large 'T is to accommodate my self to the common way of speaking that I shall say hereafter the Senses perceive but by the word Sense I only mean that passive Faculty of the Soul just mention'd that is the Understanding perceiving something by means of what passes in in the Organs of the Body according to the Institution of Nature as shall be elsewhere explain'd Another agreement between the passive Faculty of the Soul and that of Matter is that as Matter is not truly chang'd by an alteration of its Figure for Instance Wax receives no considerable Change for being round or square so the Mind receives no Change by the Diversity of Idea's which it has I mean the Mind receives no considerable Change although it receives an Idea of a Square or a Circle in perceiving a Square or a Circle Farther as it may be said that Matter undergoes considerable Changes when it looses the Configuration proper to the parts of the Wax to receive that which is proper to Fire and Smoke when the Wax is chang'd into Fire and Smoke so it may be said that the Soul receives very considerable Alterations when it changes its Modifications and suffers Pain after having felt Pleasure Whence we must conclude that Idea's are to the Soul very near what Figures are to Matter and that Configurations are much the same to Matter that Sensations are to the Soul There are yet other agreements betwixt the Figures and Configurations of Matter and the Idea's and Modifications of the Mind for it seems that Matter is an Image of the Mind I only mean there are Properties in Matter which have betwixt themselves Relations much like those which are found amongst the Properties belonging to the Mind although the Nature of the Mind is very different from that of Matter as shall be clearly shewn hereafter From all that I have said I would have it well remembred that by the Understanding I mean that passive Faculty which the Soul has of perceiving that is of receiving not only different Idea's but also innumerable Sensations even as Matter is capable of receiving all Manner of External Figures and Internal Configurations The other Property of Matter is that 't is capable of receiving several Motions and the other Faculty of the Soul is that 't is capable of receiving several Inclinations let us compare these together As the Author of Nature is the Universal Cause of all Motions which are found in Matter so is He also the General Cause of all the Natural Inclinations in our Minds and even as all Motions are made in a Streight Line if they do not meet with some particular and foreign Causes which determine and change them into Curve Lines so all the Inclinations we receive from God are right and could not have any other End but the possession of Good and Truth were there not some Extraneous Cause which determines the Impression of Nature towards evil ends Now 't is this foreign Cause which is the Origin of all our Evils and which Corrupts all our Inclinations To understand this well we must know that there is a very considerable Difference betwixt the Impression or Motion which the Author of Nature produces in Matter and the Impression or Motion towards Good in General which the same Author of Nature continually Impresses on the Mind for Matter is wholly unactive it has no power to stop it's Motion or to determine or turn it self one way rather than another Its motion as I have said before is made always in a Strait Line and when diverted from this motion it describes a Curve the nearest to a right line that 's possible because 't is God that impresses on it its Motion and regulates its Determination But 't is not to with the Will * See the Explanations it may be said in one sense to be active and to have in it self a Power of determining differently the Inclination or Impression that God gives it for tho' it cannot stop this Impression it may in a sense be said to turn it which way it pleases and thereby cause all the disorders that are in its Inclinations and all the Miseries which are the certain and necessary Consequences of Sin So that by the Word WILL I wou'd be understood to mean the Natural Impression or Motion which carries us towards indetermin'd and universal Good And by the Word LIBERTY I only understand the Power which the Mind has of turning that Impression towards agreeable Objects and so sixing our natural Inclinations on some particular Object which before were loose and indetermin'd to Vniversal Good that is to God who comprehends in himself all that 's Good Whence 't is easie to discover that tho' our Natural Inclinations are voluntary yet they are not always free with that Liberty of Indifference that I am speaking of which includes the Power of Willing or not Willing or of Willing the contrary to what our Natural Inclinations carry us for tho' 't is voluntarily and freely that Men love Good in General since they can't love against their Will and 't is a Contradiction to suppose the Will should ever suffer Constraint however they love it not freely in the sense that I have just explain'd since 't is out of the Power of our Will not to wish to be Happy But it must be well observ'd that the Mind consider'd as push'd on towards Good in General can't determine its Motion towards a particular Good if the same Mind consider'd as susceptible of Idea's has not the Knowledge of this particular Good that is in the common way of speaking the Will is a blind Power which can only desire those things that the Understanding represents to it So that the Will can't differently determine the Impression it has for Good and all its Natural Inclinations but by commanding the Understanding to represent to it some particular Object The Power then that the Will has of determining its Inclinations necessarily includes an ability of carrying the Understanding towards agreeable Objects I will explain by an Example what I have said concerning Will and Liberty A Man represents to himself a Preferment under the Notion of a Good which he can hope for immediately the Will wills this Good that is the Impression that the Mind continually receives towards Indetermin'd and Universal Good inclines it to this Preferment But as this Preferment is not the Universal Good and is not consider'd in a clear and distinct view of the Mind as Universal Good for the Mind never sees clearly that which is not the Impression that he had receiv'd of Vniversal Good is not wholly stopt by this particular Good the Mind has some motion to go yet farther it is not necessarily nor invincibly in Love with this Dignity but is at Liberty in respect thereof Now its Liberty consists in this that being not fully convinc'd that this Dignity includes all the Good which he is capable of loving he may suspend his Judgment and Love
determine any thing about the Number of Species of Beings which God has Created by the Idea's we have of them since it is absolutely possible that God may have Reasons to Conceal them from us which we do not know if it were only because those Beings having no Relation to us it would be useless for us to know them By the same reason as he has not given us Eyes good enough to tell the Teeth of a Hand-worm because it is not very material for the preservation of our Body to have such a piercing Sight But though we think no body ought to Judge rashly that all Beings are Spirits or Bodies we think nevertheless that it is directly contrary to Reason that Philosophers in order to explain Natural Effects should use other Idea's than those that depend on Thought and Extension since indeed they are the only we have that are distinct or particular Nothing can be more unreasonable than to imagin an Infinity of Beings upon bare Idea's of Logick to impute an Infinity of Proprieties to them and thus to endeavour to explain things we do not understand by things which do not only conceive but which is not possible for us to conceive 'T is just as if the Blind having a mind to speak of Colours among themselves and to maintain a Thesis about them should in order thereunto make use of the Definitions which Philosophers give them and draw several Conclusions from the same For as those Blind could only give pleasant and ridiculous Arguments upon Colours because they could have no perfect Idea's of them and yet would argue about them upon General and Logical Idea's So Philosophers can never argue solidly upon the Effects of Nature when to that end they only make use of general Logical Idea's of Act Power Being Cause Principle Form Quality and the like It is absolutely necessary for them only to rely on distinct and particular Idea's of Thought and Extension and those they include as Figure Motion c. For it is in vain to pretend to understand Nature but by the Consideration of the distinct Idea's we have of it and it is better never to meditate than upon Chimera's Nevertheless we cannot affirm that there are only Bodies and Spirits Beings that think and that are extended because we may be deceiv'd in it For though they are sufficient to Explain Nature and consequently we may conclude without fear of being deceiv'd that the Natural Things we have some knowledge of depend on Extension and Thought yet it is certainly possible that there may be others of which we have no Idea and of which we see no Effects Men therefore Judge rashly when they Judge as an Infallible Principle that all Substances are Bodies or Spirits But they also infer a rash Conclusion from thence when they conclude by the bare Testimony of Reason that God is a Spirit It is true that since we are Created after his Image and Likeness and that Holy Writ teaches us in several Places that God is a Spirit we ought to believe it and to call him so But Reason alone cannot teach it us That tells us only that God is a Being infinitely Perfect and that he is rather a Spirit than a Body since our Soul is more perfect than our Body But it does not assure us that there are no Beings besides more perfect than our Spirits and more above our Spirits than our Spirits are above our Bodies Now supposing that there were such Beings as it undeniably appears that it was in the power of God to Create such it is clear that they would participate more of the likeness of God than we do The same Reason teaches us that God would sooner have the Perfections of their Beings than ours which would only be Imperfections compar'd to them Therefore we must not Judge rashly that the word Spirit which we use to express what God is and what we are is an Equivocal Term which signifies the same things or things that are very like God is more above Created Spirits than those Spirits are above Bodies and we ought not so much to call God a Spirit to shew positively what he is as to signifie that he is not Material He is a Being infinitely Perfect no body can question it But as we must not imagin with the Anthropomorphites that he must have a Human Figure because it seems to be most perfect although we should suppose him Corporeal neither must we imagin that the Spirit of God has any Human Thoughts And that his Spirit is like unto ours because we know nothing that is more perfect than our Spirit We must rather believe that as he possesses the Perfections of Matter without being Material since it is certain that Matter has a relation to some Perfections that are in God he also possesses the Perfections of Created Spirits without being a Spirit in the manner as we conceive Spirits That his Name is He that is that is the unlimited Being the All-Being the Infinite and Universal Being CHAP. X. Examples of some Physical Errors into which Men fall because they suppose that things which differ in their Nature Qualities Extension Duration and proportion are alike in all things WE have seen in the preceding Chapter that Men Judge rashly when they Judge that all Beings are only of two sorts Spirits or Bodies We will shew in the following that their Judgments are not only rash but also very false which are the principles of an infinite number of Errors when they Judge that Beings are not different in their Relations nor Manners because they have no Idea's of those differences It is most certain that the Mind of Man only looks for the relations of Things first those which the Objects it considers may have with it and in the next place those they have towards one another For the Mind of Man only seeks its Good and Truth In order to find its Good it carefully considers by Reason and by Taste or Sensation whether Objects have a Relation of agreement with it To discover the Truth it considers whether Objects have a Relation of Equality or of Likeness one with another or what is the exact measure of their Inequality For as Good is only the good of the Mind because it is convenient for it So Truth is only Truth by the Relation of Equality or of Likeness that is found between two or many things Whether between two or many Objects as between a Yard and Cloth for it is true that this Cloth holds out a Yard because there is an Equality between the Yard and the Cloth Whether between Two or many Idea's as between the two Idea's of Three and Three and that of Six for it is true that three and three are Six because there is an Equality between the two Idea's of Three and Three and that of Six Lastly Whether between Idea's and Things when the Idea's represent what the Things are For when I say that there is a Sun
