disposing the Minde unto one object in some unto another according as the impetus and force of their naturall affections carrieth them And therefore Aristotle in his Politiques ascribeth the inequalitie which hee observes betweene the Asiatique and European Wits unto the severall Climates and temperature of the Regions in which they lived according whereunto the Complexions and Constitutions of their Bodies onely could be alter'd the Soule being in it selfe according to the same Philosopher impassible from any corporeall Agent And to the same purpose againe he saith That if an old man had a young mans eye his sight would be as sharpe and as distinct as a young mans is implying 〈◊〉 diversitie of Perception to be grounded onâ—…ly on the diversitie of bodily instruments by which it is exercised And therefore he elsewhere observes I shall not trouble my selfe to examine upon what ground that men of soft and tender skins have greatest quicknesse of wit and on the contrarie Duri Carne ineptiâ—…mente thereby intimating that there is no more significant and lively expression of a vigorous or heavie Soule than a happie or ill-ordered Body wherein wee may sundry times reade the abilities of the Minde and the inclinations of the Will So then it is manifest that this weakenesse of apprehension in the Soules of men doth not come from any immediate and proper darknesse belonging unto them but onely from the coexistence which they have with a Body ill-disposed for assistance and information For hee who is carried in a Coach as the Body is vehiculum animae though he be of himselfe more nimble and active must yet receive such motion as that affoords and Water which is conveyed through Pipes and Aqueducts though its motion by it selfe would have beene otherwise must yet then be limitted by the posture and proportion of the Vessels through which it passeth CHAP. II. In what Cases the dependance of the Soule on the Body is lessened by Faith Custome Education Occasion BVt yet this dependance on the Body is not so necessarie and immutable but that it may admit of variation and the Soule be in some cases vindicated from the impression of the Body And this first in extraordinarie and next in more common actions In actions extraordinarie as those pious and religious operations of the Soule Assent Faith Invocation and many others wherein the Soule is carried beyond the Sphere of Sense and transported unto more raysed operations For to beleeve and know that there are layd up for pious and holy endeavours those joyes which eye hath not seene nor care heard and to have some glimpses and fore-taste of them which Saint Paul calleth the Earnest and first fruits of the Spirit What is this but to leave sense behind us and to out-run our Bodies And therefore it is that Religion I meane chiefely the Principles Foundations Articles and Mysteries Evangelicall were alwayes not to be urged by Disputes of Secular Learning but to be sacredly and secretly infused not so much perswading to the knowledge of apparent Truths as drawing to the beleese of true Mysteries Divine Truths doe as much transcend the Reason as Divine Goodnesse doth the Will of Man That One Nature should be in Three Persons and Two Natures in One Person That the invisible God should be manifested in the flesh and a pure Virgin bring forth a Sonne That Death should be conquered by dying and not be able to digest and consume the Body which it had devoured That dead bones should live and they who dwell in the dust awake and sing These are Mysteries not onely above the reach of Humane but even of Evangelicall disquisition in somuch that even unto Principalities and Powers they were not otherwise made knowne but by Divine Revelation delivered unto the Church Sarah laughed when Abraham beleeved and the Philosophers mocked when Paul disputed and Reason expected that the Apostle should have fallen downe dead when contrarily Faith shooke the Viper into the fire There is a great difference betweene the manner of yeelding our assent unto God and Nature For in Philosophie we never resigne our beleese nor suffer our judgements to be wholly carried to any Conclusion till there be a demonstrative Argument grounded on Induction from the Sense for the enforcement thereof But Divinitie on the other side wheâ—… God speakes unto us worketh Science by Faith making us so much the more assured of thosâ—… Truths which it averreth than of any Naturalâ—… Conclusions notwithstanding they may seemâ—… sometimes to beare opposition to humane Reason by how much Divine Authoritie is more absolute and certaine than any Naturall demonstration And this freedome from bodily restraint have according to the Schoole-men those Raptures and Extasies which rayse and ravish the Soule with the sweetnesse of extraordinarie Contemplations And yet even Religion it selfe hath so much condiscended to the senses of men as to give them manner of roome and service in this great Mysterie And therefore generally the Doctrine of Christ is set forth in Parables and Similitudes and the Faith in Christ confirmed by Sacraments things most agreeable to the perception and capacitie of the Senses Now for the exemption of the more ordinarie actions of the Soule from any predominancie of the Body it is chiefely wrought by these three meanes Education Custome and Occasion For the Rule of Aristotle though in Agents purely Naturall and peremptorie which are not directed by any degree of knowledge inherent it held true yet in Man it is not universall That any thing which comes from Nature is unalterable by Custome For we commonly observe that the Culture of the Minde as of the Earth doth many times deliver it from the barrennesse of its owne Nature Exercetque frequens tellurem atque imperat arvis As frequent Husbandry commands The emptiest and most barren Lands Education then and Custome doe as it were revenge Nature insomuch that though the outward Humours and Complexions doe worke the Mind unto an unhappie temper yet by a continuall grapling with these difficulties it getteth at the last some victorie though not without much reluctancie And for Occasion that alters the naturall inclination of the Will and Affections rather than of the Vnderstanding for so wee see that the byas and force of mens desires are oftentimes turned by reason of some sudden emergent occurrences contrarie to the standing temper and complexion of the Body Thus wee reade some times of men in Warre who notwithstanding of themselves timerous and sluggish yet when the disadvantage of the place had taken away all possibilitie of flight and the crueltie of the Adversarie all hope of mercie if they should be conquered have strangely gayned by their owne despaires and gotten great and prosperous Victories by a forc'd and unnaturall fortitude Vna salus victis nullam sperare salutem The onely weapon which did win the day Was their despaire that they were cast away An example whereof wee have in the
greatest desires and endeavours are to keep it so alwaies his Secret Will is performed Eveâ—… by the free and Selfe-moving Operations of those who set themselves stubboâ—…nly to oppose it There is not then any Supreame Destiny Extriâ—…sically moving or Necessarily binding any Inferiours to particular Actions but there is only a Divine Providence which can as out of the Concurrence of differing and casuall Causes which we call Fortune so likewise out of the Intrinsicall Operation of all Inferiour Agents which we call Nature produce one maine and Supreame End without strayning or violating the proper Motions of any Lastly many men are apt in this case to father their sinnes upon the motions of Satan as if hee brought the necessity of sinning upon them and as Saint Paul said in Faith Not I but Sinne in me So they in Hipocresie Not I but evill motions cast into me and because the Devill is in a speciall manner called the Tempter such men therefore thinke to perswade themselves that their Evill commeth not from any Willingnesse in themselves but from the violence of the Enemies Power Malice and Policy It is true indeed that the Devill hath a strong Operation on the Wils of Corrupt men 1 First because of the Subtilty of his Substance whereby he can winde himselfe and his suggestions most Inwardly on the Affections and Vnderstanding 2 Secondly because of the Height of his Naturall Vnderstanding and Policy whereby he is able to transfigure himselfe into an Angel of Light and so to method and contrive his devices that they shall not misse of the best advantage to make them speed 3 Thirdly because of the vastnesse of his Experience whereby he is the better inabled to use such plots as have formerly had the best successe 4 Fourthly because of his manner of Working grounded on all these which is Violent and Furious for the Strength and therefore he is called a Strong Man a Roaring Lyon a Red Dragon And Deep for the subtilty of it and therefore his working is called a Mystery of Iniquity and Deceivablenesse of Iniquity Which is seene First in his Accommodating himselfe to our particular Humours and Natures and so following the tyde of our own Affections Secondly by fitting his Temptations according to our Vocations and Personall Imploiments by changing or mixing or suspending or pressing or any other the like qualifying of his Suggestions according as he shall find agreeable to all other Circumstances But yet wee doe not find in any of these any violation of mans Will nor restraint of his Obedience but rather the Arts that are used to the inveagling of it The working then of Evill Angels are all by Imposture and Deceit towards Good men and in respect of Evill men they are but as those of a Prince over his Subjects or of a Lord over his Slaves and Captives which may wâ—…ll stand with the Freedome of mans Will And therefore his temptations are in some place called the Methods in others the Devices in others the Sâ—…ares of Sâ—…tan All words of Circumâ—…ention and presuâ—…pose the working of our own Wiâ—…s Though then Satan have in a notable manner the name of Temptâ—…r belonging to him yet wee are told in another place that Every man is tempted when hee is drawne away of his owne Concâ—…piscence aâ—…d inticâ—…d So that the Devill hath never an 〈◊〉 Temptation such an one as