large 'T is to accommodate my self to the common way of speaking that I shall say hereafter the Senses perceive but by the word Sense I only mean that passive Faculty of the Soul just mention'd that is the Understanding perceiving something by means of what passes in in the Organs of the Body according to the Institution of Nature as shall be elsewhere explain'd Another agreement between the passive Faculty of the Soul and that of Matter is that as Matter is not truly chang'd by an alteration of its Figure for Instance Wax receives no considerable Change for being round or square so the Mind receives no Change by the Diversity of Idea's which it has I mean the Mind receives no considerable Change although it receives an Idea of a Square or a Circle in perceiving a Square or a Circle Farther as it may be said that Matter undergoes considerable Changes when it looses the Configuration proper to the parts of the Wax to receive that which is proper to Fire and Smoke when the Wax is chang'd into Fire and Smoke so it may be said that the Soul receives very considerable Alterations when it changes its Modifications and suffers Pain after having felt Pleasure Whence we must conclude that Idea's are to the Soul very near what Figures are to Matter and that Configurations are much the same to Matter that Sensations are to the Soul There are yet other agreements betwixt the Figures and Configurations of Matter and the Idea's and Modifications of the Mind for it seems that Matter is an Image of the Mind I only mean there are Properties in Matter which have betwixt themselves Relations much like those which are found amongst the Properties belonging to the Mind although the Nature of the Mind is very different from that of Matter as shall be clearly shewn hereafter From all that I have said I would have it well remembred that by the Understanding I mean that passive Faculty which the Soul has of perceiving that is of receiving not only different Idea's but also innumerable Sensations even as Matter is capable of receiving all Manner of External Figures and Internal Configurations The other Property of Matter is that 't is capable of receiving several Motions and the other Faculty of the Soul is that 't is capable of receiving several Inclinations let us compare these together As the Author of Nature is the Universal Cause of all Motions which are found in Matter so is He also the General Cause of all the Natural Inclinations in our Minds and even as all Motions are made in a Streight Line if they do not meet with some particular and foreign Causes which determine and change them into Curve Lines so all the Inclinations we receive from God are right and could not have any other End but the possession of Good and Truth were there not some Extraneous Cause which determines the Impression of Nature towards evil ends Now 't is this foreign Cause which is the Origin of all our Evils and which Corrupts all our Inclinations To understand this well we must know that there is a very considerable Difference betwixt the Impression or Motion which the Author of Nature produces in Matter and the Impression or Motion towards Good in General which the same Author of Nature continually Impresses on the Mind for Matter is wholly unactive it has no power to stop it's Motion or to determine or turn it self one way rather than another Its motion as I have said before is made always in a Strait Line and when diverted from this motion it describes a Curve the nearest to a right line that 's possible because 't is God that impresses on it its Motion and regulates its Determination But 't is not to with the Will * See the Explanations it may be said in one sense to be active and to have in it self a Power of determining differently the Inclination or Impression that God gives it for tho' it cannot stop this Impression it may in a sense be said to turn it which way it pleases and thereby cause all the disorders that are in its Inclinations and all the Miseries which are the certain and necessary Consequences of Sin So that by the Word WILL I wou'd be understood to mean the Natural Impression or Motion which carries us towards indetermin'd and universal Good And by the Word LIBERTY I only understand the Power which the Mind has of turning that Impression towards agreeable Objects and so sixing our natural Inclinations on some particular Object which before were loose and indetermin'd to Vniversal Good that is to God who comprehends in himself all that 's Good Whence 't is easie to discover that tho' our Natural Inclinations are voluntary yet they are not always free with that Liberty of Indifference that I am speaking of which includes the Power of Willing or not Willing or of Willing the contrary to what our Natural Inclinations carry us for tho' 't is voluntarily and freely that Men love Good in General since they can't love against their Will and 't is a Contradiction to suppose the Will should ever suffer Constraint however they love it not freely in the sense that I have just explain'd since 't is out of the Power of our Will not to wish to be Happy But it must be well observ'd that the Mind consider'd as push'd on towards Good in General can't determine its Motion towards a particular Good if the same Mind consider'd as susceptible of Idea's has not the Knowledge of this particular Good that is in the common way of speaking the Will is a blind Power which can only desire those things that the Understanding represents to it So that the Will can't differently determine the Impression it has for Good and all its Natural Inclinations but by commanding the Understanding to represent to it some particular Object The Power then that the Will has of determining its Inclinations necessarily includes an ability of carrying the Understanding towards agreeable Objects I will explain by an Example what I have said concerning Will and Liberty A Man represents to himself a Preferment under the Notion of a Good which he can hope for immediately the Will wills this Good that is the Impression that the Mind continually receives towards Indetermin'd and Universal Good inclines it to this Preferment But as this Preferment is not the Universal Good and is not consider'd in a clear and distinct view of the Mind as Universal Good for the Mind never sees clearly that which is not the Impression that he had receiv'd of Vniversal Good is not wholly stopt by this particular Good the Mind has some motion to go yet farther it is not necessarily nor invincibly in Love with this Dignity but is at Liberty in respect thereof Now its Liberty consists in this that being not fully convinc'd that this Dignity includes all the Good which he is capable of loving he may suspend his Judgment and Love
great Images upon the bottom of the Eye as those Faces which are nearer as the Senses only Perceive but never Judge to speak properly 'T is certain that this Judgment is nothing but a compounded Sensation which consequently may be sometimes false However V. That these Judgments deceive us in some particular Occurrences that which is nothing else but Sensation in us may be consider'd in respect of the Author of Nature who excites it in us as a kind of Judgment I speak sometimes of Sensations as of Natural Judgments because this way of speaking serves to give a reason of Things as may be seen here in the Ninth Chapter towards the end and in many other places Altho' these Judgments which I have spoke of are useful to correct our Senses very many ways and that without them we should very frequently be deceiv'd yet they are also occasions of Error For Instance If it happens that we see the top of a high Steeple behind a great Wall or a Mountain it will appear very near to us and very little but if afterwards we should see it at the same distance yet with many Fields and Houses betwixt it would doubtless appear the greater and at a farther distance altho' in each Station the Projection of the Rays of the Spire or its Image which is Painted at the bottom of our Eyes would be altogether the same Now it may be said that we see it greater because of a Judgment that we Naturally make viz. that since there is so much Land betwixt us and the Steeple it must be further and consequently greater But on the contrary if we saw no Fields betwixt us and the Steeple altho' we even knew there were many and that it was a great way off which is very remarkable it would always appear very near and very little as I have said And it may also be suppos'd that this is done by a Natural Judgment of our Soul which thus sees this Spire because it Judges it about five or six hundred paces distant for commonly our Imagination does not represent a greater distance between Objects and us if it be not assisted by a Sensible view of other interjacent Objects beyond which it can yet imagine farther 'T is for this cause See the 9th Chapter towards the end that when the Moon Rises or Sets we see it greater than when it is elevated above the Horizon for when it is very high we see no Objects betwixt it and us whose greatness we know to Judge of that of the Moon by comparing them together but when it is near Setting we see betwixt it and us many Fields whose breadth we know very near and so we Judge it at a greater distance because we see it at a greater It 's observable that when the Moon is Risen above our Heads altho' our reason assures us that it is at a very great distance yet it seems to us to be very little and very near for indeed these Natural Judgments of Sight are only built upon the Perceptions of the same Sight and Reason cannot correct them So that they very often deceive us in causing us to form free Judgments which perfectly agree with them for when we Judge by our Senses we are always deceiv'd but we are never deceiv'd when we conceive for a Body only Instructs as a Body but God always teaches us Truth as I shall show hereafter These false Judgments deceive us not only as to the distance and bigness of Bodies but also in making us see their Figure other than it is We see for Example the Sun and Moon and other Spherical Bodies very distant as if they were Plains and Circles because at this great distance we cannot distinguish whether the opposite part is nearer to us than the others and because of this we Judge it at an equal distance 'T is for the same reason we Judge that all the Stars and the blue which appears in the Heaven are at the same distance and as it were a perfectly Convex Vault because our Mind supposes an Equality where it sees no Inequality altho' it ought not positively to conclude but where it sees evidently I shall not tarry here to Explain at large the Errors of the Sight as to the Figures of Bodies because any Book of Optics will save me that Labour This Science indeed does only show how the Eyes are deceiv'd and all its direction consists but in helping us to make those Natural Judgments we have spoke of at such time as we ought not to make them and this may be done after so many ways that there is not one Figure in the World which may not be Painted after a thousand different manners so as that the Sight will Infallibly be deceiv'd thereby But this is not a place to Explain these things thorowly what has been said is sufficient to show that we must not trust to our Eyes when they represent the Figure of Bodies to us altho' we are not so subject to be deceiv'd by Figures as other things CHAP. VIII I. That our Eyes do not inform us of the greatness or swiftness of Motion consider'd in it self II. That duration which is necessary to be understood to know what Motion is is unknown III. Examples of the Errors of Sight in respect of Motion and Rest WE have discover'd the principal and most general Errors of the Sight about the Extension of Figures we must now correct those in which it deceives us about the Motion of Matter and this will not be a very difficult performance after what we have said about Extension for there is so great a relation betwixt these two things that if we are deceiv'd about the bigness of Bodies we must unavoidably be deceiv'd in their Motion But to offer nothing except what is clear and distinct we must first take away the Equivocation of the word Motion for this Term commonly signifies two things the first is a certain power that is imagin'd in a mov'd Body which is the Cause of its Motion the second is a continual removal of a Body that is departing from or approaching to another that is consider'd as in a State of Rest When we say for Instance that a Bowle hath communicated its Motion to another the word Motion is here taken in the first signification but if it be said simply that a Boul is in Motion it is taken in the second Sense And indeed this term Motion signifies both the Cause and Effect together which yet are in themselves two different things They seem to me to be in the grossest and most dangerous Error concerning force who attribute to it Motion and the transportation of Bodies these fine terms of Nature and impressed Qualities seem to me to be only a proper Subterfuge for the Ignorance of the falsly Learn'd See the 3d Chapter of the Second Part 6. l. and impious Libertines as may be very easily proved but this is not a fit place to