they do not pretend to Judge of them It is no defect in a limited Mind not to know certain things it is only a defect to pretend to Judge of them Ignorance is a necessary Evil but we may and ought to avoid Error Therefore I do not condemn Men for being Ignorant of many things but only for giving rash Judgments about those things When things have a great relation to us are sensible V That our Ignorance is exceeding great in respect of abstracted things or such as have but little relation to us and fall easily within the Compass of our Imagination we may say that the Mind applies it self to them and may have some knowledge of them For when we know that things have a relation to us we think upon them with some Inclination and when we find that they concern us we apply our selves to them with pleasure So that we should be more Learned than we are in many things if the uneasiness and tossing of our Will did not Disturb and Fatigue our Attention continually But when things are abstract and not very sensible it is difficult to attain any certain knowledge of them Not that abstracted things are very intricate but because the Attention and Sight of the Mind begins and Ends commonly with the sensible Prospect of Objects for we seldom think on any thing but what we see and feel and only as long as we see and feel it It is most certain that if the Mind could easily apply it self to clear and distinct Idea's without being any-wise byass'd by Opinion and if the uneasiness of the Will did not continually disturb its Application we should meet no great difficulties in many Natural Questions which we look upon as not to be Explain'd and we might easily be deliver'd of our Ignorance and Errors in relation to them For Example It is an undeniable Truth to any Man of Sense that Creation and Annihilation are things which surpass the common force of Nature Therefore if Men did remain Attentive to that pure Notion of the Mind and Reason they would not so easily admit the Creation and Annihilation of an infinite Number of New Beings as of Substantial Forms real Qualities and Faculties They would look into the distinct Idea's we have of Extension Figure and Motion for the reason of Natural Effects which is not always so difficult as People imagin all things in Nature are so connected together and prove each other The Effects of Fire as those of Canon and of Mines are very Surprising and their cause not very well known Nevertheless if Men instead of relying on the Impressions of their Senses and on some false or deceitful Experiments did firmly fix on that bare Notion of the Mind alone That it is not possible for a Body that is very little agitated to produce a violent Motion since it can communicate no more moving Power than it has its self it would be easie from that alone to conclude that there is a Subtle and Invisible Matter that it is very much agitated and dispers'd int h all Bodies and several other like things which would teach us the Nature of Fire and also be of great use to us to discover other Truths yet more conceal'd For since Canons and Mines have such great Motions and all the Visible Bodies about them are not in a sufficient Agitation to produce them it is a certain proof that there are other Invisible and Insensible Bodies which have at least as much Agitation as the Canon Ball But with being very Subtle and Thin may alone freely pass and without breaking through the Pores of the Canon before it is Fir'd that is as Monsieur Descartes has explain'd it more at large before their having surrounded the hard and gross parts of the Salt-petre of which the Powder is Compos'd But when the Fire is put to it that is when those subtle and extreamly agitated Particles have surrounded the gross and solid Parts of the Salt-petre and have thus Communicated their very strong and violent Motion to them then all does Burst of necessity because the Pores of the Canon which left an open passage on all sides for the subtle Parts before mention'd while they were alone are not large enough to make way for the gross Parts of the Salt-petre and some others of which the Powder is Compos'd when they have receiv'd into themselves the Agitation of the Subtle Parts which surrounds them For as the Water of Rivers which flows under Bridges does not shake them by reason of the smallness of its Particles Thus the very subtle and very thin Matter I have mention'd passes continually through the Pores of all Bodies without making any sensible Alterations in them But then likewise as the said River is capable of breaking down a Bridge when carrying along with it some great Flakes of Ice or some other more solid Bodies by forcing them against it with its own Motion so subtle Matter is capable of producing the surprising Effects we see in Canons and in Mines when having communicated to the Parts of the Powder which Float in the midst of it its Motion which is infinitely more Violent and more Rapid than that of Rivers and Torrents the said Parts of the Powder cannot freely pass through the Pores of the Bodies which enclose them by reason they are too gross so that they violently break them to force them a free Passage But Men do not easily apprehend those subtle small Particles which they repute Chimera's because they do not see them Contemplatio ferè definit cum aspectu says Bacon The greater part even of Philosophers invent some New Entity rather than not to talk upon those matters which they are Ignorant of And if any Body objects against their false and incomprehensible Suppositions that Fire must needs be compos'd of Parts that are in very great Agitation since it produces such Violent Motions and that a thing cannot Communicate that which it has not which is undoubtedly a most clear and most solid Objection They confound all by some frivolous Imaginary distinction as that of Equivocal and Univocal Causes in order to seem to say something though in reality they say nothing For it is a general Notion among Men of Sense and Learning that there can be no real Equivocal Cause in Nature and that it has been invented meerly by the Ignorance of Men. Therefore Men must apply themselves more to the consideration of clear and distinct Notions if they have a mind to understand Nature They must check and stop the Inconstancy and Levity of their Will a little if they design to penetrate deeply into things for their Mind will ever be weak superficial and discursive while their Will remains Light Inconstant and Roving It is true it requires some Fatigue and Men must constrain themselves to become Attentive and to search into the bottom of things for there is nothing to be got without pains It is shameful for Men of Sense and
9 Chap. 3. I. That Philosophers dissipate their Mind by applying it to Subjects which include too many Relations and which depend upon too many things without keeping any Order in their Studies II. An Example drawn from Aristotle III. That Geometricians on the contrary proceed well in an Enquiry after Truth especially those who make use of Algebra IV. That their method increases the power of the Mind and that Aristotle's Logick weakens it V. Another defect of studious Persons p. 15 Chap. 4. I. The Mind cannot long apply it self to any Object which neither relates to it self nor to Infinity II. The Inconstancy and consequently the Error of the Will proceeds from this Defect of Application III. Our Sensations affect us more than the Pure Idea's of the Mind IV. What is the Original Cause of the Corruption of Manners V. And the Ignorance of the Generality of Mankind p. 20 The Second Part of the Pure Understanding Of the Nature of IDEA'S Chap. 1. I. WHat is meant by Idea's That they truly Exist and that they are necessary to perceive all material Objects II. A division of all the Modes by which External Objects may be seen p. 29 Chap. 2. That material Objects do not emit Species which resemble them p. 33 Chap. 3. That the Soul has no power of producing Idea's The Cause of Mens Error in reference to this Subject p. 35 Chap. 4. That we do not sie Objects by the means of Idea's which were created with us And that God does not produce them in us so often as we have occasion for them p. 41 Chap. 5 That the Mind neither sees the Essence nor Existence of Objects in considering its own Perfections That none but God sees them in that manner p. 44 Chap. 6. That we see all things in God p. 46 Chap. 7. I. Four different ways of seeing things II. How we know God III. How we know Bodies IV. How we know our Soul V. How we know the Souls of other Men and pure Spirits p. 55 Chap. 8. I. The Intimate Presence of the Wandering Idea of Being in General is the Cause of all the Irregular Abstractions of the Mind and of the greatest part of the Chimera's of common Philosophy which hinder many Philosophers from discovering the Solidity of the True Principles of Moral Philosophy II. Example concerning the Essence of Matter p. 6â— Chap. 9. I. The last General Cause of our Errors II. That the Idea's of things are not always present to the Mind as soon as 't is desir'd III. That all Finite Minds are liable to Error and why IV. We ought not to judge that there are only Bodies or Spirits nor that God is a Spirit as we conceive Spirits p. 71 Chap. 10. Examples of some Physical Errors into which Men fall because they suppose that things which differ in their Nature Qualities Extension Duration and Proportion are alike in all things p. 77 Chap. 11. Examples of some Errors of Morality which depend on the same Principle p. 87 The Conclusion of the Foree first Books p. 91 BOOK IV. Of the Inclinations and Natural Motions of the Mind Chap. 1. I. IT 's necessary the Mind have Inclinations as well as the Body Motions II. God acts the Humane Mind only for himself III. Mens Minds are only inclin'd to Particular Good through the Motion they have to Good in General IV. The Origine of the Chief Natural Inclinations which will