force of the Seed perform the work by degrees distinguishing the parts and rendering the form perfect Now as the life of every other Creature as it is testified in the 17 Chapter of Levitie is is in the Blood so the life of Man consisteth in the Soul the which although subject to passion by reason of the gross composture of the Body in which it has a temporary confinement yet it is immortal and cannot in it self corrupt or suffer change it being a spark of the divine mind and a blast of Almighty Breath that distinguishes Man from other Creatures and renders him immortal and that every man has a peculiar Soul it plainly appears by the vast difference between the Wit Judgment Opinion Manners Affections c. in men And this David observes when he says God hath in particular fashioned the Heart and Minds of all Men and has given to every one it s own Being and a Soul of its own Nature Hence Solomon rejoyced that God had given him a happy Soul and a Body agreeable and suitable to it It has caused many Disputes amongst the Learned especially Philosopers in what part of the Body the Soul chuseth to reside and some have given their opinion that its resident is in the middle of the Heart and from thence communicates it self to every part which Solomon in the Fourth of his Proverbs seems to assert when he says Keep thy Heart with all thy diligence because Life proceedeth therefrom but many curious Physicians scarching the Works of Nature in Man's Anatomy c. do give it as their Opinion that its chief Seat is in the Brain from whence proceed the Senses Faculties and Actions diffusing the operations of the Soul through all parts of the Body whereby it is enlivened with heat and force but it doth communicate particular force to be Heart by Arteries Catotides or sleepy Arteries that part upon the Throat the which if they happen to be broke or cut cause Barrenness and if stopped they become Apoplectick for there must necessarily be some ways through which the Spirits animal and vital may have intercourse and convey native heat from the Soul For although the Soul is said to reside in one place it operates in every part exercising every Member which are the Souls Instruments by which she manifesteth her pow'r but if it so happen that any of the Organical parts are out of Tune the Work is confuied as it may appear in the case of Idiots Madmen c. Though in some of them the Soul by forcibly working recovers her supernatural vigor they become right after a long dispondency of mind and in some it is lost in this life For as fire under ashes nor the Sun obscured from our sight by thick Clouds afford not their full lustre so the soul overwhelmed in moist or faulty matter is darkned and Reason thereby overclouded and although reason shines less in Children than in those that are arrived to maturity yet no man must imagine that the Soul is an Infant and grows up with the Child for then would it again decay but it suits it self to the weakness of Nature and the imbecility of Body wherein it is placed that it may the better operate And as the Body is more and more capable of receiving its influence so it shews it self in its prper lustre having its force and indowments at the time it enters the formed Child in the Womb for the Substance of it can receive nothing less And thus much to prove that the Soul comes not from the Parents Seed but is infused by God and the next thing now to be handled is its Immortality and thereby I shall demonstrate the certainty of the Resurrection That the Soul of Man is a divine Ray infused by God I have already made apparent and now come to shew you that whatever immediately proceeds from him must participate of his Nature and from thence consequently be as Immortal as it 's Original for although all other Creatures are indued with life and motion yet wnat they a reasonable Soul and from thence 't is concluded their life is in their Blood and that being corruptible they perish and after their expiring are no more But Man being endued with a reasonable Soul and stamped with the divine Image is of a different nature and tho' his Body be corruptible yet his Soul cannot perish but must when it is expunged its earthly Tabernacle return to God that gave it either to receive reward or punishment now that the body can sin of it self is impossible because wanting the Soul it cannot act nor proceed to any thing either good or evil for could it do so additional sins might be accumulated even in the Grave but 't is plain that after death there is a cessation for as Death leaves us so judgment finds us And St. John in the fifth Chapter of his Gospel tells us That the hour shall come that all that are in their Graves shall hear his Voice and they that have done well shall come forth to the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil to the Resurrection of Condemnation And Holy Job in the fourteenth and nineteenth Chapter speaking to the same purposes says For