and likewise those that use them have Bodies diversly dispos'd Two Persons after Dinner though rising from the same Table must sensibly perceive in their Faculty of Imagining so great a Variety of Alterations as is impossible to be describ'd I confess those who are in a perfect state of Health perform Digestion so easily that the Chyle flowing into the Heart neither augments nor diminishes the Heat of it and is scarce any Obstruction to the Blood 's fermenting in the very same manner as if it enter'd all alone So that their Animal Spirits and consequently their Imaginative Faculty admit hardly any Change thereby But as for Old and Infirm People they find in themselves very sensible Alterations after a Repast They generally grow dull and sleepy at least their Imagination flags and languishes and has no longer any Briskness or Alacrity They can conceive nothing distinctly and are unable to apply themselves to any thing In a word they are quite different and other sort of People from what they were before But that those of a more sound and robust Complection may likewise have sensible proofs of what I have said they need only make reflection on what happens to them in Drinking Wine somewhat more freely than ordinary or on what would fall out upon their drinking Wine at one Meal and Water at another For it is certain that unless they be extreamly stupid or that their Body be of a make very extraordinary they will suddainly feel in themselves some Briskness or little Drousiness or some such other accidental thing Wine is so spirituous that it is Animal Spirits almost ready made But Spirits a little too libertine and unruly that not easily submit to the orders of the Will by reason of their Solidity and excessive Agitation Thus it produces even in Men that are of a most strong and vigorous Constitution greater Changes in the Imagination and in all the parts of the Body than Meats and other Liquors It gives a Man a Foil in Plautus's Expression and produces many Effects in the Mind less advantagious than those describ'd by Horace in these Lines Quid non Ebrietas designat operta recludit Spes jubet esse ratas in praelia trudit inermem Sollicitis animis onus eximit addocet artes Foecundi calices quem non fecere disertum Contractâ quem non in paupertate solutum It would be no hard matter to give a Reason for all the Principal Effects produc'd in the Animal Spirits and thereupon in the Brain and in the Soul it self by this Commixture of the Chyle and Blood as to explain how Wine exhilarates and gives a Man a certain Sprightliness of Mind when taken with Moderation why it Brutifies a Man in process of time by being drunk to excess why a Man is drousie after a good Meal and a great many others of like Nature for which very ridiculous Accounts are usually given But besides that I am not writing a Tract of Physicks I must have been necessitated to have given some Idea of the Anatomy of the Brain or have made some Supposition as Monsieur Des-Cartes has done before me in his Treatise concerning Man without which it were impossible to explain ones self But finally if a Man shall read with Attention that Discourse of Monsieur Des-Cartes he will possibly be satisfy'd as to all these particular Inquiries because that Author explains all these things at least he furnishes us with sufficient Knowledge of them to be able of our selves to discover them by Meditation provided we are any whit acquainted with his Principles CHAP. III. That the Air imploy'd in Respiration causes some Change in the Animal Spirits THE second general Cause of the Changes which happen in the Animal Spirits is the Air we breath For though it does not forthwith make such sensible Impressions as the Chyle yet it causes at long run what the Juices of Meats do in a much shorter time This Air passes out of the Branches of the Trachea into those of the Arteria Venosa Hence it mingles and ferments with the rest of the Blood in the Heart and according to its own particular Disposition and that of the Blood it produces very great Changes in the Animal Spirits and consequently in the Imaginative Faculty I know there are some Persons who will not be persuaded that the Air mixes with the Blood in the Lungs and Heart because they cannot discover with their Eyes the Passages in the Branches of the Trachea and in those of the Arteria Venosa through which the Air is communicated But the Action of the Intellect ought not to stop when that of the Senses can go no farther It can penetrate that which to them is impenetrable and lay hold on things which have no handle for the Senses 'T is not to be question'd but some parts of the Blood continually pass through the Branches of the Vena Arteriosa into those of the Trachea The Smell and Moisture of the Breath sufficiently prove it and yet the Passages of that Communication are imperceptible Why then may not the subtil parts of Air be allow'd to pass through the Branches of the Trachea into the Arteria Venosa though the Passages of this Communication be undiscernible In fine a much greater quantity of Humours transpire through the imperceptible Pores of the Arteries and the Skin than escape through the other Avenues of the Body and even the Pores of the most solid Metals are not so close but there are found Bodies in Nature little enough to find a free passage through them since otherwise these Pores would quickly be entirely stopt It is true that the course and ragged parts of the Air cannot penetrate through the ordinary Pores of Bodies and that Water it self though extreamly gross can glide through those crannies which will not give admittance to them But we speak not here of the course or branch'd and ragged Parts of Air they seem to be of little use to Fermentation We only speak of the little stiff and pungent Parts and such as have none or very few Branches to impede their passage because these are the fittest for the Fermentation of the Blood I might notwithstanding affirm upon the Testimony of Silvius that even the coursest Air passes from the Trachea to the Heart who testifies he has seen it pass thither by the Art and Ingenuity of Mr. de Swammerdam For 't is more reasonable to believe a Man who says he has seen it than a thousand others who talk at random It is certain then that the most refin'd and subtil Parts of Air which we breath enter into the Heart and there together with the Blood and Chyle keep up the Fire which gives Life and Motion to our Body and that according to their different Qualities they introduce great Changes in the Fermentation of the Blood and in the Animal Spirits We daily discover the Truth of this by the various Humours and the different Characters of
the Minds of Men of different Countries The Gascons for instance have a more brisk and lively Imagination than the Normans Those of Rhoan and Dieppe and Picardie differ all from one another And yet farther from the Low-Normans though at no great distance from each other But if we consider Men that live in Countries more remote we shall find much stranger Differences between them For instance an Italian a Flemming and a Dutch-Man To conclude there are places celebrated in all Ages for the Wisdom of their Inhabitants as Theman and Athens and others as notorious for their Stupidity as Thebes and Abdera and some others Athenis tenue coelum ex quo acutiores etiam putantur Attici crassum Thebis Cic. de Fato Abderitanae pectora plebis habes Mart. Boeotum in crasso jurares aëre natum Hor. CHAP. IV. I. Of the Change of the Spirits caus'd by the Nerves which go to the Heart and Lungs II. Of that which is caus'd by the Nerves which go to the Liver to the Spleen and Viscera III. That all that is perform'd without the concurrence of our Will but yet it cannot be done without a Providence THE third cause of the Changes which happen to the Animal Spirits is the most ordinary and most active of them all because it is this which produces maintains and corroborates all the Passions For our better understanding this we must know that the Nerves of the fifth sixth and eighth Conjugation shoot out the greatest part of their Branches into the Breast and Belly where they are most advantagiously imploy'd for the Preservation of the Body but most dangerously in regard to the Soul Because these Nerves in their Action depend not on the Will of Men as do these us'd in moving the Legs and Arms and other External Parts of the Body And they have a greater influence upon the Soul than the Soul has upon them We must know then that many of the Branches of the Nerves of the eighth Conjugation fall in among the Fibres of the Principal of all the Muscles the Heart that they encircle its Orifices its Auricles and its Arteries That they expatiate also into the Substance of the Lungs and thus by their different Motions produce very considerable Changes in the Blood For the Nerves which are dispers'd among the Fibres of the Heart causing it to Dilate and Contract it self in too hasty and violent a manner throw with an unusual force abundance of Blood towards the Head and all other External Parts of the Body Though sometimes these same Nerves have a quite contrary Effect As for the Nerves which surround the Orifices of the Heart it s Auricles and Arteries their use is much the same with that of the Registers wherewith the Chymists moderate the Heat of their Furnaces or of Cocks which are instrumental in Fountains to regulate the Course of their Waters For the use of these Nerves is to contract and dilate diversly the Orifices of the Heart and by that manner to hasten and retard the Entrance and the Exit of the Blood and so to augment and diminish the Heat of it Lastly The Nerves which are dispers'd over the Lungs have the same employment For the Lungs being made up only of the Branches of the Trachea of the Vena Arteriosa and the Arteria Venosa interwoven one among another it is plain that the Nerves which are dispers'd through their Substance by their Contraction must obstruct the Air from passing so freely out of the Branches of the Trachea and the Blood out of those of the Vena Arteriosa into the Arteria Venosa to discharge it self into the Heart Thus these Nerves according to their different agitation augment and diminish still the Heat and Motion of the Blood All the Passions furnish us with very sensible Experiments of these different Degrees of Heat of our Heart we manifestly feel its Diminution and Augmentation sometimes on a sudden And as we falsly judge our Sensations to be in the Parts of our Body and by occasion of them to be Excited in our Soul as has been explain'd in the foregoing Book So the generality of Philosophers imagine the Heart to be the Principal Seat of the Passions of the Soul and 't is even at this day the most common and receiv'd Opinion Now because the Imaginative Faculty receives considerable Changes by the Changes which happen in the Animal Spirits and because the Animal Spirits are very different according to the different Fermentation of the Blood perform'd in the Heart it is easie to discover the Reason of Passionate People's imagining things quite otherwise than those who consider'd the same sedately and in cold Blood The other Cause which exceedingly contributes to the Diminution and Augmentation of these Extraordinary Fermentations of the Blood in the Heart consists in the Action of many other Branches of the Nerves whereof we have been speaking These Branches are dispers'd throughout the Liver which contains the more subtil part of the Blood or that which is commonly call'd the Bile through the Spleen which contains the grosser part or the Melancholy through the Pancreas which contains an acid Juice most proper for Fermentation through the Stomach the Guts and the other parts which contain the Chyle Finally They are dispers'd and spread about all the parts that can any ways contribute to the varying the Fermentation of the Blood in the Heart There is moreover nothing even to the Arteries and Veins which has not a Connection with these Nerves as Dr. Willis has discover'd of the Inferiour Trunck of the Great Artery which is connected to them near the Heart of the Axillary Artery on the right side of the Emulgent Vein and several others Thus the use of the Nerves being to agitate the parts to which they are fastened diverse ways it is easie to conceive how for instance the Nerve which surrounds the Liver may by constringing it drive a great quantity of Bile into the Veins and the Canalis Cysticus which mingling with the Blood in the Veins and with the Chyle through the Canalis Cysticus enters the Heart and produces a Heat therein much more fervent than ordinary Thus when a Man is mov'd with some kind of Passions the Blood boyls in the Arteries and in the Veins and the Heat is diffus'd throughout the Body the Fire flies up into the Head which is presently fill'd with such a prodigious quantity of over-brisk and rapid Animal Spirits as by their impetuous Current hinder the Imagination from representing other things than those whose Images they form in the Brain that is from thinking on other Objects than those of the Predominant Passion 'T is so again with the little Nerves which run into the Spleen or into other parts which contain a Matter more gross and course and less capable of Heat and Motion they render the Imagination wholly Languid Drousy and Unactive by pouring into the Chanels of the Blood a Matter that is
