senses since they are in this life delivered from the Malediction of the Law from the Wrath of the Judge from the Tyrannie of the Enemie from the Raigne of Sinne and by Death freed not only from the Dominion but from the Possession or Assault of the Enemie not only from the Kingdome but from the Body of Sinne and is withall in good part possessed of that Blisse which it shall more fully enjoy at last But our Bodies though before that Great day they partake much of the benefits of Redemption as being here sanctified vessells freed from the Authority and Power of the Devill World Flesh and from the Curse of Death too wherein they part not only with life but with sinne yet after all this doe they want some part of either Redemption as namely to be raised and delivered from that dishonour and corruption which the last Enemie hath brought upon them and to be Admitted into those Mansions and invested with that Glory whereby they shall be Totally possessed of their Redemption In a word the Soule is in its separation fully delivered from all Enemies which is the first and in a great measure enjoyeth the Vision of God which is the second part or degree of mans Redemption But the Body is not till its Resurrection either quite freed from its Enemie or at all possessed of its Glory I meane in its selfe though it be in its Head who is Primitiae P◅gnus Resurrectionis the first fruits and earnest of our Conquest over Death Touching the Dignity of our Bodies though there be more comfort to be had in the Expectation than Curiosity in the enquirie after it yet what is usually granted I shall briefly set down And first it shall be Raised a whole entire and perfect Body with all the parts best fitted to be Receptacles of Glory freed from all either the Usherers in or Attendants and followers on the Grave Age Infirmity Sicknesse Corruption Ignominie and Dishonour And shall rise a true whole strong and honourable Body For though every part of the Body shall not have those peculiar uses which here they have since they neither eat nor drink marry nor are given in marriage but are as the Angels of God yet shall not any part be lost Licet enim officiis liberentur judiciis re◅inentur Though they are freed from their Temporall service for which they were here ordained yet must they be reserved for receiving their judgment whether it be unto Glory or unto Dishonour The second Dignity is that Change and Alteration of our Body from a Naturall to a Spirituall Body whereby is not meant any Transubstantiation from a Corporeall to a Spirituall substance For our Bodies shall after the Resurrection be conformable unto Christs body which though glorious was not yet a Spirit but had flesh and bone as we have Nor is it to be understood of a thinne Aereall Invisible Body as some have collected since Christ saith of his Body after he was risen Videte Palpate Wheresoever it is it hath both its quantity and all sensible qualities of a Body Glorified with it It is a strong Argument that it is not there where it is not sensible And therefore the Doctrines of Vbiquity and Transubstantiation as they give Christ more thā he is pleased to owne an Immensity of Body so doe they spoyle him of that which hee hath beene pleased for our sakes to assume Extension Compacture Massinesse Visibility and other the like sensible Properties which cannot stand with that pretended miracle whereby they make Christs Body even now a Creature and like unto ours in substance though not in qualities of Corruptibility Infirmity Ignominie Animality to be truly invested with the very immediate properties of the Deity True indeed it is that the Body of Christ hath an efficacie and operation in all parts of the world it worketh in Heaven with God the Father by Intercession amongst the blessed Angels by Confirmation in Earth and that in all ages and in all places amongst Men by Justification and Comfort in Hell amongst the Devils and Damned by the Tremblings and Feares of a condemning and convicting Faith But Operation requireth only a presence of Vertue not of Substance For doth not the Sunne work wonderfull effects in the bowels of the Earth it selfe notwithstanding being a fixed Planet in the Heaven And why should not the Sunne of Righteousnesse work as much at the like distance as the Sunne of Nature Why should he not be as Powerfull Absent as he was Hoped Or why should the Not presence of his Body make that uneffectuall now which the Not existing could not before his Incarnation Why should we mistrust the Eyes of Stephen that saw him in Heaven at such a Distance of place when Abraham could see him in his own bowels through so great a Distance of Time That Speech then that the Body shall be a Spirituall Body is not to be understood in either of those former senses but it is to be understood first of the more immediate Union and full Inhabitation of the vertue and vigour of Gods Spirit in our Bodies quickning and for ever sustaining them without any Assistance of Naturall or Animall qualities for the repairing and augmenting of them in recompence of that which by labour and infirmity and the naturall opposition of the Elements is daily diminished Secondly it shall be so called in regard of its Obedience Totall Subjection to the Spirit of God without any manner of Reluctance and dislike Thirdly in respect of those Spirituall qualities those Prerogatives of the Flesh with which it shall be adorned which are First a Shining and Glorious Light wherewithall it shall be cloathed as with a Garment for the Iust shall shine as the Sunne in the Firmament Now this shal be wrought first by vertue of that Communion which wee have with Christ our Head whose Body even in its Mortality did shine like the Sunne and had his cloathes white as light And secondly by diffusion and Redundancie from our Soule upon our Body which by the Beatificall Vision filled with a Spirituall and unconceiveable brightnesse shall work upon the Body as on a Subject made throughly Obedient to its Power unto the Production of alike qualities The second Spirituall Property shall be Impassibility not in respect of Perfective but in respect of annoying disquieting or destructive Passion There shall not be any Warre in the members any fighting and mutuall languishing of the Elements but they shall all be sustained in their full strength by vertue of Christs Communion of the Inhabitation of the Spirit of the Dominion of the Glorified Soule There shall be no need of rest or sleepe or meat all which are here requisite for the supply of our Infirmities and daily defects and are only the Comforts of Pilgrimage not the Blessednesse of Possession For although Christ after his Resurrection did eat before his Disciples yet this was none otherwise done than that other
derive this Nature Nature I say first fallen for unto Nature Innocent belonged Originall Righteousnesse and not Originall sinne 2. Nature derived by ordinary generation as the fruit of the loynes and of the womb For though Christ had our Nature yet hee had not our sinne 3. Nature whole and entire For neither part as some conceive is the Totall spring and fountain of this sinne For it is improbable that any staine should be transfused from the Body to the Soul as from the foule vessell to the cleane water put into it The Body it selfe being not Soly and alone in it selfe corrupt and sinfull else all Abortions and miscarrying conceptions should be subject to damnation Nothing is the seat of sin which cannot be the seat of Death the wages of sinne Originall sinne therefore most probably seemeth to arise by Emanation partiall in the parts totall in the whole from Mans Nature as guilty forsaken and accursed by God for the sinne of Adam And from the parts not considered absolutely in themselves but by vertue of their concurrence and Vnion whereby both make up one compounded Nature Though then the Soule be a partiall subject or seat of Originall sinne yet wee have not our sinne and our soule from one Author because sinne followes not the part but the Nature whole and entire And though we have not from our Parents Totum naturae yet we have totam naturam wee have our whole nature though not every part of our nature Even as whole Christ was the Son of Mary who therefore by vertue of the Communication of properties in Christ is justly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mother of God against the Nestorians in the Councell of Chalcedon Though in regard of his divine Nature he was without