distinct from others but also all Objects lying betwixt us and that which we consider When for Example we look upon a distant Steeple we commonly see at the same time many interjacent Fields and Houses and because we judge of the distance of these Fields and Houses and see the Steeple is beyond them we judge also that it is very distant and also greater than if we saw it alone However the Image thereof which is traced at the bottom of our Eye is always of an equal bigness whether there are Fields and Houses betwixt us or not provided we see it at an equal distance which is suppos'd Thus we judge of the bigness of Objects by their imagin'd distance and the Bodies betwixt us and the Object do much assist our Imagination in it even as we judge of Duration or the length of Time after some Action done by the remembrance of a confess'd Series of Things which we have done or of Thoughts which we have successively had after this Action for 't is all these Thoughts and Actions which have succeeded one another that assist our Mind in judging of the length or duration of some Time or rather a confus'd remembrance of all the successive Thoughts about the same thing is nothing else but our Judgment of Duration even as a confus'd sight of the Fields which are betwixt us and the Steeple is the same thing as our Judgment of the distance thereof Hence 't is easie to know the true Reason why the Moon appears greater when it rises than when it is much elevated above the Horizon for when it rises it appears many Leagues distant from us and even beyond the Sensible Horizon or the Earth which terminates our sight whereas we judge it to be but about half a League from us or seven or eight times as high as our Houses when it is most elevated above the Horizon Thus we judge it much greater when it is near the Horizon than when it is very distant from it because we imagine it much more distant from us when it rises than when is it very high It 's true there are a great many Philosophers who attribute what I have said to the Vapours which rise out of the Earth I agree with them that Vapours refracting the Rays of Objects make them appear the greater I know there are more Vapours betwixt us and the Moon when it rises than when it is risen very high and consequently it must appear something greater than if it were always equally distant from us However it cannot be said that this refraction of the Rays of the Moon is the cause of these apparent Changes of its greatness for this refraction hinders not but that the Image which is traced in the bottom of our Eyes at the rising of the Moon is not less than that which is form'd there when it has been risen a considerable time Astronomers which Measure the Diameters of the Planets observe that that of the Moon grows larger in proportion to its distance from the Horizon and consequently in proportion to its appearing less to us so that the Diameter of the Image Painted at the bottom of our Eyes is lesser when we see it greater Indeed when the Moon arises it 's more distant from us by the Semi-diameter of the Earth than when it is perpendicularly over our Head which is the reason that its Diameter is greater than when it arises above the Horizon because then it approaches to us That then which is the cause of our seeing it greater when it rises is not the refraction of its Rays made by the Vapours coming out of the Earth since the Image which is form'd by these Rays is then less but it is the Natural Judgment that we make of its distance because it appears beyond the Earth which we see very distant from us as was explain'd before and I 'm surpriz'd that Philosophers should look upon the reason of this appearance and deceit of our Eyes to be more difficult to find out than the greatest Equations of Algebra This means of Judging of the distance of any Object by the Knowledge of the distance of Things lying betwixt us and it is of great use to us when the other ways which I have spoken of fail us for by this we can Judge that certain Objects are distant from us many Leagues which we cannot by any of the others however if we Examine we shall find many defects in it For first this way serves only to Judge of Objects which are upon the Earth and but very rarely and for the most very unprofitably of Things that are in the Air or in the Heavens Secondly we can't make use of it upon the Earth but in things that are a very few Leagues distant from us And thirdly we must be assur'd that there are betwixt us and the Object neither Vallies Mountains or any such thing which hinders us from making use of this means Lastly I believe there are none who have not had Experience enough in this subject to be perswaded that it is extreamly difficult to make a certain Judgment of the distance of Objects by a sensible view of Things placed betwixt them and the Object But I have enlarg'd too much already upon this head These are the Means by which we Judge of the distance of Objects we have observ'd considerable defects in them and may conclude that the Judgments which are form'd upon them must be very uncertain Hence I can easily show the Truth of the Propositions which I have advanced I have suppos'd the Object at * See the preceding Figure C considerable distant from A then it may by many steps advance towards D or B without my knowing it since I have no certain means to judge of its distance it may even be suppos'd to recede towards D when 't is imagin'd to approach towards B because the Image of the Object is sometimes Painted greater upon the Optic Nerves whether because the Air which is betwixt the Object and the Eye causes a greater refraction one time than another or whether it happens sometimes from the little tremblings of this Nerve or lastly whether the Impression which the imperfect uniting of the Rays upon the Optic Nerve are dispers'd and communicated to the parts which ought not to be affected with them for it may happen from many different Causes Thus the Image of the same Objects being enlarg'd on these occasions inclines the Soul to believe the Object is near Suppose as much be said about the other Propositions Before I conclude this Chapter I must observe that it much concerns us for the preservation of our Life to know well the Motion and Rest of Bodies in proportion to their nearness to us and that it signifies little to have an exact Knowledge of the Truth of these Things when they are remov'd to a great distance from us This will evidently show that what I have advanc'd in general about all the Senses as
use of our own Wit and so accustom it of it self to discover truth then to suffer it to be spoiled with idleness by only applying it to such things as are already well known and discover'd Besides there are some things to be observed in the difference of Peoples Genii that are so fine and so delicate that althô we may be able to discover and perceive them well our selves yet we cannot represent them to nor make others sensible of them But to explain as much as possible all these differences that are to be observed in Dispositions and that very one may the more easily observe in himself the Cause of all the changes that he feels at different times it seems very proper in general to examine the Cause of these Changes which happen in the Animal Spirits and in the Fibres of the Brain because thereby we shall discover all that are found in the Imagination Man never continues very long in the same Mind every one hath sufficient inward proofs of his own inconstancy he judges of the same Subject sometimes after one manner and sometimes after another In a word the Life of Man consists only in a Circulation of Blood and in another Circulation of Thoughts and Desires and it seems the best way of imploying his time would be in seeking after the Cause of these Changes which happen to us so that way to know our selves CHAP. II. I. Of the Animal Spirits and the Changes to which they are subject in general II. That the Chyle goes to the Heart and thereby produces some change in the Spirits III. That Wine has the same effect 'T IS agreed by every on I. Of the Animal Spirits that the Animal Spirits are only the most subtile and active parts of the Blood which subtilises and agitates it self chiefly by the Fermentation that it receives in the Heart and by the violent Motion of the Muscles whereof this part is composed that the Spirits are conducted with the most of the blood through the Arteries into the Brain and that there they are separated by some parts that are destined to this use which are not yet agreed upon From hence may be concluded that where the Blood is very subtile there are much Animal Spirits but where it is gross there are but a sew that if the Blood is composed of such parts as are easily received into the Heart or very proper for Motion the Spirits which are in the Brain will be extreamly heated or agitated and if on the contrary the Blood ferments not sufficiently in the Heart the Animal Spirits will be languishing without action and without strength so that according to the solidity which shall be found in the parts of the Blood the Animal Spirits shall be more or less solid and consequently have more or less strength in their Motion But these things must be explained more at length by Examples and incontestible Experiments to make the truth evident The Authority of the Antients has not only blinded the Minds of some Men II. That the Chyle goes to the heart and causes some change in the Spirits but we may say it has shut their Eyes also For many Persons have still such a respect for their opinion or it may be so opinionative that they will not see some things which they could no longer contradict if they would only please to open their Eyes We may see every day Persons that are much esteemed for their Learning who write Books and publish Conferences against the visible and sensible Experiences of the Circulation of the Blood against that of Weight the Exastick power of the Air and others of the like Nature The discovery that Mr. Pecquet has made in our time which we make use of here is in the Number of those that are unfortunate only because he discover'd it before he had grey Hairs and a venerable Beard But we shall nevertheless make use of it not fearing but there will be some Judicious Persons who will not find fault with it According to this discovery the Chyle goes not immediately from the Bowels into the Liver by the Mesaraick Veins as the Antients believed but passes from the Bowels into the Lacteal Veins and afterwards into certain receptacles where they meet and from thence it goes by the Thoraick Duct or Canal along the Vertebres of the Back and so mingles it self with the Blood in the Axillary Vein which enters into the upper part of the Vena Cava and thus being mingled with the Blood it meets in the Heart From this Experiment may be concluded that the Blood thas is mingled with the Chyle being very different from the other Blood which has already Circulated many times through the Heart the Animal Spirits which are only the most subtile parts thereof will be also very different in Persons that are Fasting and others who have just Eat Moreover because that amongst Meats and Drinks which are generally used there is great variety and even those Persons that use them have bodies diversly disposed two Persons that have just Dined and at the same Table will feel in their faculties of Imagination so great a variety of changes that it would be impossible to describe It is true that those who are in perfect health digest so quick that the entring of the Chyle into the Heart scarcely augments or diminishes any of its heat and hinders not the Blood from fermenting there almost the same manner as if it entered only by it self so that their Animal Spirits and by consequence their faculty of imagining receives very little if any change But for Old and infirm People they observe in themselves very sensible changes after they have Eat they grow very dull and sleepy or at least their imagination becomes very Languishing and they have neither Vivacity or quickness left they no longer conceive any thing distinctly nor can they apply themselves to any thing whatsoever in a word they are perfectly altered from what they were before But that the most healthful and strongest may also have sensible proofs of what we have already said III. That Wine produces the same effect they need only reflect upon what happens to them when they have drunk more Wine then they are accustomed to or else by observing what would be the effects if they drink Wine one Meal and Water another For 't is certain that if they are not entirely stupid or if their bodies are not composed after a very extraordinary manner they shall soon perceive a gayety of temper some little drowsiness or some other like accident Wine is so Spiritous that it comes near the nature of our Animal Spirits but are these a little too luxurious to submit to the command of the Will because of their Solidity and excessive Agitation Thus even in the strongest and most vigorous Men it produces greater changes in the Imagination and in all the parts of the body Vinum Luctator delosus est then Meat or