make up the Division of this Fourth Book p. 1 Chap. 2. I. The Inclination for Good in General is the Principle of the Disquiet of our Will II. And consequently of our Negligence and Ignorance III. First Example Morality little known to many Men. IV. Second Example The Immortality of the Soul disputed by some Men. V. That our Ignorance is exceeding great in respect of abstracted things or such as have but little Relation to us p. 7 Chap. 3. I. Curiosity is natural and necessary II. Three Rules to moderate it III. Explanation of the first of these Rules p. 20 Chap. 4. A Continuation of the same Subject I. Explanation of the Second Rule of Curiosity II. Explanation of the Third p. 27 Chap. 5. I. Of the Second Natural Inclination or of Self-Love II. It is divided into the Love of Being and Well-Being or of Greatness and Pleasure p. 31 Chap. 6. I. Of the Inclination we have for every thing that raises us above other Persons II. Of the false Judgments of some Pious Persons III. Of the false Judgments of the Superstitious and Hypocrites IV. Of Voetius an Enemy to Monsieur Descartes p. 35 Chap. 7. Of the desire of Science and of the Judgments of pretenders to Learning p. 42 Chap. 8. I. Of the Desire of being thought Learned II. Of the Conversation of pretenders to Learning III. Of their Works p. 48 Chap. 9. How the Inclination we have for Honours and Riches lead us to Error p. 56 Chap. 10. Of the Love of Pleasure in relation to Morality I. We must shun Pleasure though it make us Happy II. It must not incline us to the Love of Sensible Delights p. 58 Chap. 11. Of the Love of Pleasure in relation to Speculative Sciences I. How it hinders us from discovering Truth II. Some Examples p. 65 Chap. 12. Of the Effects which the thought of Future Bliss and Sufferings is capable of producing in the Mind p. 79 Chap. 13. I. Of the Third Natural Inclination which is the Friendship we have for other Men. II. It induces us to approve our Friends Thoughts and to deceive them by False Praises p. 85 A SEARCH AFTER TRUTH BOOK I. Of the Errors of the Senses CHAP. I. I. Of the Nature and Properties of the UNDERSTANDING II. Of the Nature and Properties of the WILL and wherein its Liberty consists ERROR is the Cause of Man's Misery the corrupt Principle that has produc'd Evil in the World 't is this which begets and cherishes in our Souls all the Evils that afflict us and we can never expect a true and solid Happiness but by a serious Endeavour to avoid it Holy Scripture teaches us that Men are miserable only because they are Sinners and Criminals and they would be neither if they did not make themselves the Slaves of Sin by assenting to Error If it be true then that Error is the Origin of Men's Misery how very just is it that they should endeavour their Deliverance from it and certainly an Effort towards it would not be vain and unrewarded though perhaps it might not have all the effect that could be desired admit we could not arrive at Infallibility and accomplish an absolute Victory yet we should be less deceiv'd and subject to fewer Evils We are not to expect an entire Felicity in this Life because we cannot pretend to Infallibility but our Endeavours to avoid Error must be as continual as are our Aversions for Misery In a word as we earnestly desire Happiness without Hopes of attaining it here so we must vigorously pursue
understand it to be so because nothing is either great or little in it self Even a Bird is great in comparison of a Fly but little in respect of our Bodies but it does not follow that it is so absolutely for our Body is not the Standard Measure of other Bodies it 's but very small in relation to the Earth and that in relation to the Circle which the Sun or the Earth describes one about the other and this Circle in comparison of the Space betwixt us and the fixt Stars and thus we may still imagine Spaces larger and larger ad Infinitum But we must not think that our Senses give us the just proportion that Bodies have to one another III. Of the Error of our Eyes about Extension of Bodies in relation to one another for exactness is not essential to Sensible Knowledge which is only useful for the Preservation of Life It 's true we know precisely enough the proportion that Bodies have one with another if they be near us but we know little of the proportion that distant Bodies have because they have little relation to our Body The Idea of bigness which we have at the sight of some Body diminishes in proportion to the condition that this Body is in of hurting us and this Idea is presently enlarg'd as Bodies approach us or rather as the relation they have with our Body encreases Lastly this Relation wholly ceases I mean if any Body is so little or distant from us that it cannot hurt us we have no more any Sensation of it So that by the Eye we may sometimes judge very near of the proportion that some Bodies have with ours as also of that they have among themselves but we must never believe them to be of that bigness which they appear to us Our Eyes for Example represent the Sun and Moon about the bigness of one or two Feet over but we must not imagine as Epicurus and Lucretius did that they are really of this bigness the Moon appears much greater to the Sight than the fix'd Stars tho' it 's certain that in comparison of them it is very small Thus likewise we see every day upon the Earth two or more things whose bigness we cannot truly discover because it 's necessary to have their true distance before we Judge of them which is very difficult to know We have the same trouble to make a certain Judgment of the Proportion of two Bodies which are close to us they must be taken in our hands and compar'd together and after all we frequently remain doubtful about them This is evident when we would examine two pieces of Money which are almost equal for then we are oblig'd to place them one upon another to try by a surer way than the bare sight whâ—ther they are equal or not Hence we conclude that our sight does not only deceive us in respect of the bigness of Bodies as they are in themselves but also in the Proportion which they have when compar'd together CHAP. VII I. Of the Errors of Sight in respect of Figures II. We have no Knowledge of the least Things III. The Knowledge we have of the greatest Things is not exact IV. An Explication of certain Natural Judgments which keep us from being deceiv'd V. That these very Judgments deceive us in particular Occurrences OUR Sight deceives us less in the Representation of Figures I. Of the Errors of Sight concerning Figures than of all other things because a Figure consider'd in it self is absolutely nothing and because its Nature consists only in the Relation that is betwixt the Parts which terminate some Space and a Point which is conceiv'd in this Space and which may be call'd as in a Circle the Centre of the Figure yet we are deceiv'd a thousand ways in Figures and we have never any exact Knowledge of them by the Senses We shall now prove II. That we have no Knowledge of the smallest things that our Sight reaches not all sort of Extension but that only which hath a very considerable Relation with our Body and for this reason we see not all the parts of the least Animals or those that compose hard or liquid Bodies So that being unable to perceive all these Parts because of their smallness it follows that we cannot perceive their Figures since the Figure of a Body is only the Term that limits it There are then an infinite number of Figures and even of the greatest which our Eyes discover not to us and therefore they incline the Mind which relies too much upon their Capaciousness and which does not sufficiently examine things to believe that these Figures do not Exist As for Bodies that are accommodated to our Sight III. That the Knowledge we have of the greatest is not exact which are very few in number in comparison of others we discover their Figure very near but we never know it exactly by the Senses we can't even be assur'd by the Sight whether a Circle or a Square which are two of the most Simple Figures are not an Ellipse or a Parallelogram altho' we had these Figures in our Hands and as near our Eyes as we pleas'd Moreover we can't exactly distinguish whether a Line is right or not especially if it be pretty long we must have a Rule for that But why We know not whether the Rule it self is such as we suppose it should be and we cannot absolutely assure our selves thereof Yet without the Knowledge of a Line another Figure can never be known as is evident to all that know what Figures are This is what may in general be said of Figures that are in our Hands and before our Eyes but if they are supposed at a distance from us how great a Change should we find in the Projection they make upon the bottom of our Eyes I 'm unwilling to describe them here they are easily Learn'd in any Book of Opticks or by examining Figures in Picture For since Painters are oblig'd to change them almost every where that they may appear Natural and to Paint for Example Circles like Ellipses 't is an Infallible Mark of our Errors in seeing Objects which are not Painted but these Errors are corrected by new Sensations which may be look'd upon as a kind of Natural Judgments and which might be call'd the Judgments of the Senses When we behold a Cube IV. An Explication of certain Natural Judgments which guard us from Error for Example 't is certain that all the sides or Images of equal bigness with them are never Projected on the bottom of our Eyes since the Image of every one of these sides which is Painted upon the Retina or Optic Nerve is exactly like a Cube Painted in Perspective nevertheless we see them all equal and are not deceiv'd Now it may be said that this happens by a kind of Judgment which we make Naturally viz. that the most distant Faces of a Cube must not Project such
of this nature he would absolutely doubt whether of the two Vessels were in Motion in vain would he Consult his Eyes and even his Reason to discover where the Motion lay CHAP. IX A Continuation of the same Subject I. A General Proof of the Errors of our Sight about Motion II. That it's necessary to know the distance of Objects to judge of the swiftness of their Motion III. An Examination of Means to know their distances TAke this General Proof of all the Errors we are liable to in respect of Motion Let A be the Eye of the Beholder C the Object which I suppose at a considerable distance from A I say that though the Object remains immovable in C he may believe it as distant as D or as near him as B and though the Object should recede to D or approach to B he might believe it immovable in C on the contrary although it approach towards B he may believe it immovable in C or receding towards D And although the Object advances from C to E H G or K he may believe that it 's only mov'd from C to F or I On the contrary although the Object were remov'd from C to F or â— he might believe that it was mov'd to E or H or else to G or K. But if the Object be mov'd in a line equally distant from the Beholder that is by a Circumference whose Center should be the Eye of the Beholder although the Object move from C to P he may believe that it moves only from B to O and on the contrary if it moves from B to O he may believe it moves from C to P. If beyond the Object C there be another Object M which he believes immovable although it moves towards N or if C moves more slowly towards F than M towards N it will appear to move towards Y and on the contrary if c. II. That it is necessary to know the distance of Objects to find the swiftness of the Motion It 's evident that