beginning the reason is because the integrity of Nature ariseth from the Vnion of the two parts together which is perfected by Generation so then wee say that Adam is the Originall and meritorious cause Our next Parents the instrumentall and immediate cause of this sinne in us not by way of Physicall Emission or Transmigration of sinne from them to us but by secret contagion as S. Augustine speaks For having in the Manner aforesaid from Adam by our Parents received a nature most justly forsaken by God and lying under the Guilt and Curse of the first praevarication from this Nature thus derived as guilty and accursed doth immediately and intimately flow Habituall pollution So then Habituall Concupiscence is from Adam alone meritoriously by reason of his first praevarication From Adam by the mediation of our Parents seminally by naturall generation And from Nature generated not as Nature but as in Adam guilty forsaken and accursed by secret and ineffable Resultancy and Emanation This is that which I conceive of this Great difficulty not unmindfull in the meane time of that speech of S. Augustine That there is nothing more certaine to be knowne and yet nothing more secret to be understood than Originall sinne For other Arguments to prove the Traduction of the Soul they are not of such moment And therefore I passe them by and proceed to the consideration of the Soule in its Nature CHAP. XXXIII Of the Image of God in the Reasonable soule in regard of its simplicity and spirituality COncerning the dignity of the soule in its nature and essence Reason hath adventured thus farre to confesse that the soule of man is in some sort a spark and beame of divine brightnesse And a greater and more infallible Oracle hath warranted that it was breathed into him by God himselfe and was made after his Image and likenesse not substantially as if there were a Real Emanation and Traduction of the Soule out of God which were blasphemous and impious to conceive but only by way of Resemblance and imitation of God properties in mans originall created nature which is more notable in him than in the otheâ—… parts of the world there is indeed in all God works some kind of image and lineaments anâ—… footsteps of his glory Deum namque ire per omnes Terrasque Tractusque maris Coelumque profundum c. For all the tracts of Earth of Sea and Sky Are filled with divine immensity The whole world is a great book wherein we read the praise glory power and infinitenesse of him that made it but man is after a more peculiar manner called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the image and glory of God the greater world is only Gods workmanship wherein is represented the wisdom and power of God as in a building the Art and cunning of the workman but man in the originall purity of nature is besides that as wax wherein was more notably impressed by that divine spirit whose work it is to seale a spirituall resemblance of his owne goodnesse and sanctity Againe the greater world was never other than an Orator to set forth the power and praises of God but he made the soule of man in the beginning as it were his Oracle wherein he fastned a perfect knowledge of his law and will from the very glimpses and corrupted Reliques of which Knowledge of his Law some have beene bold to call men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the kindred of God And Senec. Liber Animus Diis cognatus which is the same with that of Aratus cited by S. Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for wee are his off-spring yea Euripides as Tully in his * Tusculans observes was bold to call the soule of man by the name of God and Seneca will venture so farre too Quid aliud vocas animum quà m deum in humano corpore hospitantem But to forbeare such boldnesse as it may be one of the Originals of heathen Idolatry Certaine it is that there are as Tully many times divinely observes sundry similitudes betweene God and the minde of man There are indeed some Attributes of God not only incommunicable but absolutely inimitable and unshadowable by any excellency in mans soule as immensity infinitenesse omnipotency omniscience immutability impassibility and the like but whatsoever spirituall and Rationall perfections the power bounty of God conferr'd upon the soule in its first Creation are all of them so many shadowes and representations of the like but most infinite perfections in him The Properties then and Attributes of God wherein this Image chiefely consists are first these three Spirituality with the two immediate consequents thereof Simplicity and Immortality in which the soule hath partaked without any after corruption or depravation Concerning the former it were vast and needlesse to confute those sundry opinions of ancient Philosophers concerning the substance of the soule many where of Tully in the first of his Tusculans hath reported And Aristotle confuted in his first de Anima Some conceived it to be blood others the braine some fire others ayre some that it consists in Harmony and Number and the Philosopher Dicaearchus that
is understood Because as the Wax after it is stamped is in some sort the very Seale it selfe that stamp'd it namely Representative by way of Image and resemblance so the Soule in receiving the species of any Object is made the picture and image of the thing it selfe Now the understanding being able to apprehend immortality yea indeed apprehending every corporeall substance as if it were immortall I meane by purging it from all grosse materiall and corruptible qualities must therefore needs of it selfe be of an immortall Nature And from the latter of those two Principles which I spake of namely that the quality of the Being may be gathered from the Nature of the Operation Aristotle inferres the separability and independance of the understanding on the Body in the third de Animâ afore-named For the Soule being able to work without the concurrence of any bodily Organ to the very act it selfe as was before shewed must needs also be able to subsist by its owne nature without the concurrence of any matter to sustaine it And therefore hee saith in the same place that the understanding is separable uncompounded impassible all arguments of immortality Other reasons are produced for the proofe hereof taken from the causes of corruption which is wrought either by Contraries working and eating out Nature or by Defect of the Preserving cause as light is decayed by absence of the Sunne or thirdly by corruption of the subject whereon it depends None whereof can be verified in the Soule For first how can any thing be contrary to the Soule which receiveth perfection from all things for Intellectus omnia intelligit saith Aristotle yea wherein all Contraries are reconciled and put off their Opposition For as a great man excellently speaketh those things which destroy one another in the World maintaine and perfect one another in the Minde one being a meanes for the clearer apprehension of the other Secondly God who is the only Efficient of the Soule being else in it selfe simple and indivisible and therefore not capable of death but only of Annihilation doth never faile and hath himselfe promised never to bring it unto nothing And lastly the Soule depends not as doe other Formes either in Operation or Being on the Body being not only Actus informans but subsistens too by its owne absolute vertue CHAP. XXXV Of the Honour of Humane Bodies by Creation by Resurrection of the Endowments of Glorified Bodies ANd now that this particular of immortality may farther redound both to the Honour and comfort of Man I must fall upon a short digression touching mans Body wherein I intend not to meddle with the Question How mans Body may be said to be made after the Image of God which sure is not any otherwise than as it is a sanctified and shall be a Blessed Vessell but not as some have conceited as if it were in Creation Imago Christi futuri nec Dei opus tantum sed Pignus As if Christ had beene the patterne of our Honour and not wee of his Infirmity since the Scripture saith Hee was made like unto us in all things and that he Assumed our Nature but never that we were but that we shall be like unto him not I say to meddle with this I will only briefly consider the Dignity thereof in the particular of immortality both in the first structure and in the last Resurrection of it The Creation of our Bodies and the Redemption of our Bodies as the Apostle calls it What Immunity was at first given and