but what is much tobe lamented they have left us in admiration and ignorance Therefore I try as well as I can to resolve these difficulties that I may perform my promise First of all therefore since Matter is every where one and the same nor does the Astral and Coelestial differ from the Terrestrial as we have said elsewhere but only in this that Atoms which make Coelestial Bodies have Figures different from them which compose terrestrial Bodies and that the Particles of those are better and more strictly united than these I say we must not conclude with Fernelius that the Elements of the Stars are different from the Elements of the sublunary World nor with Galen that that divine thing in the Seed is a certain part of Divinity But we must confess that Seeds are Bodies composed of many parts not only in respect of the sperm and diverse coverings in which the seminal Spirit is shut up and kept but also in respect of the seminal Spirit it self which is not a Simple thing but a Body compounded of most subtile Atoms excellently figured made and proportioned that as an Original they may serve to the forming all Copies afterwards in the propagation of the Species These are the Atoms as I said shut up yet without Bonds or Servitude This Doctrine is agreeable to our Principles and as we have compared Atoms with the first elements of Grammar which are Letters we say likewise according to this Opinion that Letters may be made and written so exactly as to serve as a pattern to make others by in like manner among Atoms there are some so well made and formed and disposed in so just an order that they may serve for Samples and Patterns to others and in this manner I conceive of Seeds I come now to the next difficulty which represents the multiplication of every individual by a sole dilatation of Seeds but the manner how this dilatation is made is not easie to be explained but I apprehend it after this manner A grain of Corn which is a Seed is thrown into the Earth where it putrifies and is dissolved by an acid menstruum which contains in it a Spirit whose Atoms are partly of the same Nature with the Spirits of the Seed or at least are subtile enough to penetrate into the vacuities of the husk of the Grain and sperm in which the seminal Spirit is shut up which Spirit the coverings of it being dilated by these apertures frees it self from the Prison wherein it was detained and the Atoms and Original Corpuscles begin to drive on one another they being themselves driven on by the Atoms of the acid or dissolving Spirit which acted the first part in the Play and received its motion from the others For whatsoever is moved is moved by another and so successively the parts of the World Particles Corpuscles and Atoms mutually drive on one another and this motion began with the World and will continue 'till the end of it when God will fix all things and put a stop to all generations So that these seminal Spirits being thus loosed and endowed with liberty by the acid Spirits are still driven on by them and being pressed rise upwards and form a stalk with a very slender top by the concourse of the Salt of the manure and out of the corruption and division of dissolved Atoms of the neighbouring Bodies which they luckily meet withal or which are thrown into the Earth near that place on purpose this is what Husbandmen know very well who for this reason Dung their grounds and burn the stubble But if they knew how to steep their grains or seeth Corn in an acid dissolvent or water their grounds with it there would be none found so barren but would become fruitful nor would the Husbandman be a little pleased with his plenty of Corn and from thence the truth of our Principles and Experiments would be manifested Man who is generated out of Humane Seed and like plants receives his first formation does in this case very much excel them For as in his dignity he excels all things that have material life so also he is begotten and conceived after a more Noble and more Eminent manner and we may say with Plato that a Man of all wonders is the most wonderful not only in his perfect being but also in his first Formation This Formation is indeed a Miracle of Nature which cannot be more naturally explained than by saying That the Womans Womb after having received the Man's Seed is shut up by the Contraction of its Fibres and the seminal body finding there an acid juice putrifies and is corrupted in the space of Eight or Ten Days The Seminal Spirit thus extricating it self and joyning with the Blood that is there and even now at the beginning being joyned to the Womans Seed out of Two is made One partaking in the Conception of Father and Mother which is then afterwards formed by the help of this acid Blood which dissolves it and is the Cause why these two seminal Spirits are joyned together and out of two compound One only Being which is called Embryo The whole Wonder consists in this Ordination of Parts which are disposed in so elegant an order that there is no man in the World able to give them so just an order and disposition and now behold what I think of this business Besides the general providence of God which I acknowledge in all things and besides that particular one which he takes care of Man as of his own Image I cannot but return to the motion of Spirits or seminal Corpuscles which form a Body fit to undergo their operations As many as proceed from every one part of the Body generating produce a part in the Body generated and form it like themselves The Corpuscles or seminal Spirits derived from the Eyes form Eyes and we may say the same of the other parts of the Body this supposes Seed to proceed from all parts of the Body and from hence we gather that their parts who exceed measure in the Venerial act are all weakned especially the Brain which is sometimes so shaken together that it heavily decays and the powers of it are dissolved So that these sort of Men often dye seized with Epileptick Convulsions Palsies Tremblings of the Nerves Arthritick Pains and Defluxions It remains therefore to know how the parts of the Eyes form the Eyes the parts of the Brain the Brain and the parts derived from the Hands and Arms the Hands and Arms of an Embryo For we see that the Blind beget Blind and the Lame the Lame unless the Mothers Blood supplies this defect I say therefore that in the resolution or dissolving of the seminal Body there is necessarily caused a motion of Corpuscles mutually driving one another to and fro each possessing that place which gives them its Figure by which they are detained in a due site nor can they abide elsewhere So the Corpuscles which form
doubts but every cause is a principle and that all niceties concerning this matter are altogether useless Philosophers do commonly reckon all Causes to be but Five in number they give the first place to that which they call the Efficient Cause which is that Agent which produces the things that are in Nature and gives them their essence and existences In the next place they rank the Material Cause being that subject which receives the impression of the efficient and operating cause The third is called the Formal Cause which gives a being to every thing as the most Noble and principal part of it The fourth is called the Exemplary Cause according to whose rule the efficient produces its action when it operates by Knowledge The fifth and last is the Final Cause which is the end for whose sake the efficient produces its effect In this first Part we shall speak of all things which concern these several Causes not omitting any thing which shall be thought necessary to the knowledge of them CHAP. I. Of the Efficient Cause and of its Essence and Differences THere is such a relation and connection between the Cause and the Effect that we cannot have a true notion of the cause unless at the same time we have a conception of the effect so in general we say that a cause is nothing else but that which gives being to another thing which is the effect of it which way soever it happens according to the Five Causes before mentioned All Philosophers do agree That of all Causes the Efficient is the most Noble because properly speaking this alone hath Effect though it be produced after several ways as we shall shew hereafter If the Efficient Cause acts by a power proper to it self then it is