if he has 't was to very little purpose And so he became a Genteel Pedant or a Pedant of a species entirely new rather than a Rational Judicious and a Worthy Man Montagne's Book contains so evident Proofs of the Vanity and Arrogance of its Author as may make it seem an useless Undertaking to stand to remark them For a Man must needs be very conceited that like him could imagine the World would be at the pains of reading so large a Book meerly to gain some acquaintance with its Author's Humours He must necessarily distinguish himself from the rest of the World and look upon his own Person as the Miracle and Phoenix of Nature All created Beings are under an indispensable obligation of turning off the Minds of such as would adore them towards the only One that deserves their Adoration And Religion teaches us never to suffer the Mind and Heart of Man whom GOD created for himself to be busied about us and to be taken up with loving and admiring us When St. John prostrated himself before the Angel of the LORD the Angel forbad him saying I am thy fellow Servant and of thy Brethren Worship GOD. None but the Devils and such as partake of their Pride are pleas'd with being worshipp'd To require therefore that others should be affected and taken up with our particulars what is it but to desire not only to be worshipp'd with an outward and apparent but also with a real and inward worship 'T is to desire to be worshipp'd even as GOD himself desires it that is in Spirit and in Truth Montagne wrote his Book purely to picture himself and represent his own Humours and Inclinations as he acknowledges himself in the Advertisement to the Reader inserted in all the Editions I give the Picture of my self says he I am my self the Subject of my Book Which is found true enough by those that read him for there are few Chapters wherein he makes not some Digression to talk of himself and there are even some whole Chapters wherein he talks of nothing else But if he wrote his Book meerly to describe Himself he certainly Printed it that his own Character might be read in it He therefore desir'd to be the Subject of the Thoughts and Attention of Men though he says there is no reason a Man should employ his time upon so frivolous and idle a Subject Which words make only for his Commendation For if he thought it unreasonable for Men to spend their time in reading his Book he himself acted against Common Sense in publishing it And so we are oblig'd to believe either that he Thought not what he said or did not what became him But 't is a pleasant Excuse of his Vanity to say he wrote only for his Friends and Relations For if so how chance there were publish'd three Editions Was not one enough for all his Friends and Relations Why did he make Additions to his Book in the last Impressions but no Retractions but that Fortune favour'd his Intentions I add says he but make no Corrections because when once a Man has made his Book of publick right he has in my Opinion no more pretence or title to it Let him say what he can better in another but let him not corrupt the Works already sold. Of such as these 't is folly â—o purchase any thing before they are dead Let them think long before they publish Why are they in such haste My Book is always one and the same He then was willing to publish his Book for and deposite it with the rest of the World as well as to his Friends and Relations But yet his Vanity had never been pardonable if he had only turn'd and fix'd the Mind and Heart of his Friends and Relations on his Picture so long time as is necessary to the reading of his Book If 't is a Fault for a Man to speak often of himself 't is Impudence or rather a kind of Sottishness to praise himself at every turn as Montagne does This being not only to sin against Châ—â—stian Humility but also Right Reason Men are made for a sociable Life and to be form'd into Bodies and Communities But it must be observ'd that every particular that makes a part of a Society would not be thought the meanest part of it And so those who are their own Encomiasts exalting themselves above the rest and looking upon others as the bottom-most parts of their Society and themselves as the Top-most and most Honourable assume an Opinion of themselves that renders them odious instead of indearing them to the Affections and Esteem of the World 'T is then a Vanity and an indiscreet and ridiculous Vanity in Montagne to talk so much to his own Advantage on all occasions But 't is a Vanity still more Extravagant in this Author to transcribe his own Imperfections For if we well observe him we shall find that most of the Faults he discovers of himself are such as are glory'd in by the World by reason of the Corruption of the Age That he freely attributes such to himself as can make him pass for a Bold Wit or give him the Air of a Gentleman and that with intent to be better credited when he speaks in his own Commendation he counterfeits a frank Confession of his Irregularities He has reason to say that The setting too high an Opinion of one's self proceeds often from an equally Arrogant Temper 'T is always an infallible sign that a Man has an Opinion of himself and indeed Montagne seems to me more arrogant and vain in discommending than praising himself it being an insufferable Pride to make his Vices the Motives to his Vanity rather than to his Humiliation I had rather see a Man conceal his Crimes with Shame than publish them with Impudence and in my Mind we ought to have that Vnchristian way of Gallantry in abhorrence wherein Montagne publishes his Defects But let us examine the other Qualities of his Mind If we would believe Montagne on his word he would perswade us that he was a Man of No Retention that his Memory was treacherous and fail'd him in every thing But that in his Judgment there was no defect And yet should we credit the Portraicture he has drawn of his own Mind I mean his Book we should be of a different Opinion I could not says he receive an Order without my Table-book and if I had an Oration to speak that was considerably long-winded I was forc'd to that vile and miserable necessity of learning it word for word by Heart otherwise I had neither Presence nor Assurance for fear my Memory should shew me a slippery trick Does a Man that could learn Memoriter word for word long-winded Discourses to give him some Presence and Assurance fail more in his Memory than his Judgment And can we believe Montagne when he says I am forc'd to call my Domestick Servants by the Names of their Offices or their
in difficult Questions that the Mind must survey at one sight a multiplicity of Relations that are between two things or more it is plain that if it has not consider'd these things very attentively or if it has but a confus'd Knowledge of them it can never have a distinct Perception of their Relation and consequently cannot make any solid Judgment of them One of the main Causes of our Mind 's wanting Application for Abstract Truths is our seeing them as at a Distance whilst other things are continually offering themselves to the Mind that are nearer at hand The great Attention of the Mind brings home as I may say the remote Idea's of the Objects we consider But it often falls out that when a Man is very intent on Metaphysical Speculation he is easily thrown off from them by some accidental Sensations breaking in upon the Soul which sit closer to it than those Idea's For there needs no more than a little Pleasure or Pain to do it The Reason whereof is that Pleasure and Pain and all Sensations in general are within the very Soul They modifie her and touch her more to the quick than the simple Idea's of Objects of Pure Intellection which though present to the Mind neither touch nor modifie it at all And thus the Mind on one hand being of a straitned and narrow reach and on the other unable to prevent feeling Pain and all its other Sensations has its Capacity fill'd up with them and so cannot at one and the same time be sensible of any thing and think freely of other Objects that are not sensible The Humming of a Fly or of any other little Animal supposing it communicated to the principal part of the Brain and perceiv'd by the Soul is capable do what we can of interrupting our Consideration of very Abstract and Sublime Truths because no Abstract Idea's modifie the Soul whereas all Sensations do From hence arises that Stupidity and Drousiness of the Mind in regard of the most Fundamental Truths of Christian Morality which Men know only in a Speculative and Fruitless manner without the Grace of JESVS CHRIST All the World knows there is a GOD and that this GOD is to be serv'd and worshipp'd But who is it that serves and worships him without the Divine Grace which alone gives us a relish of Delight and Pleasure in these Duties There are but very few that do not perceive the Emptiness and Inconstancy of Earthly Goods and that are not convinc'd with an Abstract though most certain and evident Conviction that they are indeserving of our Cares and Application But where are those who despise these Goods in their Practice and deny their Pains and Application to acquire them 'T is only they that perceive some Bitterness and Distaste in the Injoyment of them or that Grace has made sensible to Spiritual Goods by an inward Delectation affix'd to them by GOD 't is these only who vanquish the Impressions of Sense and the Strugglings of Concupiscence A View of the Mind alone can never make us resist them as we should do but besides that View there must be a certain Sensation of the Heart That Intellectual Light all alone is if you please the Sufficient Grace which makes only for our Condemnation which acquaints us with our own Weakness and of our Duty of flying by Prayer to Him who is our Strength But the Sensation of the Heart is a Lively and Operative Grace 'T is this which touches us inward which fills us and perswades the Heart and without it there is no body that considers with the Heart Nemo est qui recogitet corde All the most certain Truths of Morality lye conceal'd in the folds and doubles and secret corners of the Mind and as long as they continue there are barren and inactive since the Soul has no relish of them But the Pleasures of the Senses dwell nearer to the Soul and since she cannot be insensible to or out of love with her Pleasure 't is impossible to disengage her self from the Earth and to get rid of the Charms and Delusions of her Senses by her own Strength and Abilities I deny not however but the Righteous whose Heart has been already vigorously turn'd towards GOD by a preventing Delectation may without that particular Grace perform some Meritorious Actions and resist the Motions of Concupiscence There are those who are couragious and constant in the Law of GOD by the strength of their Faith by the care they have to deprive themselves of Sensible Goods and by the contempt and dislike of every thing that can give them any temptation There are such as act for the most part without the taste of Indeliberate or Preventing Pleasure That sole Joy they find in acting according to the Will of GOD is the only Pleasure they taste and that Pleasure suffices to make them persevere in their state and to confirm the Disposition of their Heart Those who are Novice Converts have generally need of an Indeliberate or Preventing Pleasure to disintangle them from Sensible Goods to which they are fastened by other Preventing and Indeliberate Pleasures Sorrow and Remorse of their Consciences are not sufficient for this purpose and as yet they taste no Joy But the Just can live by Faith and that in Indigence and 't is likewise in this Estate they merit most Forasmuch as Men being Reasonable Creatures GOD will be lov'd by them with a Love of Choice and not with a Love of Instinct or an Indeliberate Love like that wherewith we love Sensible things without knowing they be Good otherwise than from the Pleasure we receive in them Notwithstanding most Men having but little Faith and yet constant opportunities of tasting Pleasures cannot long preserve their Elective Love for GOD against their Natural Love for sensible Goods unless the Delectation of Grace support them against the Efforts of Pleasure For the Delectation of Grace produces preserves and augments Charity as Sensible Pleasures Cupidity It is apparent enough from what has been said that Men being never free from some Passion or some pleasant or troublesome Sensations have their Capacity and Extent of Mind much taken up and when they would imploy the remainder of its Capacity in examining any Truth they are frequently diverted by some new Sensations through the dislike they take to that Exercise and the Inconstancy of the Will which tosses and bandies the Mind from Object to Object without letting it stand still So that unless we have habituated our selves from our Youth to the conquering all these Oppositions as I have explain'd in the Second Part we find our selves at last incapable of piercing into any thing that 's somewhat difficult and demands something of Application Hence we are to conclude That all Sciences and especially such as include Questions very hard to be clear'd up and explain'd abound with an infinite number of Errors And that we ought to have in suspicion those bulky