what Honour shall at last be restored to it In which latter sense it shall certainly be Secundum Imaginem after his Image who was Primitiae the First fruits of them that rise That as in his Humility his Glory was hid in our Mortality so in our Exaltation our Mortality shall be swallowed up of his Glory And for the first estate of Mans Body we conclude in a word that it was partly Mortall and partly Immortall Mortall in regard of possibility of Dying because it was affected with the mutuall Action and Passion of corruptible elements for which reason it stood in need of reparation and recovery of it selfe by food as being still Corpus Animale and not Spirituale as St. Paul distinguisheth a Naturall but not a Spirituall Body But it was Immortall that is Exempted from the Law of Death and Dissolution of the Elements in vertue of Gods Covenant with man upon condition of his Obedience It was Mortall Conditione Corporis by the Condition of a Body but immortall Beneficio Conditoris by the Benefit of its Creation else God had planted in the Soule such naturall desires of a Body wherein to work as could not be naturally attained For the Soule did naturally desire to remaine still in the body In the naturall Body of Adam there was no sin and therefore no death which is the wages of sinne I come now to the Redemption of our Bodies already performed in Pignore in Primiâ—…its In our Head in some few of his Members Enoch Ellas and as is probable in those dead Bodies which arose to testifie the Divine power of our crucified Saviour and shall be totally accomplished at that day of Redemption as the same Apostle calls the Last day that day of a full and finall Redemption when Death the last enemy shall be overcome And well may it be called a day of Redemption not only in regard of the Creature which yet groaneth under the Malediction and Tyrannie of sinfull Man nor yet only in respect of Mans Soule which though it be before admitted unto the purchased Possession of the Glorifying Vision and lives no more by Faith alone but by sight shall yet then receive a more abundant fulnesse thereof as being the day of the Manifestation and plenary discovery both of the Punishing Glory of God in the Wicked and of his Merciful and Admirable Glory in the Saints but also and as I think most especially in respect of the Body For there is by vertue of that Omnipotent Sacrifice a double kinde of Redemption wrought for us The one Vindicative giving us Immunity from all spirituall dangers delivering us from the Tyrannie of our Enemies from the Severity Justice and Curse of the Law which is commonly in the New Testament called simply 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Deliverance from evill The other Purchasing or Munificent by not only freeing us from our own wretchednesse but farther conferring upon us a Positive and a Glorious Honour which St. Iohn calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Power Priviledge Prerogative and Title unto all the Glorious Promises of Immortality which like wise St. Paul calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Redemption of a purchased Possession and a Redemption unto the Adoption of Sonnes Now then the Last day is not Totally and Perfectly a day of Redemption unto our Soules in either of these
Inquiry but Iudgement is the Ballace to Poise and the Steere to guide the course to it s intended End Now the manner of the Iudgements Operation in directing either our Practise or Contemplation is by a discourse of the Mind whereby it â—…educeth them to certaine Grounds and Principles whereunto they ought chiefly to be conformable And from hence is that Reason which Quintilian observes why shallow and floating Wits seeme oftentimes more fluent than men of greater sufficiencies For saith he those other admit of every sudden flash or Conceipt without any Examination but apud Sapientes est â—…lectio Modus They first weigh things before they utter thâ—…m The maine Corruption of Iudgement in this Office is Prejudice and Prepossession The Duty of Iudgement is to discerne between Obliquities and right Actions and to reduce all to the Law of Reason And therefore t is true in this as in the course of publique Iudgements That respect of persons or things blind the Eyes and maketh the Vnderstanding to determine according to Affection and not according to Truth Though indeed some Passions there are which rather hood-winke then distemper or hurt the Iudgement so that the false determination thereof cannot bee well called a Mistake but a Lye Of which kind flattery is the principall when the Affections of Hope and Feare debase a man and cause him to dissemble his owne opinion CHAP. XL. Of the Actions of the Vnderstanding upon the Will with respect to the End and Means The Power of the Vnderstanding over the Will not Commanding but directing the Objects of the Will to bee good and convenient Corrupt Will lookes only at Good present Two Acts of the Vnderstanding Knowledge and Consideration It must also be possible and with respect to happinesse Immortall Ignorance and Weaknesse in the Understanding in proposing the right means to the last End HItherto of the Actions of the Vnderstanding Ad extra in regard of an Object Those Ad Intra in regard of the Will Wherein the Vnderstanding is a Minister oâ—… Counsellor to it are either to furnish it with an End whereon to fasten its desires or to direct it in the means conducible to that end For the Will alone is a blind Faculty and therefore as it cannot see the right Good it ought to affect without the Assistance of an Informing Power So neither can it see the right way it ought to take for procuring that Good without the direction of a Conducting power As it hath not Iudgment to discover an End So neither hath it Discourse to judge of the right Means whereby that may be attained So that all the Acts of the Will necessarily presuppose some precedent guiding Acts in the Vnderstanding whereby they are pro portioned to the Rules of right Reason This Operation of the Vnderstanding is usually by the Schoole-men called Imperium or Mandatum a Mandate or Command because it is a Precept to which the will ought to be obedient For the Rules of Living and Doing well are the Statutes as it were and Dictates of right Reason But yet it may not hence be concluded that the Vnderstanding hath any Superiority in regard of Dominion over the Will though it have Priority in regard of Operation The Power of the Vnderstanding over the Will is onely a Regulating and Directing it is no Constraining or Compulsive Power For the Will alwaies is Domina sâ—…orum actuum The Mistresse of her owne Operation For Intellectus non imperat sed solummâ—…dò significat voluntatem imperantis It doth only intimate unto the Will the Pleasure and Law of God some seeds whereof remaine in the Nature of man The Precepts then of right Reason are not therefore Commands because they are proposed by way of Man date but therfore they are in that manner proposed because they are by Reason apprehended to be the Commands of a Divine Superior Power And therefore in the breach of any such Dictates we are not said properly to offend our Vnderstanding but to sinne against our Law giver As in Civill Policy the offences of men are not against inferiour Officers but against that soveraigne Power which is the Fountaine of Law and under whose Authority all subordinate Magistrates have their proportion of government Besides Ejus est imperare Cujus est punire For Law and Punishment being Relatives and mutually connotating each the other it must necessarily follow that from that power only canbe an imposition of law from which may be an Infliction of Punishment Now the Condition under which the Vnderstanding is both to apprehend and propose any either end or means convenient to the Nature of the Will and of Sufficiency to move it are that they have in them Goodnesse Possibility and in the end if we speak of an utmost one Immortality too Every true Object of any Power is that which beareth such a perfect Relation of convenience fitnes therunto that it is able to accomplish all its desires Now since Malum is Destructâ—…vum all Evill is Destructive It is impossible that by it selfe without a counterfeit and adulterate face it should ever have any Attractive Power over the Desires of the Will And on the other side since Omne bonum is Perfectivum since Good is perfective and apt to bring reall satisfaction along with it most certainly would it be