called the Principal cause but if onely by the force and impression of another then it is termed the Instrumental cause So we distinguish betwixt the Painter and the Pencil though both contribute to the production of the Picture Also the Universal Cause which produces many effects as the Sun the Stars and the Elements is distinguished from a Particular Cause which is determinate to one effect in particular Of this kind there are many sublunary causes acting in this inferior World. There is also a difference between the Total Cause which produces its effect without the help of another and That Cause which cannot act alone but only produces part of the effect There are also necessary and free causes the first acts necessarily and without choice as Fire the Sun and all created causes except Men and Angels for they act by a Free Will wherein consists the essence of Liberty The Efficient Cause is likewise either Physical or Moral the Physical acts really and immediately as Fire consuming a House with its Flame and he that sets fire to it for that purpose is the next moral cause and he who advises it is a moral but a remote cause of the consequential burning But if the Fire happens by chance and by the imprudence of one that carries a Candle in his hand and some sparks fall into the thatch which takes fire whereby the House is burnt here this Man is only an accidental cause of the Burning Lastly it is rightly distinguished between the First Cause which is Author of Nature and Nature created under which are comprehended all second causes and such are all Creatures As to the Efficient Cause whereof we speak it may be observed that when it acts by Knowledge all the said causes after their respective manner do concurr to the production of one and the same effect As the Painter drawing his Picture is the principal cause the Pencil the instrumental the End proposed by the Painter is the final cause and the Idea directing is the exemplary cause the form and disposition of the parts of the Piece that is painted may be taken for the form of it the Colours and the Cloath whereupon they are laid may be reckoned the material cause because they are the constituent matter of the Work. But if a Limner in his anger throws his Pencil as it is reported to have hapned to him who had in vain endeavoured to represent to the life a high mettled Horse Foaming at his Mouth or if a Limner undesignedly and by chance touches the Picture which thereby as it befell the former in his anger is made better the representation more agreeable the lines stronger or more piercing this would be only an effect of an accidental cause There are some things to be observed in an efficient cause when it acts which are inseparable from it such as these the nature of the Agent the existence of the cause the power which makes it act the intervening act the effect which is produced the subject whereby into which and wherein it is produced as we shall see in what follows CHAP. II. Of the first Cause THE existence of the first Cause or first Princple is so evident and so necessary that it is like Truth known by it self and ought not to be supposed liable to any difficulty especially amongst Christians who are illuminated by the Light of Divine Revelation And since a Man that submits himself to Faith hath not thereby renounced the light of Reason it will not be amiss to confirm this truth with natural reasons lest any doubt should remain in Spirits less tractable Which the better to effect I suppose a Truth so well known that no Man can deny unless he hath a mind to be thought ridiculous and infatuated This Truth so obvious that it ought to pass for a Principle whereupon as a sure foundation the existence of the first cause ought to be built is grounded upon our own proper existence there is nothing so evident nothing so certain than That we are in the World this truth is confirmed by the testimony of all our senses whatsoever we think whatsoever we say and whatsoever we do will not suffer us to imagine that our existence is an illusion Therefore it is certain and more than evident that we are in the World but that we are in it from our selves or by our selves or by casualty or chance or by the necessity of being is absolutely impossible so that it is necessary that we are in the World by the means and assistance of a certain other Being who as the Author was also the free Principle of that essence which we possess This Principle is necessarily either a first or second cause if the first then you shall see that we are agreed and that the true existence of the first cause which some would deny is rightly built upon the truth of our Being which no Man can deny if we make the cause of our being to be a second cause then it must be confessed that this second cause is produced by a third and the third by a fourth and so in going upwards as they do in the Genealogies of ancient and Noble Progenies at last we find the
head of the Family that is the first cause who by his great Atchievements purchased to himself the Quality and Title of Nobility and left those Titles to his Illustrious Family It is likewise true that there is no Family so Illustrious or so Ancient but the Genealogy of it terminates in one private person who gave it both its Name and Original and which was the first Cause of its Nobility no certainly unless we erect a ridiculous and an infinite Genealogie or like the Egyptians who imagined themselves to be older than the Moon will say that its Origine is as unknown as the Head of Nilus In the same manner after we have by way of ascent to our Fathers and Ancestors examined what kind of Author we had of our being whom we may call the first cause of all things which are in us we do necessarily find a certain Being which was before all things and which is the effect of no other causes and which is the Cause of all things which are in the World and consequentially the first who is that God whom we adore This demonstration doth abundantly convince any Person who hath in him the least spark of the light of reason It is ridiculous to say that we our selves were the cause of our Being because from thence it would follow that we did exist before we had a being that we gave our selves that which we were not in posession of and that the cause and the effect was one and the same thing which is impossible It is no less an errour to affirm That we are in the World by Necessity for if we were so in the World our existence would never have had a beginning and we would have been immutable and independent and infinite in every kind of perfection which is repugnant to experience and right Reason That perswasion of Epicurus and his Followers is no less ridiculous That the first Authors of our existence were produced by Chance or by a fortuitous occurrence of Attoms This opinion of it self falls to the ground Let it be supposed that the World was produced by this fortuitous occurrence of Atoms yet still the question will be Whether these Atoms were Created or Uncreated If created they acknowledge a Cause of their existence and this cause must own another and so ad infinitum which cannot be maintained for then the World would be eternal and thence to this present time there would have been an infinite number of rational Souls in the World Aristotle who supposed the eternity of the World and the immortality of the Soul yet did deny the Transmigration of Souls and would allow nothing in Nature to be actually infinite whereby he makes himself guilty of an absurd contradiction The same Aristotle stumbles upon another Contradiction in Relation to the First Cause for if the World be Eternal and without a beginning this Second Cause is of no use for the same Reason which proves the World to have a beginning proves likewise the existence of the first cause on the other hand the same reason which proves the existence of the first cause does at the same time prove that the World once had a beginning and doth demonstrate that it was not Eternal In the same manner Epicurus is guilty of an absurd contradiction when he says that Atoms which according to his opinion he makes to be the causes of all things were produced and created by another But if he says these Atoms were Uncreated and that they were Eternal Beings necessary and independent then every Atom must be some Divinity