Fear him and but in two or three places shall affirm that Beasts are insensible that Dogs are incapable of Knowledge and that they neither Love nor Fear any thing how shall we reconcile this Author to himself Must we make a Collection of all his passages for and against it and judge of his Opinion by the greater number If so I conceive there is no Man to whom for example may be attributed this Opinion That Animals have no Soul For even the Cartesians most frequently say that a Dogs feels when he is beaten and rarely it is that they affirm he does not feel And although I my self encounter a vast multitude of prejudices in this Treatise yet many passages may be gather'd from it by which unless this present Rule be admitted it may be prov'd that I confirm them all and even that I hold the Opinion of the Efficacy of Second Causes which I am now refuting or it may be it might be concluded that the Search after Truth abounds with gross and palpable contradictions as do some Persons who I fear have not Equity and penetration enough to set up for judges of the Works of others Holy Scripture and Fathers and most Religious Men speak oftner of sensible Goods Riches and Honours in the vulgar Opinion than by the true Ideas they have of them Our LORD brings in Abraham saying to the Wicked Rich Man Son thou hast receiv'd thy GOOD things in thy Life time that is to say Riches and Honour What we by prejudice call Good our Good that is Gold and Silver is stil'd in Scripture in an hundred places our Sustenance and Substance and even our honesty or that which Honours us Paupertas Honestas à Deo sunt Must these ways of speaking us'd by the Holy Scripture and the most Religious Persons make us believe that they contradict themselves or that Riches and Honours are truly our goods and worthy our Love and our Researches No doubtless Because the Modes of Speech suiting with prejudices signify nothing And that we see elsewhere that Our SAVIOUR has compar'd Riches to Thorns has told us we must renounce them that they are deceitful and that all that 's great and glorious in the World is an abomination in the sight of God Therefore we must not heap together the Passages of Scripture or the Fathers to judge of their Opinions by the greater number unless we will attribute to them every Moment the most irrational prejudices in the World This being suppos'd 't is plain that Holy Scripture says positively 't is God that makes all even to the Grass of the Field that arrays the Lillies with such Ornaments as CHRIST prefers before those of Solomon in all his Glory 'T is not only two or three but innumerable Passages that Attribute to God the pretended Efficacy of Second Causes and overthrow the Nature of the Peripateticks Besides we are inclin'd as it were by a kind of Natural prejudice not to think on God in Ordinary Effects And to attribute force and Efficacy to Second Causes for the generality none but Miraculous Effects can make us think on God as the Author and the sensible impression engages us in the Opinion of Second Causes The Philosophers hold this Opinion because say they the Senses evince it Which is their mightiest Argument Lastly this Opinion is receiv'd by all that follow the judgment of their Senses The Language is accommodated to this prejudice and 't is as commonly said That Fire has a Power to Burn as that Silver and Gold are a Man's Goods Wherefore those Passages which the Scripture or Fathers afford us for the Efficacy of Second Causes prove no more than those That an Ambitious or Covetous Person would choose for the vindication of his Behaviour But we are not to say so of those Expressions that may be brought for the proof of God's Working all in all For since this Opinion is repugnant to prejudice the Passages that assert it are to be interpreted in their utmost Rigour For the same Reason that we are to conclude it the Sentiment of a Cartesian that Beasts are Insensible though he should say it but now and then and should constantly in common Discourse say the contrary as that they Feel See and Hear In the first Chapter of Genesis God Commands the Earth to produce Plants and Animals and Orders the Waters to bring forth Fish and Consequently say the Peripateticks the Water and Earth were indu'd with a competent Virtue to produce these Effects I cannot see the certainty of this conclusion nor any necessity of admitting this consequence though we were oblig'd to explain this Chapter by it self without recourse to other passages of Scripture This method of expounding the Creation is adapted to our way of conceiving things and so there is no necessity of our taking it Literally nor ought we to lay it as a Foundation to our prejudices Since we see Animals and Plants on the Earth Fowls inhabiting the Air and Fishes
that God should continue to them their Vertue he endow'd them with in their Creation And since this Opinion is exactly agreeable with Prejudice because of the insensible Operation of God in Second Causes it is commonly embrac'd by the vulgar sort of Men and such as have more studied Ancient Naturalists and Physicians than Theology and Truth Most are of Opinion that God created all things at first and gave them all the Qualities and Faculties that were necessary to their preservation that he has for example given the first Motion of Matter and left it afterwards to it self to produce by the Communication of its Motions that admirable variety of Forms we see 'T is Ordinarily suppos'd that Bodies can move one another and this is said to be Mr. des Cartes's Opinion though he speaks expresly against it in the Thirty Sixth and Seventh Articles of the Second Part of his Philosophical Principles Since Men must unavoidably acknowledge that the Creatures depend on God they lessen and abridge as much as possible that dependance whether out of a secret Aversion to God or a strange and wretched stupidity and insensibility to his Operation But whereas this Opinion is receiv'd but by those who have not much studied Religion and have preferr'd their Senses to their Reason and Aristotle's Authority to that of Holy Writ we have no reason to fear its making way into the Mind of those who have any Love for Truth and Religion for provided a Man seriously examin'd it he must needs discover its falsity But the Opinion of God's Immediate Concourse to every Action of Second Causes seems to accord with those Passages of Scripture which often attribute the same Effect both to GOD and the Creature We