attayning vnto learning Whereupon grew those dissenting and contradicting Sectes of Peripatetikes Academikes Stoickes Epicures Thomists and Scotists Realles and Nominalles but by the disprooving of one anothers opinion which proceeded from the difficulty of vnderstanding and conceyving of Learning V. Ignorance and Errours about God YEt if men by sweate and labour by distilling their Braynes and spending their Spirits in studies at last could winne the victory of Errours and Ignorance then all paynes were sufficiently rewarded the interest would defray the expences of the Voyage But alas how many have wandered in a vast desart of learning amongst brambles and bryars not able to passe forward nor returne backeward who would thinke men could be ignorant of the Maiestye of God which all bruite and Interroga Iumenta et docebunt â—e Volatilia Coeli indicabunt tibi loquere terrâ— respondebit tibi narrabunt pisces Maris Quis ignorat quod manus Domini haec omnia fecerat Iob. 12 7. senselesse creatures confesse and yet such is and hath beene the palpable ignorance of the world that in place of God some worshipped Calves others Serpents other Crocodiles others Onions and Garlike I omit how many supposed very wise adored the Sunne Moone and Starres the Elements of earth fire and water for these errours might have carried some shew of wisedome in respect of the other absurdities How could men be more besotted than to imagine God by whom they lived mooved and were whose goodnesse sustayned them whose power vpheld them whose wisedome directed them to be a Crocodile or a Calfe or Commoâ—a quibus vtimur lucem qua â—rutmur spiritum quem ducimus a Deo nobis dari impartiri vâ—demus Cic. pro Rosâ— Amer. that Divinitie could inhabite such savage Beasts where was the imortall soule the Image of the Trinity the faculty of vnderstanding the power of apprehending iudging and discoursing Were all these drowned in darkenesse did no sparke of light or life shine over them O ignorance intollerable O blindnesse more grosse than not to see when the Sunne lodgeth in his Zenith VI. Ignorance and Errours about our Soules and bodies BVt some will say Gods Maiesty dazeled theyr eyes they were not able by the weake light of Nature to behold so super-excellent a glory well at least they might have knowne themselves for what was more neere them then their owne soules and bodies their five senses the operations of vnderstanding and affecting the Passions of the Minde and alterations of the body yet the Ignorance and Errours which both inchaunted them and inveigle vs are almost incredible I could propound above a hundreth questions about the Soule and the body which partly are disputed of by Divines partly by naturall and morall Philosophers partly by Physitians all which I am of opinion are so abstruse and hidden that they might be defended as Problemes and eyther parte of Contradiction alike impugned Some I will set downe that by them coniecture may be made of the rest Problemes concerning the substance of our Soules 1 WHether in mens bodies there reside more formes then one 2 Whether it can bee demonstrated by naturall reason that the Soule is immortall 3 How can the Soule extend it selfe thorow the whole body being a Spirit indivisible inextensed and able whole and entire to reside in one only and indivisible poynt 4 How are the Soule and Body Spirite and Flesh coupled together what chaynes what fetters imprison a spirituall Substance an immortal Spirit in so base stinking and corruptible a carâ—â—asse 5 How by punishing the flesh or hurting the body the Soule feeleth payne and is afflicted 6 Whether the hayres spirites blood choler fleugme skinne fatte nayles marrow be animated or no. 7 Whether the Bones and Teeth be sensitive or no. 8 How the Soule contayneth those three degrees of vegetative sensitive and reasonable 9 How these three degrees do differ 10 How the Soule of a Child being contained and dispersed in so little a body when it is borne afterward dilateth it selfe and spreadeth in the body of a man 11 When an Arme or a Legge is cut off by chance from the Body what becommeth of the Soule which informed that part 12 Why departeth the Soule from the Body in a vement Problemes concerning the faculties in generall Sicknesse it being immortall and independing of the Body able to live in ayre water or fire 13 How many faculties do spring from the Soule 14 How they spring in order one depending vpon an other or without any dependance 15 How do they differ from the Soule 16 Whether are they subiected in the Soule Body or the whole 17 What dependance hath our vnderstanding vpon Problemes concerning our vnderstanding the imagination 18 How a corporall imagination concurre to a spirituall conceit 19 What is apprehension and conceyving 20 What iudgement and affirming 21 What discourse and inferring 22 How these three differ what is their obiects 23 How apprehend wee so many things together without confusion 24 How are these three operations of our wit subordinated 25 How they erre 26 How they may be certified 27 What is a vitall acte of Vnderstanding 28 How the formes faculties habites and Soule it selfe concurre to such an acte about every one of these foure many questions may easily be propounded but hardly resolved 29 What is a Habite 30 How ingendred 31 How augmented 32 How diminished and corrupted 33 In what faculties of our Soules habites principally allodge 34 Whether the acte or habite be more perfite 35 How are habits distinguished in the same faculty 36 How the habites of our imagination and vnderstanding of our sensible appetite and will differ when they tend vnto sensible obiects 37 What is the vniversall obiect of our Vnderstanding every thing or onely the trueth of things 38 Whereupon commeth the difficulty we finde in Vnderstanding proceedeth it from the obiect or the weakenesse of the faculty or both 39 How doth Reason direct and correct Sense 40 Whether knowledge concurreth as an efficient cause to effect the operations of our will or no. 41 What is Arte what the Idaea in the Artificers minde by whose direction hee frameth his woorkes what is Prudence Wisedome the internall speech and words of the minde 42 What is the habite of principles 43 What the law of Nature and how engrafted in our Vnderstanding 44 What is Conscience 45 Whence-from proceedeth Remorce 46 What is evidence and certitude in Knowledge and how they differ 47 How Knowledge and perfit Science differ from credulity and opinion and whether feare be necessarily included in every opinion 48 If ever man had such a demonstration as Aristotle describeth in his first Booke of Posteriors 49 Whether a Demonstration once had can ever be lost or no. 50 Why can we not come by as firme knowledge in Logick Physicks or Metaphysicks as in Mathematicks 51 How wee vnderstand discourse and dispute in Dreames 52 Whether children discourse actually or no.