any other Liquors do It gives us the Foil to speak with Plautus and produces many effects in the Mind which are not so advantageous as those that Horace describes in these Verses Quid non ebrietas designat Operta recludit Spes jubet esse ratas in praelia tendit inermes Sollicitis animis onus eximit addocet artes Faecundi Calices quem non fecere disertum Contracta quem non in paupertate solutum It would be easie enough to give a reason of the principal effects that the mingling of the Chyle with the Blood produces in the Animal Spirits and afterwards in the Brain and even in the Soul it self As why Wine rejoyces us and gives a certain Vivacity to the Wit when it is taken with Moderation and for sometime besots Men when 't is drank to Excess From whence proceeds the heaviness after Meals and many other such things for which generally very ridiculous reasons has been given But though we shall not here make a Book of Natural Philosophy yet it will be necessary to give some Idea of the Anatomy of the Brain or make some Suppositions as Mr. D'Cartes has done in his Treatise of Man without which 't will be impossible to explain our selves But if one reads this Treatise of Monsieur D'Cartes with attention we may satisfie our selves upon these questions because he explains all these things or at least gives a sufficient light to discover them as he has done by Meditation provided one has some Knowledge of his PRINCIPLES CHAP. III. That the Air one breaths causes likewise some change in the Spirits THE second general Cause of the changes which happens in the Animal Spirits is the Air we breath for altho' it does immediately make as sensible impressions as the Chyle nevertheless in some time it produces the same effect as the Juice of our Food does presently This Air enters from Branches of the Wind-pipe into that of the Venous Artery and from thence it mingles it self and ferments with the rest of the Blood in the Heart and according to its particular disposition and that of the Blood it produces great changes in the Animal Spirits and by consequence in the faculty of Imagining I know that there are some Persons who do not believe that the Air mingles it self with the Blood in the Lungs and Heart because by their Eyes they cannot discover in the branches of the Wind-pipe and those of the Venous Artery the passages whereby the Air is communicated But we must not confine the Action of the Mind to that of the Senses it can penetrate what is impenetrable by them and apply it self to such things which they cannot 'T is certain that some parts of the Blood continually pass from the branches of the Venous Artery into those of the Wind-pipe as the smell and moistness of the breath sufficiently proves and yet the passages of this communication are imperceptible why therefore cannot the subtile parts of the Air pass from the branches of the Wind-pipe into the Venous Artery altho' the passages of this communication are not so visible In short more humours are evacuated by transpiration from the imperceptible Pores of the Arteries and Skin than by any other passages of the Body and even the Pores of the most solid Metals are not so small but that there are Bodies in Nature small enough to find a free passage for otherwise these Pores would be clos'd up It is true that the Gross and branchy parts of the Air cannot pass through the ordinary Pores of Bodies and that even Water altho' very gross can glide through those passages where this Air is sometime forced to stop But we are not speaking here of those gross and branchy parts of the Air they are it seems unuseful enough for fermentation 't is only of the smallest parts such as are swift and sharp that we speak of and which have none or very small branches to stop them because they are the most proper for the fermentation of the Blood I might nevertheless affirm upon the Relation of Silvius that even the grossest part of the Air pass from the Wind-pipe into the Heart since he assures us that he hath seen it pass thither by the help of M. de Swamerdam for it is more reasonable to believe a Man who says he has seen it than a thousand others who only speak of it by chance It is then certain that the most subtile parts of the Air which we breath enters into our Heart and with the Blood and Chyle maintains there that fire which gives Life and Motion to our Bodies and that according to their different Qualities they produce great changes in the fermentation of the Blood and in the Animal Spirits The truth of this is every day made evident by the divers Humours and different Characters of Persons dispositions that are of different Countries For Example the Gascons have a more lively Imagination than the Normans those of Roan Diep and Picardy differ very much among themselves and that much more from the Lower Normans Nunquid non ultra est sapientia in Teman Jer. c. 49. v. 7. altho' they be very near together But if we consider Men whose Countries are at a greater distance we shall meet with differences still more strange as an Italian and German or a Dutchman In fine there has in all times been some places that have been renowned for the Wisdom of their Inhabitants as Teman and Athens and others for their Stupidity as Thebes Abdera and some others Athenis tenue coelum ex quo acutiores etiam putantur Attici crassum Thebis Cic. de fato Abderitanae pectora plebis habes Mart. Boeotum in crasso jurares aere natum Hor. CHAP. IV. I. Of the Change wrought in the Animal Spirits by the Nerves that go to the Lungs and Heart II. Of that which is caused by the Nerves that pass from the Liver to the Spleen and so into the Bowels III. That all this is done without the assistance of our Will but cannot be effected without a Providence THE third Cause of those changes that happen to the Animal Spirits is the most general and most active of all because it is that which produces maintains and fortifies all the Passions To apprehend which well it 's necessary that we know that the fifth sixth and eighth pair of the Nerves have most of their branches extended through the Breast and Belly where they are very useful for the preservation of the Body but extreamly dangerous to the Soul because the action of these Nerves do not depend upon the Will as those do which serve to move the Arms Legs and other external parts of the Body I. of the change of the Spirits caus'd by the Nerves which go to the Lungs and Heart for they act much more upon the Soul than that does upon them It must therefore be consider'd that many branches of the eight pair of the Nerves cast themselves amongst
Correspondence and Sympathy which is found between the Nerves of the Face and some others that answer to other parts of the Body and which want a Name is yet more remarkable and that which produces this great Sympathy is that as in the other Passions the little Nerves that go to the face are only branches of that which descends lower When we are surprized with any violent Passion if we carefully reflect upon what we feel in our Bowels and the other parts of the Body where these Nerves infold themselves as also upon the changes which accompany it in the face and if we consider that all these diverse agitations of our Nerves are wholly involuntary and that they happen notwithstanding all the resistance our Will can make against them we shall not find it so difficult to suffer out selves to be perswaded of this plain Exposition that has been made of all those Relations the Nerves have one to another But if we examine the reasons and end of all these things we shall find therein so much Order and Wisdom that but a little serious attention will be requisite to convince those Persons that are the most Wedded to Epicurus and Lucretius that there is a Providence which rules the World When I see a Watch. I have reason to conclude that there is an Intelligence since it is impossible that Chance shou'd have produc'd and dispersed all its Wheels into order How then can it be possible that Chance and the meeting together of Atoms shou'd be able so justly and proportionably to dispose all those divers Springs as appear both in Man and other Animals And that Man and all other living Creatures shou'd beget others which bear such an absolute resemblance to them So it is ridiculous to think or say with Lucretius that 't is Chance that has form'd all the parts whereof Man is composed that the Eyes were not made to see but Men were induced to see because they had Eyes and so of the other parts of the Body These are his Words Lumina ne facias oculorum clara creata Prospicere ut possimus ut proferre viai Proceras passus ideo fastigia posse Surarum ac feminum pedibus fundata plicari Bâ—achia tum porro validis exapta lacertis Esse manusque datus utrâque ex parte ministras Vt facere ad vitam possimus quae foret usus Caetera de genere hoc inter quaecumque pretantur Omnia perversà praepostera sunt ratione Nil ideo natu'est in nostro corpore ut uti Possimus sed quod natum est id procreat usum Must not one have a strange aversion for a Providence thus voluntarily to be blinded for fear of acknowledging it and endeavour to render our selves insensible to proofs so strong and convincing as those that Nature has furnished us with It is true that if once we come to affect being thought great Wits or rather Impious as the Epicureans have done we shall immediately find our selves surrounded with darkness and perceive only by false Lights boldly deny those things that are most clear and arrogantly and magisteriously affirm what is most false and obscure This Poet may serve for a proof of the blindness of these mighty Wits for he boldly determines tho' contrary to all appearance of Truth upon the most difficult and obscure Questions and it seems that he did not perceive even those Idea's that are most clear and evident If I shou'd stay to relate some more passages of this Author to justifie what I say I shou'd make too long and tedious a digression altho' it may be permitted to make such reflections as may for a moment divert the Mind from more essential Truths yet is it never permitted to make such digressions as for a considerable time take off the Mind from giving attention to the most important Subjects to apply it to trivial things CHAP. V. I. Of the Memory II. Of Habits WE have already explain'd the general Causes as well external as internal which produce any change in the Animal Spirits and by consequence in the faculty of Imagining we have show'd that the external are the Food which nourishes us and the Air we breath and that the internal consists in the involuntary agitation of certain Nerves We know of no other general Causes and even dare affirm there are none So that the faculty of Imagining depending in respect to the Body only upon these two things the Animal Spirits and the disposition of the Brain upon which they act there remains nothing more in order to the giving a perfect knowledge of the Imagination but only to shew the different changes that can happen in the substance of the Brain We will examine them after we have given some Idea of the Memory and of Habits that is of the faculty that we have of thinking of those things that we have before thought of and of acting things over again which we have already done Order requires this Method For the Explanation of the Memory I. Of the Memory 't is necessary to remember what has already been repeated so many times that all our different Perceptions depend upon the changes that happen to those Fibres that are in that part of the Brain in which the Soul more particularly resides This only supposed the nature of the Memory is explained for even as the Branches of a Tree which have continued sometime bent in a certain form still preserve an aptitude to be bent anew after the same manner So the Fibres of the Brain having once received certain impressions by the course of the Animal Spirits and by the action of Objects along time retain some facility to receive these same dispositions Now the Memory consists only in this facility since we think on the same things when the Brain receives the same impressions As the Animal Spirits act sometimes with more and sometimes with less force upon the substance of the Brain and that sensible Objects make a much greater impression than the Imagination alone it is easie from thence to discover why we do not equally remember all things we perceive For example why what one often perceives is commonly represented more lively to the Soul than what one perceives but once or twice why we remember more distinctly what we have seen than what we have only imagined and so likewise why one shou'd know better how the Veins are dispersed through the Liver after having but once seen a dissection of this part than after having many times read in a Book of Anatomy and other like things But if we shou'd reflect upon what hath been before said of the Imagination and the short discourse made on the Memory supposing us once delivered from this prejudice that our Brain is too small to preserve a very great number of traces and impressions we shall have the pleasure to discover the cause of all these surprizing effects of the Memory whereof St. Austine speaks with so much