must consider then that there are places in Scripture where 't is said that God is the only Agent I am the Lord that maketh all things that stretcheth forth the Heavens alone that spreadeth abroad the Earth by my self Ego sum Dominus says Isaiah faciens OMNIA Extendens coelos SOLVS stabiliens Terram NVLLVS Mecum A Mother Animated with the Spirit of God tells her Children it was not her that form'd them I cannot tell how you came into my Womb For I neither gave you Breath nor Life neither was it I that form'd the Members of every one of you But doubtless the Creator of the World c. Nescio qualiter in utero meo apparuistis singulorum membra NON EGO IPSA COMPEGI sed mundi Creator She does not say with Aristotle and the School of the Peripateticks that to her and the Sun they ow'd their Birth but to the Creator of the Universe Which Opinion that God only Works and forms Children in their Mothers Womb not being conformable to Prejudice and Common Opinion These Sentences according to the pre-establish'd Principle must be explain'd in the Literal Sense But on the contrary the Notion of Second Causes falling in with the vulgar Opinion and being Suited to the sensible impression the Passages which expresly make for the separate Efficacy of Second Causes must be reckon'd invalid when compar'd with the former Concourse therefore is insufficient to reconcile the different Texts of Scripture and all Force Power and Efficacy must be ascrib'd to God But though the immediate concurrence of God with Second Causes were fit to accommodate the disagreeing passages of Holy Writ yet after all it is a question whether it ought to be admitted For the Sacred Books were not compos'd for the Theologists of these times but for the People of the Jews So that if this People had not understanding or Subtilty enough to imagine a Concourse such as is admitted in School-Divinity and to agree to a thing which the greatest Divines are hard put to to explain it follows if I mistake not that the Holy Scripture which Attributes to God and even to God alone the production and preservation of all things would have betray'd them into Error And the Holy Pen-Men had stood chargeable with writing not only in an unintelligible but deceitful Language For in saying that God Work'd all they would have design'd no more than that God assisted to all things with his concourse which was not probably so much as thought on by the Jews Those amongst them who were not very great Philosophers believing that God Work'd all and not that he concurr'd to all But that we may pass a more certain judgement about this Concourse it would be requisite to explain with care the different Hypotheses of the School-Men upon it For besides those impenetrable Clouds and Obscurities which involve all the Opinions that cannot be explain'd and defended without loose and indefinite Terms there are upon this Matter so great a variety of Opinions that it would be no hard Matter to discover the cause of them But I design not to engage in a discussion that would be so wearisom to my self as well as the greatest part of Readers On the contrary I had rather try to show that my Opinions may in some thing accord with those of the greater number of Scholastick Divines though I cannot but say their Language looks very Ambiguous and confus'd To explain my self I am of Opinion as I have said elsewhere that Bodies for example have no Force to move themselves and that therefore their moving force is nothing but the Action of God or not to make use of a Term which has no distinct import their moving force is nothing but the Will of God always necessarily Efficacious which successively preserves them in different Places For I believe not that God Creates any particular Beings to make the moving force of Bodies not only because I have no Idea of such a kind of Being nor see how they could move Bodies But also because these Beings themselves would have need of others to move them and so in infinitum For none but God is truely Immoveable and Mover altogether Which being so when a Body strikes and moves another I may say that it Acts by the Concurrence of God and that this Concurrence is not distinct from its own Action For a Body meeting another moves it by its Action or its moving force which at bottom is nothing but the Will of God preserving the Body successively in different Places the translation of a Body being not it's Action or moving force but the Effect of it Almost all Divines say too that the Action of Second Causes is not different from that of God's Concurrence with them For though they have a various Meaning yet they suppose that God Acts in the Creatures by the same Action as the Creatures And they are oblig'd if I mistake not thus to speak For if the Creatures Acted by an Action which God Work'd not in them their Action consider'd as such would no doubt be independent But they acknowledge as it becomes them that the Creatures depend immediately on God not only as to their Being but likewise as to
Idolaters for I cannot refrain from believing that all Honour and Love that have not God for their End are Species of Idolatry Soli Deo honor gloria THE ILLUSTRATION UPON WHAT I have said in the Fourth Chapter of the Second Part concerning Method and elsewhere That God Acts always with Order and by the simplest ways 'T IS thought by some Persons to be too rash and venturous conjecturing and abusing loose and General Terms To say that God always Acts with Order and by ways that are most simple and easie for the Execution of his designs Wherefore it will not be an useless undertaking to prove and explain this Truth since 't is of the greatest consequence not only to the knowledge of Nature but much more for the knowledge of Religion and Morality By the Word God we understand an infinitely perfect Being whose Wisdom and Knowledge have no bounds and who consequently knows all the means by which he can execute his Designs Which suppos'd I say that God Acts always by the shortest means and by the simplest ways To make my meaning better understood I take a sensible Example I suppose that God Wills the Body A should strike the Body B. Since God knows all He perfectly knows that A may tend to strike against B by innumerable crooked Lines and by but one right Now God Wills only the impulsion of B by A and we suppose that he only Wills the Translation of A to B to effect this impulsion A then must be convey'd to B by the shortest way that is by a right Line For