Passions I oppose the law of Nature the brevity of all pleasures for no Passion can long content the minde but even a gust of pleasure gulleth the soule and so cloyeth it that the very dainties seeme loathsome Nam ab assuetis non fit Passio If hereunto you adde so many diseases so many disgraces such infamy which commonly accompany exorbitant Passions You shall find that they have no such efficacy to pervert vs as the other to convert vs. The sixt Impediment is of Inconstancie MOst men feele in themselves a certayne Inconstancy whereby they become wonderfull various and fickle in theyr owne estates exercises and manner of living for if we discourse vniversally about the nature of man we shall finde him continually as it were in a cyrcle that is winding about pleasures or flying paynes and after a small while returning to them agayne For example who live in Citties desire to enioy a while the Countrey and those that possesse the free ayre of the Countrey wish the sights of Citties and both after a while loath that they most desired and would returne to theyr former estates and then after awearied of them they renue theyr desires and effectuate their purposes the selfe same we proove in senses wee see greene fields beautifull pallaces pleasant gardens But not long time this obiect will content vs shortly after the eyes beeing satiated then our eares must bee delighted with Musicke and after they are loathed then must we have varieties of meates the stomacke being filled then followeth rest then sight talke or such like exercises as wee vsed before and after this manner we rowle vp and downe Gods creatures ever thyrsting and never content even so in the servyce of God for our soules herein consort with our bodyes which are feeble and tender in youth but grow till they come to a certayne perfection the which once obtayned they returne agayne to theyr former imperfections ever fading consuming and resolving till they come to their finall decreement and as great weakenesse as they begunne withall In spirite and minde many beginne to doe well but after a while they loathe the very Manna of Heaven the best and most precyous liquors of Paradice savour not to them they seeme taynted they beginne in spirit and finish in flesh they follow God but after a while they sigh for onyons of Egypt And I needes must say that this inconstancy hath caused many soules miscarry and those which seemed to have entred the gates of Paradice fell most miserably into the dungeon of Hell This inconstancy raigneth not onely over the soule A certayne contrariety in the soule hindereth men from goodnesse at divers times as now the Sea ebbeth now floweth now is tempestuous now calmed but at the selfe same time it will and will not loveth and hateth affecteth God and his enemies the slesh and the world not vnlike to two contrary winds which at the selfe same time tosse the clowdes one beneath an other above one into the East the other into the West the which contention Saint Paul felt well when he sayde Sentio aliam legem in membris meis repugnantem legi mentis meae and Aug. lib. 8. coâ—sess cap. 10. S. Augustine in resolving himselfe to serve God sayd Nec planè volebam nec plenè nolebam ideo mecum contendebam but as he had pronounced before Ego eram qui volebam ego qui nolebam for indeede the lower part of the soule draweth the will one way and reason haleth another so that in the selfe same will there is a double motion the one to vertue the other to vice even as the Philosophers say the lower heavens are mooved from West to East by their proper motions and from East to West by the force of the first mooved or highest heaven But against this Inconstancy I can oppose many meanes to goodnesse of greater force and efficacy the which can more constantly further vs to goodnesse then inconstancy can incite vs to ilnesse have we not registred in holy Writ and sounding alwayes in our eares the inexplicable ioyes of Heaven promised to Vertue and the terrible paynes of Hell threatned to vice Will not the feare of Gods iudgement which hourely we attend enforce vs to watch and pray lest we be taken at vnawares May not the incertainty of our deaths moove vs to a constancy in life Will not so many warnings of death iudgement hell heaven so often inculcated sufficiently stirre vs vp to stand vpon our warde Cannot so many stayes of grace vphold and stay the inconstancy of Nature Howe many are withholden from wickednesse onely thorow terror of temporall punishment and shall not so many terrors countervaile a fickle and inconstant inclination Where lyeth the anchor of Hope and the vnmooveable grounds of Faith and charity The seventh Impediment is discontentment of our owne Estate AN other Impediment I thinke most men feele at one time or other which hindereth not a little the the progresse of Vertue and it is that none can be contented with their owne estates we perceive not onely a warre or battell in our mindes but also a certayne discontentment in our selves whereupon broke foorth those saying Nemo sorte sua contentus laudet diversa sequentes wee may be well compared to certayne sicke men who would ever be changing theyr beds yet they never finde rest for that