Thousand sides or a Circular or Ecliptick Figure which may be consider'd as made up of an Infinity of Angles and Sides There is an infinite number of different Species of each of these Figures an infinite number of Triangles of different kinds besides other Figures of four six ten or Ten Thousand sides and infinite Poligons For the Circle the Ellipsis and generally every regular or irregular curve-lin'd Figure may be consider'd as an infinite Poligone The Ellipsis for example as an infinite Poligone but whose Angles or sides are unequal being greater towards the lesser Diameter than the other And thus of infinite other Poligones more compounded and irregular A simple piece of Wax is capable of infinite or rather infinitely infinite different Modifications which no Mind can comprehend What reason then is there to imagine that the Soul which is more noble than the Body is not capable of more Modifications besides those which it has yet receiv'd If we had never felt Pain nor Pleasure if we had never seen Colour or Light or if we had been as Blind or Deaf in relation to Colours and Sounds ought we thence to conclude that we were incapable of all the Sensations which we now have of Objects since these Sensations are only Modifications of our Soul as we have proved in the Treatise of the Senses We must then grant that the Capacity which the Soul has of receiving different Modifications is probably greater than the Capacity which it has of conceiving I mean as the Mind cannot draw out or conceive all the Figures whereof Matter is capable so it cannot comprehend all the different Modifications which the powerful Hand of God can produce in the Soul even though we should as distinctly know the Capacity of the Soul as that of Matter Which is Absurd from the Reasons brought in the Seventh Chapter of the Second Part of this Book Our Soul therefore receives very few Modifications here because it is united to the Body upon which it depends All its Sensations carry it to its Body and whereas it cannot enjoy God it can have no other Modifications besides what the other Enjoyments produce Matter which our Body is composed of is capable of very few Modifications in this Life this Matter cannot be resolv'd into Earth and Vapour till after Death it cannot now become Air Fire Diamond Metal it cannot be Square Round Triangular it must be Flesh and have the Figure of Man that the Soul may be united to it It is even so with our Soul it is necessary that it have Sensations of Heat Cold Colour Light Sounds Odours Sapors and many other Modifications that it may be united to its Body All these Sensations engage it to the Preservation of its Machine they agitate it and terrifie it so soon as the least Spring is loosed or broken And thus the Soul must be subject thereto as long as the Body shall be subject to Corruption but as soon as it shall be invested with Immortality and there shall be no farther Fear of a Dissolution of its Parts it 's reasonable to believe that it will no longer be affected with these Incommodious Sensations which we unwillingly feel but with an Infinity of all other different Things of which we have now no Idea which shall surpass all our Thoughts and be worthy of the Greatness and Goodness of God whom we shall enjoy 'T is therefore against all Reason that Men imagine to penetrate so into the Nature of the Soul as to be well assur'd that it 's only capable of Knowing and Loving This indeed might be maintain'd by those who attribute their Sensations to External Objects or to their own Body or who pretend that their Passions are in their Heart For indeed if we retrench from the Soul all its Passions and Sensations whatever can be known in that which is left behind is only a Chain of Knowledge and Love But I cannot apprehend how those who have taken their leave of the Illusions of their Senses can be perswaded that all our Sensations and Passions are only Knowledge and Love I mean the confused kinds of Judgments which the Soul draws from Objects relating to the Body which it Animates I do not apprehend how it may be said That Light Colours Odours c. are Judgments of the Soul for on the contrary it seems to me that Colours Odours and other Sensations are Modifications very different from Judgments Let us choose some of the quickest Sensations which most affect the Mind and let us see what these Men can say of Colour or of Pleasure They think according to many very Famous * St. Aug. Book 6. De Musica Descartes dans son homme c. Authors that these Sensations are only Consequences of the Faculty which we have of Knowing and Willing and that Pain for Example is nothing else but a certain Sollicitude Repugnancy and Aversion of the Will against things which it knows to be Hurtful to its Dear Body But it 's evident to me that this is to confound Pain with Sadness and make Pain a Consequence of the Knowledge and Action of the Will whereas on the contrary it precedes both For Example If a hot Coal