desired by the Will were it not that our Vnderstandings are clouded and carried away with some crooked misapprehensions and the Will it selfe corrupted in its owne Inelinations But yet though all mans Faculties are so depraved that he is not able as he ought to will any Divine and Perfect Good yet so much he retains of his Perfection as that he cannot possibly desire any thing which he apprehends as absolutely disagreeable destructive to his Nature since all Naturall Agents ayme still at their owne Perfection And therefore impossible it is that either Good should be refused without any apprehension of Disconvenience or Evill pursued without any appearance of Congruity or Satisfaction That it may appeare therefore how the Vnderstanding doth alwaies propose those Objects as Good to the Will which are notwithstanding not only in their owne Nature but in the Apprehension of the Vnderstanding it selfe knowne to be evill And on the contrary why it doth propose good Objects contrary to its owne Knowledge as Evill We may distinguish two opposite conditions in Good and Evill For first all Evill of Sin though it have Disconvenience to mans Nature as it is Destructive yet on the other side it hath agreement thereunto as it is crooked and corrupt As continuall drinking is most convenient to the distemper of an Hydropticke Body though most disconvenient to its present welfare Now then as no man possessed with that disease desires drinke for this end because he would dye though he know that this is the next way to bring him to his Death but only to give satisfaction to his present Appetite So neither doth man
nourish and exercise Knowledge The reason whereof is that unseparable union which is in all things between the Truth and Good of them for it being the property of Truth to unite and apply Goodnesse nothing being apprehended as Good unlesse that Goodnesse be apprehended as true the more Appetite enjoyeth of this the deeper inquiry doth it make and the more compleat union doth it seeke with that the Heart and the Treasure can seldome be severed the Eagles will alwayes resort to the body Davids Love gave length and perpetuity to his meditation even all the day And herein methinkes may consist another proportion betweene the strength of Love and Death for as in Death nature doth collect and draw in those spirits which before lay scattered in the outward parts to guard and arme the heart in its greatest conflict uniting all those languishing forces which are left to testifie the naturall love which each living creature beareth to its owne conservation so doth Love draw and unite those Spirits which administer either to the Fancie or Appetite to serve onely for the nourishing of that Affection and for gazing upon that treasure whereunto the Heart is wholly attracted Which Spirits being of a limited power and influence doe therefore with the same force whereby they carry the mind to the consideration of one thing withdraw it from all other that are heterogeneall no determined power of the Soule being able to impart a sufficient activity unto diverse independing operations when the force of it is exhausted by one so strong and there being a sympathy and as it were a league between the faculties of the Soule all covenanting not to obscure or hinder the Predominant Impressions of one another And therefore as in Rome when a Dictatour was created all other Authority was or that time suspended so when any strong Love hath taken possession of the Soule it gives a Supersedeas and stop unto all other imployments It is therefore prescribed as a Remedy against inordinate Love Pabula Amoris Absterrere sibi atque aliò convertere mentem To draw away the â—…ewell from this fire And turne the minde upon some new desire For Love is Otiosorum Negotium as Diogenes spake the businesse oftentimes of men that want imployments Another effect of Love is Iealousie or Zeale Whereby is not meant that suspicious inquisitive quick-sighted quality of finding out the â—…lemishes and discovering the imperfections of one another for it is the property of true Love â—…o thinke none evill but onely a provident and solicitous feare least some or other evill should either disturbe the peace or violate the purity of what we love like that of Iob towards his sons â—…nd of the Apostle towards his Corinthians I am jealous over you with a godly jealousie So Penâ—… lope in the Poet was jealous of the safety of Vlisses In tâ—… singebam violentos Troas ituros Nomine in Hectoreo pallida semper eram How oft my decre Vlisses did I see In my sad thoughts proud Trojans rush on thee And when great Hectors name but touch'd mine-ears My cheeks drew palenes froÌ„ my paler fears Zeale is a compounded affection or a mixture of Love and Anger so that it ever putteth forth it selfe to remove any thing which is contrary to the thing we love as we see in Christ whose zeale or holy anger whipped away the buyers and sellers out of the Temple In which respect it iâ—… said that the zeale of Gods house did consume him As water when it boyleth from which metaphoâ—… the word zeale is borrowed doth in the boyling consume or as the candle wasteth It selfe with burning In which respect likewise it is said that much water cannot quench Love It is like Lime the more water you cast upon it the hotter it growes And therefore the sinne of Laodieeâ—… which was contrary unto zeale is compared unto lukâ—…warme water which doth not boyle and so cannot worke out the scumme or corruption which is in it And from hence it is that Love makes Weake things strong and turneth Cowardice into Valouâ—… and Meekenesse into Anger and Shame into Boldnesse and will not conceive any thing too hard to undertake The fearefull Heâ—… which hath nothing but flight to defend her selfe from the Dogge or the Serpent will venter with courage against the strongest creatures to defend her little chickens Thus Zeale and Love of God made Moses forget his meekenesse and his Anger was so strong that it brake the Tables oâ—… the Law and made the people drink the Idol which they had made And this is wiâ—…lly expressed by Seneca that Magnus dolor iratus amor est a great griefe is nothing else but Love displeased and made angrie It transporteth Nature beyond its bounds or abilities putteth such a force and vigour into it as that it will adventure on any difficulties as Mary Magdalen would in the strength of her Love undertake to carry away the dead body of Christ as she conceived of him not considering the weight of that or her owne weakenesse It hath a constraining vertue in it and makes a man do that which is beyond his power as the Corinthians when they were poore in estate were yet rich in Liberality It makes a man impatient to be unacquainted with the estate of an absent friend whom wee therefore suspect not sufficiently guarded from danger because destitute of the helpe which our presence might afford him In one word it makes the wounds and staines of the thing loved to redound to the grief and trouble of him that loveth it He that is not jealous for the credit security and honour of what hee pretendeth affection to loves nothing but himselfe in those pretenses Another Effect of Love is Condescension to things below us that wee may please or profit those whom we love It teacheth a man to deny his owne judgement and to doe that which a looker on might happily esteeme Weaknesse oâ—… Indecencie out of a fervent desire to expresse affection to the thing beloved Thus Davids great Love to the Arke of Gods presence did transport him to leaping and dancing and other such familiar expressions of joy for which Michall out of pride despised him in her heart and was contented by that which she esteemed basenesse to honour God herein expressing the love of him unto Mankind who was both his Lord and his Sonne who emptied and humbled and denied himselfe for our sakes not considering his owne worthinesse but our want nor what was honourable for him to doe but what was necessary for us to be done Quicquid Deo indignum mihi expedit what ever was unworthy of him was expedient for us Thus Parents out of Love to their children doe lispe and play and fit their speeches and dalliances to the Age and Infirmities of their children Therefore Themistocles being found playing and riding on a reed with his little boy