the cause of theyr griefe lyeth not in the beds but in their bodies the reason why men live so discontented with their owne estates proceedeth from many crosses which every state condition exercise or office carrieth with it besides the often exercising of one thing engendreth fatiety and therefore alwayes Nature affecteth variety Against this tediousnes and loathing life many great helps I can obiect for those which attend indeed to serve God find a certaine secret Manna a Paradice of consolations which will easily mittigate the crosses and discontentments ministred by a nature ill inclined for as God permitteth no evill to escape vnpunished so he letteth passe no good vnrewarded and although this reward shall be reaped in the harvest of eternall life yet with a quiet conscience the tranquility of mind an internall peace and consolation in heavenly affaires he fully in this life recompenseth all disasters and calamities which occurre Cucurri viani Psal 118. 32. mandatorum tuorum said one dum dilatasti cor meum and as he that guideth by his providence the sterne of mens soules permitteth them not to bee moyled with tentations above the forces and habilities wherewith they are indued so likewise he will not see them so deiected with crosses that he wil not erect them with consolations so said he which well had tryed the passions of the crosse that Sicut abundant passiones Christi in nobis ita per ChristuÌ„ abundat consolatio nostra for as the passions of Christ aboundeth in vs even so by Christ aboundeth 2. Cor. 1. 5. Iudit 8. 20. Psal 93.
and prints of obiects for vnderstanding even so the heart endued with most fiery spirites fitteth best for affecting Lastly for what other reason in feare and anger become men so pale and wanne but that the blood runneth to the heart to succour it I saw once in Genoa a Bandite condemned to death and going to Execution to tremble so extraordinarily that he needed two to support him all the way and for all that he shivered extreamely Besides whence-from proceedeth laughter dauncing singing and many such externall singes of ioy but as wee say from a merrie heart therefore ioy and feare dwell in the heart Howbeit I thinke this most true and especially in those passions which are about obiectes absent as love hatred hope flight ire and such like yet I cannot but confesse that when the obiectes are present and possessed by sense then the passions inhabite not onely the heart but also are stirred vp in every part of the body whereas any sensitive operation is exercised for if wee taste delicate meates smell muske or heare musicke we perceyve notonely that the heart is affected but that also the passion of ioy delighteth those partes of our sences the like wee prove in payne and griefe for which cause commonly wee say our teeth ake our fingers toes or legges payne vs Payne therefore and Pleasure beeing Passions of the Minde and evermore felt in that part of the bodie where Sense exerciseth her operations therefore as touching is dispersed thorow the whole bodie even so the Passions of pleasure and payne for in everie parte if it bee cherished it reioyceth if be hurte it payneth Yet supposing the Passions principally reside in the hearte as wee perceyve by the concourse of humours thereunto wee may demaund two curious questions The former is for what ende hath Nature given this alteration or flocking of humours to the hearte It seemeth questionlesse for some good ende for God and Nature worke not by chaunce or without respecting some benefite of the subiect To the which question it may bee answered First Why humors flocke to the heart in passions that the humours concurre to helpe dispose and enable the heart to worke such operations for as we prove by experience if a man sleepe with open eyes although his sight be marvellous excellent yet he seeth nothing because in sleepe the purer spirites are recalled into the inner partes of the body leaving the eyes destitute of spirits and abandoned of force which presently in waking returne againe euen so I conceive the heart prepared by nature to digest the blood sent from the liver yet for divers respectes not to have the temperature which all Passions require for love will have heate and sadnesse colde feare constringeth and pleasure dilateth the heart therefore which was to bee subiect to such diversities of Passions by Nature was deprived of all such contrary dispositions as the Philosophers say that Materia prima caret omni forma quia omnes formas recipere debet And although the hearte hath more excesse of heate than colde yet a little melancholly blood may quickly change the temperature and render it more apt for a melancholly Passion The second reason may be for that these humours affecting the heart cause payne or pleasure thereby inviting Nature to prosecute the good that pleaseth and to flie the evill that annoyeth as in the Common-wealth Vertue ought to be rewarded with preferment and vice to be corrected with punishment even so in this little common-wealth of our bodies actions conformable to Nature are repayde with pleasure and passions disconsorting nature punished with payne The other question concerneth the efficient cause of these humours what causeth their motions to the heart they themselves as it were flie vnto the heart or the parte where they soiourned sendeth or expelleth them from her and so for common refuge they runne to the heart or finally the heart draweth them vnto it This difficultye requireth an answere whereby many such like questions may bee resolved as for example when the meate in our stomackes is sufficiently disgested the chile which there remayneth prepared to be sent to the liver for a further concoction doth it ascend thither by it selfe as vapours to the head or doth the stomacke expell it or the liver drawe and sucke it To this demaund I answere that in mine opinion the partes from whence these humours come vse their expulsive vertue sending the spirites choler or blood to serve the heart in such necessity as the hand lifteth vp it