was put into the Hand of a Person that was asleep or should hold his Hands behind his Back no one I believe with any probability of Truth would affirm that this Person would forthwith know that there were some Motions in his Hands contrary to a good Constitution of Body that afterwards his Will would oppose it and that this Pain would be a Consequence of this Knowledge of his Mind and this Opposition of his Will But rather on the contrary the first thing that this Person would conceive when the Coal touch'd his Hand would be Pain and this Knowledge of the Mind and Opposition of the Will would be only Consequences of Pain though indeed they were the Cause of Sadness which followed the Pains But there is much difference between the Pain and the Sadness which it produces Pain is the first thing which the Soul feels it precedes Knowledge and can never be agreeable in it self But on the contrary Sadness is the last thing which the Soul feels Knowledge always precedes it and it is always pleasant in it self This is evident from the Pleasure we perceive at the Lamentable Representations of Tragedies for this Pleasure increases with the Sadness but Pleasure never increases with Pain Comedians who study the Art of Pleasing know well that the Stage is not to be imbru'd with Slaughter because the Image of a Murder is rather Terrible than Pleasant But they are not afraid to affect the Spectators with too great a Sadness because indeed Sadness is always agreeable when there is a proper Subject of Sadness there is then an Essential Difference betwixt Sadness and Pain and one cannot say that Pain is only a Knowledge of the Mind joyn'd to an Opposition of the Will As for other Sensations such as
all their Modes because Stones are Substances or Beings and not Modifications of the Wax In like manner though God should Annihilate one half of some Bodies it would not follow that the other half should be Annihilated This last half is United with the other but it is not one with it Thus one half being Annihilated it follows indeed according to Reason that the other half has no longer any relation to it but it do's not follow that it ceases to be because as its Being is different it cannot be Annihilated by the Annihilation of the other Therefore it is clear that the Thought not being the Modification of Extension our Soul is not Annihilated though we should suppose that the Body were Annihilated by Death But there is no reason to believe that even the Body is Annihilated when it is destroy'd The parts which Compose it are dissipated into Vapours and reduc'd to Powder They are no longer seen nor are they any longer known this is true but it is no reason to conclude that they are no longer in Being for the Mind perceives them still Dividing a Grain of Mustard into Two into Four or Twenty parts it would be Annihilated to our sight because it would be no longer seen But it would not be Annihilated in it self nor yet to the Mind for the Mind would see it though it were divided into a Thousand or an Hundred Thousand Parts 'T is a common Notion among Men who consult their Reason more than their Senses that nothing can be Annihilated by the common force of Nature for as Naturally nothing can be made out of nothing neither can a Substance or Being become nothing Bodies may be corrupted if we may call the Alterations they are liable to Corruption but they cannot be Annihilated What is Round may become Square What is Flesh may become Earth Vapour and what you please for all sorts of Extensions are capable of all manner of Configurations But the Substance of what is Round and of what is Flesh cannot perish There are certain Laws Establish'd in Nature according to which Bodies change their Forms successively for those Successive Forms Compose the Beauty of the Universe and Create an Admiration in us for its Author But there is no Law in Nature for the Annihilation of any Being because Annihilation has nothing of Beauty or Good in it self and because the Author of Nature loves his Work Therefore Bodies may Alter but they cannot Perish But if relying on the Testimony of the Senses Men would maintain obstinately that the Reduction of Bodies is a real Annihilation by reason that the Parts into which they are reduc'd are Imperceptible Let them remember at least that Bodies can only be divided into those Imperceptible Parts because they are Extended But if the Mind is not Extended it will not be Divisible and if it be not Divisible it must be granted that in that Sense it will not be Corruptible But how could any Body imagin that the Mind were Extended and Divisible We may by a right Line cut a Square into two Triangles into two Paralelogrammes or long Squares into two Trapeza's But by what Line can it be conceiv'd that a Pleasure a Pain or a Desire can be Cut And what Figure would result of that Division Truly I cannot think that Imagination can be fruitful enough in false Idea's to satisfie it self upon that Subject The