of Light But of all these former objects of mans Delight because they are amongst Salomons Catalogue of things under the Sunne none are here without vexation and vanities For to let passe the lightning of an idle mirth which indeed is madnesse and not Ioy. For Seneca telleth us that true Ioy is a serious and severe thing and not to meddle with riches and other secular Delights which have wings to fly from us and thornes to prick us even that highest naturall Delight of the Mind Knowledge and the heavenly eloquence of the Tongues of Angels which a man would think were above the Sunne and therfore not obnoxious to Salomons vanity would be in man without the right corrective thereof but a tinkling noise yeelding rather a windy Pleasure than a true Delight The properties whereof is not to puffe up but to replenish And therefore it is the prayer of Saint Paul The God of Peace fill you with all Ioy. True heavenly Ioy is a filling a satiating Ioy a Ioy unspeakeable with Saint Peter a Peace past understanding with Saint Paul Nor doth this property of overflowing and swallowing the Mind add any degrees of offence or anxiety therunto for it is not the weaknesse of the soule as it is of the body to receive hurt from the excellency of that which it delighteth in nor doth the mind desire to subdue or conquer but onely to be united with its object And here the onely corruption of our Delight is the deficiency and imperfections of it For though this blessed Light leaves not any man in the shadow of death yet it takes him not quite out of the shadow of sinne by the darknesse wherof hee is without much of that lustre and glory which he shall then have when the righteous shal shine like the Sunne in the Firmament Yet at the least our endeavours must be that though our Ioyes cannot be here a Replâ—…nishing Ioy yet it may be an Operative Ioy and so worke out the measure of its own fullnesse I have done with the severall Objects of mans delight Corporall Morall Intellectuall and Divine CHAP. XX. Of the Causes of Ioy. The union of the Object to the Faculty by Contemplation Hope Fruition Changes by accident a cause of Delight I Now proceed to speak of the more particular causes and effects of this Passion Touching the former not to meddle with those which are unnaturall belluine and morbid which the Philosopher hath given some instances of The generall cause is the naturall goodnesse of the Object and the particulars under that Any thing which hath a power to unite and make present the Object with the Faculty And that is done to speake onely of intellectuall Powers three manner of wayes by Contemplation by Confidence and by Fruition by thinking of it in the Minde by expecting of it in the Heart and by enjoying it in the whole Man Contemplation addes unto the Soule a double Delight First from it's owne property it being the proper and naturall agitation of mans minde insomuch that those things which wee abhorre to know experimentally our curlous and contemplative nature desires to know speculatively And therefore the Devils first temptation was drawne from the knowledge as well of evill as good for he knew that the minde of Man would receive content in the understanding of that which in it's owne nature had no perfection in it But then secondly in the Object of true Delight Contemplation ministreth a farther Ioy in that it doth in some sort pre-unite our Soules and our Blessednesse together and this is partly the reason why Aristotle so much advanceth his Contemplative before his practique Felicity For though this in regard of it's immediate reference unto Communion be of a more spreading and diffusive Nature yet certainly in that sweetnesse of content that serenity of Soule that exaltation of thoughts which we receive from those noble motions of the higher Mind the other doth farre in pleasure and satisfaction surpasse all active happinesse And hence we see in the parts of Mans Body those which are if I may so speake more contemplative have precedence to those that are more practique The parts of Vision are before the parts of Action the right eye is preferred before the right hand Thus we may observe in God himselfe notwithstanding in him there can bee neither accession nor intermission of Delight yet by way of expression to us ward he did not in the creation of the World so much ioy in his fiat as in his vidit not so much when he gave his creatures their Nature as when he saw their Goodnesse Nature being the Object of Power but Goodnes the Object of Delight and therefore the day of his rest was more holy than the dayes of his working that being appointed for the Contemplation as these were for the production of his creatures And as Contemplation by way of Prescience when it looketh forward on good things hoped So also by way of Memory when it looketh backward and receiveth evill things escaped doth minister matter of renewed Ioy. No Man looketh on the Sea with more comfort than he who hath escaped a shipwracke And therefore when Israell saw the Egyptians dead on the Sea shore the fear of whom had so much affrighted them before they then sang a Song of Triumph Past troubles doe season and as it were ballace present Comforts as the Snow in Winter increaseth the beauty of the Spring But in this particular of Contemplation notwithstanding the excellency of it there may be Corruption in the Excesse For in those matters of Delight except they be such as are disproportioned to our corrupt Nature I meane divine things wee seldome erre in the other extreme And that is when wee doe not divide our selves between our parts and let every one execute his proper function so to attend upon meere mentall notions as to neglect the practicall part of our Life and withdraw our selves from the fellowship and regard of humane society is as wicked in Religion as it would be in Nature monstrous to see a fire burne without light or shine without heate aberrations from the supreme Law being in divine things impious as they are in naturall prodigious And therefore that vowed sequestration and voluntary banishment of Hermits and Votaries from humane society under pretence of devoting themselves to Contemplation and a fore-enjoying of the Light of God is towards him as unâ—… pleasing as it is in it selfe uncomfortable for their very patterne which they pretend in such cases to imitate was not only a burning lamp by the heate of his owne Contemplations but a shining lamp too by the diffusing of his owne Comforts to the refreshing of others A second cause of Delight is the sure Confidence of the Mind Whereby upon strong and unâ—…ring grounds it waiteth for the accomplishment of it's desires so that what ever doth incourage our Hope doth therewithall strengthen and inlarge our Delight
times strength takes off the yoake of Obedience not only in the civill government of men but in the naturall government of creatures by men to whom by the law of Creation they were all made subject yet the strength of many of them hath taught them to ferget their originall Subjection and in stead of Fearing to terrifie man their lord and when ever we tame any of them and reduce them to their first condition this is not so much an act of our Dominion wherby we awe them as of our Reason whereby we deceive them and we are beholding more therein to the working of our Wit than to the prerogative of our Nature and usually every thing which hath knowledg enough to measure its owne abilities the more it hath of Strength the lesse it hath of Feare that which Solomon makes the strongest the Apostle makes the fittest to expell Peare to wit Love So likewise on the other side Immunity from Subjection in the midst of Weaknesse removes Feare Of this we may give an instance in guilty persons who notwithstanding their Weaknesse yet when once by the priviledge of their Sanctuary or mercy of their Iudge they are freed from the obligation of the Law though not from the Offence their former Feares doe presently turne into Ioy and Gratulations and that is the reason why Good men have such Boldnesse Confidence and Courage that they can bid defiance unto Death because though they be not quite delivered from the Corruption yet they are from the Curse and Condemnation of Sinne though by reason of their Weaknesse they are not delivered from the mouth yet they are from the teeth and stings of Death though not from the Earth of the Grave yet from the Hell of the Grave though not from Sinne yeâ—… from the Strength and Malediction of Sinne the Law ouâ—… Adversary must be strong as well as our selves weake if he looke for Feare The Corruption then of this Passion as it depenâ—…eth upon these Causes