selfe to defend the head howbeit I doubt not but the heart also affected a little with the passion draweth more humors so encreaseth Many more curious obiections here I omit which perhaps would delight the more subtil wits but hardly of many to be conceived What sort of persons be most passionate CHAP. X. OVt of the precedent Chapter we may gather how that the heart is the seate of our passions that spirites and humours concurre with them here we may deduce a conclusion most certayne and profitable that according to the disposition of the heart humours and body divers sortes of persons be subiect to divers sortes of passions and the same passion affecteth divers persons in divers manners for as we see fire applyed to drie wood to yron to flaxe and gunpowder worketh divers wayes for in wood it kindleth with some difficulty and with some difficulty is quenched but in flaxe soone it kindleth and quencheth in yron with great difficulty is it kindled and with as great extinguished but in gunpowder it is kindled in a moment and never can bee quenched till the powder be consumed Some men you shall see not so soone angrie nor yet soone pleased and such be commonly fleugmatike persons others you have soone angrie soone friended as those of a sanguine complexion and therefore commonly they are called good fellowes others be hardly offended and afterward with extreame difficulty reconciled as melancholy men others are all fiery and in a moment at every trifle they are inflamed and till their heartes be consumed almost with choller they never cease except they be revenged By this we may confirme that olde saying to be true Animi mores corporis temperaturam sequâ—ntur the manners of the soule followe the temperature of the body And as in maladies of the body every wise man feeleth best his owne griefe euen so in the diseases of the soule every one knoweth best his owne inclination neverthelesse as Physitions commonly affirme how there be certayne vniversall causes which incline our bodies to divers infirmities so there are certayne generall causes which move our soules to sundry passions First young men generally are arrogant prowde prodigall incontinent given to all sortes of pleasure Their pride proceedeth from lacke of experience for they will vaunt of their strength beautie and wittes because they have not yet tryed sufficiently how farre they reach how frayle they are therefore they make more account of them
affections No better proofe we neede of this matter then the infinite experiences in every Countrie are tryed The same I may say of Ire Ambition c. All which Passions consisting in prosecution of some thing desired and bringing with them a certaine sence of delight enforce the mindâ— for fostering and continuing that pleasure to excogitate new meanes and wayes for the performance thereof How Passions seduce the Will CHAP. II. WIthout any great difficultie may be declared how Passions seduce the Will because the witte being the guide the The first reason why passions seduce the will eie the stirrer and directer of the Wil which of it selfe beeing blinde and without knowledge followeth that the wit representeth propoundeth and approveth as good and as the sensitive appetite followeth the direction of imagination so the Will affecteth for the most part that the vnderstanding perswadeth to bee best Wherefore the waves and billowes of apparant reasons so shake the sandye shealfe of a weake Will that they The second reason mingle it with them and make all one Besides the sensitive appetite beeing rooted in the same soule with the Will if it be drawne or flieth from any obiect consequently the other must follow even so the obiect that haleth the sensitive appetite draweth withall the Will and inclining her more to one part than another diminisheth her libertie and freedome Moreover the Will by yeelding to the Passion receyveth some little bribe of pleasure the which moveth her to let the bridle loose vnto inordinate appetites because she hath ingrafted in her two inclinations the one to follow Reason the other to content the Sences and this inclination the other beeing blinded by the corrupt iudgement caused by inordinate Passions here she feeleth satisfied Finally the Will being the governesse The third reason of the Soule and loathing to bee troubled with much dissention among her subiectes as an vncarefull Magistrate neglecteth the good of the Common-weale to avoyde some particular mens displeasure so the Will being afrayde to displease sense neglecteth the care she ought to have over it especially perceyving that the Soule thereby receyveth some interest of pleasure or escheweth some payne By this alteration which Passions worke in the Witte and the Will we may vnderstand the admirable Metamorphosis and change of a man from himselfe when his affectes are pacified and when they are troubled Plutarch sayde they changed them like Circes potions Plutarch in moralib from men into beastes Or we may compare the Soule without Passions to a calme Sea with sweete pleasant and crispling streames but the Passionate to the raging Gulfe swelling with waves surging by tempests minacing the stony rockes and endevouring to overthrowe Mountaines even so Passions make the Soule to swell with pride and pleasure they threaten woundes death and destruction by audacious boldnesse and ire they vndermine the mountaines of Vertue with hope and feare and in summe never let the Soule be in quietnes but ever eyther flowing with Pleasure or ebbing with Payne How Passions alter the Body CHAP. III. ALthough in the ninth Chapter sufficiently was declared how the Passions of the minde alter the humours of the body yet some peculiar discourses concerning that matter were reserved for this place Two sortes of Passions affect all men some as wee sayde before dilate and some compresse and restringe the heart Of the first was sayd Vita carninum est cordis Proverb 14. 