if the Body A were convey'd to B by a crooked Line that would show either that the conveyer knew no other way or that he purpos'd not only the Collision of these Bodies but also the means of making it otherwise than by Relation to it which is against the Supposition There is required so much more Action to convey a Body from A to B by a curv'd than by a right Line as the curv'd is longer than the right If therefore God translated A to B by a curv'd Line double to the interjacent right half of the Action of God would be intirely useless and so half his Action would be produc'd without design and end as well as without effect therefore Again Action in God is Will therefore more Will is requir'd in God to cause A to be circulary than directly translated But we suppose that God had no Will in respect of the Motion of A but as it relates to the Collision therefore there is not Will enough in God to move A by a crooked Line and consequently 't is a Contradiction for A to be so mov'd Thus it is a Contradiction that God should not Act by the most simple ways unless we suppose that God in the choice of means he imploys for the executing his designs has something else in view than these designs which is a Contradiction in our Supposition When I say there is more Will in God to translate a Body from A to B by a crooked Line than by a strait it is not to be thence concluded against the simplicity of God's Essence and Action For it must be acknowledged That it is not comprehensible how either the simplicity of an Infinite Being includes all the different perfections of Finite Beings or how his Will continuing ever the same and always conformable to Order varies with reference to the different Beings it produces and preserves I speak but according to our way of conceiving things Now methinks I have a most clear Conception That when God Wills and Creates for Example one cubical foot of Matter He Wills another thing than when He Creates two For nothing is plainer than that God could not Create two different things nor know whether he Created one or two Cube-feet of Matter or whether he convey'd a Body circularly or directly if there were not in His Wills some difference in regard to Matter and its Motion since God sees no otherwise than in Himself and in his own Wills all the differences of His Creatures Now whatever that Action is in God which relates to the different Beings produc'd or preserv'd by Him I call the Differences or Augmentations and Diminutions of Will in God And in this way of conceiving things I say that God cannot employ more Will than is necessary to the executing his Designs and therefore Acts always by the simplest ways with reference to them However I deny not but it 's possible for God to have a great number of ways equally simple for the producing the same effects or that He may produce them by different means But this I say that He always brings them to pass by the ways that are most simple provided they be all of the same kind it being a Contradiction that an Infinitely Wise Being should have useless or disorderly Wills Now if we bring home this Principle to Morality we shall see that those ensure their Salvation who so prepare themselves for Grace by Self-denial and Repentance and an exact Obedience to the Precepts of our LORD as that God Acting by the simplest ways that is in giving them but little additional Grace may Operate much in them For though God would have all Men saved yet he shall save none but those that can be sav'd by the most simple means which have reference to his great design of Sanctifying through JESUS CHRIST a determinate number of Elect unto his Glory and he will multiply the Children of Eve till that number be fulfill'd For God's design of Sanctifying us by the simplest ways made it necessary for him after the Sin to multiply the Children of Men that he might fill up the number of the Elect since there are a great many Persons who Damn themselves by with-drawing from the Order of God But whereas God does not Work like a Particular Cause we ought not to imagine that He has like us particular Volitions for every thing He produces For if it were so it seems evident to me That the Generation of Monsters would be impossible and it would never happen that one of God's Works should destroy another And since God cannot have contrary Wills we must have had recourse with the Manichees to a Principle of Evil to freeze for Example the Fruits which God made to grow Which being so there is methinks a necessity to conclude the establishment of some General Laws by which God Predestines and Sanctifies his Elect in JESUS CHRIST which Laws are what we call the Order of Grace as God's General Wills whereby he produces and preserves all things in the World are the Order of Nature I know not but I may be mistaken yet I doubt not but from this Principle might be directly drawn a great many Consequences which might resove those difficulties that have been the Controverted Subjects of several Years But I do not think my self oblig'd to deduce them let every one do it according to his Light and
be enquir'd why GOD who so loves the Glory he receives in the Establishment of His Church had not begun it many Ages before Thus it suffices to say That an Eternity ought to forego the Incarnation of the WORD to manifest why this Great Mystery was accomplish'd neither sooner nor later GOD then must have created the Universe for the Church and the Church for JESUS CHRIST and JESUS CHRIST that He might find in Him a Sacrifice and High-Priest worthy of the Divine Majesty We shall not doubt of this Order of the Designs of GOD if it be observ'd that He can have no other End of his Actions than Himself And if it be conceiv'd that Eternity does not belong to Creatures we shall acknowledge they were produc'd when 't was requisite they should be Which Truths suppos'd let us try to discover something in the Method GOD takes for the Execution of His Grand Design VII Were I not persuaded that all Men are no farther Reasonable than enlightned by Eternal Wisdom it would no doubt be great Temerity to speak of the Designs of GOD and offer to discover any of His Ways in the Production of His Work But whereas it is certain that the word Eternal is the Universal Reason of Minds and that by the Light which he continually sheds in us we may have some Communication with GOD I ought not to be blam'd for consulting that Light which though Consubstantial with GOD Himself fails not to answer