carryes and overcomes the Will but it is alwaies ioyned with an Inward Temptation of our owne proceeding from the deceiâ—…fulnesse of our owne lusts So that in this case every man may say to himselfe as Apollodoruâ—… in Plutarch dreamed of himselfe when he thought he was boyled alive in a vessell and his heart cried out unto him I am the cause of all this misery to my selfe Many more things might be here added touching this Faculty which I wil but name As first for the manner of its Operations In some cases it worketh Naturally and Necessarily as in its Inclination unto Good in the whole latitude and generall apprehension thereof For it cannot will any thing under the generâ—…ll and formall notion of Evill In others Voluntarily from it selfe and with a distinct view and knowledge of an End wheâ—…unto it workâ—…th In others freely with a Liberty to one thing or another with a power to elicite or to suspend and suppresse its owne Operation In all Spontaneously without violence or compulsion For though in some respects the Will be not free from Necessity yet it is in all free from Coaclâ—…on And therfore though Ignorance Eeare may take away the complete 〈◊〉 of an Action proceeding from the Will because without such Feate or Ignorance it would not have been done Aâ—… when a man casteth his goods into the Sea to escape a shâ—…pwracke And when Oedipus slew Laius his Father nor knowing him so to be yet they can never force the Will to doe that out of violence which is not represented under some notion of Good thereunto Secondly for the Motives of the Will They are first Naturall and Internall Amongst which the Vnderstanding is the principall which doth passe Iudgement upon the Goodnesse and Convenience of the Object of the Will and according to the greater or lesser excellency therâ—…of represent it to the Will with either a Mandatory or a Monitory or a permissive Sentence The Will likewise doth move it selfe For by an Antecedent willing of the Eâ—…d she setteth her selfe on work to will the Means requisite unto the obtaining of that End And the Sensitive 〈◊〉 doth Indirectly move it too By suppressing or bewitching and inticing the Iudgment to put some colour and appearance of Good upon sensuall things And then as the Sunne seemeth red through a red glasse so such aâ—… a mans owne Affection is such will the End seeme unto him to be as the Philosopher speaks Next Supernaturally God moveth the Wilâ—… of men Not only in regard of the Matter of the Motion For in him we live and move and have our being but in regard of the Rectitude and Goodnesse of it in Actions Supernaturall both by the Manifestation of Heavenly Light They shall be â—…ll taught of God and by the Infusion and Impression of Spirituall Grace preventing assisting enabling us both to Will and to Doe of his owne good pleasure Lastly for the Acts of the Will They are such as respect either the End or the Means for attâ—…ining of it The Acts respecting the End are these three 1. A Loving and Desiring of it in regard of its Beauty and Goodnesse 2. A serious Intention and purpose to prosecute it in regard of its distance from us 3. A Frâ—…ition or Enjoying of it which standeth in two thingâ—… In Assecâ—…tion or possession whereby we are Actually joyned unto it and in Delectation or Rest whereby we take speciall pleasure in it The Acts of the Will respecting the Means are these 1. An Act of Vsing or Imploying the Practicall Iudgement
coactis Quos neque Tydides nec Larissaeus Achilles Non anni domuere decem non mille carinae They are surpriz'd by frauds and forced teares In whom their greatest foes could work no feares Whom ten yeres war not won nor thousand ships Are snar'd and conquer'd by perjurious lips The second manner of Corruption which Passion useth on the Vnderstanding and Will was Alienating or withdrawing of Reason from the serious examination of those Pleasures wherewith it desireth to possesse the Mind without controule that when it cannot so farre prevaile as to blind and seduce Reason getting the allowance and Affirmative Consent thereof it may yet at least so farre inveagle it as to with-hold it from any Negative Determination and to keepe off the Mind from a serious and impartiall consideration of what Appetite desireth for feare lest it should be convinced of sinne and so finde the lesse sweetnesse in it And this is the Reason of that affected and Voluntarie Ignorance which Saint Petâ—… speakes of whereby Minds prepossessed with a love of inordinate courses doe with-hold and divert Reason and forbeare to examine that Truth which indeed they know as fearing lest thereby they should be deterred from those Vices which they resolve to follow Which is the same with that excellent Metaphore in Saint Paul who sayth That the wrath of God was revealed from Heaven on all Vngodlinesse and Vnrighteousnesse of Men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whicâ—… hold or detaine the Truth in Vnrighteousnesse that is which imprison and keepe in that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle interpreteth himselfe in the next Verse all those Notions of Divine Truth touching the Omnipotencie and Iustice of God which were by the singer of Nature written within them to deterre them from or if not to make them inexcusable in those unnaturall pollutions wherein they wallowed Thus Medea in the Poet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I know 't is wicked that I goe about But Passion hath put all my Reason out And therefore that Maxime of the Stoicall Philosopher out of Plato is false 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That all men are unwillingly deprived of Truth since as Aristotle hath observed directly agreeable to the phrase of Saint Peter there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an elected or Voluntarie Ignorance which for their Securities sake men nourish themselves in And that there should be such an Alienation of the Mind from Truth when the Fancie and Heart are hot with Passion cannot be any great wonder For the Soule is of a limited and determined Activitie in the Body insomuch that it cannot with perspiâ—…uitie and diligence give attendance unto diverse Objects And therefore when a Passion in its fulnesse both of a violence and delight doth take it up the more cleare and naked brightnesse of Truth is suspended and changed So that as the Sunne and Moone at their rising and setting seeme farre greater than at other times by reason of thick Vapours which are then interposed so the Mind looking upon things through the Mists and Troubles of Passion cannot possibly judge of them in their owne proper and immediate Truth but according to that magnitude or colour which they are framed into by prejudice and distemper But then thirdly if Reason will neither be deluded nor won over to the patronage of Evill nor diverted from the knowledge and notice of Good then doth Passion strive to confound and distract the Apprehensions thereof that they may not with any firmenesse or efficacie of Discourse interrupt the Current of such irregular and head-strong Motions And this is a most inward and proper Effect of Passion For as things presented to the Mind in the nakednesse and simplicitie of their owne Truth doe gaine a more firme Assent unto them and a more fixed intuition on them so on the contrarie side those things which come mixt and troubled dividing the intention of the Mind between Truth and Passion cannot obtaine any setled or satisfactorie Resolution from the Discourses of Reason And this is the Cause of that Reluctancie betweene the Knowledge and Desires of Incontinent Men and others of the like Nature For as Aristotle observes of them they are but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Halfe-Evill as not sinning with that full and plenarie Consent of Will but Pratâ—…r Electionem as he speakes so I may more truly say of them that they have but an Halfe-Knowledge not any distinct and applicative Apprehension of Truth but a confused and broken Conceit of things in their Generalitie Not much unlike unto Nighttalkers who cannot be sayd to be throughly asleepe nor perfectly awaked but to be in a middle kind of inordinate temper betweene both or as Aristotle himselfe gives the similitude it is like a Stage-Player whose Knowledge is expresse and cleare enough but the things which it is conversant about are not personall and particular to those men but belonging unto others whom they personate So the Principles of such men are in the generall Good and True but they are never brought downe so low as if they did concerne a mans owne particular Weale or Woe nor thorowly weighed with an assuming applying concluding Conscience but like the notion of a Drunken or sleeping man are choaked and smothered with the Mists of Passion And this third Corruption is that which Aristotle in the particular of Incontinencie calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the weakenesse and disabilitie of Reason to keepe close to her owne Principles and Resolutions Whereunto exactly agreeth that of the Prophet How weake is thy heart seeing thou doest all things the workes of an imperious Whorish Woman And elsewhere Whoredome and Wine are sayd to take away the Heart So Hector describes lascivious Paris 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thy face hath beautie in 't but in thy brest There doth no strength nor resolution rest The last Effect which I shall but name is that which Aristotle calleth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rashnesse or Precipitancie which is the most Tyrannicall Violence which Passion useth when in spight of all the Dictates of Reason it furiously over-ruleth the Will to determine and allow of any thing which it pleaseth to put in practise and like a Torrent carryeth all before it or as the Prophet speakes rusheth like an Horse into the Battell So Lust and Anger are sometimes in the Scripture called Madnesse because it transporteth the Soule beyond all bounds of Wisdome or Counsell and by the Dictates of Reason takes occasion to become more outragious Ipsaque praesidia occupat feedes like Wild-fire upon those Remedies which should remove it As she sayd in the Poet Levis est dolor qui capere consilium potest Libâ—… ire contra That 's but light griefe which counsell can abate Mine swells and all advice resolves to hate The corrupt effects which Passion worketh in the last place on the Body are
