humours which are mov'd in the body Now after we have throughly examin'd all the ressorts and instruments which Nature may make use of to that purpose it will be found that she cannot employ any other then the Spirits Art 9. That the blood is not attracted by the Fibres WE shall not here bring any thing upon the stage concerning Attraction though it were the only means whereby the Antients were of opinion that the motion of the blood was to be wrought inasmuch as it is an imaginary motion which opposes reason and experience Nor indeed can it be conceiv'd to be done but two wayes to wit either by some Boay which touching the blood brings and draws it to it or by some Magnetick vertue which may be in the parts and spreading it self into the vessels seizes on and drags it towards them much after the same manner as the quality of the Loadstone draws iron and causes it to approach it And these two wayes of attraction have bred two opinions which ever since the birth of Medicine even to the present age have been follow'd by some or other For some have imagin'd that the streight Fibres which enter into the structure of the veins had the power of attraction and that it was by their means the blood was convey'd to the several parts But they never consider'd that when some body is to attract a fluid and slippery thing there is a necessity it should touch it that it should seize on it and retain it in all its parts otherwise those which shall be at liberty will escape and will not be attracted Of this we have an experiment when we would take any liquor with our hand for those parts which shall not be comprehended within the hand will get away and not be gather'd in with the rest Now it is certain that the Fibres touch only the superficies of the humour which is in the vein and so whatsoever is in the bottome of the vessel will slip away notwithstanding all their endeavour to retain it To this we may add that the Fibres have no other way of attraction then by straining and compressing the veins and if so then would the senses perceive something of that motion as they do of that of the Intestines which is made after that manner Whence it follows that since we do not see any sign thereof how strong soever that contraction and compression of the veins might be for the making of that motion there is just ground to imagine that it is not made after that manner But what absolutely decides this question is that the aliment of Plants is convey'd by their channels after the same manner and by the same vertue as the blood may be in Animals and yet their Fibres suffer no such contraction as is imagin'd in the veins It is requisite therefore that we find out some other means whereby the moisture which nourishes them may ascend into the branches and withall such as may be found also in Animals to convey the blood into all the parts I add further that the bones attract as the common expression hath it their nourishâ—â—nt without any assistance of the Fibres and that sometimes the blood is so violently mov'd in the Passions that this pretended motion of the Fibres cannot be any way answerable to that swiftness as being made but slowly and by successive contractions which require much time in so long a transportation and conveyance as that of the blood is Art 10. That the blood is not attracted by any Magnetick vertue AS to the other opinion which admits a Magnetick vertue though it hath been more generally receiv'd yet is it not confirm'd by any other reason then the weakness of the precedent and the impossibility it imagin'd to it self of finding any other means then these two to make the blood flow into the veins So that it is maintain'd only upon the accompt of certain examples and instances as that of the Loadstone which draws iron to it and those of some purgative Medicines which attrract the humours and some others of the like kind But this is a very weak proof and such as the very ground thereof is of little certainty since we pretend to make it apparent that neither the Loadstone nor purgatives nor any other thing whatsoever have any attractive vertue But whether it be maintainable or not the Patrons of this opinion ought to suppose as they have done that this vertue is in every particular part since there is not any but does as they affirm attract blood for its nourishment The case being thus laid down they may be asked Whether all parts have this vertue equally or not For if it be equal in all there being superiour and inferiour parts it is impossible the blood should march up into the superiour parts in regard the inferiour have as powerful an attraction as the other there being no reason why they should follow the impression of the one rather then that of the other On the other side if there be any parts have this vertue in a higher degree then others they will attract all the blood to themselves and that just distribution which ought to be made thereof all over the body will never be perfected and compleated since it must needs be obstructed where that Magnetick vertue is most vigorous For to explain it by the example it must be done in the same manner as is observ'd in the iron which being plac'd near several Loadstones will alwayes make towards that which is most attractive Besides if it be true that the influence of natural