the Minds of Men of different Countries The Gascons for instance have a more brisk and lively Imagination than the Normans Those of Rhoan and Dieppe and Picardie differ all from one another And yet farther from the Low-Normans though at no great distance from each other But if we consider Men that live in Countries more remote we shall find much stranger Differences between them For instance an Italian a Flemming and a Dutch-Man To conclude there are places celebrated in all Ages for the Wisdom of their Inhabitants as Theman and Athens and others as notorious for their Stupidity as Thebes and Abdera and some others Athenis tenue coelum ex quo acutiores etiam putantur Attici crassum Thebis Cic. de Fato Abderitanae pectora plebis habes Mart. Boeotum in crasso jurares aëre natum Hor. CHAP. IV. I. Of the Change of the Spirits caus'd by the Nerves which go to the Heart and Lungs II. Of that which is caus'd by the Nerves which go to the Liver to the Spleen and Viscera III. That all that is perform'd without the concurrence of our Will but yet it cannot be done without a Providence THE third cause of the Changes which happen to the Animal Spirits is the most ordinary and most active of them all because it is this which produces maintains and corroborates all the Passions For our better understanding this we must know that the Nerves of the fifth sixth and eighth Conjugation shoot out the greatest part of their Branches into the Breast and Belly where they are most advantagiously imploy'd for the Preservation of the Body but most dangerously in regard to the Soul Because these Nerves in their Action depend not on the Will of Men as do these us'd in moving the Legs and Arms and other External Parts of the Body And they have a greater influence upon the Soul than the Soul has upon them We must know then that many of the Branches of the Nerves of the eighth Conjugation fall in among the Fibres of the Principal of all the Muscles the Heart that they encircle its Orifices its Auricles and its Arteries That they expatiate also into the Substance of the Lungs and thus by their different Motions produce very considerable Changes in the Blood For the Nerves which are dispers'd among the Fibres of the Heart causing it to Dilate and Contract it self in too hasty and violent a manner throw with an unusual force abundance of Blood towards the Head and all other External Parts of the Body Though sometimes these same Nerves have a quite contrary Effect As for the Nerves which surround the Orifices of the Heart it s Auricles and Arteries their use is much the same with that of the Registers wherewith the Chymists moderate the Heat of their Furnaces or of Cocks which are instrumental in Fountains to regulate the Course of their Waters For the use of these Nerves is to contract and dilate diversly the Orifices of the Heart and by that manner to hasten and retard the Entrance and the Exit of the Blood and so to augment and diminish the Heat of it Lastly The Nerves which are dispers'd over the Lungs have the same employment For the Lungs being made up only of the Branches of the Trachea of the Vena Arteriosa and the Arteria Venosa interwoven one among another it is plain that the Nerves which are dispers'd through their Substance by their Contraction must obstruct the Air from passing so freely out of the Branches of the Trachea and the Blood out of those of the Vena Arteriosa into the Arteria Venosa to discharge it self into the Heart Thus these Nerves according to their different agitation augment and diminish still the Heat and Motion of the Blood All the Passions furnish us with very sensible Experiments of these different Degrees of Heat of our Heart we manifestly feel its Diminution and Augmentation sometimes on a sudden And as we falsly judge our Sensations to be in the Parts of our Body and by occasion of them to be Excited in our Soul as has been explain'd in the foregoing Book So the generality of Philosophers imagine the Heart to be the Principal Seat of the Passions of the Soul and 't is even at this day the most common and receiv'd Opinion Now because the Imaginative Faculty receives considerable Changes by the Changes which happen in the Animal Spirits and because the Animal Spirits are very different according to the different Fermentation of the Blood perform'd in the Heart it is easie to discover the Reason of Passionate People's imagining things quite otherwise than those who consider'd the same sedately and in cold Blood The other Cause which exceedingly contributes to the Diminution and Augmentation of these Extraordinary Fermentations of the Blood in the Heart consists in the Action of many other Branches of the Nerves whereof we have been speaking These Branches are dispers'd throughout the Liver which contains the more subtil part of the Blood or that which is commonly call'd the Bile through the Spleen which contains the grosser part or the Melancholy through the Pancreas which contains an acid Juice most proper for Fermentation through the Stomach the Guts and the other parts which contain the Chyle Finally They are dispers'd and spread about all the parts that can any ways contribute to the varying the Fermentation of the Blood in the Heart There is moreover nothing even to the Arteries and Veins which has not a Connection with these Nerves as Dr. Willis has discover'd of the Inferiour Trunck of the Great Artery which is connected to them near the Heart of the Axillary Artery on the right side of the Emulgent Vein and several others Thus the use of the Nerves being to agitate the parts to which they are