I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth And though after my Skin Worms destroy my body yet in my Flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and mine Eyes shall behold and not another though my Reins be consumed within me By this 't is plainly proved that the Soul is made of immortal Essence incapable of death having a place assigned it after its separation from the Body till the day of the general Resurrection not in the Grave but in a Mansion prepared by the Almighty for its Reception and that through the mighty working of him that is able to subdue all things to himself it shall again enter the same Body that was laid down tho' the dust thereof be scattered to the four Winds of Heaven nay such force and vigour shall it have that it shall as it were take up the Body for Job positively says I shall rise out of the Earth at the last day c. Which being applicable to the future Tense may be meant two ways I shall or will rise for plainly foreseeing the Resurrection he claimed it as the promise of his Creator Nay so far were the Heathens by the light of Nature from doubting the immortality of the Soul that Plato in his Phaedro thus reasons viz. What consists not of Elements saith he is immortal and can neve dye The Soul is not made of Elements nor of created matter but came from God and therefore it cannot dye c. Then may it be without difficulty granted that the body which has been a long Companion of the Souls will once again enjoy it never more to be separated for the Body at the Resurrection shall be incorruptible
is almost next to a miracle to be perfect it is by the Latins called a Birth of the fourth Moon because the product is commonly unhappy in all the Series of its lise having had its enterance by Generation contrary to Natures order which Moses considering or being so commanded by God strictly commanded the Hebrew men not to touch a Woman that was unclean of her Blood and these that have been so rashly profligate of either Sex have many times by sad experience found their wilful folly too late but especially the Female Sex for by the violent concussion and motion used in copulation and evil mixture the contagion by degrees will seise upon the whole habit of the Body causing the Pox and Leprosie the like Effects it has upon Men if the Woman be infected especially if he deal with Whores at such times who commonly are infected and may be accounted so many walking Contagions or Emissaries of the Prince of Darkness for the destruction of Mankind and at this day the greatest pest and grievance of the Nation These things rightly considered no man need wonder at so many mis-shapen Births and monsterous People with scald Heads bowed and distorted Legs Arms and Backs wry Necks crumpled Feet incident to swellings and inherent Diseases especially swellings in the Groin Buboes and Emerods as also that their minds are dull stupid forgetful foolish mad and unreasonable which are indeed the effects of unseasonable and unreasonable Venery which every Creature but Man observes in the Season Nature has allotted and when their Females have conceived they desire no longer but rest satisfied Therefore let Man who is indued with a rational Soul and ought above all other Creatures to have dominion over his appetite and affections codsider how eruel he is to his posterity that brings such mischiefs upon them and chiefly they are here to be understood that are conceived in the fourth Moon when the Womans Courses are upon her therefore all men ought to refrain neither should the Woman dare to copulate with Men as better knowing the Season of their Courses than some rash inconsiderate and unexperienced Novices of the Masculine Gender do for the Children then conceived want all or most of those gifts and properties that Children begotten at seasonable times are endowed withal being capable of nothing that is good nor great and if it so happen they do any thing well they have ill Success in their Undertakings by reason their natural Faculties are short not by their own but their Parents fault who undecently in Procreation violate Natures Law whence it is that many things are wanting in them or else given them sparingly and with some ill qualities that CHAP. VIII The Opinions of the Learned concerning Children conceived and born within the space of seven Months with lively Arguments upon the Subject to prevent suspicions of incontinency and the bitter Contests that thereon too often arise between Man and Wife To which is added Rules for knowing the disposition of Mans Body by the Genital parts CErtain it is that many bitter Quarrels have arisen thro' misunderstanding when solid reason would have rectified the Judgment and have prevented the conception of such an evil and from whence does this arise but through Suspicion and Jealousie when indeed it is many times founded upon a slender Foundation as the new married Womans being brought to Bed before the expiration of