vertues is performed by direct lines How is it to be imagin'd that the Attractive vertue shall observe that regularity in the innumerable turnings and windings of the veins and arteries What intermixture or to say better what confusion will there not be in the vessels wherein every part will spread its Magnetick vertue To conclude if the conformity of substance be the ground-work of this Attraction as is affirm'd by the maintainers of the foresaid opinion how is it to be conceiv'd that the blood which is alter'd and corrupted shall be able to flow into the veins By what means shall the mineral waters which admit not coction and are incapable of receiving the form of blood be able to pass wholly pure into the vessels What conformity or sympathy can we imagine between all these substances which are so different among themselves and the Liver or the Heart or any other part which attracts them to it self And lastly why should the blood ever go out of the body since that quality attracts it inwards and that it should be like the powder of steel which the Loadstone holds fast and suffers not to fall Art 11. That there are not any Attractive vertues BUt I shall proceed further and affirm that it is an errour to imagine there are in Nature any of these Attractive vertues she acknowledges not any other then that which is wrought by
faculties because they have the Instruments of knowledge for we have shewn in the place alledg'd that a faculty cannot know but it must withall produce in it self the images of the things So that these not producing the images which they have and onely receiving them as an effect of the first image fram'd by the Imagination they cannot know it by a clear and perfect knowledge but onely according to that which is competent to all natural things which if we may use an odd kind expression Know without knowing what is conformable or contrary to them Thus is it that the Magnetick vertue which is communicated to Iron makes it know and sensible of the presence of the Load-stone and afterwards excites it to move and make towards it When therefore there is an image fram'd in any one of the knowing faculties it is as it were a Light which is multiply'd and diffuses it self into all parts of the Soul susceptible thereof Our meaning is that that which is spiritual is communicated to the spirial faculties and that which is material to the corporeal faculties and both kinds act therein according to the nature of the faculty into which they are entertain'd For if it be movable as the Appetite that Image moves if it hath no action as the Memory it produces nothing but is onely preserv'd in it if it be alterative as the formative vertue it serves for a model for the alteration which it causes in the members and so of the rest The case is the same with it as with that Magnetick vertue we spoke of before which though equally communicated to all bodies does not equally act upon them it alters and moves the Load-stone Iron and glaz'd Tiles yet without causing any alteration or motion in all the rest If it be so it will be no hard matter to affirm how the Appetite blind as it is may know Good and Evil and move conformably to the nature of either For since the Imâ—ge which the Estimative faculty or Practick Vnderstanding hath fram'd thereof is multiply'd and diffus'd through all the parts of the Soul the Appetite receives it feels it and afterwards moves as it ought in order to its union with the Good or recession from the Evil to its assaulting or opposing of it according to the instruction receiv'd from the Instinct and the knowledge which all natural things have either to be united to that which is conformable or to avoid and resist that which is contrary to them SECT 3. What are Motions of the Soul TO resume the Discourse we have interrupted we say further that of what kind soever the motions of the â—ppetite are whether real or metaphorical they are those which frame the Passions of the Soul For though the Schools have restrained that name to the Motions of the sensitive Appetite either by reason of the violence they do Reason or that the body sensibly suffers thereby yet if we consider the agitation which the Soul endures we shall find that not onely that which is made in the Will but also that in the natural Appetite is like that which the Sensitive Appetite suffers For the Will loves and hates rejoyces and is sad as well aâ— the other and there are in the natural Appetite such motions as are answerable to those others since Nature seeks that which is behovefull and shuns what is prejudicial to it is satisfy'd or troubled at the occurrence thereof is heightned or discourag'd as we shall shew more particularly hereafter And as to the violence which the Sensitive Passions do Reason and the alteration they cause in the body they are the effects which they produce yet enter not into their essence but are common to all the motions of the Appetite of what order soever it be and do not always accompany the emotions of the sensitive Appetite Accordingly as the Appetite is the principle of all corporeal motions so is it requisite that it should be moved before any Part of the body can be and consequently the agitation of the Spirits which is observ'd in the Passions and causes all the changes that happen in the body