fastened diverse ways it is easie to conceive how for instance the Nerve which surrounds the Liver may by constringing it drive a great quantity of Bile into the Veins and the Canalis Cysticus which mingling with the Blood in the Veins and with the Chyle through the Canalis Cysticus enters the Heart and produces a Heat therein much more fervent than ordinary Thus when a Man is mov'd with some kind of Passions the Blood boyls in the Arteries and in the Veins and the Heat is diffus'd throughout the Body the Fire flies up into the Head which is presently fill'd with such a prodigious quantity of over-brisk and rapid Animal Spirits as by their impetuous Current hinder the Imagination from representing other things than those whose Images they form in the Brain that is from thinking on other Objects than those of the Predominant Passion 'T is so again with the little Nerves which run into the Spleen or into other parts which contain a Matter more gross and course and less capable of Heat and Motion they render the Imagination wholly Languid Drousy and Unactive by pouring into the Chanels of the Blood a Matter that is
Foundation of his System from which may ever be deduc'd all the profit that could be expected from the true to make all necessary advances in the knowledge of Man Since then the Imagination consists only in the Power the Soul has of Forming the Images of Objects by imprinting them as I may so say in the Fibres of the Brain the greater and more distinct the Impresses of the Animal Spirits are which are the strokes of these Images the more strongly and distinctly the Soul will imagine Objects Now as the Largeness and Depth and Cleaverness of the strokes of any Sculpture depend upon the Forcible Acting of the Graving Instrument and the plyable yielding of the Plate so the Depth and the Distinctness of the Impresses of the Imagination depend on the Force of the Animal Spirits and the Constitution of the Fibres of the Brain And 't is the Variety that is found in these two things which is almost the universal Cause of that great Diversity we observe in the Minds of different Men. For 't is no hard thing to account for all the different Characters to be met with in the Minds of Men On the one hand by the Abundance and Scarcity by the Rapidness and Slowness by the Grossness and the Littleness of the Animal Spirits and on the other hand by the Fineness and Courseness by the Moisture and Driness by the Facility and Difficulty of the yielding of the Fibres of the Brain and lastly by the Relation the Animal Spirits may possibly have with these Fibres And it would be very expedient for every one forthwith to try to Imagine to himself all the different Combinations of these things and to apply himself seriously to the Consideration of all the Differences we have observ'd between the Minds of Men. Because it is ever more Useful and also more Pleasant for a Man to employ his own Mind and to accustom it to the finding out Truth by its own Industry than to suffer it to gather Rust by a careless Laziness in applying it only to things wholly digested and explain'd to his hands Besides that there are some things so delicately nice and fine in the different Character of Minds that a Man may easily sometimes discover them and be sensible of them himself but is unable to represent them or make them sensible to others But that we may explain as far as possibly we can all the Differences that are found in different Minds and that every Man may more easily observe in his own the Cause of all the Changes he sensibly perceives in it at different times it seems convenient to make a general Enquiry into the Causes of the Changes which happen in the Animal Spirits and in the Fibres of the Brain Since this will make way for the Discovery of all those which happen in the Imagination Man never continues long like himself all Mankind have sufficient Internal Convictions of their own Inconstancy A Man judges one while in one manner and another while in another concerning the same Subject In a word the Life of a Man consists only in the Circulation of the Blood and in another Circulation of Thoughts and Desires And I am of Opinion a Man can't employ his Time much better than in Searching for the Causes of these Changes we are subject to and entring into the Knowledge of our Selves CHAP. II. I. Of the Animal Spirits and the Changes they are subject to in general II. That the Chyle entering the Heart occasions a Change in the Spirits III. That Wine does the same thing 'T IS confess'd by all the World that the Animal Spirits are nothing but the more subtil and agitated parts of the Blood which Subtilty and Agitation is principally owing to the Fermentation it receives in the Heart and the violent Motion of the Muscles which constitute that part That these Spirits together with the rest of the Blood are conducted through the Arteries to the Brain And that there they are separated from it by some parts appropriated to that purpose but which they are it has not been yet agreed upon From whence we ought to conclude that in case the Blood be very subtil it will have abundance of Animal Spirits but if it be gross the Animal Spirits will be few That if the Blood be compos'd of parts easie to be inflam'd in the Heart or very fit for Motion the Spirits in the Brain will be extreamly heated and agitated And on the contrary if the Blood admits little Fermentation in the Heart the Animal Spirits will be languid unactive and without force And lastly according to the Solidity which is found in the parts of the Blood the Animal Spirits will have more or