hours are dissipated by transpiration through the Pores of those Vessels that contain them and it very often happens that others succeed which do not perfectly resemble them but the Fibres of the Brain are not so easily dissipated there does not often happen any considerable Change in them and their whole substance cannot be changed but after many years The most considerable differences that are found in a Man's Brain during the whole Course of his Life are in Infancy at his full Strength and in Old Age. The Fibres of the Brain in Children are soft flexible and delicate in perfect Age they become more dry hard and strong but in Old Age they become wholly inflexible gross and sometimes mingled with superfluous humours that the feeble heat of this Age cannot be any longer dissipated For as we see the Fibres which compose the Flesh harden in time and that the Flesh of a young Partridge is without dispute more tender than that of an old one so the Fibres of the Brain of a Child or Youth will be much more soft and delicate than those of Persons that are more advanced in years We shall soon see the reason of these Changes if we but consider how these Fibres are continually agitated by the Animal Spirits which run round about them in many different ways For as the Wind drys the Earth by blowing upon it so the Animal Spirits through their continual agitation by little and little render the greatest part of the Fibres of Man's Brain more dry compressed and solid so that Persons a little advanced in Years will almost always have them more inflexible then those that are Younger And for those that are of the same Age as Drunkards who for many years have used Wine to Excess or such Liquors as have been able to stupifie them will also have them more solid and more inflexible then such as are deprived of those Drinks during their whole Lives Now the different Constitutions of the Brain in Children Men at full growth and old Men are very considerable Causes of the difference that is observed in their faculty of Imagining of which we shall afterwards speak CHAP. VII I. Of the Communication which is between the Brain of a Mother and that of her Child II. Of the Communication that is between our Brain and the other parts of our Body which carries us to Imitation and Compassion III. An Explanation of the generation of Monstrous Children and of the Propagation of the Species IV. Some Irregularities of the Mind and some Inclinations of the Will explained V. Of Concupiscence and Original Sin VI. Objections and Answers IT is sufficiently evident to me that we incline to all things and that we have a Natural relation to every thing about us that is most useful for the Preservation and conveniency of Life But these relations are not equal we are more inclined to France than to China to the Sun than to any Star and to our own House more than to our Neighbours There are invsible ties which unite us more strictly to Men than to Beasts to our Relations and Friends than to Strangers to those we depend upon for the preservation of our Lives than such from whom we neither fear nor hope any thing What is chiefly to be observed in this Natural Union which is between us and other Men is that 't is so much the greater as we have more need of them Relations and Friends are strictly United one to another we may say their Griefs and Miseries are Common as well as their Joys and Happiness for all the Passions and Sensations of our Friends are communicated to us by the impression of their aspect and air of their Face Yet because we cannot absolutely live without them there is also another stricter Union then that Natural and Mutual one which is betwixt us and them Children in their Mothers Bellies I. Of the Communication which is between the Brain of a Mother and that of a Child whose Bodies are not yet entirely formed who are of themselves in as weak and helpless a condition as can be conceived must also be united with their Mothers in the stricktest manner that can be imagined And althâ— their Souls are separated from their Mothers yet their Bodies being linked together we must think they have the same Sensations and Passions and indeed the same thoughts which are excited in the Soul by the motions that are produced in the Body Thus Infants see what their Mothers see they hear the same Crys receive the same impressions of Objects and are agitated with the same Passions For since the air of a passionate Mans face penetrates those who look upon him and naturally imprints in them a passion like that which agitates him although the Union of the Man with those that consider him is not so great it seems reasonable to me to think that Mothers are capable of impressing upon their Children all the same Sensations they are affected with and all the same passions by which they are agitated For the body of an Infant makes but one with that of the Mothers the Blood and Spirits are common to both and Sensations and Passions are the Natural Consequence of the Motion of the Spirits and Blood which Motions necessarily Communicate themselves from the Mother to the Child Therefore the passions sensations and generally all the thoughts which proceed from the body are common both to the Mother and Child These things appear unquestionable for many reasons and I advance them only here as a supposition agreeable to my thoughts but shall sufficiently demonstrate them hereafter For whatsoever hypothesis can resolve all difficulties that can be brought against it ought to pass for an unquestionable principle The invisible bonds by which the Author of Nature unites all these Works are worthy the Wisdom of God and admiration of Men there is nothing that 's both more surprizing and instructive together but we think not of it we suffer our selves to be conducted without considering who it is that conducts us Nature is hidden from us as well as its Author and we feel the Motions which she produces in us without considering the Causes of 'em yet are there few things more necessary to be known for 't is upon their knowledge that the Explanation of whatsoever belongs to Man depends There are certainly springs in our Brain which Naturally incline us to Imitation II. Of the Communication there is between our Brain and the other parts of our bodies which inclines us to Imitation and Compassion for it is very necessary to Civil Society It is not only requisite that Children should believe their Fathers Disciples their Masters and Inferiors those which are above them for all Men must have some disposition to take the same manners and to do the same actions with those they live with To unite Men together there must be a resemblance both of Body and Mind this is the principle of an infinite Number
Brain for that the Soul always represents to her self those things of which she has the largest and deepest Traces To these we may add other Examples more Compos'd A Distemper is a Novelty it makes such Havock as surprizes the World This imprints such deep Traces in the Brain that the Distemper is always present to the Mind Suppose this Disease for Example be call'd the Scurvy all Distempers will be the Scurvy The Scurvy is new therefore all Distempers shall be the Scurvy The Scurvy is attended with several Symptoms many of which are common to other Diseases That 's nothing to the purpose if it happen that the Sick Person has any one of those Symptoms he shall be sick of the Scurvy and they shall not so much as think of other Distempers that are accompanied with the same Symptoms they will expect that all the Accidents that they have known Scorbutic Persons labour under befal them also They shall prescribe the same Remedies and shall wonder why they do not work the same Effects as they have wrought in others An Author applies himself to one sort of Study upon which the Traces of the Subject of his Employment make so deep an Impression and irradiate so vigorously over all the Brain that many times they confound and deface the Traces of such things as are very different one from another There was one for Example who compil'd several Volumes upon the Cross this made him see Crosses where ever he came Nor was it without reason that Father Morin derides him for believing that a Medal represented a Cross when it represented quite another thing And by Vertue of such a sort of Imagination as this it was that Gilbert and several others after they had study'd the Loadstone and admir'd its Properties would needs apply to Magnetick Qualities a great Number of Natural Effects which have not the least Correspondence with them The Examples here cited are sufficient to prove that from this extraordinary easiness of the Imagination to represent to it self the Objects which are most familiar to it and the difficulty which it undergoes to imagine those which are new and unusual it come to pass that Men are always forming Idea's which may be call'd Mix'd and Impure and that the Mind never Judges of things but with reference to it self and its first Thoughts Thus the different Passions of Men their Inclinations their Conditions their Employments their Qualities their Studies in a word all their various Manners of Living producing very great differences in their Idea's And this it is that makes them fall into an Infinite number of Errors of which we shall discourse more at large hereafter This was it that made the Lord Chancellor Bacon utter these Judicious Expressions All Perceptions as well of the Sense as of the Mind are Ex analogia Hominis not ex analogia Vniversi estque intellectus humanus instar speculi inequalis ad radios rerum qui suam naturam naturae rerum immiscet camque destorquet inficit CHAP. III. Of the Mutual Connexion between the Idea's of the Mind and the Traces of the Brain and of the Mutual Connexion between Traces and Traces and between Idea's and Idea's AMong all Material Things there is none more worthy the serious Study of Men than the Structure of their Bodies and the Correspondence between all the Parts that Compose it and of all Spiritual Things there is none of which the Knowledge is more Necessary than that of the Soul and how it is Related indispensably to God and naturally to the Body 'T is not sufficient to perceive or know confusedly that the Traces of the Brain are united one to another and that they are attended by the Motion of the Animal Spirits that the Traces being stirred up in the Brain likewise stir up the Idea's in the Mind and that the Motions excited in the Animal Spirits excite the Passions in the Will 'T is requisite therefore as much as may be to understand distinctly the cause of all those different Unions and chiefly the Effects which they are capable of producing We must understand the cause of them to the end we may attain to the Knowledge of Him who is only able to act within us and to make us Happy or Miserable and it becomes us to understand the Effects because we should know our selves as much as in us lyes and other Men with whom we Converse For then we shall understand the ways and means of Conducting Governing and Preserving our selves in the most Happy and Perfect condition to which it is possible for us to attain according to the Order of Nature and the Rules of the Gospel and we shall be able to live with other Men when we know how to make use of them in our Necessities and assist them in their Miseries I do not pretend to explain in this Chapter a Subject of so vast and so large an Extent Nor do I pretend to it altogether in the whole Work There are many things of which I am Ignorant as yet and which I never hope to understand exactly there are other things which I believe I know but which I cannot for all that Explain For there is no Wit how mean soever it be that by Meditation cannot discover more Truths than the most Eloquent Man in the World can relate I. We are not to imagine Of the Union of the Soul with the Body as the greatest part of Philosophers do that the Soul becomes Corporeal when it is united with the Body and that the Body becomes a Spirit when it is united with the Soul The Soul is not diffus'd into all the Parts of the Body to give it Life and Motion as the Imagination fancies nor does the Body become capable of Sensation by its union with the Soul as our deluding Senses would seem to convince us Every Substance remains what it is and as the Soul is not capable of Extension and Motion neither is the Body capable of Sensation and Inclinations All the Alliance of the Body and Soul which is known to us consists in a Natural and Mutual correspondence of the Thoughts of the Soul with the Traces or Phantoms of the Brain and the Emotions of the Soul with the Motions of the Spirits So soon as the Soul receives some new Idea's it imprints new Traces in the Brain and so soon as the Objects produce new Traces the Soul receives new Idea's Not that it considers those Traces for it has no knowledge of them nor that those Traces include those Idea's because they have no Relation one with another Nor lastly that the Soul receives her Idea's from those Traces for as we shall show in another place it is not to be conceiv'd that the Soul can receive any thing from the Body or that it becomes more Knowing or more Enlightned by adverting to it as the Philosophers pretend who would have it that the Soul should perceive all Things per conversionem ad Phantasmata