the Proof of all these Propositions except the last in which there 's no difficulty depends only upon one thing that is we can't always make a certain Judgment of the distance of Objects and if so it follows that we cannot know whether C is advanc'd towards D or whether it approaches towards B and thus also of the other Propositions Now to see whether the Judgments we form about the distance of Objects are certain we are only to examine the Means we are to make use of in judging and if these Means are uncertain III. An Examination of the Means of knowing the distance of Objects we cannot judge infallibly there are many of them and they must be explain'd The first the most general and sometimes the most certain way that we have to judge of the distance of Objects is the Angle which the Rays of our Eyes make whose point of Concurrence is or measures the Object When this Angle is very great we see the Object very near on the contrary when it is very little we see it very distant And the Change which happens in the Situation of our Eyes according to the Changes of this Angle is the means whereof our * The Soul does not make all the Judgments that are attributed to it thâ—se Natural Judgments are only Sensations and I only speak thus that I may better explain things Soul makes use to judge of the distance or nearness of Objects for even as a blind Man who shou'd have in his Hands two streight Sticks whose length he did not know might by a kind of Natural Geometry judge very near of the distance of some Body in touching it with the end of these two Sticks by the disposition and distance of his hands So it may be said that the Soul Judges of the distance of an Object by the disposition of its Eyes which is not the same when the Angle by which he sees is sometimes greater See the 4th Article of Chap. 7. and sometimes less when the Object is nearer and when it is farther off We shall be easily perswaded of this if we take the pains to make this very easie Experiment Hang a Ring upon a Thread with the edge towards you or else thrust one Stick into the Earth and take another in your Hand which shall be crooked at the end go back two or three steps from the Ring or the Stick wink with one Eye and try to put the Stick in your Hand through the Ring or to touch the other in the Ground traversly about the height of your Eyes you will be surpriz'd not to be able to do that once in an hundred times which you believe is so easie to be done Now if you even lay by the Stick and attempt to put your Finger into the Ring hanging with the edge towards you you will find it difficult alt ho you were just at it But it must be well observ'd that what I have said about putting a crooked Stick through a Ring or touching another Stick traversly will not hold if the Eye be in a right Line with the opening of the Ring for then there would be no difficulty in it but it would be easier to effect it with one Eye shut than with both the Eyes open because that would guide us Now it may be said that the difficulty which is found in hitting the hole of the Ring traversly with but one Eye open is owing to this that the Eye being shut the Angle which I have spoken of is unknown for to know the bigness of the Angle at the Eye it is not sufficient to know the length of the Base and one of the Angles at the Base unless the other be right but we must also know the other Angle at the Base or the length of one of the sides which can't exactly be known but by opening the other Eye And thus the Soul cannot make use of its Natural Geometry to Judge of the distance of the Ring The disposition of the Eyes which accompanies the Angle form'd by the Visual Rays that meet in the Object is then one of the best and most Universal Methods which the Soul makes use of to Judge of the distance of Things If this Angle then does not admit of any Sensible Change when the Object is near if we approach to it or recede from it it will follow that the Method is false and that the Soul cannot make use of it to Judge of the distance of that Object Now 't is very easie to know that this Angle changes remarkably when an Object that is but one Foot from our Eyes is remov'd to four if it be only remov'd from four to eight the change is much less sensible if from eight to twelve 't is still less if from a thousand to a hundred thousand 't is yet less Lastly the change will be wholly insensible if the Object were remov'd into the Imaginary Spaces so that
distinguishes it from Admiration from Desire and Love from a Square a Circle and Motion in fine he discerns it very different from all things which are not this Pain that he feels Now if he had no knowledge of Pain I wou'd fain know how he can have any certainty that what he feels is none of these things We have some knowledge therefore of what we immediately feel when we see Colours or when we have any other Sensation and even 't is most certain that if we knew it not we cou'd know no sensible Object for 't is evident we cou'd not distinguish Water from Wine if we did not know that the Sensations we have of one of them is different from those we have of the other and so of all things we know by our Senses It is true that if I was pressed and required to explain what Pain Pleasure and Colour is c. I cou'd not do it as it ought to be done by Words but it follows not from thence that if I see Colour or burn my self I do not know at least after some manner what I actually feel Now the reason why all Sensations cannot be well explained by Words as all other things are is III. Objection and Answer because it depends upon the Will of Man to affix the Idea's of Things to such Names as they please they may call Heaven Ouranos Schamajim c. as the Greeks and Hebrews did but even those Men cannot at their pleasure affix their Sensations to Words or even to any other thing they see not Colours altho' they speak of them if they open not their Eyes They relish not Tastes if no change happens in the order of the Fibres of their Tongue or Brain In a word Sensations depend not upon Mans Will and it is only he who hath made them that preserves them in the mutual Correspondence that is between the Modifications of the Soul and those of the Body so that if any one shou'd desire me to represent to him Heat or Colour I cannot find Words for that but I must impress in the Organs of his Senses the Motions to which Nature unites these Sensations I must take him to the Fire and show him some Pictures This is the Reason why 't is impossible to give the Blind the least Knowledge of what we mean by Red Green Yellow c. For since we cannot make our selves be understood when he that hears us has not the same Idea's as we that speak It is manifest that Colours not being united to the sound of Words or to the motion of the Nerve of the Ear but to that of the Optic Nerve they cannot be represented to the Blind since their Optic Nerve cannot be shaken by coloured Objects We have then some Knowledge of our Sensations let us now see from whence it is that we seek yet to know them and believe our selves ignorant thereof this is without doubt the reason The Soul IV. Why it is we imagine we do not know our own Sensations since Original Sin is become as it were Corporeal by its inclination its love for Sensible Things continually diminishes the Union or Relation that it hath to Intelligible Things It is with great disgust that it conceives Things which do not produce some Sensations in it and it immediately ceases to consider them It does all that is in its power to produce some Images in its Brain which represent them and it is so much accustomed to this kind of Conception from our Infancy that it even thinks it cannot know what it cannot imagine Yet there are many things which not being Corporeal cannot be represented to the Mind by Corporeal Images as our Soul with all its Modifications But when our Soul wou'd represent to it self its own Nature and Sensations it does all it can to form a Corporeal Image thereof It seeks it self in all Corporeal Beings and takes it self sometimes for one and sometimes for another one while for Air and then again for Fire or for the Harmony of the parts of its Body Thus being willing to find it self amongst Bodies and imagining its own Modifications which are its Sensations to be the Modifications of Bodies we must not wonder if it Errs and is intirely Ignorant of it self What yet induces it further to be willing to imagine its Sensations is that it Judges them to be in the Objects and that they are even Modifications thereof and consequently that 't is something Corporeal and which can be Imagin'd It Judges therefore that the Nature of its Sensations consists only in the Motion that causes them or in some other Modification of a Body but when it finds that which is different from what it feels which is neither Corporeal nor can be represented by Corporeal Images this embarasses it and makes it believe that it does not know its own Sensations As for those who do not make these vain Efforts See the Explanations of the 7th Chapter of the 2d Part l. 3. to represent the Soul and its Modifications by Corporeal Images and yet are Solicitous to know the Nature of their Sensations they must consider that neither the Soul or its Modifications are to be known by the Idea's taking the word Idea in its true sense as I have determin'd and explain'd it in the Third Book but only by an inward Sensation So that when they desire the Soul and its Sensations to be explain'd by some Idea's they require what is impossible for all Mankind to give them since Man cannot Instruct us in giving us Idea's of Things but only in making us reflect upon those we already have The second Error we are subject to in respect to our Sensations is our attributing them to Objects as has already been explained in the 11th and 12th Chapters The third is V. That we dâ—ceive our selves in believing that all Men have the same Sâ—nsations of the same Objects our Judging that every one has the same Sensations of the same Objects For Example we believe all Mankind that sees the Sky takes it to be Blue and the Fields to be Green and all Visible Objects to be after the same manner as they appear to us and so of all other Sensible Qualities of the rest of our Senses Many persons will wonder that I shou'd bring such things in question as they have thought Indisputable yet I dare affirm they have never had any reason to Judge of them after the manner they have done and altho' I cannot Mathematically demonstrate to them that they are deceived yet I can demonstrate 't is by the greatest Chance in the World if they are not deceived Nay I have sufficient Reasons to be assur'd that they certainly are in an Error To know the Truth of what I advance we must remember what I have already proved viz. that there is a great difference between Sensations and the causes of them for from thence we may Judge that its possible absolutely speaking