likewise that it is not Voluntary But as long as there is any Obscurity in the Subject we consider and we are not perfectly assur'd we have discover'd all that 's necessary to the Resolution of the Question as it most commonly happens in those which are abstruse and difficult and include many Relations we are free to deny our Consent and the Will may still command the Vnderstanding to apply it self to something new Which makes us not so averse to believe that the Judgments we form on such kind of Subjects are Voluntary Howbeit the generality of Philosophers suppose that even the Judgments we form upon things obscure are no ways Voluntary and will have the Consent to Truth in general to be an Action of the Vnderstanding which they call Assensus to distinguish it from the Consent to Good which they attribute to the Will and term Consensus but see the cause of their Distinction and Mistake Which is That in this state of Life we often evidently perceive some Truths without any reason to Doubt of them and so the Will remains not indifferent in the Consent it gives to Truths so manifest as has been just explain'd But 't is not so in point of Good there being no Particular Good we know but we have reason to doubt whether we ought to Love it Our Passions and Inclinations which we naturally have for Sensible Pleasures are though confus'd yet through the Corruption of our Nature very strong Reasons which render us cold and indifferent even in the Love of God himself And so we are manifestly sensible of our Indifference and are inwardly convinc'd we make use of our Liberty in our Loving GOD. But we do not in like manner apprehend that we imploy our Liberty in Consenting to Truth especially when accompanied with full Evidence and Conviction which induces us to believe our Consent to Truth is not Voluntary As if it was necessary our Actions should be indifferent to become Voluntary and that the Blessed did not love God most Willingly without being diverted from it by something or other in like manner as we Consent to that evident Proposition that twice 2 are 4 without being diverted from the Belief of it by any shew of a contrary Reason But to the end we may distinctly discover what the difference is between the Consent of the Will to Truth and its Consent to Goodnesâ— it is requisite to know the difference which is found between Truth and Goodness taken in the ordinary acceptation and with reference to us That difference consists in this That we have an Interest and Concern in Goodness but Truth does not at all affect us For Truth consists only in the Relation which two things or more haâ—â— between them but Goodness consists in the Relation of agreement which things have with our selves which is the reason that the Will has but One Action in respect of Truth which is its Acquiescence in or Consent to the Representation of the Relation which is betwixt things and that it has two in respect of Goodness namely its Acquiescence in or Consent to the Relation of agreement the thing has with our selves and its Love or Tendency towards that thing which actions are extreamly different though they are usually confounded For there is a great deal of difference betwixt simply Acquiescing and being carried to love the thing which the Mind represents since we often Acquiesce in things we could gladly wish were not and which we have an aversion to Now upon a due consideration of things it will visibly appear That 't is ever the Will which Acquiesces not only in things if they be agreeable to it but the Representation of things and that the reason of the Will 's Acquiescing always in the Representation of things of the clearest Evidence is as we have already said because there is no farther Relation in them necessary to be consider'd which the Vnderstanding has not already throughly discuss'd Insomuch that 't is as it were necessary for the Will to leave off disquieting and tireing it self in vain and to rest satisfy'd in a full assurance that it is not deceived since there is nothing left to put the Vnderstanding upon a fresh Inquiry This is especially to be observ'd that in the Circumstances we are under we have but a very imperfect Knowledge of things and consequently there is an absolute necessity we should have this Liberty of Indifference whereby we are impower'd to withold our selves from giving our Consent For the better discovering this Necessity it must be consider'd that we are carry'd by our Natural Inclinations to the imbracing Truth and Goodness so that the Will never reaching after things but what the Mind has some notice and apprehension of must needs pursue that which has the Face and Appearance of Truth and Goodness But because all that has the look of Truth and Good is not always what it appears to be it is plain that if the Will had not this Liberty but must infallibly and necessarily have embrac'd every thing that came cloath'd with an Appearance of Truth and Goodness it would have almost ever been Deceived Whence probably it might be concluded That the Author of its Being was the Author of its Errors and Seducements We have therefore a Liberty given us by God that we might avoid falling into Error and all the Evils consequent upon Errors by not resting with a full Assurance upon Probabilities but only upon Truth that is by commanding the Mind with an indefatigable Application to examine every thing till it has fully enlightned and unravell'd all that comes under its Examinations For Truth generally comes attended with Evidence and Evidence consists in a clear and distinct View of all the Parts and Relations of the Object which are necessary to give a certain and well-grounded Judgment The use then we should make of our Liberty is to IMPLOY IT AS FAR AS IT WILL GO That is never to consent to any thing whatever until we are as it were forc'd to 't by the secret Reproaches of our Reason To submit our selves to the false Appearance of Truth is to inslave our selves contrary to the Will of God but honestly to yield to the inward Reproaches of our Reason which accompany the Denial of our Submission unto Evidence is to obey the Voice of Eternal Truth which speaks within us Here then are Two Rules founded upon what I have been saying which are the most necessary of all others both for Speculative Sciences and Morality and which may be look'd on as the Foundation of all Humane Sciences The First which respects the Sciences is this A Man should never give an entire Consent but only to Propositions which appear so evidently true that he cannot deny it them without feeling an internal Pain and the secret Vpbraidings of his Reason that is without being plainly convinc'd he would make an ill use of his Liberty in case he should refuse to give his Consent
as their Motion will allow It must not seem strange that I now say that Metals have less force to continue their direct Motion than Earth Water and other less solid Bodies though I have formerly said that the most solid Bodies have more strengh than others to continue their direct Motion For the Reason why Metals are not so apt to continue to move as Earth and Stones is that Metals have less Motion in themselves it being true however that of two Bodies unequal in solidity but moved with an equal swiftness that the most solid will have more force to pursue its Motion in a right Line because the most solid has then the greater Motion and that Motion is the Cause of strength But if we would understand the Reason why Bodies gross and solid are heavy towards the Center of Vortexes but light at a considerable distance from it we must know that these Bodies receive their Motion from the subtle matter that invirons them and in which they swim Now that subtle matter actually moving in a Circular Line and only tending to move in a right Line it only Communicates that Circular Motion to the gross Bodies it carries along with it and as to its tendency to remove from the Centre in a Right Line it only communicates that to them as far as it is a necessary sequel of the Circular communicated Motion For it must be observed that the Parts of the subtle matter tending to different sides can only compress the gross Body they convey since that Body cannot go several different ways at the same time But because the subtle Matter that lies about the Centre of the Vortex has a far greater Motion than that which it spends in circulating and because it communicates only its Motion Circular and common to all its Parts to the gross Bodies which it carries and that if these Bodies should chance to have more Motion than what is common to the Vortex they would soon lose that overplus by communicating it to the little Bodies they meet with thence 't is evident that gross Bodies towards the Centre of the Vortex have not so much Motion as the Matter in which they swim each part of which has its own particular and various Motion besides the Cicular and common Now if gross Bodies have less Motion they have less Tendency to move in a right Line and if they have less Tendency they are forc'd to yield to those that have more and consequently to approach the Centre of the Vortex that is in short they must be heavyer as they are more gross and solid But when solid Bodies are very remote from the Centre of the Vortex as the Circular Motion of the subtle Matter is then very great because it spends very near its whole Motion in wheeling about Bodies have then so much more Motion as they have more Solidity because they go as swift as the subtle Matter in which they swim and so they have more force to continue their direct Motion Wherefore gross Bodies at a certaine distance from the Centre of the Vortex are so much lighter as they are more solid This makes it apparent that the Earth is metallick towards the Centre and not so solid about the Circumference that Water and Air must remain in the Situation wherein we see them but that all those Bodies are ponderous the Air as well as Gold and Quick-silver because they are more solid and gross than the first and second Element This shews likewise that the Moon is at too great a distance from the Centre of the Vortex of the Earth to be heavy though it be solid that Mercury Venus the Earth Mars Jupiter and Saturn cannot fall into the Sun and that they are not solid