3â— sanitas the life of flesh is the health of heart for indeed a ioyfull and quiet heart reviveth all the partes of the body Of the other was written Spiritus tristis exsiccat prb 17. ossa a sadde Spirit dryeth the bones And for that all Passions bring with them ioy or payne dilate or coarct the heart therefore I thinke it not amisse to declare the reason why these two Passions worke such alterations in the body to the end that by the knowledge of them we may attayne to the vnderstanding of the rest Pleasure and Delight if it bee moderate bringeth health because the purer spirites retyre vnto the heart and they helpe marvellously the digestion of blood so that thereby the heart engendreth great aboundance and most purified spirites which after being dispersed thorow the body cause a good concoction to be made in all partes helping them to expel the superfluities they also cleare the braine and consequently the vnderstanding For although while the Passion endureth it blindeth a little the indifferent iudgement yet after that it is past it rendereth the brayne better disposed and apter to represent whatsoever occurreth for speculation From good concoction expulsion of supersluities and aboundance of spirites proceedeth a good colour a cleere countenance and an vniversall health of the body But if the Passion of pleasure bee too vehement questionlesse it causeth great infirmitie for the heart being continually invironed with great abundance of spibecommeth too hote and inflamed and consequently engendereth much cholericke and burned blood Besides it dilateth and resolveth the substance of the heart too much in such sort as the vertue and force thereof is greatly weakened Wherefore Socrates was wont to say that those men which live continently and frugally had more pleasure and lesse payne than those who with great care procured inticements to pleasure because intemperate pleasures besides the remorce of minde infamie and povertie which waiteth vpon them for the most part hurt more the body than delight it And some with too vehement laughter have ended their dayes as Philemon did Plutarch recounteth also howe Erasm lib. 6. Apotheg Plutarch in Hannib the Romanes leesing to Hannibal newes was brought to Rome and specially to two women that their sonnes were slaine afterwards a remnant of the souldiers returning these two afflicted ranne with many more to know the manner of their sonnes deaths and amongst the rest found them both alive who for ioy gave vp their ghosts And vniversally after much pleasure and laughter men feele themselves both to languish and to be melancholy Yet the Passions which coarct the heart as feare sadnesse and despayre as they bring more payne to the minde so they are more dangerous to the body and commonly men proove lesse harme in those than in these and many have lost their lives with sadnesse and feare but few with love and hope except they changed themselves into heavinesse and despayre The cause why sadnesse doth so moove the forces of the body I take to be the gathering together of much melancholy blood about the heart which collection extinguisheth the good spirits or at least dulleth them besides the heart being possessed by such an humour cannot digest well the blood and spirites which ought to be dispersed thorow the whole body but converteth them into melancholy the which humour being colde and drie dryeth the whole body and maketh it wither away for colde extinguisheth heate and drynesse moysture which two qualities principally concerne life These
bee verified who thinketh that the Bulles with white spots which continued ever among the Egyptians and were adored for their god Apis was ever engendred by the acte of Aug. de â—ir c. 5 the Diuell to deceive the Egyptians who caused in the braine of the Cowe while she was in conceaving the imaginations of such a coloured Bul which imagination wrought so mightily that she conceaved the like and so they never wanted spotted Buls Galen also reporteth Galen de Theriaca ad Pison Gen. 30. that a woman beholding a most beautifull picture conceaved and brought forth a most beautifull childe by a most deformed father wee have also in the scriptures the like experience in Iacob who to cause his Ewes conceave speckled lambes put sundry white roddes in the chanels where the beasts were watered and thereby the lambes were yeaned party-coloured These prooved experiments by the censure of Aristotle a sage Philosopher and Galen a sound Physitian proceeded from a vehement imagination in the time of conception And for this cause saith Aristotle wee see the yonglings of bruite beastes for most parte to resemble in colours figures temper greatnesse proprieties and conditions their siers and dammes but in men we observe farre otherwise for wise parents beget foolish children vertuous vitious and contrariwise foolish parents wise children and vitious vertuous faire parents procreate foule children and deformed parents faire children and among the children of the same parents one will bee wise another foolish one fayre another foule The cause of this varietie are the various imaginations of the Parents at the time of their Conception Beastes therefore not being distracted with these various Imaginations conceave not with such diversitie I am not ignorant that Huartes in his triall of Wittes derideth this reason and saith that this answere of Aristotle savoureth of great simplicitie for he resolveth all this varietie into the multiplicity diversity of nourishment which men receive far different from beasts which is vniforme and for most part the same as also for that generation is an operation of the vegetative and not of the sensitive soule But by his leave Aristotles opinion is as probable as his and both ioyned together make one complete perfit For albeit generation be an action of our vegetive soule yet it is subordinate greatly qualified by the sensitive for divers imaginations of more or lesse pleasure in that acte inciteth more or lesse thereunto and so causeth a perfitter or more vnperfitte generation The varietie also of nourishment and qualities or tempers of the seede more or lesse concurre therewithall