their Masters For as those Persons do as much as in 'em lies never permit any but such as are devoted to their Interests or such as they are no way afraid of to speak to their Masters so the Prejudices of these Men will not permit the Mind to behold with a fixed Eye the Idea's of Objects that are wholly pure and unmix'd but they disguise 'em they cover 'em with their Liveries and present 'em in that manner all masqu'd so that 't is a difficult thing for 'em to undeceive themselves and acknowledge their Errors CHAP. IX I. Of Effeminate Wits II. Of Superficial Wits III. Of Persons of Authority IV. Of those that make Experiments WHat we have said is sufficient in my Opinion to set forth in general what are the Defects of the Imagination in Studious Persons and the Errors to which they are most subject Now in regard there are none but these Persons who trouble themselves with Searching after Truth and because all the rest of Mankind depends upon them for it it might be thought that we should here conclude this Second Part. Nevertheless 't is convenient to say something more concerning the Errors of other Men because it will not be amiss to know what they are Of the Effeminaâ—e Wits Whatever flatters the Senses extreamly affects us and to whatever affects us we apply our selves proportionably to the pleasure we take in it Thus they who give themselves up to all manner of the most sensible and pleasing Divertisements are incapable of penetrating Truths that include any considerable difficulty because the Receptacle of the Mind which is not infinite is wholly taken up with their Pleasures or at least they have a very great share therein The generality of Great Men Courtiers Rich Men young People and they that are call'd by the name of fine Wits being taken up with continual Pastimes and only Studying the Art of flattering their Concupiscence and Voluptuous Appetites by degrees acquire such a Delicacy of Skill in these things or rather such a Softness that they may be often said to be rather Effeminate than fine Wits as they pretend to be For there is a great difference between Fineness and Softness of Wit though they are generally confounded one with another Fine Wits are they who discern by the Conduct of Reason the most minute differences of things who foresee the uncommon and almost imperceptible Effects that depend upon Hidden Causes In short these are they who penetrate into the Subjects which they consider But soft Wits have nothing but a false Delicacy they are neither lively nor pierceing they discern not the Effects from the Causes even of the most gross palpable thing Lastly they neither apprehend nor penetrate into any thing but are extreamly nice as to Manners A Clownish Word the Accent of a particular County a little Grimace provokes 'em more than a torrent of confus'd and frivolous Arguments they cannot know the Defect of Reasoning but are immediately very sensible of a false Measure or an irregular Gesture In short they understand sensible things perfectly because they keep their Senses in continual Exercise but they want the true understanding of things that depend upon Reason because they seldom or never make use of their own Nevertheless these are the Persons who are most esteemed in the World and easily acquire the Reputation of Curious Wits For when a Man speaks with a free and disengag'd Air when his Expressions are pure and well chosen when he makes use of Simile's that flatter the Senses and move the Affections after an imperceptible manner though he utter nothing but trivial things though there be nothing found nothing true in all his fine Words He according to the Common Opinion shall be cried up for a Curious Wit a Refin'd Wit a Polish'd Wit They never perceive that he is only a Soft Effeminate Wit and shines only by false Lights that never enlighten the Mind and that his persuasions prevail only because we have Eyes but not because we have Reason Lastly We do not deny but that all Men are in some measure guilty of this weakness which we have observ'd in some There is not any Man whose Mind is not touch'd by the Impressions of his Senses and Affections and who by consequence is not a little sway'd by outward Formalities and Language As to this all Men differ but in the more or the less But the reason why this defect is attributed to some particularly is this because there are some who acknowledge it to be a fault and strive to reform it Whereas they who have been mentioned by us look upon it as a very advantageous Accomplishment Far from acknowledging this same false Delicacy to be the Effect of an Effeminate Softness and the Original of an Infinite number of the Diseases of the Mind they imagine it to be an Effect and Mark of the Beauty of their Genius To these of whom we have spoken Of Superficial Wits we may join a very great number of Superficial Wits who never dive into any thing and who never apprehend unless it be confusedly the differences of things Not through their own fault as in those before mentioned for their Minds are neither fill'd up nor contracted by their Divertisements only they have naturally Slender Wits However this same Slenderness of Wit proceeds not from the Nature of the Soul as may be well imagin'd but it is caus'd sometimes by the great scarcity or the more than ordinary slowness of the Animal Spirits sometimes through the Inflexibility of the Fibres of the Brain sometimes also through an immoderate abundance of Spirits and Blood or for some other Reason which it is not worth while to examine There are then two sorts of Wits Some readily observe the difference of things and these are True Wits Others imagine and suppose a Resemblance between 'em and these are Superficial Wits The first have a Brain proper to receive clean and distinct Traces of the Objects which they consider and because they are very attentive to the Idea's of the Traces they see those Objects as it were near at hand and nothing escapes ' em But Superficial Wits receive none but feeble or confus'd Traces of their Objects They see 'em only as it were cursorily at a distance and very confusedly so that they seem alike to 'em like the Faces of those which we see afar off because the Mind supposes always Likeness and Equality for the Reasons which I shall give in the Third Book The greatest part of those that speak in Publick all those that are call'd great Talkers and many of those who are fluent of Speech though they speak but little are of this sort For they who meditate seriously and accurately are very rarely known to have a Copious Utterance of their own Meditations Usually they hesitate when they begin to speak because they are somewhat cautious of making use of Terms that excite in others a false Idea being asham'd
's easie to conclude that we must not at first apply our selves to an Enquiry into hidden Truths whose knowledge depends upon too many things and whereof some are not familiar enough to us For we ought to Study methodically and make use of what we know distinctly to apprehend what we know not or what we know but confusedly However the greatest part of those who Study do not take this Course they make no Essay upon their own Strength they consult not themselves to know what they are capable of 'T is a secret Vanity and an irregular desire of knowing and not Reason which rules their Studies They begin inconsiderately to enquire into the most secret and impenetrable Truths and to resolve Questions which depend upon so great number of Relations that the most quick and penetrating Mind cannot discover them with any absolute certainty but after many Ages and almost an infinity of Experiments There are a great number of Questions of this Nature in Physicks and Morality All Sciences of Bodies and their Qualities as of Animals Plants Metals and of their respective Qualities are Sciences which can never be sufficiently evident nor certain especially if they be not manag'd after another Method than heretofore or if we begin not by the most Simple and least compounded Sciences upon which they depend But studious Persons will not give themselves the trouble of Philosophizing in Order they do not agree upon the Certainty of Physical Principles they know not the Nature of Bodies in General nor their Qualities but confess it themselves However they imagin they can give a reason why for Example the Hairs of Old Men wax White and yet their Teeth grow Black which depends upon so many Causes that it 's impossible to give any certain reason for it To know this it 's necessary to understand in what consists the Whiteness of Hairs in particular the Humours with which they are nourished the Philtres through which these Humours pass the Conformation and the Root of the Hairs or the Skin through which they pass and the difference of all these things in a Young and an Old Man which it 's absolutely impossible or at least very difficult to know Aristotle II. An example of want of Order in Aristotle for example hath pretended to know the Cause of this Whiteness which happens to Old Mens Hairs he hath given many reasons in different places of his Books But because he is the Genius of Nature he stays not there he enquires deeper He hath discover'd that the Cause which makes Old Mens Hairs White was the same which made some Persons and some Horses have one Eye Blew and the other of another Colour These are his words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is sufficiently Surprising Book V. De Gener. Anim. C. 1. but there is nothing hid from this great Man and he gives reasons of so great a Number of things in almost all places of his Physicks which the sharpest Persons of this Age believe Impenetrable that it was deservedly said of him That God gave him to us that we might be Ignorant of nothing that was to be known Aristotelis Doctrina est Summa Veritas quoniam ejus intellectus fuit finis Humani Intellectus Quare bene dicitur de illo quod ipse fuit creatus datus nobis Divina Providentia ut non ignoremus possibilia Sciri Averroes ought to have added That Divine Providence gave us Aristotle to teach us what was impossible to be known For it 's true that this Philosopher does not only teach us things which may be known but if since he must be believ'd upon his word his Doctrine be the Soveraign Truth Summa Veritas he also teaches us those things which are impossible to be known Certainly one must have much Faith thus to believe Aristotle when he gives us only Logical Reasons and only explains the Effects of Nature by the Confus'd Notions of the Senses especially since he boldly decides Questions which will never be resolv'd by other Men. Thus Aristotle takes a particular Care to inform us that we must believe him upon his word for 't is an incontestable Axiom with this Author that the Disciple must believe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is true that Disciples are sometimes oblig'd to believe their Master but their Faith ought to be extended only to Experiments and Matter of Fact for if they intend to become true Philosophers they must examine the Reasons of their Masters and then receive them only when they discover the Evidence of them by their own Judgment But to be a Peripatetick it is absolutely necessary to believe and to retain and the same Disposition of Mind ought to be had at the reading of that Philosophy as at the reading of an History for if any one takes the Liberty of making use of his Judgment and Reason he must not expect ever to be a great Philosopher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But the reason why Aristetle and many other Philosophers have pretended to know what can never be known is That they have never known the difference betwixt Knowing and Knowing betwixt having a certain and evident Knowledge and having but a probable one And the reason why they never understood this difference is That the Subjects to which they applied themselves being beyond the perfect reach of their Mind they saw but a part of them without being able to comprehend them all together which indeed is enough to discover many Probabilities but not to discover Truth evidently Besides they seeking after Science meerly out of Vanity and probabilities being more apt to gain the Esteem of Men than Truth it self because they are more proportionated to the common reach of the Mind they have neglected to seek after necessary Means to increase the Capacity of the Mind and to give it more Extension than it has so that they have not been able to penetrate the bottom of Truths that are but a little hidden Geometricians have well known how little Extension the Mind has Geometricians behave themselves well in their Search after Truth at least they behaved themselves in their Studies after such way as shews they know it perfectly especially those that have made use of Algebra which Vieta and Descartes have renewed and improv'd in this Age. What I say appears from this That those Persons have not undertaken the Resolution of very compound Difficulties before they knew clearly the more Simple on which they depend They did not apply themselves to the Consideration of Lines as Conick Sections until they were Masters of common Geometry But that which is particular to Algebraists IV. Their Method inlarges the Capacity of the Mind that of Aristotle contractsit is That they see their Mind cannot be at the same time applied to many Figures they cannot imagine Solicts that have more than three Dimensions although it 's often necessary to conceive they may have more they make use of Common and very