Mind then is not Extended consequently it is not Divisible It is not liable to the same Alterations as the Body Nevertheless it must be granted that it is not Immutable by its Nature If the Body is capable of an infinite number of different Figures and of different Configurations the Mind is capable of an infinite number of different Idea's and different Modifications As after our Death the substance of our Flesh will be reduc'd to Earth to Vapours and to an infinite number of other Bodies without being Annihilated So our Souls without being again reduc'd to nothing will have Thoughts and Sentiments very different from those they had in Life It is also necessary while we are alive that our Body should be Compos'd of Flesh and Bones It is also necessary in order to Live that our Soul should have the Idea's and Sentiments it has in relation to the Body to which it is united But when the Soul shall be separated from its Body it will be at full Liberty to receive all sorts of Idea's and Modifications very different from those it has at present as our Body on its part will be capable of receiving all sorts of Figures and Configurations very different from those it is necessary it should have to be the Body of a Living Man What I have said does in my Opinion sufficiently show that the Immortality of the Soul is not a thing so difficult to be apprehended What then is the reason that so many question it unless it be that they are unwilling to apply themselves as much as may be to examin the Reasons which prove it in order to be Convinc'd And why is it that they are unwilling to do it unless it be that their Will being uneasie and inconstant keeps their Understanding in a continual Agitation insomuch that it is not at leisure distinctly to perceive those very Idea's which are most present to it as those of Thought and of Extension Just like a Man agitated by some Passion turning his Eyes continually on all sides for the most part does not distinguish the nearest Objects and the most Expos'd to his Sight For indeed the Question about the Immortality of the Soul is one of the easiest Questions to resolve when without Consulting our Imagination we consider with some Attention of Mind the clear and distinct Idea of Extension and the Relation it can have to Thought If the Inconstancy and Levity of our Will does not permit our Understanding to penetrate into the Bottom of things which are present to it and which we are highly concern'd to know it is easie to judge that it will be more averse to let us meditate on those that are distant and which have no relation to us So that if we are very Ignorant of most of those things which it is very necessary for us to know we shall not have a great Insight into those which seem absolutely vain and useless to us It will not be necessary for me to endeavour to prove this by tedious Examples which have no considerable Truths in them for if we may be allow'd to be Ignorant of any thing it is of those things which are of no Use And I had rather not be believed than to make the Reader lose his Time in reading things that are wholly useless Though there are not many persons who apply themselves seriously to things absolutely Vain and Useless yet the number of them is but too great But there can never be too many of those who do not apply themselves to them and who despise them provided
Advantages of the Body and such as are only possess'd by the Body and for the Body are Imaginary and perishable Goods Men are sensible that it is better to be Just than Rich to be Reasonable than Learned to have a lively penetrating Mind than a quick and active Body These Truths can never be effac'd out of their Mind and they discover them Infallibly whenever they are pleas'd to think on them Homer for instance who praises his Hero for his Nimbleness in Running might have observ'd if had so pleas'd that it is a Praise fit for Horses and Grey-hounds Alexander so Famous in History for his Illustrious Thefts had sometimes the same Reproaeches from his Reason as Murtherers and Thieves have notwithstanding the confused Noise of the Flatterers that were about him And Cesar at the passage of the Rubicon could not forbear discovering that these Reproaches terrified him when he resolv'd to Sacrifice the Liberty of his Country to his Ambition The Soul though strictly united to the Body is nevertheless united to * Ubique veritas praesides omnibus consulentibus te simulque respondes omnibus etiam diversa consulentibus God and at that very time when it receives by its Body those lively but confused Sensations which the Passions Inspire it receives from the Eternal †Liquidè tu respondes sed non liquidè omnes audiunt Omnes unde volunt consulunt sed non semper quod volunt audiunt Conf. S. Aug. Book 10. C. 26.5 Quint. Cur. Book 7. c. 8. Truth which presides in its Mind the Knowledge of its Duty and Disorders When the Body deceives it God undeceives it when it Flatters it God Mortifies it and