those who know how to enquire of it by a serious Attention VIII However I confess that Faith teaches a great many Truths not discoverable by the natural Union of the Mind with Reason Eternal Truth answers not to all we ask since we ask sometimes more than we can receive But this must not serve for a Pretence to justifie our Laziness and Inapplication IX Vulgar Heads are soon wearied with the Natural Prayer the Mind by its Attention ought to make to inward Truth in order to receive Light and Understanding from it and thus fatigu'd by that painful Exercise they talk of it in a contemptuous manner They dishearten one another and cover their Weakness and Ignorance under the delusive Appearances of a counterfeit Humility X. But their Example is not to infuse into us that agreeable Vertue which cherishes Carelessness and Negligence in the Mind and comforts it under its Ignorance of most necessary Truths We must pray constantly to Him who enlightens all Men That he will bestow His Light upon us recompence our Faith with the Gift of Understanding and especially to prevent us from mistaking Probability and confus'd Sensations which precipitate proud Minds into Darkness and Errour for the Evidence which accompanies His Resolves XI When we design to speak of GOD with any exactness we must not consult our selves nor the vulgar part of Men but elevate our Thoughts above all Creatures and with great Reverence and Attention consult the vast and immense Idea of a Being infinitely perfect which representing the true GOD very different from what the Vulgar fancy Him to themselves we are not to treat of Him in popular Language Every Body is allow'd to say with the Scripture that GOD Repented Him that He created Man that He was Angry with his People that he deliver'd Israel from Captivity by the Strength of His Arm. But these or the like Expressions are not permitted Divines when they should speak accurately and justly Therefore 't is not to be wondred if in the Sequel of Discourse my Expression shall be found uncommon It ought rather to be carefully observ'd whether they be clear and perfectly adapted to the Idea which all Men have of an Infinitely Perfect Being XII This Idea of a Being infinitely perfect includes two Attributes absolutely necessary to the Creation of the World an unlimited Wisdom and an irresistible Power The Wisdom of GOD affords infinite Ideas of different Works and all possible Ways for the executing His Designs and His Power renders Him so absolutely Master of all things and so independent of all Assistances whatever that He need but Will to execute what he Wills For we must above all take notice that GOD needs no Instruments to work with that His Wills are necessarily efficacious in a Word that as His Wisdom is His own Understanding His Power is no other than His Will Among these innumerable Ways whereby GOD might have executed His Design let us see which was preferable to all other and let us begin with the Creation of this Visible World from which and in which He forms the Invisible which is the Eternal Object of His Love XIII An excellent Artist ought to proportion his Action to his Work he does not that by Ways compound which may be perform'd by more simple he acts not without End and never makes insignificant Essays Whence we are to conclude that GOD discovering in the infinite Treasures of His Wisdom an Infinity of possible Worlds as necessary Consequences of the Laws of Motion which he could establish was determin'd to the Creation of that which might be produc'd and preserv'd by the simplest Laws or which should be the perfectest that could be considering the simplicity of the Ways necessary to its Production and Preservation XIV GOD might doubtless have made a perfecter World than that we inhabit He might for Instance have caus'd the Rain which fecundates the Earth to have fallen more regularly on Plow'd Lands than in the Sea where it is not necessary But in order to this He must have chang'd the Simplicity of His Ways and have multiplied the Laws of the Communications of Motions by which our World subsists and so there would not have been that Proportion between the Action of GOD and His Work which is necessary to determine an infinitely wise Being to act or at least there would not have been the same Proportion between the Action of GOD and this so perfect World as there is between the Laws of Nature and the World we inhabit For our World imagine it as imperfect as you will is sounded on so Simple and Natural Laws of Motion as make it perfectly worthy of the infinite Wisdom of its Author And indeed I am of Opinion that the Laws of Motion necessary to the Production and Preservation of the Earth and all the Stars in the Heavens are reduc'd to these Two First That mov'd Bodies tend to continue their Motion in a right line Secondly That when two Bodies meet their Motion is distributed to each in proportion to their Magnitude so that after the Collision they ought to move with equal degrees of Celerity These two Laws are the Cause of all those Motions which produce that variety of Forms which we admire in Nature XVI 'T is own'd notwithstanding that the second is â—ever manifestly observable in the Experiments that can be made upon the Subject but that comes from our seeing only what happens in visible Bodies and our not thinking on the invisible that surround
them which by the Efficacy of the same Law giving the Elasticity to visible Bodies oblige them to rebound and hinder them from observing it But this I ought not to explain more at length XVII Now these two Laws are so Simple so Natural and at the same time so Fruitful that though we had no other Reason to conclude they are observ'd in Nature we should be induc'd to believe them establish'd by Him who works always by the simplest Ways in whose Action there is nothing but what 's so justly uniform and wisely proportion'd to his Work that He does infinite Wonders by a very small Number of Wills XVIII It fares not so with the General Cause as with the Particular with infinite Wisdom as with limited Understandings GOD foreseeing before the Establishment of Natural Laws all that could follow from them ought not to have constituted them if He was to disannul them The Laws of Nature are constant and immutable and general for all Times and Places Two Bodies of such degrees of Magnitude and Swiftness meeting rebound so now as they did heretofore If the Rain falls upon some Grounds and the Sun scorches