hours are dissipated by transpiration through the Pores of those Vessels that contain them and it very often happens that others succeed which do not perfectly resemble them but the Fibres of the Brain are not so easily dissipated there does not often happen any considerable Change in them and their whole substance cannot be changed but after many years The most considerable differences that are found in a Man's Brain during the whole Course of his Life are in Infancy at his full Strength and in Old Age. The Fibres of the Brain in Children are soft flexible and delicate in perfect Age they become more dry hard and strong but in Old Age they become wholly inflexible gross and sometimes mingled with superfluous humours that the feeble heat of this Age cannot be any longer dissipated For as we see the Fibres which compose the Flesh harden in time and that the Flesh of a young Partridge is without dispute more tender than that of an old one so the Fibres of the Brain of a Child or Youth will be much more soft and delicate than those of Persons that are more advanced in years We shall soon see the reason of these Changes if we but consider how these Fibres are continually agitated by the Animal Spirits which run round about them in many different ways For as the Wind drys the Earth by blowing upon it so the Animal Spirits through their continual agitation by little and little render the greatest part of the Fibres of Man's Brain more dry compressed and solid so that Persons a little advanced in Years will almost always have them more inflexible then those that are Younger And for those that are of the same Age as Drunkards who for many years have used Wine to Excess or such Liquors as have been able to stupifie them will also have them more solid and more inflexible then such as are deprived of those Drinks during their whole Lives Now the different Constitutions of the Brain in Children Men at full growth and old Men are very considerable Causes of the difference that is observed in their faculty of Imagining of which we shall afterwards speak CHAP. VII I. Of the Communication which is between the Brain of a Mother and that of her Child II. Of the Communication that is between our Brain and the other parts of our Body which carries us to Imitation and Compassion III. An Explanation of the generation of Monstrous Children and of the Propagation of the Species IV. Some Irregularities of the Mind and some Inclinations of the Will explained V. Of Concupiscence and Original Sin VI. Objections and Answers IT is sufficiently evident to me that we incline to all things and that we have a Natural relation to every thing about us that is most useful for the Preservation and conveniency of Life But these relations are not equal we are more inclined to France than to China to the Sun than to any Star and to our own House more than to our Neighbours There are invsible ties which unite us more strictly to Men than to Beasts to our Relations and Friends than to Strangers to those we depend upon for the preservation of our Lives than such from whom we neither fear nor hope any thing What is chiefly to be observed in this Natural Union which is between us and other Men is that 't is so much the greater as we have more need of them Relations and Friends are strictly United one to another we may say their Griefs and Miseries are Common as well as their Joys and Happiness for all the Passions and Sensations of our Friends are communicated to us by the impression of their aspect and air of their Face Yet because we cannot absolutely live without them there is also another stricter Union then that Natural and Mutual one which is betwixt us and them Children in their Mothers Bellies I. Of the Communication which is between the Brain of a Mother and that of a Child whose Bodies are not yet entirely formed who are of themselves in as weak and helpless a condition as can be conceived must also be united with their Mothers in the stricktest manner that can be imagined And althâ— their Souls are separated from their Mothers yet their Bodies being linked together we must think they have the same Sensations and Passions and indeed the same thoughts which are excited in the Soul by the motions that are produced in the Body Thus Infants see what their Mothers see they hear the same Crys receive the same impressions of Objects and are agitated with the same Passions For since the air of a passionate Mans face penetrates those who look upon him and naturally imprints in them a passion like that which agitates him although the Union of the Man with those that consider him is not so great it seems reasonable to me to think that Mothers are capable of impressing upon their Children all the same Sensations they are affected with and all the same passions by which they are agitated For the body of an Infant makes but one with that of the Mothers the Blood and Spirits are common to both and Sensations and Passions are the Natural Consequence of the Motion of the Spirits and Blood which Motions necessarily Communicate themselves from the Mother to the Child Therefore the passions sensations and generally all the thoughts which proceed from the body are common both to the Mother and Child These things appear unquestionable for many reasons and I advance them only here as a supposition agreeable to my thoughts but shall sufficiently demonstrate them hereafter For whatsoever hypothesis can resolve all difficulties that can be brought against it ought to pass for an unquestionable principle The invisible bonds by which the Author of Nature unites all these Works are worthy the Wisdom of God and admiration of Men there is nothing that 's both more surprizing and instructive together but we think not of it we suffer our selves to be conducted without considering who it is that conducts us Nature is hidden from us as well as its Author and we feel the Motions which she produces in us without considering the Causes of 'em yet are there few things more necessary to be known for 't is upon their knowledge that the Explanation of whatsoever belongs to Man depends There are certainly springs in our Brain which Naturally incline us to Imitation II. Of the Communication there is between our Brain and the other parts of our bodies which inclines us to Imitation and Compassion for it is very necessary to Civil Society It is not only requisite that Children should believe their Fathers Disciples their Masters and Inferiors those which are above them for all Men must have some disposition to take the same manners and to do the same actions with those they live with To unite Men together there must be a resemblance both of Body and Mind this is the principle of an infinite Number
Body that are formed and they have very little consistence in Infants while they are in the Womb And it must be observed that if this Mother had determined the Motion of these Spirits to any other part of her Body by some violent titilation her Child would not have had his Bones broken but that part which had answer'd to that to which the Mother determined these Spirits had been much hurt as I have already said The Reasons of this accident may serve to explain in general how Women who during their being with Child upon seeing Persons with certain Marks in their Faces imprint the same on their Children and in the same part of the Body And from thence we may judge that advice very reasonable which bids 'em touch some hidden part of the Body when they perceive any thing which surprizes 'em and when they are agitated with any violent Passion for that may cause the Marks to be traced rather upon these hidden parts than upon the Face of their Infants We should often have instances like to what I have now related if Infants could live after having received such great Wounds but generally it causes Abortions For we may conclude that almost all Infants who dye before they are born except they be sick have no other cause of their Death than a fright some ardent desire or some other violent passion of their Mothers Here is also another very particular instance 'T is not above a Year since that a Woman having with too much application consider'd the Picture of Saint Pius when the Feast of his Canonization was celebrated was brought to bed of a Child which was perfectly like the Representation of this Saint He had the Face of an Old Man as much as it was possible in an Infant that has no Beard his Arms were crossed upon his Breast his Eyes turned towards Heaven and he had a very low Forehead because the Image of this Saint being raised towards the Vault of the Church and looking towards Heaven had almost no Forehead likewise He had a kind of a confused Miter upon his Shoulders with many round marks in the places where Miters are covered with Stones And indeed this Child very much resembled the Picture by which his Mother had formed him through the power of her Imagination 'T is a thing that all Paris might have seen as well as I because 't was a long time preserved in Spirits of Wine This instance is the more particular because there was not the sight of a Man living and agitated with some passion who moved the Spirits and Blood of the Mother to produce so strange an effect but only the sight of a Picture which yet was very sensible and accompanied with a great emotion of Spirits caused either through the Zeal and application of the Mother or through the agitation that the noise of the Feast had produc'd in her This Mother therefore looking upon this Picture with some application and emotion of Spirits the Child according to the first supposition saw it as she did with the same application and emotion of Spirits The Mother being lively affected imitated him at leaft in the Posture according to the second Supposition for her body being entirely formed and the Fibres of her Flesh hard enough to resist the course of the Spirits she could not imitate or make her self like to him in all things but the Fibres of the Infant 's Flesh being extreamly soft and consequently susceptible of all sorts of impressions the violent course of the Spirits produced in his Flesh whatsoever was necessary to make him entirely like the Image that he saw and the imitation to which Children are much more disposed perfected it as much as possible but this imitation having given to the body of this Child a figure so very extraordinary it was also the cause of its Death There are many other Examples in Authors of the power of the Imagination of Mothers and there is nothing so fantastical but has caused Abortions sometimes For they not only make Children deformed but also marked with such Fruits as they have longed for as Plumbs Pears Grapes and such like things For instance some Mothers having a strong Inclination to eat Pears the Children imagine and desire them with the same ardour and the course of the Spirits excited by the image of this desired fruit disposing it self through the little body is able to change its sigure because of its sostness So that these poor Children become like those things they wish'd for with so much ardour But the Mothers suffer no Injury because their bodies are not soft enough to take the figure of such things as they imagine Thus they cannot imitate them or render themselves entirely like ' em Now it must not be imagined that this Correspondence that I have explained and which is sometimes the cause of such great disorder is useless or ill ordered by Nature for on the contrary it seems very useful in the Propagation of Humane Bodies or in the formation of the Foetus and it is absolutely necessary to the transmitting certain dispositions of the Brain which ought to be different at different times and in different Countrys For instance it is requisite in some Countrys that Lambs should have their Brains to disposed as to fly at the sight of a Wolf because there are many of 'em there and they have a great deal to fear from them 'T is true that this Communication of the Mothers Brain with her Infants has sometimes ill consequences when the Mothers suffer themselves to be surprized by any violent passion Yet it seems to me that without this Communication Women and Animals could not easily beget young ones of the same kind for although some reason might be given of the formation of the Foetus in general as D'Cartes has happily enough attempted However 't is very difficult without this Communication of the Mothers Brain with the Childs to explain how a Mare should not beget an Ox or an Hen lay an Egg which contains a little Partridge or some Foul of a new kind I believe those that have considered the sormation of the Foetus will be of this opinion The most reasonable thought and that which is most conformable to experience about this difficule question of the formation of the Foetus is that Children are perfectly formed even before the action by which they are conceived and that their Mothers only contribute to their growth whilst they continue in the Womb. However this Communication of Animal Spirits and of the Mothers Brain with the Spirits and Brain of the Child seems still serviceable to regulate this growth and determine the parts which serve for its Nourishment and by little and little to dispose the Child like the Mother or else like some of the same Species This appears plain enough by the accidents which happen when the Imagination of the Mother is disordered and the Natural Disposition of her Brain is changed