when it Praises and Applauds it God Reproaches it severely and Condemns it by the Manifestation of a more Pure and Holy Law than that of the Flesh which it has followed There was no need for the Scythians to come to Alexander to teach him his Duty in a forreign Tongue he knew from him who instructs the Scythians and the most Barbarous Nations the Rules of Justice which he ought to follow * Intus in domicilio cogitationis nec Hebraea nec Graeca nec Latina nec Barbara Veritas sine oris Lingua organis sine strepitu Syllabarum Conf. S. Aug. B. 11. c. 3. The Light of Truth which lightens all the World enlighten'd him also and the Voice of Nature which speaks neither Greek nor Scythian c. spoke to him as to the rest of Mankind in a very Intelligible Tongue Whatever Reproaches the Scythians could fasten upon him about his Conduct they only spoke to his Ears because God spoke not to his Heart or rather God spoke to his Heart but he only hearkning to the Scythians who did nothing but exasperate his Passion and unman'd him so that he heard not the Voice of Truth although it thunder'd within him nor did he see her Light although it pierc'd him thorough It is true our Vnion with God diminishes and weakens by degrees according as that which we have with sensible things Increases and Strengthens but it is impossible that that Vnion should be wholly broken without the Dissolution of our Being For though such as are plung'd in Vice and indulge their Pleasure are Insensible of Truth they are nevertheless united to it * Videtur quasi ipse à te occidere cum tu ab ipsa occidas Au. in Ps 25 Nam etiam sol iste videntis faciem illustrat caesi ambobus sol praesens est sed praesene sole unus absens est Sic sapientia Dei Dominus J. C. ubique praesens est quia ubique est veritas ubique sapientia Aug. in Joan. Tract 35. It does not forsake them but they forsake it It s Light shines in Darkness but it does not always expel it Just as the light of the Sun encompasses the Blind and those that close their Eyes though it enlightens neither * What I say in this place of the two Unions of the Mind with God and with the Body is to be understood according to the common way of conceiving things For it is certain the Mind can only be immediately united to God I mean the Mind only depends truly on God and if it be united to the Body or if it depends on it it is because the Will of God efficaciously causes that Union or that Dependance This will be easily apprehended by the Sequel of this Work The Vnion of our Mind with our Body is the same This Vnion diminishes by degrees as that which we have with God increases but it is never quite dissolv'd but by our Death For though we were as much enlightned and as much above the Pleasures of Sense as the Apostles were yet it is necessary since the Fall that our Mind should depend on our Body and that we should feel the Law of our Flesh continually resisting and opposing the Law of our Mind The Mind becomes Purer Stronger more Perspicuous and more inlarged proportionably as its Vnion with God increases for 't is he from whom it derives all its Perfection On the contrary it becomes Corrupted Blind Weak and is contracted by degrees as the Vnion which it has with its Body Increases and Strengthens because that Vnion also causes all its Imperfections Therefore a Man who judges of all things by his Senses who follows the Motions of his Passions in all things who perceives nothing but what he feels and who loves nothing but what flatters him is in the most wretched Disposition of Mind that he can possibly be in In that condition he is at a vast distance from Truth and from his Good But when a Man only judges of things by the pure * Quis enim bene se inspiciens non expertus est Tanto se aliquid intellexisse sincerius quanto removere atq subducere intentionem mentis à corporis sensibus potuit Aug. de Immort animae Ch. 10. Idea's of the Mind when he carefully avoids the confused noise of Creatures and looking within himself hearkens to his Sovereign Master in the Silence of his Senses and Passions it is impossible for him to fall into Error God never deceives those who interrogate him by a serious Application and by an entire Conversion of their Mind towards him though they do not always hear his Answers but when the Mind removing from God diffuses it self Externally when it only Interrogates the Body to learn Truth hearkning only to its Senses its Imagination and Passions which continually speak to it it must needs be deceiv'd Wisdom Truth Perfection and Felicity are not Goods that can be expected from the Body he alone who is above us and from whom we have a Being can give it Perfection This is what * Principium Creaturae intellectualis est aeterna sapientia quod principium manens in se incommutabiter nullo modo cessat occulta inspiratione vocationis lequi ei Creaturae cui principium