Familiar Letters to express and abridge their Idea's Thus the mind not being embarrassed nor imploy'd upon any Representation which it would be oblig'd to make upon many Figures and Lines it may perceive at one view all that it is capable of seeing otherwise And thus the Mind can penetrate deeper and extend it self much farther when its Capacity is well manag'd The Art of rendring the Mind more penetrating and Extensive consists as we have elsewhere explain'd in a good Management of its Powers and Capacity not in imploying it to no purpose upon things which are not necessary to discover the Truth it seeks after which ought to be well observ'd Book VI. The Second Part of Method For this only shows that common Logicks are fitter to lessen the Capacity of the Mind than to inlarge it because it is evident That if in a Search after any Truth we use the Rules they prescribe us the Capacity of the Mind is divided so that it will be unfit to be attentive and to apprehend all the Extension of the Subject it examines It is therefore sufficiently evident from what I have said That the greatest part of Men make but little Reflection upon the Nature of the Mind whilst they apply themselves to a Search after Truth for indeed they have never been well convinc'd of its little Extension and the necessity there is of well managing and enlarging it And this is one of the most considerable Causes of their Errors and from hence it is that they have so unhappily perfected their Studies But we do not pretend that there were ever any Men which were not conscious of their own Limitation and their little Capacity and Extension of Mind all the World confesses it but the Generality of them only know it confusedly and confess it only with their Mouths The Method they take in their Study gives the Lye to their Confession since they act as if they truly thought their Mind bad no Limits and they would penetrate into things that depend upon a great many Causes whereof generally they do not know one There is also another Defect which is very common in these Studious Men V. Another Defect in Studious Men. which is the applying themselves to too many Sciences at once and if they Study but six Hours in a day they will sometimes study six different things 'T is plain this Defect proceeds from the same Cause as the rest that I have before mention'd For 't is very probable that if those that study after this manner know certainly that it was not agreeable to the Capacity of their Minds and that it was more likely to fill them with Errors and Confusion than with true Science they would not suffer themselves to be hurried away by the irregular Motions of their Passions and Vanity for indeed that is not the way to satisfie the Mind since 't is not the proper Means to know any thing CHAP. IV. I. The Mind cannot long apply it self to any Object which neither relates to it self nor to Infinity II. The Inconstancy and consequently the Error of the Will proceeds from this Defect of Application III. Our Sensations affect us more than the Pure Idea's of the Mind IV. What is the Original Cause of the Corruption of Manners V. And the Ignorance of the Generality of Mankind THE Mind of Man is not only subject to Error because it is Finite or more limited than the Objects they consider as has been explained in the two precedent Chapters but also because it is Inconstant and has no Firmness in whatsoever it does and cannot keep it self fix'd long enough upon any Subject to examine it entirely To conceive the Cause of this Inconstancy and Levity of our Minds it is necessary to know that its Action is directed by the Will which applies it to such Objects as it loves and is of it self continually Inconstant and unsettled of which this is the Cause We cannot doubt but God is the Author of all things that he hath made them for himself and has inclined the Heart of Man towards him by a Natural and Invincible Impression that he continually imprints upon him God cannot Will the Existence of any Mind which cannot love him or which should love him less than any other Good if any other besides himself could be found because he cannot Will that any Mind should not love that which is most Amiable or love it more than that which is less Amiable Thus it is requisite that a Natural Love should carry us to God since it comes from him and that there is nothing that can stop the Motions of it only God himself who imprinted them Every bodies Will therefore necessarily follows the Motions of this Love The Righteous and Wicked the Happy and the Damned Love God with this Love for the Natural Love which we have for God being the same thing as the Natural Inclination that carries us to Good in General to the Infinite and Soveraign Good it is evident that all Minds Love God with this Love since he only is the Universal Infinite and Soveraign Good For indeed all Spirits and even the Devils have an Ardent Desire to be Happy and to possess the Chief Good And they desire it without Choice without Deliberation without Liberty and by a Necessity of their Nature Being therefore made for God for an Infinite Good for a Good which comprehends all others in it our Hearts can never be satisfied but by the Possession of this Good Thus our Will always labouring under an eager Thirst always agitated with Desires Anxieties II. The Inconstancy of the Will Causes the Defect of our Application and consequently causes our Error and full of Inquietudes for the Good that it does not possess cannot without much Pain suffer the Mind for any time to stop at abstracted Truths which affect it not and which it judges uncapable of making it Happy Thus she Incessantly pushes it forward to search after other Objects and when in this Agitation which the Will communicates to it it meets with any Object that has the Appearance of a Good I mean such as makes the Soul Sensible of any Pleasure or inward Satisfaction at its approach then this Thirst is excited anew these Desires these wishes and these Ardours take new Life and the Mind being oblig'd to obey them engages it self only to that Object which causes or seems to cause them to draw it nearer to the Soul which tasts it and feeds on it for some time But the Emptiness of Creatures cannot fill the Infinite Capacity of Man's Mind these little Pleasures irritate its Thirst rather than allay it and give the Soul a vain sort of a Hope of being satisfied in the Multiplicity of the Pleasures of this Life which also produces an Inconstancy and an inconceivable Levity in the Mind which was to discover to it all these Goods It 's true that when the Mind accidentally meets with any Object which is
I hate Evil and Pain I would be Happy and I am not mistaken in believing that Men Angels and even Devils have these Inclinations I know moreover that God will never Create any Spirits but what will desire to be Happy or that can ever desire to be Unhappy But I know it with Evidence and Certainty because God tells me so For who but God could give a Knowledge of the Designs and Will of God But when the Body has any Share in what passes within me I am for the most part mistaken in judging of others by my self I feel Heat I see such a Magnitude such a Colour I relish such a Taste at the approach of certain Bodies I am deceiv'd when I judge of others by my self I am subject to certain Passions I have a Kindness or Aversion for such or such things and I fancy that others are like me my Conjecture is often False Thus the Knowledge we have of other Men is very liable to Error when we judge of them by the Sensations we have of our selves If there be any Beings different from God from our selves from Bodies and from Pure Spirits it is unknown to us We have much ado to perswade our selves that there are any such And after having examin'd the Reasons of certain Philosophers who pretend the contrary we have found them False which has confirm'd us in our former Opinion that being all Men of the same Nature we had all the same Idea's because it behoves us all to know the same things CHAP. VIII I. The Intimate Presence of the Wandering Idea of Being in General is the Cause of all the Irregular Abstractions of the Mind and of the greatest part of the Chimera's of common Philosophy which hinder many Philosophers from discovering the Solidity of the True Principles of Moral Philosophy II. Example concerning the Essence of Matter THE clear intimate necessary Presence of God I mean the Unlimited Infinite and General Being with the Mind of Man acts with more Force upon it than the Presence of all Finite Objects It is impossible that it should absolutely lay aside that general Idea of Being because it cannot subsist out of God Perhaps some might urge that it may wander from it because it may think on those particular Beings but they would be mistaken For when the Mind considers any Being in particular it is not so far from removing from God that it rather draws near if I may so speak to some of his Perfections in removing from all others However it removes from them in such a manner that it never wholly loses the sight of them and it is for the most part in a Condition to seek them out and to draw near to them They are always present to the Mind but the Mind only perceives them in an inexplicable Confusion because of its smallness and the greatness of its Idea of Being We may chance sometimes not to think on our selves but I believe we cannot subsist one Moment without thinking on Being and even at that very time when we fancy we think on nothing we are of necessity full of the wandering and general Idea of Being But whereas those things that are very usual in us and which do not concern us do not excite the Mind with any force nor oblige it to make any Reflection upon them this Idea of Being so Great so Vast so Real and so Positive as it is is yet familiar to us and touches us so little that we almost believe we do not see it that we do not reflect upon it that we afterwards judge there is but little Reality in it and that it is only form'd by the confus'd mixture of all particular Idea's Though on the contrary it is in that alone and by that alone that we perceive all Beings in particular Although that Idea which we receive by the immediate Union we have with the Word of God does never deceive us in it self like those which we receive from it by means of the Union we have with our Body which represent things to us different from what they are Yet I am not afraid to say that we make so ill a use of the best things that the indelible Presence of that Idea is one of the principal Causes of all the Irregular Abstractions of the Mind and consequently of that Abstracted and Chimerical Philosophy which explains all Natural Effects by general Terms of Act Power Cause Effect Sustantial Forms Faculties occult Qualities Sympathy Antipathy c. for it is certain that all those Terms and many others never excite any Idea's in the Mind but such as are Wandering and General that is of those Idea's which present themselves to the Mind of their own accord without Pain or any Application on our part Let Men read with all Attention imaginable all the Definitions and Explications which are given of Substantial Forms Let them carefully inquire wherein the Essence of all those Entities does consist which Philosophers fancy as they please and in so great a Number that they are oblig'd to make several Divisions and Sub-divisions of them and I am confident that they will never stir up any other Idea's in their Mind of all those things than that of Being and of Cause in General For this is what commonly happens to Philosophers They see some new Effect they immediately imagine a new Being to produce it Fire warms therefore there is some Being in the Fire which produces that Effect that is different from the matter which composes the Fire And whereas Fire is capable of several different Effects as of separating Bodies of reducing them to Ashes and into Earth of drying them hardning them softning them dilating them purifying them c. they liberally allow Fire as many Faculties or real Qualities as it is capable of producing different Effects But those that reflect on the Definitions they give of those Faculties will easily discover that they are only Logical Definitions and that they excite no other Idea's than that of Being and of Cause in General which the Mind compares with the Effect which is produced So that Men are not the more Learned after having studied them very much for all they get by that kind of Study is that they imagine they know better than others what they notwithstanding do not know near so well not only because they admit many Beings which never were but also because being prejudiced they make themselves incapable of conceiving how it can be possible that matter alone as that of Fire being moved against Bodies differently disposed should produce all the different Effects which we see Fire does produce It is Notorious to all those that have read a little that most of the Books of Sciences particularly those that treat of Natural Philosophy Physick Chymistry and all the particular things of Nature are full of Arguments grounded upon Elementary Qualities Second Causes as Attractive Retentive Digestive Expulsive and such like upon others they call occult