less solidity and consequently greater or lesser force in their Motion But these things ought to be explain'd more at large and the Truth of them made more sensibly apparent by Examples and uncontroverted Experiments that prove them The Authority of the Ancients has not only blinded some Mens Understandings but we may say has seal'd up their Eyes For there are still a sort of Men that pay so submissive a deference to Ancient Opinions or possibly are so stiff and obstinate that they will not see those things which they could not contradict would they but please to open once their Eyes We daily see Men in good Reputation and Esteem for their Study Write and Dispute publickly against the Visible and Sensible Experiments of the Circulation of the Blood against that of the Gravitation and Elastick force of the Air and others of the like Nature The Discovery Mr. Pacquet has made in our Time and which we have here occasion for is of the number of those that are mis-fortunate meerly for want of being Born Old and as a Man may say with a Venerable Beard I shall not however omit to make use of it and am under no Apprehension of being blam'd by Judicious Men for doing so According to that Discovery it is manifest that the Chyle does not immediately pass from the Viscera to the Liver through the Mesaraick Veins as was believ'd by the Ancients but that it passes out of the Bowels into the Lacteal Veins and from thence into several Receptacles where these Veins coterminate That from thence it ascends through the Ductus Thoracicus along the Vertebrae of the Back and proceeds to mix with the Blood in the Axillary Vein which enters into the Superiour Trunck of Vena Cava and thus being mingled with the Blood it discharges it self into the Heart It ought to be concluded from this Experiment that the Blood thus mingled with the Chyle being very different from that which has already circulated several times through the Heart the Animal Spirits that are only the more fine and subtil parts of it ought to be very different in Persons that are fasting and others after they have eaten Again because in the Meats and Drinks that are us'd there is an infinite Variety
gross and difficult to be put in Motion As for those Nerves which environ the Arteries and Veins their Use is to put a stop to the current of the Blood and by their Pressure and Constriction of the Veins and Arteries oblige it to flow into those places where it meets with a passage more free and open Thus that part of the great Artery which furnishes all the parts of the Body below the Heart with Blood being bound and straitned by these Nerves the Blood must necessarily enter the Head in greater quantities and so produce a Change in the Animal Spirits and consequently in the Imagination But it ought to be well observ'd that all this is perform'd by mere Mechanism I mean that all the different Movements of these Nerves in all the different Passions are not affected by the Command of the Will but on the contrary are perform'd without its orders and even in contradiction to them Insomuch that a Body without a Soul dispos'd like that of a â—ound Man would be capable of all the Movements which accompany our Passions And thus Beasts themselves might have such as nearly resembled them though they were only pure Machines This is the thing for which we ought to admire the Incomprehensible Wisdom of Him who has so regularly rang'd and contriv'd all these Natural Wheels and Movements as to make it sufficient for an Object to move the Optick Nerve in such and such a manner to produce so many diverse Motions in the Heart in the other inward parts of the Body and on the Face it self For it has lately been discover'd that the same Nerve which shoots some of its Branches into the Heart and into other Internal parts communicates also some of its Branches into the Eye the Mouth and other parts of the Face so that no Passion can rise or mutiny within but it must betray presently it self without because there can be no Motion in the Branches extended to the Heart but there must another happen in those which are spread o'er the Face The Correspondence and Sympathy which is found between the Nerves of the Face and some others answering to other places of the Body not to be nam'd is still much more Remarkable and that which occasions this great Sympathy is as in the other Passions because these little Nerves which climb into the Face are only Branches of that which descends lower When a Man is overtaken with some violent Passion if he is careful to make a Reflection upon what he feels in his Entrails and in other parts of his Body where the Nerves insinuate themselves as also upon the Changes of Countenance which accompany it and if he considers that all these divers Agitations of the Nerves are altogether involuntary and that they happen in spite of all the Resistance that our Will can make to them he will find it no hard matter to suffer himself to embrace this simple Exposition that hath been given of all these Relations and Correspondencies betwixt the Nerves But if a Man examines the Reasons and the End of all these things so much Order and Wisdom will be found in them that a little Soberness of Thought and Attention will be able to convince the most devoted Admirers of Epicurus and Lucretius that there is a Providence that governs the World When I see a Watch I have reason to conclude that there is some Intelligent Being since it is Impossible for Chance and Hap-hazard to produce to range and posture all its Wheels How then could it be possible that Chance and a confus'd Jumble of Atoms