The fourth effect of Passions which is disquietnesse of the Minde CHAP. IIII. HEe that should see Hercules raging Orestes trembling Cain ranging Amon pining Dido consuming Archimedes running naked would little doubt that Passions mightily change and alter the quiet temper and disposition of the Minde for if peace bee a concord or consort of our sensuall soule with reason if then the Mind be quiet when the Will ruled by Prudence overruleth moderateth and governeth Passions questionlesse then the soule is troubled when Passions arise vp and oppose themselves against Reason Inordinate affections as experience teacheth many waies disquiet the Minde and trouble the peaceable state of this pettie common-weale of our soule but specially by five by Contradiction by Contrarietie by Insatiabilitie by Importunitie by Impossibilitie Contradiction § I. BY two wayes the Subiectes of every Common-weale vsually disturbe the State and breede civill broyles therein the first is when they rise vp and rebel against their King the second is when they brawle one with another and so cause riots and tumults the former is called Rebellion the latter Sedition After the same manner Passions either rebell against Reason their Lord and King or oppose themselves one against another that I call Contradiction this Contrarietie The former he well vnderstood that sayde Spiritus concupiscit Gal. 5. adversus carnem caro adversus Spiritum The Spirit affects against the Flesh the Flesh against the Spirit This internall Combate and spirituall Contradiction every spirituall man daily perceyveth for inordinate Passions will he nill he cease not almost hourely to rise vp against Reason and so molest him troubling the rest and quietnesse of his Soule It is related in the life of S. Anselme our Archbishop of Canterbury that walking In vita Anselâ—â— into the fieldes hee saw a Shepheardes little boy who had caught a Birde and tyed a stone to her legge with a thread and ever as the Bird mounted vp to soare aloft the stone drewe her downe againe The venerable olde man much mooved at this sight fell presently a weeping lamenting thereby the miserable condition of men who no sooner did endevour to ascend to Heaven by contemplation but the Flesh and Passions haled the heart backe againe and drew it downe to earth enforcing the Soule to lie there like a beast which should haue soared in the Heavens like an Angell For these rebellious Passions are like craftie Pioners who while Souldiers liue carelesly within their Castle or at least not much suspect they vndermine it and breake in so vpon them that they can hardly escape in like maner these Affections vndermine the vnderstandings of men for while the wittes are eyther carelesse or imployed in other affayres there creepeth vp into their heartes some one or other perverse Passion which transporteth the Soule cleane another way in so much as that with extreame difficultie she can recall her selfe againe and reduce her Affections vnto their former quietnesse and peaceable temper Who seeth and â—eeleth not that often times while Reason attendeth to Contemplation a villanous Passion of Love withdraweth the attention and with an attoxicated delight imprisoneth the Affection who perceyveth not that divers times Reason would pardon all iniuâ—ies and Ire opposeth it selfe importuning revenge who experimenteth not that Reason woulde willingly fast and abstayne from delicacies but inordinate Delight will feast and endure no austerities who knoweth not that Reason often prescribeth yea vrgeth to labour and payne for the service of God or to performe the affaires of the worlde and Sensualitie would passe her time idlely And after this sort almost continually inordinate Passions contradict right Reason Contrarietie of Passions §. II. THe Egyptians fought against the Egyptians the East winde riseth often against the West the South against the North the Winde against the Tyde and one Passion fighteth with an other The cholericke Cavalliere would with death revenge an iniurie but feare of killing or hanging opposeth it selfe against this Passion Gâ—â—ttonie would have dainties but Covetousnesse prescribeth parsimonie Lecherie would raigne and dominier but dreadfulnesse of infamie and feare of diseases draw in the raynes of this inordinate Affection By which opposition we may easily perceive how vnquiet is the heart of a passionate man tossed like the Sea with contrary windes even at the same time and moment An other
celestial brightnesse the Angels desire to behold the blessed saints contemplat and we wandering pilgrims aspire vnto in the end of our perigrination the which will feed vs without satietie content vs without appetite of change wherein consisteth all happinesse ioy and rest Beautie is the rind of bountie and those creatures are 5 Motiue â—ountie or goodnesse more beautifull which are more bountifull For bountie and goodnesse resemble the Sunne beautie the beames bountie the spring beautie the riuer bountie the heart beautie the face bountie the tree beautie the flower bountie the flesh beautie the feathers This truth cannot bee denied for if that beautie bee nothing els but a iust proportion of parts with an apt correspondence of temper in colours in these inferiour bodies or brightnesse and lightnesse in the superiour and such semblable perfections in soules and spirits no doubt but better parts finer colours purer lights proportionably combined cause a more excellent beautie shew and lustre as the siner gold the richer stones if art bee correspondent the more vage and beautifull iewell But here alas in humane corpes it falleth out contrariwise for although indeede a beautifull bodie in a child a youth a man a woman an old man for a different beautie adorneth all these argue a better substance and a more sound corporall perfection yet the soules of such by the mallice of men and women are commonly worse for beautie they make an instrument of vice which by right reason should be an ornament of vertue and therefore such beautie ill beseemeth such bodies