enough to travel out of this Vortex as the Comets do that they are in Aequilibrio with the Matter in which they swim and that if a Musket Ball or a Cannon Bullet could be shot high enough those two Bodies would become little Planets or perhaps Comets that would not stay in any Vortex as being endued with a competent Solidity I pretend not to have sufficiently explain'd all the things I have mention'd or to have deduced from the simple Principles of Extension Figure and Motion all the possible Inferences I only intended to shew the Method Des Cartes has used in the discovery of Natural things that this Method and his Ideas may be compared with those of other Philosophers I design'd here no more and yet I may venture to assert that if one would supersede admiring the Virtue of the Loadstone the regular Motion of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea the noise of Thunder the Generation of Meteors in short if any desire to get a well-grounded Knowledge of Natural Philosophy as he can doe nothing better than to read and mediâ—ate his Books so he can doe nothing at all unless he follows his Method I mean unless he Reason as he did upon clear Ideas still beginning with the most simple and familiar Neither do I pretend that this Author is Infallible for I think I can demonstrate that he has been mistaken in several places of his works But 't is more advantageous for his Readers to believe that he hath been deceived than if they were persuaded that whatever he said was true A Man that should take him to be infalible would read him without Examination believe him without understanding what he says learn his Opinions as we learn History and would never form and perfect his Mind He himself advertises his Readers to observe whether he be deceived and to believe nothing of what he says but what the Evidence compells them to For he is not like those false pretenders to Science who endeavouring to Lord it over the Minds will be believed upon their own word and who instead of making Men the Disciples of the inward Truth by proposing only clear and distinct Ideas labour what they can to submit them to the Authority of Heathens and press upon Men incomprehensible Opinions by unintelligible Reasons The chief thing that is found fault with in Des Cartes's System is the manner in which he feigns that the Sun Stars Earth and all the Bodies that surround us have been produced forasmuch as it seems contrary to what Holy Writ teaches us of the Creation of the World since according to him one would say that the whole Universe has been formed of its own accord so as we see it now a-days to which several Answers may be made First As to the pretended Contrarieties betwixt Moses and Des Cartes those that assert it have not perhaps examin'd them both with as much Attention as those who have shewn by publick Writings that the sacred History of the Creation perfectly agrees with the opinion of that Philosopher But the chief Answer is that Des Cartes never pretended that things should ever have been made by degrees and as he describes them For at the first Article of the
the Resolution of Questions of little Use the Knowledge whereof commonly more gratifies our Pride than perfects our Understanding I think it my Duty to say that I may profitably conclude this Work that the most expeditious and certain Method of discovering Truth and uniting our selves to God in the purest and perfectest manner possible is to live as becomes true Christians to follow exactly the Precepts of Eternal Truth which unites it self with us only to re-unite us with it 'T is to listen rather to the Dictates of our Faith than Reason and to tend to God not so much by our natural Forces which since the Sin are altogether languid and inactive as by the Assistance of Faith by which alone God purposes to lead us into that immense Light of Truth which will dissolve and dissipate all our Darkness For in brief 't is much better as good Men to spend some Years in Ignorance of certain Things and find our selves enlighten'd in a Moment for ever than by Natural Means and abundance of Trouble and Application purchase a very imperfect Science that shall leave us in Darkness to all Eternity ILLUSTRATIONS UPON THE FOREGOING BOOKS The PREFACE Wherein is shewn what should be our Opinion of the several Judgments commonly pass'd on Books that encounter Prejudices WHen a BOOK is first to appear in the World one knows not whom to consult to learn its Destiny The Stars preside not over its Nativity their Influences have no Operation on it and the most confident Astrologers dare not foretell the diverse Risks of Fortune it must run Truth not being of this World Celestial Bodies have no power over her and whereas she is of a most spiritual Nature the several Positions or Combinations of Matter can contribute nothing either to her Establishment or Ruine Besides the Judgments of Men are so different in respect of the same things that we can never more hazardously and imprudently play the Prophet than in presaging the happy or unfortunate Success of a BOOK So that every Man who ventures to be an Author at the same time throws himself at the Reader 's Mercy to make him or esteem him what he pleases But of all Authors those who encounter Prejudices ought most infallibly to reckon upon their Condemnation their Works â—it too uneasie on most Mens Minds and if they escape the Passions of their Enemies they are obliged to the almighty Force of Truth for their Protection 'T is a common Miscarriage with all Mankind to be too precipitate in judging for all Men are obnoxious to Errour and only obnoxious upon this account But all hasty and rash Judgments are ever consonant to Prejudices and therefore Authors who oppugn them cannot possibly escape Sentence from all their Judges who appeal to Ancient Opinions as the Laws whereby they ought to pronounce For indeed most Readers are both Judge and Party in respect of these Authors Their Judges they are that Quality is incontestable but they are a Party likewise being disturb'd by these Authors in the possession of their ancient Prejudices for which they have the plea of Prescription and to which they have been accustom'd many Years I confess there 's Abundance of Equity Sincerity and good Sense in a great many Readers and that they sometimes are Judges rational enough to supersede common Opinions as not being the infallible Rules of Truth Many there are who retire into themselves and consult that Inward Truth which ought to be their Rule to judge of all things but very Few that consult it upon all Occasions and None at all who do it with all that Faithfulness and Attention that is necessary to judge infallibly at all times And thus though we might suppose there were nothing blameable in a Treatise which yet it would be Vanity to pretend to I am persuaded it would be impossible to find one single Man to approve it in every respect especially if his Prejudices were attacked by it since it is not naturally possible that a Judge constantly provok'd affronted and outrag'd by a Party should do him entire Justice or that he should give himself the trouble of a strenuous Application to those Reasons which at first sight appear to him as extravagant Parodoxes or ridiculous Parolâ—gisms But though a Man be pleased with many things in a BOOK if he fortunes to meet with some that are offensive he shall seldom be wanting to speak ill of it but most commonly forgetfull to give it any good Character Self-love has a thousand Motives to induce us to condemn what we dislike and Reason in this Instance fully justifies these Motives since Men fansie they condemn Errours and defend Truth when they defend their Prejudices and censure those that assault them So that the most equitable Judges of Books that fight against Prejudices pass commonly such a general Sentense as is no way favourable on their behalf Perhaps they will say there is something good in such a Work and that the Author justly opposes certain Prejudices but yet they shall be sure to condemn him and as his Judges give an authoritative and grave decision upon the point maintaining that he carries things too far on such or such an occasion For when an Author is ruining Prejudices which the Reader is not prepossess'd with whatever he shall say will seem reasonable enough But the same Author ever stretches things too far when he engages the Prejudices wherewith the Reader is too deeply ting'd But whereas the Prejudices of different Persons are not constantly the same should one carefully gather the several Judgments that are made upon the same things it would commonly appear that according to these Judgments there is nothing Good and at the same time nothing Bad in such kind of Books There would be nothing good because there is no Prejudices but one or other espouses and there would be nothing bad because there is no Prejudice whatever but some or other condemn In which Judgments there is so much Equity that should a Man pretend to make use of them to correct his Piece he must necessarily strike it all out for fear of leaving any thing that was Condemn'd or not to touch it for fear of expunging something that was approv'd So that a poor Author that studies to be inoffensive finds himself perplex'd on all hands by all the various Judgments which are pronounc'd both for and against him and unless he resolve to stand his ground and to be reckon'd obstinate in his Opinions he must inevitably contradict himself at every turn and appear in as many different Forms as there are different Heads in a whole Nation However Time will do every Man Justice and Truth which at first seems a Chimerical and ridiculous Phantasm by degrees grows sensible and manifest Men open their Eyes and contemplate her they discover her Charms and fall in love with her This Man who condemns an Author for an Opinion that he dislikes by chance meets with
Philosophy But to return to the passage of St. John No man has seen God at any time I believe the design of the Evangelist in affirming no Man has seen God is to state the difference between the Old and New Testament Between JESUS CHRIST and the Patriarchs and Prophets of whom it is written that they have seen God For Moses Jacob Isaiah and others saw God only with corporeal Eyes and under an unknown Form They have not seen him in himself Deum nemo vidit unquam But the only Son who is in the Bosom of the Father has instructed us in what He has seen Vnigenitus qui est in sinu Patris Ipse enarravit OBJECTION St. Paul writing to Timothy says that God inhabits inaccessible Light which no man hath seen nor can see if the Light of God cannot be approach'd to we cannot see all things in it ANSWER St. Paul cannot be contrary to St. John who assures us that JESUS CHRIST is the true Light that lightens all Men who come into the World For the mind of Man which many of the Fathers call Illuminated or Enlightned Light Lumen Illuminatum is Enlightned only with the Light of Eternal Wisdom which the Fathers therefore call Illuminating Light Lumen Illuminations David advises to approach to God and to be englightned by him Accedite ad eum illuminamini But how can we be enlightned by it if we cannot see the Light by which we are to be enlightned Therefore when St. Paul says that Light is inaccessible he means to Carnal Man who cannot retire into himself to contemplate it Or if he speaks of all Men 't is because there are none but are disturb'd from the perfect Contemplation of Truth because our Body incessantly troubles the attension of our mind OBJECTION God answering Moses when he desired to see him says Thou canst not see my Face for there shall no man see Me and live ANSWER It is evident that the literal sence of this Passage is not contrary to what I have said