is when it ariseth out of too base a conceit of our owne or too high of anothers strength the one proceeding from an errour of Humility in undervaluing our selves the other from an errour of Iudgement or Suspition in mistaking of others There are some men who as the Orâ—…our speaks of despairing Wits De 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…rentur who are too unthankfull unto Nature in a slâ—…ight esteeme of the abilities shee â—…ath given them and deserve that Weakenesse which they unjustly complaine of The sight of whose Iudgment is not unlike that of Perspective Glasses the two ends whereof have a double representation the one fuller and neerer the truth the other smaller and at a farre greater distance So it is with men of this temper they looke on themselves and others with a double prejudice on themselves with a Distrusting and Despairing Iudgement which presents every thing remote and small on Others with on Overvaluing and Admiring Iudgement which contrariwise presents all perfections too perfect And by this means between a selfe-dislike and a too high estimation of others truth ever fals to the ground and for revenge of her selfe leaves the party thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Timorous For as Errour hath a property to produce and nourish any Passion according to the nature of the subject matter which it is conversant about so principally this present Passion because Errour it selfe is a kinde of Formido Intellectus a Feare of the Vnderstanding and it is no great wonder for one Feare to beget another And therefore when Christ would take away the Feare of his Disciples he first removes their prejudice Feare not those that can kill the Body onely and can doe no more Where the overflowing of their Feares seemes to have been grounded on the overiudging of an adverse power Thus much for the Root and Essentiall cause of Feare these which follow are more casuall and upon occasion Whereof the first may be the Suddennesse of aâ—… Evill when it ceiseth upon as it were in the Dark for all Darknesse is comfortlesse and therefore the last terrible Iudgement is described unto us by the Blacknesse and Vnexpectednesse of it by the Darknesse of Night and the Suddennesse of Lightning All Vnacquaintaince then and Igno rance of an approaching Evill must needs worke Amazement and Terrour as contrarily a foresight theâ—… of worketh Patience to undergoe and Boldnesse to encounter it as Tacitus speaks of Caecina Ambiguarum rerum sciens eoque intrepidus that hee was acquainted with difficulties and therefore not fearfull of them And there is good reason for this because in a sudden daunt and onset of an unexpected evill the spirits which were before orderly carried by their severall due motions unto their naturall works are upon this strange appearance and instant Oppression of danger so disordered mixed and stiâ—…lled that there is no power left either in the Soule for Counsell or in the Body for Execution For as it is in the warres of men so of Passions those are more terrible which are by way of Invasion then of Battell which set upon men unarmed and uncomposed then those which find them prepared for resistance and so the Poet describes a lamentable overthrow by the Suddennes of the one side and the Ignorance of the other Invadunt urbeâ—… somno vinâ—…que sepultam They do invade a City all at rest Which ryot had with sleep and Wine opprest And this is one reason why men inclinable to this Passion are commonly more fearfull in the Night than at other times because then the Imagination is presenting of Objects not formerly thought on when the spirits which should strengthen are more retyred and Reason lesse guarded And yet there are Evils too which on the other side more affright with their long expectation and traine than if they were more contracted and speedy Somâ—… set upon us by sleath affrighting us like lightning with a sudden blaze others with a train and pomp like a Comet which is ushered in with a streame of fire and like Thunder which hurts not only with its danger but with its noise and therefore Aristotle reckoneth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the signes of an approaching evill amongst the Objects of Feare Another cause of Feare may be the Neernesse of an Evill when we perceive it to be within the reach of us and now ready to set upon us For aâ—… it is with Objects of Sence in a distance of place so it is with the Objects of Passion in a Distance of Time Remotion in either the greater it is the lesse present it makes the Object and by consequence the weaker is the impression there-from upon the faculty and this reason Aristotle gives why Death which else where he makes the most terrible evill unto Nature doth not yet with the conceit thereof by reason that it is apprehended at an indefinite and remote distance worke such terrour and amazement nor so stiffe Reason and the Spirits as Objects farre lesse in themselves injurious
of Touch-stone which is we cannot suffer the Tryall off argues us to be but corrupt and uncurrant Mettail And wee feare it with those who Admire us because as every man it willing to see his face when it is cleane in that Glasse which represents it fairest so when it is soule of all others he shunneth that most In the former case we are in danger to misse of what wee desired in the other wee are in danger to shipwracke what we before inioyed Wee are apt to be ashamed with our Friends because their opinion wee value and with our Enemies because theirs we feare with our Friends because they are Grieved with our Enemies because they are delighted with that which shames us Againe wee feare in this Regard Rigid and Severe Men who are not ready to forgive not to put Candide and Charitable Constructions upon what we doe Therefore when Catâ—… was present who was virrigida Innocentia a sterne and severe Censor of the manners of Men none durst call for the obscoene spectacles of their Floralia being more awed by the Authority of the man than al lured by the pleasure of the Playes Likewise Busy and Garrulous men because they enquire into our Crimes and having disclosed do divulge them For which cause wee feare in this case the Multitude because an ill name is like an ill face the broader it is drawn and the more light it hath about it it appeares the more deformed As a little Gold beaten into thin Leaves a little Water drawn into a thin steeme and vapor seems wider than it was at first so even lesser Crimes being multiplied through the mouthes of many do grow into a spreading cloud and obscure a mans name For hee is presumed to be void either of wisedome or modesty that doth not feare many Eyes We feare Innocent and Vertuous Men their presence aweth us from Liberty of Sinning and maketh us blush if they deprehend us in it because Examples have a proportionable Authority over the Heart of Man as Lawes have which wee doe not trespasse without Feare And therefore the Philosopher adviseth to live alwaies so as if some grave and serious and severe person were ever before us to behave our selves sub Custode Paedagoge as under the Eye of a Keeper because such a mans conversation will either regulate ours or disgrace it Vitious men do the lesse feare one another by how much they stand in need of mutuall pardon as we finde Stertorius if I forget nor giving those souldiers of the Enemies army their lives who had but one Eye hee being himselfe Monâ—…phthalmos Againe we feare Envious and malevolent persons because such looke upon our Actions with prejudice and as Momuâ—… when he could not finde fault with the face in the Picture of Venus picked a quarrell at her Slipper so these men will ever have somthing either in Substance or Circumstances of our Actions to misreport and expose to scandall Lastly we feare those in this respect whose Company we shall most be used unto because that leaves us not time wherein to forget our Errours or to fortify our selves against them It makes a man live ever under the sense of his Guilt In which respect Catâ—…major was wont to say That a man should most of all reverence himselfe because hee is ever in his owne sight and Company The Fundamentall Ground of this Affection is any Evill that hath either Guilt or any kinde of Turpitude in it or any signes and suspitions thereof reflecting either on our selves or any of ours whose reputation we are tender of And thus the Apostle telleth us that all Sinne is the matter of Shame when it is revived