is not wrought till after the Soul is moved Moreover the Motions of the Will are many times contrary to reason as well as those of the sensitive Appetite and in the most spiritual Passions such as Ambition Envie c. it alters the body as well as the other Nay it may be affirmed that in the motions of the natural Appetite the body sometimes endures a greater alteratâ—on then in those of the sensitive Appetite as it appears in a Fever which is the choler of the natural faculty To be short neither doth that violence nor that alteration always follow the emotions of the sensitive Appetite Of these there are some conformable to Reason there are some that remain in the Soul and do not descend to the corporeal faculties as being raised up and dispers'd so of a sudden that they have not the time to spread themselves into them Whereto may be added that Angels are susceptible of love hatred joy sadness c. as Theology teacheth Whence it may be inferr'd that there is no ground for the taking away of the name of Passions from the motions of the Will and natural Appetite and consequently it may be affirm'd that all the motions of every Appetite are Passions since the agitation which the Soul endures thereby is equal in them all and that the end which she proposeth to her self therein is as to them also alike for by them all she is agitated and mov'd either towards the enjoyment of Good or the eschewing of Evil. True it is that these motions are called by divers names according as they are more or less vehement For as we call those winds which are more then ordinarily violent by the name of Storms and Tempests so when the Passions are great and extraordinary they are called Perturbations And certainly it may with some ground be affirm'd that the Passions are as it were the winds of the Soul For as the Air which continues in a constant calmness and tranquility is unwholesom and yet is purify'd by moderate winds but if they are too violent they raise tempests in it in like manner the Soul which is not stirr'd by any passion must needs be heavie and of an unhealthy constitution and therefore it is requisite it should be moderately agitated that it may be the more pure and more susceptible of vertue But if it happen that the passions become too violent they raise in her such tempests as disturb Reason confound the humours and alter the whole constitution of the body SECT 4. Of the Number of the Passions THE ART HOW TO KNOW MEN Having promised to discover the motions of the Soul we now come to examine how many ways it may be mov'd and what number there may be of the Passions whereby it may be so mov'd In order to the prosecution of that design it is
the motion of the body and so all those things which are said to be attracted by these qualities are mov'd by another kind of motion then that of Attraction And indeed who can easily conceive that a simple quality should be able so of a sudden and so powerfully to offer violence to things solid and weighty What motion can have an incorporeal vertue to go and find out and bring away massy bodies How is it to be apprehended that contrary to all other qualities which advance forward this only should return back Would there not be a necessity that while it brings back the bodies which it draws after it it should quit the space where it found them which yet continues still full of the same quality True it is and must be acknowledg'd that the Loadstone hath a magnetick vertue which it diffuses out of it self But this vertue is not attractive it only causes in the iron a certain feeling of its presence and thereupon the iron makes towards it of it self as it is in like manner inclin'd towards the iron For if they be both set on the water so as that they may freely swim on it they will approach one another if they be of equal force and if the iron be the more weighty or that it be stopp'd the Loadstone only will move towards it So that it is clear they draw one another no otherwise then as it is said the Sun draws the vapours which by reason of their lightness ascend of themselves after they have felt the heat Art 12. That there is not any attractive vertue in Purgative Medicines NOr is it by Attraction that purgative Medicaments do operate For of these these are some which cause vomiting being apply'd to the soals of the feet and other inferiour parts then which there cannot be a more certain argument of their not attracting the humours since that instead of obliging them to come to themselves they cause them to make a contrary motion Besides the purgative vertue being a natural Faculty should attract the humours which are conformable and consonant to it self in what subject soever they are found whereas far from that it attracts them not at all in bodies which are weak or depriv'd of life And indeed those who have more exactly examin'd the manner how purgation is wrought have shewn that purgatives have no other vertue then that of dissolving and separating the humours as the Rennet does the parts of the Milk And that the separation being made Nature being incens'd thereat expels and drives them out So that the evacuation thereof is wrought not by Attraction but Impulsion Art 13. That Grief and Heat are not attractive THere are yet others who affirm that grief and heat are attractive but they