divers according to the particular nature of the Passions sometimes too sudden and violent sometimes too heavie oppression of the heart the other sudden perturbation of the spirits Thus old Ely dyed with sudden griefe Diodorsu with shame Sophocles Chilo the Lacedemonian and others with joy Nature being not able to beare that great and sudden immutation which these Passions made in the Body The causes and manner of which cogitation I reserre as being inquiries not so directly pertinent to the present purpose unto Naturall Philosophers and Physicians And from the generalitie of Passions I proceed unto the consideration of some particulars according to the order of their former division In all which I shall forbeare this long Method of the Antecedents Concomitants and Consequents of their Acts many particulars whereof being of the same nature in all Passions will require to be observed onely in one or two and so proportionally conceived in the rest and shall insist principally in those particulars which I handle on the causes and effects of them as being Considerations wherein commonly they are most serviceable or prejudiciall to our Nature CHAP. IX Of the affection of Love of Love naturall of generall communion of Love rationall the object and generall cause thereof NOw the two first and fundamentall Passions of all the rest are Love and Hatred Concerning the Passion of Love we will therein consider first its object and its causes both which being of a like nature for every morall object is a cause thougâ—… not every cause an object will fall into one Love then consists in a kind of expansion oâ—… egresse of the heat and spirits to the object loved or to that whereby it is drawne and attracted whatsoever therefore hath such an attractive power is in that respect the object and generalâ—… cause of Love Now as in Nature so in the Affections likewise we may observe from their objects a double attraction The first is thaâ—… naturall or impressed sympathie of things wherâ—… by one doth inwardly incline an union with the other by reason of some secret vertues and occâ—… qualities disposing either subject to that 〈◊〉 all friendship as betweene Iron and the Loaâ—… stone The other is that common and moâ—… discernable attraction which every thing receivâ—… from those natures or places whereon they 〈◊〉 ordained and directed by the Wisedome anâ—… Providence of the first Cause to depend both in respect of the perfection and conservation of their being For as God in his Temple the Church so is He in his Pallace if I may so call it the World a God of Order disposing every thing in Number Weight and Measure so sweetly as that all is harmonious from which harmonie the Philosophers have concluded a Divine Providence and so powerfully as that all things depend on his Government without violence breach or variation And this Order and Wisdome is seene chiefely in that sweet subordination of things each to other and happie inclination of all to their particular ends till all be reduced finally unto Him who is the Fountaine whence issue all their streames of their limited being and the fulnesse of which all his creatures have received Which the Poet though something too Poetically seemeth to have express'd Principio Coelum ac Terras camposque liquentes Lucentemque globum Lunae Titaniaque Astra Spiritus intus alâ—… â—…otamque infusa per Artus Mens agitat molem magno se corpore miscet Heaven Earth and Seas with all those glorious Lights Which beautifie the Day and rule the Nights A Divine inward Vigour like a Soule Diffus'd through ev'ry joint of this great Whole Doth vegetate and with a constant force Guideth each Nature through its fixed course And such is the naturall motion of each thing to its owne Sphere and Center where is both the most proper place of its consisting and withall the greatest freedome from sorraine injurie or violence But we must here withall take notice of the generall care of the Creator whereby he hath fastned on all creatures not onely his private desire to satisfie the demands of their owne nature but hath also stamp'd upon them a generall charitie and feeling of Communion as they are sociable parts of the Vniverse or common Body wherein cannot possible be admitted by reason of that necessarie mutuall connexion betweenâ—… the parts thereof any confusion or divulsion without immediate danger to all the members And therefore God hath inclin'd the nature of these necessarie agents so to worke of their discords the perfect harmonie of the whole that iâ—… by any casualtie it fall out that the Body of Nature be like to suffer any rupture deformitie oâ—… any other contumely though haply occasioned by the uniforme and naturall motions of thâ—… particulars they then must prevent such damagâ—… and reproach by a relinquishing and forgetting of their owne natures and by acquainting themselves with motions whereunto considered iâ—… their owne determinate qualities they have aâ—… essentiall reluctancie Which propertie and sense of Nature in common the Apostle hath excellently set downe in 1 Cor. 12. where he renders this reason of all that there might be 〈◊〉 Schisme in the Body which likewise he divinely applyeth in the mysticall sense that all the severall gifts of the Spirit to the Church should drive to one common end as they were all derived from one common Fountaine and should never be used without that knitting qualitie of Love to which he elsewhere properly ascribeth the building continuation and perfecting of the Saints Now as it hath pleased the infinite Wisdome of God to guide and moderate by his owne immediate direction the motions of necessarie agents after the manner declared to their particular or to the generall end which motion may therefore as I before observed be called the naturall Passion of things so hath it given unto Man a reasonable Soule to be as it were his Vice-gerent in all the motions of Mans little World To apply then these proportions in Nature to the affection of Love in Man we shall finde first a Secret which I will call Naturall and next a Manifest which I call a Morall and more discursive attraction The first of these is that naturall sympathie wrought betweene the affection and the objâ—…ct in the first meeting of them without any suspension of the person â—…ll farther inquirie after the disposition of the object which comes immediately from the outward naturall and sensitive Vertues thereof whether in shape feature beautie motion 〈◊〉 behaviour all which comming under the spheare of Sense I include under the name of Iudiciarie Physiognomie Which is not a bare delight in the outward qualities but a farther presumption of the Iudgement concluding thence a lovely disposition of that Soule which animateth and quickneth those outward Graces And indeed if it be true which Aristotle in his Ethicks tels us That similitude is the ground of Love and if there be no naturall Love stronger than
his mercy he is not delighted in the ruine neither doth hee find pleasure or harmony in the groanes of any thing which himselfe created But hee is said to will those Evills as good and just for the manifestation of his glorious Power over all the Creatures and of his glorious Iustice on those who are voluntarily fallen from him But now because it is left onely to the Wisedome of God himselfe to know and ordaine the best meanes for glorifying of himselfe in and by his creatures we are not here hence to assume any warrant for willing evill unto our selves or others but then onely when the honour of the Creator is therein advanced And so the Apostle did conditionally wish evill unto himselfe if thereby the glory of Gods mercy towards his Countrey-men the Iewes might be the more advanced Secondly it is no good Argument God willeth the inflicting of such an evill therefore it is unlawfull for my will to decline it for first the Will of God whereby hee determineth to worke this or that evill on particular Subjects is a part of his secret Counsell Now the Revealed and not the Hidden Will of God is the rule of our Wills and Actions whence it commeth to passe that it is made a part of our necessary obedience unto God in our wishes or aversations to goe a crosse way to his unrevealed purpose Peradventure in my sicke bed it is the purpose of God to cast my body into the earth from whence it was taken yet for me herein to second the Will of God by an execution thereof upon my selfe or by a neglect of those Ordinary meanes of recovery which hee affords were to despise his mercy that I might fulfill his Will Peradventure in my flight a sword will overtake mee yet I have the warrant of my Saviours example and precept to turne my backe rather than my conscience in persecution alwaies reserved that though I will that which God willeth yet my will bee ever subordinated unto his Wee owe submission to the will of Gods purpose and Counsell and wee owe conformity to the will of his Precept and Command we must submit to the will whereby God is pleased to worke himselfe and wee must conforme to the will whereby hee is pleased to command us to worke And therefore Secondly though the Will of God were in this case knowne yet is not our will constrained to a necessary inclination though it bee to an humble submission and patience in bearing that which the Wisedome and purpose of God hath made inevitable for as the promises and decrees of Good things from God doe not warrant our slacknesse in neglecting or our profanenesse in turning from them so neither doth the certainty and unavoidablenesse of a future evill as death intended upon us by God put any necessity on our nature to deny it selfe or to love its owne distresses Of which that we may be the more sure wee may observe it in him who as hee was wholly like us in nature and therefore had the same naturall inclinations and aversations with us so was hee of the same infinite essence with his Father and therefore did will the same things with him yet even in him we may observe in regard of that which the Scripture saith was by the hand and Counsell of God before determined a seeming Reluctancy