hitherto For I do not suppose it possible to see God in this life as Moses desired to see Him However I Answer that we must die to see God For the Soul unites herself to Truth proportionably as she quits her union with the Body Which is a Truth that cannot be sufficiently consider'd Those who follow the Motions of their passions those whose Imagination is defil'd with the enjoyment of Pleasures Those who have strengthned the Union and Correspondence of their Mind with their Body In a word those who live cannot see God For they cannot retire into themselves to consult the Truth Happy therefore are they who have a pure Heart a disengag'd Spirit a clear Imagination who have no dependance on the World and hardly any on the Body In a word happy are the Dead for they shall see God Wisdom has publish'd it openly upon the Mountain and Wisdom whispers it secretly to those who consult Her by retiring into themselves Those who are constantly quickning in them the Concupiscence of Pride who are indefatigably forming a thousand Ambitious designs who unite and even enslave their Soul not only to the Body but all surrounding Objects In a word those who Live not only the Life of the Body but also that of the World cannot see God For WISDOM inhabits the most retired and inward Reason whilst they perpetually expand themselves abroad But such as constantly deaden the Activity of their Senses who faithfully preserve the Purity of their Imagination who couragiously resist the Motions of their Passions In a word that break all those Bonds whereby others continue enchain'd to the Body and sensible grandeur may discover infinite Truths and see that Wisdom which is bid from the Eyes of all Living They after a sort do cease to live when they retire into themselves They relinquish the Body when they draw near to Truth For the mind of Man obtains that Site and Position between God and Bodies that it can never quit the one but it must approach the other It cannot draw towards God but it must remove from Bodies nor pursue Bodies but it must recede from God But because we cannot give an absolute Farewell to the Body till Death makes the separation I confess it impossible till then to be perfectly united to God We may at present as says St. Paul see God confusedly as in a Glass but we cannot see him face to face Non videbit me homo vivet Yet we may see him in part that is imperfectly and confusedly It must not be imagin'd that life is equal in all Men living or that it consists in an indivisible point The Dominion of the Body over the Mind which withstands our uniting our selves with God by the Knowledge of Truth is susceptible of more and less The Soul is not equally in all Men united by Sensations to the Body which she animates nor by Passions to those her Inclinations carry her to And there are some who so mortifie the Concupiscence of Pleasure and of Pride within them that they scarce retain any Commerce with their Body or the World and so are as it were Dead St. Paul is a great instance hereof who chastis'd his Body and brought it to subjection who was so humbled and destroy'd that he thought no longer on the World nor the World on him For the World was dead and crucified to him as he was dead and crucified in the World And on this account it was says St. Gregory that he was so sensible to Truth and so prepar'd to receive those Divine Lights which are included in his Epistles which however all glorious and splendid make no impression save on those who mortifie their Senses and Passions by his Example For as he says himself the carnal and sensible Man cannot comprehend Spiritual things Because Worldly address the tast of the Age to fineness of Wit the Nicety the Liveliness the Beauty of Imagination whereby we live to the World and the World to us infuse into our Mind an incredible stupidity and a sad insensibility to all those Truths which cannot be perfectly conceiv'd unless in the silence and calm of the Senses and Passions We must therefore desire that Death which unites us to God or at least the image of that Death that is the Mysterious Sleep in which all our External Senses being lock'd up we may hear the Voice of internal Truth which is never audible but in the silence of the Night when Darkness involves sensible Objects and when the World is as it were dead to us Thus it is says St. Gregory that the Spouse heard the Voice of her beloved in her sleep when she said I sleep but my heart wakes Outwardly I slumber but my heart watches within For having no life nor sense with reference to External Objects I become extreamly sensible to the Voice of inward Truth which accosts me in my inmost reason Hinc
whatever is intelligible is either a Being or a Mode of Being By Being I mean something of an absolute Nature or that may be conceiv'd alone as unrelated to any other thing By Mode of Being I understand something relative or that cannot be conceiv'd alone Now there are two kinds of Modes of Being The one consists in the Relation of the Parts of any Whole to any Part of the same whole The other in the Relation of one thing to another which makes not any Part of the same whole The Roundness of wax is a Mode of Being of the former sort as consisting in the Equality of Distance which have all the Superficial parts to the central The Motion or situation of the wax is a Mode of Being of the second sort Which consists in the Relation the wax has to circumambient Bodies I speak not of motion taken for the Moving Force for it is plain that that force neither is nor can be a Mode of Bodies existing for conceive them Modified how we will we cannot conceive them as a moving Force It being certain that whatever is intelligible is either a Being or a Mode of Being it is as evident that every Term that signifies not one or other of these signifies nothing and that every Term that signifies not this or that particular Being or Mode of Being is obscure and confus'd and consequently we cannot conceive either what others say to us or we to others if we have no distinct Ideas of Being or of the Mode of Being which respectively answer to the Terms they use or we imploy our selves Nevertheless I grant that we may and even sometimes must imploy those words which do not directly raise distinct Ideas We may because it is not always necessary to put the Dâ—finition instead of the Defin'd and that abridg'd Expressions are to good use imploy'd though confus'd in themselves And We must when we are oblig'd to speak of things whereof we have no clear Idea and which we cannot conceive but by our inward Sensation as when we speak of the Soul and her Modifications Only we must take care not to use obscure and equivocal when we have clear Terms or any which may excite false Ideas in those we speak to This will be better understood by an instance It is more perspicuous to say that God created the World by his Will than to say he created it by his Power This last word is a Logical Term which excites no distinct and particular Idea but affords Liberty to imagine that the Power of God is something distinct from the efficacy of his Will We speak more clearly when we say God pardons Sinners in JESUS CHRIST than in absolutely saying he forgives them by his Clemency and Mercy These Terms are Equivocal and administer occasion to think that the Clemency of God is it may be contrary to his Justice That Sin may be left unpunish'd and that the satisfaction of Our LORD is not necessary and the like These Terms of a Loose and Indefinite sense are often us'd when we speak of the Divine Perfections which is not to be condemn'd since Philosophical accuracy is not at all times necessary But by a culpable dullness and negligence such abuse is made of these general Expressions and so many false consequences are drawn from them that though all Men have the same Idea of God and that they consider him as a Being infinitely Perfect yet there was hardly any Imperfection but was attributed to him in Idolatrous times and Mens discourses of him were commonly unseemly and unworthy And all for want of carefully comparing the things they said of him with the Idea that represents him or rather with Himself But chiefly in matter of natural Philosophy these rambling and general Terms are abus'd which excite no distinct Ideas either of Beings or their Modes For example when we say that Bodies tend to their Center that they fall by their Gravity that they ascend by their Levity that they move by their Nature that they successively change their Forms that they act by their Vertues Qualities Faculties c. we use such Terms as have no signification and all these Propositions are absolutely false in the sense that most Philosophers take them There is no Center in the sense that is commonly understood These Terms Gravity Form Nature and the like excite no Idea either of a Being or a mode of Being They are empty and insignificative Terms which Wise-Men should avoid The Knowledge of the unwise is as talk without sense says the Son of Sirach These Terms are good for nothing but to shelter the Ignorance of Pretenders to Learning and to make the Ignorant and Libertines believe that God is not the True Cause of all things This methinks is certain and easy to be conceiv'd Yet most Men talk freely of all things without caring to examine whether the Terms they employ have any clear and exact signification And many Authors there are of huge and bulky Volumes in which its harder than may be thought to find any passage where they have understood what they have written Therefore those who are great Readers and respectful Hearers of the rambling and general Discourses of the falsly Learn'd are in the darkest Ignorance And I see no way they have to get free of it but by constantly making and renewing their Resolution of believing no Man on his word and before they have annex'd very distinct Ideas to the most common Terms which others use For these Terms are not clear as is commonly imagin'd and they seem so only from the common Use that is made of them Because Men fancy they well understand what they say or hear when they have said or heard the same an hundred times though they have never examin'd it THE ILLUSTRATION UPON THE Conclusion of the Three First BOOKS That Physicians and Casuists are absolutely necessary for us But that it is dangerous to consult and follow them in many occasions CErtainly Man before his Fall was possess'd of all things necessary to preserve his Mind and Body in a perfect State He needed neither Physician nor Casuist He consulted Inward Truth as the Infallible Rule of his Duty and his Senses were so faithful in their Reports that they never deceiv'd him in the use he ought to make of encompassing Bodies for the preservation of his own But since the Transgression things are much chang'd We consult our Passions much more than Law or Truth Eternal and our Senses are so disorder'd that in following them we sometimes destroy our Health and Life The Casuist and Physician are become absolutely necessary And those who pretend to be most dexterous at Self-management upon all occasions fall commonly into the grossest Miscarriages which teach them a little too late that they follow a Master that is not over-wise Nevertheless I think I may say that Sin has not so disorder'd all the faculties of the Soul but that we may consult our selves