should be capable of ranging in all Men and Animals such abundance of different secret Springs and Engines with that Exactness and Proportion I have just Explain'd and that Men and Animals should thereby procreate others exactly like themselves So ridiculous it is to think or to say with Lucretius That all the parts which go to the Composition of Man were pack't together by Chance that his Eyes were not made with any design of Seeing but that he afterwards thought of Seeing because he found he had Eyes And thus with the other parts of the Body These are his Words Lumina ne facias oculorum clara creata Prospicere ut possimus ut proferre vidi Proceros passus ideo fastigia posse Surarum ac foeminum pedibus fundata plicari Brachia tum poro validis ex apta lacertis Esse manúsque datas utraque à parte ministras Vt facere ad vitam possimus quae foret usus Caetera de genere hoc inter quaecunque pretantur Omnia perversa praepostera sunt ratione Nil adeo quoniam natum ' st in corpore ut uti Possemus sed quod natum ' st id procreat usum Must not he needs have a strange Aversion to a Providence who would thus voluntarily put out his Eyes for fear of seeing it and endeavour to render himself insensible to Arguments so strong and convincing as those Nature furnishes us withal I confess when once Men affect to be thought bold or rather Atheistical Wits as did the Epicureans they presently find themselves benighted in darkness and see only false glimmerings for the future they peremptorily deny the most clear and Self-evident Truths and as haughtily and Magisterially affirm the falsest and obscurest Things in the World The Poet I have just cited may serve as a Proof of that Blindness of these venturous Wits he confidently pronounces and against all appearance of Truth about the most difficult and obscurest Questions when at the same time it may well be thought he has no Preception of Idea's that are most clear and evident If I should stand to transcribe passages of that Author to justifie what I say I should make too long and tedious a Digression for though it may be permitted me to make some Reflections which stay and fasten the Mind for a Moment upon essential Truths yet I should never attone for making Digressions which throw off the Mind a considerable time from its Attention to its principal Subject to apply it to things of little or no Importance CHAP. V. I. Of the Memory II. Of the Habits WE have been explaining the general Causes as well External as Internal which effect a Change in the Animal Spirits and consequently in the Imaginative Faculty We have shewn that the External are the Meats we feed upon and the Air we take in for Respiration And that the Internal consist in the Involuntary Agitation of certain Nerves We know no other general Causes and we are confident there are none In so much that the Faculty of Imagining as to the Body depends only on two things namely the Animal Spirits and the Disposition of the Brain whereon they act There nothing more remains at present to to give us a perfect Knowledge of the Imagination than the manifestation of the different Changes that may happen in the Substance of the Brain They shall be examined by us as
alteration of the Countenance of his Enemy the Animal Spirits of that Enemy receive a new determination of which they were not capable a moment before and this Machinal Motion of Compassion which he yields to inclines the Soul to yield to the Pleas of Charity and Mercy Because a Man taken up with a Passion cannot without a great plenty of Spirits produce or preserve in his Brain an Image of his Misery lively enough nor a Concussion sufficiently strong to give his Body an extraordinary and constrain'd Disposition the corresponding Nerves within the Body receive upon his sight of the Evil the Concussions and Agitations that are necessary to infuse into all the Vessels that communicate with the Heart fit Humours to the producing such Spirits as the Passion requires For the Animal Spirits spreading through the Nerves that go to the Liver Spleen Pancreas and all the other Viscera agitate and shake them and by their Agitation force out such Humours as those parts keep in reserve for the Wants and Exigencies of the Machine But if those Humours always flowed in the same manner into the Heart if they received an equal Fermentation in different times and the Spirits that are made of them regularly ascended into the Brain we should not see such hasty Changes in the Motions of the Passions For instance the sight of a Magistrate would not stop of a sudden the extravagant Transports of an enraged Person persuing his Revenge and his Face all fiery with Blood and Spirits would not in an instant turn pale and wan for fear of Punishment So to hinder those Humours that are mixed with the Blood from entering the Heart constantly in the same manner there are Nerves that surround all the Avenues thereof which being compressed or dilated by the Impression that the sight of the Object and the strength of the Imagination produce in the Spirits shut up or open the way to those Humours And lest the said Humours should undergo the same Agitation and Fermentation in the Heart in divers times there are other Nerves that cause the Beatings of it which being not equally agitated in the different Motions of the Spirits drive not the Blood with the same force into the Arteries Other Nerves spread through the Lungs distribute the Air to the Heart by constringing or relaxing several Branches of the Trachea used in Respiration and order the Fermentation of the Blood proportionably to the Circumstances