alteration of the Countenance of his Enemy the Animal Spirits of that Enemy receive a new determination of which they were not capable a moment before and this Machinal Motion of Compassion which he yields to inclines the Soul to yield to the Pleas of Charity and Mercy Because a Man taken up with a Passion cannot without a great plenty of Spirits produce or preserve in his Brain an Image of his Misery lively enough nor a Concussion sufficiently strong to give his Body an extraordinary and constrain'd Disposition the corresponding Nerves within the Body receive upon his sight of the Evil the Concussions and Agitations that are necessary to infuse into all the Vessels that communicate with the Heart fit Humours to the producing such Spirits as the Passion requires For the Animal Spirits spreading through the Nerves that go to the Liver Spleen Pancreas and all the other Viscera agitate and shake them and by their Agitation force out such Humours as those parts keep in reserve for the Wants and Exigencies of the Machine But if those Humours always flowed in the same manner into the Heart if they received an equal Fermentation in different times and the Spirits that are made of them regularly ascended into the Brain we should not see such hasty Changes in the Motions of the Passions For instance the sight of a Magistrate would not stop of a sudden the extravagant Transports of an enraged Person persuing his Revenge and his Face all fiery with Blood and Spirits would not in an instant turn pale and wan for fear of Punishment So to hinder those Humours that are mixed with the Blood from entering the Heart constantly in the same manner there are Nerves that surround all the Avenues thereof which being compressed or dilated by the Impression that the sight of the Object and the strength of the Imagination produce in the Spirits shut up or open the way to those Humours And lest the said Humours should undergo the same Agitation and Fermentation in the Heart in divers times there are other Nerves that cause the Beatings of it which being not equally agitated in the different Motions of the Spirits drive not the Blood with the same force into the Arteries Other Nerves spread through the Lungs distribute the Air to the Heart by constringing or relaxing several Branches of the Trachea used in Respiration and order the Fermentation of the Blood proportionably to the Circumstances of the predominant Passion Last of all to regulate with the greatest Accuracy and Readiness the Course of the Spirits there are Nerves surrounding the Arteries as well those that end in the Brain as those that carry the Blood into the other parts of the Body so that the Concussion of the Brain which accompanies the unexpected Sight of some Circumstance for which 't is convenient that the Motions of the Passion should be alter'd suddenly determines the Course of the Spirits to the Nerves thus surrounding the Arteries that by their Contraction they may shut up the Passage to the Blood that ascends into the Brain and by their Dilatation lay it open to that which runs into all the other Parts of the Body When those Arteries that carry the Blood to the Brain are free and open and on the contrary those that disperse it through the rest of the Body are strongly bound up by these Nerves the Head must all be full of Blood and the Face appear all fiery but some Circumstance altering the Commotion of the Brain that caused that Disposition in the Nerves the Arteries that were strait bound are loosened and on the contrary the Arteries of the Brain strongly contracted Then is the Head emptied of Bloud the Face covered with Paleness and the small quantity of Blood which issues from the Heart and which the Nerves before mentioned admit into it as the Fewel to keep in Life descends most or all into the lower parts of the Body the Brain wants Animal Spirits and all the rest of the Body is seized with Weakness and Trembling To explain and prove the Particulars of what we have mentioned it would be necessary to give a general Knowledge of Physicks and a particular of the Humane Body but those two Sciences are still too imperfect to be treated of with as much Accuracy as I could Wish besides that should I proceed farther in this Matter it would carry me too far from my Subject and therefore I only design here to give a gross and general Idea of the Passions and am satisfied provided that this Idea be not false Those Concussions of the Brain and Motions of the Blood and Spirits are the fourth thing to be found in every Passion and produce the fifth namely the sensible Commotions of the Soul At the very Instant that the Animal Sprits are driven from the Brain into the rest of the Body to produce such Motions as are fit to keep up the Passion the Soul is carried towards the good perceived and this more or less strongly according as the Spirits come down from the Brain with more or less vehemence for 't is that Concussion of the Brain which agitates the Soul and the Animal Spirits The Motion of the Soul towards Good is so much stronger as the View of Good is more sensible and apparent and the Motion of the Spirits that proceed from the Brain and flow into the other parts of the Body is the more violent as the Vibration of the Fibres of the Brain caused by the Impression of the Object or of the Imagination is more forcible because that Concussion of the Brain occasioning a more sensible and lively View of Good necessarily makes the Commotion of the Soul in the Passions to increase proportionably to the Motion of the Spirits Those Commotions of the Soul are not different from those that immediately follow the Intellectual View of Good which we have mentioned before only they are stronger and livelyer because of the Union of the Soul and Body and the sensibleness of the View that produces them The sixth thing to be met with is the Sensation of the Passion the Sensation of Love Hatred Desire Joy or Sorrow This Sensation is not at all different from that which has been spoken of only 't is livelyer because the Body has a greater share in it but 't is always attended with confused Sensation of Satisfaction that makes all the Passions grateful which is the last thing to be found in each of them as has been already hinted The Cause of this last Sensation is such At the sight of the Object of a Passion or of any new Circumstance part of the Animal Spirits are driven from the Head to the outward Parts of the Body to put it in the Disposition that the Passion requires together with which some other Spirits make a violent descent into the Heart Lungs and other Viscera to draw from thence the necessary Supplies as has been already sufficiently explained Now the Body is never in a convenient Staâ—e but the Soul relishes it with great Satisfaction
gross and difficult to be put in Motion As for those Nerves which environ the Arteries and Veins their Use is to put a stop to the current of the Blood and by their Pressure and Constriction of the Veins and Arteries oblige it to flow into those places where it meets with a passage more free and open Thus that part of the great Artery which furnishes all the parts of the Body below the Heart with Blood being bound and straitned by these Nerves the Blood must necessarily enter the Head in greater quantities and so produce a Change in the Animal Spirits and consequently in the Imagination But it ought to be well observ'd that all this is perform'd by mere Mechanism I mean that all the different Movements of these Nerves in all the different Passions are not affected by the Command of the Will but on the contrary are perform'd without its orders and even in contradiction to them Insomuch that a Body without a Soul dispos'd like that of a â—ound Man would be capable of all the Movements which accompany our Passions And thus Beasts themselves might have such as nearly resembled them though they were only pure Machines This is the thing for which we ought to admire the Incomprehensible Wisdom of Him who has so regularly rang'd and contriv'd all these Natural Wheels and Movements as to make it sufficient for an Object to move the Optick Nerve in such and such a manner to produce so many diverse Motions in the Heart in the other inward parts of the Body and on the Face it self For it has lately been discover'd that the same Nerve which shoots some of its Branches into the Heart and into other Internal parts communicates also some of its Branches into the Eye the Mouth and other parts of the Face so that no Passion can rise or mutiny within but it must betray presently it self without because there can be no Motion in the Branches extended to the Heart but there must another happen in those which are spread o'er the Face The Correspondence and Sympathy which is found between the Nerves of the Face and some others answering to other places of the Body not to be nam'd is still much more Remarkable and that which occasions this great Sympathy is as in the other Passions because these little Nerves which climb into the Face are only Branches of that which descends lower When a Man is overtaken with some violent Passion if he is careful to make a Reflection upon what he feels in his Entrails and in other parts of his Body where the Nerves insinuate themselves as also upon the Changes of Countenance which accompany it and if he considers that all these divers Agitations of the Nerves are altogether involuntary and that they happen in spite of all the Resistance that our Will can make to them he will find it no hard matter to suffer himself to embrace this simple Exposition that hath been given of all these Relations and Correspondencies betwixt the Nerves But if a Man examines the Reasons and the End of all these things so much Order and Wisdom will be found in them that a little Soberness of Thought and Attention will be able to convince the most devoted Admirers of Epicurus and Lucretius that there is a Providence that governs the World When I see a Watch I have reason to conclude that there is some Intelligent Being since it is Impossible for Chance and Hap-hazard to produce to range and posture all its Wheels How then could it be possible that Chance and a confus'd Jumble of Atoms should be capable of ranging in all Men and Animals such abundance of different secret Springs and Engines with that Exactness and Proportion I have just Explain'd and that Men and Animals should thereby procreate others exactly like themselves So ridiculous it is to think or to say with Lucretius That all the parts which go to the Composition of Man were pack't together by Chance that his Eyes were not made with any design of Seeing but that he afterwards thought of Seeing because he found he had Eyes And thus with the other parts of the Body These are his Words Lumina ne facias oculorum clara creata Prospicere ut possimus ut proferre vidi Proceros passus ideo fastigia posse Surarum ac foeminum pedibus fundata plicari Brachia tum poro validis ex apta lacertis Esse manúsque datas utraque à parte ministras Vt facere ad vitam possimus quae foret usus Caetera de genere hoc inter quaecunque pretantur Omnia perversa praepostera sunt ratione Nil adeo quoniam natum ' st in corpore ut uti Possemus sed quod natum ' st id procreat usum Must not he needs have a strange Aversion to a Providence who would thus voluntarily put out his Eyes for fear of seeing it and endeavour to render himself insensible to Arguments so strong and convincing as those Nature furnishes us withal I confess when once Men affect to be thought bold or rather Atheistical Wits as did the Epicureans they presently find themselves benighted in darkness and see only false glimmerings for the future they peremptorily deny the most clear and Self-evident Truths and as haughtily and Magisterially affirm the falsest and obscurest Things in the World The Poet I have just cited may serve as a Proof of that Blindness of these venturous Wits he confidently pronounces and against all appearance of Truth about the most difficult and obscurest Questions when at the same time it may well be thought he has no Preception of Idea's that are most clear and evident If I should stand to transcribe passages of that Author to justifie what I say I should make too long and tedious a Digression for though it may be permitted me to make some Reflections which stay and fasten the Mind for a Moment upon essential Truths yet I should never attone for making Digressions which throw off the Mind a considerable time from its Attention to its principal Subject to apply it to things of little or no Importance CHAP. V. I. Of the Memory II. Of the Habits WE have been explaining the general Causes as well External as Internal which effect a Change in the Animal Spirits and consequently in the Imaginative Faculty We have shewn that the External are the Meats we feed upon and the Air we take in for Respiration And that the Internal consist in the Involuntary Agitation of certain Nerves We know no other general Causes and we are confident there are none In so much that the Faculty of Imagining as to the Body depends only on two things namely the Animal Spirits and the Disposition of the Brain whereon they act There nothing more remains at present to to give us a perfect Knowledge of the Imagination than the manifestation of the different Changes that may happen in the Substance of the Brain They shall be examined by us as
and agitated than those we daily see 't is to be consider'd that the Hardness of Bodies is not to be measur'd with relation to our Hands or the Endeavours we are able to make which are different at different times For indeed if the greatest Force of Men be nothing in comparison with that of the subtle Matter we should be much to blame to believe that Diamonds and the hardest Stones cannot derive their Hardness from the Compression of those little rapid Bodies which environ them Now we may visibly discover how inconsiderably weak is Humane Force if it be consider'd that Man's Power of moving his Body in so many manners proceeds from a very moderate Fermentation of the Blood which somewhat agitates the smaller Parts of it and so produces the Animal Spirits For 't is the Agitation of these Spirits which makes the Strength of the Body and gives us the Power of making those Endeavours which we groundlesly regard as something great and mighty But it must be observ'd that this Fermentation of our Blood is but a small Communication of that subtle Matter 's Motion we have been speaking of For all the Fermentations of visible Bodies are nothing but Communications of Motion from the Invisible since every Body receives its Agitation from some other 'T is not therefore to be wonder'd if our Force be not so great as that of the same subtle Matter we receive it from But if our Blood fermented as much in our Heart as Gun-Powder ferments and is agitated when Fire is put to it that is if our Blood receiv'd as great a Communication of Motion from the subtle Matter as Gun-Powder receives we might do extraordinary things with a great deal of Ease as break a Bar of Iron overturn an House c. provided we suppose a competent proportion between our Members and our Blood so violently agitated We must therefore rid our selves of our Prejudice and not following the Impression of our Senses imagine that the Parts of hard Bodies are so strongly united to one another because of the Difficulty we find to break them But if moreover we consider the Effects of Fire in Mines the Gravity of Bodies and several other natural Effects which have no other Cause then the Commotion of these insensible Corpuscles as is prov'd by M. Des Cartes in many places of his Works we shall manifestly discover that it does not exceed their Force to unite and bind together the Parts of hard Bodies so powerfully as we find them For in short I fear not to affirm that a Cannon-Bullet whose Motion seems so extraordinary receives not the thousandth part of the Motion of the subtle Matter which surrounds it My Assertion will not be doubted of if it be consider'd First That the Gun-Powder is not all inflam'd nor at the same instant Secondly That though it were all on Fire in the self-same Moment yet it floats a very short time in the subtle Matter and Bodies swimming but a little while in others can receive no great Motion from them as may be seen in Boats when riding in a Stream which receive their Motion by degrees Thirdly and principally That each part of the Powder can receive but a collateral Motion which the subtle Matter yields to For Water only