giving him relief For on these occasions he sometimes does a great deal who does no mischief I conclude then that we must have recourse to Physicians and refuse not to obey them if we would preserve our Life For though they cannot be assur'd of restoring our Health yet sometimes they may contribute much for it by reason of the continual Experiments they make upon different Diseases They know indeed very little with any exactness yet still they know much more than our selves and provided they will give themselves the trouble of studying our constitution of carefully observing all the Symptoms of the Disease and diligently attending to our own inward Feeling we may hope from them all the Assistances that we may reasonably expect from Men. What we have said of Physicians may in a manner be apply'd to Casuists whom 'tis absolutely necessary to consult on some occasions and commonly useful But it sometimes happens not only to be most useless but highly dangerous to advise with them which I explain and prove 'T is commonly said that humane Reason is subject to Error but herein there is an equivocal sence which we are not sufficiently aware of For it must not be imagin'd that the Reason which Man consults is corrupted or that it ever misleads when faithfully consulted I have said it and I say it again that none but the Soveraign Reason makes us Rational None but the Supream Truth enlightens us nor any but God that speaks clearly and knows how to instruct us We have but one True Master even JESUS CHRIST Our LORD Eternal WISDOM the WORD of the Father in whom are all the Treasures of Wisdom and the Knowledge of God And 't is Blasphemy to say this Vniversal Reason whereof all Men participate and by which alone they are reasonable is subject to Error and capable of deceiving us 'T is not Man's Reason but his Heart that betrays him 'T is not his Light but his Darkness that hinders him from seeing 'T is not the Union he has with God which seduces him noâ— in one sence his Union with the Body But 't is the dependance he has on his Body or rather 't is because he will deceive himself and enjoy the Pleasure of Judging before he has been at the Pains of Examining 't is because he will rest before he arrives to the place of the Rest of Truth I have more exactly explain'd the cause of our Errors in many places of the preceding Book and I here suppose what I there have said Which being laid down I affirm it is needless to consult Casuists when it is certain that Truth speaks to us which we are sure it does when Evidence displays it self in the Answers that are made to our Enquiries that is to the attention of our Mind Therefore when we retire into our own Breast and in the silence of our Senses and Passions hear a Voice so clear and intelligible that we cannot be doubtful of the Truth of it we must submit to it let the World think of us what they please We must have no regard to custom nor listen to our secret Inclinations nor defer too much to the resolves of those who go for the Learned part of Men. We must not give way to be misguided by the false shew of a pretended Piety nor be humbled by the oppositions of those who know not the Soul which animates them But we must bear patiently their proud Insults without condemning their Intentions or despising their Persons We must with simplicity of heart rejoice in the Light of Truth which illuminates us and though its Answers condemn us yet ought we to prefer them before all the subtil Distinctions the Imagination invents for the justification of the Passions Every Man for Example that can enter into himself and still the confus'd noise of the Senses and Passions clearly discovers that every motion of Love which is given us by God must Center upon him and that God himself cannot dispense with the Obligation we have to Love him in all things 'T is evident that God cannot supersede acting for Himself cannot create or preserve our Will to will any thing besides him or to will any thing but what he Wills Himself For I cannot see how it is conceivable that God can Will a Creature should have more Love for what is less lovely or should Love Soveraignly as its end what is not Supreamly amiable I know well that Men who interrogate their Passions instead of consulting Order may easily imagine that God has no other Rule of his Will than his will it self and that if God observes Order 't is meerly â—ecause he will'd it and has made this same Order by a Will absolutely Free and Indifferent There are those who think there is no Order immutable and necessary by its Nature And and that the Order or Wisdom of God whereby he has made all things though the first of Creatures is yet it self a Creature made by a Free-Will of God and not begotten of his Substance by the necessity of his Essence But this Opinion which shakes all the Foundations of Morality by robbing Order and the Eternal Laws depending on it of their Immutability and overturns the entire Edifice of the Christian Religion by divesting JESUS CHRIST or the WORD of God of his Divinity does not yet so perfectly benight the Mind as to hide from it this Truth That God Wills Order Thus whether the Will of God Makes Order or Supposes it we clearly see when we retire into our selves that the God we Worship cannot do what plainly appears to us to be contrary to Order So that Order Willing that our Time or the Duration of our Being should be for him that preserves us that the Motion of our Heart should continually tend towards him who continually impresses it in us that all the Powers of our Souls should labour only for him by vertue of whom they act God cannot dispense with the Commandment he gave by Moses in the Law and repeated by his Son in the Gospel Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soul and with all thy Mind and with all thy Strength But because Order requires that every Righteous Person should be happy and every Sinner miserable and that every Action conformable to Order and every Motion of Love to God should be rewarded and every other contrary to Order or that tends not to him punish'd It is evident that whoever will be happy must constantly tend towards God and reject with abhorrence whatever stops or retards him in his course or Weakens his propension to the true good And for this he need not consult any Casuists For when God speaks 't is fit that Men should be silent And when we are absolutely certain that our Senses and Passions have no Voice in those resolves we hear in our most Secret and inward Reason we ought always respectfully to attend and submit to them Would we be
resolv'd whether we may go to a Ball or a Play Whether we may in Conscience spend a great part of the Day in Sports and vain Conversation whether certain Conversations Studies and Employs are conformable to our Obligations Let us retire into our selves and hush our Senses and Passions and then see in the Light of God whether we can do for him any such Action Let us interrogate him who is the Way the Truth and the Life to know if the Road we pursue will not lead us to the Gates of Death And whether God being Essentially Just and necessarily oblig'd to punish what is not agreeable to Order and to reward all conformity to it we have reason to believe we are going to augment or ensure our Felicity by the Action we intend to do If it be our Love to God that leads us to the Ball let us go If Heaven is to be gain'd by playing let us play Day and Night If we have in prospect the Glory of God in our Employment let us exercise it Let us do all things with Joy for our Recompence shall be great in Heaven But if after having carefully examin'd our Essential Obligations we clearly discover that neither our Being nor the Time that measures it is at our own disposal and that we do an unjust thing which it necessarily lies upon God to punish when our only study is how to spend our time in Mirth and Pleasure If our Lord and Master CHRIST who has purchas'd us by his Blood â—eproaches our Inâ—idelity and Ingratitude in a most clear and intelligible manner for living after the Flesh and the World for Leading an Effeminate and Voluptuous Life and following Opinion and Custom Let us yield to his Voice and not harden our Hearts nor seek out such Spiritual Guides as comfort us under these Reproaches and secure us against these Menaces and involve in delightful Clouds that Light which strikes and pierces our very Soul When the Blind leads the Blind they both fall into the Ditch says the Evangelist But if God excuses not the Blind who commits himself to the Conduct of a Blind Leader will he excuse him who seeing clearly will yet willingly be guided by the Blind because he leads him pleasantly and entertains him by the way according to his Inclinations These voluntary Blind Men ought to know that God who never deceives frequently permits these Seducers in punishment to the corrupt Affections of those that seek them That Blindness is a penalty of Sin though it be often the cause of it and that it is just that he who cared not to hear Eternal Wisdom who spoke only for his good should at last suffer himself to be corrupted by Men whose deception is so much more dangerous as their Flatteries are more pleasing 'T is true 't is no easie thing to retire into our selves to silence our Senses and Passions and to distinguish the Voice of God from that of our Body For we most commonly take sensible Proofs for evident Reasons and on that account it is necessary to consult the Casuists But it is not always needful For we see our Duty on many occasions with the clearest Evidence and an undoubted certainty And then it is even dangerous to consult them unless it be done with the greatest Sincerity and by a Spirit of Humility and Obedience For these dispositions oblige God to prevent our deception or at least to keep us from deceiving our selves in any hurtful manner When it is convenient to advise with a Spiritual Guide such an one is to be chosen as understands Religion and reverences the Gospel and is acquainted with humane Nature We must take heed least the converse of the World has corrupted him least Friendship should make him too Gentle and Complaisant least he should be Brib'd by his hopes or fears of us We must choose one in a thousand says St. Theresia who as she relates her self had like to have lost her way to Heaven by the means of an Ignorant Guide The World is full of Deceivers I say of Well-Meaning Deceivers no less than others Those who Love us seduce us by their Complaisance Those who are below us flatter us out of Respect or Fear Those above us out of Contempt or Negligence overlook our necessities Besides all Men give us Counsel agreeable to the Breviates we give of our own Condition and we never fail to make the best of our Case insensibly laying our hand upon our sore when we are asham'd of it We often deceive our Counsellours that we may deceive our selves For we fancy our selves secure whilst we follow their Directions They do but conduct us whither we design'd to go and yet we would fain perswade our selves in spite of our Light and the Secret reproofs of our Reason that 't is our Obedience which determines us We seduce our selves and God permits us but we can never deceive him who Penetrates the Bottom of our Hearts And though we deafen our selves never so much to the Voice of Internal Truth we are sufficiently made sensible by the inward Reproaches we receive from the Supream Truth leaving us to our selves that it enlightens our Darkness and discovers all the Wiles and Stratagems of Self-Love 'T is therefore evident that our Reason must be consulted for the Health of our Soul as our Senses are to be advis'd with for the Health of our Body and that when the former cannot clearly resolve us we must apply to the Casuist as we must have recourse to the Physician when the latter are defective But this is to be done with Judgment since Ignorant Casuists may Murther our Soul as Vnskilful Physicians may Poison our Body Whereas I explain not in particular the Rules which may be given about the choice and use that 's to be made of Physicians and Casuists I desire my Sentiments may be candidly interpreted and that it may not be imagin'd I am against drawing all possible supplies from other Men. I know that a particular Blessing attends our submission to the Opinions of the Wise and Understanding And I am willing to believe this general Rule that 't is requisite to die in the usual Forms is surer for the common sort of Men than any I could establish for the Preservation of Life But because 't is of perpetual use to retire into our selves to consult the Gospel and to listen to JESUS CHRIST whether he speaks immediately to our Mind and Heart or by Faith declares himself to our Ears and Eyes I thought I might be allow'd to say what I have said For our Casuists deceive us when they go contrary to the Doctrine of our Faith and Reason And as we give Honour to God by believing that his Works have what is necessary to their preservation I thought I could make Men sensible their Machine was so admirably contriv'd that it 's own Nature can better furnish it with what 's necessary to it's safety than Science and even the