and that they are both the efficient and material cause of all things which is impossible because the opposition and relation which is necessarily betwixt a principle acting and the subject whereupon it acts do imply a necessary distinction CHAP. III. The Perfections of the first Cause THey who are throughly satisfied with the existence of the first cause must of necessity attribute to it all the Perfections which are or can be in the World that it is not only the most perfect and most noble of causes but also it ought to be supposed that all the effects which it hath produced or is yet capable of producing are in its Being in all perfections and that every one of them is infinite and as it is the first cause in the unity of its Being for it is necessary it should have the perfections of those beings which it hath or can produce for otherwise it would or could communicate that which it neither hath nor can have The first cause would not be absolutely perfect if it were not eternal for so it would have had a beginning and might have an end and then it could not be the first cause in so much that it derives its existence from that which was pre-existent to it and by consequence this cause which we suppose to be first would be a second cause limited in its being and perfections as in its duration and it would seem to have a dependence upon another Whereas when we suppose it to be the first all others must depend upon it and be subordinate to it whence it follows that these qualities of the first cause are inseparable from it Independence Eternity Infinity and Supreme Authority and that we cannot conceive any first cause but at the same time we acknowledge the existence of God. This first Cause or to say better this first Being which is God must necessarily have that perfect Unity which admits no multiplication either of Nature or Perfections Certainly if God was not one in his being but had several Natures the number of them ought to be infinite and that none of these Beings in particular would be infinite because when the perfection of one cannot be the perfection of another there will not be one to be found but will stand in need of the perfection of the other that is in whom there would not be requisite that perfection which the other Beings do possess I add moreover That all these supposed Beings would be opposite independent and all Supreme which is impossible or that all would be subject to one or other of them which is ridiculous whence it follows that there is but one only God who is one in his existence incapable of any multiplication and who is the Primary and Universal Cause of all things The great number or rather the infinity of perfections which we apprehend to be in the First Cause is not repugnant to the Supreme Unity because that does not divide the being and they are but one and the same thing though we give them several Names and do consider them under several Ideas which we are forced to correct since without that Unity there would be necessarily a composition of parts which would be the cause of the whole Compound and which would precede its existence which cannot be the ingredient of that composition without something else intervening they might also be divided and separated
so by the dissolution of the parts the compound would cease which is plainly inconsistent with that Idea which we have of God who is simple in his Nature Independent and every way Incorruptible The first cause is not only One and without its like in its Essence but also one sole and without a second in that action by which the world was produced And for this reason this action is called Creation supposing nothing but meer nothing out of which all things were made by the only power of God without the help of any other having either the quality of an Agent or a Subject The world being produced by this first cause remains subject to the will and pleasure of it And in the same manner as it was produced by the sole act of this first cause so it is preserved in the same State by the sole influence of the same cause who as it did not want any other second cause in the Creation of the Universe so neither doth it stand in need of any assistance in the conservation of it Being and Nothing are so opposite to one another that the Philosophers always had it for a Maxim That out of nothing nothing could be made which is to be understood only in reference to second causes and not in respect of the first whose power is infinite and who can do what he pleases this power in the creation of the Universe was not applyed according to the extensiveness of its activity because it pleased God to terminate the being qualities and number of second causes which are created The Creation was no necessary action for the first Cause did not Create the World but at such a Time in such a Place and in such a Manner as seemed good to it self so it made all those things with the highest Liberty there being no other cause either equal or superior to it self who was able to compel perswade animate or incite it to the Creation of the world The World it self could not terminate a necessary action because it could not be Eternal for every thing that is of necessity is eternal neither had it ever a beginning nor can it have an end because it is against the nature of a created being which is limited in its qualities and duration no less than in its natural Substance If the first cause was free in the Creation of the world thence it follows that all things were made by direction of reason and understanding and by consequence according to a certain Idea and Rule But because the first cause operates after an independent manner it could not have the Type of its production any where else but from it self neither could it act by a rule distinct from its own being so God is not only the efficient but the exemplary cause of all things For the same reason it may be said That the first Cause which is God is the final cause of all things for when he as an intelligent and free cause produced the World he did propose to himself an end answerable to his Dignity that is himself and his own proper Glory so that the first cause is necessarily the ultimate end of all its effects CHAP. IV. Of second Causes and their Actions ALL Creatures are called second Causes because they depend upon the first neither do they operate but by the Command and Impression of the first this First or Universal Cause does act Uuniversally with particular Causes but after a manner agreeing with the Nature of every particular thing and according to the power which was given it when it was created which does not alter the Nature of the Causes nor the necessity or Liberty of their actions This power of acting which is granted to second Causes is not a quality different from their Nature and Being So the Power which the Atoms have of moving themselves doth not differ from the Atoms themselves the power of burning or heating doth not differ from the Fire to which it is inherent unless it be in the manner of our conceiving things and of speaking of them according to our conceptions So it is of an Action which terminates from the cause to the effect and which is nothing else than a certain relation or an actual subordination which is found betwixt the cause and the effect This action is never without motion or to say better action and motion is one and the same thing thence it is that a thing rests when it is without action and then it begins to move it self when it begins action so according to three ways of acting there are found in the nature of things three kinds of motion The first is made without Sense or Reason which we may see in Stones Mettals Plants and the Heavens The second kind of motion is made by sense and knowledge as are seen in all living Creatures The third kind joins Reason to Sense as we observe in man acting by Phancy who proposes an end to himself distinguishes between Good and Evil and hath the liberty of prosecuting the several Objects presented to his view either with love or hatred As an action is not indeed distinct from the cause acting nor from the effect which it doth produce so motion doth not differ from the thing moved or from the thing which moves it but both of them Is accordingly as they change their condition or cease to rest which from the Creation was