communicates to the Vessel the direct Motion which is common to all the parts of it which Motion is generally very inconsiderable in respect of the others I might still prove to M. Des Cartes's Followers the Greatness of the subtle Matter 's Motion by the Motion of the Earth and the Heaviness of Bodies from whence might be drawn very certain and exact Proofs if that were necessary to my Subject But in order to have one sufficient Proof of the violent Agitation of the subtle Matter to which I ascribe the Hardness of Bodies it suffices without seeing Des Cartes's Works to read attentively what I have written in the second Chapter of the fourth Book towards the End Being now deliver'd from our Prejudices which induc'd us to believe our Efforts very potent and those of the subtle Matter which surrounds and constringes hard Bodies very feeble being likewise satisfied of the vehement Commotion of this Matter by what has been said of Gun-Powder 't will be no hard Matter to discover that 't is absolutely necessary that this Matter acting infinitely more on the Surface than the Inside of the hard Bodies it encompasses and compresses should be the Cause of their Hardness or of the Resistance we feel when we endeavour to break them But since there are always many Parts of this invisible Matter passing through the Pores of hard Bodies they not only render them hard as I have before explain'd but are also the Causes that some are springing and elastical that others stand bent and others still are Fluid and liquid and in short are the Cause not only of the Force which the Parts of hard Bodies have to remain close by one another but of that likewise which the parts of fluid Bodies have to separate or which is the same thing are the Cause of the Hardness of some Bodies and the Fluidity of others But whereas 't is absolutely necessary to know distinctly the Physicks of M. Des Cartes the Figure of his Elements and of the parts which constitute particular Bodies to account for the stiffness of some and the flexibility of others I shall not insist upon explaining it Such as have read the Works of that Philosopher will easily imagine what may be the cause of these things whereas it would be a difficult task for me to explain it and those who are unaquainted with that Author would have a very confus'd Notion of the Reasons I might offer Nor shall I stand to resolve a vast number of Difficulties which I foresee will be urg'd against what I have been establishing because if those who propose them have no knowledge of true natural Philosophy I should but tire and confound them instead of satisfying them But if they were Men of Science I could not answer them without a long train of diagrams and reasoning Wherefore I think it best to intreat those who shall find any Difficulty in what I have said to give this Discourse a more careful perusal not doubting but if they read it and consider it as they ought all their Objections will fall to the Ground But after all if they think my Request inconvenient let them sit still there being no great danger in the Ignorance of the Cause of the Hardness of Bodies I speak not here of contiguity for 't is manifest that contiguous things touch so little that there 's always a good quantity of subtle Matter passing between them which endeavouring to continue its Motion in a right Line hinders them from uniting As to the union found between two Marbles that have been polish't one upon another I have already explain'd it and 't is easie to see that though the subtle Matter passes constantly between the
includes two Faculties an Active and a Passive 3. A general Cause of the Changes which happen in the Imagination of Men and the Foundation of the Second Book 45 CHAP. II. 1 Of the Animal Spirits and the Changes they are sâ—â—ject to in general 2. That the Chyle entring the Heart occasions a Change in the Spirits 3. That Wine does the same thing 47 CHAP. III. That the Air imploy'd in Respiration causes some change in the Animal Spirits 48 CHAP. IV. 1. Of the Change of the Spirits caus'd by the Nerves which go to the Heart and Lungs 2. Of that which is caus'd by the Nerves which go to the Liver to the Spleen and Viscera 3. That all that is perform'd without the Concurrence of our Will but yet it cannot be done without a Providence 49 CHAP. V. 1. Of Memory 2. Of Habits 51 CHAP. VI. 1. That the Fibres of the Brain are not subject to so sudden Changes as the Spirits 2. Three different Changes incident to the three different Ages 53 CHAP. VII 1. Of the Communication there is between the Brain of a Mother and that of her Infant 2. Of the Communication that is between our Brain and the other Parts of our Body which inclines us to Imitation and to Compassion 3. An Explication of the Generation of Monstrous Children and the Propagation of the Species 4. An Explication of some Irregularities of the Understanding and of some Inclinations of the Will 5. Concerning Concupiscence and Original Sin 6. Objections and Answers 54 CHAP. VIII 1. The Changes which happen in the Imagination of an Infant after his Birth by his accompanying with his Mother his Nurse and other Persons 2. Some Instructions for their good Education 61 The Second Part. CHAP. I. 1. Of the Imagination of Women 2. Of the Imagination of Men. 3. Of the Imagination of old Men 64 CHAP. II. That the Animal Spirits generally run in the Tracks of Ideas that are most familiar to us which is the Reason of our preposterous Judgments 66 CHAP. III. Of the mutual Connexion between the Ideas and the Traces of the Brain and of the mutual Connexion there is between Traces and Traces Ideas and Ideas 68 CHAP. IV. 1. That Men of Learning are the most subject to Error 2. The Causes why Men had rather be guided by Authority than make use of their own Reason 71 CHAP. V. Two pernicious Effects Reading has upon the Imagination 72 CHAP. VI. That Men of Learning generally are so opinionated with an Author that their principal Drift is the knowing what he held without caring to know what ought to be held 74 CHAP. VII Of the Prepossession of Commentators 76 CHAP. VIII 1. Of the Inventors of new Systems 2. The last Error of Men of Learning 79 CHAP. IX 1. Of Effeminate Minds 2. Of Superficial Minds 3. Of Men of Authority 4. Of the Experimental Philosophers 81 The Third Part. CHAP I. Of the Disposition we have to imitate others in all things which is the Original of the Communication of those Errors that depend on the Power of Imagination 2. Two things that more especially increase this Disposition 3. What that strong Imagination is 4. That there are several kinds of it Of Fools and of those that have a strong Imagination in the Sense 't is here taken 5. Two considerable Imperfections of Men of a strong Imagination 6. Of the Power they have to persuade and impose on others 84 CHAP. II. General Instances of the Strength of Imagination 87 CHAP. III. 1. Of the Force of some Authors Imagination 2. Of Tertullian 90 CHAP. IV. Of the Imagination of Seneca 91 CHAP. V. Of Montagne's Book 95 CHAP. VI. 1. Of Witches in Imagination and of Wolf-men 2. The Conclusion of the two First Books 99 Book the Third CHAP. I. 1. Thought is only essential to the Mind Sensation and Imagination are only the Modifications of it 2. We know not all the Modifications our Soul is capable of 3. They are different from our Knowledge and our Love nor are they always Consequences of them 101 CHAP. II. 1. The Mind being limited cannot comprehend any thing of an Infinite Nature 2. It s Limitation is the Origine of a great many Errors 3. And especially of Heresies 4. The Mind must be submitted unto Faith 105 CHAP. III. 1. The Philosophers dissipate or dissolve the Force of the Mind by applying it to the Subjects including too many Relations and depending on too many things and by observing no Method in their Studies 2. An Instance taken from Aristotle 3. That Geometricians on the contrary take a good Method in the Search of Truth Especially those who make use of Algebra and Analyticks 4. That their Method increases the Strength of the Mind and that Aristotle's Logick lessens it 5. Another Fault of Learned Men 107 CHAP. IV. 1. The Mind cannot dwell long upon Objects that have no relation to it or that include not something of Infinity in them 2. The Inconstancy of the Will is the Cause of that want of Application and consequently of Error 3. Our Sensations take us up more than the pure Ideas of the Mind 4. Which is the Source of the Corruption of our Morals 5. And of the Ignorance of the Vulgar sort of Men 109 Second Part concerning pure Understanding CHAP. I. 1. What is meant by Ideas That they really exist and are necessary to our perceiving all material Objects 2. A Particularization of all the ways possible for us to perceive external Objects 112 CHAP. II. That material Objects emit not Species which resemble them 114 CHAP. III. That the Soul has no power to produce Ideas The cause of the Error Men are guilty of upon this Subject 115 CHAP. IV. That we perceive not Objects by means of Ideas created with us That God does not produce them in us every moment we have need of them 117 CHAP. V. That the Mind perceives neither the Essence nor the Existence of Objects by considering its own Perfections That none but God sees them in that manner 118 CHAP. VI. That we see all things in God 119 CHAP. VII 1. Four different manners of Perception 2. How it is that we know God 3. How we know Bodies 4. How we know our own Souls 5. How we know the Souls of other Men and pure Spirits 122 CHAP. VIII 1. The intimate Presence of the indefinite Idea of Being in general is the cause of all the disorderly abstractions of the Mind and the most part of the Chimeras of the vulgar Philosophy which hinder many Philosophers from acknowledging the solidity of true Principles of Physicks 2. An Instance concerning the Essence of Matter 124 CHAP. IX 1. The last general Cause of our Errors 2. That the Ideas of things are not always present to the Mind when we would have them 3. That every finite Mind is subject to Error and why 4. That we ought not to judge that there is nothing but Body and Spirit nor that God is a
Foundation of his System from which may ever be deduc'd all the profit that could be expected from the true to make all necessary advances in the knowledge of Man Since then the Imagination consists only in the Power the Soul has of Forming the Images of Objects by imprinting them as I may so say in the Fibres of the Brain the greater and more distinct the Impresses of the Animal Spirits are which are the strokes of these Images the more strongly and distinctly the Soul will imagine Objects Now as the Largeness and Depth and Cleaverness of the strokes of any Sculpture depend upon the Forcible Acting of the Graving Instrument and the plyable yielding of the Plate so the Depth and the Distinctness of the Impresses of the Imagination depend on the Force of the Animal Spirits and the Constitution of the Fibres of the Brain And 't is the Variety that is found in these two things which is almost the universal Cause of that great Diversity we observe in the Minds of different Men. For 't is no hard thing to account for all the different Characters to be met with in the Minds of Men On the one hand by the Abundance and Scarcity by the Rapidness and Slowness by the Grossness and the Littleness of the Animal Spirits and on the other hand by the Fineness and Courseness by the Moisture and Driness by the Facility and Difficulty of the yielding of the Fibres of the Brain and lastly by the Relation the Animal Spirits may possibly have with these Fibres And it would be very expedient for every one forthwith to try to Imagine to himself all the different Combinations of these things and to apply himself seriously to the Consideration of all the Differences we have observ'd between the Minds of Men. Because it is ever more Useful and also more Pleasant for a Man to employ his own Mind and to accustom it to the finding out Truth by its own Industry than to suffer it to gather Rust by a careless Laziness in applying it only to things wholly digested and explain'd to his hands Besides that there are some things so delicately nice and fine in the different Character of Minds that a Man may easily sometimes discover them and be sensible of them himself but is unable to represent them or make them sensible to others But that we may explain as far as possibly we can all the Differences that are found in different Minds and that every Man may more easily observe in his own the Cause of all the Changes he sensibly perceives in it at different times it seems convenient to make a general Enquiry into the Causes of the Changes which happen in the Animal Spirits and in the Fibres of the Brain Since this will make way for the Discovery of all those which happen in the Imagination Man never continues long like himself all Mankind have sufficient Internal Convictions of their own Inconstancy A Man judges one while in one manner and another while in another concerning the same Subject In a word the Life of a Man consists only in the Circulation of the Blood and in another Circulation of Thoughts and Desires And I am of Opinion a Man can't employ his Time much better than in Searching for the Causes of these Changes we are subject to and entring into the Knowledge of our Selves CHAP. II. I. Of the Animal Spirits and the Changes they are subject to in general II. That the Chyle entering the Heart occasions a Change in the Spirits III. That Wine does the same thing 'T IS confess'd by all the World that the Animal Spirits are nothing but the more subtil and agitated parts of the Blood which Subtilty and Agitation is principally owing to the Fermentation it receives in the Heart and the violent Motion of the Muscles which constitute that part That these Spirits together with the rest of the Blood are conducted through the Arteries to the Brain And that there they are separated from it by some parts appropriated to that purpose but which they are it has not been yet agreed upon From whence we ought to conclude that in case the Blood be very subtil it will have abundance of Animal Spirits but if it be gross the Animal Spirits will be few That if the Blood be compos'd of parts easie to be inflam'd in the Heart or very fit for Motion the Spirits in the Brain will be extreamly heated and agitated And on the contrary if the Blood admits little Fermentation in the Heart the Animal Spirits will be languid unactive and without force And lastly according to the Solidity which is found in the parts of the Blood the Animal Spirits will have more or less solidity and consequently greater or lesser force in their Motion But these things ought to be explain'd more at large and the Truth of them made more sensibly apparent by Examples and uncontroverted Experiments that prove them The Authority of the Ancients has not only blinded some Mens Understandings but we may say has seal'd up their Eyes For there are still a sort of Men that pay so submissive a deference to Ancient Opinions or possibly are so stiff and obstinate that they will not see those things which they could not contradict would they but please to open once their Eyes We daily see Men in good Reputation and Esteem for their Study Write and Dispute publickly against the Visible and Sensible Experiments of the Circulation of the Blood against that of the Gravitation and Elastick force of the Air and others of the like Nature The Discovery Mr. Pacquet has made in our Time and which we have here occasion for is of the number of those that are mis-fortunate meerly for want of being Born Old and as a Man may say with a Venerable Beard I shall not however omit to make use of it and am under no Apprehension of being blam'd by Judicious Men for doing so According to that Discovery it is manifest that the Chyle does not immediately pass from the Viscera to the Liver through the Mesaraick Veins as was believ'd by the Ancients but that it passes out of the Bowels into the Lacteal Veins and from thence into several Receptacles where these Veins coterminate That from thence it ascends through the Ductus Thoracicus along the Vertebrae of the Back and proceeds to mix with the Blood in the Axillary Vein which enters into the Superiour Trunck of Vena Cava and thus being mingled with the Blood it discharges it self into the Heart It ought to be concluded from this Experiment that the Blood thus mingled with the Chyle being very different from that which has already circulated several times through the Heart the Animal Spirits that are only the more fine and subtil parts of it ought to be very different in Persons that are fasting and others after they have eaten Again because in the Meats and Drinks that are us'd there is an infinite Variety