and withdrawing from the Divine Decree He knew it was not his Fathers Will and yet Father if thou bee willing lâ—…t this cup passe from me he was not ignorant that he was to suffer and that there was an Oporteâ—… a necessity upon it and yet a second and a third time againe Father if it be possible let this Cup passe from me Consider it as the Destruction of his Temple and Anguish of nature which hee could not being in all things like unto us but love and then Transeat Let it passe but consider it as the necessary meanes of procuring pretious blessings for mankind and of fulfilling the eternall Decree of his Fathers Love and then Not as I but as thou wilt The same may be applied in any manner of humane evills notwithstanding we are with an armed patience to sustaine them or with an obedient submission unto Divine pleasure to wait for them yet in regard of that pressure of nature which they bring with them on which the God of Nature hath imprinted a naturall desire of its owne quiet and integrity so farre forth all Evill not onely may but must bee Hated by every Regular will upon paine of violating the Law of its Creation And indeed in all this there is not any deviation from the Will of God intending that which we abhorre for as it stands not with the nature of man to hate himselfe or any good thing of his owne making so neither doth it stand with the goodnesse of God to hate his Creature or to delight barely in the misery or afflictions thereof but onely in that end of manifesting his glory and righteousnesse whereunto hee in the dispensation of his Wisdome and Iustice hath wonderfully directed them And therefore as to murmure at the Wisedome of God in thus ordering evills unto a good end were a presumptuous repining so on the other side not to entertaine those naturall desires of a straightned mind after deliverance from those evills were to be in Solomons phrase too Righteous and out of a purpose to answere the ends of Gods Wisedome to crosse the Law of his Creation So then it is evident that the Object and fundamentall cause of Hatred is all and onely Evill which however in respect of the Existence of it it bee in some cases Good for as it is in the power of God to educe out of confusion order light out of darkenesse his owne honour out of mans shame so is it his providence likewise to turne unto the great good of many men those things which in themselves doe onely hurt them Yet I say this notwithstanding as it worketh the deformity and disquiet of nature it is against the created law and in-bred love which each thing beareth to its owne perfection and therefore cannot but be necessarily hated As on the other side those ordinary and commong goods which we call in respect of God blessings as health peace prosperity good successe and the like notwithstanding they commonly prove unto men unfurnished with those habits of wisedome and sobriety whereby they should bee moderated occasions of much evill and dangers so that their Table is become their snare as the experience of those latter Romane Ages proveth wherein their victories over men hath made them in luxury and vilenesse so prodigious as if they meant to attempt warre with God Notwithstanding I say all this yet for as much as these things are such as doe quiet satisfie and beare convenience unto mans nature they are therefore justly with thankefulnesse by our selves received and out of love desired unto our friends I now proceed from the object or Generall
Opinion 2. To have Being by Traduction is when the soule of the Child is derived from the soule of the Parent by the meanes of Seed but the Seed of the Parent cannot reach the Generation of the soule both because the one is a Corporeall the other a Spirituall substance uncapable of Augmentation or Detriment Now that which is spirituall cannot be produced out of that which is corporeall neither can any Seed be discinded or issue out from the soule being substantia simâ—…lex impartibilis a substance simple and indivisible 3. That which is separable from the body and can subsist and work without it doth not depend in its Being or making upon it for if by the Generation of the Body the soule be generated by the corruption of the Body it would be corrupted for every thing that is generable is corruptible But the Soule can subsist and work without the Body therefore it doth not from corporeall generation derive its Being 4. If the Soule be seminally traduced it must he either from the body or from the soule of the Parents not from the Body for it is impossible for that which is not a body to be made out of that which is a Body no cause being able to produce an effect out of its owne spheare and more noble than it selfe not from the soule because that being a spirituall and impartible substance can therefore have nothing severed from it by way of substantiall seed unto the constitution of another soule 5. If there be nothing taken from the Parents of which the soule is formed then it is not traduced by naturall generation but there is nothing taken from the Parents by which the soule is formed for then in all Abortions and miscarrying Conceptions the seed of the Soule would perish and by consequence the soule it selfe would be corruptible as having its Originall from corruptible seed These and divers other the like arguments are used to confirme the doctrine touching the Creation of the Reasonable Soule Unto which may be added the judgement and testimony of some of the forecited Fathers St. Hierome telleth us that the Originall of the soule in mankinde is not as in other living creatures Since as our Saviour speaketh The Father worketh hitherto And the Prophet Esat telleth us That hee formeth the spirit of mâ—…n within him and framâ—…th the hearts of all men as it is in the Psalmes And so Lactamius whom I doe wonder to finde numbred amongst the Authors that affirme the Traduction of the soule by Ruffinus and the Author of the Dialogue amongst the works of Hierome It may be questioned saith he whether the soule be generated out of the Father Mother or both Neither of all three is true Because the seed of the Soule is not put into the Body by either or both of these A Body may be borne out of their Bodies because something may be out of both contributed but a Soule cannot be borne out of their Soules in as much as from so spirituall and incomprehensible a substance nothing can issue forth or be severed for that use So also St. Hilary The Soule of man is the work of God the generation of the flesh is alwayes of the flesh And againe It is inbred and an impress'd Beliefe in all that our Soules have a divine Originall And in like manner Theodoret God saith he frameth the Bodies of living creatures out of Bodies subsisting before but the Soules not of all creatures but of Men only hee worketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of nothing that had beene before Against this Doctrine of the Soules Originall The principall argument is drawn from the consideration of Originall sinne and the propagation thereof which alone was that which troubled and staggerd S. Augustine in this point For if the Soule be not naturally traduced how should Originall sinne be derived from Adam unto it And if it were not in the loynes of Adam then neither did it sinne in his loynes whereas the Apostle expresly telleth us that by one Man sinne came into the world and that in one all have sinned and that not only by imputative participation but by naturall Propagation deriving an inhaerent habituall pollution which cleaveth inseparably to the soule of every man that entreth into the world and is the fruit of Adams loynes Unto which Argument to omit the different resolutions of other men touching the pollution of the Soule by the immediate contact of the flesh and the Parents attinging the ultimate disposition of the Body upon which naturally followeth the Union of the Soule God being pleased to work ordinarily according to the exigence of second causes and not suffering any of them to be in vain for want of that concurrence which he in the vertue of a first and supreame cause is to contribute unto them I shall set downe what I conceive to be the Truth in this point First then it is most certaine that God did not implant Originall sinne not take away Originall righteousnesse from Man but man by his Praevarication and Fall did cast it away and contract sin and so derive a defiled nature to his posterity For as Maâ—…arius excellently speaketh Adam having transgressed did loâ—… the pure posâ—…esion of his Nature Secondly Originall injustice as it is a sinne by the default and contraction of Man so it is also a punishment by the ordination and disposition of Divine Justice It was mans sinne to cast away the Image of God but it is Gods just judgement as hee hath that free dispensation of his owne Gifts not to restore it againe in such manner as at first he gave it unto that nature which had so rejected and trampled on it Thirdly In this Originall sinne there are two things considerable The Privation of that Righteousnesse which ought to be in us and the lust or Habituall concupiscence which carrieth Nature unto inordinate motions The Privation and want of Originall justice is meritoriously from Adam who did voluntarily deprave and reject that Originall rectitude which was put into him which therefore God out of his most righteous and free disposition is pleased not to restore unto his Nature in his posterity againe In the habituall lust are considerable these two things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The sinfull disorder of it And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Punishment of sinne by it Consider it is as a Punishment of Adams first Praevarication and so though it be not efficiently from God yet it falls under the Order of his Justice who did most righteously forsake Adam after his wilfull fall and leave him in the Hand of his owne Counsell to transmit unto us that Seminary of sinne which himselfe had contracted But if we consider it as a sinne we then say that the immediate and proper cause of it is lapsed nature whole and entire by Generation and Seminall Traduction derived upon us But the Reâ—…ter cause is that from which wee receive and