never done without a certain local motion of the whole or some part thereof so the notion of rest is opposite to the notion of mutation and action as well as motion CHAP. V. Of Accidental Causes THere are many causes which are called Accidental Causes for properly speaking they are not true causes which sort of causes happens four manner of ways first a Musitian draws a Picture not as he is a Musitian but as a Painter so that the Art of Painting is the true cause of this work And as the Art of Singing contributes nothing here since it falls out by chance that the Art of Singing and the Art of Painting meet together in this Man and since the Art of Singing is no way requisite for the making of the Picture in this respect we may say that the Musitian is only an accidental cause of the Picture which he hath drawn Secondly a remote or indirect cause is called an accidental cause as when we say that the Sun is the cause of darkness because darkness is occasioned by the absence of the Sun Mirth is the cause of Sadness and Peace arises from War As a Man endeavouring to save his Friend whose Life is in danger and thereby unwillingly exposing him to a certain death is the indirect or accidental cause of his death As he who perswades his Friend to cross the Seas whereby he is cast away Thirdly an opposite cause which produces an effect quite contrary to that which it ought to produce is an accidental cause as it was with the subjects of such
Tyrants as persecuted the Church and thereby procured Glory to Martyrs and as those who were the death of our Lord Jesus Christ obtained us Life destroyed the Synagogue built the Church they fulfilled the Prophecies and laid the foundation of the Gospel In the fourth and last place That is an accidental cause which produces a particular effect not foreseen and according to the course of Nature unavoidable if it hath respect to an intelligent cause and the effect be agreeable to wish the Heathens did point at this by the name of Fortune and according to their way of speaking we say such a thing is the effect of Fortune as when a Man is digging up the Foundation of a house and by chance finds a Treasure but if the effect be otherwise than prosperous then it is misfortune or the chance of Fortune As when a Tile falls from the top of a House upon a Mans Head that is passing by and Kills him here the Tile is the Physical and accidental cause of this Mans death which was inevitable according to the course of second causes having either their free or necessary motions These accidental causes gave the Heathens occasion to frame to themselves a Blind Goddess which they called Fortune to whom they did attribute an unconstant an uncertain and a various disposition of good and evil to this Man 's good to that Man's prejudice Of all errors this is not the least neither was it entertained by any but the ignorant and the meaner sort of People The wiser sort in that age did aim at a cause of all the effects which happen in the World that was less feigned and more solid this they would have to be Fate and that what without any reason was ordained by this universal and chief cause was inevitable so when any great misfortune happened as the loss of a Battel the defeat of an Army the change of State the subversion of a Common Wealth or the sudden death of some Illustrious Person all this was ascribed to Fate and they did commonly say Sic erat in Fatis this was the inevitable will of Fate so the Fates would have it And when any person undertook any great Enterprise as it was said of Aeneas being in search of the Golden Fleece if the Fates call thee that is if the Fates favour thee thou shalt attain thy end The great Wits of our Age are almost of the same Opinion concerning all the various successes of Prosperity and Adversity and all things which come to pass in this Life as if humane Prudence had been of no use and Divine Providence without any care had been idle But that we may speak like a Christian Philosopher supposing the existence of the First Cause and having demonstrated that it hath all the perfections of the Chief Cause since Wisdom and Power are the two inseparable perfections of the Supream Being and indeed so necessary for the conservation and government of humane affairs we ought to conclude that nothing happens in this World which is not decreed foreseen directed and perfected by the wisdom and strong hand of some Supream Cause which so exactly directs all things that they come to pass according to the end that was proposed in the production of them and indeed all those things by means unknown to humane Wisdom yet notwithstanding in respect of God who is the first cause they are certain and infallible who established the infallibility of effects in such manner that causes in their motion should be neither forced nor too violent There is nothing but what God soresees nothing but what is absolutely inevitable and free causes act always freely in actions which ought to be free CHAP. VI. Of Sympathy and Antipathy and the effects depending upon them THe wonderful effects which we see in Nature whose true and natural causes are not easily found out obliges Philosophers to have recourse to Occult Causes and to attribute all these effects to natural Sympathy and Antipathy which happens amongst the several Bodies whereof the World is compounded but if you press these Philosophers to tell you and to explain wherein this Sympathy and Antipathy doth consist they will give you no other reason but onely tell you they are done by certain occult and unknown causes to which they ascribe all those effects whose true causes they do not at all know But they would do much better plainly to confess their ignorance and say they know nothing of the matter That we may the better understand what may be said upon a subject so nice and delicate and give a reason of those wonderful effects which are attributed to Simpathy and Antipathy without the help of occult causes in the first place I suppose that the difficulty which occurs in explaining an Effect of this nature doth arise from this That the Mind is not able to know the truth of things but by the Senses which are the gates through which the Objects enter and form their Ideas in our understanding but because there are abundance of things which escape our senses it is no wonder that it is so hard to give a reason of things which are so remote from the reach of our senses as for example Iron moves it self and that by way of local motion and joins it self to the Load-stone we do not see that which draws the Iron to it though we see it attracted but we know not by what ways or means it is done but if we explicate this and such like Effects by saying they are wrought by Sympathy obscure and occult causes we deceive our selves for that is only a shelter and the true way of hiding our ignorance which we are loath to discover for there is no man in nature so blockish but after this manner can resolve all the Phoenomena in the Universe If it be asked why the Needle turns always to the North Pole is it enough to say that there is a Sympathy betwixt this Needle which is touched with the Load-stone and the Pole and that the cause of this Sympathy is obscure unsearchable and past finding out But if this be the way of Philosophising I refer it to those who are competent Judges of the matter Therefore that we may give a more ingenuous and solid Reason in the second place I suppose that there are no Bodies but that continually emit certain subtile particles and imperceptible corpuscles which are dispersed through the air and are at sometimes carried at a great distance unless they justle with other Bodies in their way By the help of this principle we find the reason why a Dog follows the foot-steps of a Hare or from a heap of a thousand stones he readily knows that stone which his Master threw and picks it out and by his command brings it to him From this dispersion of corpuscles we find the reason how the contagion of the Plague either from the person infected or from the wind blowing from that Region is carried a