us The second is a New Determination of the Motion of the Will towards that Object provided it be or seem to be a Good Before that View the Natural Motion of the Soul was either undetermin'd that is to say she was carried towards Good in general or it otherwise determined by the knowledge of some particular Object But in the very instant of the mind 's perceiving that Relation of the new Object to it self that general Motion of the Will is forthwith determin'd conformably to the perception of the Mind The Soul advances near that Object by her Love that she may relish it and discover her good in it through a sensible delectation which the Author of Nature affords her as a Natural Reward of her Inclination to Good She judged that that Object was a Good by an abstracted and unpathetick Reason but she persists in the persuasion of it through the Efficacy of Sensation and the livelyer that Sensation is the stronger is her adhesion to the Good that seems to be the Cause of it But if that particular Object be considered as Evil or able to deprive us of some Good there happens no New Determination in the Motion of the Will but only the Motion towards the Good oppos'd to that seemingly evil Object is augmented which augmentation is greater or lesâ—er as the Evil seems to be more or less formidable to us For indeed we hate only because we love and the Evil that is without us is judg'd no farther Evil than with reference to the Good of which it deprives us So that Evil being consider'd as a privation of Good to fly from Evil is to fly the privation of Good which is the same thing as to tend towards Good and therefore there happens no new determination of the Natural Motion of the Will at the presence of an unwelcome Object but only a Sensation painful distasteful or imbitter'd which the Author of Nature inflicts on the Soul as a pain naturally consequent to her being depriv'd of Good Reason alone had not been sufficient to carry her to it wherefore this painful and vexing Sensation is superadded to quicken her Thence I conclude that in any Passion whatsoever all the Motions of the Soul towards Good are the Motions of Love But as we are affected with divers Sensations according to the various Circumstances that attend the View of Good and the Motion of the Soul towards it so we come to confound our Sensations with the Commotions of the Soul and to imagine as many different Motions in the Passions as there are different Sensations Upon this head it must be observed that Pain is a true and real Evil and no more the Privation of Pleasure than Pleasure the Privation of Pain for there is a great difference betwixt not feeling or being depriv'd of such a Sensation of Pleasure and the actual enduring of Pain So that every Evil is not precisely so because it deprives us of Good but only that Evil as I have explain'd that is without us or is not a Modification of our Soul Nevertheless as by Goods and Evils we commonly understand things good or evil and not the Sensations of Pleasure and Pain which are rather the natural Tokens by which the Soul distinguishes Good from Evil it may be said methinks without Equivocation that Evil is nothing but the privation of Good and that the natural motion of the Soul that removes us from Evil is the same with that which carries us to good for in brief all natural Motion being an Impression of the Author of Nature whose acting centers in himself and who can incline us only towards himself The true Motion of the Soul is always essentially the Love of Good and but accidentally an Aversion from Evil. I grant that Pain may be consider'd as an Evil and in that sense the Motion of the Passions which is stir'd up by it is not real since we never will Pain and though we positively will the absence of Pain yet 't is only because we positively will the Preservation or Perfection of our Being The third thing to be observ'd in every Passion is the Sensation that attends them the Sensation of Love Hatred Desire Joy Sorrow which are all different in the different Passions The fourth thing is a new Determination of the course of the Animal Spirits and Blood to the outward and inward parts of the Body Before the View of the Object of the Passion the vital Spirits were dispers'd throughout the whole Body for the preservation of all its parts in general but at the appearance of that new Object all this Order and Oeconomy is disturb'd and most part of the Spirits are thrown into the Muscles of the Arms Legs Face and other exteriour parts of the Body to put them in a disposition suitable to the ruling Passion and to give it such a gesture and motion as are necessary for the obtaining or avoiding the imminent Good or Evil But if its own Forces are insufficient for its occasions these same Spirits are distributed in such a manner as make it machinally utter certain words and cries and which diffuse over the Face and the rest of the Body such an air and comportment as is capable of actuating others with the same Passion it self is possess'd with For Men and Beasts having a mutual cohesion by the Eyes and Ears when any one of them is in a violent Commotion it necessarily affects the Spectators and Hearers and naturally makes upon their Imagination such an Impression as troubles them and moves them to preserve it As to the rest of the Animal Spirits they violently descend into the Heart Lungs Liver Spleen and other Viscera thence to draw contributions and to hasten those parts to send forth a sufficient and timely supply of Spirits necessary to preserve the Body in that extraordinary Contention The fifth thing is a sensible Commotion of the Soul who feels her self agitated by an unexpected overflow of Spirits This sensible Commotion of the Soul always attends that Motion of the Spirits that the Soul may participate of all that affects the Body even as the Motion of Spirits is raised in the Body when the Soul is carried toward any Object For the Body and Soul being mutually united their Motions are reciprocal The sixth thing are several Sensations of Love Hatred Joy Desire Sorrow that are produced not by the Intellectual view of Good or Evil as those that have been already mention'd but by the various concussions that are caused in the Brain by the Animal Spirits The seventh thing is a certain Sensation of Joy or rather internal Satisfaction which detains the Soul in her Passion and assures her that she is in the fittest State she can be in reference to the Object she considers This internal satisfaction attends all the Passions whatsoever whether they proceed from the sight of an Evil or from the sight of a Good Sorrow as well as Joy This satisfaction makes
no Pain in discharging his Duty But God is withdrawn from us since the Fall of Adam he is no more our Good by Nature but only by Grace we feel now no Delight and Satisfaction in the Love of him and he rather thrusts us from than draws us to him If we follow him he gives us a Rebuff if we run after him he strikes us and if we be obstinate in our Persuit he continues to handle us more severely by inflicting very lively and sensible Pains upon us And when being weary of walking through the rough and stony Ways of Vertue without being supported by the Repast of Good or strengthned by any Nourishment we come to feed upon sensible Things he fastens us to them by the relish of Pleasure as though he would reward us for turning back from him to run after counterfeit Goods In short since Men have sinn'd it seems God is not pleas'd that they should love him think upon him or esteem him their only and sovereign Good It is only by the delectable Grace of Christ our Mediator that we sensibly perceive that God is our proper Good For Pleasure being the sensible Mark of Good we then perceive God to be our Good when the Grace of our Redeemer makes us love him with Pleasure Thus the Soul not knowing her own Good either by a clear View or by Sensation without the Grace of Jesus Christ she takes the Good of the Body for her own she loves it and closes to it with a stricter Adhesion by her Will than ever she did by the first Institution of Nature For Corporeal Good being now the only one left that is sensible must needs operate upon Man with more Violence strike his Bâ—ain livelier and consequently be felt and imagined by the Soul in a more sensible manner And the Animal Spirits receiving a more vehement Agitation the Will by consequence must love it with a greater Ardency and Pleasure The Soul might before Sin blot out of her Brain the too lively Image of Corporeal Good and dissipate the sensible Pleasure this Image was attended with The Body being subject to the Mind the Soul might on a sudden stop the quavering Concussion of the Fibres of the Brain and the Commotion of the Spirits by the meer Consideration of her Duty But she lost that Power by Sin Those Traces of the Imagination and those Motions of the Spirits depend no more upon her whence it necessarily follows that the Pleasure which by the Institution of Nature is conjoin'd to those Motions and Traces must usurp the whole Possession of the Heart Man cannot long resist that Pleasure by his own Strength 't is Grace that must obtain a perfect Victory Reason alone can never doe it None but God as the Author of Grace can overcome himself as the Author of Nature or rather exorate himself as the Revenger of Adam's Rebellion The Stoicks who had but a confused Knowledge of the Disorders of Original Sin could not answer the Epicures Their Felicity was but Ideal since there is no Happiness without Pleasure and no Pleasure to be sensibly perceiv'd by them in Vertuous Actions They might feel indeed some Joy in following the Rules of their phantastick Vertue because Joy is a natural Consequence of the Consciousness our Soul has of being in the most convenient State That Spiritual Joy might bear up their Spirits for a while but was not strong enough to withstand Pain and overcome Pleasure Secret Pride and not Joy made them keep their Countenance for when no body was present all their Wisdom and Strength vanished just as Kings of the Stage lose all their Grandeur in a Moment It is not so with those Christians that exactly follow the Rules of the Gospel Their Joy is solid because they certainly know that they are in the most convenient State Their Joy is great because the Good they possess through Faith and Hope is Infinite for the Hope of a great Good is always attended with a great Joy and that Joy is so much livelier as the Hope is stronger because a strong Hope representing the Good as present necessarily produces Joy as also that sensible Pleasure which ever attends the Presence of Good Their Joy is not restless and uneasie because grounded on the Promises of God confirm'd by the Blood of his Son and cherished by that inward Peace and unutterable Sweetness of Charity which the Holy Ghost sheds into their Hearts Nothing can separate them from their true Good which they relish and take Complacency in by the Delectation of Grace The Pleasures of Corporeal Good are not so great as those they feel in the Love of God They love Contempt and Pain They feed upon Disgraces and the Pleasure they find in their Sufferings or rather the Pleasure they find in God for whom they despise all the rest to unite themselves to him is so ravishing and transporting as to make them speak a new Language and even boast as the Apostles did of their Miseries and Abuses when they departed from the presence of the Council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the Name of JESUS Such is the Disposition of Mind in true Christians when they are most basely affronted for the Defence of Truth CHRIST being come to restore the Order which Sin had overthrown and that Order requiring that the greatest Goods be accompanied with the most solid Pleasures it is plain that things ought to be in the manner we have said But we may farther confirm and strengthen Reason by Experience for 't is known that as soon as any Person has formed but the bare Resolution to despise all for God he is commonly affected with a Pleasure or internal Joy that makes him as sensibly and lively perceive that God is his Good as he knew it evidently before The true Christians assure us every Day that the Joy they feel in an unmixt loving and serving God is inexpressible and 't is but reasonable to believe the Relation they make of what happens within them On the contrary the Impious are perpetually vexed with horrible Disquietudes and those that are shar'd betwixt God and the World partake of the Joys of the Just and of the Vexations of the Impious They complain of their Miseries and 't is reasonable to believe that their Complaints are not groundless God strikes Men to the Quick and through the very Heart when they love any thing besides him and 't is this Stroke that causes a real Misery He pours an exceeding Joy into their Minds when all their Adherencies are to him only and that Joy is the Spring of true Felicity The Abundance of Riches and Elevation to Honours being without us cannot cure us of the Wound God makes and Poverty and Contempt that are likewise without us cannot hurt us under the Almighty's Protection By what we have said 't is plain That the Objects of the Passions are not our Good that we must not follow their