nine months which is vulgarly taken from the time of Conception to the Birth to remove which groundless Suspicion I shall endeavour not that 't is common dare I avouch but that 't is possible and has been frequently known that Children have been born at 7 months but the matter being wholly left by the Lawyers who decide Controversies to the Physicians to judge of it is in their power to determine by inspecting the Child whether it is a Child of 7 8 9 or 10 months Paul the Counsellor has this Passage in his nineteenth Book of Pleadings viz. It is now a received truth that a perfect Child may be born in the 7 month by the Authority of the learned Hypocrates And therefore we must believe that a Child born at the end of the 7th month in lawful Matrimony may be lawfully begotten Gallen in the 6th Chapter of his third Book handleth this Argument but rather according to Mens Opinions than according to the truth of the business or from natural Reasons who supposeth there is no certain time set for bearing Children And from the Authority of Pliny who makes mention of a Woman that went 13 months with Child but as to what concerns the 7th month saith Lemnius I know many married People in Holland that had Twins who lived to extream Old Age their Bodies lusty and their Minds apt and lively wherefore their Opinion is foolish and or no moment who assert that at 7 months a Child cannot be perfect and long lived and that he cannot in all parts be perfect till the 9th Month and thereupon this Learned Author proceeds to tell a passage from his own knowlege as follows Of late saith he there happened a great disturbance amongst us which ended not without Blood shed and was occasioned by a Virgin whose Chastity had been violated descending of a noble Family and ever before that time held to be of unspotted fame Now several there were who charged the Fact upon a Person of Note viz. a Judge President of a City in Flanders who strongly denyed the Fact saying that he was ready to swear it upon the holy Evangelist that he never so much as penetrated her Body or broke the Membrane of her Virginity and that he would by no means therefore be taken for the Father of the Child that was not his and further alledged that he verily believed that it was a Child born in seven Months and that himself was many miles distance from the Mother of it when it was conceived whereupon the Judges before whom the hearing was decreed That the Child should be viewed by Able Physicians as also Experienced Women and that they should make their report who having made diligent inquiry all of them with one accord concluded the Child without respecting who was the Father was a Child Born within the space of Seven Months that it was carryed in the Mothers Womb but 27 Weeks and some odd Days but if she could have carried it to full 9 Months the Childs Parts and Limbs would have been more firm and strong and the Sructure of the Body more compact and fast for the Skin was exceeding loose and the Brest-bone that defends the Heart and the Sword-like Gristie that lies over the Stomach were higher than naturally then should be not plain but crocked and sharp Ridged or pointed like those of young Chickens that are hatched at the beginning of the Spring And being a Female Infant it wanted its Nailes upon her Fingers and the outmost Joynts of her Fingers upon which from the Musculous or Cartilaginous
cannot be well delivered then let her keep her Knees and Thighs as far asunder as she can her Legs bowed together her Buttocks the Soles of her Feet and Heels being fixed upon a Little Log of Timber placed for that purpose that she may have the greater force to strain now in case her Back be exceeding weak a Swath-band may be cast under it the band being four double and about 12 inches broad and this must be held by two persons who with steady hands and equal motion must raise her up at the time the Pains happen but if they be not exact in their motion 't is better evaded and at the same time let 2 Women hold her Shoulders that she may the better strain out the Birth with more advantage and the better to facilitate it let a Woman stroak or press the upper part of her Belly gently and by degrees nor must the Woman her self be faint hearted but Couragious and of a good Heart forcing her self by straining and stopping her Breath In case of Delivery the Midwife must wait with patience till the Childs Head or othre Members burst the Membrane for if through Ignorance or hast to be gone to other Woman a ssome have done the Midwife tear the Membranes with her Nails she indangers both the woman and the Child for it lying dry and wanting that slipperyness that should facilitate it its ligress comes forth with greater Pain When the Head appears the Midwife must gently hold it between her two hands and draw the Child at such times as the Womans pangs are upon her and at no other slipping by degrees her four fingers under its Armpits not using a