That is the First matter out of which all bodies are composed and into which by an Universal Division they may be reduced the Second is nothing else but Bodies made of the first and upon which the efficient Causes do exercise their activities Therefore it is apparent That there is nothing in the World but what is a Compound and that there is no Compound without matter It is also certain That there is nothing made without an Efficient Cause which acts upon Compounds and destroys them that of them others may be made because the matter of the first serves for the composition of the second the Matter which goes to the composition of the first and second is the first Matter or Material Cause of the Compound and that Matter which serves the Efficient Cause for a Subject and Patient is called the Second Matter Both of them may be an efficient cause for Compounds do act upon one another as the Elements which drive one another backwards and forwards that which drives another is called the Agent as that which is driven is called the Patient and if there be any thing which resists it and drives back another this regress of the motion is called a reaction so one and the same thing may be the Subject and cause of Motion and that to give and receive being the Principle of Agent and Patient may Be at the same time but in divers respects CHAP. XVIII Of the first Matter ALL Philosophers do unanimously agree That there is a first Matter in the World which was produced from the beginning and tho' it can never be altered by any Change yet it is to be seen in all the Generations and Corruptions which are in Nature this doth suppose that the first Matter did exist before the Generation of the Compound wherein it is found and that it still remains and survives the Corruption of it as fire is made of Chips the Matter of the Fire was in the Chips and it is found partly in the Fire partly in the Smoak and partly also in the Ashes It is agreed by all Men That nothing is made out of nothing and that there is nothing in Nature which can be reduced into nothing so that the first remains one and the same in all the Revolutions which do happen Therefore in respect of Matter we may justly say that there is nothing new in the World since the Creation of it and that this Matter in its Nature is incorruptible so that to explain the Essence of this first Matter is all and the one only difficulty If we hearken to Aristotle he makes It the Subject of all Forms and that It is nothing but a passive Power or a meer Capacity of producing and receiving them in its Bosom He says in another place that Matter in it self hath neither quality nor quantity nor any Essence beside that which it received from that Form which perfected it But this explication gives us no Idea of Matter neither doth it teach us any thing of the nature of it on the other hand according to this Doctrine we may say that Matter is something and we may say at the same time that it is nothing and that it gives that Being to Form and receives the same from it and lastly that it hath distinct parts without any quantity which seems to be impossible They were more in the right who said That the first Matter was nothing else but the first Elements into which Compounds by a total dissolution are reduced also these Elements ought to be simple and indivisible for otherwise the first Elements are not such as we suppose them to be It follows from this Doctrine that neither Water nor Air nor Earth nor Fire are the first Elements of things because they are Compounds Therefore we must look out for other Elements which are simple and indivisible those things which the Chymists would fain establish that is Salt Sulphur and Mercury cannot be taken for the First Elements of Bodies since they are but Compounds of many other Bodies I am of the same Opinion concerning Descartes his three Elements which he would have to be the principles of things which is impossible because they are divisible Therefore we must acknowledge that only simple and indivisible Atoms are the first Matter and first Principles and Elements whereof Bodies are composed Out of these Atoms are Corpuscles made out of these Corpuscles small Masses out of Masses greater parts then of these parts greater Bodies whereof the Universe doth consist In the same manner going backward in an analytical method the World is divided into great Bodies those into parts parts into small Masses Masses into Corpuscles and lastly these Corpuscles are divided into Atoms CHAP. XIX Of Atoms and their Nature THat we may solidly evince the existency of Atoms we must suppose that every compound may be divided into so many parts as there are which make the compound Therefore division ought necessarily to cease when there is a failure of parts to be divided on the other side there is no end of it as long as there are Particles to be divided one of the two we must allow that is either that a body cannot be so exactly divided but that there always remain divisible parts in infinitum or that there are parts after a certain number of Divisions which will not admit any further division Aristotle stands for the former but Gassendus and the Ancient Philosophers do defend the latter and according to this last Doctrine after all the Divisions are made nothing can remain besides Atoms that is indivisible Beings which are the first Elements of Natural Bodies I confess it is hard to imagin a corporeal thing to be indivisible because we see nothing in this World which is not divisible but this makes nothing against Atoms which are Corporeal because they compose Bodies and are Indivisible because they are the first and most simple Elements of Bodies Hence arises another difficulty because it cannot be easily explained after what manner a thing that is divisible is composed of parts which are indivisible Impartial minds do not find so much difficulty in conceiving this matter as those do who follow the prejudices which they have received First these Men who are thus so prepossessed do not consider that there are many things which escape our Senses and yet are most real Secondly they do not consider that that which composes a Body is not a compound as we see that Unity makes number tho' it self be not a number Letters whereof Nouns and words are framed yet are neither the one nor the other The drops of Water whereof Rivers do consist are not Rivers so Atoms though they are invisible and indivisible yet they compose Bodies which are visible and divisible Aristotle and his Followers do teach us That a small body as for Example a Millet Seed is divisible in infinitum and that it contains an infinite number of Parts which being supposed
it may be concluded that there are as many parts in the Millet Seed as there are in the whole Terrestrial Globe Also according to this Opinion we must grant that a Body cannot be divided into as many parts as really it may and that neither the hither or further end of a staff can be found nor that there is a Circle or perfect Piramid nor that the parts of a Body can be immediately divided All which consequences as they are absolutely necessary so they are all equally absurd Descartes did endeavour to free himself from this difficulty by saying that the number of the parts of the Millet-Seed was neither finite nor infinite but only that they were indefinite But the evasion is ridiculous and these two Philosophers are forced to confess that every part of the Millet-seed hath its extension and if their Number be either infinite or indefinite then their extensions also will be either infinite or indefinite at the least which is absurd to affirm I add no more to avoid Scholastic Intricacies and distinctions CHAP. XX. The Properties Magnitude Figure Weight and Motion of Atoms AN Atom is a corporeal Being simple invisible and indivisible Solidity constitutes its Essence or essential property which distinguishes it from Spirits and Vacuity which have no power of resisting Atoms do necessarily avoid all our Senses because these are composed of many distinct and gross parts whose Object ought to be composed e're it can be perceived by the external Organ which nevertheless doth not destroy the truth and reality of Atoms because small Corpuscles do escape our Senses as we observe in Dust which sticks to our Cloaths and also in the Corpuscles of a Ring which is wasted and diminished by time and use in the Corpuscles of a Stone which is made hollow by the drops of Water which fall upon it in divers occult parts in a Mite which cannot be seen without the help of a Microscope and lastly in