a poor weak and languishing Wretch who though he have the same Spirit and Principles yet because he is Master of Nothing imagines he is almost Nothing himself However our Retinue is not our self and so far is the plenty of the Blood and Animal Spirits the vigour and impetuousness of the Imagination from leading us to the Truth that on the contrary nothing carries us so far from it whereas 't is the Dull if I may so call them that is the cool and sedate Minds that are the fittest for the Discovery of solid and hidden Truths Their Passions being silent and quiet they may listen in the Recess of their Reason to the Truth that teaches them but most unhappily they mind not its Words because it speaks low without a forcible sound and that nothing wakens them but a mighty Noise Nothing convinces them but what glitters to appearance and is judg'd great and magnificent by the Senses they love to be dazled with Brightness and rather chuse to hear those Philosophers who tell them their Stories and Dreams and assert as the false Prophets of former times that the Truth has spoken to them though it has not than to listen to Truth it self For they have already suffer'd four thousand Years and that without opposition humane Pride to entertain them with Lies which they reverence and keep to as to Holy and Divine Traditions It seems the God of Truth is wholly gone from them they think on him and consult him no more they meditate no more and cover their neglect and laziness with the delusive pretences of a sacred Humility 'T is true that we cannot of our selves discover the Truth but we can doe it at all times with the assistance of him that enlightens us and can never doe it with that of all the Men in the World Those that know it best cannot shew it to us unless we ask it of him to whom they have made their Application and unless he be pleased to answer our Questions that is our Attention as he has done theirs We are not therefore to believe because Men say this or that for every Man is a Liar but because he that cannot deceive speaks to us and we must perpetually interrogate him for the solution of our Difficuties We ought not to trust to them that speak only to the Ears instruct but the Body or at the utmost move but the Imagination But we ought attentively to listen unto and faithfully believe him who speaks to the Mind informs the Reason and piercing into the most abstruse Recesses of the inward Man is able to enlighten and strengthen him against the outward and sensible Man that continually labours to seduce and corrupt him I often repeat these things because I believe them most worthy of a serious Consideration God alone is to be honour'd because he only can endue us with Knowledge as 't is he alone that can fill us with Pleasure There is sometimes in the animal Spirits and the rest of the Body a Disposition that provokes to Hunting Dancing Running and other Corporeal Exercises wherein the Force and Activity of the Body are most conspicuous Which Disposition is very ordinary to young Men especially before their Body be in a State of Consistency Children cannot stay in one place and will always be moving if they follow their humour For whereas all their Muscles are not yet strengthened nor perfectly finisht therefore God who as the Author of Nature regulates the Pleasures of the Soul with reference to the Good of the Body causes them to be delighted with such Exercises as may invigorate it Thus whilst the Flesh and Fibres of their Nerves are yet soft the Channels through which the animal Spirits must necessarily flow to produce all sorts of Motion are wore and kept open Humours have no time to settle and all Obstructions and Causes of Corruption are removed The confused Sensation that young Men have of that Disposition of their Body makes them pleased with the thoughts of their Strength and Dexterity They admire themselves when they know how to measure their Motions and to make extraordinary ones and are ambitious of being in the presence of Spectators and Admirers Thus they strengthen by degrees their Inclination to Corporeal Exercises which is one of the principal Causes of Ignorance and Brutishness For besides the time that is by that meanes lavisht away the little use they make of their Understanding causes the chief part of the Brain in whose tractableness the force and quickness of the Mind especially consists to become altogether inflexible and the animal Spirits through disuse are difficultly dispers'd in the Brain in a manner requisite to think of what they please This incapacitates most part of the Nobility and Gentry especially such as follow the War to apply themselves to any thing They answer with a Word and a Blow as the Proverb says for if you speak any thing that they don't willingly hear instead of thinking upon a suitable Reply their Animal Spirits insensibly flow into the Muscles that raise the Arm and make them answer without Consideration with a Blow or a Threatning Gesture because their Spirits agitated by the Words they hear are conveyed to such Places as are most open through Habit and Exercise The sense of their Corporeal Strength confirms them in those insulting Manners and the submissive Aspect of their Hearers puffs 'em up with such an absurd Confidence as makes them believe they have said very fine things when they have but haughtily and brutishly uttered Impertinencies being flater'd by the Fear and Caution of the Standers by It is not possible to have applied our selves to any Study or to make actual profession of any Science to be either Author or Doctor without being conscious of it But that very Consciousness naturally produces in some Men such a vast Number of Imperfections that it would be better with them if they wanted those Honourable Qualities As they look upon them as their most considerable Perfections so they are extreamly pleased with that Contemplation they set them before the Eyes of others with all the possible Dexterity and conceive they have thereby right to judge of every thing without Examination If any be so couragious as to contradict them they at first endeavour skillfully and with a sweet and obliging Countenance to insinuate what they are and what right they have to determine of such Matters And if any still presume to oppose them and that they be at a loss for an Answer they do not stick openly to declare what they think of themselves and of their Adversaries Every inward Sense of any Qualification we enjoy naturally swells up the Courage A Trooper well mounted and accoutred who neither wants Blood nor Spirits is ready to undertake any thing that Disposition inspiring him with an undaunted Boldness So it goes with a Man of Letters when he fansies himself to be Learned and that the Haughtiness of his Heart has
Tediousness Regret Pity Indignation are so many kinds of Sorrow caused by the Consideration of something displeasing But besides those Passions and several others I pass by which particularly relate to some of the Primitive Passions there are yet many others whose Commotion is almost equally compounded either of Desire and Joy as Impudence Anger and Revenge or of Desire and Sorrow as Shame Regret and Vexation or of all Three together when Motives of Joy and Sorrow meet And though these last Passions have no particular Names that I know of they are however the most common because in this Life we scarce ever enjoy any Good without a Mixture of Evil nor suffer any Evil without Hopes of being freed of it and enjoying Good And though Joy be altogether contrary to Sorrow yet it allows of its Company and even admits it an equal Sharer in the Capacity of the Soul as Volent when the Sight of Good and Evil divide its Capacity as Intelligent All the Passions therefore are Species of Desire Joy and Sorrow and the chief difference betwixt those of the same sort must be taken from the different Perceptions or Judgments that cause or accompany them So that to become learned in the Nature of Passions and to make of them the most accurate Enumeration possible it is requisite to enquire into the different Judgments that may be made of Good and Evil. But as we especially intend to find out the Cause of our Errours we need not so much to insist upon the Judgments that precede or cause the Passions as upon those that follow them and which the Soul makes of Things when she is agitated by some Passion because those last Judgments are the most liable to Errour Such Judgments as precede and cause the Passions are almost ever false in something because they are for the most part grounded upon such Perceptions of the Soul as consider Objects in relation to her and not as they are in themselves But the Judgments that follow the Passions are false all manner of ways because such Judgments being only made by the Passions are only grounded upon the Perceptions the Soul has of Objects as relating to her or rather to her own Commotion In the Judgments that precede the Passions Truth and Falshood are join'd together but when the Soul is agitated and judges by every Inspiration of the Passion Truth vanishes and Falshood remains to be the Principle of so many more false Conclusions as the Passion is greater All Passions justifie themselves continually offering to the Soul the moving Object in the fittest way for preserving and increasing her Commotion The Judgment or the Perception that causes it gets still new Forces from the Increase of the Passion and the Passion likewise augments proportionably as the Judgment that produces it in its turn is strengthen'd Thus false Judgments and Passions join in Confederacy for their mutual Preservation And should the Heart never cease sending up Spirits for keeping open the Tracks of the Brain and supplying the Expences which that violent Sensation or Commotion make of the same Spirits Passions would perpetually increase and never allow us to be sensible of our Errours But as all our Passions depend on the Fermentation and Circulation of the Blood and that the Heart can never furnish as many Spirits as are necessary for their Preservation they must needs expire when the Spirits diminish and the Blood grows cool again Though it be an easie matter to discover the ordinary Judgments of Passions yet 't is not a thing to be neglected there being few Subjects that deserve more the Application of an Enquirer after Truth who endeavours to free himself from the Dominion of the Body and will judge of every thing by true Ideas We may instruct our selves in this Matter two ways either by pure Reason or by our inward Consciousness when we are agitated by some Passion For Instance Experience teaches us That we are apt to judge of those we love not to their Disadvantage and to spit all the Venom of our Hatred at the Object of our Passion We also know by Reason that as we cannot hate but what is Evil so 't is necessary for the preservation of Hatred that the Mind should represent to it self the worst part of its Object For 't is sufficient to suppose that all Passions justifie themselves and give such a Disposition first to the Imagination then to the Mind as is fit to preserve their own Commotion directly to conclude what are the Judgments which all the Passions cause us to make Those that are endued with a strong and lively Imagination that are extremely sensible and much subject to the Motions of Passions may perfectly inform themselves of those things by their own inward sense and it often comes to pass that they speak of them in a more pleasing and instructing manner than others whose Reason over-tops their Imagination yet it follows not that those that discover best the Springs of Self-love that penetrate farthest into Man's Heart and more sensibly discover its Recesses are always the greatest Understandings This only proves that they are livelier quicker of Imagination and sometimes more malicious than others But those that without consulting their inward Sense make use only of their Reason to enquire into the Nature and Effects of Passions though they be not always so quick-sighted as others are always more rational and less obnoxious to Errour because they judge of things as they are in themselves They see very near what Men posseâ—t with Passions can doe as they suppose them more or less agitated but do not rashly judge of the Actions of others by what they would doe themselves in such Occasions for they well know that Men are not equally sensible to the same things nor alike susceptible of involuntary Commotions and therefore 't is not by consulting our Sensations which the Passions create in us but by listening to Reason that we must treat of the Judgments that accompany them lest we should draw our own Picture instead of discovering the Nature of Passions in general CHAP. XI That all the Passions justifie themselves What Judgments they cause us to make in their Vindication WE need no long deduction of Arguments to demonstrate That all Passions justifie themselves That Principle is sufficiently evident both by our internal Consciousness of our selves and the Behaviour of those we see agitated by them and therefore we need only barely propound it to consider it as we should do The Mind is such a Slave to the Imagination that it always obeys when the Imagination is over-heated and dares not answer when the same is incensed because it meets with Abuses when it resists and is always rewarded with some Pleasure when it humours that imperious Faculty Even those whose unruly Imagination persuades them they are transmuted into Beasts find out Reasons to prove they must live as Beasts do walk Four-footed eat Grass and imitate every Action that is purely