of things that we shall afterwards treat of but for what we shall speak of in this Chapter it is necessary that we know there is Natural dispositions in the Brain which incline us to Compassion as well as Imitation We must then consider that not only the Animal Spirits carry themselves Naturally into the parts of our Bodies to cause the same Actions and Motions we see in others but also in some manner to receive their Injuries and to take part in their Miseries for Experience teaches us that when we very attentively consider any one that is rudely hurt or that hath any great wound the Spirits are carried with great force into such parts of our Bodies as answer to those that we see hurt in another Provided that we do not turn the course of the Animal Spirits otherways by an industrious and voluntary titillation of some other part of the body Or except their Natural course to the Heart and Bowels which is wont to happen in sudden Motions draw them along with it self or change that course which we speak of Or lastly except some extraordinary connection with the traâ—â—s of the Brain and Motions of the Spirits produce the same effect The Spirits being thus carried into the parts of the Body which answer to those that we see hurt in oothers make a very sensible Impression in delicate Persons who have a lively Imagination and very tender and soft flesh for they very often feel a kind of trembling in their Legs if they attentively look upon any one that hath an Ulcer or that has actually received some blow there This that one of my Friends writ me an account of confirms my Opinion An Old Man that lived at one of my Sisteâ—s being sick a young Maid Servant of the House held the Candle whilst he was let blood in the Foâ—t and when she saw the Surgeon give the prick with the Lancet she was seized with such an apprehension that she felt so lively a pain in the same place of the Foot for three or four days afterwards that she was forced to keep her Bed all that time The reason of these accidents is that the Spirits forcibly diffusing themselves into those parts of our body which answer to what we see hurt in others being kept more bent they make the Soul more sensible and put it upon its guard to avoid those evils that it sees happen to others This Compassion in the Body produces one in the Mind it excites us to help and assist others because in that we relieve our selves and it also stops our Malice and Cruelty for the horrour of Blood the fear of Death and in a word the sensible impression of Compassion often hinders those from killing of Beasts who even are much perswaded that they are only Machines because the generality of Mankind cannot kill them without hurting themselves by the counterstroke of Compassion What is chiefly to be observed here is that the sensible sight of a wound that any Person receives produces in those that see it another hurt so much the more sensible as the beholder is more weak and delicate because this sensible sight pushes the Animal Spirits with more violence into those parts of the body which answer to what they see hurt and so make a greater Impression in the Fibres of a delicate body than in one that is more strong and robust So Men who are strong and vigorous are not hurt by the sight of a Murder they are not so much inclined to Compassion because this sight offends their Bodies but because it offends their Reason These Persons have no pity for Criminals they are immoveabie and inexorable But Women and Children suffer much Pain by the Wounds they see others receive they have a Mecanical Compassion for the Miserable Nay they cannot see a Dog beat or hear him cry without being disturbed at it As for Infants who are yet in their Mothers Belly the delicacy of the Fibres of their Flesh being infinitely greater than that of Women or Children the Course of the Spirits will produce more considerable changes in them as we shall afterwards observe Let what I have said be look'd upon as a simple Supposition if it is desired yet we must endeavour to comprehend it well if we will distinctly conceive what I would explain in this Chapter For the two Suppositions that I have made are the principles of an infinite Number of things which have been generally believed very hidden and mysterious and which appear impossible to me to be explained without receiving these Suppositions Of which here are some Examples About Seven or Eight years ago I saw in the * An Hospital in France for such as we past Cure III. An Explanation of the generation of Mâ—nstrous Children and of the prâ—pagâ—tion of the Species Incurables a young Man who was born a Fool and his body broken after the same manner as Criminals are broke on the Wheel He had lived near twenty Years in this condition many Persons have seen him and the late Queen-Mother going to visit this Hospital had the Curiosity to see him and to touch the Arms and Legs of this young Man in the same places where they were broke According to the principles that I have established the Cause of this sad Accident was that his Mother who heard a