with a right judgement What fruit had you then in those things whereof you are now ashamed That which hath Emptinesse in the Beginning and Death in the End must needs have Shame in the middle But though all Sinne with respect to Gods Eye and Iudgement doth cause Shame yet in the Eye of men those cause it most which have any notable more odious Turpitude adhering unto them As either obscene or subdolous and dishonest Actions when they are detected forging of Deeds defacing Records counterfeiting of names or seales suborning of Wit nesses making use of ingenious Professions as Cloakes to palliate and instruments to provoke Abusive and Illiberall practises Such are all kinde of Sordid Actions or Behaviours as Gaine raised out of despicable Com modities as Vespatian set a vectigal or excise upon Pisse and the Philosopher tels us of some that made a gaine of the dead Such are also the Livings which by sordid ministers Panders Bawdes Curtezans Parasites Iuglers Dela tors Cheaters Sharkes and shifting Companions make unto themselves such the Poets miserâ—… Populus me sibilat at mihi plaudo Ipse do si mul ac nummos contemplor in arcâ The people hisse me all abroad But I at home my selfe applaud When in my Coffers I behold That which none hisse at heapes of Gold Many particular Causes there are which are apt to excite this affection some whereof I shall briefly name as First Sloth and shrinking from such labour which those that are better older weaker more delicate then our selves doe willingly undergoe Thus Menelaus in the Poet seeing the Grecians as fearefull to undertake a single combat with Hector as they were ashamed to deny it did thus upbraid their Cowardize 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What Grecian soldiers turn'd to Grecian dames That can digest so great so many shames What not a man of Greece O fowle disgrace Dare meet or looke proud Hector in the face Well sit you downe Inglorious Heartlesse men Turn'd to your first water and earth yet then I le take up Armes for Victories last End Doth not on Our But Divine will depend In like manner Hector rebuketh the basenesse of Paris in flying from Menalaus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Trim Warriour tell me what thy Lute can doe What Venus Graces comely heire sweet hew When thou shalt wallow in the dust Th' art far Fitter to weare Stone-coat then Coat of War Againe any thing which argueth pusillanimity or littlenesse of minde is a just ground of shame as to recount curtesies upbraid them therefore he said in Seneca Non tanti est vixisse That his life was lesse worth then to be so valued to him in daily Exprobrations and that his blood with lesse trouble to him might have beene let out at his veines then to be every day disordered and called up into his face To receive continuall Gifts and be ever craving from our inseriours burthen some to those who can lesse beare it Hereunto referre all Light ludicrous and ridiculous behaviour wherein if a Grave or serious man be deprehended it rendreth him suspected of a minde that can flag and lessen and therefore Agesilaus being so taken playing with his childe made his Apologie for it and
produceing of its operation All which prove that the soule is separable from the body in its Nature and therefore that it is not corrupt and mortall as the body Another reason may be taken from the Universall agreement of all Nations in the Earth in Religion and the worship of some Deity which cannot but be raised out of a hope and secret Resolution that that God whom they worshipped would reward their piety if not here yet in another life Nulla gens adeo extra leges est projectâ—… ut non aliquos deos credat saith Seneca whence those fictious of the Poets touching Elyzium and fields of happinesse for men of honest and well ordered lives and places of Torment for those that doe any way neglect the bonds of their Religion Ergo exercentur poenis veterumque malorum Supplicia expendunt Therefore they exercised are with paine And punishments of former crimes sustaine For in this life it is many times in all places seene that those which have given themselves most liberty in contempt of Gods Lawes and have suffered themselves to be carried by the swinge of their owne rebellious Passions unto all injurious ambitious unruly Practises have commonly raised themselves and their fortunes more than others who out of tendernesse and feare have followed no courses but those which are allowed them And yet these men who suffer so many indignities out of regard to Religion doe still observe their duties and in the midst of all contempt and reproach fly into the bosome of their God And as Lucretius himselfe that Arch-Atheist confesseth of them Multò in rebus acerbis Acriâ—…s advertunt animos ad religionem Their hearts in greatest bitternesse of minde Unto Religion are the more enclinde Their very terrors and troubles make them more zealous in acknowledging some Deity and in the worship of it Hic Pietatis hâ—…s would not this easily have melted their Religion into nothing and quite diverted their minds from so fruitlesse a severity had they not had a strong and indeleble perswasion fastned in their soules that a state would come where in both their Patience should be rewarded and the insolencie of their Adversaries repayed with the just Vengeance they had deserved As for that Atheisticall conceit that Religion is only grounded on Policie and maintained by Princes for the better Tranquillity and Setlednesse of their States making it to be only Imperiorum Vinculum a Bond of Government that the Common-weale might not suffer from the fury of minds secure from all Religion it is a fancie no lesse absurd than it is impious For that which hath not only beene observed and honour'd by those who have scarce had any forme of a civill Regiment amongst them but even generally assented unto by the opinions and practice of the whole world is not a Law of Policie and civill Institution but an inbred and secret Law of Nature dictated by the consciences of men and assented unto without and above any humane imposition Nor else is it possible for Legall institutions and the closest and most intricate conveyances of Humane Policy so much to entangle the hearts of men of themselves enclinable to liberty nor to fetter their consciences as thereby only to bring them to a regular conformity unto all government for feare of such a God to whose Infinitnesse Power and Majestie they Assent by none but a civill Tradition It must be a visible character of a Deitie acknowledged in the Soule an irresistible Principle in Nature and the secret witnesse of the heart of man that must constraine it unto those sundry religious ceremonies observed among all Nations wherein even in places of Idolatry were some so irksome and repugnant to Nature and others so voyd of Reason as that nothing but a firme and deepe Assurance of a Divine Judgement and of their owne Immortality could ever have impos'd them upon their consciences And besides this consent of men unto Religion in generall we finde it also unto this one part hereof touching the Soules immortality All the wisest and best reputed Philosophes for Learning and stayednesse of life and besides them even Barbarians Infidels and savage people have discerned it Adeò nescio quo modâ—… inhaeret in menibus quasi seculorum quoddam augurium futurorum saith Tully The Soule hath a kinde of presage of a future world And therefore he saith that it is in mans Body a Tenant tanquam in dome alâ—…enâ as in anothers house And is only in Heaven as a Lord tanquam in domo suâ as in its owne Though in the former of these the ignorance of the Resurrection made him erre touching the future condition of the Body wherein indeed consists a maine dignity of Man above other creatures And this Opinion it is which he saith was the ground of all that care men had for posterity to sow and plant Common-wealths to ordaine Lawes to establish formes of Government to erect Foundations and Societies to hazard their Blood for the good of their Country all which could not have beene done with such freedome of Spirit and prodigality of life unlesse there were withall a conceit that the good thereof would some way or other redound to the contentment of the Authors themselves after this life for it was a speech savouring of infinite Atheisme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 When I am dead and in mine Vâ—…ne What care I though the World burns Now although