Fourth Part of his Philosophical Principles which runs thus That the former Hypothesis is to be retain'd notwithstanding its being false to find out the true Causes of natural Things he expresly asserts the contrary in these words Though I pretend not that the Bodies of this visible World were ever produced in the manner that has been described before of which the Reader has been already sufficiently forewarn'd yet I must still keep to the same Hypothesis to explain what appears upon Earth For if I may as I hope I can plainly shew by those means the most intelligible and certain Causes of all Natural things and they cannot be found out another way I may thence reasonably conclude that though the World was not at the Beginning fram'd in this manner but created immediately by God yet the Nature of all things it contains ceases not to be the very same as though they had been produced in that very method Des Cartes knew that to understand the Nature of things they must be consider'd in their Birth and Original and that beginning with those that are most simple we ought to drive them up to the Fountain head and that the business is not to examine whether God working by the most simple ways formed the World by degrees or struck it out at a single Blow but that in what manner soever God may have produced his Works they ought to be first consider'd in their Principles if we would understand them and afterwards we should observe how consistent our thoughts are with the Operations of God by comparing them together He knew that the Laws of Nature by which God preserves all his Works in their present Order and Situation are the same Laws with those by which he might have formed and disposed them It being evident to all considering Men that if God had not disposed his Works in an instant in the same manner they would have order'd and postur'd themselves in time the whole Oeconomy of Nature would be destroy'd since the Laws of Preservation would be contrary to those of the first Creation If the whole Universe remains in the Order in which we see it 't is because the Laws of Motion which preserve it in that Order were capable of producing it in it and if God had established it in an Order different from that into which those Laws of Motion should have put it all things would be turned upside down and place themselves by the force of those Laws in the Order which they at present keep A Man desires to discover the Nature of a Chicken to that end he opens every day Eggs taken from under a Brood-Hen he examines what part moves and grows first he quickly perceives that the Heart begins to beat and to drive out Blood through small Conduits on all sides that are the Arteries which Blood comes back to the Heart through the Veins that the Brain likewise appears at first and that the Bones are the last formed By that he frees himself from many Errours and even draws from those Observations several Consequences very useful for the Knowledge of living Creatures What fault may be found with the conduct of such a Man and how may it be given out that he pretends to persuade that God formed the first Chicken by creating an Egg and giving it a competent degree of heat to hatch it because he tries to discover the Nature of Chickens in their first Formation Why then should Des Cartes be accused of being opposite to the Holy Scriptures for that designing to discover the Nature of visible things he examines the formation of them by the Laws of Motion which are inviolably observ'd on all occasions He never doubted but that the World was created at first with all its perfection that there were Sun Earth Moon and Stars that in the Earth there were not only the Seeds of Plants but also the Plants themselves and that Adam and Eve were not born Infants but made adult The Christian Faith teaches us that and natural Reason persuades us the same for when we consider the infinite Power of God we cannot think he should ever have made any thing which was not altogether perfect But as we should better understand the nature of Adam and Eve and the Trees of Paradise by examining how Children are insensibly form'd in their Mothers Womb and how Plants are deriv'd from their Seeds than by merely considering how they were when Created by God at the Creation of the World so if we can find out Principles very simple and easie out of which as out of some Seeds we can manifestly shew the Stars the Earth and all visible things might have been produced though we very well know that it was never so yet that will be more conducible to explain their Nature than if we should only describe them so as they now are or as we believe they were Created and because I suppose I have found out such Principles I shall indeavour briefly to Explain them Des Cartes was persuaded that God formed the World all at once but he also believed that God Created it in the same State and Order and with the same Disposition of Parts in which it would have been had it been made gradually and by the most simple ways And that thought is worthy both of the Power and Wisdom of God of his Power because he has made in a Moment all his Works in the highest Perfection and of his Wisdom because he has shewn that he perfectly foresaw whatever could befall Matter if it were moved by the most simple ways and likewise because the Order of Nature could not subsist if the World had been produced by ways that is by Laws of Motion contrary to the Laws by which it is preserv'd as I have already mention'd 'T is ridiculous to say that Des Cartes believed the World might have been formed of it self since he owns with all those that follow the light of Reason that Bodies cannot move themselves by their own strength and that all the immutable Laws of the Communication of Motions are but consequences of the immutable Will of God who always acts in the same manner His proving that God alone gives Motion to Matter and that Motion produces in Bodies all their different Forms was sufficient to hinder the Libertines from making an Advantage of his System On the contrary if Atheists should reflect on the Principles of this Philosopher they would quickly be forced to confess their Errours for if they can assert with the Heathens that Matter is uncreated they cannot also maintain that it can move it self by its own Power So that Atheists would at least be obliged to acknowledge the true Mover if they refused to confess the true Creatour But the Ordinary Philosophy affords 'em sufficient pretences to blind themselves and defend their Errours for it speaks of some impress'd Virtues certain motive Faculties in a word of a certain Nature which is the Principle of
the Relation of the stronger Force to the larger Mouth But to solve this Problem by an Engine which sets better before the Eyes the Effect of the Muscles than the Former We must blow a little in a Foot-ball and hinder the Air from going out with a Sucker then put upon that Foot-ball half full of Wind a Stone of 5 or 600 weight or having set it on a Table lay on it a Board and on that Board a huge Stone or cause a heavy Man to sit upon the Board allowing him to hold by something that he may sit the faster upon the rising Foot-ball for if you blow again into it only with the Mouth it will raise the Stone that compresses it or the Man that sits upon it The Reason of this is that the Mouth of the Foot-ball is so small or at least must be suppos'd so in comparison to the Capaciousness of the Foot-ball that withstands the Weight of the Stone that by such means a very small is able to overcome a very great Force If we also consider that Breath alone is capable of violently driving a Leaden Ball through a long and strait Trunk because the Strength of the Breath is not dissipated but continually renew'd it will visibly appear that the necessary Proportion betwixt the Mouth and the largeness of the Foot-ball being suppos'd Breath alone may overcome a very considerable Force If we therefore conceive that the whole Muscles or each of the Fibres of which they are made have as this Foot-ball a competent Capacity to admit Animal Spirits that the Pores through which those Spirits flow are yet proportionably straiter than the Neck of a Bladder or the Aperture of the Foot-ball that the Spirits are detain'd in or driven through the Nerves almost as the Breath through a Trunk that the Spirits are more agitated than the Air of the Lungs and driven with a greater Violence to the Muscles than it is in a Bladder we shall perceive that the Motion of the Spirits which are dispers'd through the Muscles can conquer the Force of the heaviest Weight we carry and that if we cannot move other more ponderous this Want of Strength proceeds not so much from the Spirits as from the Fibres and Membranes of which the Muscles are compos'd which would burst should we make too great an Effort Besides If we observe that by the Laws of the Union betwixt Soul and Body the Motion of those Spirits as to their Determination depends on the Will of Man we shall see that the Motion of the Arm must needs be voluntary 'T is true that we move our Arm so readily that it seems at first sight incredible that the Course of the Spirits into the Muscles should be so swift as to effect that Motion But we ought to consider that those Spirits are extremely agitated always ready to pass from one Muscle into another and that a small quantity of that Spirituous Liquor may sufficiently swell them up so as to move them or to lift up from the Ground something very light For we cannot raise great Weights very readily because that Effort requires a great stretching and swelling of the Muscles which cannot be perform'd by the Spirits that are in the neighbouring or Antagonist Muscles and therefore some Time is requir'd to call in more Spirits to their help and in such a Quantity as that they may be able to withstand the Heaviness of the Weight Thus we see that those that are loaden cannot run and that a ponderous thing is not lifted up from the Ground so readily as a Straw If we consider that those that are of a fiery Temper or heated with Wine are quicker than others that amongst living Creatures those whose Spirits are more agitated as Birds move swifter than those in which Blood is colder as it is in Frogs and that in some of them as the Chamelion the Tortoise and some Insects the Spirits are so little agitated that their Muscles are not sooner fill'd than a Foot-ball would be by the Breath of a Man All these things being well observ'd may probably make our Explication acceptable But though that part of the Question propos'd which concerns Voluntary Motions be sufficiently resolv'd yet we must not assert that it is fully and perfectly or that nothing else in our Body contributes to those Motions besides what has been mention'd for most probably there are a Thousand Springs that facilitate them which will for ever be unknown even to those who give a better Guess upon the Works of God The second Part of the Question to be examin'd concerns the Natural Motions or those that have nothing extraordinary in them as Convulsions have but are absolutely necessary to the Preservation of our Machine and consequently altogether independent on our Will I first consider with all the possible Attention what Motions have those Conditions and whether they are perfectly alike And as I quickly perceive that they are for the most part different from each other lest I should perplex my self with too many things I shall only insist upon the Motion of the Heart which of all the inward Parts is the best known and its Motions the most sensible Whilst I examine its Construction I observe two Things amongst many others First That it is compos'd of Fibres as the other Muscles And Secondly That there are two remarkable Cavities in it And therefore I judge that its Motion may be perform'd by means of the Animal Spirits since it is a Muscle and that the Blood ferments and dilates in it since it has Cavities The first of these Judgments is founded upon what I have said before The second upon the Heart 's being much hotter than any other Parts of the Body and that it diffuses Heat together with Blood into all our Members and that those two Ventricles could neither be form'd nor preserv'd but by the Dilatation of the Blood So that they are subservient to the Cause that has produc'd them I can then give a sufficient Reason of the Motion of the Heart by the Spirits that agitate and the Blood that dilates it during the Fermentation For though the Cause I alledge of its Motion should not be true yet I plainly see that it is sufficient to produce it It may be that the Principle of Fermentation or Dilatation of Liquors is not so well known to all Readers as that I may pretend to have explain'd an Effect by generally shewing that it proceeds from Fermentation But all particular Questions are not to be resolv'd by ascending to the first Cause though that may be done too and a true System on which all particular Effects depend discover'd provided we only insist upon clear Ideas But that Way of Philosophizing is neither the exactest nor yet the shortest To comprehend this it must be observ'd that there are Questions of two sorts in the first it is requir'd to discover the Nature and Properties of some Thing in the others we only
resolv'd whether we may go to a Ball or a Play Whether we may in Conscience spend a great part of the Day in Sports and vain Conversation whether certain Conversations Studies and Employs are conformable to our Obligations Let us retire into our selves and hush our Senses and Passions and then see in the Light of God whether we can do for him any such Action Let us interrogate him who is the Way the Truth and the Life to know if the Road we pursue will not lead us to the Gates of Death And whether God being Essentially Just and necessarily oblig'd to punish what is not agreeable to Order and to reward all conformity to it we have reason to believe we are going to augment or ensure our Felicity by the Action we intend to do If it be our Love to God that leads us to the Ball let us go If Heaven is to be gain'd by playing let us play Day and Night If we have in prospect the Glory of God in our Employment let us exercise it Let us do all things with Joy for our Recompence shall be great in Heaven But if after having carefully examin'd our Essential Obligations we clearly discover that neither our Being nor the Time that measures it is at our own disposal and that we do an unjust thing which it necessarily lies upon God to punish when our only study is how to spend our time in Mirth and Pleasure If our Lord and Master CHRIST who has purchas'd us by his Blood â—eproaches our Inâ—idelity and Ingratitude in a most clear and intelligible manner for living after the Flesh and the World for Leading an Effeminate and Voluptuous Life and following Opinion and Custom Let us yield to his Voice and not harden our Hearts nor seek out such Spiritual Guides as comfort us under these Reproaches and secure us against these Menaces and involve in delightful Clouds that Light which strikes and pierces our very Soul When the Blind leads the Blind they both fall into the Ditch says the Evangelist But if God excuses not the Blind who commits himself to the Conduct of a Blind Leader will he excuse him who seeing clearly will yet willingly be guided by the Blind because he leads him pleasantly and entertains him by the way according to his Inclinations These voluntary Blind Men ought to know that God who never deceives frequently permits these Seducers in punishment to the corrupt Affections of those that seek them That Blindness is a penalty of Sin though it be often the cause of it and that it is just that he who cared not to hear Eternal Wisdom who spoke only for his good should at last suffer himself to be corrupted by Men whose deception is so much more dangerous as their Flatteries are more pleasing 'T is true 't is no easie thing to retire into our selves to silence our Senses and Passions and to distinguish the Voice of God from that of our Body For we most commonly take sensible Proofs for evident Reasons and on that account it is necessary to consult the Casuists But it is not always needful For