rough hand in drawing it forth least by such means the Child through its tenderness receive any deformity of Body As soon as the Child is taken forth which is commonly with its Face downwards let it be laid upon its Back that it may more freely receive external Respiration then cut the Navel-string with a a sharp Instrument about three inches from the Body tying that which adheres to the Belly with a Silken string as near as you can then cover the Head and Stomach of the Child well suffering nothing to come upon the Face The Child being thus drawn forth and in Health lay it aside and let the Midwife regard the Patient in drawing or causing to come forth the Secundine which are the contracted Membranes And this may be done by wagging and stirring them up and down and afterward with a gentle hand drawing them forth or if the work be difficult let the Woman hold Salt in her hands shut them close and breath hard into them whereby she shall know whether the said Membranes are broken or not The like may be known by causing a strain or Vomiting by putting one Finger down her Throat by straining or moving her Inferior parts being all observed to be done out of hand If this fail she may take a draught of raw Elder water or the Yolk of a raw Egg or smell to a piece of Fssa-Faetida especially if she be troubled with the Wind chollick a Remedy for which I shall hereafter prescribe If she have taken Cold it is a great obstruction to the coming down of the Secundines and in such cases the MIdwife ought to chase the Womans Belly with a gentle hand which breaks not only the wind but obliges the Secondine to come down And these proving Ineffectual the Midwife must dilate with her hand the exterior Orifice of the Womb and gently draw it forth Having discoursed of common Births or such as for the most part are easie I shall proceed to give directions in case of Extremity CHAP. XXI In case of Extremity what ought to be Observed especially to Women who in their Travel are accompanied with an Eflux of Blood Convulsions or Fits of the Wind. IN case of Extremity greater regard must be had then at other times and first of al the situation of the Womb and her posture of lying must be cross the Bed being held by such as have strength to prevent her sliping down or moving her self in the operation of the Man Midwife or Chirurgeon her Thighs must be sundered as wide as may be and so held whilst her Legs invert or bend backward towards her Hips her Head leaning upon a Bolster and the Reins of her Back supported with the like nor Rump and Buttocks likewise Elevated observing to cover her Stomack Belly and Thighs with warm Linnen to keep them from cold winds The woman being in the posture aforesaid let the Operator put up his hand if he finds the neck of the Womb dilated and remove the contracted Blood that obstructs the passage of the Birth and having by degrees with much gentleness made way let him tenderly move the Infant his hand being first anointed with sweet Butter or a harmless Pomatum and if the waters are not come down then without any difficulty may they be let forth when if the Infant attempts to break forth with the Head foremost or cross he may gently turn it to find the Feet which having done let him draw forth one and fasten to it a Ribbon then put it up again and by degree find the other when bringing them as close and even as may be and between whiles giving the Woman leave to breath urging her to strain in helping Nature to perfect the Birth he may draw it forth and the better to do it that his hold may be the surer he must fasten or wrap a Linen Cloath about the Childs Thighs observing to bring it into the World with its Face downward In case of a flux of Blood if the Neck of the Womb be open it must then be maturely considered whether the Infant or the Secundines come first which often the latter happening to do stop the mouth of the Womb and hinder the Birth to the endangering both the Woman and the Child in such a case I say the Secundine must be removed by a swift turn and indeed they have by their so coming down deceived many who feeling their softness supposed the Womb was not delated and by their being so decived the Woman and Child or at least the latter has been lost the Secundines removed the Child must be sought for and drawed forth as has been directed and if in such a case the Woman or Child dye the Midwife or Chirurgeon is blameless because they did their true endeavour If it appear upon enquiry that the Secundine comes first let the Woman be delivered with all convenient expedition because great flux of Blood will follow for then the Veins are opened and upon this account two things are to be considered First the great or lessness of the Secundines advancing if the former and the head of the Child appear first it must be guided and directed towards the Neck of the Womb as in case of natural Births but if there thro' the weakness of the Child or Mother appear any