they do not pretend to Judge of them It is no defect in a limited Mind not to know certain things it is only a defect to pretend to Judge of them Ignorance is a necessary Evil but we may and ought to avoid Error Therefore I do not condemn Men for being Ignorant of many things but only for giving rash Judgments about those things When things have a great relation to us are sensible V That our Ignorance is exceeding great in respect of abstracted things or such as have but little relation to us and fall easily within the Compass of our Imagination we may say that the Mind applies it self to them and may have some knowledge of them For when we know that things have a relation to us we think upon them with some Inclination and when we find that they concern us we apply our selves to them with pleasure So that we should be more Learned than we are in many things if the uneasiness and tossing of our Will did not Disturb and Fatigue our Attention continually But when things are abstract and not very sensible it is difficult to attain any certain knowledge of them Not that abstracted things are very intricate but because the Attention and Sight of the Mind begins and Ends commonly with the sensible Prospect of Objects for we seldom think on any thing but what we see and feel and only as long as we see and feel it It is most certain that if the Mind could easily apply it self to clear and distinct Idea's without being any-wise byass'd by Opinion and if the uneasiness of the Will did not continually disturb its Application we should meet no great difficulties in many Natural Questions which we look upon as not to be Explain'd and we might easily be deliver'd of our Ignorance and Errors in relation to them For Example It is an undeniable Truth to any Man of Sense that Creation and Annihilation are things which surpass the common force of Nature Therefore if Men did remain Attentive to that pure Notion of the Mind and Reason they would not so easily admit the Creation and Annihilation of an infinite Number of New Beings as of Substantial Forms real Qualities and Faculties They would look into the distinct Idea's we have of Extension Figure and Motion for the reason of Natural Effects which is not always so difficult as People imagin all things in Nature are so connected together and prove each other The Effects of Fire as those of Canon and of Mines are very Surprising and their cause not very well known Nevertheless if Men instead of relying on the Impressions of their Senses and on some false or deceitful Experiments did firmly fix on that bare Notion of the Mind alone That it is not possible for a Body that is very little agitated to produce a violent Motion since it can communicate no more moving Power than it has its self it would be easie from that alone to conclude that there is a Subtle and Invisible Matter that it is very much agitated and dispers'd int h all Bodies and several other like things which would teach us the Nature of Fire and also be of great use to us to discover other Truths yet more conceal'd For since Canons and Mines have such great Motions and all the Visible Bodies about them are not in a sufficient Agitation to produce them it is a certain proof that there are other Invisible and Insensible Bodies which have at least as much Agitation as the Canon Ball But with being very Subtle and Thin may alone freely pass and without breaking through the Pores of the Canon before it is Fir'd that is as Monsieur Descartes has explain'd it more at large before their having surrounded the hard and gross parts of the Salt-petre of which the Powder is Compos'd But when the Fire is put to it that is when those subtle and extreamly agitated Particles have surrounded the gross and solid Parts of the Salt-petre and have thus Communicated their very strong and violent Motion to them then all does Burst of necessity because the Pores of the Canon which left an open passage on all sides for the subtle Parts before mention'd while they were alone are not large enough to make way for the gross Parts of the Salt-petre and some others of which the Powder is Compos'd when they have receiv'd into themselves the Agitation of the Subtle Parts which surrounds them For as the Water of Rivers which flows under Bridges does not shake them by reason of the smallness of its Particles Thus the very subtle and very thin Matter I have mention'd passes continually through the Pores of all Bodies without making any sensible Alterations in them But then likewise as the said River is capable of breaking down a Bridge when carrying along with it some great Flakes of Ice or some other more solid Bodies by forcing them against it with its own Motion so subtle Matter is capable of producing the surprising Effects we see in Canons and in Mines when having communicated to the Parts of the Powder which Float in the midst of it its Motion which is infinitely more Violent and more Rapid than that of Rivers and Torrents the said Parts of the Powder cannot freely pass through the Pores of the Bodies which enclose them by reason they are too gross so that they violently break them to force them a free Passage But Men do not easily apprehend those subtle small Particles which they repute Chimera's because they do not see them Contemplatio ferè definit cum aspectu says Bacon The greater part even of Philosophers invent some New Entity rather than not to talk upon those matters which they are Ignorant of And if any Body objects against their false and incomprehensible Suppositions that Fire must needs be compos'd of Parts that are in very great Agitation since it produces such Violent Motions and that a thing cannot Communicate that which it has not which is undoubtedly a most clear and most solid Objection They confound all by some frivolous Imaginary distinction as that of Equivocal and Univocal Causes in order to seem to say something though in reality they say nothing For it is a general Notion among Men of Sense and Learning that there can be no real Equivocal Cause in Nature and that it has been invented meerly by the Ignorance of Men. Therefore Men must apply themselves more to the consideration of clear and distinct Notions if they have a mind to understand Nature They must check and stop the Inconstancy and Levity of their Will a little if they design to penetrate deeply into things for their Mind will ever be weak superficial and discursive while their Will remains Light Inconstant and Roving It is true it requires some Fatigue and Men must constrain themselves to become Attentive and to search into the bottom of things for there is nothing to be got without pains It is shameful for Men of Sense and
of Well-being Now the Love of Well-being is so Powerful that it sometimes proves Stronger than the Love of Being and Self-Love makes us sometimes desire not to be because we have not a Well-being This is the Case of all the Damned who according to the Word of Jesus Christ had better not to be than to be so Unhappy as they are because these Wretches being declar'd Enemies to him in whom all Goodness Centers and who is the Sole Cause of Pleasure and of Pain which we are capable of it is impossible they should enjoy any Satisfaction they are and will be Eternally Unhappy because their Will will ever remain in the same Disposition and in the same Irregularity So that Self-Love includes two Loves the Love of Greatness of Power of Independence and generality of all things which seem to be proper for the Preservation of our Being and the Love of Pleasure and of all things that are necessary for our Well-being that is To be Happy and Satisfied Those two Loves may be divided several ways Whether because we are composed of two different parts of Soul and Body according to which they may be divided or because they may be distinguish'd or specified by the different Objects that are useful for our Preservation However we will not inlarge upon that because as we do not design to make a Treatise of Morality it is not necessary to make an Inquiry into and an exact Division of all the things we look upon as our Felicities It was only necessary to make this Division to relate the cause of our Errors in some order Therefore we shall first speak of those Errors which are caused by our Inclination for Greatness and for all those things that makes our Being Independant of others And afterwards we shall treat of those which proceed from the Inclination we have for Pleasure and for all those things which render our Being the best it can be for us or that contents us most CHAP. VI. I. Of the Inclination we have for every thing that raises us above other Persons II. Of the false Judgments of some Pious Persons III. Of the false Judgments of the Superstitious and Hypocrites IV. Of Voetius an Enemy to Monsieur Descartes WHatever raises us above others by making us more Perfect as Science and Virtue I. Of the Inclination we have for all that raises us above other Persons or that gives us an Authority over them by making us more Powerful as Dignities and Riches seem in some measure to make us Independent All those that are beneath us have a Respect for us and fear us they are always ready to do what pleases us for our Preservation and they dare neither Prejudice us nor oppose our Desires Therefore Men constantly endeavour to possess those Advantages which raise them above others For they never consider that both their Being and Well-being in Truth only depend on God above and not on Men and that the true Greatness which will make them Eternally Happy does not consist in that Rank which they hold in the Imagination of other Men as Weak and as Miserable as themselves but in an humble Submission to the Will of God who being Just will not fail to reward those who remain within the Order he hath prescribed But Men do not only desire Effectively to possess Learning and Vertue Dignities and Riches they also use their utmost Efforts in order to persuade others that they do really possess them And if it may be said that they endeavour less to appear Rich than to be really so it may also be said that they often take less care to be Virtuous than to appear so For as the Author of the Book Entituled Reflectiones Morales fays agreeably Virtue would not go far unless it were accompanied with Vanity The Reputation of being Rich Learned and Virtuous produces in the Imagination of those that are about us or that are more nearly related to us very convenient Dispositions for us It makes them fall at our Feet it makes them act in our Favour it Inspires them with all the Motions that tend to the Preservation of our Being and to the Increase of our Grandeur Thus Men preserve their Reputation as a Good which is necessary for them to Live with Ease in the World All Men then have an Inclination for Virtue Learning Dignities and Riches and for the Reputation of possessing those Advantages We will now endeavour to show by some Examples how those Inclinations may engage them into Error Let us begin by the Inclination that Men have for Virtue or for the Appearance of Virtue Those who apply themselves Seriously to become Virtuous commonly imploy their Mind and Time to understand Religion and to exercise themselves in good Works They only desire with St. Paul to be acquainted with Jesus Christ Crucified to find out a Remedy for the Distemper and Corruption of their Nature They desire no other Knowledge than that which is necessary for them to live Christianly and to know their Duty after which they apply themselves to fulfil them with Zeal and Exactness And therefore they seldom trouble themselves about Sciences which appear Vain and Barren in respect to their Salvation No Fault can be found with that Conduct it is Infinitely to be valued II. Of the false Judgments of some Pious Persons Men would Esteem themselves Happy to observe it exactly and they often repent their not having followed it more But this is unapprovable that since it is certain that there are Sciences absolutely Humane very Certain and Useful which disingage the Mind from Sensible Things and use it by degrees to relish the Truths of the Gospel some Pious Persons without having examin'd them condemn them too freely either as being Useless or Uncertain It is true that most Sciences are very uncertain and very useless Men are partly in the right to believe that they only contain Truths which are of little use No body is oblig'd to study them and it is better to despise them than to suffer ones self to be deceiv'd or blinded by them Nevertheless we may affirm That it is very necessary to know some Metaphysical Truths The Universal Knowledge or the Existence of a God is absolutely necessary since even the Certainty of Faith depends on the Knowledge which Reason gives of the Existence of a God It is necessary to know that it is his Will which makes and which regulates Nature That the Force or Power of Natural Causes is only his Will In a word That all things whatever depend on God It is also necessary to know what Truth is the means to distinguish it from Error the Distinction between the Mind and Body the Consequences that may be drawn from it as the Immortality of the Soul and several other things of that kind which may be known with certainty The Knowledge of Man or of ones self is a Science that cannot be reasonably despis'd it contains a World of