we see our Duty on many occasions with the clearest Evidence and an undoubted certainty And then it is even dangerous to consult them unless it be done with the greatest Sincerity and by a Spirit of Humility and Obedience For these dispositions oblige God to prevent our deception or at least to keep us from deceiving our selves in any hurtful manner When it is convenient to advise with a Spiritual Guide such an one is to be chosen as understands Religion and reverences the Gospel and is acquainted with humane Nature We must take heed least the converse of the World has corrupted him least Friendship should make him too Gentle and Complaisant least he should be Brib'd by his hopes or fears of us We must choose one in a thousand says St. Theresia who as she relates her self had like to have lost her way to Heaven by the means of an Ignorant Guide The World is full of Deceivers I say of Well-Meaning Deceivers no less than others Those who Love us seduce us by their Complaisance Those who are below us flatter us out of Respect or Fear Those above us out of Contempt or Negligence overlook our necessities Besides all Men give us Counsel agreeable to the Breviates we give of our own Condition and we never fail to make the best of our Case insensibly laying our hand upon our sore when we are asham'd of it We often deceive our Counsellours that we may deceive our selves For we fancy our selves secure whilst we follow their Directions They do but conduct us whither we design'd to go and yet we would fain perswade our selves in spite of our Light and the Secret reproofs of our Reason that 't is our Obedience which determines us We seduce our selves and God permits us but we can never deceive him who Penetrates the Bottom of our Hearts And though we deafen our selves never so much to the Voice of Internal Truth we are sufficiently made sensible by the inward Reproaches we receive from the Supream Truth leaving us to our selves that it enlightens our Darkness and discovers all the Wiles and Stratagems of Self-Love 'T is therefore evident that our Reason must be consulted for the Health of our Soul as our Senses are to be advis'd with for the Health of our Body and that when the former cannot clearly resolve us we must apply to the Casuist as we must have recourse to the Physician when the latter are defective But this is to be done with Judgment since Ignorant Casuists may Murther our Soul as Vnskilful Physicians may Poison our Body Whereas I explain not in particular the Rules which may be given about the choice and use that 's to be made of Physicians and Casuists I desire my Sentiments may be candidly interpreted and that it may not be imagin'd I am against drawing all possible supplies from other Men. I know that a particular Blessing attends our submission to the Opinions of the Wise and Understanding And I am willing to believe this general Rule that 't is requisite to die in the usual Forms is surer for the common sort of Men than any I could establish for the Preservation of Life But because 't is of perpetual use to retire into our selves to consult the Gospel and to listen to JESUS CHRIST whether he speaks immediately to our Mind and Heart or by Faith declares himself to our Ears and Eyes I thought I might be allow'd to say what I have said For our Casuists deceive us when they go contrary to the Doctrine of our Faith and Reason And as we give Honour to God by believing that his Works have what is necessary to their preservation I thought I could make Men sensible their Machine was so admirably contriv'd that it 's own Nature can better furnish it with what 's necessary to it's safety than Science and even the
Principle In a word Jesus Christ needing Minds of particular Dispositions for the causing particular Effects may in general apply to them and by that Application infuse into them sanctifying Grace As the Mind of a Projector thinks in general of square Stones when these Stones are actually necessary to his Building XVIII But the Soul of Jesus being not a general Cause we have reason to think it has often particular Desires in regard to particular Persons When we intend to speak of God we must not consult our selves and make him act like us but consider the Idea of a Being infinitely perfect and make God act according to that Idea But in speaking of the Action of the Soul of Jesus we may look into our selves and make him act like particular Causes For Example We have reason to believe that the Conversion of St. Paul was owing to the Efficacy of a particular Desire of Jesus Christ. And we are to look upon the Desires of the Soul of Jesus which have a general respect to Minds of a certain Character as particular Desires though they comprehend many Persons because these Desires change daily like those of particular Causes But the general Laws by which God acts are always the same because the Wills of God ought to be firm and constant by reason that his Wisdom is infinite XIX The diverse Desires of the Soul of Jesus distributing Grace we clearly conceive why it is not equally dispers'd to all Men and why bestow'd on some more abundantly at one time than another For his Soul not thinking on all Men at once cannot at the same time have all the Desires whereof it is capable So that he acts not on his Members in a particular manner except by successive Influences as the Soul moves not at once all the Muscles of our Body For the Animal Spirits are unequally and successively distributed into our Members according to the various Impressions of Objects the diverse Motions of our Passions and the several Desires we freely excite within us XX. True it is that all the Righteous constantly receive the Influence of their Head which gives them Life and that when they act by the Spirit of Jesus Christ they merit and receive new Graces though it be not necessary that the Soul of Jesus should have any particular Desires as the occasional Causes of them For Order which requires that every Desert should be rewarded is not an arbitrary but a necessary Law and independent from any occasional Cause But though he who performs a meritorious Action may be rewarded for it whilst the Soul of Jesus has no actual Desires relating to him yet 't is certain that he merited not this Grace but by the Dignity and Sanctity of the Spirit which Christ has communicated to him For Men are not well-pleasing to God nor able to do good but in as much as they are united to his Son by Charity XXI It must be farther acknowledg'd that those who observe the Counsels of Jesus Christ out of an Esteem they have for them and through the Fear of future Punishment sollicite as I may say by their Obedience the Charity of Christ to think on them though they act from a Principle of Self-love But their Actions are not the Occasional Causes either of Grace since it does not infallibly follow them or even of the Motions of the Soul of Jesus in their Favour since these Motions never fail to communicate it Thus only the Desires of Jesus Christ as Occasional Causes have infallibly their Effect because God having constituted him Head of the Church ought by him only to communicate his sanctifying Grace to his Elect. XXII Now we may consider in the Soul of Jesus Christ Desires of two sorts viz. Actual Transitory and Particular that have but a short-liv'd Efficacy and Stable and Permanent which consist in a setled and constant Disposition of the Soul of Jesus Christ with relation to certain Effects which tend to the Execution of his Design in general If our Soul by its various Motions communicated to our Body all that was necessary to its Formation and Growth we might distinguish in her two kinds of Desire For it would be by the actual and transitory Desires that she would drive into the Muscles of the Body the Spirits which gave it a certain Disposition with reference to present Objects or to the actual Thoughts of the Mind But it would be by stable and permanent Desires that she would give to the Heart and Lungs the natural Motions by which Respiration and the Circulation of the Blood were perform'd By these Desires she would digest the Aliments and distribute them to all the Parts that needed them in as much as that sort of Action is at all times necessary to the Preservation of the Body XXIII By the actual transitory and particular Desires of the Soul of Jesus Grace is deriv'd to unprepar'd Persons in a manner somewhat singular and extraordinary But 't is by his permanent Desires that it is given regularly to those who receive the Sacraments with the necessary Dispositions For the Grace we receive by the Sacraments is not given us precisely because of the Merit of our Action though we receive them in Grace but because of the Merits of Jesus Christ which are freely applied to us in consequence of his permanent Desires We receive in the Sacraments much more Grace than our Preparation deserves and it suffices to our receiving some Influence from them that we do not oppose and resist it But 't is abusing what is most Sacred in Religion to receive them unworthily XXIV Amongst the actual and transitory Desires of the Soul of Jesus there are certainly some more durable and frequent than others and the Knowledge of these Desires is of greatest Consequence in Point of Morality Doubtless he thinks oftner on those who observe his Counsels than on other Men. His Motions of Charity for Believers are more frequent and lasting than those for Libertines and Atheists And as all Believers are not equally prepar'd to enter into the Church of the Predestinate the Desires of the Soul of Jesus are not equally lively frequent and durable on the account of them all Man more earnestly desires the Fruits that are fittest for the Nourishment of his Body he 〈◊〉 oftner on Bread and Wine than on Meats of difficult Digestion So Jesus Christ designing the Formation of his Church ought to be more taken up with those who can most easily enter than on others which are extremely remote The Scripture likewise teaches us that the Humble the Poor the Penitent receive greater Graces than other Men because the Despisers of Honours Riches and Pleasures are the fittest for the Kingdom of Heaven Those for Example who have learn'd of Jesus Christ to be meek and humble in Heart shall find Rest to their Souls The Yoke of Christ which is insupportable to the Proud will become easie and light by the Assistances of Grace For God
his Sensations See the Illustrations upon the 7. Ch. of the 2 d. Part of the 3 d. Book V. That 't is an Error to think all Men have the same Sensations of the same Objects IV. An Objection and Answer This Pagraâ—h is wanting in some Editions and is obscure in the French and therefore has receiv'd some alteration that it might be perspicuous I. Of the false Judgments that accompany our Sensations and which we confound with them II. The Reason of these false Judgments III. That Error is not in our Sensations but only in these Judgments Brown Paper presently takes fire but the Glass must be larger or more convex to burn white Paper I. That the Errors of our Senses serve us instead of general and very fruitful Principles from whence to draw false Conclusions and these Conclusions again become other Principles in in their turn II. The Original of the Differences attributed to Objects That these Differences are in the Soul III. The Original of Substantial Forms IV. The Origine of all the other more general Errors of the School-Philosophy I. An Instance taken from Morality which shews that our senses offer us nothing but false goods I will explain in the last Book in what sense Objects act upon the Body II. That GOD only is our Good and that all sensible Objects cannot give us any sense of Pleasure III. The Origine of the Errors of the Epicureans and Stoicks I. That our senses make us liable to Error even in things which are not sensible II. An Example taken from the Conversation of Men. III. That Sensible and Agreeable Manners ought not to be regarded I. The Errors concerning the Nature of Bodies II. Errors concerning the Qualities and Perfection of Bodies I. That our Senses are given us only for the Preservation of our Body II. That we ought to doubt of the Reports which our Senses make of Things III. That 't is no little thing to doubt as we ought to do I. A General Idea of the Imagination * By a Natural Judgment whereof I have spoken in several places of the preceding Book II. Two Faculties in the Imagination an Active and a Passive III. A general cause of the Changes which happen in the Imagination and the foundation of the Second Book I. Of the Animal Spirits and the Changes they are subject to in general II. That the Chyle entring the Heart occasions a Change in the Spirits III. That Winâ— effects the same thing Vinum iuctator dolosus est Numquid non ultra est sapientia in Theman Jer. c. 49. v. 7. I. Of the Changes of the Spirits caus'd by the Nerves which go to the Heart and Lungs II. Of the Change of the Spirit caus'd by the Nerves which go to the Liver to the Spleen and other Viscera III. That these things are perform'd by the order of Providence without the concurrence of our Will I. Of the Mewory II. Of the Habits * I explain elsewhere wherein this Power consists See the Illustraâ—ions upon the Intellectual Memory and Habits I. That the Fibres of the Brain are not subject to so sudden Changes as the Spirits II. Three considerable Changes which happen in the Three different Ages of Man I. Of the Communication that is between the Brain of the Mother and that of her Infant II. Of the Communication between our Brain and the other Parts of our Body which incline us to Imitation and Compassion III. An Explication of the Generation of Monstrous Children and the Propagation of the Species * According to the first Supposition * According to the second Suâ—position IV. An Explication of some Irregularities of the Vnderstanding and Inclinations of the Will V. An Explication of Concupiscence and Original Sin Rom. Ch. 6.5.12 14 c. VI. Objections and Answers Se the Illustrations I. The Changes which happen in the Imagination of an Infant after his Birth by his accompanying with his Mother his Nurse and other Persons II. Instructions for the good Education of Children S. August Qui parcit virgae odit filium suum Prov. 13.24 I. Of the Imagination of Women II. Of the Imagination of Men in the Perfection of their Age. III. Concerning the Imagination of Old Men. I. Of the Vnion of the Soul and Body Three Causes of the Connection of Traces with Idea's II. Of the Mutual Connection of the Traces I. Mâ—n of Learning are the most subject to Errâ—r II. The Causes why Men had rather be guided by Authority than make use of their own Reason Clarus ob obscuram linguam Lucretius Veritas filia temporis non auâ—toritatis See the first Article of the preceding Chapter Praelectiones 13 in principium Elementorum Euclidis * In Quaâ—to I. Of the Inventors of new Systems II. A Considerable Error of Studious Men. I. Of Effeminate Minds II. Of Superficial Minds III. Of Men of Authority Opusc. 2. IV. Of such as make Experiments I. Of the Disposition we have to imitate others in all things which is the Original of the Communication of those Errors that depend on the Power of Imagination II. Two things that more especially increase the Disposition we have to imitate others III. What the Strong Imagination is IV. Two kinds of it V. Two considerable Imperfections of Men of a Strong Imagination VI. That Men of a Strong Imagination easily perswade Artic. 37. of the Religion of the Church of England Plutarch Mor. How to distinguish the Flatterer from the Friend Diodor. Sicul. Bibl. Lib. 3. See the Illustrations Chap. 2. 3. De Pallio Multos etiam vidi postquam bene aestuassent ut eum assequerentur nihil praeter sudorem inanem animi fatigationem lucratos ab ejus lectione discessisse Sic qui Scotinus haberi viderique dignus qui hoc cognomentum habere voluit adeo quod voluit a seipso impetravit efficere id quod obtabat valuit ut liquido jurare ausim neminem ad hoc tempus extitisse qui possit jurare hunc libellum a capite ad calcem usque totum a se non minus bene intellectum quam lectum Salm. in Epist. ded Comment in Tert. Epicurus ait Injurias tolerabiles esse Sapienti nos injurias non esse Sapientia hujus mundi stultitia est apud Deum Quod hominibus altum est abominatio est ante Deum Luc. 16. Beaux Esprits Esprits Forts 1. In Philosophia parum diligens 2. Velles eum suo ingenio dixisse alieno judicio 3. Si aliqua contempsisset c. Consensu Eruditorum quam Puerorum amore comprobaretur Quintil. lib 10. cap. 2. Apoc. 2. Conservus tuus sum c. Deum adora L. 3. Câ— 13 L. 2. Ch. 10 L. 1. Ch. 24 L. 2. Ch. 17 L. 12. Ch 17. L. 2. Ch. 12 L. 1. Ch. 22 I. Of Imaginary Witches Of Wolf-men II. The Câ—nclusion of the two first Book I. Thought only is essential to the Soul Sensation and Imagination are only the Modifications of it