derive this Nature Nature I say first fallen for unto Nature Innocent belonged Originall Righteousnesse and not Originall sinne 2. Nature derived by ordinary generation as the fruit of the loynes and of the womb For though Christ had our Nature yet hee had not our sinne 3. Nature whole and entire For neither part as some conceive is the Totall spring and fountain of this sinne For it is improbable that any staine should be transfused from the Body to the Soul as from the foule vessell to the cleane water put into it The Body it selfe being not Soly and alone in it selfe corrupt and sinfull else all Abortions and miscarrying conceptions should be subject to damnation Nothing is the seat of sin which cannot be the seat of Death the wages of sinne Originall sinne therefore most probably seemeth to arise by Emanation partiall in the parts totall in the whole from Mans Nature as guilty forsaken and accursed by God for the sinne of Adam And from the parts not considered absolutely in themselves but by vertue of their concurrence and Vnion whereby both make up one compounded Nature Though then the Soule be a partiall subject or seat of Originall sinne yet wee have not our sinne and our soule from one Author because sinne followes not the part but the Nature whole and entire And though we have not from our Parents Totum naturae yet we have totam naturam wee have our whole nature though not every part of our nature Even as whole Christ was the Son of Mary who therefore by vertue of the Communication of properties in Christ is justly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mother of God against the Nestorians in the Councell of Chalcedon Though in regard of his divine Nature he was without beginning the reason is because the integrity of Nature ariseth from the Vnion of the two parts together which is perfected by Generation so then wee say that Adam is the Originall and meritorious cause Our next Parents the instrumentall and immediate cause of this sinne in us not by way of Physicall Emission or Transmigration of sinne from them to us but by secret contagion as S. Augustine speaks For having in the Manner aforesaid from Adam by our Parents received a nature most justly forsaken by God and lying under the Guilt and Curse of the first praevarication from this Nature thus derived as guilty and accursed doth immediately and intimately flow Habituall pollution So then Habituall Concupiscence is from Adam alone meritoriously by reason of his first praevarication From Adam by the mediation of our Parents seminally by naturall generation And from Nature generated not as Nature but as in Adam guilty forsaken and accursed by secret and ineffable Resultancy and Emanation This is that which I conceive of this Great difficulty not unmindfull in the meane time of that speech of S. Augustine That there is nothing more certaine to be knowne and yet nothing more secret to be understood than Originall sinne For other Arguments to prove the Traduction of the Soul they are not of such moment And therefore I passe them by and proceed to the consideration of the Soule in its Nature CHAP. XXXIII Of the Image of God in the Reasonable soule in regard of its simplicity and spirituality COncerning the dignity of the soule in its nature and essence Reason hath adventured thus farre to confesse that the soule of man is in some sort a spark and beame of divine brightnesse And a greater and more infallible Oracle hath warranted that it was breathed into him by God himselfe and was made after his Image and likenesse not substantially as if there were a Real Emanation and Traduction of the Soule out of God which were blasphemous and impious to conceive but only by way of Resemblance and imitation of God properties in mans originall created nature which is more notable in him than in the otheâ—… parts of the world there is indeed in all God works some kind of image and lineaments anâ—… footsteps of his glory Deum namque ire per omnes Terrasque Tractusque maris Coelumque profundum c. For all the tracts of Earth of Sea and Sky Are filled with divine immensity The whole world is a great book wherein we read the praise glory power and infinitenesse of him that made it but man is after a more peculiar manner called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the image and glory of God the greater world is only Gods workmanship wherein is represented the wisdom and power of God as in a building the Art and cunning of the workman but man in the originall purity of nature is besides that as wax wherein was more notably impressed by that divine spirit whose work it is to seale a spirituall resemblance of his owne goodnesse and sanctity Againe the greater world was never other than an Orator to set forth the power and praises of God but he made the soule of man in the beginning as it were his Oracle wherein he fastned a perfect knowledge of his law and will from the very glimpses and corrupted Reliques of which Knowledge of his Law some have beene bold to call men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the kindred of God And Senec. Liber Animus Diis cognatus which is the same with that of Aratus cited by S. Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for wee are his off-spring yea Euripides as Tully in his * Tusculans observes was bold to call the soule of man by the name of God and Seneca will venture so farre too Quid aliud vocas animum quà m deum in humano corpore hospitantem But to forbeare such boldnesse as it may be one of the Originals of heathen Idolatry Certaine it is that there are as Tully many times divinely observes sundry similitudes betweene God and the minde of man There are indeed some Attributes of God not only incommunicable but absolutely inimitable and unshadowable by any excellency in mans soule as immensity infinitenesse omnipotency omniscience immutability impassibility and the like but whatsoever spirituall and Rationall perfections the power bounty of God conferr'd upon the soule in its first Creation are all of them so many shadowes and representations of the like but most infinite perfections in him The Properties then and Attributes of God wherein this Image chiefely consists are first these three Spirituality with the two immediate consequents thereof Simplicity and Immortality in which the soule hath partaked without any after corruption or depravation Concerning the former it were vast and needlesse to confute those sundry opinions of ancient Philosophers concerning the substance of the soule many where of Tully in the first of his Tusculans hath reported And Aristotle confuted in his first de Anima Some conceived it to be blood others the braine some fire others ayre some that it consists in Harmony and Number and the Philosopher Dicaearchus that
it was nothing at all but the body disposed and fitted for the works of life But to let these passe as unworthy of refutation and to proceed to the truth of the first property There are sundry naturall reasons to prove the Spirituality of the soule as first the manner of its working which is immateriall by conceiving objects as universall or otherwise purified from all grosnesse of matter by the Abstraction of the Active understanding whereby they are made in some sort proportionall to the nature of the Intellect Passive into which the species are impressed Secondly it s in dependance on the body in that manner of working for though the operations of the soule require the concurrence of the commonsense and imagination yet that is by way only of conveyance from the object not by way of assistance to the elicite and immediate act They only present the species they doe not qualifie the perception Phantasmata are only objecta operation is the objects they are not instrumenta operandi the instruments of the soules working The Act of understanding is immediatly from the soule without any the least concurrences of the body there unto although the things whereon that act is fixed and conversant require in this estate bodily organs to represent them unto the soule as light doth not at all concurre to the act of seeing which solely and totally floweth from the visive faculty but only serves as an extrinsecall assistance for qualification of the Medium and object that must be seene And this reason Aristotle hath used to prove that the understanding which is principally true of the whole soule is not mixt with any body but hath a nature altogether divers there-from because it hath no bodily organ as all bodily powers have by which it is enabled to the proper acts that belong unto it And hereon is grounded another reason of his to prove the Soule immateriall because it depends not on the body in its operations but educeth them immediately from within it selfe as is more manifest in the Reflexion of the soule upon its owne nature being an operation as hee expresly speaketh seperable there-from the soule being not only actus informans a forme informing for the actuating of a body and constitution of a compound substance but actus subsistens too a forme subsisting And that per se without any necessary dependance upon matter It is an act which worketh as well in the body as whereby the body worketh Another reason of Aristotle in the same place is the difference betweene Materiall and Immateriall powers For saith he all bodily cognoscitive faculties doe suffer offence and dammage from the too great excellency of their objects as the eye from the brightnesse of the Sunne the eare from the violence of a sound the touch from extremity of heat or cold and the likâ—… But the understanding on the contrary side is perfected by the worthiest contemplations and the better enabled for lower enquiries And therefore Aristotle in his Ethicks placeth the most compleat happinesse of man in those heavenly intuitions of the minde which are fastned on the divinest and most remote objects which in Religion is nothing else but a fruition of that beatificall vision which as farre as Nature goes is call'd the contemplation of the first cause and an eternall satiating the soule with beholding the Nature Essence and glory of God Another reason may be drawn from the condition of the Vnderstandings Objects which have so much the greater conformity to the soule by how much the more