they cannot be joined to the rest Oderunt hilarem tristes tristemque jocosi Sedatum celeres agilem gnavumque remissi It requires a larger Portion of Vertue than Men are aware of not to break with those that no way sympathize with our Passions but whose Sentiments are in all things contrary to ours Nor is it altogether without Reason For when a Man has good cause to be Sad or Joyful 't is in some measure an Affront not to correspond with him in his Sentiments If he be Sad 't is not proper to appear before him with a brisk and jolly Air which argues Gladness and which strongly imprints the Motions of it in his Imagination for this is to put him out of that Condition which is most convenient and pleasing to him Sadness being the most delightful of all the Passions to a Man in Misery All Men therefore have a certain Disposition of the Brain Two Principal Causes that increase our Inclination to imitate one another which naturally inclines 'em to be affected after the same manner as some of those with whom they Converse Now there are two Principal Causes that foment and increase this Disposition the first is in the Soul the second in the Body The first consists in the Natural Propensity of Men to Grandeur and Advancement This Propensity it is which imperceptibly excites us to imitate Persons of Quality in their manner of Speaking Walking Dress and Outward Air. This is the Original of New Modes of the Instability of living Languages and of certain general Corruptions of Manners This is the chief Origine of all Extravagant and Fantastick Novelties which are not supported by Reason but Human Fancy and Pleasure The other Cause which much incline to imitate others and which we ought chiefly to Discourse of here consists in a certain Impression which Persons of a Strong Imagination make upon Feeble Minds and upon Tender and Delicate Brains What a Strong Imagination is I understand by a Strong and Vigorous Imagination that Constitution of the Brain which makes it capable of Traces extreamly deep and fill the Receptacle of the Mind in such a manner that it cannot attend to other things than such as the Images themselves represent to it There are two sorts of Persons who have a Strong Imagination in this Sense Two sorts of it The first receive these deep Traces by an Unvoluntary and Irregular Impression of the Animal Spirits and the others of whom we intend principally to Discourse here receive 'em from a certain Disposition which is observ'd in the Substance of the Brains 'T is visible that the first are absolute Mad Men seeing they are constrain'd by the Natural Connexion which is between their Idea's and their Traces to think upon things not thought of by others with whom they Converse which renders 'em incapable of speaking to the purpose and answering directly to Questions that are ask'd ' em There are an infinite number of this sort of People who only differ in the more or the less and it may be said that all such as are agitated with some violent Passion are of their number since at the time of their Emotion the Animal Spirits so forcibly imprint the Traces and Images of their Passion that they are incapable of thinking upon any thing else But 't is to be observ'd that all these sort of Persons are not capable of corrupting the Imagination of any Man let his Mind be never so weak and his Brain never so soft and delicate and this for two Reasons The first Because they are not able to answer conformably to the Idea's of others they can perswade 'em to nothing And secondly Because the Disturbance of their Mind being altogether manifest whatever they say is hearken'd to with contempt Nevertheless 't is true that Passionate Persons put us into Passions and make Impressions in our Imagination like those with which they themselves are affected But in regard their Transports are manifestly visible we resist those Impressions and get rid of 'em soon after They rub out of themselves when they are not fomented by the Cause that produc'd 'em that is to say when the Transported Persons are departed out of our presence and when the sensible sight of the Characters which Passion form'd in the Countenance produces no farther Alteration in the Fibres of our Brain nor any Agitation in our Animal Spirits I only Examine here that sort of Strong and Vigorous Imagination which consists in a Disposition of the Brain proper to receive very deep Traces of more feeble and less active Objects 'T is no defect to have a Brain proper for a Strong Imagination of Things and for the Reception of the most distinct and lively Images of the most inconsiderable Objects provided that the Mind be always Mistress of the Imagination that these Images be imprinted by her Orders and that they may be defac'd when she pleases for hence arises sagacity and strength of Wit But when the Imagination over-rules the Soul and these Traces form themselves by the Disposition of the Brain and by the Activity of the Objects and Spirits without expecting the Orders of the Will this is a most Mischievous Vice and a kind of Madness We shall therefore endeavour to set forth the Character of those who have a Strong Imagination of this sort To that purpose it behoves us to remember that the Receptacle of the Mind is confin'd to narrow limits 2. That it is fill'd with no Object more easily than with the Sensations of the Mind and generally with the Perceptions of Objects that affect us very much 3. That the deep Traces of the Brain are always accompanied with Sensations or other Perceptions that vigorously affect us For thereby 't is easie to know the Genuine Characters of their Wit who have a Strong Imagination The first is Two considerable Defects in those who have a Strong Imagination that these Persons are not capable of giving a sound Judgment of things that are a little difficult and perplext because the Receptacle of the Mind being fill'd with Idea's that are by Nature connex'd with those very deep Traces they have not the Liberty to think of several things at the same time But in Compound Questions 't is requisite that the Mind should survey with one quick and suddain motion the Idea's of many things and discover at one single view the Correspondencies and Connexions that are necessary for the resolving of those Questions All Men know by their own Experience that they are not capable of applying themselves to the Search of any Truth at such time as they are afflicted with any violent Pain because then there are in the Brain those deep Traces which take up the Capacity of the Mind Thus those Persons of whom we speak having deeper Traces of the same Objects as we suppose they cannot have so great an Extension of Mind nor comprehend so many things together as the others The first Defect of
than Creates an Infinite Number of Idea's in every Mind First Although we do not absolutely deny that God was able to produce an Infinitely infinite Number of Beings which represent Objects with every Mind he Creates yet we ought not to believe that he does so For it is not only consonant to Reason but it also appears by the Oeconomy of Nature that God never does by very difficult means what may be done by a plain easie way God does nothing in vain and without Reason That which shews his Wisdom and his Power is not to do little things by difficult Means for that is repugnant to Reason and shews a limited Knowledge But on the contrary it is to do great things by plain easie Means 'T is thus that out of Extension only he produces whatever we see that is admirable in Nature and even that which gives Life and Motion to Animals For those who will needs have Substantial Forms Faculties and Souls in Animals different from their Blood and from the Organs of their Body in order to perform their Functions at the same time seem to argue that God wants Understanding or that he cannot do those admirable things by Extension only They measure the Power of God and his Soveraign Wisdom by the smallness of their own Capacity Then since God may make Humane Minds see all things by willing barely that they should see what is in themselves that is what is in him that has a relation to those things and which represents them there is no probability that he would do it otherwise and that he should produce in order thereunto as many Infinities of Infinite Numbers of Idea's as there are Created Spirits But we must observe that we are not to conclude that Spirits see the Essence of God because they can see all things in God in that manner Since what they see is very Imperfect but that God is very Perfect They see Matter Divisible and Figured c. and there is nothing in God that is Divisible or Figured for God is all Beings because he is Infinite and Comprehends all but he is no Being in particular Nevertheless that which we see is but one or several Beings in particular and we do not apprehend that perfect Simplicity of God which includes all Beings Besides that it may be said that we do not so much see the Idea's of things as the things which those Idea's represent for when we see a Square for instance we do not say that we see the Idea of that Square which is united to the Mind but only the Square which is without us The Second Reason which may induce us to believe that we see all Beings because God Wills that that which is in him which represents them should be discover'd to us and not because we have as many Idea's created with us as we can see things for this puts all created Spirits in an absolute Dependence upon God and the greatest that can be For this being so we cannot only see nothing but what God is willing we should see but we can also see nothing unless God himself shews it us 2 ad Cor. 3.5 Non sumus sufficientes cogitare aliquid à nobis tanquam ex nobis sed sufficientia nostra ex Deo est 'T is God himself which instructs and enlightens Philosophers in that Knowledge which ungrateful Men call Natural although it is an immediate Gift from Heaven Deus enim illis manifestavit Rom. 1.19 It is he that is properly the Light of the Mind and the Father of Light or Knowledge Pater Luminum Jac. 1.17 It is he that teaches Wisdom to Men Psa 53. Qui docet hominem scientiam In a word He is the true Light which enlightens all those that come into this World Lux vera quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc Mundum Joan 1.9 For in fine It is pretty difficult distinctly to apprehend the Dependence which our Minds have on God in all their particular Actions supposing they have all that which we distinctly