against this present Reason drawne from the consent of men which yet Heathens themselves have used It may be alledged that there hath beene a consent likewise of some That the Soule is nothing else but the Eucrasie or good Temperature of the Body and that it is therefore subject to those Maladies Distempers Age Sicknesse and at last Death which the Body is as amongst the rest Lucretius takes much paines to prove yet the Truth is that is Votum magic quà m Iudicium never any firme opinion grounded on Judgement and Reason but rather a desire of the heart and a perswasion of the Will inticing the Understanding so to determine For the conscience of lewd Epicures and sensuall minds being sometimes frighted with the flashes and apprehensions of Immortality which often times pursues them and obtrudes it selfe upon them against their wills shining like lightning through the chinks crevises as I may so speak of their Soules which are of set purpose closed against all such light sets the Reason on work to invent arguments for the contrary side that sâ—… their staggering and fearefull impiety may bâ—… something emboldned and the Eye of their conscience blinded and the Mouth mustled from breathing forth those secret clamors and shrikes of feare The Deniall then of the Immortality of the Soule is rather a Wish than an Opinion a corruption of the Heart and Will than any Naturall Assertion of the understanding which cannot but out of the footsteps and reliques of those first sacred Impressions acknowledge a spirituall
any the least Prints of those Pure and Divine Impressions of Originall Righteousnesse yet still there remaines even in depraved and Polluted Nature fome shadowes thereof There is stil the Opus Operatum in many Actions of Mortality though the Obliquity of the Heart and Ignorance of the true end whether it should be directed take away the Goodnesse and the Sanctity thereof The top and highest pitch of Nature toucheth the hemme and lowest of Grace We have in us the Testimonies though not the Goodnesse of our first estate the Ruines of a Temple to be lamented though not the holy Places thereof to be Inhabited It is true indeed those great endowments of the most severe and illightned Heathen were indeed but glorious miseries and withered Vertues in that they proceeded from a depraved Nature and aymed at sinister and false ends yet withall both the corruption of them proves their praecedent losse which also the Heathen themselves espied in their distinction of Ages into Golden and Iron times And likewise the pursuit and practice of them though weak imperfect corrupt imply manifestly that there was much more an Originall Aspiring of Nature in her perfection to be like her Maker in an absolute and universall Purity Now in this Rectitude and Perfect Regularity of the Soule in this divine Habit of Originall Justice did man most eminently beare the Image and Signature of God on him And therefore notwithstanding we continue still Immortall Spirituall Reasonable yet we are said to have defaced that Image in us by our hereditary Pollution And hee alwayes recovereth most thereof who in the greatest measure repaireth the ruines and vindicateth the Lapses of his decayed estate unto that prime Originall Purity wherein he was Created These are the Dignities of the Soule considered wholy in it selfe In all which it farre surmounts the greatest perfections which the Body or any Faculty thereof are endowed withall And yet such is the preposterous and unnaturall basenesse of many men that they are content to make their Soules vassals to their owne Servant How do they force their Understandings which in their owne worthiest objects those deepe and Divine Contemplations are as drowzie as Endymion to spend and waste themselves in proud luxurious vanishing Inventions How doe they enthrall that Supreame and Architectonicall Power in Mans little World his Will to the Tyrannie of slavish appetite and sensuall desires as if they served here but as Cookes to dresse their owne Bodies for the Wormes Strange is it that Man conscious to himselfe of Immortality and of an Heroicall and Heavenly complexion that hath received such immediate Impressions of God and is the very Modell of all Natures Perfections should so much degrade himselfe as to doat only on that part which is the vassall and slave of Death If there were no other mischife which sinne did the Soule but to debase it even that were argument sufficient for noble spirits to have it in detestation For man being in honour and which understandeth not is like the beasts that perish CHAP. XXXVII Of the Faculty of Vnderstanding Its operations outward upon the Object Inward upon the Will Of Knowledge What it is The naturall Desire and Love of it Apprehension Iudgement Retention requisite unto right Knowledge Severall kindes of Knowledge The Originall Knowledge given unto Man in his Creation The Benefits of Knowledge Of Ignorance Naturall Voluntary Penall Of Curiosity Of Opinion the Causes of it Disproportion betweene the Object and the Faculty and an Acute Versatilousnesse of Conceits The benefit of Modest Hesitancie NOw it followes to speak of the parts or principall powers of the Soule which are the Vnderstanding and the Will Concerning the Understanding the Dignity thereof though it may partly be perceived in the Latitude and excellent Variety of its Objects being the whole world of things for Ens Intelligibile are reciprocall omnia intelligit saith Aristotle of the understanding yet principally it proceeds from the Operations of it both Ad extra in respect of the Objects and ad intra in respect of the Will The one is a Contemplative the other a more Practique office whereby the speculations of the former are accommodated unto any either Morall or Civill Actions Those which respect the Objects are either Passive or Active Operations Passive I call those first Perceptions and apprehensions of the Soule whereby it receiveth the simple species of some Object from immediate Impression thereof by the Ministry of the Soule as when I understand one Object to be a Man another a Tree by Administration and Assistance of the Eye which presents the Species of either Another sort of Passive Operations that is of such as are grounded on Impressions received from Objects are mixed Operations of Compounding Dividing Collecting Concluding which wee call Discourse Of all which to speake according to their Logicall Nature would be impertinent Their Excellencie chiefly stands in the End whereunto they move and serve which is Knowledge of the which I shall therefore here speak a few things Knowledge is the Assimilation of the Understanding unto the things which it understandeth by those Intelligible Species which doe Irrâ—…diate it and put the power of it into Act. For as the beames of the Sunne shining on a glasse doe there work the Image of the Sunne so the species and resemblances of things being convayed on the Understanding doe there work their owne Image In which respect the Philosopher saith That the Intellect becommeth All things by being capable of proper impressions from them As in a Painters Table wee call that a face a hand a foot a tree which is the lively Image and Representation of such things unto the eye There is not any Desire more noble nor more Naturall unto a Man who hath not like Saul hid himselfe amongst the stuffe and lost himselfe in the Low and perishing provisions for Lust than is this Desire of Knowledge Nature dictating to every Creature to be more intent upon its Specificall than upon its Genericall perfection And hence it is that though Man be perfectest of all Creatures yet many doe excell him in sensitive Perfection Some in exquisitenesse of Sight others of Hearing others of Tast Touch and Smell others of Swiftnesse and of Strength Nature thereby teaching us to imitate her in perfecting and supplying of our Desires not to terminate them there where when wee have made the best Provision wee can many Beasts will surpasse us but to direct our Diligence most to the improving of our owne specificall and rationall perfection to wit our Understandings Other Faculties are tyred and will be apt to nauseate and surfet on their Objects But Knowledge as knowledge doth never either burden or cloy the Minde no more than a Covetous man is wearied with growing Rich And therefore the Philosopher telleth us that Knowledge is the Rest of the Vnderstanding wherein it taketh delight as a Thing in its naturall Place And so