these Terms ought to be explain'd If you 'll say that the Union of my Mind and Body consists in God's willing That upon my Desire to move my Arm the Animal Spirits should betake themselves to the Muscles it is compos'd of to move it in the manner desir'd I clearly understand this Explication and receive it But this is exactly my own Assertion For if my Will determine that of God 't is evident that my Arm is mov'd not by my Will which is impotent of it self but by the Will of God which never fails of its Effect But if it be said The Union of my Mind and Body consists in God's giving me a Force to move my Arm as he has given my Body likewise a Force of making me feel Pleasure and Pain to the end I may be sollicitous for this Body and be concern'd for its Preservation certainly this is to suppose the thing in dispute and to make a Circle No Man has a clear Idea of that Force which the Soul has over the Body or the Body over the Soul nor knows very well what he says when he positively asserts it That Opinion has been embrac'd through Prejudice has been learn'd in Infancy and in the Age of Sense But Understanding Reason and Reflexion have no part in it which is manifest enough from what I have said in the foregoing Treatise But you 'll say I know by my inward Conscience of my Action that I really have this Force and therefore am not mistaken in believing it I answer That when I move my Arm I am conscious to my self of the Actual Volition by which I move it and I err not in believing I have that Volition I have moreover an inward Sense of a certain Effort or Endeavour which accompanies this Volition and it is to believ'd that I make this Endeavour Last of all I grant that I have an inward feeling of the Motion of my Arm at the instant of this Effort which suppos'd I agree to what is said That the Motion of the Arm is perform'd at the instant a Man feels this Effort or has a practical Volition of moving his Arm. But I deny that this Effort which is no more than a Modification or Sensation of the Soul which is given us to make us understand our Weakness and to afford us a confus'd and obscure Sensation of our Strength can be capable of moving and determining the Spirits I deny there is any Analogy or Proportion between our Thoughts and the Motions of Matter I deny that the Soul has the least Knowledge of the Animal Spirits which she imploys to move the Body Animated by her Last of all Though the Soul exactly knew the Animal Spirits and were capable of moving them or determining their Motions yet I deny that with all this she could make choice of these Ductus of the Nerves of which she has no Knowledge so as to drive the Spirits into them and thereby move the Body with that Readiness Exactness and Force as is observable even in those who are the least acquainted with the Structure of their Body For supposing that our Volitions are truly the moving Force of Bodies howbeit that seems inconceivable how can we conceive the Soul moves her Body The Arm for Example is mov'd by means of an inflation or contraction caus'd by the Spirits in some of the Muscles that compose it But to the end the Motion imprinted by the Soul on the Spirits in the Brain may be Communicated to those in the Nerves and from thence to others in the Muscles of the Arm the Volitions of the Soul must needs multiply or change in proportion to those almost infinite shocks or Collisions that are made by the little Bodies that constitute the Spirits But this is inconceivable without admitting in the Soul an infinite number of Volitions upon the least Motion of the Body since the moving it would necessarily demand an innumerable multitude of Communications of Motions For in short the Soul being but a particular Cause and not able to know exactly the degrees of agitation and the dimensions of infinite little Corpuscles which encounter upon the dispersion of the Spirits into the Muscles she could not settle a General Law for the Communication of these Spirits Motion nor follow it exactly if she had establish't it Thus it is evident the Soul could not move her Arm although she had the Power of determining the Motion of the Animal Spirits These things are too clear to be longer insisted on The case is the same with our Thinking Faculty We are inwardly conscious that we Will the Thinking on something that we make an effort to that purpose and that in the Moment of our desire and effort the Idea of the thing presents it self to our Mind but our inward Sensation does not tell us that our Will or Effort produces our Idea Reason does not assure us that it 's possible and only prejudice makes us believe that our desires are the causes of our Ideas whilst we experiment an hundred times a Day that the latter accompany or pursue the former As God and his Operations have nothing sensible in them and as we are not conscious of any thing but our desires that precede the presence of our Ideas so we do not think our Ideas can have any other cause than these desires But view the thing closely and we shall see no force in us to produce them neither Reason nor Conscience giving us any information thereupon I don't think my self oblig'd to transcribe all the other proofs employ'd by the patrons for the Efficacy of Second Causes Because they seem so trifling that I might be thoughts to design to render them Ridiculous And I should make my self so if I gave them a Serious Answer An Author for Example very gravely asserts in behalf of his Opinion Created Beings are true Material Formal Final Causes why must not they likewise be Efficient or Efficacious I fancy I should give the World little satisfaction if to answer this Gentlemans Question I should stand to explain so gross an Ambiguity and show the difference between an Efficacious cause and that which the Philosophers are pleas'd to call material Therefore I leave such arguments as these to come to those which are drawn from Holy-Writ ARGUMENT VII The Defenders of the Efficacay of Second Causes commonly alledge the following Passages to support their Opinion Let the Earth bring forth Grass Let the Waters bring forth the moving Creature that hath Life and Fowl that may fly c. Therefore the Earth and Water by the Word of God receiv'd the Power of producing Plants and Animals Afterwards God Commanded the Fowls and Fishes to multiply Be fruitful and multiply and fill the Waters in the Seas and let Fowl multiply in the Earth Therefore he gave them a Power of begetting their like Our Saviour in the fourth Chapter of St. Mark says the Seed which falls on good Ground brings forth
be enquir'd why GOD who so loves the Glory he receives in the Establishment of His Church had not begun it many Ages before Thus it suffices to say That an Eternity ought to forego the Incarnation of the WORD to manifest why this Great Mystery was accomplish'd neither sooner nor later GOD then must have created the Universe for the Church and the Church for JESUS CHRIST and JESUS CHRIST that He might find in Him a Sacrifice and High-Priest worthy of the Divine Majesty We shall not doubt of this Order of the Designs of GOD if it be observ'd that He can have no other End of his Actions than Himself And if it be conceiv'd that Eternity does not belong to Creatures we shall acknowledge they were produc'd when 't was requisite they should be Which Truths suppos'd let us try to discover something in the Method GOD takes for the Execution of His Grand Design VII Were I not persuaded that all Men are no farther Reasonable than enlightned by Eternal Wisdom it would no doubt be great Temerity to speak of the Designs of GOD and offer to discover any of His Ways in the Production of His Work But whereas it is certain that the word Eternal is the Universal Reason of Minds and that by the Light which he continually sheds in us we may have some Communication with GOD I ought not to be blam'd for consulting that Light which though Consubstantial with GOD Himself fails not to answer those who know how to enquire of it by a serious Attention VIII However I confess that Faith teaches a great many Truths not discoverable by the natural Union of the Mind with Reason Eternal Truth answers not to all we ask since we ask sometimes more than we can receive But this must not serve for a Pretence to justifie our Laziness and Inapplication IX Vulgar Heads are soon wearied with the Natural Prayer the Mind by its Attention ought to make to inward Truth in order to receive Light and Understanding from it and thus fatigu'd by that painful Exercise they talk of it in a contemptuous manner They dishearten one another and cover their Weakness and Ignorance under the delusive Appearances of a counterfeit Humility X. But their Example is not to infuse into us that agreeable Vertue which cherishes Carelessness and Negligence in the Mind and comforts it under its Ignorance of most necessary Truths We must pray constantly to Him who enlightens all Men That he will bestow His Light upon us recompence our Faith with the Gift of Understanding and especially to prevent us from mistaking Probability and confus'd Sensations which precipitate proud Minds into Darkness and Errour for the Evidence which accompanies His Resolves XI When we design to speak of GOD with any exactness we must not consult our selves nor the vulgar part of Men but elevate our Thoughts above all Creatures and with great Reverence and Attention consult the vast and immense Idea of a Being infinitely perfect which representing the true GOD very different from what the Vulgar fancy Him to themselves we are not to treat of Him in popular Language Every Body is allow'd to say with the Scripture that GOD Repented Him that He created Man that He was Angry with his People that he deliver'd Israel from Captivity by the Strength of His Arm. But these or the like Expressions are not permitted Divines when they should speak accurately and justly Therefore 't is not to be wondred if in the Sequel of Discourse my Expression shall be found uncommon It ought rather to be carefully observ'd whether they be clear and perfectly adapted to the Idea which all Men have of an Infinitely Perfect Being XII This Idea of a Being infinitely perfect includes two Attributes absolutely necessary to the Creation of the World an unlimited Wisdom and an irresistible Power The Wisdom of GOD affords infinite Ideas of different Works and all possible Ways for the executing His Designs and His Power renders Him so absolutely Master of all things and so independent of all Assistances whatever that He need but Will to execute what he Wills For we must above all take notice that GOD needs no Instruments to work with that His Wills are necessarily efficacious in a Word that as His Wisdom is His own Understanding His Power is no other than His Will Among these innumerable Ways whereby