Criminal was to be broken went to see him executed all the blows that this miserable Man received so strongly smote the Imagination of this Mother and by a kind of Counter-blow the render delicate Brain of her * According to the first Supposition Child The Fibres of this Womans Brain were strangely shaken and it may be broke in some places by the impetuous Course of the Animal Spirits caused by the sight of so terrible an Action but she was strong enough to hinder their absolute ruine though on the contrary the Fibres of this Child's Brain being not able to resist the torrent of these Spirits were entirely dissipated and the shock was great enough to make him wholly lose his Wits and this was the reason he came into the World deprived of his Understanding this was likewise the cause that the same parts of his body was broken as those of the Criminal whom his Mother saw executed At the sight of this Execution which was so capable of frighting a Woman the violent course of the Mothers Animal Spirits went impetuously from her Brain to all the parts of her Body which answer'd to those of the Criminal * According to the second Supposition and the same thing passed in the Infant But because the Bones of the Mother were able to resist the Violence of these Spirits they received no hurt Nay it may be she did feel no pain nor the least trembling in her Legs when the Criminal was broken but the rapid stream of the Spirits was capable to separate the soft and tender Bones of the Infant for the Bones are the last parts of the
Body that are formed and they have very little consistence in Infants while they are in the Womb And it must be observed that if this Mother had determined the Motion of these Spirits to any other part of her Body by some violent titilation her Child would not have had his Bones broken but that part which had answer'd to that to which the Mother determined these Spirits had been much hurt as I have already said The Reasons of this accident may serve to explain in general how Women who during their being with Child upon seeing Persons with certain Marks in their Faces imprint the same on their Children and in the same part of the Body And from thence we may judge that advice very reasonable which bids 'em touch some hidden part of the Body when they perceive any thing which surprizes 'em and when they are agitated with any violent Passion for that may cause the Marks to be traced rather upon these hidden parts than upon the Face of their Infants We should often have instances like to what I have now related if Infants could live after having received such great Wounds but generally it causes Abortions For we may conclude that almost all Infants who dye before they are born except they be sick have no other cause of their Death than a fright some ardent desire or some other violent passion of their Mothers Here is also another very particular instance 'T is not above a Year since that a Woman having with too much application consider'd the Picture of Saint Pius when the Feast of his Canonization was celebrated was brought to bed of a Child which was perfectly like the Representation of this Saint He had the Face of an Old Man as much as it was possible in an Infant that has no Beard his Arms were crossed upon his Breast his Eyes turned towards Heaven and he had a very low Forehead because the Image of this Saint being raised towards the Vault of the Church and looking towards Heaven had almost no Forehead likewise He had a kind of a confused Miter upon his Shoulders with many round marks in the places where Miters are covered with Stones And indeed this Child very much resembled the Picture by which his Mother had formed him through the power of her Imagination 'T is a thing that all Paris might have seen as well as I because 't was a long time preserved in Spirits of Wine This instance is the more particular because there was not the sight of a Man living and agitated with some passion who moved the Spirits and Blood of the Mother to produce so strange an effect but only the sight of a Picture which yet was very sensible and accompanied with a great emotion of Spirits caused either through the Zeal and application of the Mother or through the agitation that the noise of the Feast had produc'd in her This Mother therefore looking upon this Picture with some application and emotion of Spirits the Child according to the first supposition saw it as she did with the same application and emotion of Spirits The Mother being lively affected imitated him at leaft in the Posture according to the second Supposition for her body being entirely formed and the Fibres of her Flesh hard enough to resist the course of the Spirits she could not imitate or make her self like to him in all things but the Fibres of the Infant 's Flesh being extreamly soft and consequently susceptible of all sorts of impressions the violent course of the Spirits produced in his Flesh whatsoever was necessary to