they are divine and abstracted Hoc habet animus argumentum suae divinitatis saith Seneca quòd illum divina delectam This argument of its divinenesse hath the minde of man that it is delighted with divine things for if the soule were corporeal it could not possibly reach to the knowledge of any but materiall substances and those that were of its owne Nature otherwise we might as well see Angels with our eyes as understand any thing of them in our minds And the ground of this reason is that axiome in Philosophy that all reception is ad modum recipientis according to the proportion and capacity of the receiver And that the objects which are spirituall and divine have greatest proportion to the soule of man is evident in his Understanding and his will both which are in regard of truth or good unsatisfiable by any materiall or worldly objects the one never resting in enquiry till it attaine the perfect knowledge the other never replenished in desire till it be admitted unto the perfect possession of the most divine and spirituall good to wit of him who is the first of Causes and the last of Ends. From this Attribute of Spirituality flowes immediatly that next of Simplicity Vnity or Actuality for Matter is the root of all perfect composition every Compound consisting of two Essentiall parts matter and forme I exclude not from the Soule all manner of composition for it is proper to God only to be absolutely and perfectly simple But I exclude all Essentiall composition in respect whereof the Soule is meerely Actuall And so I understand that of Tully Nihil est Animus admixtum nihil concretum nihil copulatum nihil coagmentatum nihil duplex CHAP. XXXIV Of the Soules immortality proved by its simplicity independance agreement of Nations in acknowledging God and duties due unto him dignity above other Creatures power of understanding things immortall unsatiablenesse by objects Mortall freenesse from all causes of corruption ANd from this Simplicity followes by a necessary unavoydable consequence the third property spoken of Immortality it being absolutely impossible as Tully excellently observes it is the argument of Iul. Scaliger on this very occasion for any simple and uncompounded Nature to be subject to death and corruption For saith Tully Interitus est discessus secretio ac direptus earum partium quae conjunctione â—…liqua tenebantur It is a separation and as it were a divulsion of parts before united each to other so that where there is no Union there can be no separation and by consequence no death nor mortality Another reason may be the same which was alledged for the spirituality of the soule namely independance in operation and therefore consequently in Being upon the body And that Independance is manifest First because the acts of the soule are educ'd immediately in it selfe without the Intercedence of any organ whereby sensitive faculties work Secondly because the soule can perceive and have the knowledge of truth of universals of it selfe of Angels of God can assent discourse abstract censure invent contrive and the like none of which actions could any wayes be produced by the Intrinsecall concurrence of any materiall faculty Thirdly because in Raptures and Extasies the soule is as it were drawne up above and from the body though not from informing it yet certainely from borrowing from it any assistance to the
any the least Prints of those Pure and Divine Impressions of Originall Righteousnesse yet still there remaines even in depraved and Polluted Nature fome shadowes thereof There is stil the Opus Operatum in many Actions of Mortality though the Obliquity of the Heart and Ignorance of the true end whether it should be directed take away the Goodnesse and the Sanctity thereof The top and highest pitch of Nature toucheth the hemme and lowest of Grace We have in us the Testimonies though not the Goodnesse of our first estate the Ruines of a Temple to be lamented though not the holy Places thereof to be Inhabited It is true indeed those great endowments of the most severe and illightned Heathen were indeed but glorious miseries and withered Vertues in that they proceeded from a depraved Nature and aymed at sinister and false ends yet withall both the corruption of them proves their praecedent losse which also the Heathen themselves espied in their distinction of Ages into Golden and Iron times And likewise the pursuit and practice of them though weak imperfect corrupt imply manifestly that there was much more an Originall Aspiring of Nature in her perfection to be like her Maker in an absolute and universall Purity Now in this Rectitude and Perfect Regularity of the Soule in this divine Habit of Originall Justice did man most eminently beare the Image and Signature of God on him And therefore notwithstanding we continue still Immortall Spirituall Reasonable yet we are said to have defaced that Image in us by our hereditary Pollution And hee alwayes recovereth most thereof who in the greatest measure repaireth the ruines and vindicateth the Lapses of his decayed estate unto that prime Originall Purity wherein he was Created These are the Dignities of the Soule considered wholy in it selfe In all which it farre surmounts the greatest perfections which the Body or any Faculty thereof are endowed withall And yet such is the preposterous and unnaturall basenesse of many men that they are content to make their Soules vassals to their owne Servant How do they force their Understandings which in their owne worthiest objects those deepe and Divine Contemplations are as drowzie as Endymion to spend and waste themselves in proud luxurious vanishing Inventions How doe they enthrall that Supreame and Architectonicall Power in Mans little World his Will to the Tyrannie of slavish appetite and sensuall desires as if they served here but as Cookes to dresse their owne Bodies for the Wormes Strange is it that Man conscious to himselfe of Immortality and of an Heroicall and Heavenly complexion that hath received such immediate Impressions of God and is the very Modell of all Natures Perfections should so much degrade himselfe as to doat only on that part which is the vassall and slave of Death If there were no other mischife which sinne did the Soule but to debase it even that were argument sufficient for noble spirits to have it in detestation For man being in honour and which understandeth not is like the beasts that perish CHAP. XXXVII Of the Faculty of Vnderstanding Its operations outward upon the Object Inward upon the Will Of Knowledge What it is The naturall Desire and Love of it Apprehension Iudgement Retention requisite unto right Knowledge Severall kindes of Knowledge The Originall Knowledge given unto Man in his Creation The Benefits of Knowledge Of Ignorance Naturall Voluntary Penall Of Curiosity Of Opinion the Causes of it Disproportion betweene the Object and the Faculty and an Acute Versatilousnesse of Conceits The benefit of Modest Hesitancie NOw it followes to speak of the parts or principall powers of the Soule which are the Vnderstanding and the Will Concerning the Understanding the Dignity thereof though it may partly be perceived in the Latitude and excellent Variety of its Objects being the whole world of things for Ens Intelligibile are reciprocall omnia intelligit saith Aristotle of the understanding yet principally it proceeds from the Operations of it both Ad extra in respect of the Objects and ad intra in respect of the Will The one is a Contemplative the other a more Practique office whereby the speculations of the former are accommodated unto any either Morall or Civill Actions Those which respect the Objects are either Passive or Active Operations Passive I call those first Perceptions and apprehensions of the Soule whereby it receiveth the simple species of some Object from immediate Impression thereof by the Ministry of the Soule as when I understand one Object to be a Man another a Tree by Administration and Assistance of the Eye which presents the Species of either Another sort of Passive Operations that is of such as are grounded on Impressions received from Objects are mixed Operations of Compounding Dividing Collecting Concluding which wee call Discourse Of all which to speake according to their Logicall Nature would be impertinent Their Excellencie chiefly stands in the End whereunto they move and serve which is Knowledge of the which I shall therefore here speak a few things Knowledge is the Assimilation of the Understanding unto the things which it understandeth by those Intelligible Species which doe Irrâ—…diate it and put the power of it into Act. For as the beames of the Sunne shining on a glasse doe there work the Image of the Sunne so the species and resemblances of things being convayed on the Understanding doe there work their owne Image In which respect the Philosopher saith That the Intellect becommeth All things by being capable of proper impressions from them As in a Painters Table wee call that a face a hand a foot a tree which is the lively Image and Representation of such things unto the eye There is not any Desire more noble nor more Naturall unto a Man who hath not like Saul hid himselfe amongst the stuffe and lost himselfe in the Low and perishing provisions for Lust than is this Desire of Knowledge Nature dictating to every Creature to be more intent upon its Specificall than upon its Genericall perfection And hence it is that though Man be perfectest of all Creatures yet many doe excell him in sensitive Perfection Some in exquisitenesse of Sight others of Hearing others of Tast Touch and Smell others of Swiftnesse and of Strength Nature thereby teaching us to imitate her in perfecting and supplying of our Desires not to terminate them there where when wee have made the best Provision wee can many Beasts will surpasse us but to direct our Diligence most to the improving of our owne specificall and rationall perfection to wit our Understandings Other Faculties are tyred and will be apt to nauseate and surfet on their Objects But Knowledge as knowledge doth never either burden or cloy the Minde no more than a Covetous man is wearied with growing Rich And therefore the Philosopher telleth us that Knowledge is the Rest of the Vnderstanding wherein it taketh delight as a Thing in its naturall Place And so