are only the Spirits which Nature sends with the blood into the parts for their support and assistance And this is no true attraction no more then that which is made by a vacuum For a privation which in effect is nothing cannot have any vertue But in this case the bodies put themselves forward to prevent a disorder which Nature cannot bear withall There are not therefore any Attractive vertues and consequently we are not to look for any in Animals in order to the causing of any conveyance of the blood into the veins But there remains this yet to be urg'd to the particular in dispute that it is true the Blood is not attracted but that it moves of it self as does the iron which is sensible of the magnetick vertue of the Loadstone and that having in like manner a certain feeling of the sympathetical vertue inspir'd by the parts it is of it self inclin'd towards them It must be acknowledg'd this expedient would do pretty well if this sympathetical vertue could be well establish'd But how shall we imagine it can subsist in such different subjects as Plants and Animals are or members of a different constitution and temperament such as are those of sound and unsound or diseas'd parts Nay though it should be granted in them What allyance can there be imagin'd between that vertue and the blood which is often alter'd or corrupted between it and the mineral waters which are drunk in fine between it and the poisons which are dispers'd all over the body Nay when all is done neither this means nor any of the others that have been propos'd doth satisfie the regularity which Nature observes in the motions of the blood nor most of the agitations it suffers in the Passions of the Soul nor yet the transportation of the chylus and other humours which is wrought in the body So that there is a necessity of having recourse to the Spirits as the general cause of all these effects And certainly whereas the Blood moves not of it self and that whatsoever is mov'd by another must be either forc'd or attracted or inclin'd neither impulsion nor attraction having any place here it is accordingly necessary that some Body which hath the vertue of moving it self should combine with it and convey it whereever it goes Now since we know that the Spirits are the chief instrmments of the Soul sent by Nature to all the parts to dispose them to action mixt by her with the blood to render it fluid and which she insinuates even into the humours against Nature as well to concoct as force them away there is no question to be made of their being the transporters of the moisture which is in the Vessels since they are beforehand in them to keep them fluid and that there are not any other substances which may be mixt with them to convey them to the places whereto they ought to go And consequently that they are bodies most susceptible of motion which being animated or immediately mov'd by the Soul are the only instruments that can move the blood in all the differences of situation which we observe therein Art 14. That the Blood is convey'd to the parts only by the Spirits FRom what hath been deliver'd it is apparent that in the ordinary course of the Blood the Spirits are the only instruments which cause it to ascend without trouble descend without precipitation and direct and convey it into all the parts nay even to the depth of the Bones for their nourishment By the same Spirits it is diversly stirr'd in the Passions according to the different designs which the Soul proposes to her self they convey it to the wounded parts to relieve them and confine it to an exact observance of that rectitude and regularity which is remarkable in all its motions In a word Nature is the principle and source of all these operations and that Nature is no other then the Soul and her Faculties all which stand in need of Organs in order to their action and can have no other then the Spirits whereto all these effects may be referred They are therefore intermixt with the Blood and as the Air being stirr'd carries along with it the vapours that are got
the temperaments Spirits Humours Inclinations Passions and Habits It should not discover what is most secret in Body and Soul Nay I have this further to affirm that by all these discoveries of Knowledg it elevates the spirit of Man to the Soveraign Creator of the Vniverse For acquainting it with the infinite miracles remarkable in Man it insensibly inclines him to glorify the Author of so many wonders and by that means directs him to the end whereto he is design'd For should he consider only the structure of Man's body how can he forbear being ravished with astonishment to see the order and symmetry of all the springs and Ressorts from which this admirable Machine derives its motion And the unimitable Art which is concealed therein would it not discover to him the hand that was employed about it and the understanding and design of the great Master whose work it is But if he would raise his thoughts yet a little higher and make a privy-search into the secrets of the Soul to find out there the manner whereby she comes to the knowledge of things how she moves and how many several motions she assigns her-self What excess of ravishment would not the knowledge of so many miraculous operations cause in him What sentiments would he not have of