small Corpuscles which are seen to move in a Chamber by the help of the Sun-beams that we may omit many others which are smaller which without doubt we could see if our sight was sharper as I shall mention in my Animadversions about Experiments of Miscroscopes Though Atoms are most subtle and inperceptible yet they have their particular extension magnitude and figure from whence their differences do arise for the figure of some of them is round as the Atoms of Water Oyl and Quick-Silver others have cubicular figures such are the Atoms of Sea-Water and others are Pyramidal as those whereof Nitre doth consist there are some which have sharp points like needles ' as Fire whence we are to suppose that there are others variously figured This difference is necessary to distinguish Compounds And as these Atoms as to their solidity or invisibility and indivisibility which are their inseparable Properties are alike so also if they did not differ in their figure and thickness all bodies would be of the same likeness Weight is the Principle of the said Natural Motion insomuch as it doth resist a violent motion That I mention here that we may know whether motion of Atoms hath an internal or an external Principle or whether Weight be determined only to one Motion or that it be indifferently inclined to many And whether the motion of Atoms do tend to some Center And whether it be continuant or interrupted And lastly whether it be perpendicular or horizontal Parallel or declined right or parabolical or circular In order to resolve well this difficulty I suppose that Atoms may be considered in a double State The First State of them is before the Composition of the bodies which are made of them which may be called the State of Liberty The other is that which they have in the bodies which do consist of them which may be termed the State of obligation or servitude If Attoms be considered in their First State their motion is perpetual So that an Atom that is loose and freed from any composition is essentially in motion which ought not in the least to be wondred at for Motion in respect of a free Atom is the same that Understanding is in respect of an Angelâ— which is never without knowing unless his Intellect is bound and clouded From this Principle it is evident That Atoms are in continual motion unless they are hindred or that there is some obstruction in the way or that there are other Atoms resisting and repelling of them or that they find such as will stick unto them or that they insinuate themselves into the Atoms of certain bodies or or that they enter into some composition whereby their motion is stopped Nevertheless Atoms in Compounds are not altogether void of motion because they are not so straitly imbodied together but that they have some motion like Vibrations and Palpitations according to the liberty which is granted them by the disseminated Vacuities nay some of them sometimes do attempt their escape especially in porous bodies which therefore are sooner corrupted and perish than other Bodies which are more solid and more close It is yet more evident in living bodies out of which the animal Spirits which are but the bodies of Atoms and most subtile Corpuscles are dissipated by transpiration whence aliments are necessarily requisite for to supply the Spirits of the whole body which are dissipated by motion and agitation This motion of Atoms or the least Corpuscles in living bodies may be deservedly accounted the Image of their first liberty and tho' they do but seldom enjoy their full liberty yet they are apt to raise the greatest commotions in order to be freed and to gain their liberty this is the origine of many distempers as in Acute Fevers the Atoms or Corpuscles of the boiling blood or obstructed choller are carried and driven into the Brain where they produce watchfulness Deliriums and Phrensies According to this Principle that which we said before may be concluded That many Distempers do arise from minute Corpuscles and emancipated Atoms For These being driven forwards by other Atoms and forced back do run into the membranes Periostiam Meninges or intestines and cause Pains which they call the Collick Headach Gouts and Rheumatisms So that this solution of Corpuscles and emancipation of Atoms in our Bodies are much to be feared and to prevent this danger all motions of the body which are too violent must be avoided for these are the external cause of the confusion of the Spirits and the emancipation of the Atoms The emancipation of Atoms and also of the small Corpuscles which are composed of those Atoms are to be feared no less in the great than little World for the Winds are nothing else but emancipated Atoms which by their impetuosity being driven backwards and forwards do force all bodies which they meet with in their way It is these Atoms which agitate the Air and the Sea and cause Earth-quakes and also over-turn all things which resist their motion
or in Glass Vessels where if it be possible there is a transmutation of one thing into another For this combination does not in the least vary their Nature and they are easily separated which does not happen in things which Nature alone helpt by Art rightly and duly composeth CHAP. VII Of Mettals and their Formation IF those things which are above us are unknown to us no less are those things also which are beneath us and which happen in the shade and in the dark and it may be truly said that the production of Mettals in the bottom of Mines is the most obscure mystery in Nature and without any manner of trifling to speak like a Philosopher all that can be said concerning this subject I reduce to the Cause producing Mettals to the Matter from whence and the Manner whereby they are produced The Principal Cause Chief Agent and Parent of all Mettals is the Sun the Planets and fixt Stars concurring likewise to it the Fixt Stars by their heat keep the Celestial Gold in fusion and turn it round in the Cupel in the Centre of the World that is the Sun from whence issue bright fumes without ceasing out of which proceeds light and which carry Heat together with seminal Spirits which penetrating the Pores of the Earth generate Gold in the very Bowels of it So Coelestial Gold that is the Sun is the Parent of Terrestrial Gold as it is of all other Mettals by the reflection of its light upon each Planet each of which together with the Sun produceth its particular Mettal And the Earth performs the Office of a Womb which furnisheth the greatest part of the Matter out of which Mettals are produced and nourisheth them afterwards But the Sun bestows seminal Spirits all pure for Gold but mixed with the Spirits of other Planets for other Mettals But that this generation of Mettals may be rightly understood we must call to mind that out of Letters Syllables are formed before Words Words before Speeches out of which all Discourses are compounded Nature does the same in the production of Mettals for she begins with little Bodies out of which she makes the three immediate Principles of Mettals to wit Salt Sulphur and Mercury Of which Salt is the grosser Sulphur the more unctuous and Mercury the more fluid and moveable part and out of these three by divers preparations digestions sublimations and fixations she makes a Mettalline or Mineral Body But it might be said as it seems to me that the Spirits or Corpuscles flowing from the Stars purified in the Sun and received into the Earth's Lap are incrassated and brought into clear and limpid Water which Water is that viscous sweet and Mercurial Matter which after some few Ages is elaborated and digested till at last it becomes a yellow and fixt Earth in which the Spirit and seed from above resides which Spirit makes all the Corpuscles of water it meets withal like to the former which piercing into the Veins of the Earth and finding a Matter that is pure encreases the Golden Mine until it meets with dead Earth which hinders its propagation But if the Mixture be impure and strange Matter mingled in it instead of Gold it only produces Silver Iron or Copper which are imperfect Mettals From this Doctrine I conclude first of all That by Nature producing Mettals ought to be understood this seminal Spirit consisting of Corpuscles flowing from the Fire of the Stars and working these Miracles under the Earth Secondly That Mettals