and Communion with God of the Dominion and Government over the Creatures of the Acquaintance with himselfe and of the Instruction of his Posterity did require Knowledge in him For wee may not think that God who made Man in a perfect stature of Body did give him but an Infant stature of Minde God made all things exceeding Good and Perfect and therefore the perfection naturally belonging unto the Soule of Man was doubtlesse given unto it in its first Creation Hee made Man right and straight and the Rectitude of the Minde is in Knowledge and light and therefore the Apostle telleth us that Our Renovation in Knowledge is after the Image of him that Created us Coloss. 3. 10. Without Knowledge hee could not have given fit Names and suteable to the Natures of all the Creatures which for that purpose were brought unto him Hee could not have awed and governed so various and so strong Creatures to preserve Peace Order and Beauty amongst them Hee could not have given such an account of the substance and Originall of Eve Of the End of her Creation to to be the Mother of all living men as hee did Experimentall Knowledge hee had not but by the Exercise of his Originall light upon particular Objects as they should occurre Knowledge of future Events hee had not it being not Naturall nor Investigable by imbred light but Propheticall and therefore not seene till Revealed Secret Knowledge of the Thoughts of Men or of the Counsells of God hee could not have because secret things belong unto the Lord. But so much light of Divine Knowledge as should fit him to have Communion with God and to serve him and obtaine a blessed life so much of Morall Knowledge as should fit him to converse in Love as a Neighbour in Wisedome as a Father with other men so much of Naturall Knowledge as should dispose him for the Admiring of Gods Glory and for the Governing of other Creatures over which hee had received Dominion so much wee may not without notable injurie to the perfection of Gods Workmanship and to the Beauty and rectitude of our first Parent deny to have beene conferred upon our Nature in him The Benefits of which singular Ornament of Knowledge are exceeding Great Hereby wee recover a largenesse of Heart for which Salomon is commended 1 Reg. 4. 29 Able to dispatch many Businesses to digest and order Multitudes of Motions to have mindes seasoned with generous and noble resolutions for that disposition is by the Philosopher called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greatnesse of Minde Hereby wee are brought to a Just Contempt of sordid and wormie Affections It is Darknesse which makes Men grope and pore and looke onely on the things before them as the Apostle intimates 2 Pet. 1. 9. Illightned mindes see a greater lustre in Knowledge than in the fine Gold Pro. 3. 14. 15. The Excellencie of Evangelicall Knowledge made Saint Paul esteeme every thing in the World besides as Dâ—…ng Phil. 3. 8. As the light of the Sunne swallows up all the petty light of the Starres so the more noble and spacious the Knowledge of Mens mindes is the more doth it dictate unto them the Contempt of those various and vulgar Delights which bewitch the fancies of ignorant Men. It disposeth Men for mutuall Communion and helpfull Societie for without Knowledge every Man is ferae Naturae like Birds of prey that flie alwayes alone Neither is it possible for a man to be sociable or a member of any publick Body any further than hee hath a proportion and measure of Knowledge Since Humane Society standeth in the communicating of mutuall notions unto one another Two men that are Deafe and Dumb and Blinde destitute of all the Faculties of gaining or deriving Knowledge may be together but they cannot be said to have society one with another To conclude hereby we are brought neerer unto God to admire him for his Wisedome and Power to Adore him for his Greatnesse and Majestie to Desire him and work towards the fruition of him for his light and Glory because in the Vision of Him consisteth the Beatitude of Man This Knowledge is corrupted foure manner of wayes First By the Contempt of it in Ignorance Secondly By the Luxuriousnesse and Wantonnesse of it in Curiosity Thirdly By the Defect and uncertainty of it in Opinion Fourthly By Contradiction and Opposition unto it in Error There is a three-fold Ignorance wherewith the Minds of men may be blinded and defaced The one is a Naturall Ignorance which of Divine Things so farre forth as those things are Spirituall is in all men by Nature for the Naturall Man neither Receiveth with Acceptation nor with Demonstration discerneth the things of the Spirit of God And the Reason the Apostle gives because they are spiritually discerned For as the Eye is fitted to discerne light by the Innate property of light and Cognation which it hath thereunto without which the Eye could no more perceive Objects of light than it can of sounds so the Minde cannot otherwise receive spirituall Objects than as it hath a similitude to those Objects in a spirituall disposition it selfe whence that Expression of St. Iohn Wee shall be like unto him for wee shall see him as hee is Spirituall Things doe exceed the weaknesse of Reason because they are above it and so cannot be discerned And they doe oppose the corruption of Reason because they are against it and so cannot be Received There is likewise in many Men much Naturall Ignorance even in Morall and Natural things For as in the Fall of Man our Spirituals were lost so were our Naturals weakned too as wee finde in the Great Dulnesse of many men in matters of learning in so much that some have not beene able to learne the Names of the first Letters or Elements Againe there is a Voluntary Ignorance of which wee have before spoken whereby Men doe wilfully close their Eyes against Knowledge and refuse it and of this there may be a double ground The one Guile in Knowledge that pertaineth to the Conscience when a man chooseth rather not to know his duty than by the Knowledge of it to have his Conscience disquieted with Exprobrations of contemning it The other out of Sluggishnesse and Apprehensions of Difficulty in the Obtaining of Knowledge When of two Evils Undergoing of labour or forfeiting of Learning a man esteemeth this the lesser Thirdly there is a Poenall Ignorance of which I shall not speake because it differeth not from the Voluntary Ignorance of Spirituall things save onely in the relation that it hath to the Justice of God thereby provoked who sometimes leaveth such men to their Blindnesse that the thing which with respect to their owne choyce of it is a pleasure with respect unto Gods Justice may be a plague and punishment unto them Thus the Intellectual Faculty is corrupted in many men by Ignorance In others it is abused by Curiosity which may well
Inquiry but Iudgement is the Ballace to Poise and the Steere to guide the course to it s intended End Now the manner of the Iudgements Operation in directing either our Practise or Contemplation is by a discourse of the Mind whereby it â—…educeth them to certaine Grounds and Principles whereunto they ought chiefly to be conformable And from hence is that Reason which Quintilian observes why shallow and floating Wits seeme oftentimes more fluent than men of greater sufficiencies For saith he those other admit of every sudden flash or Conceipt without any Examination but apud Sapientes est â—…lectio Modus They first weigh things before they utter thâ—…m The maine Corruption of Iudgement in this Office is Prejudice and Prepossession The Duty of Iudgement is to discerne between Obliquities and right Actions and to reduce all to the Law of Reason And therefore t is true in this as in the course of publique Iudgements That respect of persons or things blind the Eyes and maketh the Vnderstanding to determine according to Affection and not according to Truth Though indeed some Passions there are which rather hood-winke then distemper or hurt the Iudgement so that the false determination thereof cannot bee well called a Mistake but a Lye Of which kind flattery is the principall when the Affections of Hope and Feare debase a man and cause him to dissemble his owne opinion CHAP. XL. Of the Actions of the Vnderstanding upon the Will with respect to the End and Means The Power of the Vnderstanding over the Will not Commanding but directing the Objects of the Will to bee good and convenient Corrupt Will lookes only at Good present Two Acts of the Vnderstanding Knowledge and Consideration It must also be possible and with respect to happinesse Immortall Ignorance and Weaknesse in the Understanding in proposing the right means to the last End HItherto of the Actions of the Vnderstanding Ad extra in regard of an Object Those Ad Intra in regard of the Will Wherein the Vnderstanding is a Minister oâ—… Counsellor to it are either to furnish it with an End whereon to fasten its desires or to direct it in the means conducible to that end For the Will alone is a blind Faculty and therefore as it cannot see the right Good it ought to affect without the Assistance of an Informing Power So neither can it see the right way it ought to take for procuring that Good without the direction of a Conducting power As it hath not Iudgment to discover an End So neither hath it Discourse to judge of the right Means whereby that may be attained So that all the Acts of the Will necessarily presuppose some precedent guiding Acts in the Vnderstanding whereby they are pro portioned to the Rules of right Reason This Operation of the Vnderstanding is usually by the Schoole-men called Imperium or Mandatum a Mandate or Command because it is a Precept to which the will ought to be obedient For the Rules of Living and Doing well are the Statutes as it were and Dictates of right Reason But yet it may not hence be concluded that the Vnderstanding hath any Superiority in regard of Dominion over the Will though it have Priority in regard of Operation The Power of the Vnderstanding over the Will is onely a Regulating and Directing it is no Constraining or Compulsive Power For the Will alwaies is Domina sâ—…orum actuum The Mistresse of her owne Operation For Intellectus non imperat sed solummâ—…dò significat voluntatem