the Goodness and Wisdom of God who hath lodg'd so many vertues in so small a space and not only epitomiz'd all the creatures in Man but would also make in him an abbreviation of himself For not to enter into any discourse of our ineffable Mysteries keep within the bounds of Nature the Inclination he hath infus'd into him towards all sorts of good things the Light wherewith he hath illuminated him in order to the knowledge of all things are they not the effusions of his infinite Goodness and Wisdom But what is yet more astonishing hath he not enclos'd within the spirit of Man which hath its limits and boundaries the whole extent and infinity of his Power And by a miracle which is hardly conceivable hath he not invested him with a power of creating all things as himself For if the understanding produces and in a manner creates the images and representations of those things which it knows it must needs follow since it hath the power to know them all that it also according to its manner creates them all and consequently that it is the Creator of a new world or at least the Copist or after-drawer of all the works of God It must be so inasmuch as when it thinks on the Sun it cannot do so without making at the same time another Sun in it self By the same rule it makes also Starrs Heaven Elements in a word whatsoever is in the Vniverse But if God hath wrought one miracle by bestowing an infinite power on a limited thing he hath also done another in joyning greatness and power with misery and weakness For it is certain that of all the Creatures there is not any subject to such a multitude of miseries and infirmities as Man Nay these are raisâ—d even out of his advantages and if he had not that pregnancy of wit and the delicate composure of body which he hath he would not be so unfortunate and miserable as he is So that it may be said by instancing him alone we may decide that famous Probleme which hath been so often propos'd to wit What thing is that in the world which is at the same time both the greatest and least He therefore is only to contemplate himself who would enter into the knowledg he ought to have of the Divinity and there he will find eternal subjects of the praises and respects and thanksgivings which he is obligâ—d to render upon all occasions and at all times These are the high Lessons which may be learn'd by the ART HOW TO KNOW MEN. But when it shall be advanc'd to those whereby it would discover the inclinations manners and designs of others there will be a necessity of making this general acknowledgment that it is the surest guide can be taken for a man's conduct in civil life and that he who shall make use of it will avoid thousands of dangers and inconveniences into which from time to time he runs the hazard of falling There need no reasons to prove a thing so clear since it is certain that if the ART is able to perform what it promises there are few actions wherein it is not necessary as for instance the Education of children the choice of Servants Friends Company and most others which cannot be well done without it It shews the opportunities and favourable conjunctures of time wherein a man ought to act or speak a thing and teaches him the manner how he ought to do it And if it be requisite to suggest an advice to inspire a passion or design it knows all the passages through which they are to be derived into the Soul In fine if we may rely on the advice of the Wise-man who forbids our conversing with an angry or envious person and going into the company of the wicked What can rescue us from those unhappy accidents but the ART we treat of For the account commonly given of Man is deceitful if a man go only according to the reputation they have and dangerous if their acquaintance be gotten by conversation but that which our ART promises is only without fraud or hazard Yet is it not to be imagin'd as some at first sight are apt to do that this ART is no other then PHYSIOGNOMY and that its power reaches no further then to make a discovery of the present inclinations and thence draw some light conjectures in relation to Vertues and Vices For besides that it does all this as well as the other but with greater exactness as shall be seen hereafter it goes much further since it promises to shew what were or will be the inclinations and passions past and to come the strength and weakness of mens minds the dispositions they have to certain Arts and Sciences the Habits they have acquir'd and what is most important it teaches the way to discover secret designs private actions and the unknown Authors of known actions In a word there is no dissimulation so deep into which it does not penetrate and which in all likelihood it will not deprive of the best part of those veils under which it lurks Now forasmuch as all these things may be reduc'd to four principal heads to wit the INCLINATIONS the MOTIONS OF THE SOVL VERTVES VICES it is oblig'd ere we pass any further to tell us in the first place What Inclination is what are the causes of it and how it is framed in the Soul 2. How the Soul is Mov'd nay how and why it causes the heart and spirits to move in the passions In fine 3. Wherein Vertue and Vice consist and what is the number of the Species of both whereof it may make its judgment Besides since it ought to denote