enjoy a Mettalline Life and after their way a Vegetative also that they are generated out of Mettallick Seed Gold out of the seed of Gold. And that this Mettallick Embryo is nourished by the Air of the Stars by the Spirit and Dew of the Heavens that it grows buds and puts forth branches like a Tree which Metallourgists call a Mettalline Tree furnished with boughs Trunks and Roots which could ne-never be without a vital Principle included in it Which things will more clearly appear by what shall be said hereafter and especially in the experiment about the Tree of Diana CHAP. VIII Of Gold the King of Mettals THere are Seven Mettals viz. Gold Silver Copper Iron Tin Lead and Quick-Silver which Chymists call Sol Luna Venus Jupiter Saturn and Mercury because they suppose each single Planet operates upon each Mettal which is done as I told you by a remission of Coelestial Spirits which are in the Solar Globe and out of its Vortex are carried into each Planet who according to the various opposition of the Sun recieve more or less of his light and send it towards the Earth as being the womb in which pure and impure Mettals are formed according to the purity or impurity of the subterranean Lodgings First Gold is the Chief and Noblest of all Mettals it is the chiefest and principal work of Nature and the heaviest of all Mettals because the Mettallick Corpuscles are so firmly shut and united together in it that very small numbers of Vacuities are left in its composition and in respect of bulk there is a much greater quantity of Matter in Gold than in other Mettals Notwithstanding this great solidity and firmness of Gold yet nevertheless there are some small Vacuities between its Atoms for there is nothing absolutely solid and without a Vacuum but an Atom in particular besides Atoms since they have Figures cannot be united without leaving some empty spaces for unless it were so Gold could not de divided no more than an indivisible Atom There are therefore Vacuities betwixt the Atoms of Gold though but very small and also betwixt its Corpuscles and lastly between its little pieces From this well-grounded Principle I discover the difference of the dissolutions or divisions of Gold. The least and grossest of them all is that which is made by melting it with other Mettals when therefore it is melted with some or with the least of the Seven it is mixed with them and divided into infinite Particles especially if it be mingl'd with a great quantity of an imperfect Mettal as for Example if an Ounce of Gold be melted into ten pounds or more of Lead or Copper but the division of it is apparent from this that not the least quantity of this mixture can be brought to the test but some portion of Gold will be found in it Another separation is made in respect of the small masses of Gold which is made by the help of Aqua Regis which divides Gold after that manner that it may as in the first Division be melted with any Mettal so in this second it becomes like the Water in which it is dissolved and divided But since it is only separated into very small masses it is easily again reduced into a Body and to be melted with Borax and fit to become the massy Gold it was before The third Division which is called radical although it be not so is made by a proper dissolvent of the Philosophers which is a
run downwards For to say that Water will seek after its proper Centre is to flye back again to an Occult Cause and to renounce our Principles I conclude therefore that the Atoms Corpuscles and drops of Water are of a perfect round Figure and since they have a certain inclination without hindrance nothing can keep them back but that without interruption they do and will drive one another forward even to the World's End. The Fourth Part of Physick Of those things which are in Man and of Man himself as he is a Compound Physical Animated Body WE are now come at length to our Fourth and last part of Physick wherein according to what we proposed we are to speak of the things which are in Man whom now we consider as a Body animated Which compels us to speak of the Soul and of Life in general and afterwards descending to special we will explain the Life of Man as he is rational and we shall endeavour by Natural Reasons to prove the immortality of his Soul. CHAP. I. Of Life in general LIfe as we have said elsewhere appears only by action and motion So those Beings which have most of action and motion obtain also most of Life And we say a Man is dying when there is but little motion left in him and dead when it is quite abolished Every motion is not a vital motion for that it may be so it must be Internal of the thing that acts and proceed from a Principle that is not external Wherefore the motion of a Stone that is thrown into the Air is not a vital motion because it comes from an external Cause to wit from the hand of him that throws it I say further that it must be the motion of a Compound Body if it be a vital motion and for this Cause the motion of Atoms is not so because they are simple and indivisible beings neither capable of Life nor Death And for as much as Atoms are not Compounds tho' they compound Bodies so they are not said to live in the least although without their impression and ministery there is no Life nor no motion in the Bodies we speak of Life therefore is an action and motion of a Compound and Organical Body arising from an internal and seminal Principle And in this sense Mettals may be said to possess a certain kind of Life since they obtain a certain motion of vegetation by which they grow and we may determine this motion to arise from an internal and seminal principle though it be abstruse enough and the Organs of Life scarcely appear so that it is a very difficult matter to distinguish them in Plants and in some Animals as in the Fish called a Muscle and in Oysters which are nevertheless endowed with a more perfect life than Mettals and Plants We shall in the following Discourse tell you wherein this Life consists and how Mettals and Plants dye as well as other living Creatures There is a great difference between Life and the Principle of it tho' not in like manner between Life and motion or vital action For Life is the action and motion of divers Beings gathered by Nature together and united after such a manner as that the parts of it move one another as we see in Machines and what the Pullies and Springs are in these the same are the Spirits in Natural Compound Bodies that is the most swiftly moving Atoms From this Doctrine is collected first of all That there are Atoms more swift and fuller of Motion than others by reason of their subtilty and figure such as are Coelestial Fiery and Luminous Atoms to wit such as Heaven the Stars Fire Heat and Light are compounded of This we judge by the compound Bodies that are made and framed out of them For humane Spirits instructed with material Senses is not able to penetrate into the essence of Atoms and their special difference But we determine that the Atoms out of which Heaven the Stars and Light are made have Figures and activities greater more perfect and more fit for motion than those that compound cold and heavy Bodies although when the thing is well considered it may arise from their greater liberty and more perfect Figure Secondly according to our Principles we must say That the Vital Spirts so called are nothing else but a certain number of Atoms free from all composition and such whose Figure and condition renders them unfit for service and slavery This Doctrine supposeth that there are two sorts of Atoms in Nature some of which like Common-People are destined to Imprisonment Service and Bonds but others like Nobles to liberty and command over others Now those whose Lot it is to be like the Commons are made to compose the Machines of our Bodies and they are such as entangle one another and are linked and bound together in the formation of Bodies whereas those which cannot be bound nor undergo Slavery are destined to move the whole Machine of our Bodies as not being fastned to any part but running through all parts and bestowing every where motion sense and disposition These are what are called Vital Spirits because they bestow Life that is motion These Atoms therefore are not Life but the Principles and Authors of it Sometimes Atoms that Compound Bodies get out