know to be necessary for them in order to Act or all the Idea's of things present to their Mind and truly that general and confused word Concurrence by which Men pretend to explain the Dependence that Creatures have on God does not awaken any distinct Idea in an attentive Mind and yet it is very necessary Men should know distinctly that they can do nothing without God But the strongest of all Reasons is the manner how the Mind perceives all things It is certain and every body knows by Experience that when we have a mind to think on any thing in particular we first cast our Eyes on all Beings and in the next place we apply our selves to the Consideration of the Object we design to think on Now it is most certain that we see it already though confusedly and in general So that as we may desire to see all the Beings sometimes one and sometimes another it is certain that all Beings are present to our Mind and it appears that all Beings can only be present to our Mind because God is present to it that is He who includes all things in the Simplicity of his Being It seems moreover That the Mind would not be capable of representing to it self universal Idea's of Kinds and Species c. unless it saw all Beings included in one For every Creature being a particular Being we cannot say that we see any thing Created when we see for instance a Triangle in general In fine I am of opinion that it is impossible to give a good Reason of the Manner how the Mind comes to know several abstracted and general Truths unless it be by the presence of him that can direct the Mind in a World of different Manners In fine The Best the most Sublime the most Solid and the chief Proof of the Existence of God or that which supposes the fewest things is the Idea we have of Infinity though it does not comprehend it and that it has a very distinct Idea of God which it can only have by the Union it has with him since it cannot be conceiv'd that the Idea of a Being infinitely perfect as that we have of God should be any thing that is Created But the Mind has not only the Idea of Infinity it has it even before that of Finite For we conceive the Infinite Being from this alone that we conceive a Being without considering whether it is Finite or Infinite But in order to conceive a Finite Being we must needs retrench something of that general Notion of a Being which consequently must precede Thus the Mind perceives nothing but in Infinity and that Idea is so far from being form'd by the confused Mixture of all the Idea's of particular Beings as Philosophers imagine that on the contrary all those particular Idea's are only Participations of the general Idea of Infinity As God does not derive his Being from the
manner to maintain their Sentiments they are alike in that though they differ in the main This is sufficient for those who do not weigh the difference of Reasons to Judge that they are alike in all things because they are alike in that manner which every Body is capable to Judge of Devout Persons are not then obstinate they are only steddy as they ought to be But the Vicious and Libertines are always obstinate though they should not persist one Hour in their Sentiments Because Men are only obstinate when they defend a False Opinion although they should only defend it a little while This is the Case of some Philosophers who have maintain'd Chimerical Opinions which they lay aside at last They would have those who defend constant Truths whose certainty they see evidently to part with them as bare Opinions as they have done with those they had foolishly been prejudic'd with And because it is difficult to have a deference for them in prejudice of Truth as also because the Love we have Naturally for it inclines us to defend it earnestly they Judge us to be obstinate Those Men are to blame to defend their Chimera's obstinately but the others are in the right to defend Truth with Vigour and Steddiness of Mind The manner of both is the same but their Sentiments are different and it is that difference of Sentiment which makes the one constant and the others obstinate THE CONCLUSION OF THE Three First Books IN the beginning of this Book I have distinguished two Parts in the Simple and Indivisible Being of the Soul one purely Passive and the other both Passive and Active The first is the Mind or Understanding the second is the Will I have attributed three Faculties to the Mind because it receives its Modifications and Idea's from the Author of Nature after three different ways I have called it Sense When it receives from God its Idea's that are confounded with Sensations viz. Sensible Idea's occasion'd by certain Motions which pass in the Organs of its Senses at the Presence of Objects I have called it Imagination and Memory When it receives from God Idea's that are confounded with Images which are a kind of Weak and Languishing Sensations that the Mind receives only through some Traces that are produc'd or are stirr'd up in the Brain by the Course of the Spirits Lastly I have called it Pure Mind or Understanding when it receives from God pure Idea's of Truth without any mixture of Sensations and Images with it Not by the Union it hath with the Body but through that it hath with the Word or Wisdom of God not because it is in the Material and Sensible World but because it subsists in the Immaterial and Intelligible one Not to know Mutable things fit for the Preservation of the Life of the Body but to discover unchangeable Truths which preserve the Life of the Mind I have shown in the first and second Book that our Senses and Imaginations are very useful to discover to us the Relation betwixt External Bodies and our own that all the Idea's which the Mind receives through the Body are for the use of the Body that it is impossible clearly to discover any Truth whatsoever by the Idea's of our Senses and Imaginations that those confus'd Idea's serve only to engage us to our Body and through our Body to all Sensible things And lastly That if we would avoid Error we ought not to trust to them I also concluded it Morally Impossible to know by the pure Idea's of the Mind the Relations that are betwixt External Bodies and ours That we must not argue according to these Idea's to know if an Apple or a Pear are good to eat but we must judge it by our Taste And although we may make use of our Minds to discover after some confused manner the Relations that are betwixt External Bodies and our own yet it is always the surest way to make use of our Senses I will give another Example for we cannot impress too much on the Mind things that are so Essential and Necessary Supposing I would examine which is most Advantageous to be Religious or Rich if I open the Eyes of my Body Justice appears a Chimera I see no Attractives in it I see the Just are Miserable Abandoned Persecuted Defenceless and without Consolation for he that Comforts and Upholds them does not appear to my Eyes and indeed I do not see of what use Justice or Virtue can be but if I turn my Eyes upon Riches I soon perceive their Lustre and am dazled with it Power Grandeur Pleasures and all Sensible Goods accompany Riches I cannot doubt but Riches are necessary to make one Happy So likewise if I make use of my Ears I hear that all Men esteem Riches they speak of nothing but the ways of getting them and they always Praise and Honour those that possess them These two Senses and all the rest tell me That to be Happy I must be Rich And if I shut my Eyes and Ears and ask my Imagination it continually represents to me what my Eyes have seen and my Ears heard as to the Advantage of Riches but yet it will represent these things to me quite after another manner than my Senses did for the Imagination always enlarges the Idea's of those things that have any relation to the Body or which we Love If I will but permit it my Imagination will soon conduct me to an inchanted Palace like those of which Poets and Romances have made such Magnificent Descriptions of and there I shall see such Beauties which would be useless for me to describe This would convince me that the God of Riches who inhabits it is only capable of making me Happy This is what my Body is able to perswade me to for it speaks only for it self it is necessary for its Good that the Imagination should stoop before the Grandeur and Splendor of Riches But if I consider that the Body is infinitely below the Mind that it cannot be Master of it that it cannot instruct it in the Truth nor produce Light in it and that recollecting my self I ask my self or rather since I am neither my own Master nor Light if I draw near to God and in the Silence of my Senses and Passions ask him whether I ought to prefer Riches to Virtue or Virtue to Riches I shall hear a clear and distinct Answer of what I ought to do an Eternal Answer which has always been given is now given and will always be given an Answer which it is not necessary I should explain because all the World knows it either those who read this Book or those who read it not which is neither Greek Latin French or German and which is conceived by all Nations Lastly An Answer which Comforts the Just in their Poverty and which disturbs Sinners in the midst of their Riches I shall hear this Answer and be convinced of it I shall laugh at the Fancies
of our Prince and even the new Discoveries of the new World seem to add something to our Subsistance Being united to all these things we rejoyce at their Grandeur and Extension we could even wish that this World had no Limits and that thought of some Philosophers that the Works of God have no Bounds does not only seem worthy of God but also very agreeable to Man who feels a Secret Joy at his being a part of Infinity because as little as he is in himself he fancies that he becomes as it were Infinite by defusing himself into the Infinite Beings that are about him It is true that the Union which we have with all the Bodies that move in those great Spaces is not very strict and therefore it is not Sensible to most Men And there are some who matter the new Discoveries that are made in the Heavens so little that one might believe they are no-wise united to it by Nature if it were not known that it is either for want of Knowledge or because they are too much engag'd to other things The Soul though united to the Body it Animates does not always feel the Motions of it or if it does it does not always apply it self to them The Passion which moves it being sometimes greater than the Sensations which affects it it seems to be more powerfully engag'd to the Object of its Passion than to its own Body For it is principally by the Passions that the Soul defuses it self upon External Objects that it feels it is really united to every thing about it as it is chiefly by Sensation that it defuses it self in its own Body and is Sensible that it is united to all the Parts that Compose it But whereas one cannot conclude that the Soul of a Passionate Person is not united to his Body because he is prodigal of his Life and takes no Care for the Preservation of it So there is no reason to imagine that we are not naturally engag'd to all things because there are some for which we are not concern'd Would you for Example know whether Men are united to their Prince or their Country Seek out some who understand their Interest and have no particular Affairs to take up their Mind Then you will see how Earnest they are for News their Disquiet for Battles their Joy for Victories their Affliction in Defeats There you will clearly see that Men are strictly united to their Prince and their Country In like manner Would you know whether Men