of the predominant Passion Last of all to regulate with the greatest Accuracy and Readiness the Course of the Spirits there are Nerves surrounding the Arteries as well those that end in the Brain as those that carry the Blood into the other parts of the Body so that the Concussion of the Brain which accompanies the unexpected Sight of some Circumstance for which 't is convenient that the Motions of the Passion should be alter'd suddenly determines the Course of the Spirits to the Nerves thus surrounding the Arteries that by their Contraction they may shut up the Passage to the Blood that ascends into the Brain and by their Dilatation lay it open to that which runs into all the other Parts of the Body When those Arteries that carry the Blood to the Brain are free and open and on the contrary those that disperse it through the rest of the Body are strongly bound up by these Nerves the Head must all be full of Blood and the Face appear all fiery but some Circumstance altering the Commotion of the Brain that caused that Disposition in the Nerves the Arteries that were strait bound are loosened and on the contrary the Arteries of the Brain strongly contracted Then is the Head emptied of Bloud the Face covered with Paleness and the small quantity of Blood which issues from the Heart and which the Nerves before mentioned admit into it as the Fewel to keep in Life descends most or all into the lower parts of the Body the Brain wants Animal Spirits and all the rest of the Body is seized with Weakness and Trembling To explain and prove the Particulars of what we have mentioned it would be necessary to give a general Knowledge of Physicks and a particular of the Humane Body but those two Sciences are still too imperfect to be treated of with as much Accuracy as I could Wish besides that should I proceed farther in this Matter it would carry me too far from my Subject and therefore I only design here to give a gross and general Idea of the Passions and am satisfied provided that this Idea be not false Those Concussions of the Brain and Motions of the Blood and Spirits are the fourth thing to be found in every Passion and produce the fifth namely the sensible Commotions of the Soul At the very Instant that the Animal Sprits are driven from the Brain into the rest of the Body to produce such Motions as are fit to keep up the Passion the Soul is carried towards the good perceived and this more or less strongly according as the Spirits come down from the Brain with more or less vehemence for 't is that Concussion of the Brain which agitates the Soul and the Animal Spirits The Motion of the Soul towards Good is so much stronger as the View of Good is more sensible and apparent and the Motion of the Spirits that proceed from the Brain and flow into the other parts of the Body is the more violent as the Vibration of the Fibres of the Brain caused by the Impression of the Object or of the Imagination is more forcible because that Concussion of the Brain occasioning a more sensible and lively View of Good necessarily makes the Commotion of the Soul in the Passions to increase proportionably to the Motion of the Spirits Those Commotions of the Soul are not different from those that immediately follow the Intellectual View of Good which we have mentioned before only they are stronger and livelyer because of the Union of the Soul and Body and the sensibleness of the View that produces them The sixth thing to be met with is the Sensation of the Passion the Sensation of Love Hatred Desire Joy or Sorrow This Sensation is not at all different from that which has been spoken of only 't is livelyer because the Body has a greater share in it but 't is always attended with confused Sensation of Satisfaction that makes all the Passions grateful which is the last thing to be found in each of them as has been already hinted The Cause of this last Sensation is such At the sight of the Object of a Passion or of any new Circumstance part of the Animal Spirits are driven from the Head to the outward Parts of the Body to put it in the Disposition that the Passion requires together with which some other Spirits make a violent descent into the Heart Lungs and other Viscera to draw from thence the necessary Supplies as has been already sufficiently explained Now the Body is never in
them For instance that those Persons who speak several Tongues are as many individual Men as they know different Languages since Speech distinguishes us from Beasts that the Ignorance of Tongues deprives us of a multitude of things since Ancient Philosophers and Strangers are more Learned then we Suppose but these and the like Principles and Conclusions and you 'll quickly form such Judgments as are fit to beget the Passion for Tongues and consequently like those wherewith the same Passion inspires the Linguists to vindicate their Studies There is not a Science so abject and contemptible but some part of it will shine very bright to the Imagination and dazle the Mind when Passion heightens those false Glimpses That Splendour I own vanishes when the Blood and Spirits cool and the Light of Truth begins to shine but that Light disappears also when the Imagination grows warm again and leaves but some transitory Shadows of those solid Reasons which pretended to condemn our Passion Farthermore when the Passion that agitates us finds it self a dying it repents not of its demeanour but on the contrary it disposes all things either to an honourable Funeral or to be reviv'd spedily again that is to say it always prepares the Mind to frame Judgments in its Vindication In this