make him entirely like the Image that he saw and the imitation to which Children are much more disposed perfected it as much as possible but this imitation having given to the body of this Child a figure so very extraordinary it was also the cause of its Death There are many other Examples in Authors of the power of the Imagination of Mothers and there is nothing so fantastical but has caused Abortions sometimes For they not only make Children deformed but also marked with such Fruits as they have longed for as Plumbs Pears Grapes and such like things For instance some Mothers having a strong Inclination to eat Pears the Children imagine and desire them with the same ardour and the course of the Spirits excited by the image of this desired fruit disposing it self through the little body is able to change its sigure because of its sostness So that these poor Children become like those things they wish'd for with so much ardour But the Mothers suffer no Injury because their bodies are not soft enough to take the figure of such things as they imagine Thus they cannot imitate them or render themselves entirely like ' em Now it must not be imagined that this Correspondence that I have explained and which is sometimes the cause of such great disorder is useless or ill ordered by Nature for on the contrary it seems very useful in the Propagation of Humane Bodies or in the formation of the Foetus and it is absolutely necessary to the transmitting certain dispositions of the Brain which ought to be different at different times and in different Countrys For instance it is requisite in some Countrys that Lambs should have their Brains to disposed as to fly at the sight of a Wolf because there are many of 'em there and they have a great deal to fear from them 'T is true that this Communication of the Mothers Brain with her Infants has sometimes ill consequences when the Mothers suffer themselves to be surprized by any violent passion Yet it seems to me that without this Communication Women and Animals could not easily beget young ones of the same kind for although some reason might be given of the formation of the Foetus in general as D'Cartes has happily enough attempted However 't is very difficult without this Communication of the Mothers Brain with the Childs to explain how a Mare should not beget an Ox or an Hen lay an Egg which contains a little Partridge or some Foul of a new kind I believe those that have considered the sormation of the Foetus will be of this opinion The most reasonable thought and that which is most conformable to experience about this difficule question of the formation of the Foetus is that Children are perfectly formed even before the action by which they are conceived and that their Mothers only contribute to their growth whilst they continue in the Womb. However this Communication of Animal Spirits and of the Mothers Brain with the Spirits and Brain of the Child seems still serviceable to regulate this growth and determine the parts which serve for its Nourishment and by little and little to dispose the Child like the Mother or else like some of the same Species This appears plain enough by the accidents which happen when the Imagination of the Mother is disordered and the Natural Disposition of her Brain is changed
accompanied with the Emotions of the Spirits because all things which we see do not appear to us always either Good or Evil. These Connexions also may alter and break off because not being always requisite for the Preservation of Life they ought not always to be the same But there are Traces in our Brains that are Naturally united one with another as also with certain Emotions of the Spirits because such a Connexion is necessary for the Preservation of Life and their Connexion cannot be broken off or at least not very easily because it 's convenient that it should be always the same For Example the Trace of a Precipice which a Man sees under himself and from which he is in danger of falling or of some great Body which is ready to fall upon us and crush us to Death is Naturally join'd to the Trace which represents Death as also to an Emotion of the Spirits which disposes us to fly or desire an Escape This Connexion of Traces never changes because it is necessary that it should be always the same and it consists in a Disposition of the Fibres of the Brain which we have from our Birth All those Connexions which are not Natural may and ought to be broken because the various Circumstances of Time and Place ought to alter them so that they may be useful to the Preservation of Life 'T is convenient for Example that Partridges should fly from Men with Birding-Pieces in their Hands especially at such times and in such places where Men are accustomed to Hunt after them but it is not necessary that they should fly at other times and in other places Thus for the Preservation of all Creatures 't is necessary that there should be certain Connexions of Traces which