and fitly the holy ghost compareth Circulâ—s aurtus in nuribus suis 〈◊〉 pulchra fatua Prou. c. 11. a womans beautifull bodie linked with a bad soule to a ring of gold in a swines snout which euer lies rooting in dirt and myre Bountie then and beautie by nature are linked together though peruerse soules like stinking corpes lie buried in beautifull sepulchres though rustie blades bee couered with golden sheaths though dragons gall and bane of Basiliskes stand closed vp in viols of Christall Yet howsoeuer by sympathie of nature they be connexed and by malitious affections in vs disconsorted neuerthelesse I haue alwaies proued by experience that bountie and goodnesse were principall motiues of loue yea to say truth I knew neuer thing loued but that it was gilded with goodnesse If I loued learning it was because it was good in it selfe and a perfection of mine vnderstanding if meat or drinke because they were good for my bodie to restore the forces vanished if cloaths because they kept me warme and finally whatsoeuer I affected I palpably felt it either good in it selfe or good for my selfe And thereupon I remember a sound philosopher pronounced a solemne axiome as vndoubted in speculation so dayly experimented in action Bonum est quod omnia appetunt Goodnesse is that which all things affect All beasts though reasonlesse yet in loue follow this generall instinct and inclination of reason imprinted in their hearts O infinit wisedome with the indoleble characters of thy prouidence to affect nothing but that in some sort concerneth their good Ah my God of boundlesse bountie Nemo bonus nisi solus Deus thou Luk. 18. onely essentially of thy selfe without list or limit art good all things else by participation and limitation An Angell hath goodnesse and therefore is amiable yet he is but a drop distilled from thee in that quantitie degree and measure thy wisedome prescribed and his circumferenced nature required What O my God is goodnesse but perfection integritie of essence completenesse and fulnesse of beautie What is perfection but an intier possession of all that such a nature or substance should haue and so thy word witnesseth that the Jâ—itur perfecti â—unt 〈◊〉 omnis ernatus â—â—rum Gen. 2. 1. heauens were framed perfit because they wanted nothing necessarie or requisit to their nature and for all this the heauens want wit and reason howbeit they are perfit in their sencelesse kind But in thee what want can their be no parts because thou art simple without composition no perfection can bee scant in fulnesse and intention where all are infinit And therefore if in earth I thirsted after the vnpure drops of thy created goodnesse compared to thine increate bountie how much more should I thirst after thee the pure Christall fountaine of life Ah Quam bonus Israel Deus ijs qui recto sunt corde Psal 72. How good is the God of Israel to them who are of a right heart Trinit as diuinarum personarum est summum bonum quod purgatissimis mentibus cernitur The Trinitie of diuine persons saith Austen thy seruant is a supreme Aug. 1. de Trini cap. 2. circa initâ—um goodnesse which is beheld with most purified minds Bonus est Dominus sperantâ—bus in eum animae quaerenti illum Our Lord is good to them that hope in him to that soule which inquireth for him What then my God the abisse of bountie art thou not good to all but to such soules as search for thee as are purified from offences as are right hearted No no thy goodnesse no lesse extendeth her sphere than thine omnipotencie her might and as nothing euer receiued being but by thine almightie hand so nothing integritie of being but by thy bountifull hand What man euer liued and enioyed not the heat and light of this visible sunne Or who euer liued or continued life but by the beames of thine inuisible bountie But true it is and registred in all sacred records of antiquitie for an infalliable veritie that thy goodnesse is specially extended poureth forth her treasures more aboundantly vpon those good soules who in sincere pure affectuall and thirstie hearts seeke for thee Thou art a sea of goodnesse fauours and graces euery one may enioy thee that will with all his heart serue and loue thee howbeit the greater vessell receiueth more abundance The sixt motiue to Loue is Pleasure IN all the sonnes of men and in all sorts of beasts I dayly and hourely discouered an insatiable desire of delight and almost nothing loued vehemenrly but that which was canded with semblable pleasure it were in vaine to demonstrate this by reason since euery moment fresh experience teacheth that sensualities first step in euery action tendeth to pleasure and solace and those things she accounteth and priseth most which sensually delight her best O God of incomprehensible wisdome and ininuestigable prouidence how potent is this bait of pleasure to allure to deceiue to precipitate vnwarie soules into eternall miserie It is passed almost in euery sence in a moment and yet the importunitie neuer ceaseth The base and bad conditions of sensuall pleasure It is beastly for all sences are common to men with beasts and yet it seemeth euer to promise a paradice of ioy It is most erronious sophisticating mens minds and yet beareth or at least pretendeth a show of reason It in apparance