condition it makes a sort of Alliance with such other Passions as may keep it up in its weakness supply it with Spirits and Blood in its necessity raise it out of its Ashes and give it a new Birth For Passions are not unconcern'd for one another and those that can live together faithfully contribute to their mutual preservation So that all the Passions that are not contrary to the Studies of Tongues or of any thing else do continually sollicite and fully confirm those Judgments that are made to vindicate it A Pretender to Learning imagines himself now as surrounded with respectfull Hearers then as Conquerour of those whom he has amaz'd with his unintelligible words and almost always as one rais'd far above the common sort of Men. He flatters himself with the Commendations he receives with the Preferments that are proposed to him with the Courtship that is made to him He 's of all Times and Countries He is not limited as vulgar Wits to the present nor confin'd within the Walls of his Town but is continually communicating himself abroad and his Communication makes his Delight See how many Passions combine together to manage the Cause of pretended Learning how hotly they prosecute their Judgments and bribe the Mind in its favour Should every Passion act separately without caring for the rest they would vanish immediately after their Rise not being able to make a sufficient number of false Judgments to maintain themselves and defend the Glimmerings of Imagination against the Light of Reason But all Passions concur admirably well to their mutual Preservation assisting and strengthning each other though never so remote provided they be not declared Enemies as though they were minded to follow the Rules of a well-order'd State If the Passion of Desire were alone all the Judgments it might pass would only amount to represent the Good as attainable For the Desire of Love consider'd as such is produced by the Judgments we make that it is possible to enjoy such a Good And so this Desire could only form Judgments about the Possibility of enjoying it since the Judgments which follow and preserve the Passions are exactly like those which precede and produce them But that Desire is animated by Love fortified by Hope increased by Joy renewed by Fear attended by Courage Emulation Anger Irresolution and several other Passions that form each in their turn a great variety of Judgments which succeed each other and maintain the Desire that has produced them 'T is not therefore strange that the desire of a mere Trifle or of a Thing that is evidently hurtful or fruitless should however justifie it self against Reason for many Years nay during the whole Life of a Man that is agitated with it since so many other Passions endeavour to vindicate it I shall here set down in few Words how Passions justifie themselves that I may explain Things by distinct Ideas Every Passion agitates the Blood and Spirits which when agitated are driven into the Brain by the sensible Sight of the Object or the Strength of the Imagination in such a manner as is fit to imprint deep Tracks representing that Object They bend and even sometimes break by their impetuous Course the Fibres of the Brain and thereby leave the Imagination soil'd and corrupted For these Traces obey not the Commands of Reason nor will they be blotted out when it pleases on the contrary they put a Force upon it and oblige it incessantly to consider Objects in such a manner as moves and inclines it to favour the Passions Thus the Passions act upon the Imagination and the corrupted Imagination makes an Effort against Reason by continually representing Things not as they are in themselves that the Mind might pronounce a true Judgment but as they are in reference to the present Passion that it might pass a favourable Sentence in its behalf The Passions not only bribe the Imagination and Mind in their favour but produce in other Parts of the Body such Dispositions as are necessary to preserve them The Spirits they move stop not in the Brain but run as I have elsewhere shewn to all other Parts of the Body especially to the Heart the Liver the Spleen and the Nerves that surround the principal Arteries and lastly to all Parts whatsoever that may supply necessary Spirits for the maintenance of the predominant Passion But while these Spirits disperse themselves into all the Parts of the Body they destroy all along and by degrees whatever might hinder their Course and make their Passages so slippery and smooth that a very inconsiderable Object exceedingly moves us and consequently inclines us to make such Judgments as favour the Passions Thus it comes to pass that they establish and justifie themselves If we consider how various the Constitution of the Fibres of the Brain and withal the Commotion and Quantity of the Spirits and Blood may be in the different Sexes and Ages we shall easily and nearly conjecture to what Passions some Persons are most subject and consequently what Judgments they pass upon Objects For instance we may make a very near Guess by the plenty or want of Spirits that is observable in some People the same Thing being proposed and explained to them in the same manner that some of them will make Judgments of Hope and Joy whilst others shall pass such Judgments as proceed from Fear and Sorrow For those that abound with Blood and Spirits as young Men cholerick Persons and those that are of a Sanguine Complexion use to doe being very susceptible of Hope because of the secret Sense of their Strength will not believe that they shall meet with any Opposition to their Designs which