others if a seasonable Time for Harvest is follow'd by a destructive Hail if an Infant comes into the World with a monstrous and useless Head growing from his Breast that makes him wretched this proceeds not from the particular Wills of GOD but from the Settlement of the Laws of Communication of Motions whereof these Effects are necessary Consequences Laws at once so simple and so fruitful that they serve to produce all we see Noble in the World and even to repair in a little time the most general Barrenness and Mortality XIX He that having built an House throws one Wing of it down that he may rebuild it betrays his Ignorance and he who having planted a Vine plucks it up as soon as it has taken root manifests his Levity because he that wills and unwills wants either Knowledge or Resolution of Mind But it cannot be said that GOD acts either by this Freakishness or Ignorance when a Child comes into the World with superfluous Members that make him leave it again or that an Hail-stone breaks off a Fruit half ripe If he causes this 't is not because he wills and unwills for GOD acts not like particular Causes by particular Wills nor has he establish'd the Laws of the Communications of Motions with design to produce Monsters or to make Fruit fall before Maturity it not being their Sterility but Fecundity for which He will'd these Laws Therefore what He once will'd He still wills and the World in general for which these Laws were constituted will eternally subsist XX. 'T is here to be observ'd That the Essential Rule of the Will of GOD is Order and that if Man for example had not sinn'd a Supposition which had quite chang'd the Designs then Order not suffering him to be punish'd the Natural Laws of the Communications of Motions would never have been capable to incommodate his Felicity For the Law of Order which requires that a righteous Person should suffer nothing against his Will being Essential to GOD the Arbitrary Law of the Communication of Motions must have been necessarily subservient to it XXI There are still some uncommon Instances where these General Laws of Motions ought to cease to produce their Effect not that GOD changes or corrects His Laws but that some Miracles must happen on particular Occasions by the Order of Grace which ought to supersede the Order of Nature Besides 't is fit Men should know that GOD is so Master of Nature that if He submits it to His Laws establish'd 't is rather because He wills it so than by an absolute Necessity XXII If then it be true that the General Cause ought not to produce His Work by particular Wills and that GOD ought to settle certain constant and invariable Laws of the Communication of Motions by the Efficacy whereof He foresaw the World might subsist in the State we find it in one Sense it may be most truly said that GOD desires all his Creatures should be perfect that He wills not the Abortion of Children nor loves monstrous Productions nor has made the Laws of Nature with design of causing them and that if it were possible by ways so simple to make and preserve a perfecter World He would never have establish'd those Laws whereof so great a Number of Monsters are the necessary Results But that it would have been unworthy His Wisdom to multiply His Wills to prevent some particular Disorders which by their Diversity make a kind of Beauty in the Universe XXIII GOD has given to every Seed a Cicatricle which contains in Miniature the Plant and Fruit another Cicatricle adjoining to the former which contains the Root of the Plant which Root contains another Root still whose imperceptible Branches expand themselves into the two Lobes or Meal of the Seed Does not this manifest that in one most real Sense He designs all Seeds should produce their like For why should He have given to those Grains of Corn He design'd should be barren all the Parts requisite to render them Fecund Nevertheless Rain being necessary to make them thrive and this falling on the Earth by General Laws which distribute it not precisely on well manur'd Grounds and in the fittest Seasons all these Grains come not to good or if they do the Hail or some other mischievous Accident which is a Necessary Consequence of these same Natural Laws prevents their earing Now GOD having constituted these Laws might be said to will the Fecundity of some Seeds rather than others if we did not otherwise know that it not becoming a General Cause to work by Particular Wills nor an infinitely wise Being by Complicated Ways GOD ought not to take other Measures than He has done for the Regulating the Rains according to Time and Place or by the Desire of the Husbandman Thus much is suffiâ—ient for the Order of Nature Let us explain that of Grace a little more at large and especially remember that 't is the same Wisdom and the same Will in a word the same GOD who has establish'd them both PART II. Of the Necessity of the General Laws of GRACE XXIV GOD loving Himself by the Necessity of His Being and willing to procure an Infinite Glory and Honour on all Hands worthy of himself consults His Wisdom for the accomplishing His Desires This Divine Wisdom fill'd with Love for Him from whom He receives His Being by an Eternal and Ineffable Generation seeing nothing in all possible Creatures worthy of the Majesty of His Father offers Himself to establish to His Honour an Eternal Worship and to present Him as High Priest a Sacrifice which through the Dignity of His Person should be capable of contenting Him He represents to Him infinite Models for the Temple to be rais'd to His Glory and at the same time all possible Ways to execute His Designs