whereas it is never in a State conâ—rary to its Good and Preservation but that she endures it with pain And therefore when we follow the Motions of our Passions and stop not the Course of the Spirits which the View of the Object of the Passion produces in the Body to put in it the most convenient State with relation to that Object the Soul by Nature's Law is affected with a Sensation of Satisfaction and Delight because her Body is in the Disposition it requires whereas when according to the Laws of Reason the Soul stops the Current of the Spirits and withstands those Passions she suffers a Pain proportionable to the Evil that may from thence arise to the Body For as the Reflection that the Soul makes upon her self is necessarily accompanied with the Joy or Sorrow of the Mind and afterwards with the Joy or Sorrow of the Senses when doing her Duty and submitting to the Orders of God she is conscious that she is in a due and convenient state or when having given her self up to her Passions she is afterwards affected with Remorse which teaches her that she is in a corrupt Disposition So the Course of the Spirits raised for the good of the Body is first attended with sensible and afterwards with Spiritual Joy or Sorrow according as the Course of the Animal Spirits is retarded or promoted by the Will There is however this notable difference betwixt the Intellectual Joy that attends the clear Knowledge of the good Estate of the Soul and the sensible Pleasure that accompanies the confused Sensation of the good disposition of the Body that the intellectual Joy is solid and substantial without Remorse and as immutable as its Original Cause the Truth whereas sensible Joy is almost ever followed with the Sorrow of the Mind or the Remorse of the Conscience and is as restless and fickle as the Passion or Agitation of the Blood from whence it proceeds To conclude the first is for the most part attended with an exceeding Joy of the Senses when it is derived from the Knowledge of the great good that the Soul possesses whereas the other is very rarely accompanied with any great Joy of the Mind though it proceeds from a Good considerable for the Body but contrary to the Good or Perfection of the Soul 'T is nevertheless true That without the Grace of our Lord the satisfaction the Soul relishes when she gives her self up to her Passions is more grateful than that which she enjoys when she follows the Rules of Reason which satisfaction is the Source of all the Disorders that have attended the Original Sin and would have made us all Slaves to our Passions had not the Son of God rid us from their Tyranny by the Delectation of his Grace For what I have said on behalf of the Joy of the Mind in opposition to the Joy of the Senses is only true amongst the Christians and was altogether false in the Mouths of Seneca Epicurus and all the most rational of the Heathen Philosophers because the Yoke of Christ is only sweet to those that belong to him and his Burthen only light when his Grace helps us to support the Weight of it CHAP. IV. That the Pleasure and Motion of the Passions engage us in Errours and false Judgments about Good That we ought continually to resist them How to impugn Libertinism ALL those general Qualities and Effects of the Passions that we have hitherto treated of are not free they are in us without our Leave and nothing but the Consent of our Will is wholly in our Power The View or Apprehension of Good is naturally followed with a Motion of Love a Sensation of Love a Concussion of the Brain a Motion of the Spirits a new Commotion of the Soul that encreases the first Motion of Love a new Sensation of the Soul that likewise augments the first Sensation of Love and lastly a Sensation of Satisfaction which recompenses the Soul for the Bodies being in a convenient State All this happens to the Soul and Body naturally and mechanally that is without her having any part in it nothing but her Consent being her own real Work This Consent we must regulate preserve and keep free in spite of all the Struggle and Attempts of the Passions We ought to submit our Liberty to none but God and to yield to nothing but to the Voice of the Author of Nature to inward Evidence and Conviction and to the secret Reproaches of our Reason We ought never to consent but when we plainly see we should make an ill Use of our Liberty in with-holding our Consent This is the principal Rule to be observ'd for the avoiding of Errour God only makes us evidently perceive That we ought to yield to what he requires of us to him alone therefore we ought to devote our Services There is no Evidence in the Allurements and Caresses in the Threats and Frightnings caused in us of the Passions they are only confused and obscure Sensations to which we must never yield up our selves We must wait till all those false Glimpses of the Passions vanish till a purer Light illuminates us till God speaks inwardly to us We must enter within our selves and there seek him that never leaves us that always enlightens us He speaks low but his Voice is distinct his Light is weak but pure But no his Voice is as strong as 't is distinct and his Light is as bright and active as 't is pure But our Passions continually keep us from home and by their Noise and Darkness hinder us from being instructed by his Voice and illuminated by his Light He speaks even to those that ask him no Questions and those whom Passions have carried farthest from him fail not yet many times to hear some of his Words but loud threatning astonishing Words sharper than a two-edged Sword piercing into the inmost Recesses of the Soul and discerning the Thoughts and Designs of the Heart For all things are open to his Eyes and he cannot see the unruly Actions of Sinners without lashing them inwardly with smarting Reproofs We must then re-enter into our selves and approach near him we must interrogate him listen to him and obey him for by always listning to him we shall never be deceived and always obeying him we shall never be subjected to the Inconstancy of the Passions and the Miserie 's due to Sin We must not like some pretenders to Wit whom the Violence of Passion has reduced to the Condition of Beasts who having a long time despised the Law of God seem at last to have retained no Knowledge of any other than that of their infamous Passions We must not I say imagine as do those Men of Flesh and Blood that it is following God and obeying the Voice of the Author of Nature to give up our selves to the Motions of Passions and to comply with the secret Desires
of our Heart This is the utmost possible Blindness 't is according to St. Paul the temporal Punishment of Impiety and Idolatry that is to say the Desert of the most enormous Crimes And herein indeed the greatness of this terrible Punishment consists that instead of allaying the Anger of God as do all the others in this World it continually exasperates and encreases it till that dreadful Day comes wherein his just Wrath shall break out to the Confusion of Sinners Their Arguings however seem likely enough as being agreeable to common Sense countenanc'd by the Passions and such I am sure as all the Philosophy of Zeno could never overthrow We must love Good say they Pleasure is the Sign which Nature has affix'd to it to make it known and that Sign can never be fallacious since God has instituted it to distinguish Good from Evil. We must avoid Evil say they again Pain is the Character which Nature has annex'd to it and a Token in which we cannot be mistaken since it was instituted by God for the distinguishing it from Good We feel Pleasure in complying with our Passions Trouble and Pain in opposing them and therefore the Author of Nature will have us to give up our selves to our Passions and never to resist them since the Pleasure and Pain wherewith he affects us in those Cases are the infallible Criterion of his Will And consequently it is to follow God to comply with the Desire of our Hearts and 't is to obey his Voice to yield to the Instinct of Nature which moves us to the satisfying our Senses and our Passions This is their way of Reasoning whereby they confirm themselves in their infamous Opinions And thus they think to shun the secret Reproofs of their Reason and in Punishment of their Crime God suffers them to be dazzled by those false Glimpses delusive Glarings which blind them instead of inlightning them and strike them with such an insensible Blindness as they do not so much as wish to be cured of it God delivers them to a reprobate Sense he gives them up to the Desires of their corrupt Heart to shameful Passions to Actions unworthy of Men as the Holy Scripture speaks that having fatned themselves by their Debauches they may to all Eternity be the fit Sacrifice of his Vengeance But let us solve this Difficulty which they offer The Sect of Zeno not knowing how to untie the Knot has cut it by denying that Pleasure is a Good and Pain an Evil But that 's too venturous a Stroke and a Subterfuge unbecoming Philosophers and very unlikely I am sure to convert those who are convinc'd by Experience That a great Pain is a great Evil. Since therefore Zeno and all his Heathen Philosophy cannot solve the Difficulty of the Epicures we must have recourse to a more solid and inlightned Philosophy 'T is true that Pleasure is Good and Pain Evil and that Pleasure and Pain have been join'd by the Author of Nature to the Use of certain Things by which we judge whether they are Good or Evil which make us persue the Good and fly from the Evil and almost ever follow the Motions of the Passions All this is true but relates only to the Body which to preserve and keep long a Life much like to that of Beasts we must suffer our selves to be ruled by our Passions and Desires The Senses and Passions are only given us for the good of the Body sensible Pleasure is the indelible Character which Nature has affix'd to the Use of certain Things that without putting our Reason to the trouble of examining them we might presently imploy them for the preservation of the Body but not with intent that we should love them For we ought only to love those Things which Reason undoubtedly manifests to be our Good We are Reasonable Beings and God who is our Sovereign Good requires not of us a blind an instinctive a compell'd Love as I may say but a Love of Choice an enlightned Love a Love that submits to him our whole Intellectual and Moral Powers He inclines us to the Love of him in shewing us by the Light that attends the Delectation of his Grace that he is our Chief Good but he moves us towards the Good of the Body only by Instinct and a confused Sensation of Pleasure because the Good of the Body is undeserving of either the Attention of our Mind or the Exercise of our Reason Moreover our Body is not our selves 't is something that belongs to us and absolutely speaking we cannot subsist without it The Good of the Body therefore is not properly our Good for Bodies can be but the Good of Bodies We may make use of them for the Body but we must not be taken up with them Our Soul has also her own Good viz. the only Good that is superiour to her the only one that preserves her that alone produces in her Sensations of Pleasure and Pain For indeed none of the Objects of the Senses can of themselves give us any Sensation of them it is only God who assures us of their Presence by the Sensation he gives us of them which is a Truth that was never understood by the Heathen Philosophers We may and must love that which is able to make us sensible of Pleasure I grant it But by that very Reason we ought only to love God because he only can act upon our Soul and the utmost that sensible Objects can do is to move the Organs of our Senses But what matters it you 'll say from whence those grateful Sensations come I will taste ' em O thou ungrateful Wretch know the Hand that showres down Good upon thee You require of a just God unjust Rewards You desire he should recompence you for the Crimes you commit against him and even at the very time of committing them you make use of his immutable Will which is the Order and Law of Nature to wrest from him undeserved Favours for with a guilty Managery you produce in your Body such Motions as oblige him to make you relish all sorts of Pleasures But Death shall dissolve that Body and God whom you have made subservient to your unjust Desires will make you subservient to his just Anger and mock at you in his turn 'T is very hard I confess that the Enjoyment of Corporeal Good should be attended with Pleasure and that the Possession of the Good of the Soul should often be conjoin'd with Pain and Anguish We may indeed believe it to be a great Disorder by this Reason that Pleasure being the Character of Good and Pain of Evil we ought to possess a Satisfaction infinitely greater in loving God than in making use of sensible Things since He is the true or rather the only Good of the Mind So doubtless will it be one Day and so was it most probably before Sin entred into the World At least 't is very certain that before the Fall Man suffered