GOD might have executed His Design let us see which was preferable to all other and let us begin with the Creation of this Visible World from which and in which He forms the Invisible which is the Eternal Object of His Love XIII An excellent Artist ought to proportion his Action to his Work he does not that by Ways compound which may be perform'd by more simple he acts not without End and never makes insignificant Essays Whence we are to conclude that GOD discovering in the infinite Treasures of His Wisdom an Infinity of possible Worlds as necessary Consequences of the Laws of Motion which he could establish was determin'd to the Creation of that which might be produc'd and preserv'd by the simplest Laws or which should be the perfectest that could be considering the simplicity of the Ways necessary to its Production and Preservation XIV GOD might doubtless have made a perfecter World than that we inhabit He might for Instance have caus'd the Rain which fecundates the Earth to have fallen more regularly on Plow'd Lands than in the Sea where it is not necessary But in order to this He must have chang'd the Simplicity of His Ways and have multiplied the Laws of the Communications of Motions by which our World subsists and so there would not have been that Proportion between the Action of GOD and His Work which is necessary to determine an infinitely wise Being to act or at least there would not have been the same Proportion between the Action of GOD and this so perfect World as there is between the Laws of Nature and the World we inhabit For our World imagine it as imperfect as you will is sounded on so Simple and Natural Laws of Motion as make it perfectly worthy of the infinite Wisdom of its Author And indeed I am of Opinion that the Laws of Motion necessary to the Production and Preservation of the Earth and all the Stars in the Heavens are reduc'd to these Two First That mov'd Bodies tend to continue their Motion in a right line Secondly That when two Bodies meet their Motion is distributed to each in proportion to their Magnitude so that after the Collision they ought to move with equal degrees of Celerity These two Laws are the Cause of all those Motions which produce that variety of Forms which we admire in Nature XVI 'T is own'd notwithstanding that the second is â—ever manifestly observable in the Experiments that can be made upon the Subject but that comes from our seeing only what happens in visible Bodies and our not thinking on the invisible that surround
the Grace of the Creator XXXVI In the establish'd Order of Nature I can see but two Occasional Causes which shed Light on Minds and so determine the General Laws of the Grace of the Creator one which is in us and depends in some measure on us the other which is found in the Relation we have with surrounding Objects The former is nothing but the diverse Motions of our Will the second is the Occurrence of sensible Objects which act on our Mind in consequence of the Laws of Union of our Soul with our Body XXXVII We are taught by our own inward Consciousness That the Love of Light produces it and that Attention of Mind is a Natural Prayer by which we obtain Instruction of God for all the Enquirers of Truth who apply themselves to Truth discover it in proportion to their Application And if our Prayer were not interrupted nor our Attention disturb'd if we had any Idea of what we ask and should ask it with a competent Perseverance we should not fail to obtain whilst we were capable of receiving it But our Prayers are continually interrupted unless Self-interess'd our Senses and Imagination muddy and confound all our Ideas And â—hough the Truth we consult answers our Enquiries the confus'd Noise of our Passions deafens us to its Answers or makes us speedily forget them XXXVIII If it be consider'd that Man before the Fall was animated with Charity and possess'd with all that was requisite to his Perseverance in Innocence and that by his Perseverance and Application he ought to merit his Reward 't will easily be conceiv'd that the several Desires of his Will were establish'd the Occasional Causes of the Light receiv'd in his Understanding otherwise his Distraction had not been voluntary nor his Attention meritorious But Nature however corrupted is not destroy'd God has not desisted to will what he once will'd And the same Laws still subsist Therefore our manifold Volitions are still the Occasional or Natural Causes of the Presence of Ideas to our Mind But because the Union of the Soul with the Body is chang'd into a Dependence on it by a Natural Consequence of Sin and the immutable Will of God as I have explain'd elsewhere our Body at present disturbs our Ideas and speaks so loud in favour of its respective Goods that the Mind but seldom consults and distractedly listens to Internal Truth XXXIX Moreover Experience daily teaches us that our Conversation with Understanding Persons is capable of instructing us by raising our Attention that Preaching Reading Converse a thousand Occurrences of all sorts may raise some Ideas in us and likewise inspire us with good Thoughts The Death of a Friend is doubtless capable of putting us in Mind of Death unless some great Passion takes us up And when a Preacher of great Natural Endowments undertakes to demonstrate a most simple Truth and convince others of it it must be own'd that he may persuade his Hearers and even move their Conscience give them Fear and Hope and raise in them such other Passions as put them in a less State of Opposition to the Influence of the Grace of Jesus Christ. Men being made for a sociable Life 't was requisite they should mutually communicate their Thoughts and Motions 'T was fit they should be united in Mind as well as Body and that speaking by the Voice to their Ears and by Writing to their Eyes they should infuse Light and Understanding into one anothers Minds XL. But Light whatever way produc'd in us whether by particular Desires or fortuitous Instances as the Occasional Causes of it may be call'd Grace especially when it nearly relates to Salvation though it be but a Consequence of the Order of Nature because since Sin God owes us nothing and all the Good we have is merited for us by Jesus Christ in whom our very Being subsists But this kind of Grace though merited for us by Jesus Christ is not the Grace of our Lord but that of the Creator since Jesus Christ is not usually the Occasional Cause of it but the Cause of it is discoverable in the Order of Nature XLI There are still several other Natural Effects which we might reasonably look upon as Graces For Example Two Persons have at the same time two Desires of Curiosity The one to go see an Opera the other to hear a celebrated Preacher If they satisfie their Curiosity he that goes to the Opera shall find such Objects as according to his present Disposition of Mind shall raise in him Passions that will damn him whilst the other shall find in the Preacher so great Force and Light that the Grace of Conversion working in him at that moment shall be able to save him Which suppos'd Let but a shower of Rain or any other Accident happen that may stay them at home Though the Rain be a Natural Effect as depending on the Natural Laws of the Communication of Motions yet it may be said to be a Grace in respect of him whose Damnation it prevents and a Punishment to him whose Conversion it hinders XLII Grace being conjoin'd to Nature all the Motions of our Soul and Body have some relation to Salvation This Man is sav'd by having in a State of Grace made a false Step which happily broke his Neck and another is damn'd by having on some Occasion misfortunately avoided the Ruines of a falling House We know not what is for our Advantage but we well know there is nothing of it self so indifferent but has some reference to our Salvation because of the Mixture and Combination of Effects depending on the General Laws of Nature with others that depend on the General Laws of Grace XLIII As therefore Light points out to us the True Good the Means to obtain it our Duties to God in a word the Ways we are to follow it is sufficient to cause those who are animated with Charity to do good to merit new Graces and to conquer some Temptations as I shall explain in another Place so I think we may lawfully give it the Name of Grace though Jesus Christ be only the Meritorious Cause of it And whereas External Graces which have no immediate Influence on the Mind come nevertheless into the Order of Predestination of Saints I consider them also as True Graces In a word I see not why we may not give the Name of Grace to all Natural Effects when relating to Salvation subservient to the Grace of Jesus Christ and delivering us from some Hindrances to his Efficacy Yet if others will not agree with me I shall not contend with them about Words XLIV All these Graces if we may be allow'd to call them so being those of the Creator the General Laws of these Graces are the General Laws of Nature For we must still observe that Sin has not destroy'd Nature though it has corrupted it The General Laws of the Communications of Motions are always the same and those of the Union of the Soul
frighted as if bitten by a Serpent He perceives this little Evil and judges of it as of the greatest Misfortunes so intolerable it appears to him His Reason fainting by the Slumber incapacitates him from suspending his Judgment To him the least Goods as well as Evils are almost always insuperable For 't is the Senses which judge in him and these are hasty Deciders which must be so for several Reasons When Reason is less disabled little Pleasures are not invincible nor little Evils intolerable and Men are not always bound where most Pleasure is to be found For some Pleasures are so little that they are despicable to Reason which is never quite destitute of the Love of Order The presence of little Evils is not very frightful A Man for Example resolves to be let Blood and suffers it he judges not so hastily but suspends and examines and the stronger is Reason the longer is its Suspence against sensible Invitations and Discouragements Now there is nothing more certain than that all Men who partake of the same Reason partake not of it equally that all are not equally sensible at least to the same Objects that they are not all equally well born equally well bred equally aâ—â—isted by the Grace of Jesus Christ and therefore not equally free or capable of suspending the Judgment of their Love in point of the same Objects XV. But we are to take notice that the chief Duty of Minds is to preserve and increase their Liberty since 't is by the good use possible to be made of it they may merit their Felicity if succour'd by the Grace of Jesus Christ at least lessen their Misery if left to themselves That which weakens our Liberty or makes most Pleasures irresistible to us is the Eclipse of our Reason and the Loss of Power we ought to have over our Body Reason therefore must be instructed by continual Meditations we must consider our Duties that we may perform them and our Infirmities that we may have recourse to him who is our Strength And since we have lost the Power of stopping the Impressions made by the Presence of Objects on the Body which thence corrupt the Mind and Heart we ought to avoid these Objects and make use of the Power that is left us We ought to watch constantly over the Purity of our Imagination and labour with all our Powers to efface the adulterate Traces imprinted by false Goods since they kindle Desires in us which divide our Mind and weaken our Liberty By this means the Man whose Liberty is just expiring who cannot conquer the least of Pleasures may obtain such a Strength and such a Freedom as not to yield to the greatest Souls their Succours being suppos'd