Difficulties that can be started about the Circumstances of our Mysteries like as to vindicate the Orders of Nature and Grace in themselves we need but know That God being infinitely wiâ—e frames no Design but upon the admirable Proportion of Wisdom and Fecundity discover'd in the ways capable to bring it to pass as I have explain'd in the First Discourse L. Most Men judging of God by measure of themselves imagines that he first forms a Design and afterwards consults his Wisdom about Ways to execute it For our Volitions generally prevent our Reason and our Designs are hardly ever perfectly Rational But God's Ways are not like those of Men who acts in the following manner if I have well consulted the Idea of a Being infinitely perfect God by the infinite Light of his Wisdom knows all possible Works and at once all the respective Ways of producing them He sees all the Proportions between Means and their End He compares all things by one Eternal Immutable and Necessary View and by the Comparison he makes of the Proportions of Wisdom and Fecundity which he discovers between the Designs and Ways of executing them he freely forms a Design But the Design being form'd he necessarily chooses the general Ways most worthy of his Wisdom Greatness and Goodness For since he forms no Design but through the Knowledge of the Means of executing it the Choice of the Design includes the Choice of Means LI. When I say That God forms his Design freely I would not be thought to mean that he may make choice of another less worthy and reject that which is more worthy of his Wisdom For supposing that God wills the Production of an external Work worthy of him he is not indifferent in the Choice but must produce the perfectest possible with reference to the Simplicity of the Ways he acts by This God owes to himself from following the Rules of his Wisdom and he must always act in the wisest and perfectest manner But I say that God forms his Design freely because he does not invincibly and necessarily love any thing besides his own Substance Neither the Incarnation of the Word nor for a much stronger Reason the Creation of the World are necessary Emanations of his Nature God is fully Self-sufficient For the Being infinitely perfect may be conceiv'd alone and without necessary Relation to any of his Creatures LII As God necessarily loves himself he necessarily follows the Rules of his Wisdom But whereas his Creatures constitute no part of his Being he is so full and sufficient in himself that nothing obliges him to produce them and he is absolutely indifferent or free on their Account And therefore it is that he has made the World in Time For that Circumstance sufficiently shews that the Creatures are not necessary Emanations of the Divinity but essentially depending on the Free Will of the Creator LIII Lo however an Objection that offers it self immediately to the Mind If it were true that God necessarily follow'd the Rules of his Wisdom the World would not have been created in Time For either the World is worthy or unworthy of God If it were better that the World should not be produc'd from Nothing it ought to be Eternal if on the contrary that it should remain in Nothingness it ought not to be created Therefore God is not oblig'd to stick to Rules which his Wisdom prescribes since the World was created in Time But this Objection is easily answer'd 'T is better for the World to be than not to be but it had better not be at all than be Eternal The Creature ought to carry the Essential Character of Dependency If Spirits were Eternal they might have some reason to consider themselves as Gods or necessary Beings or at least as capable of contributing to the Greatness or Felicity of God whilst imagining he could not forego producing them They might in a manner compare themselves with the Persons in the Deity while believing themselves produc'd like them by a necessary Emanation Thus God ought by the Rules of his Wisdom to leave Creatures the Mark of their Dependence and yet give them Assurance that he made them not to annihilate them and that being constant in his Purposes by reason of his unlimited Wisdom they shall eternally subsist LIV. This Difficulty may still be driven farther in this manner God necessarily follows the Rules of his Wisdom and necessarily does what is best But it was at least better for the World to be created in Time than not to be at all And certainly it was fit by the Rules of the Wisdom of God that the World should be produc'd in the Circumstances in which he produc'd it Therefore the Creation of the World in Time is absolutely necessary God was not at Liberty on its account nor capable of hindring its temporary Production For the Resolution of this Difficulty it must be observ'd That though God follows the Rules prescrib'd by his Wisdom yet he does not necessarily what is best because being Master of his Action he may choose to do any thing To act and not to follow the Rules of his Wisdom is a Fault Therefore on supposition that God acts he necessarily acts in the wisest manner conceivable But his Liberty in the Production of the World is a Sign of his Abundance Fulness and Self-sufficiency 'T is better for the World to be than not to be the Incarnation of Jesus Christ renders the Work of God worthy of its Author I acknowledge But whereas God is essentially happy and perfect and as nothing is good on his Consideration but himself or the Cause of his Perfection and his Happiness he loves nothing invincibly besides his own Substance and whatever is exteriour to him ought to be produc'd by an Action really eternal and immutable but that derives its Necessity from Supposition of the Divine Decrees LV. I offer another Principle which I have already mention'd which may afford some Light to the Difficulties that may arise about the Incarnation of Jesus Christ and the Creation of the World Reason and Authority of Holy Writ teach us that the First and Principal of the Designs of God is the Constitution of his Church in Jesus Christ. The present World is not created to remain as it is The Falshood and Errour the Injustice and Disorder that are seen in it give us sufficiently to understand it ought to have an end The future World which Truth and Justice shall inhabit is the Earth which God has settled on inviolable Foundations and which being the Object of Divine Love shall eternally subsist God has not created this Visible World with other Design than to raise by degrees that invisible City whereof St. John speaks so many Wonders and as Jesus Christ shall be the principal Beauty of it he was always had in View by God in the Production of his Work He has made all for Man and with reference to him as the Scripture teaches But he for