that is Because they shall be Happy Those that suffer Persecution for Justice are thereby Just Virtuous and Perfect because they are in the Order that God has prescrib'd and Perfection consists in following him but they are not Happy because they Suffer A time will come when they will Suffer no more and then they will be Happy as well as Just and Perfect However I do not deny but that the Righteous may be Happy in some measure even in this Life by the strength of their Hope and Faith which render those future Felicities as it were present to their Mind For it is certain that when the Hope of some Happiness is strong and lively it draws it nearer to the Mind and gives it a taste thereof before-hand And thus it makes us Happy in some measure since it is the taste and possession of Good and of Pleasure which makes us Happy Therefore it is unreasonable to tell Men that sensible Pleasures are not Good and that those that enjoy them are never the Happier since it is not true and at the time of Temptation they discover it to their misfortune We must tell them that those Pleasures are good in themselves and capable to make them Happy in some measure Nevertheless they ought to avoid them for the Reasons beforementioned but they cannot avoid them of themselves Because they desire to be Happy through an Inclination which they cannot overcome and those transitory Pleasures which they ought to avoid satisfie it in some measure Thus they are in a miserable Necessity of losing themselves unless they are assisted It is necessary to tell them these things that they may distinctly know their Weakness and the want they have of a Redeemer We must speak to Men like Jesus Christ and not like the Stoicks who neither understand the Nature nor Distemper of Human Minds They must continually be told that they must hate and despise themselves and not look for an Establishment or Happiness on Earth That they must daily carry their Cross or the Instrument of their suffering and that they must lose their Life at present in order to preserve it Eternally They must be taught that they are oblig'd to act contrary to their desire to make 'em sensible of their inability to good For Men wou'd be invincibly Happy and they cannot be actually so unless they do what they please Perhaps being convinced of their present Evils and knowing their future sufferings they may humble themselves on Earth Perhaps they may invoke the Assistance of Heaven and seek a Mediatour be afraid of sensible Objects and timely abhor whatever flatters their Senses and Concupiscence And it may be they may thus obtain that Spirit of Prayer and Repentance which is so necessary to obtain Grace and without which there is no Power no Health nor no Salvation to be expected We are inwardly convinc'd that Pleasure is Good II. It must not incline us to the Love of sensible Delights and that the inward Conviction thereof is not False for Pleasure is really Good We are Naturally Convinc'd that Pleasure is the Character of Good and that Natural Conviction is certainly true for that which Causes Pleasure is certainly very Good and very Lovely But we are not convinc'd that either sensible Objects or our Souls themselves are capable of producing Pleasure in us for there is no reason to believe it and there are a Thousand against it Therefore sensible Objects are neither Good nor Lovely Were they necessary toward the Preservation of Life we ought to use them But as they are not capable of Acting in us we ought not to Love them The Soul must only Love him that is Good who only is capable to make it Happier and more perfect Therefore it should only Love that which is above it since it can receive its Perfection from nothing that is either below or equal to it But whereas we judge that a Thing is the Cause of some Effect when it always attends it we fancy that they are Sensible Objects which act in us because at their approach we have new Sensations and because we do not see him that produces them really in us We taste a Fruit and we find a Sweetness we impute that Sweetness to that Fruit we conclude that it causes it and even that it contains it We do not see God as we see and as we feel that Fruit we do not so much as think on him nor perhaps on our selves Therefore we do not conclude that God is the real Cause of that Sweetness nor that the said Sweetness is a Modification of our Soul we impute both the Cause and the Effect to that Fruit which we eat What I have said of Sensations which have a relation to the Body is also to be understood of those that have no relation to it as those which are found in pure Intelligences The Mind considers it self it sees that nothing is wanting to its Happiness and Perfection or else it sees that it does not possess what it desires At the sight of its Happiness it feels Joy at the sight of its Misfortunes it endures Sorrow It straight fancies that it is the sight of its Happiness which produces in it self that Sentiment of Joy because the said Sentiment always attends that sight It also imagines that it is the sight of its Misfortune which produces in it self that Sentiment of Grief since the said Sentiment is the Consequence of this sight The real Cause of those Sentiments which is God alone does not appear before it It does not so much as think on God for he acts in us without our knowing it God rewards us with a Sentiment of Joy when we know that we are in the Condition in which we ought to be that we may remain in it that our Disquiet may cease and that we may fully enjoy our Happiness without suffering the Capacity of our Mind to be filled with any thing else But he produces a Sentiment of Grief in us when we are Sensible that we are not in the State in which we ought to be so that we may not remain in it and that we might earnestly seek after the Perfection that is wanting in us For God pushes us continually toward Good when we are Sensible that we do not possess it and he fixes us powerfully upon it when we find that we possess it fully So that it seems evident to me that the Intellectual Sentiments of Joy or of Grief as well as the Sensible ones are no voluntary Productions of the Mind Therefore we ought continually to acknowledge by our Reason that Invisible Hand which fills us with Bliss and which disguises it self to our Mind under Sensible Appearances We must Adore it we must Love it but we must also Fear it for since it fills us with Pleasures it may also overwhelm us with Grief We ought to Love it by a Love of Choice by a Sensible Love by a Love worthy of God when
and in Truth and to whom they Sacrifice themselves But whereas the True God threatens them in the Secret of their Consciences with an Eternity of Torments to punish the Excess of their Ingratitude yet they will not quit their Idolatry they bethink themselves of performing some good Works externally They Fast like others they give Alms they say Prayers they continue for some time in the like Exercises and whereas they are troublesom to those that want Charity they leave them commonly to imbrace certain little Practices or easie Devotions which agreeing with Self-Love necessarily and insensibly overthrows all the Morals of Jesus Christ They are Faithful Earnest and Zealous Defenders of those Humane Traditions which Ignorant Persons perswade them to be very Useful and such things as the Idea of Eternity that frightens them does continually represent they eagerly defend as absolutely necessary for their Salvation It is not so with the Just They hear the Threatnings of their God as well as the Impious but the confused Noise of their Passions does not hinder them from hearkning to his Counsels The false Rays of Humane Tradition do not blind them so far as to make them Insensible of the Light of Truth They put their Confidence in the Promises of Jesus Christ and they follow his Councils for they know that the Promises of Men are as Vain as their Counsels Nevertheless we may say That that Fear which the Idea of Eternity creates in their Mind produces sometimes so great a Disorder in their Imagination that they dare not absolutely Condemn those Humane Traditions and that sometimes they approve them by their Example because they have some Appearance of Wisdom in their Superstition and in their False Humility like those Pharisaical Traditions mentioned by St. Paul Col. 2.22 23. But that which is particularly worthy of Consideration and which does not so much relate to the Corruption of Manners as to the Disorder of the Mind is That the Fear we have before mentioned extends to the Faith as well as the Zeal of those that are affected with it even to Things that are False and Unworthy the Holiness of our Religion There are many People who do believe and that with an Obstinate Faith That the Earth is Immovable in the Center of the World That Animals are Sensible of real Pain That there are Forms or Accidents really distinct from Matter And a World of the like False or Uncertain Opinions because they fancy that they should oppose the Faith in denying it They are frighten'd by the Expressions of the Holy Bible which speaks to our Capacity and consequently makes use of the common Manner of Speaking without any Design to Instruct us in Natural Philosophy They do not only believe what the Spirit of God will teach them but also all the Opinions of the Jews They do not see for Example that Joshua speaks before his Soldiers as Copernicus himself Galileus and Descartes would speak to the Vulgar part of Mankind and that though he had been of the Opinion of these last Philosophers he would not have commanded the Earth to stand still because he could not have made his Army Sensible by unintelligible words of the Miracle which God perform'd for his People Those who are of Opinion that the Sun is Immovable nevertheless tell their Servants their Friends and even those that are of their Opinion that the Sun Rises or Sets They always speak like other Men when their Principal Design is not to Philosophise Did Joshua perfectly understand Astronomy or if he did did his Souldiers understand it Or if both he and his Souldiers were skill'd in it can any body think that they design'd to Philosophise while they only thought of Fighting Therefore Joshua spoke as he ought to do although both he and his Souldiers had believ'd what the most Eminent Astronomers believe at this time Nevertheless those words of that great Captain Sun stand thou still upon Gibeon and what is said afterwards that the Sun stood still according to his Command perswade many People that the Opinion of the Motion of the Earth is not only a dangerous Opinion but that it is also absolutely Heretical and not to be maintain'd They have heard that some Pious Persons for whom we ought to have a great deal of Respect and Deference condemn'd that Opinion They have a confused Knowledge of something that happen'd upon that Subject to a Famous Astronomer of our Age and that seems sufficient for them to believe Obstinately that Faith extends even to that Opinion A certain confus'd Sentiment excited and entertain'd by a Motion of Fear which they hardly perceive makes them harbour Diffidences against those that follow Reason in things which relate to Reason They look upon them as Hereticks They are Uneasie and Troubled whenever they hear them speak and their Secret Apprehensions create in their Minds the same Respect and the same Submission for their own vulgar Opinions and for many other Notions of Philosophy as for Truths which are the Objects of Faith CHAP. XIII I. Of the Third Natural Inclination which is the Friendship we have for other Men. II. It Induces us to approve our Friends Thoughts and to deceive them by False Praises OF all our Inclinations taken in General and in the Sense I have explain'd it in the first Chapter there only remains that which we have for those we Live with and for all the Objects that are about us of which I shall hardly say any thing because that relates more to Morality and Policy than to our Subject As that Inclination is always joyn'd with the Passions it would perhaps be sitter to speak of it in the following Book But Order is not of so much Consequence in that Point In order rightly to apprehend the Causes and Effects of that Natural Inclination I. Of the Third Natural Inclination which is the Friendship we have for other Men. it is fit to know that God Loves all his Works and that he Unites them strictly one to another for their Mutual Preservation For continually loving the Works he produces since they are produc'd by his Love he also continually Imprints in our Hearts a Love for his Works since he continually produces a Love in our Hearts like unto his And to the end the Natural Love we have for our selves may not Annihilate it self and overmuch weaken that which we have for the Things that are not in us And on the contrary That those two Loves which God puts in us may maintain and strengthen each other he has united us in such a manner to all things that are about us and particularly with the Beings of the same Species with us that their Sufferings Afflict us Naturally their Joy Rejoyces us and their Grandeur their Fall their Diminution seems to Augment or to diminish our own Being The new Dignities of our Relations and Friends the new Acquisitions of those that have most relation to us the Conquests and Victories