of Service and as often as occasion offers and Bodies â—uffer division are emancipated for in all separations and corruptions of Bodies some Atoms do flye away and like the first seek to recover Liberty and when it happens that these Fugitive Atoms are mingled together with those that are essentially free from thence arise conflicts in our Bodies and from These Ill dispositions and our Diseases which there is no help to be hoped for nor any cure unless these rebellious and emancipated Atoms are restored to their first confinement or else driven out of the Body that so by this means the Spirits may remain pure and altogether free in their motion and not be interrupted by these irregular Atoms which are the common disturbers of Nature and Health And for as much as some Atoms continually flye out of those Bodies which we use for nourishment by reason of divers degrees of Corruption which they are forced to undergo before they can be changed into our substance So it is certain that there is always in us some principle of a Disease to be found and that we never in this World enjoy a perfect Health and that those are only most healthy who are less sickly than others As I have said elsewhere that there are no Men absolutely wise but that they that are called wise are less ignorant than others But moreover if Captive Atoms are sometimes free'd by emancipation so on the other hand those which are not used to be detained are sometimes incarcerated and involved with others nor can they stir beyond the limits of their Prison And there are some which in like manner are so included with others by the Providence of
the Eyes are of that Figure that they cannot be placed elsewhere without a violent concussion of these mutually self impelling Atoms and these concussions are sometimes the cause why when the Women are hurt the Child is not at all formed and that by reason of the sole inordinate motion of one Corpuscle which either does not or being hindred by others which cause this motion cannot find a place due to its Figure It is plain therefore that seminal Corpuscles have the Figure of that part from whence they are derived and the whole humane Body is no otherwise shut up in a small part of Matter than an whole Oak in an Acorn and an Apple in a Kernel The example brought by me above concerning the divers kinds of Salt dissolved in water which in evaporating part asunder from each other and each possesseth his place not without a difference of Figures will give some light to this my Doctrine CHAP. V. Of Nutrition which Plants and Brute Beasts have common with Man. NUtrition is a vital action and so proper to Living Creatures that as there is nothing nourished that is not Living so there is no Living thing that is not nourished All the difficulty lies in the manner of Nutrition for no Man doubts but Animals and Plants at the beginning of their existence are nourished and grow which could not be without the addition of new Matter which is changed into the substance of the thing Living This addition of Matter takes in its attraction preparation digestion and its distribution through all the Parts of the Body nourished These opperations appear in Plants wherein it is amiss to attribute that to Nutritive Attractive Digestive and Distributive Qualities which may be explicated by the motion of the Atoms or seminal Corpuscles contained in the Seed But because Nutrition is much more conspicuous in Living Creatures and especially in Man it will be necessary to explain the Reason how that is performed in him in the first State after Conception and afterwards when the Organs are formed For there is need of Aliment that the Organs which are just formed and tenderer then to be sufficient to undergo their Operations may grow and be encreased So that at the very moment he begins to live there is a necessity that he should be nourished CHAP. VI. How and with what Aliment an Embryo is nourished 'till the time of his Birth THe first thing that is done after the laying together of the parts of the Embryo and the disposition of its Organs is the infusion of the Rational Soul which God in one and the same moment Creates and gives to this little Body as its Lodging Forty or sometimes more days after its Conception what is done before the infusion of this Soul to speak properly is nothing else but a disposition of the Organs to receive it This admirable Structure begins from the Heart Head Bones and other particular Fundamentals and when it is already compleated and the Soul infused the seminal Atoms Presidents of the formation of the Body persevere in performing their works taking as Companions of their Office these Particles of the Mothers Blood which may serve to nourish the Infant being sensibly solicitous for its increase 'till the time of its Nativity Yet nevertheless it is very difficult throughly to declare the true Reason of the Nutrition and Life of the Infant for seven or eight Months together Gassendus recounts three Opinions of the Antients concerning this thing the first is of Alcmaeon in Plutarch affirming the Infant to be nourished by all parts of the Body drawing in by the help of the Pores a necessary Aliment The second Opinion is by the same Plutarch attributed to Democritus this Philosopher teaches that the Infant is nourished in the Mothers Womb in the same manner as it is nourished when born to wit by the Mouth and this is the Cause he says why the newly born seek the Breast with open Mouth The third is Aristotle's Galen's and many others who conclude that the Infant takes no nourishment in the Womb but by the Umbilical Veins which taking their Original from the bottom of the Matrix insinuate themselves into the middle of the Abdomen or Belly where being collected into one Trunk they lead on the Mothers Blood into the hollow part of the Liver where part of it is carried into a Branch of Vena-Cava and part into a Branch of the Vena-Porta and the two Arteries which accompany the Umbilical Veins having passed the Liver each of them apart go to the two Branches of the Aorta or great Artery and carry the Arterial Blood which they bring thither that it may all be distributed through the whole Body of the Infant and changed into a substance fit for its Nutrition This Opinion is confirmed by the refutation of the two former For the first is false For if the Infant was like a Sponge it would not be nourished but swelled by the Water or serous humour in which it swims and which is contained in the Amnion The second Opinion is not probable For the Infants head is placed betwixt both knees nor can it suck the Caruncles which are covered with a Skin as is supposed unless at one and the same time it should attract the water wherein it lies hid or penetrate the Membrane in which it is involved The third Opinion standing firm which I believe rests upon a better foundation nor does the Infants Stomach generate Chyle nor its Liver Blood the Mothers Blood subministring all those things And from hence it is that a Woman with Child communicates to the fruit of her Womb the purity or impurity of her Blood her good or ill nourishment as also her Health and Diseases and these Diseases are hereditary not but that there are some which proceed from the Fathers whose impure Blood licentious living ill nourishment and frequent excesses afford matter to these evils Besides we may say that the Infant in the Mothers Womb does neither live nor breath but by the Mouth Heart and Lungs of the Mother from whence it comes to pass that the Infant for the most part follows the Mothers affections and inclinations and seeing that in the state wherein it is in the Womb it is tyed to its Mother in so strict a bond of Union it is impossible that she alone should be feaverish nor that the big-bellied Woman should dye the Child remaining alive and healthful CHAP. VII How Man is Nourished after he is Born. AMan Born hath need of Nourishment now nothing can nourish him which hath not some Spirit of Life So Roots Plants Corn Pulse Flesh serve to the nourishing of a Man and all this business is performed by the benefit of Atoms and vital Corpuscles passing from one Compound Body to another This Nutrition is necessary to encrease the substance of the born Infant and so there is need of a new Compound Body to serve it for Aliment And this Compound Body must of