our Love For to restore a Balance to an even poize or to change its propension we need not augment the lesser Weight but only retract from the over-loaden Scale Thus there are Graces of Sensation of several sorts and every sort is capable of infinite degrees For there are Pleasures Aversions and Dislikes greater and lesser ad infinitum What I have hitherto said of Delectation may be easily apply'd to other Species of the Grace of Sensation I only made choice of Pleasure or Delectation as a particular Example to explain my self clearly and without Ambiguity If there be any other Principle of our Determinations to Good besides the Grace of Sensation and that of Light I confess I am utterly ignorant of it and therefore I have resolv'd to explain the Effects of Grace necessary to the Conversion of Heart but by these two Principles for fear of incurring the blame of discoursing in general Terms that of themselves excite only confus'd Ideas which thing I avoid with all possible Care But though I have explain'd my self in Terms understood by all Mankind since there is no body but knows that the Knowledge and Sense of Good are Principles of our Determinations yet I presume not to impugn those who sticking not to these clear Ideas say in general that God operates the Conversion of our Souls by a particular Action different it may be from all I have here and elsewhere said that God works in us Experiencing in my self no other Motion than towards Good in general and that determin'd by Knowledge or Sensation I ought to suppose nothing more if by this alone I can account for all that the Scripture and Councils have determin'd about the present Subject In a word I am well assur'd that Light and Sensation are the Principles of our Determinations but I declare that I cannot tell but there may be some other whereof I have no Knowledge XXXV Besides Grace of it self efficacious and that the Effect whereof entirely depends on the good Dispositions of the Mind besides the Grace of Sensation and the Grace of Light the Righteous have moreover an Habitual Grace which makes them agreeable to God and capacitates them to work Actions meritorious of Salvation This Grace is Charity the Love of God or the Love of Order a Love which is not properly Charity unless it be stronger and greater than every other Love As it is commonly Pleasure which produces the Love of the Object that 's the true or apparent Cause of it so 't is the Delectation of Grace which produces the Love of God 'T is the Enjoyment of Sensible Pleasures which heightens Concupiscence and 't is the Grace of Sensation which encreases Charity Concupiscence diminishes by the deprivation of Sensible Pleasures and then Charity is easily preserv'd and nourish'd And whilst Charity faints by the privation of the actual Grace of Jesus Christ Concupiscence speedily thrives and grows upon it For these two Loves Charity and Cupidity constantly war with one another and gather Strength from the Weakness of their Enemy XXXVI Whatever participates of Charity is well-pleasing to God but Charity is not always active in the Just themselves In order to its working 't is necessary at least it be Illuminate For Knowledge is needful to determine the Motion of Love Thus the Grace necessary to every Good Work relating to Salvation is that of Sensation in those who begin their Conversion is that of Light at least or some Motion of Faith or Hope in those who are animated with Charity For though the Righteous may do Good Works without the Grace of Delectation they have always need of some actual Assistance to determine the Motion of their Charity But although Charity without Delectation is sufficient to conquer many Temptations yet the Grace of Sensation is necessary on many Occasions For Men cannot without the continual Help of the Second Adam resist the continual Action of the First They cannot persevere in Righteousness unless frequently assisted with the particular Grace of Jesus Christ which produces augments and maintains Charity against the continual Efforts of Concupiscence XXXVII The Effects of Pleasure and of all the Sensations of the Soul have a thousand several Dependencies on the actual Dispositions of the Mind The very same Weight has not always the same Effects It depends in its Action on the Structure of the Machine by which it is applied to the contrary Weight If a Balance be unequally suspended the force of the Weights being unequally applied the lighter may overweigh the heavier So it fares with the Weight of Pleasures They act one on another and determine the Motion of the Soul according as they are diversly applied Pleasure ought to have a greater Influence on the Person who has already a Love for the Object which causes it than on another who has an Aversion or that loves opposite Goods Pleasure forcibly determines a Person who clearly knows or vividly imagines the Advantages of Good which seems to cause it and acts feebly on the Mind of him who knows this Good but confusedly and is distrustful of it Lastly It acts with its whole Force on him who blindly follows all that gratifies Concupiscence and perhaps will have no Effect on him who has acquir'd some Habit of suspending the Judgment of his Love Now since the different degrees of Light Charity Concupiscence and the different degrees of Liberty are perpetually combining infinite ways with the different degrees of actual Pleasures which Pleasures are operative but according to their relation to the Dispositions of the Mind and Heart 't is manifest that no finite Mind can with any certainty pronounce of the Effect a particular Grace ought to produce in us For besides that there 's an infinite Combination in the things concurring to the Efficacy of Grace or the Production of its Effect this Combination is not like that of moving Springs and Forces which have always infallible and necessary Effects Therefore 't is impossible for any finite Mind to discover what passes in the Heart of Man XXXVIII But whereas God has an infinite Wisdom 't is visible that he clearly knows all the Effects that can result from the Mixture and Combination of all these things and that penetrating the Heart of Man he infallibly discovers even the Effects which depend on an Act or rather on a free Consent of our Wills Nevertheless I confess I cannot conceive how God can discover the Consequences of Actions which derive not their Infallibility from his absolute Decrees But I have no Mind to insist on Metaphysicks at the Expence of Morality and to affirm as undeniable Truths Opinions that are contrary to my own inward Consciousness of my self or in fine to speak to the Ears a certain Language which affords no clear Idea to the Mind I know well that such Objections may be made as would be too hard for me to answer satisfactorily and clearly But it may be these Objections are naturally