imperantis It doth only intimate unto the Will the Pleasure and Law of God some seeds whereof remaine in the Nature of man The Precepts then of right Reason are not therefore Commands because they are proposed by way of Man date but therfore they are in that manner proposed because they are by Reason apprehended to be the Commands of a Divine Superior Power And therefore in the breach of any such Dictates we are not said properly to offend our Vnderstanding but to sinne against our Law giver As in Civill Policy the offences of men are not against inferiour Officers but against that soveraigne Power which is the Fountaine of Law and under whose Authority all subordinate Magistrates have their proportion of government Besides Ejus est imperare Cujus est punire For Law and Punishment being Relatives and mutually connotating each the other it must necessarily follow that from that power only canbe an imposition of law from which may be an Infliction of Punishment Now the Condition under which the Vnderstanding is both to apprehend and propose any either end or means convenient to the Nature of the Will and of Sufficiency to move it are that they have in them Goodnesse Possibility and in the end if we speak of an utmost one Immortality too Every true Object of any Power is that which beareth such a perfect Relation of convenience fitnes therunto that it is able to accomplish all its desires Now since Malum is Destructâ—…vum all Evill is Destructive It is impossible that by it selfe without a counterfeit and adulterate face it should ever have any Attractive Power over the Desires of the Will And on the other side since Omne bonum is Perfectivum since Good is perfective and apt to bring reall satisfaction along with it most certainly would it be desired by the Will were it not that our Vnderstandings are clouded and carried away with some crooked misapprehensions and the Will it selfe corrupted in its owne Inelinations But yet though all mans Faculties are so depraved that he is not able as he ought to will any Divine and Perfect Good yet so much he retains of his Perfection as that he cannot possibly desire any thing which he apprehends as absolutely disagreeable destructive to his Nature since all Naturall Agents ayme still at their owne Perfection And therefore impossible it is that either Good should be refused without any apprehension of Disconvenience or Evill pursued without any appearance of Congruity or Satisfaction That it may appeare therefore how the Vnderstanding doth alwaies propose those Objects as Good to the Will which are notwithstanding not only in their owne Nature but in the Apprehension of the Vnderstanding it selfe knowne to be evill And on the contrary why it doth propose good Objects contrary to its owne Knowledge as Evill We may distinguish two opposite conditions in Good and Evill For first all Evill of Sin though it have Disconvenience to mans Nature as it is Destructive yet on the other side it hath agreement thereunto as it is crooked and corrupt As continuall drinking is most convenient to the distemper of an Hydropticke Body though most disconvenient to its present welfare Now then as no man possessed with that disease desires drinke for this end because he would dye though he know that this is the next way to bring him to his Death but only to give satisfaction to his present Appetite So neither doth man
nature of it but a Fulnesse of Perpetuity in the Continuance Most perfect in proportion in the Spirituality most infinite in proportion to the Immortality of mans Soule The Frailty and Languishing of any Good and a Foresight of the losse thereof with the ablest Miâ—…ds doth much weaken the Desire of it And the reason is because Providence and Forecast is a certaine companion of the humane Nature and he which is most a man is most carefull to contrive the advancement of his Future Estate It is beastiall to fasten only upon Present Good this being a maine difference between the Vnderstanding and the Sensuall Appetite that this respecteth only the present Ioy that is at hand but that being secretly conscious of its owne Immortality fastens it selfe upon the remotest times yea outrunnes all time and suffers it selfe to bee ever swallowed up with the Meditation and Providence of an Endlesse Happinesse And therefore the reason that Aristotle brings against his Masters Ideas argues an Vnderstanding lesse Divine in this particular than Plato's was when hee saith that Eternity doth no more perfect the Nature of Good than Continuance doth the Nature of White For though it be true that it is not any Essentiall part of Goodnesse in it selfe yet it is a necessary and principall condition to make Goodnesse Happines that is an Adequate Obiect to mans Desires there is not then the same proportion between Eternity and Good as there is between Continuance and White For Continuance is altogether Extrinsicall and Irrelative in respect of White but the Happinesse of man hath an Intrinsicall Connection with Immortality because mans Vtmost and Adequate Good must be proportioned to the Nature of his Minde for that is no perfect Good that doth not every way replennish and leave nothing behind it that may be desired So that man himselfe being Endlesse can have none End able to limit his desires but an Infinite and Immortall Good which hee may enjoy without any anxiety for After-Provision I dare say there is not an A theist in the world who hath in his Life be-beasted himselfe by setting his Desires onely on Transitory and Perishable goods that would not on his death-bed count it the best bargain he ever made to change Souls with one of those whose Diligence in providing for a Future Happinesse hee hath often in his beastly Sensuality impiously derided Now of these two Directions of the Vnderstanding to the Will in desiring the End or Means the Corruption is for the most part more grosse and palpable in Assistance to the Means than in the Discovery of the End and farre oftner fayles the Will herein than in proposing an Object to fix its Desires upon For we may continually observe how a world of men agree all in opinions and wishes about the same Supreme and Immortall Happinesse the Beatificall Vision Every Balaam fastens on that and yet their means unto it are so jarring and opposite that a looker on would conceive it impossible that there should be any Agreement in an End where is such notable Discord in the wayes to it The reason which I conceive of this difference is the severall Proportion which the true End and the true Means thereunto beare unto the Will of man For it is observable that there is but one Generall Hinderance or Errour about the right End namely the Ignorance thereof For being once truly delivered to the Vnderstanding it carries such a proportion to the nature of the Will being a most perfect fulfilling of all its wishes that it is impossible not to desire it but the disproportion betweene man and the right means of a true End is farre Greater For there is not only Errour in the Speculation of them but reluctance in other practique Faculties proceeding from their generall Corruption in this Estate and nayling the Affection on the present Delight of Sensuall Objects First for the Vnderstanding I observe therein a double Hinderance concerning these Means Ignorance and Weaknesse the one respects the Examination of them the other their Presentation or Inforcement upon the Wil. For the former of these there seemes to bee an equall difficulty between the End and the Means as proceeding in both from the same Root But in this very convenience there is a great difference for the Ignorance of the End is farre more preventable considering the Helps we have to know it than of the Means Not but that there are as powerfull Directions for the Knowledge of the Means as of the End but because they are in their Number many and in their Nature repugnant to mans Corrupt Minds There is therfore more Wearinesse and by consequence more Difficulty in the Inquiry after them than after the End because that is in it selfe but One and besides beares with it under the generall Notion of Happinesse such an absolute Conformity to mans Nature as admits of no Refusall or Opposition Insomuch that many that know Heaven to be the End of their Desires know yet scarse one foot of the way thither Now besides this Ignorance when the Knowledge of the means is gotten there are many prejudices to be expected before a free Exercise of them For as Aristotle observes amongst all the Conditions required to Morall Practise Knowledge hath the least sway It hath the lowest place in Vertue though the highest in Learning There is secondly in the Vnderstanding Weaknesse whereby it oftentimes connives at the Irregular Motion of the Will with drawes it from Examining with a piercing and fixed Eye with an Impartiall and Bribelesse Iudgement with Efficacy and weight of Meditation the severall Passages of all our Actions with all the present and consequent Inconveniences of crooked courses It were a vaste labour to runne over all the Oppositions which vertuous means leading to an Happy End doe alwayes finde in the severall Faculties of man how the Will it selfe is stubborne and froward the Passions Rebellious and Impatient of Suppression the Senses and Sensitive Appetite thwart and wayward creeping alwayes like those under-Coelestiall Orbes into another motion quite contrary to that which the Primum Mobile Illightened Reason should conferre upon them Sufficient it is that there is a Disproportion between the means of Happinesse and the generall Nature of Corrupt man For all Goodnesse is necessarily adjoyned with Rectitude and Streightnesse in that it is a Rule to direct our Life and therefore a Good man is called an Vpright man one that is every where Even and Strait To which Aristotle perhaps had one Eye when hee called his Happyman a Foure-square man which is every where smooth stable and like himselfe But now on the other side mans Nature in this Estate of Corruption is a Distorted and Crooked Nature and therfore altogether unconformable to the Goodnesse which should as a Cannon direct it to the true and principall End it aymeth at And this is the reason why so many men are Impatient of the close and narrow passage of