equal For at least at the time whilst these Pleasures do not importune us to Evil we may lay in to avoid them We may fortifie our selves by some Reason that may through future Pleasures countervail those we don't actually enjoy For as every one has some Love of Order there is no Man but may vanquish a feeble and light Pleasure by a strong and solid Reason by a reasonable Fear of some Evil or by the Hope of some great Good Lastly there is no one but may by the Ordinary Supplies of Grace vanquish some Pleasures and avoid others Which Pleasures formerly invincible or studied being vanquish'd or avoided are a Preparatory to our assaulting others at least before they tempt us For the Satisfaction we find in the Victory provokes us again to Battle and the Joy of a good Conscience and the Grace of Jesus Christ administer Courage And even the Fear of a Defeat is not useless since it makes us fly to him who can do all things and make us discreet in avoiding perillous Occasions Thus we are always Gainers in this sort of Exercise for if we are worsted we become more humble wise and circumspect and sometimes more earnest for the Combat and more capable of Conquering or Resisting XVI As in the study of the Sciences those who submit not to the false Glimpses of Probabilities and who are wont to suspend their Judgment till the Light of Truth breaks into them fall rarely into Errour whereas the vulgar part of Men are daily deceiv'd by their precipitate Judgments So in Moral Discipline those who use to sacrifice their Pleasures to the Love of Orders and who continually mortifie their Senses and Passions especially in things which seem of little moment which every one may do will in things important obtain a great Facility of suspending the Judgment which regulates their Love Pleasure does not surprize them like other Men at least does not drag them along unawares It seems on the contrary that whilst it sensibly affects them it cautions them to take care of themselves and to consult Reason or the Rules of the Gospel Their Conscience is more nice and tender than that of others who in the Scripture Phrase drink Sin like Water They are sensible to the secret Reproaches of Reason and the wholsome Precautions of inward Truth So that the acquir'd Habit of resisting feeble and light Pleasures makes way for the conquering the more violent at least for the suffering some Regret and Shame when a Man is conquer'd which creates forthwith Dislike and Abhorrence Liberty thus insensibly increasing and perfecting it self by Exercise and the Assistance of Grace we may at last put our selves in a Capacity of performing the most difficult Commandments in as much as by the ordinary Graces which are constantly afforded Christians we may overcome common Temptations and for the most part avoid the greatest and by the Assistance of the Grace of Jesus Christ there is none but may be vanquish'd XVII 'T is true that a Sinner so dispos'd as not able so much as to think of resisting a surprizing Pleasure cannot actually accomplish the Commandment that orders him not to enjoy it For the Pleasure is insuperable to him in that Estate And if we but suppose this Person in this State of Impotence through a Natural Necessity his Sin not being free could not make him more culpable I mean more worthy of the Punishment of Pain than if he were inordinate in his Sleep Nay if this Impotency were a necessary Consequence of the free Disorders which had preceded his Conversion it would not be imputed to him by reason of his Charity But since he was both able and oblig'd to use himself to resisting Pleasure and combating for the Preservation and Augmentation of his Liberty this Sin though actually committed by a kind of Necessity renders him guilty and punishable if not by reason of his Sin at least because of his Negligence which is the Principle of it The Commandment of God is not absolutely impossible but the Sinner may and ought for the foregoing Reasons to put himself into a Condition of observing it since Men are oblig'd as well as able to labour constantly to augment and perfect their Liberty not only by
quod dicis amâ—o videmus verum esse quod diâ—o ubi quaeso id videmus Nec ego utique in te nec tu in me sed ambo in ipsa quae supra mentes nostras est incommutabili veritate Confess de S. Aug. l. 12. c. 25. See St. Austin De libero arbitrio c. Book 2. Chap. 8. Nec natura potest justo secernere iniquum Lucretius Diogenes * And now O Inhabitants of Jerusalem judge betwixt me and my Vineyard Isa. 5.3 Art 6. 8. See the Fifth Dialogue of Christian Conversations See the first Illustration Est quippe supâ—rbâ—a peccâ—â—um maximum uti daâ—is taâ—quam innaris S Bern. de diligendo Deo This is omitted in some Editions Ch. 1.18 Ch. 4. â—â— Cor. 13. L. 31. c. 20 Propinquior nobis qui fecit quam multa quae facta sunt In illo enim vivimus movemur sumus Istorum autem pleraque remota sunt à mente nostra propter dissimilitudinem sui generis Recte culpantur in libro sapientia inquisitores hujus saeculi Si enim tantum inquit potuerunt valere ut possent aestimare saeculum quomodo ejus Dominum non facilius invenerunt Ignota enim sunt fundamenta oculis nostris qui fundavit â—erram propinquat mentibus nostris De Gen. ad litt l. 5. ch 16 De Trinitate lib. 8. ch 8. 1 Tim. 16.16 * St. Cyrill of Alexandria upon the words of St. John Erat lux vera St. Aug. Tr. 14. upon St. John St. Greg. c. 27. upon 28 of Job †Inaccessibilem dixit sed omni homini â—umana sapienti Scriptura quippe sacra omnes carnalium sectatores humanitatis nomine notare solet St. Greg. in cap. 28. Job Ex. 33 20. Neither is it found in the land of the living Job 28.13 Job 28.31 Now we see through a Glass darkly but then face to face Now I know in part c. 1 Cor. 13.2 The natural Man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him 1 Cor. c. 2.14 Ad Moysen dicitur non videbit me homo vivet ac si aperte diceretur Nullus unquam Deum spiritualiter videt qui mundo carnaliter vivit St. Greg. upon the 28. of Job ch 28. Answer to the fifth Objection against the second Meditation towards the end Eccl. c. 9.1 I judge not mine own self For I known nothing by my self yet I am not hereby justified but â—e that judgeth me is the Lord 1 Cor. â— 4.4 John 13.37 Eccl. 21.18 Book 1. Mark 12.30 For the most extraordinary of these Opinions See Suarez Metaphysicks Disp. 18. Sect. 2. Assert 2. 3. Scot. in 4. Sent. Dist. 12.1 D. 37.2 D. 17. Palaudan in 4. Sent. D. 12. Q. 1 Art 1. Perer. 8. Phys. Ch. 3. Conimbr upon Aristotle's Physicks and many others cited by Suarez See Eonseca's Metaphys qu. 13. Sect. 3. and Soncin and Javell upon the same Question Ruvio lib. 2. Ph. Tract 4. qu. 2. See Suarez Disp. 18. Sect. 1. Ch. 1. of the second Book of his Physicks See Fonsesa Suarez and others before cited * Book 1. of his Topicks C. 1. * In his Metaph. Disp. 18. Sect. 1. Assert 1. †In Metaph Arist. qu. 7. Sect. 2. See Book 4. Ch. 11. toward the end and Book 6. Part 2. Ch. 7. See Ch. 2. Book IV. Suarez ib. See Chap. the last of The Search * See the Illustration upon the Fourth Chapter of the second Part concerning Method †See the first Illustration upon the Fifth Chapter Lib. 1. de Retract 1 Cor. 10.19 * Nemo habet de suo nisi mendacium peccatum Concil Araus 2. Can. 22. * In the Sence explain'd in the Chapter belonging to this Illustration * I still mean a true and efficacious Force * It seems evident to me that the Mind knows not by internal Sensation or Conscience the motion of the Arm she Animates She knows by Conscience only what she feels or thinks By inward Sensation or Conscience we know the sense we have of the Motion of our Arm. But Conscience does not notify the Motion of our Arm or the pain we suffer in it any more than the Colours we see upon Objects Or if this will not be granted I say that inward Sensation is not infallible for Error is generally found in the Sensations when they are compos'd I have sufficiently prov'd it in the first Book of the Search after Truth Gen. 1. Isa. 44.24 Job 10.8 * Vulg. totum 2 Macc. Ch. 7. v 22 23. Acts 17 25. Psal. 104 14. Engl. Poverty and Riches Eccl. 11.14 Gen. 2.19 Ch. 1.21 Omnia quippe portenta contra naturam dicimus esse sed non sunt Quomodo enim est contra naturam quod Dei fit voluntate Cum voluntas tanti utique creatoris conditae rei cujusque natura sit Portentum ergo fit non contra naturam sed contra quà m est nota natura S. Aug. de Civita De i l. 21. c. 8. Some of St. Austin's Principles are these What has never sinned can not suffer evil But according to him Pain is the greatest Evil and Beasts suffer it That the more Noble cannot have the less Noble for its end But with him the Soul of Beasts is Spiritual and more Noble than the Body and yet has no other End That what is Spiritual is Immortal yet the Soul of Beasts though Spiritual is subject to Death Many such like Principles there are in his Works whereby it may be concluded That Beasts have no such Spiritual Soul as he admits in them Ch. 44.24 2 Mac. 7.22 23. Sol homo generant â—ominem Arist. Phy. Ausc. l. 2. c. 2. See St. Th. upon the Text. V. Suarez l. 1. de concursu Dei cum voluntate Durand in 2 dist Qu. 5. Dist. 37. De Genesi ad liâ—eram l. 5. c. 20. In 4 Sent. Dist. 1. q. 1. D Aliaco ibid. * Book 4. c. 1. Deut. c. 6. * Acts 14.15.16 Ergo nihil agis ingratissime mortalium qui te negas Deo debere sed naturae quia nec naturae Deo est nec Deus sine natura sed idem est utrumque nec distat Officium si quod a Seneca accepisses Annaeo diceres te debere vel Lucio Non creditorem mutares sed nomen Sen. l. 4. de Benef. Isa. 45.7 Amos. 3.6 â— Moses Maimonid Vide Vossium lib. 2. de Idololatriâ— Ipsi qui irridentur Aegyptii nulâ—am belluam nisi ob aliquam 〈◊〉 quam ex ea caperent consecrâ—vâ—rant Cic. l. 1. de Nâ—tura Deorum Phil. 3.9 * No Whoremonger nor unclean Person nor covetous Man who is an Idolater Eph. 5.5 †They that worship him must Worship him in Spirit and in Truth Joh. 4.24 Nos si hominem patrem vocamus honorem aâ—aâ—i deferimus non Authorem vitae nostrae ostendimus Hier. in c. 33. Matth. 1 Cor. 9.22 10.33 Eph. 6.6 Col. 3.22 * Ep. 3. Ch. 2.28 Ch. 2.57 Ch. 6. contra Epist. Manichei Ch. 16. de Tran. l. 10. alibi Part 2. Ch. 3. Art 6. * De Quantitate animae Ch. 31 32. c. Lib. 4. de anima ejus origine Ch. 12. alibi Lins. c. 37. * Book IV. Chap. 2. Book VI. Part II. Chap. 7. Book III. Part II. Chap. 8. * Sess. 8. * Th. Pac. ch 4. †L. 3. ch 13. Cog. Nat. * By that Bull it is forbidden under Pain of Excommunication to give any Explication of the Decrees of the Council Vlium omnino interpretationis genus super ipsius Concilii decretis quocunque modo edere c. That Power is reserv'd to the Pope * Edit Strasb p. 190. Par. Edit 1. p. 172. in the second p. 190. in the third 187 in the fourth 95. * Pag. 90. Search after Truth Ch. ult Prov. 8.22 Eccl. 24.5 14. Eph. 14.21 22 23.2.10 21 22.4.13 16. Coll. 1.15 16 17 18 19. Ps. 72.17 Joh. 17 15.24 Rom. 8.29 1 Peâ— 1 2â— Apâ—c 13.8.1.8 c. Apoc. 21.23 Col. 1.18.2.20 Ephes. 1. â—2 Rom. 11.32 Gal. 3.22 Isaiah 5.3 4. 1 Cor. 8.11 * By True Cause I understand that which acts by its own Force Eph. 1.22 23.4.16 Col. 1.24.2.19 1 Cor. 12.27 Acts 1.24 c. Joh. 7.39 Heb. 7.25 Rom. 8.34 1 Joh. 2.1 Eph. 4.13 Ibid. 15 16. Joh. 5.4 5. 2 Cor. 13.2 Rom. 5.14.17 18 19. 1 Cor. 15.48 1 John 2.27 Luk. 10. Eph. 11.12 Heb. 2. 1 Cor. 12.27 Eph. 5.30 c. * Illustrations upon the Search after Truth First Illustration on the 7 th Ch. of the 2 d. Part of the 3 d. Book of the Search Second Illustration Col. 2.19 Heb. 7.25.9.24 Joh. 11.42 Mat. 28.18 Chap. 4 13 15 16. Col. 2.19 Col. 2.7 Joh. 1.17 Hebr. 4. Hebr. 7.16 17. Joh. 16.7 To the Intent that now unto the Principalities and Powers in Heavenly Places might be known by the Church the manifold Wisdom of God Eph. 3.10 1 Joh. 2.1 Mat. 9.15 Joh. 11.42