ought to act wisely God cannot deny himself His Ways of acting ought to bear the Character of his Attributes Now God knows all and foresees all his Understanding has no Bounds Therefore his manner of acting ought to bear the Character of an Infinite Intelligence But to make Choice of Occasional and to establish General Laws for the executing any work manifests a Knowledge infinitely more comprehensive than to change Volitions every moment or to act by Particular Wills Therefore God executes his Designs by General Laws whose Efficacy is determin'd by Occasional Causes Certainly there is a greater Extent of Thought requir'd to make a Watch which according to the Rules of Mechanicks goes regularly of it self whether it be carried about with us or hung up or shaken as we please than to make one which can go well no longer than he that made it is continually changing something in it according to the Situations it is put in For when there is a greater Number of Relations to be compared and combined together there is required a greater Understanding An infinite Prescience is requisite to foresee all the Effects which will happen in consequence of a General Law and there is nothing of all this to be foreseen when the Wills are chang'd every moment Therefore to establish General Laws and to choose the most simple and at the same time the most exuberant is a manner of acting worthy of him whose Wisdom has no Bounds And on the contrary to act by Particular Wills shews a straitned Understanding and which cannot compare the Consequences or Effects of the least fruitful Causes The same Truth might farther be demonstrated a priori by some other Attributes of God as by his Immutability by which M. Des Cartes proves That every Body tends to move in a right Line that there is always the same Quantity of Motion in the World and other Truths But these Truths a priori are too abstract to convince the Generality of Men of the Truth advanc'd It is more to the Purpose to prove it by the Marks I have given before to distinguish Effects produced by Particular Wills from those which are the necessary Consequences of some General Law God being infinitely Wise neither wills nor does any thing without Design or End But Grace falls often on Hearts so dispos'd as to frustrate his Operation and therefore falls not on them by a Particular Will but only by a necessary Consequence of General Laws for the same Reason that Rain falls on the Sands and in the Sea no less than on Seed-Grounds XVI Though God may punish Sinners or make them more miserable than they are he can have no Design of making them more culpable and criminal which yet is an Effect of Grace and God knows certainly that according to their actual Dispositions the Graces he bestows will have that calamitous Event Therefore Graces are not shed on corrupt Hearts by a Particular Will of God but by a necessary Consequence of General Laws establish'd for the Production of the best Effects by the same Reason that on some Occasions too abundant Rains corrupt and putrifie the Fruits of the Earth though God by his General Will causes it to rain to make them thrive XVII If God was minded that some Lands should continue barren he need but have ceas'd to will that the Rain should water them So if God purpos'd that the Hearts of some Sinners should remain hardned as it would be sufficient for the Rain of Grace not to water them he need but leave them to themselves and they would corrupt fast enough Why must we attribute a Particular Will to God to make so cruel and unhappy use of the Price of his Son's Blood But many others will say God in giving Grace to Sinners has never that Design and this doubtless seems more reasonable But if God gives his Grace by a Particular Will he has some Particular Design and whereas Grace has that sad Effect God is frustrated in his Expectation since he gave it with a Design and that a particular one of doing good to a Sinner For I speak not here of the Graces or rather Gifts explain'd by St. Paul in the 12th Chapter of his First Epistle to the Corinthians I speak of the Grace which God gives for the Conversion of him it is given to and not of those Gifts God bestows on some for the Profit of others such as are the Gifts of Prophecy of Discernment of Spirits of Speaking diverse Tongues of Healing the Sick and the like XVIII When the Rain falls in such excess that the Floods extirpate the Fruits of the Earth we ought to conclude this Rain comes by a necessary Consequence of the General Laws God has establish'd for better Effects Yet it is certain God may have appointed it by a Particular Will For God for the Punishment of Men may will that the Rains ordain'd to fecundate the Earth may make it barren on some Occasions But it is not so with the Rain of Grace since God cannot dispense it with Design of punishing Men much less of making them more culpable and criminal Thus 't is much more certain that the Rain of Grace falls by General Wills than that the common Rains do so yet most Men can easily believe that Rains are the necessary Consequences of the General Laws of the Communication of Motions whilst there are few but find some Reluctancy in believing God gives us by General Wills all these Motions of Graces whose Effects we our selves prevent There 's great likelihood this Disposition of Mind naturally grows from our thinking God acts almost like our selves and that he has on all Occasions Particular Wills for all Men in something resembling those Desires we have for our Friends For though we outwardly confess that there is an infinite Difference between God's way of acting and our own yet since we ordinarily judge of others with relation to our selves without considering few Persons seriously consult the Idea of an Infinitely Perfect Being when they would speak of God And because there is some Air of Novelty in what I say it creates a sort of Pain in the Mind which is reasonably mistrustful of what is not common and ordinary I have a particular Honour and Esteem for all those who in Matter of Religion have a secret Aversion for all Novelties When this is the Motive which induces them to oppose my Opinions they give me no Offence and whilst their Prejudices are legitimate though they should give me hainous Provocations I should preserve a Respect for them For their Disposition of Mind is infinitely more reasonable than that of others who fall foul upon all that bears the Character of Novelty Nevertheless as I believe that we are bound to love and search out Truth with all our Strength and communicate it to others when we believe we have found it I think that supposing the Doctrines of Faith undeniable we may and even ought endeavour to confirm