of infections of fits of agues theyr causes courses continuances whence-from proceedeth the indeficient regular and irregular beating of the pulse the substance scituation correspondence and vse of all partes of a mans body the conversion dispersion perfection and alteration of blood No man I thinke can be learned who may not plainely perceyve what an infinite matter I have propounded here of knowledge and yet how little even the wisest know This subiect would have bin more apparant if I had interlaced these questions with diversities of opinions and confirmed each one with the best grounds and arguments but this curious sort of discourse I leave to Schooles Onely I will inferre our extreme Ignorance that few or none of these difficulties which concerne vs so neere as our soules and bodies are throughly as yet in my iudgement declared even of the profoundest wits for I know not how their best resolutions leave still our Vnderstandings drye thirsting for a clearer and fresher Fountaine VII Ignorance and Errours in knowing base Creatures BYt no doubt God is of infinite Maiestie our soules immateriall spirits our bodies thereunto proportionated and therefore there may be some excuse pretended of this Ignorance the obiects are too noble our capacities too feeble the meanes to attayne vnto such knowledge too difficult our Soule dwelleth in the tabernacle of flesh blood it is drowned in humors and fatnes it is blinded with vapours mists it sees thorow carnall windowes and cloudy spectacles Well I admit this ignorant answere but at least if we cannot vnderstand those things which be above vs our selves and those which be equall with vs wee shall comprehend and fully conceyve all those Creatures beneath which serve and obey vs. But alas our Ignorance is not here finished for I know not whether I may better say men are ignorant of all things in generall or know nothing in particular for in trueth there is no Creature in the world that wee perfectly comprise and vnderstand I now leave the Heavens the Starres the Planets the Birds of the ayre the Fishes of the Sea the Beasts of the Land and wil take one of the least creatures which creepeth vpon the earth and thereby convince our Ignorance Basil epi. 168. quae est ad Eunomium as Saint Basil convinced the boasting presumption of Eunomius the heretike who vaunted that he knew GOD and his Divinity and that shall be a very Emmet so little in body so base in substance of so small account yet I say that no man how learned soever can satisfie those demaunds which may be propounded about this contemptible beast 1 Whether it breatheth or no. 2 If those little corps be vpheld with bones 3 If those small members be lincked together with sinewes or chayned with strings 4 If those sinewes be fortified with muscles 5 Whether downe the backe Nature extendeth a chayne plyable to turning or bending 6 Whether thorow the chain passeth a white marow 7 Whether the sinowy membranes impell the rest of the body 8 Whether it hath a Lyver or no. 9 Whether in the Lyver a receptacle of Choler 10 Whether a heart 11 Whether kidneis 12 Whether arteries 13 Whether veines 14 Whether skinnes 15 Whether a traverse or midriffe 16 Whether is it bare or hayrie 17 Whether single or cloven footed 18 How long liveth it 19 After what manner is it begotten 20 How long dwelleth it in the wombe 21 Why do not al creep but some fly some creepe All these questions are mooved by S. Basil and hee concludeth thus Si minutissimae formicae naturam nondum cognitione apprehendisti quomodo incomprehensibilis dei vim te imaginari gloriaris If thou canst not comprise by knowledge the nature of the least Emmet how gloriest thou to imagine the power of the incomprehensible God These questions onely concerne the body of an Emet but many more might be demaunded and ten times more about the sensitive soule yet these suffice to declare the weakenesse of our Vnderstanding Yea I will adde an other consideration of no smaller importance then the rest that although as wee see by dayly experience many men study night and day poring forth their braines and eies vpon their bookes yet I am of opinion that if we could see the opinions even of the best learned man in the world with as plaine perspicuitie as we discerne blacke from white wee should find in his vnderstanding more errours then truethes more falsities then verities more ignorances then sciences more that ought to be forgotten then is well learned finally more chaffe then corne I alwayes except matters of faith and religion The reasons which induce me to this opinion are these First I see such varieties of opinions even among the profoundest wittes that ever the worlde yeelded whose writings are extant about the selfe samething one contradicting and condemning another both bringing strong reasons to confirme their opinions one or both must needes erre the Trueth being one and indivisible Secondly I perceyve the same profound Scholers at one time defending with many reasons one opinion and after with as great boldnesse impugning the same retracting the former And why I pray you may they not erre the second time as well as the first for I warrant you they thought they had as great evidence assurance before as they presently possesse And why may they not as well reclayme agayne as they did before You will say secundae cogitationes be prudentiores and wise men recall their former errors And I pray you are not tertiae and quartae prudentissimae After a sleepe vpon the pillow many correct their dayly thoughts doth not one day teach another Wherefore I see no reason why wise men may not in their retractation as wel erre as in their former assent Thirdly the Scriptures seeme to insinuate little lesse Cunctae res difficiles non potest homo Eccles 1. eas explicare sermone All things are difficult neither can man declare them with speech and after speaking of God he saith mundū tradidit c. he delivered the world Idem cap. 3. to their disputation that man should not finde out the work which God had wrought from the beginning to the end VIII Curiositie in knowing things not necessarie AN other generall defect and imperfection proceeding from Nature corrupted and tending to corruption followeth all the Sonnes of Adam and that is a certaine naturall curiosity a diligent inquisition of other mens actions and an extreame negligence in our owne moale-hilles in other men seeme mountaynes and craggie rockes in our selves smooth rushes other mens faults be before our eyes but our owne behinde our backs It is a world to see with what rigor and partialitie men censure others actions with what smooth countenance they conceale their owne defects Let vs not looke any further but to David who never was angrie with himselfe for killing Vrias and abusing his wife but straitwayes after that Nathan had propounded