may be easily form'd and destroy'd and that there should be others which may not be broken without great difficulty And lastly others which are never to be broken 'T is very useful to enquire carefully into the different Effects which these different Connexions are capable of producing for they are very numerous and of great importance for the Understanding of Man and of all things between him and which there is any Relation We shall find in the sequel of this Discourse that these Things are the Principal Cause of our Errors But 't is time to return to what we promis'd to treat of and to explain the different Changes that befal the Imagination of Men by reason of their various Manner of Living CHAP. IV. I. That Studious Men are the most subject to Error II. The Reasons why they rather choose to follow Authothority than make use of their Judgment THE Differences that are in the various Manners of Mens Living are almost Infinite There are a great Number of different Conditions Employments and Societies These Differences are the reason that almost all Men pursue different Designs and argue upon different Principles It would be very difficult to meet with several Persons who have absolutely the same Prospects in one and the same Community wherein particular Persons ought to be all of the same Spirit and have the same Designs Their different Employs and Conversation do necessarily give a different Turn and Humour in the way of Managing the Execution of those Things in which they agree This shews that it would be an impossible Undertaking to particularize the Moral Causes of Error But besides it would be of no use to do it here 't is our business only to speak of such Manners of Living as betray Men into the greatest Number of Errors and to such as are of the highest Importance When we shall have Explained those we shall have open'd a Way sufficient to enable the Mind to proceed farther and every body may be able to Survey at once and very easily the most bidden Causes of several particular Errors which cannot be explain'd but with a great deal of Time and Labour When the Mind sees clearly it delights it self with pursuing Truth which it does with an inexpressible swiftness I. That Studicus Persons are the mst subject to Error The Employment which seems most necessary to be treated of in this place because it produces the most considerable changes in the Imagination of Men and which lead us most into Error is the Employment of Studious Persons who make more use of their Memory than Wit For Experience always shews us that they who apply themselves most eagerly to the Reading of Books and to Search after Truth are those who have lead us into the greatest number of Errors 'T is the same thing with those that Study as with those that Travel When a Traveller by misfortune has taken the wrong Road the farther he advances the more remote he is from the Place whither he designs to go and the more diligent and hasty he is to arrive to the end of his Journey the more he wanders out of the way In like manner those ardent desires which Men have for Truth cause 'em to precipitate themselves into the Reading of Books where they think to find it or to frame to themselves a Chimerical Systeme of things which they desire to know for which they have a strong fancy and which they endeavour by the vain Efforts of Wit to make others relish to the end they may receive the Honour which is usually due to the Inventors of Systemes Now let us explain these two Defects 'T is a difficult thing to apprehend how it comes to pass that Men of Sense should rather choose to make use of other Persons Judgment in the Search of Truth than of that which God has bestow'd upon ' em Without doubt there is infinitely much more pleasure and honour for a Man to guide himself with his own than other Men's Eyes nor does any Man who has good Eyes ever dream of shutting 'em or of putting 'em out in hopes of one to guide him nevertheless 't is the same thing with the use of Judgment as with the use of the Eyes for as the Judgment is â—â—â—nitely above the Eyes the use of it is accompanied with satisfactions far more solid and which content it after another manner than Light and Colours do the Sight However Men always make use of their own Eyes to be their Guides but they seldom or never make use of their own Judgment to discover the Truth But there are several Causes which contribute to this same Perturbation of the Mind II. Reasons why they rather choose to follow Authority than make use of their own Judgement First the Natural Sloath of Men that will not give themselves the Trouble of Meditation Secondly Their Inability of Meditating into which they are fallen for want of applying themselves to it in their Youth as has been shew'd in the Ninth Chapter In the third place the little Love Men have for Abstracted Truths which are the foundation of every thing that is to be known here below In the fourth place the Satisfaction that Men