are united to China Japan or the Planets and fix'd Stars Seek out some or else imagine some whose Country and Family enjoy a profound Peace that have no particular Passions and that do not actually feel the Union that unites them to things that are nearer us than the Heavens and you will find that if they have any Knowledge of the Greatness and Nature of those Stars they will rejoyce at the Discovery of any of them they will consider them with Pleasure and if they are Ingenious they will willingly take the Trouble to observe and Calculate their Motions Those who are busied with Assairs seldom mind whether any Comet appears or whether there is an Eclipse But those who are not so closely united to the things that are near them are very fond of these sort of Events because there is nothing to which we are not united though we do not always feel it as we do not always feel that our Soul is united I do not say to our Arm or to our Hand but to our Heart and to our Brain The strongest Natural Union which God has put between us and his Works is that which united us with those Men we live with God has commanded us to Love them like our selves and that the Love of Choice by which we love them may be Firm and Constant he upholds and strengthens it continually by a Natural Love which he imprints in us In order thereunto he has laid upon us some Invisible Tyes which necessarily oblige us to Love them to watch their Preservation like our own to look upon them as necessary parts to the whole which we compose with them and without which we cannot Subsist There is nothing more Admirable than those Natural Relations which are found betwixt the Inclinations of the Minds of Men between the Motions of their Bodies and between these Inclinations and Motions All this Secret Chain is a Wonder which can never be sufficiently admir'd and which can never be apprehended At the sight of any Pain which Surprises or that is felt for example we cry out that Cry which often comes out before we are aware of it by the Disposition of the Machine Infallibly strikes the Ears of those that are near enough to afford us the Assistance we stand in need of It penetrates through them and makes it self understood to People of all Nations and of all Qualities whatever for that Cry is of all Languages and of all Qualities as indeed it ought to be It moves the Brain and in a Moment changes the whole Disposition of the Body of those that are struck by it Morcover it makes them run to assist before they are aware of it But it is not long without acting upon the Mind and without obliging them to be willing to relieve them and of thinking of Means to secure those that have made that Natural Prayer provided always the said Prayer or rather this pressing Command be Just and according to the Rules of Society For an Indiscreet Cry made without a Cause or out of a vain Fear produces Indignation and Scorn in the Assistants instead of Compassion because in crying without a cause we abuse things establish'd by Nature for our Preservation That Indiscreet Cry naturally produces Aversion and the Desire of revenging the Abuse that has been offer'd to Nature I mean to the Order of things provided he that made it did it voluntarily But it ought only to produce the Passion of Laughter mix'd with some Compassion without Aversion and a Desire of Revenge when it proceeds from Fear that is from a false Appearance of a pressing Necessity which has induced any one to cry out For Laughter or Jest is necessary to repel their Fear and to correct them and Compassion is necessary to Succor them as Weak It is impossible to conceive any thing better order'd I do not pretend to explain by Example which are the Springs and the Relations which the Author of Nature has placed in the Brains of Men and all Animals to maintain the Consent and Union which is necessary for their Preservation I only make some Reflections upon those Springs that People may think upon them and may carefully inquire not how those Springs move nor how their Motion is communicated by the Air by the Light and by all the little Bodies that surround us for that is almost Incomprehensible and is not necessary but at least to know what are the Effects of it One may
Self-Love in us 't is Generosity We have an Affection for other Men upon several accounts for they may please and serve us in several ways The resemblance of Humours of Inclinations of Imployments their Air their Behaviour their Virtue their Estate the Affection or Esteem they express for us the Services they have done us or that we expect from them and several other particular reasons do determin us to Love them Therefore when any of our Friends I mean some Person that has the same Inclinations that appears well that speaks agreeably whom we think Virtuous or of great Quality who expresses an Affection and Esteem for us that has done us some Service or from whom we expect any or finally whom we Love for some other particular reason If any such Person I say chances to advance some Proposition we suffer our selves strait to be perswaded by them without consulting our Reason We maintain his Opinion without examining whether it be Consonant to Truth and often even contrary to our own Conscience according to the Obscurity and Confusion of our Mind according to the Corruption of our Heart and according to the advantage we expect to derive from our false Generosity It is not necessary to bring particular Examples of those things in this place for People are seldom an hour in any Company without observing several if they will reflect a little upon them Favours and Laughters according to the old saying do but seldom side with Truth but almost always with those they Love He that speaks is Obliging and Civil Therefore he is in the right If what he says is barely likely it is look'd upon as True and if what he urges is absolutely ridiculous and impertinent it will at least become very probable If it is a Man that Loves me who has an Esteem for me who has done me some Service and is desirous and capable of doing me more who has maintain'd my Opinion on other Occasions I should be ungratesul and imprudent in opposing his or even in failing to applaud him Thus Truth is abus'd and is made subservient to Interest and thus we embrace each others false Opinions An honest Man can never be offended when any one that instructs and informs him provided it be done according to the Rules of Civility And when our Friends take Offence at our representing modestly to them that they are deceiv'd we must allow them to Love themselves and their Errors since they will have it so and because we have not the Power to Command them nor to change their Mind But a real Friend must never approve the Errors of his Friend For we ought to consider that we do them more harm than we are aware of when we injudiciously defend their Opinions Our Applauses swell their Hearts and confirm their Errors they become Incorrigible they Act and Decide as if they were become Infallible Whence comes it that the Richest the most Powerful the Noblest and generally all those that are Elevated above others think themselves very often Infallible and behave themselves as if they had a great deal more Reason than those that are of a mean and low Condition unless it be because all their thoughts are indifferently and basely approv'd So the Approbation we give our Friends perswades them by degrees that they have more Sense than others which makes them Proud Bold Imprudent and capable of falling into the present Errors without perceiving it Therefore our Enemies are often kinder to us and inform our Understanding more by their Oppositions than our Friends by their Approbations because our Enemies oblige us to stand upon our Guard and to be Attentive to what we urge which alone is capable to make us sensible of our Errors But our Friends Lull us asleep and gives us a false Confidence which makes us vain and ignorant Men therefore must never admire their Friends and submit to their Sentiments out of kindness as they must never oppose those of their Enemies out of Malice but must lay aside the Spirit of Flattery or Contradiction to become sincere and approve Evidence and Truth where-ever they find it We ought also to be fully perswaded that most Men are inclin'd to Flatter and Compliment us out of a kind of Natural Inclination to appear Witty to gain the good Will of others and in hopes of some return or finally out of a kind of Scorn and Raillery and we ought never to suffer our selves to be impos'd upon by whatever can be said to us Do we not daily see that Persons who know not each other nevertheless extol one another to the Skies the very first time they see and speak to one another And what is more common than to see some who give hyperbolical praises and express extraordinary motions of admiration to a Person that has spoken in publick even in the presence of those with whom they have laugh'd at him a little before Whenever People Cry out and grow Pale with admiration and seem as it were astonish'd at what they hear it is not a good proof that he that speaks says Wonders but rather that he speaks to Flatterers that he has Friends or perhaps Enemies who Laugh at him It is because he speaks in an engaging Way that he is Rich and Powerful or if you will have it so it is a pretty good proof that what he says is grounded upon the Confused and Obscure Notions of the Senses but very moving and very agreeable or that he has a Lively Imagination since praises are given to Friendship Riches Dignities Probabilities and very seldom to Truth It may be expected perhaps that having treated in general of the Inclinations of the Mind I should descend to an exact Account of all the particular Motions they resent at the sight of Good and Evil viz. That I should explain the Nature of Love Hatred Joy and Sadness and of all Intellectual Passions both general and particular as well Simple as Compounded But I have not engag'd to Explain all the different motions the Mind is capable of I am willing it should be known that my principal Design in all that I have written hitherto about a Search after Truth has been to make Men sensible of their Weakness and Ignorance and that we are all liable to Error and Sin I have said it and say it again perhaps some will remember it My Design never was to give a particular Account of the Nature of the Mind But I have been oblig'd to say something about it to explain Errors in their Original and in order in a word to make my self more Intelligible And if I have gone beyond the Bounds I had propos'd it is because I thought I had some new things to say which seem'd to me of Consequence and which I thought might be read with Pleasure Perhaps I was mistaken but that presumption was necessary to encourage me to write them For how can one speak without hopes of being hearken'd unto The Truth is I have said many things which do not seem to belong so much to the Subject I am treating of as that particular of the Motions of the Soul I own it but it is not my Intention to oblige my self to any thing when I prescribe a Method to my self I lay down a Rule to guide me but I reserve to my self the power of turning aside from it as I walk if I meet with any thing that deserves to be consider'd I may leave the way sometimes to rest my self provided I do not lose my self Those who have not a Mind to stop with me may go on if they please 't is but turning over the Leaf But if they are offended at it let them know there are many who believe those places which I have pitch'd upon to rest in make them find the Way the easier and more delightful FINIS